The Angolan Scarp savanna and woodlands is an ecoregion located on the coast of

Angola , national_anthem = " Angola Avante"() , image_map = , map_caption = , capital = Luanda , religion = , religion_year = 2020 , religion_ref = , coordina ...

, an area with a variety of habitats and rich in wildlife including many endemic birds and animals.

Geography

This ecoregion consists of the strip of land that runs along the coast of Angola and the steep west-facing ridge that rises from the Atlantic coast to Angola's large central plateau, to a height of about 1000m. The ecoregion contains Angola's capital

Luanda Luanda () is the capital and largest city in Angola. It is Angola's primary port, and its major industrial, cultural and urban centre. Located on Angola's northern Atlantic coast, Luanda is Angola's administrative centre, its chief seaport ...

, a city that has grown to more than 3.5 million people.

Climate

This coast has a tropical climate with summer rains and high humidity all year round.

Flora

The area contains a mixture of types of habitat:

rain forest Rainforests are characterized by a closed and continuous tree canopy, moisture-dependent vegetation, the presence of epiphytes and lianas and the absence of wildfire. Rainforest can be classified as tropical rainforest or temperate rainforest, ...

cloud forest A cloud forest, also called a water forest, primas forest, or tropical montane cloud forest (TMCF), is a generally tropical or subtropical, evergreen, montane, moist forest characterized by a persistent, frequent or seasonal low-level clou ...

grassland A grassland is an area where the vegetation is dominated by grasses (Poaceae). However, sedge ( Cyperaceae) and rush (Juncaceae) can also be found along with variable proportions of legumes, like clover, and other herbs. Grasslands occur natu ...

mangrove A mangrove is a shrub or tree that grows in coastal saline or brackish water. The term is also used for tropical coastal vegetation consisting of such species. Mangroves are taxonomically diverse, as a result of convergent evolution in sever ...

s, and

swamp A swamp is a forested wetland.Keddy, P.A. 2010. Wetland Ecology: Principles and Conservation (2nd edition). Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK. 497 p. Swamps are considered to be transition zones because both land and water play a role in ...

. This diverse ecoregion can be divided into three different areas according to their type of habitat. North of the

Cuanza River The Kwanza River, also known as the Coanza, the Quanza, and the Cuanza, is one of the longest rivers in Angola. It empties into the Atlantic Ocean just south of the national capital Luanda. Geography The river is navigable for about from its ...

is a forest of tall trees surrounded by tall grasses, with areas of mangrove and swamp on riverbanks especially in the river estuaries. At higher altitudes on the western ridge patches of

, which shelter a rich variety of

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also found else ...

plants and animals. Finally, on the coastal strip and the low slopes of the escarpment south of the Cuanza there are dry woodlands and wooded grasslands. (See

Central African mangroves The Central African mangroves ecoregion consists of the largest area of mangrove swamp in Africa, located on the coasts of West Africa, mainly in Nigeria. Location and description These mangroves are found in fertile rivermouths and lagoons and ...

for a description of the coastal swamps).

Fauna

The forests have been home to a variety of mammals including the

African forest elephant The African forest elephant (''Loxodonta cyclotis'') is one of the two living African elephant species. It is native to humid forests in West Africa and the Congo Basin. It is the smallest of the three living elephant species, reaching a shoulde ...

, lion and

cheetah The cheetah (''Acinonyx jubatus'') is a large cat native to Africa and central Iran. It is the fastest land animal, estimated to be capable of running at with the fastest reliably recorded speeds being , and as such has evolved specialize ...

, but uncontrolled hunting may have completely removed these. Remaining mammals include the

yellow-backed duiker The yellow-backed duiker (''Cephalophus silvicultor'') is a forest dwelling antelope in the order Artiodactyla from the family Bovidae. Yellow-backed duikers are the most widely distributed of all duikers. They are found mainly in Central and West ...

(''Cephalophus sylvicultor''),

black-fronted duiker The black-fronted duiker (''Cephalophus nigrifrons'') is a small antelope found in central and west-central Africa. Description The black-fronted duiker is a compact, short-necked, and active antelope that gets its name from the broad black stre ...

(''Cephalophus nigrifrons''),

blue duiker The blue duiker (''Philantomba monticola'') is a small antelope found in central, southern and eastern Africa. It is the smallest duiker. The species was first described by Swedish naturalist Carl Peter Thunberg in 1789. 12 subspecies are iden ...

(''Cephalophus monticola''), and smaller species such as the

tree pangolin The tree pangolin (''Phataginus tricuspis'') is one of eight extant species of pangolins ("scaly anteaters"), and is native to equatorial Africa. Also known as the white-bellied pangolin or three-cusped pangolin, it is the most common of the ...

(''Phataginus tricuspis''), Beecroft's flying squirrel and forest giant squirrel. In the dry season animals migrate to the moister areas uphill. Larger mammals, which are found especially in the drier grasslands rather than the forests on the ridge, include roan antelope (''Hippotragus equinus''),

African forest buffalo The African forest buffalo (''Syncerus caffer nanus''), also known as the dwarf buffalo or the Congo buffalo, is the smallest subspecies of the African buffalo. It is related to the Cape buffalo (''Syncerus caffer caffer''), the Sudan buffalo ...

(''Syncerus caffer nanus''),

African bush elephant The African bush elephant (''Loxodonta africana'') is one of two extant African elephant species and one of three extant elephant species. It is the largest living terrestrial animal, with bulls reaching a shoulder height of up to and a body ...

(''Loxodonta africana''),

southern reedbuck The southern reedbuck, rietbok or common reedbuck (''Redunca arundinum'') is a diurnal antelope typically found in southern Africa. It was first described by Pieter Boddaert, a Dutch physician and naturalist, in 1785. It is placed in the genus ...

(''Redunca arundinum''),

bushbuck The Cape bushbuck (''Tragelaphus sylvaticus'') is a common and a widespread species of antelope in sub-Saharan Africa.Wronski T, Moodley Y. (2009)Bushbuck, harnessed antelope or both? ''Gnusletter'', 28(1):18-19. Bushbuck are found in a wide rang ...

(''Tragelaphus scriptus'') and eland (''Taurotragus oryx''). Bird species endemic to this coast include the grey-striped spurfowl (''Pternistis griseostriatus''), red-crested turaco (''Tauraco erythrolophus''), Gabela helmet-shrike (''Prionops gabela''),

white-fronted wattle-eye The white-fronted wattle-eye (''Platysteira albifrons'') is a species of bird in the family Platysteiridae. It is endemic to Angola. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical dry forests, subtropical or tropical mangrove forests, and sub ...

(''Platysteira albifrons''), Angola slaty flycatcher (''Dioptrornis brunneus''), Gabela akalat (''Sheppardia gabela''), Angola cave-chat (''Xenocopsychus ansorgei''), Pulitzer's longbill (''Macrosphenus pulitzeri''), golden-backed bishop (''Euplectes aureus''), orange-breasted bush-shrike (''Laniarius brauni''), Gabela bush-shrike (''Laniarius amboimensis''), and (found here and in Cameroon) Monteiro's bush-shrike (''Malaconotus monteiri''). Birds with endemic sub-species include brown-chested alethe (''Alethe poliocephala hallae''), yellow-necked greenbul (''Chlorocichla falkensteini falkensteini''), and grey-backed camaroptera (''Camaroptera brevicaudata harteri''). The coastal strip is home to two endemic reptiles; a gecko ('' Hemidactylus bayonii'') and a worm lizard '' Monopeltis luandae'', and four endemic frogs; '' Hyperolius punctulatus'', Congulu forest treefrog (''

Leptopelis ''Leptopelis'' is a genus of frogs in the family Arthroleptidae. They are found throughout Sub-Saharan Africa, excluding Madagascar. It is placed in monotypic subfamily Leptopelinae, although this subfamily is not always recognized. They have a ...

jordani''), Quissange forest treefrog (''Leptopelis marginatus''), and Congolo frog (''Amnirana parkeriana'').

Threats and preservation

This is a populous part of Angola and farming, logging and uncontrolled hunting are all affecting the forest habitats and the large mammals in particular are now rare. Until the 1970s the cloud forest area on the escarpment was used for planting coffee, which meant clearing the undergrowth, but coffee growing ceased during the

Angolan Civil War The Angolan Civil War ( pt, Guerra Civil Angolana) was a civil war in Angola, beginning in 1975 and continuing, with interludes, until 2002. The war immediately began after Angola became independent from Portugal in November 1975. The war was ...

and the undergrowth has renewed itself. The dry area to the south of the region has not been settled and much grassland remains. Some larger mammals have been protected in Quiçama National Park (Kissama), which is on the coast near the Cuanza River, but in general this area has been badly affected by the civil war and is poorly studied or protected.

Protected areas

11.61% of the ecoregion is in protected areas. The protected areas are Quiçãma National Park, Ilheu dos Passaros Integral Nature Reserve, and Buffalo Partial Reserve.

External link

References

{{reflist Afromontane ecoregions Afromontane forests Afrotropical ecoregions Ecoregions of Angola Montane grasslands and shrublands Zambezian region