Sango Bay forests

Last updated

Sango Bay forests are distinctive forests found in southwestern Uganda, near the border with Tanzania. The Sango Bay forests grow on seasonally-flooded lowlands near on the lower reaches of the Kagera River, just west of where it empties into Lake Victoria.

Contents

Geography

The Sango Bay forests lie in Rakai District. They extend north and west of the lower Kagera River, on alluvial soils deposited by the river – predominantly clay, with sandy soils in the northern portion.

The town of Minziro lies in the center of the forested area, near the Tanzanian border. The towns of Kanabulemu and Sango Bay are on the forests' eastern edge.

Climate

The climate of the region is tropical. Average annual rainfall ranges from 1,250 and 2,125 mm, with two rainy seasons. The main rainy season is from March to May, with shorter rains falling during September through November. Average annual temperatures range from 16º to 26 °C. [1]

Seasonal floods occur during the March to May rainy season.

Ecology

The Sango Bay forests are a forest-wetland ecosystem with swamp forests, Acacia woodlands, grasslands, and papyrus swamps.

The swamp forests, which extend into the adjacent Minziro Forest of Tanzania, are a distinctive plant community, blending characteristic species from the lowland Guineo-Congolian forests found further west in the Congo Basin with Afromontane species characteristic of Africa's mountains. Historically Baikieaea insignis subsp. minor and Afrocarpus dawei were the predominant canopy trees, although widespread logging has altered the species composition of the forest. [2]

The forests are home to populations of the monkeys Ruwenzori colobus (Colobus angolensis ruwenzori) [3] and Uganda mangabey (Lophocebus ugandae).

Savannas of Vachellia kirkii are found along seasonally-flooded riverbanks. Papyrus swamps grow in permanently-flooded areas along rivers.

The grasslands are predominantly the tussock grasses Miscanthidium violaceum , Loudetia kagerensis , and Themeda triandra . [4]

Sango Bay Forest Reserve

The Sango Bay Forest Reserve is a protected area covering 578 km². It consists of five blocks – Malabigambo (110.78 km²), Kaiso (18.93 km²), Namalala (23, 97 km²), Tero west (26.83km²) and Tero east (10.67 km²). [5]

About 180 km² (31%) of the reserve is forested, while 400 km² (68.9%) is grassland. [6]

Despite its official protected status, unregulated logging has depleted the forests in the reserve, altering the forest structure and its species composition. Afrocarpus dawei, once a dominant canopy tree, is now scarce.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Swamp</span> A forested wetland

A swamp is a forested wetland. Swamps are considered to be transition zones because both land and water play a role in creating this environment. Swamps vary in size and are located all around the world. The water of a swamp may be fresh water, brackish water, or seawater. Freshwater swamps form along large rivers or lakes where they are critically dependent upon rainwater and seasonal flooding to maintain natural water level fluctuations. Saltwater swamps are found along tropical and subtropical coastlines. Some swamps have hammocks, or dry-land protrusions, covered by aquatic vegetation, or vegetation that tolerates periodic inundation or soil saturation. The two main types of swamp are "true" or swamp forests and "transitional" or shrub swamps. In the boreal regions of Canada, the word swamp is colloquially used for what is more formally termed a bog, fen, or muskeg. Some of the world's largest swamps are found along major rivers such as the Amazon, the Mississippi, and the Congo.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Afrotropical realm</span> One of Earths eight biogeographic realms

The Afrotropical realm is one of the Earth's eight biogeographic realms. It includes Sub-Saharan Africa, the southern Arabian Peninsula, the island of Madagascar, and the islands of the western Indian Ocean. It was formerly known as the Ethiopian Zone or Ethiopian Region.

The Nyungwe Forest is located in southwestern Rwanda, on the border with Burundi, where it is contiguous with the Kibira National Park to the south, and Lake Kivu and the Democratic Republic of the Congo to the west. The Nyungwe rainforest is probably the best preserved montane rainforest in Africa. It is located in the watershed between the basin of the Congo River to the west and the basin of the river Nile to the east. From the east side of the Nyungwe forest comes also one of the branches of the Nile sources.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Afromontane</span> Subregion of the Afrotropical realm

The Afromontane regions are subregions of the Afrotropical realm, one of the Earth's eight biogeographic realms, covering the plant and animal species found in the mountains of Africa and the southern Arabian Peninsula. The Afromontane regions of Africa are discontinuous, separated from each other by lower-lying areas, and are sometimes referred to as the Afromontane archipelago, as their distribution is analogous to a series of sky islands.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lake Mburo National Park</span> National park in Uganda

Lake Mburo National Park is a national park located in Nyabushozi County, Kiruhura District in Uganda.

Afrocarpus dawei is a species of conifer in the family Podocarpaceae. It is native to Africa, where it occurs in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Tanzania, and Uganda.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Uganda mangabey</span> Subspecies of mammal

The Uganda mangabey is a subspecies of the grey-cheeked mangabey, an Old World monkey, found only in Uganda and in the Minziro Forest Reserve, just over the border in Tanzania. Colin Groves upgraded the Ugandan population of this crested mangabey to the new species L. ugandae on 16 February 2007, but this is not widely accepted. This subspecies is significantly smaller than the other subspecies of grey-cheeked mangabey, with a shorter skull and smaller face. 2018 was the most recent year in which the International Union for Conservation of Nature assessed the conservation status of L. albigena ugandae, describing it as being of vulnerable.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Wildlife of Burundi</span>

The wildlife of Burundi is composed of its flora and fauna. The small, landlocked country is home to 2,950 species of plants, 596 birds, 163 species of mammals, 52 species of reptiles, 56 species of amphibians, and 215 fish species. The wildlife has been drastically reduced in recent years, mainly on account of intense population pressure, conversion of large areas of forest into agricultural land, and extensive livestock farming. The protected area encompasses little more than 5% of the total area of the country.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Wildlife of the Gambia</span>

The wildlife of the Gambia is dictated by several habitat zones over the Gambia's land area of about 10,000 km2. It is bound in the south by the savanna and on the north by the Sudanian woodlands. The habitats host abundant indigenous plants and animals, in addition to migrant species and newly planted species. They vary widely and consist of the marine system, coastal zone, estuary with mangrove vegetation coupled with Banto Faros, river banks with brackish and fresh water zones, swamps covered with forests and many wetlands.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Wildlife of Uganda</span>

The wildlife of Uganda is composed of its flora and fauna. Uganda has a wide variety of different habitats, including mountains, hills, tropical rainforest, woodland, freshwater lakes, swamps and savanna with scattered clumps of trees. The country has a biodiverse flora and fauna reflecting this range of habitats and is known for its primates, including gorillas and chimpanzees. There are ten national parks and thirteen wildlife reserves; some 345 species of mammal and 1020 species of bird have been recorded in the country.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Wildlife of Rwanda</span>

The wildlife of Rwanda comprising its flora and fauna, in prehistoric times, consisted of montane forest in one third the territory of present-day Rwanda. However, natural vegetation is now mostly restricted to the three national parks and four small forest reserves, with terraced agriculture dominating the rest of the country.

Mitragyna rubrostipulata is a tree indigenous to East Africa. It is native from Ethiopia through east-central tropical Africa to Mozambique. It grows in wet forests up to 2,000 m above sea level and is abundant in swamp forests along Lake Victoria.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nyabarongo River</span> River in Rwanda

The Nyabarongo is a major river in Rwanda, part of the upper headwaters of the Nile. With a total length of 351 km (218 mi), it is the longest river entirely in Rwanda. It is extended 421 km (262 mi) in Lake Rweru including a 69 km (43 mi) upper course of Kagera River before joining into Ruvuvu River to form the Kagera River. The river begins its course at the confluence of the rivers Mbirurume and Mwogo in the South West of the country. These two rivers themselves begin in Nyungwe Forest, and are considered by some to be the most distant source of the Nile. From its start, Nyabarongo flows northward for 85 km, and forms the border between the Western and Southern Provinces. At the confluence with the river Mukungwa, the river changes course and flows eastward for 12 km, then to a more South Eastern course for the last 200 km. For the longest stretch of this course, the river serves as the boundary between the Northern and Southern Provinces, then between the City of Kigali and the Southern Province, and lastly between the City of Kigali and the Eastern Province.

<i>Baikiaea insignis</i> Species of legume

Baikiaea insignis is a species of legume in the family Fabaceae.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Minziro Forest Reserve</span>

The Minziro (Nature) Forest Reserve is a 24,841 ha (95.91 sq mi) conservation area along the Kagera River in Bukoba district of northwestern Tanzania. It protects one of the largest forests in Tanzania, of a forest type that is unique in the country. It was gazetted in 1947 and is situated at an elevation of around 1,150 m (3,770 ft). in fairly level terrain. The forest is continuous with the Malabigambo Forest over the nearby Uganda border. The largest part consists of BaikiaeaPodocarpus seasonal swamp forests while the remainder is flooded acacia woodlands.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sango Bay</span> Ugandan settlement

Sango Bay is a settlement in the southern part of the Central Region of Uganda.

The Ufipa Plateau is a highland in southwestern Tanzania. It lies mostly in Rukwa Region, near the border with Zambia. The plateau is named for the Fipa people who inhabit it.

The Battle of Simba Hills or Battle of Kakuuto was a conflict of the Uganda–Tanzania War that took place over several days in mid-February 1979 around the Simba Hills in southern Uganda, near the town of Kakuuto. Tanzanian troops advanced over the Ugandan border and assaulted the Ugandans' positions, forcing them to retreat.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Victoria Basin forest–savanna mosaic</span>

The Victoria Basin forest–grassland mosaic is an ecoregion that lies mostly in Uganda and extends into neighboring countries. The ecoregion is centered north and west of Lake Victoria, with an outlier on the border of Ethiopia and South Sudan.

References

  1. Galabuzi, Charles. (2015). "Conservation and Local Utilization of Key Anti-Malarial Medicinal Plants in the Sango Bay Area, Southern Uganda." https://www.researchgate.net/publication/277569902_Conservation_and_Local_Utilization_of_Key_Anti-Malarial_Medicinal_Plants_in_the_Sango_Bay_Area_Southern_Uganda
  2. Kamukala, G. L., and S. A. Crafter, eds. (1993). Wetlands of Tanzania: Proceedings of a Seminar on the Wetlands of Tanzania, Morogoro, Tanzania, 27–29 November 1991. Volume 10 of The IUCN Wetlands Programme. IUCN, 1993.
  3. Nicholas E. Newton-Fisher, Hugh Notman, James Durward Paterson, Vernon Reynolds, eds. (2007). Primates of Western Uganda. Springer Science & Business Media, 2007.
  4. Galabuzi, Charles. (2015). "Conservation and Local Utilization of Key Anti-Malarial Medicinal Plants in the Sango Bay Area, Southern Uganda." https://www.researchgate.net/publication/277569902_Conservation_and_Local_Utilization_of_Key_Anti-Malarial_Medicinal_Plants_in_the_Sango_Bay_Area_Southern_Uganda
  5. Galabuzi, Charles. (2015). "Conservation and Local Utilization of Key Anti-Malarial Medicinal Plants in the Sango Bay Area, Southern Uganda." https://www.researchgate.net/publication/277569902_Conservation_and_Local_Utilization_of_Key_Anti-Malarial_Medicinal_Plants_in_the_Sango_Bay_Area_Southern_Uganda
  6. Galabuzi, Charles. (2015). "Conservation and Local Utilization of Key Anti-Malarial Medicinal Plants in the Sango Bay Area, Southern Uganda." https://www.researchgate.net/publication/277569902_Conservation_and_Local_Utilization_of_Key_Anti-Malarial_Medicinal_Plants_in_the_Sango_Bay_Area_Southern_Uganda