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Ecoregions Of Zambia
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 (or ecozone). Three terrestrial biomes are well represented in the country (with an additional one extending a few kilometres over the border). The distribution of the biomes and ecoregions is governed mainly by the physical environment, especially climate. Physical environment The main aspects of the physical environment which determine the biomes and ecoregions of Zambia are: climate, specifically rainfall amount, length of the dry season, and temperature, which is related to elevation; and soils and bushfires. Climate Rainfall Rainfall amount is the most important determinant of the type and distribution of ecoregions. Zambia experiences good rainfa ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
World Wildlife Fund
The World Wide Fund for Nature Inc. (WWF) is an international non-governmental organization founded in 1961 that works in the field of wilderness preservation and the reduction of human impact on the environment. It was formerly named the World Wildlife Fund, which remains its official name in Canada and the United States. WWF is the world's largest conservation organization, with over five million supporters worldwide, working in more than 100 countries and supporting around 3,000 conservation and environmental projects. They have invested over $1 billion in more than 12,000 conservation initiatives since 1995. WWF is a foundation with 65% of funding from individuals and bequests, 17% from government sources (such as the World Bank, DFID, and USAID) and 8% from corporations in 2020. WWF aims to "stop the degradation of the planet's natural environment and to build a future in which humans live in harmony with nature." The Living Planet Report has been published every two ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Edaphic
Edaphology (from Greek , ''edaphos'', "ground",, '' -logia'') is concerned with the influence of soils on living beings, particularly plants. It is one of two main divisions of soil science, the other being pedology. Edaphology includes the study of how soil influences humankind's use of land for plant growth as well as people's overall use of the land. General subfields within edaphology are agricultural soil science (known by the term agrology in some regions) and environmental soil science. (Pedology deals with pedogenesis, soil morphology, and soil classification.) In Russia, edaphology is considered equivalent to pedology, but is recognized to have an applied sense consistent with agrophysics and agrochemistry outside Russia. History Xenophon (431–355 BC), and Cato (234–149 BC), were early edaphologists. Xenophon noted the beneficial effect of turning a cover crop into the earth. Cato wrote De Agri Cultura ("On Farming") which recommended tillage, crop ro ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Dambo
A dambo is a class of complex shallow wetlands in central, southern and eastern Africa, particularly in Zambia, Malawi and Zimbabwe. They are generally found in higher rainfall flat plateau areas and have river-like branching forms which in themselves are not very large but combined add up to a large area. Dambos have been estimated to comprise 12.5% of the area of Zambia. Similar African words include ''mbuga'' (commonly used in East Africa), ''matoro'' (Mashonaland), '' vlei'' (South Africa), ''fadama'' (Nigeria), and ''bolis'' (Sierra Leone); the French ''bas-fond'' and German ''Spültal'' have also been suggested as referring to similar grassy wetlands.Andrew S. Goudie, "The Geomorphology of the Seasonal Tropics" in William M. Adams, ''et al.'' (editors), ''The Physical geography of Africa'' (Oxford: University Press, 1996), p. 152 Characteristics Dambos are characterised by grasses, rushes and sedges, contrasting with surrounding woodland such as miombo woodland. They may be su ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Miombo
The Miombo woodland is a tropical and subtropical grasslands, savannas, and shrublands biome (in the World Wide Fund for Nature scheme) located primarily in Central Africa. It includes four woodland savanna ecoregions (listed below) 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 woodland gets its name from ''miombo'' (plural, singular ''muombo''), the Bemba word for ''Brachystegia'' species. Other Bantu languages of the region, such as Swahili and Shona, have related if not identical words, such as Swahili ''miyombo'' (singu ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Legume
A legume () is a plant in the family Fabaceae (or Leguminosae), or the fruit or seed of such a plant. When used as a dry grain, the seed is also called a pulse. Legumes are grown agriculturally, primarily for human consumption, for livestock forage and silage, and as soil-enhancing green manure. Well-known legumes include beans, soybeans, chickpeas, peanuts, lentils, lupins, mesquite, carob, tamarind, alfalfa, and clover. Legumes produce a botanically unique type of fruit – a simple dry fruit that develops from a simple carpel and usually dehisces (opens along a seam) on two sides. Legumes are notable in that most of them have symbiotic nitrogen-fixing bacteria in structures called root nodules. For that reason, they play a key role in crop rotation. Terminology The term ''pulse'', as used by the United Nations' Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), is reserved for legume crops harvested solely for the dry seed. This excludes green beans and green peas, which are ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Luena River, Western Zambia
The Luena River of Zambia's Western Province rises just west of the Kafue National Park and flows west through Kaoma to become a tributary of the Zambezi. In the dry season, just below its confluence with its seasonal tributary the Luampa River, it ends in swamps or marshes on the Luena Flats east of Lukulu. In the wet season the Luena Flats flood and overflow into the Ndandu channel or floodplain which leads south-west to the Barotse Floodplain of Zambezi north of Limulunga and Mongu. It is the widest 'tributary' floodplain of the Barotse Floodplain, reaching 20 km wide at its mouth. In the dry season, vehicle tracks cross the Luena/Ndandu floodplain between north and south, allowing a direct route between Mongu and Lukulu and North-Western Province, Zambia North-Western Province is one of ten Provinces of Zambia. It covers an area of , has a population of 727,044 and a population density was 5.80 per square kilometre as of 2010. It is the most sparsely populated provi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Western Province, Zambia
Western Province is one of the 10 provinces in Zambia and encompasses most of the area formerly known as Barotseland. The capital is Mongu, and together with the neighbouring town of Limulunga, Mongu is treated as the capital of Barotseland. Geography The geography of the province is dominated by the Barotse Floodplain of the Zambezi river, extending from the confluence of the Zambezi with the Lungwebungu and Kabompo Rivers at the northern border of the province, to a point below Senanga and above the Ngonye Falls in the south. This floodplain is inundated from December to June, and is fed by other rivers with their own floodplains, and serves as a vast reservoir storing the waters of the Zambezi. The seasonal flooding is very important to agriculture in the province, providing natural irrigation for the grasslands on which huge herds of cattle depend, and bringing water to the settlements along the edges of the plain. Away from the Zambezi and its tributaries, much of the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Zambezi River
The Zambezi River (also spelled Zambeze and Zambesi) is the fourth-longest river in Africa, the longest east-flowing river in Africa and the largest flowing into the Indian Ocean from Africa. Its drainage basin covers , slightly less than half of the Nile's. The river rises in Zambia and flows through eastern Angola, along the north-eastern border of Namibia and the northern border of Botswana, then along the border between Zambia and Zimbabwe to Mozambique, where it crosses the country to empty into the Indian Ocean. The Zambezi's most noted feature is Victoria Falls. Its other falls include the Chavuma Falls at the border between Zambia and Angola, and Ngonye Falls near Sioma in western Zambia. The two main sources of hydroelectric power on the river are the Kariba Dam, which provides power to Zambia and Zimbabwe, and the Cahora Bassa Dam in Mozambique, which provides power to Mozambique and South Africa. Additionally, two smaller power stations are along the Zambezi R ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Kabompo River
The Kabompo River is one of the main tributaries of the upper Zambezi River. It flows entirely in Zambia, rising to the east of the source of the Zambezi, in North-Western Province along the watershed between the Zambezi and Congo river basins which also forms the border between Zambia and DR Congo. It is the second deepest river in Africa and one of the top five in the world. Geography The Kabompo River flows south-west through miombo woodland, then a remote Cryptosepalum dry forest ecoregion, with the West Lunga National Park on its west bank. After flowing past the town of Kabompo, it develops a swampy floodplain up to 5 km wide. The Kabompo Ferry on its lower course carries the main north–south gravel highway on the eastern side of the Zambezi. The river enters the Zambezi north of the town of Lukulu, at the north end of the Barotse Floodplain. Its main tributaries are the Western Lunga River which flows from the north, and the Dongwe River from the east. See a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
North-Western Province, Zambia
North-Western Province is one of ten Provinces of Zambia. It covers an area of , has a population of 727,044 and a population density was 5.80 per square kilometre as of 2010. It is the most sparsely populated province in the country. The provincial capital is Solwezi. The literacy rate stood at 63 per cent against a national average of 70.2 per cent. The rural population constituted 77.45%, while the urban population was 22.55%. North-Western Province is bordered along Angola in the west, the Democratic Republic of Congo (DR Congo) in the north, Copperbelt Province in the east, Central in the south-east, and Western Province in the south-west. Agriculture was the major profession and Sorghum was the major crop in the province with 1,038 metric tonnes, constituting 8.98% of the national output. The unemployment rate was 14 per cent and the general unemployment rate for youth stood at 31 per cent as of 2008. Zambezi Airport, Solwezi Airport and Kalumbila Airport are the onl ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
West Lunga National Park
West Lunga National Park is a remote wildlife haven in dense forest in the North-Western Province of Zambia. It lies between the West Lunga River and Kabompo River about 10 km north of the gravel road from Solwezi to Kabompo, and covers about 1700 km². The national park is the only one in Zambia covered by forest, categorised in the small Cryptosepalum dry forests ecoregion, which exists only in a few patches in the south west of the province extending a little over the border into Angola. ''Cryptosepalum'' trees (called "mukwe" locally) are evergreen and grow densely with a closed canopy. The ecoregion forms the largest evergreen forest in Africa outside of the equatorial zone. Although the rainfall in the area is quite high (above 1,000 mm per year) the soils are sandy and well drained so apart from the rivers there is a lack of surface water. A few patches of Miombo woodland and grassland also exist in the park. The park lacks management, facilities, and roa ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Legume
A legume () is a plant in the family Fabaceae (or Leguminosae), or the fruit or seed of such a plant. When used as a dry grain, the seed is also called a pulse. Legumes are grown agriculturally, primarily for human consumption, for livestock forage and silage, and as soil-enhancing green manure. Well-known legumes include beans, soybeans, chickpeas, peanuts, lentils, lupins, mesquite, carob, tamarind, alfalfa, and clover. Legumes produce a botanically unique type of fruit – a simple dry fruit that develops from a simple carpel and usually dehisces (opens along a seam) on two sides. Legumes are notable in that most of them have symbiotic nitrogen-fixing bacteria in structures called root nodules. For that reason, they play a key role in crop rotation. Terminology The term ''pulse'', as used by the United Nations' Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), is reserved for legume crops harvested solely for the dry seed. This excludes green beans and green peas, which are ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
