| Baikiaea plurijuga | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Tree in Namibia | |
Scientific classification  | |
| Kingdom: | Plantae |
| Clade: | Tracheophytes |
| Clade: | Angiosperms |
| Clade: | Eudicots |
| Clade: | Rosids |
| Order: | Fabales |
| Family: | Fabaceae |
| Genus: | Baikiaea |
| Species: | B. plurijuga |
| Binomial name | |
| Baikiaea plurijuga | |
 | |
| The range of Baikiaea woodlands | |
Baikiaea plurijuga, known as African teak, Mukusi, Rhodesian teak, Zambian teak, or Zambesi redwood, is a species of Afrotropical tree from the legume family, the Fabaceae from southern Africa.
Baikiaea plurijuga is a medium-sized deciduous tree with pinnate leaves, each with 4-5 pairs of opposed leaflets. They show pink to deep mauve flowers, have yellow stamens, and are clustered in large axillary racemes; they flower from November to April. The fruit are flattened, woody pods with a hooked tip that splits explosively, sending the seeds out over some distance. [2]
Baikiaea plurijuga is confined to the Kalahari sands [2] , and its dominant woodland is known as Gusu woodland. This woodland grows on the deep, aeolian, and fluvial Kalahari Sands, which have virtually no clay or silt. These sands provide exceptional growing conditions for deep-rooting trees, but the deficiency in clay restricts tree growth to sites holding nutrients in organic matter. [3] [4]
Baikiaea plurijuga occurs in southern Angola, northern Botswana, northern Namibia, southern Zambia, and northern Zimbabwe. [2]
The wood of Baikiaea plurijuga forms a dense hardwood, making it difficult to work. Still, it is valued for its termite resistance and resistance to rot and is used for railway sleepers, construction, and furniture making. [5] The commercial timber industry has over-exploited extensive teak forests in some parts of its range (e.g., in Sesheke District, Zambia). [3] However, Baikiaea plurijuga is not listed in the CITES Appendices. [5]
Baikiaea plurijuga is classified as Near Threatened because its forests have been considerably reduced due to high logging levels over the last half-century. Older, mature trees are also scarce. However, the species' geographic range has only diminished by a fraction as the species can regenerate readily in modified habitats and tolerates coppicing very well. It is legally protected in Namibia. [1]
A woodland is, in the broad sense, land covered with woody plants, or in a narrow sense, synonymous with wood, a low-density forest forming open habitats with plenty of sunlight and limited shade. Some savannas may also be woodlands, such as savanna woodland, where trees and shrubs form a light canopy.
The dark chanting goshawk is a bird of prey in the family Accipitridae which is found across much of sub-Saharan Africa and southern Arabia, with an isolated and declining population in southern Morocco.
Pterocarpus angolensis is a species of Pterocarpus native to southern Africa, in Angola, Mozambique, Namibia, South Africa, Eswatini, Tanzania, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Zimbabwe, and Zambia. It is a protected tree in South Africa. The name Kiaat, although Afrikaans, is sometimes used outside South Africa as well. In Zimbabwe, depending on what region you are in, it is known as Mukwa( which it is also called in Zambia) or Mubvamaropa.
Sioma Ngwezi National Park is a 5,000-square-kilometre park in the south west corner of Zambia. It is undeveloped and rarely visited, lacking roads and being off the usual tourist tracks, but this may change in the future.
Baikiaea is a genus of flowering plants in the legume family, Fabaceae. It includes six species of trees native to sub-Saharan Africa. Species range from Nigeria eastwards to Uganda and Tanzania and south to Zimbabwe, Botswana, and Namibia. Habitats range from lowland tropical rain forest to seasonally dry forest and woodland or savannas on well-drained soils.
The Ovambo or Ovampo sparrowhawk, also known as Hilgert's sparrowhawk, is a species of sub-Saharan African bird of prey in the family Accipitridae. It takes its name from the Ovamboland in northern Namibia.
The square-tailed nightjar is a species of nightjar in the family Caprimulgidae which is native to tropical and subtropical woodlands of the Afrotropics. It has an extensive range south of the African equator. Despite not having a completely "square tail", its naming highlights a distinguishing field mark. The similarly plumaged slender-tailed nightjar, found in dry bush country of the tropics, differs namely by its protruding central tail feathers. It is alternatively known as the Gabon nightjar or Gaboon nightjar or the Mozambique nightjar.
Burchell's starling or Burchell's glossy-starling is a species of starling in the family Sturnidae. The monogamous and presumably sedentary species is native to dry and mesic woodlands and savannah of southern Africa. The name of this bird commemorates the English naturalist William John Burchell.
The white-browed scrub robin, also known as the red-backed scrub-robin, is a species of bird in the family Muscicapidae. It is native to sub-Saharan Africa, especially East and southern Africa. Within range, its Turdus-like song is one of the often-heard sounds of the bush. The flitting of the tail is characteristic of this species, but also of some near relatives.
The Marico sunbird is a species of bird in the family Nectariniidae, which is native to woodlands of the eastern and southern Afrotropics.The bird is typically found in the southeast of the continent of Africa. It is of least concern on the IUCN Red List and has an unknown population size that has yet to be quantified. The Marico sunbird has conservation regions located all over its range, so it is unlikely to go extinct.
The white-bellied sunbird, also known as the white-breasted sunbird, is a species of bird in the family Nectariniidae. It is found in Angola, Botswana, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Eswatini, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, South Africa, Tanzania, Zambia, and Zimbabwe.
The broad-tailed paradise whydah is a species of bird in the family Viduidae. It is found in woodland and acacia savanna habitat in Sub-Saharan Africa from Angola to Uganda, Tanzania and Mozambique. A brood parasite, it has a wide range and the International Union for Conservation of Nature has assessed it as being of least concern.
Bennett's woodpecker is a species of bird in the family Picidae. It is found in woodlands and bushes in Africa. The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) has assessed it as a least-concern species.
The biomes and ecoregions in the ecology of Zambia are described, listed and mapped here, following the World Wildlife Fund's classification scheme for terrestrial ecoregions, and the WWF freshwater ecoregion classification for rivers, lakes and wetlands. Zambia is in the Zambezian region of the Afrotropical biogeographic realm. Three terrestrial biomes are well represented in the country . The distribution of the biomes and ecoregions is governed mainly by the physical environment, especially climate.
The Kalahari Acacia-Baikiaea woodlands are an ecoregion located in Botswana, northern Namibia, South Africa and Zimbabwe.
Bwabwata National Park is a protected area in northeastern Namibia that was established in 2007 and covers 6,274 km2 (2,422 sq mi). It was created by merging Namibia's Caprivi Game Park and Mahango Game Park. It is situated in the Zambezi and Kavango East regions, extending along the Caprivi Strip. It is bounded by the Okavango River to the west and the Kwando River to the east. Angola lies to the north and Botswana to the south.
The Zambezian and mopane woodlands is a tropical and subtropical grasslands, savannas, and shrublands ecoregion of southeastern Africa.
Entandrophragma caudatum, or mountain mahogany, is a large Southern African tree belonging to the mahogany family and found in eastern and north eastern South Africa, Eswatini, Botswana, Angola, the Caprivi Strip region of Namibia, Zimbabwe, Zambia and Malawi. Kew currently recognises 12 other species of Entandrophragma, all with a tropical and sub-tropical African distribution.
African teak is a common name for several plants and may refer to:
The Zambezian region is a large biogeographical region in Africa. The Zambezian region includes woodlands, savannas, grasslands, and thickets, extending from east to west in a broad belt across the continent. The Zambezian region lies south of the rainforests of the Guineo-Congolian region. The Zambezian region is bounded by deserts and xeric shrublands on the southwest, the Highveld grasslands of South Africa to the south, and the subtropical Maputaland forests on the southeast.
