Identifying climatically suitable areas for growing particular trees in Africa:: An example using Grevillea robusta

A new climatic mapping program was developed to assist species selection in Africa. It takes in information describing species' climatic requirements in terms of six simple factors and outputs a map indicating climatically suitable areas. The use of the program is demonstrated using Grevillea robusta A. Cunn. ex R. Br. as an example. Information on trials including G. robusta are collated and data on mean climatic conditions obtained. The range of climatic conditions at the trial sites is used to check and improve a previously published description of the climatic requirements of G. robusta. The climatic mapping program is used to identify areas in Africa which satisfy the previous and improved descriptions of requirements. It is concluded that the use of climatic mapping programs is essential to develop reliable descriptions of tree species climatic requirements. The African program will assist in developing improved descriptions of species requirements, as well as identifying suitable areas for growing particular species in different parts of Africa.