The importance of vegetation feedbacks to the atmosphere has been highlighted in many recent research studies. The influence of climate on vegetation has long been established, and climate has regularly been used to predict vegetation distribution. However, the influence of vegetation on climate is a relatively new research area. The need to understand vegetation-atmosphere interactions is growing in light of the increasing atmospheric carbon dioxide concentrations and the change in climate associated with these increases. These linkages are analysed over southern Africa with the use of sophisticated computer models of the climate and vegetation. The models are used to explore some of the vegetation-atmosphere interactions for this region, but without attempting a definitive study of either system.