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Western Zambezian Grasslands
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 ('' Connochaetes taurinus''). Topography The Western Zambezian grasslands are found in areas of sandy soil north and south of the Barotse Floodplain in eastern Zambia. They are characterized by deep, sandy, nutrient-poor soils which are waterlogged during the rainy season, and become very dry during the dry season. They are intertwined with the Zambezian Cryptosepalum dry forests ecoregion, which is found on similar soils at slightly higher elevations with better drainage. Surrounding ecoregions include the Zambezian flooded grasslands of the Barotse Floodplain, the Angolan miombo woodlands to the northwest, the Central Zambezian miombo woodlands to the northeast and east, and the Zambezian Baiki ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Liuwa Plain National Park
Liuwa Plain National Park is a national park in Zambia's Western Province. "Liuwa" means "plain" in the local Liuwa language, a dialect of Lozi language, and the plains originally served as a hunting ground for Lubosi Lewanika, the Litunga (king or paramount chief) of the Lozi people. The area was designated as a protected area by Lubosi Lewanika in the early 1880s, and as a national park in 1972, when Zambia's government took over management. The nonprofit conservation organization African Parks has managed Liuwa in partnership with the Department of National Parks and Wildlife and the Barotse Royal Establishment since 2003. The park's grasslands support a variety of large mammals, including tens of thousands of blue wildebeest, whose annual migration is Africa's second-largest. Frequently sighted large predators include the cheetah, spotted hyena, and lion, the most famous of which was a female resident called Lady Liuwa, who was the subject of a ''National Geographic'' d ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Connochaetes Taurinus
The blue wildebeest (''Connochaetes taurinus''), also called the common wildebeest, white-bearded gnu or brindled gnu, is a large antelope and one of the two species of wildebeest. It is placed in the genus '' Connochaetes'' and family Bovidae, and has a close taxonomic relationship with the black wildebeest. The blue wildebeest is known to have five subspecies. This broad-shouldered antelope has a muscular, front-heavy appearance, with a distinctive, robust muzzle. Young blue wildebeest are born tawny brown, and begin to take on their adult coloration at the age of 2 months. The adults' hues range from a deep slate or bluish-gray to light gray or even grayish-brown. Both sexes possess a pair of large curved horns. The blue wildebeest is a herbivore, feeding primarily on short grasses. It forms herds which move about in loose aggregations, the animals being fast runners and extremely wary. The mating season begins at the end of the rainy season and a single calf is usually bor ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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] |
Ecoregions Of Angola
The following is a list of ecoregions in Angola, according to the Worldwide Fund for Nature (WWF). Terrestrial ecoregions ''by major habitat type'' Tropical and subtropical moist broadleaf forests * Atlantic Equatorial coastal forests Tropical and subtropical dry broadleaf forests * Zambezian Cryptosepalum dry forests Tropical and subtropical grasslands, savannas, and shrublands * Angolan miombo woodlands * Angolan mopane woodlands * Central Zambezian miombo woodlands * Southern Congolian forest–savanna mosaic * Western Congolian forest–savanna mosaic * Western Zambezian grasslands Flooded grasslands and savannas * Zambezian flooded grasslands Montane grasslands and shrublands * Angolan montane forest–grassland mosaic * Angolan scarp savanna and woodlands Deserts and xeric shrublands * Kaokoveld desert * Namibian savanna woodlands Mangroves * Central African mangroves Freshwater ecoregions ''by bioregion'' West Coastal Equatorial * Southern West Coastal Equat ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Afrotropical Ecoregions
The Afrotropical realm is one of Earth's eight biogeographic realms. It includes Africa south of the Sahara Desert, the majority of the Arabian Peninsula, the island of Madagascar, southern Iran and extreme southwestern Pakistan, and the islands of the western Indian Ocean. It was formerly known as the Ethiopian Zone or Ethiopian Region. Major ecological regions Most of the Afrotropic, with the exception of Africa's southern tip, has a tropical climate. A broad belt of deserts, including the Atlantic and Sahara deserts of northern Africa and the Arabian Desert of the Arabian Peninsula, separate the Afrotropic from the Palearctic realm, which includes northern Africa and temperate Eurasia. Sahel and Sudan South of the Sahara, two belts of tropical grassland and savanna run east and west across the continent, from the Atlantic Ocean to the Ethiopian Highlands. Immediately south of the Sahara lies the Sahel belt, a transitional zone of semi-arid short grassland and vachellia sav ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sioma Ngwezi National Park
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. Description Like most national parks in Zambia, it is unfenced allowing free movement of the animals, and it is surrounded by buffer zones where hunting is regulated, called Game Management Areas (GMAs). The West Zambezi GMA adjacent to the park is the largest in the country at 35,000 square kilometres. The park occupies part of large plain lying between the Zambezi, the Cuando River (the upper Chobe River), and the Caprivi Strip, called the Silowana Plains, lying south of the Barotse Floodplain. They were once part of the Kalahari Desert and covered in wind-blown sand-dunes, still present as gentle undulations and a sandy soil. Although the climate is now wetter, permanent rivers do not flow through the plains, only a few seasonal ones, and in the rainy season ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Köppen Climate Classification
The Köppen climate classification is one of the most widely used climate classification systems. It was first published by German-Russian climatologist Wladimir Köppen (1846–1940) in 1884, with several later modifications by Köppen, notably in 1918 and 1936. Later, the climatologist Rudolf Geiger (1894–1981) introduced some changes to the classification system, which is thus sometimes called the Köppen–Geiger climate classification system. The Köppen climate classification divides climates into five main climate groups, with each group being divided based on seasonal precipitation and temperature patterns. The five main groups are ''A'' (tropical), ''B'' (arid), ''C'' (temperate), ''D'' (continental), and ''E'' (polar). Each group and subgroup is represented by a letter. All climates are assigned a main group (the first letter). All climates except for those in the ''E'' group are assigned a seasonal precipitation subgroup (the second letter). For example, ''Af'' indi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Oceanic Climate
An oceanic climate, also known as a marine climate, is the humid temperate climate sub-type in Köppen classification ''Cfb'', typical of west coasts in higher middle latitudes of continents, generally featuring cool summers and mild winters (for their latitude), with a relatively narrow annual temperature range and few extremes of temperature. Oceanic climates can be found in both hemispheres generally between 45 and 63 latitude, most notably in northwestern Europe, northwestern America, as well as New Zealand. Precipitation Locations with oceanic climates tend to feature frequent cloudy conditions with precipitation, low hanging clouds, and frequent fronts and storms. Thunderstorms are normally few, since strong daytime heating and hot and cold air masses meet infrequently in the region. In most areas with an oceanic climate, precipitation comes in the form of rain for the majority of the year. However, some areas with this climate see some snowfall annually during winter. M ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Zambezian Baikiaea Woodlands
The Zambezian ''Baikiaea'' woodlands is an ecoregion in Africa. It includes dry deciduous forest and woodland, thicket, and grassland, dominated by the tree ''Baikiaea plurijuga''. The ecoregion has a semi-arid climate, and is a transition between more humid miombo woodlands to the north, and the drier Kalahari Acacia-Baikiaea woodlands The Kalahari Desert is a large semi-arid sandy savanna in Southern Africa extending for , covering much of Botswana, and parts of Namibia and South Africa. It is not to be confused with the Angolan, Namibian, and South African Namib coastal ... to the south.Burgess, Neil, Jennifer D'Amico Hales, Emma Underwood, et al. (2004). ''Terrestrial Ecoregions of Africa and Madagascar: A Conservation Assessment''. World Wildlife Fund. Island Press, 2004. References Afrotropical ecoregions Ecoregions of Angola Ecoregions of Botswana Ecoregions of Namibia Ecoregions of Zambia Ecoregions of Zimbabwe Tropical and subtropical grasslands, savanna ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Zambezian Cryptosepalum Dry Forests
The Zambezian dry evergreen forest, also known as the Zambezian ''Cryptosepalum'' dry forest, is a tropical dry broadleaf forest ecoregion of Southern Africa. It consists of several areas of thick forest in western Zambia and adjacent Angola. It is one of the largest areas of tropical evergreen forest outside the equatorial zone. Location The forest are found on rolling hills of sandy soil drained by the Kabompo River of northern Barotseland in Western Zambia, with one area across the border in Angola. The Western Zambezian grasslands separate the forest enclaves from one another. The Barotse Floodplain, part of the Zambezian flooded grasslands ecoregion, lies to the southwest. The Central Zambezian miombo woodlands and the Angolan miombo woodlands lie on the better soils to the east and west, respectively. The ecoregion is at 1100 to 1200 meters elevation. The climate is tropical savanna, with average annual temperature around 21°C. Flora The characteristic trees are tall ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ungulate
Ungulates ( ) are members of the diverse clade Ungulata which primarily consists of large mammals with hooves. These include odd-toed ungulates such as horses, rhinoceroses, and tapirs; and even-toed ungulates such as cattle, pigs, giraffes, camels, sheep, deer, and hippopotamuses. Cetaceans such as whales, dolphins, and porpoises are also classified as even-toed ungulates, although they do not have hooves. Most terrestrial ungulates use the hoofed tips of their toes to support their body weight while standing or moving. The term means, roughly, "being hoofed" or "hoofed animal". As a descriptive term, "ungulate" normally excludes cetaceans as they do not possess most of the typical morphological characteristics of other ungulates, but recent discoveries indicate that they were also descended from early artiodactyls. Ungulates are typically herbivorous and many employ specialized gut bacteria to allow them to digest cellulose. Some modern species, such as pigs, are omnivorous, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Afrotropical Realm
The Afrotropical realm is one of Earth's eight biogeographic realms. It includes Africa south of the Sahara Desert, the majority of the Arabian Peninsula, the island of Madagascar, southern Iran and extreme southwestern Pakistan, and the islands of the western Indian Ocean. It was formerly known as the Ethiopian Zone or Ethiopian Region. Major ecological regions Most of the Afrotropic, with the exception of Africa's southern tip, has a tropical climate. A broad belt of deserts, including the Atlantic and Sahara deserts of northern Africa and the Arabian Desert of the Arabian Peninsula, separate the Afrotropic from the Palearctic realm, which includes northern Africa and temperate Eurasia. Sahel and Sudan South of the Sahara, two belts of tropical grassland and savanna run east and west across the continent, from the Atlantic Ocean to the Ethiopian Highlands. Immediately south of the Sahara lies the Sahel belt, a transitional zone of semi-arid short grassland and vachellia sa ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
