The ecology of Acacia albida on mantle soils in Zalingei, Jebel Marra, Sudan.
Abstract
In the basement complex country of the area, ranges of rocky hills are separated by a deeply weathered pedeplain dissected by seasonal watercourses. In parts of the pediments, sorghum and other crops are grown during the rains under trees of A. albida (haraz). This tree comes into leaf and flowers at the beginning of the dry season and loses its leaves when the rains start. The pod and leaf fall and possibly the dung and urine of cattle which eat the pods and seek the shade of the trees in the dry season, increase the supply of nutrients and improve the physical conditions of the soil, so that yields are considerably greater under the haraz trees than elsewhere.