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Zambezian Region
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. Vegetation types The dominant vegetation types in the Zambezian region include: * Dry deciduous forest and scrub forest * Zambezian wooded grassland * Itigi deciduous thicket * Miombo woodland * Mopane woodland * Undifferentiated woodland * Zambezian flooded grasslands and savannas * Zambezian halophytics Biodiversity Botanist Frank White estimated that the region has 8500 species of plants, of which 4590, or 54%, are endemic. The Zambezian region is a centre of diversity for tree species in the genera ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Biogeography
Biogeography is the study of the distribution of species and ecosystems in geographic space and through geological time. Organisms and biological communities often vary in a regular fashion along geographic gradients of latitude, elevation, isolation and habitat area.Brown University, "Biogeography." Accessed February 24, 2014. . Phytogeography is the branch of biogeography that studies the distribution of plants. Zoogeography is the branch that studies distribution of animals. Mycogeography is the branch that studies distribution of fungi, such as mushrooms. Knowledge of spatial variation in the numbers and types of organisms is as vital to us today as it was to our early human ancestors, as we adapt to heterogeneous but geographically predictable environments. Biogeography is an integrative field of inquiry that unites concepts and information from ecology, evolutionary biology, taxonomy, geology, physical geography, palaeontology, and climatology.Dansereau, Pierre. ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Eastern Miombo Woodlands
The Eastern miombo woodlands (AT0706) are an ecoregion of grassland and woodland in northern Mozambique, southern Tanzania, and southeastern Malawi. Setting These species-rich savanna ecosystems cover wide areas of gentle hills and low valleys containing rivers and dambo wetlands. The region is located on the East African Plateau, extending from inland south-eastern Tanzania to cover the northern half of Mozambique, with small areas in neighbouring Malawi. They are a section of the belt of miombo woodland that crosses Africa south of the Congo rain forests and the savannas of East Africa. The ecoregion covers an area of . It is bounded by the Northern and Southern Zanzibar-Inhambane coastal forest mosaic to the east along the Indian Ocean, and by the Zambezian and mopane woodlands in the Zambezi lowlands to the southwest, and by Lake Malawi to the west. To the north and northwest, the forested Eastern Arc Mountains separate the eastern miombo woodlands from the Southern Acacia-C ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Zambezian Region
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. Vegetation types The dominant vegetation types in the Zambezian region include: * Dry deciduous forest and scrub forest * Zambezian wooded grassland * Itigi deciduous thicket * Miombo woodland * Mopane woodland * Undifferentiated woodland * Zambezian flooded grasslands and savannas * Zambezian halophytics Biodiversity Botanist Frank White estimated that the region has 8500 species of plants, of which 4590, or 54%, are endemic. The Zambezian region is a centre of diversity for tree species in the genera ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Zambezian And Mopane Woodlands
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 Zamb ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Zambezian Halophytics
The Makgadikgadi Pan (Tswana pronunciation ), a salt pan situated in the middle of the dry savanna of north-eastern Botswana, is one of the largest salt flats in the world. The pan is all that remains of the formerly enormous Lake Makgadikgadi, which once covered an area larger than Switzerland, but dried up tens of thousands of years ago. Recent studies of human mitochondrial DNA suggest that modern ''Homo sapiens'' first began to evolve in this region some 200,000 years ago, when it was a vast, exceptionally fertile area of lakes, rivers, marshes, woodlands and grasslands especially favorable for habitation by evolving hominins and other mammals. Location and description Lying southeast of the Okavango Delta and surrounded by the Kalahari Desert, Makgadikgadi is technically not a single pan, but many pans with sandy desert in between, the largest being the Sua (Sowa), Ntwetwe and Nxai Pans. The largest individual pan is about . In comparison, Salar de Uyuni in Boli ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Zambezian Flooded Grasslands
The Zambezian flooded grasslands is an ecoregion of southern and eastern Africa that is rich in wildlife. Setting The Zambezian flooded grasslands can be found on seasonally- or permanently-flooded lowlands in the basin of the Zambezi and neighboring river basins. These enclaves lie in the Zambezian region, a broad belt of seasonally-dry miombo and mopane savannas and woodlands that extend east and west across Africa, from northern Botswana, Namibia, and Angola in the west to Tanzania and Mozambique in the east. Large enclaves of flooded grassland include: * Kilombero Valley and Mkata Plain in southern Tanzania * Malagarasi-Muyovozi floodplain and Ugalla River floodplain in western Tanzania * Wembere River- Lake Kitangiri floodplain in Tanzania * The Okavango Delta in Botswana * around Lake Chilwa in Malawi * The Barotse Floodplain, Kafue Flats, Busanga Swamp, and Lukanga Swamp in the Zambezi basin of Zambia. * The upper Chambeshi River, Bangweulu Swamp, the Luapula River ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Zambezian Coastal Flooded Savanna
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. Geography The Zambezi, Pungwe, Buzi, and Save rivers drain extensive areas of interior Southeast Africa. Rainfall in the region is highly seasonal, and the volume of water carried by these rivers varied with the wet and dry cycles of the year. The flooded savannas are found in low-lying coastal lowlands at the river mouths, on deposits of recent fluvisols deposited by the rivers. They Zambezian coastal flooded savannas cover an area of 19,346 km². The Zambezi flooded savannas cover the largest area, extending nearly 200 km along the Indian Ocean coast and extending up to 120 km inland. To the south are the adjoining floodplains of the Pungwe and Buzi, which create a flooded savanna of 4500 km². The smaller Save River flooded savannas lie further to the south. The ... [...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] |
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] |
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] |
Southern Miombo Woodlands
The Southern miombo woodlands is a tropical grasslands and woodlands ecoregion extending across portions of Malawi, Mozambique, Zambia, and Zimbabwe. It is one of four miombo woodlands ecoregions that span the African continent south of the Congo forests and East African savannas. Geography The Eastern miombo woodlands covers the hills and low plateaus in the watersheds of the Zambezi and Limpopo rivers, north and south of the Zambezi, and north and east of the Limpopo. The drier Zambezian and mopane woodlands occupy the lowlands along the Zambezi and its major tributaries, including the Shire and Lugenda, and the lowlands of the Limpopo. To the north and northwest, the Eastern miombo woodlands transition to the Central Zambezian miombo woodlands. To the southwest, they transition to the Southern Africa bushveld. The Southern Zanzibar-Inhambane coastal forest mosaic bounds the ecoregion on the southeast, along the Indian Ocean coast. Zambia's capital Lusaka and Zimbabwe's ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
