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Zambezian and mopane woodlands | |
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Ecology | |
Realm | Afrotropic |
Biome | Tropical and subtropical grasslands, savannas, and shrublands |
Geography | |
Area | 473,200 km2 (182,700 sq mi) |
Countries | Botswana, Eswatini, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, South Africa, Zambia, and Zimbabwe |
Conservation | |
Conservation status | relatively stable/intact |
The Zambezian and mopane woodlands is a tropical and subtropical grasslands, savannas, and shrublands ecoregion of southeastern Africa.
The ecoregion is characterized by the mopane tree (Colophospermum mopane), and extends across portions of Botswana, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, South Africa, Eswatini, Zambia, and Zimbabwe, including the lower basins of the Zambezi and Limpopo rivers.
The more humid Southern Zanzibar-Inhambane coastal forest mosaic and Maputaland coastal forest mosaic ecoregions lie between the Zambezian and mopane woodlands and the Indian Ocean. The Zambezian and mopane woodlands lie generally at a lower elevation, and has lower rainfall, than the neighboring miombo woodlands ecoregions, which occupy the plateaus and escarpments above the river lowlands. It is bounded to the southwest by the Drakensberg Range and Southern African Bushveld and Drakensberg montane grassland, woodland, and forest ecoregions. To the west, it transitions to the drier Zambezian Baikiaea woodlands and Kalahari Acacia-Baikiaea woodlands on the Kalahari sands of the Southern African Plateau.
Protected areas in the ecoregion include:
Zambia is a landlocked country located in Southern Africa, to the east of Angola. It has a total area of 752,618 square kilometres, of which 9 220 km2 is water.
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.
Tropical and subtropical grasslands, savannas, and shrublands is a terrestrial biome defined by the World Wide Fund for Nature. The biome is dominated by grass and/or shrubs located in semi-arid to semi-humid climate regions of subtropical and tropical latitudes. Tropical grasslands are mainly found between 5 degrees and 20 degrees in both North and south of the Equator.
The Miombo woodland is a tropical and subtropical grasslands, savannas, and shrublands biome located primarily in Central Africa. It includes four woodland savanna ecoregions characterized by the dominant presence of Brachystegia and Julbernardia species of trees, and has a range of climates ranging from humid to semi-arid, and tropical to subtropical or even temperate. The trees characteristically shed their leaves for a short period in the dry season to reduce water loss and produce a flush of new leaves just before the onset of the wet season with rich gold and red colours masking the underlying chlorophyll, reminiscent of autumn colours in the temperate zone.
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.
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 Zambezian flooded grasslands is an ecoregion of southern and eastern Africa that is rich in wildlife.
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 Southern Zanzibar–Inhambane coastal forest mosaic, also known as the Southern Swahili coastal forests and woodlands, is a tropical moist broadleaf forest ecoregion of eastern Africa. It is a southern variation of Northern Zanzibar-Inhambane coastal forest mosaic. The ecoregion supports habitats of forest, savanna and swamps. The southern portion of the ecoregion is not as well studied due to the 1977-1992 civil war in Mozambique.
The Zambezian coastal flooded savanna is a flooded grasslands and savannas ecoregion in Mozambique. It includes the coastal flooded savannas and grasslands in the deltas of the Zambezi, Pungwe, Buzi, and Save rivers.
The Western Zambezian grasslands is a tropical grassland ecoregion of eastern Zambia and adjacent parts of Angola. It is situated in two sections, to the north and south of the Barotse Floodplain. The region supports herds of ungulates, including Zambia's largest herd of Blue Wildebeast.
The Southern miombo woodlands is a tropical grasslands and woodlands ecoregion extending across portions of Malawi, Mozambique, Zambia, and Zimbabwe.
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.