The Itigi-Sumbu thicket is an
ecoregion consisting of two small areas of thick shrubland in
Tanzania,
Zambia and the adjacent
Democratic Republic of the Congo, in
East Africa
East Africa, Eastern Africa, or East of Africa, is the eastern subregion of the African continent. In the United Nations Statistics Division scheme of geographic regions, 10-11-(16*) territories make up Eastern Africa:
Due to the historical ...
. The floral community of dense deciduous brush is unique, with many endemic species, and almost no transition zone between it and the surrounding dry
miombo woodlands. The distinctive nature of this small region is partly due to its setting on dry alluvial soil over a hard
duricrust
Duricrust is a hard layer on or near the surface of soil. Duricrusts can range in thickness from a few millimeters or centimeters to several meters.
It is a general term (not to be confused with duripan) for a zone of chemical precipitation and ...
, while the surrounding areas are rocky hills and plateaus.
Location and description
The thickets are found in the flatland between
Lake Mweru Wantipa and
Lake Tanganyika
Lake Tanganyika () is an African Great Lake. It is the second-oldest freshwater lake in the world, the second-largest by volume, and the second-deepest, in all cases after Lake Baikal in Siberia. It is the world's longest freshwater lake. ...
in Zambia (between above sea level), and near the town of
Itigi
Itigi is a town in central Tanzania. It is located in Itigi District of the Singida Region.
The town is made up of the wards Itigi and Itigi Majengo. According to the 2012 Tanzania National Census, the population of these two wards combined was ...
in the
Itigi District
Itigi District is a Districts of Tanzania, district council in the Singida Region of central Tanzania established in 2015. The district lies in the south-western portion of the Singida Region with 279,069 people and encompasses a large area m ...
of Tanzania. The climate consists of a cool dry season from May to August, a hot dry season from August to November, and a rainy season from November to April.
[
]
Climate
The climate of the ecoregion is hot semi-arid
Hot or the acronym HOT may refer to:
Food and drink
*Pungency, in food, a spicy or hot quality
*Hot, a wine tasting descriptor
Places
*Hot district, a district of Chiang Mai province, Thailand
**Hot subdistrict, a sub-district of Hot District ...
( Köppen climate classification (BSh)). This climate is characteristic of steppes, with hot summers and cool or mild winters, and minimal precipitation. The dry season (May to October) averages , and the wet season rising above .
Flora
The extremely dense, impenetrable Itigi deciduous thicket is a unique mixture of over 100 species of woody shrubs high. Characteristics species are two species of '' Baphia'' (''Baphia burttii
''Baphia'' is a small genus of legumes that bear simple leaves. ''Baphia'' is from the Greek word βάπτω (''báptō-'', "to dip" or "to dye"), referring to a red dye that is extracted from the heartwood of tropical species. The genus is restr ...
'' and '' Baphia massaiensis''), ''Bussea massaiensis
''Bussea'' is a genus of flowering plants in the legume family, Fabaceae
The Fabaceae or Leguminosae,[Burttia prunoides Burttia may refer to:
* '' Burttia (insect)'', a genus of grasshoppers in the family Acrididae
* ''Burttia (plant)
''Burttia'' is a genus of flowering plants belonging to the family Connaraceae
Connaraceae is a pan-tropical plant family of 19 g ...]
'', '' Combretum celastroides'' (a type of bushwillow
''Combretum'', the bushwillows or combretums, make up the type genus of the family Combretaceae. The genus comprises about 272 species of trees and shrubs, most of which are native to tropical and southern Africa, about 5 to Madagascar, but the ...
), ''Grewia burttii
''Grewia'' is a large flowering plant genus in the mallow family Malvaceae, in the expanded sense as proposed by the Angiosperm Phylogeny Group. Formerly, Grewia was placed in either the family Tiliaceae or the Sparrmanniaceae. However, thes ...
'', '' Pseudoprosopsis fischeri'', and ''Tapiphyllum floribundum
''Tapiphyllum'' was a genus of flowering plants in the family Rubiaceae but is no longer recognized. In 2005, a molecular phylogenetic study showed that the type species, ''Tapiphyllum cinerascens'', is more closely related
''Related'' is an ...
''.
Fauna
Traditionally a habitat of elephant and black rhino, the area is vulnerable to poaching and rhinos have been eradicated from the area.
The thickets are also home to three endemic reptiles – the Urungu beaked snake (''Rhinotyphlops gracilis
''Letheobia gracilis'', also known as the gracile blind snake or Urungu beaked snake is a species of snake in the family Typhlopidae.McDiarmid RW, Campbell JA, Touré T. 1999. Snake Species of the World: A Taxonomic and Geographic Reference, vol. ...
''), four-fingered skink (''Sepsina
''Sepsina'' is a genus of skinks (family Scincidae). The genus is endemic to southern Africa.
Taxonomy
This genus is presently placed in the subfamily Scincinae, a subfamily which seems to be paraphyletic however. ''Sepsina'' belongs to a ma ...
tetradactyla''), and Johnston's long-tailed lizard (''Latastia johnstonii
''Latastia johnstonii'', also known commonly as Johnston's long-tailed lizard, the Malawi long-tailed lizard, and the Nyasaland long-tailed lizard, is a species of lizard in the family Lacertidae. The species is native to East Africa.
Etymolog ...
'').
Threats and preservation
The thickets are being extensively cleared for firewood and for cultivation as the populations of the two countries grow, with 50% gone in Tanzania (which is unprotected) and 70% in Zambia, which does have some protection in the Mweru Wantipa National Park. The largest blocks of thicket remain on the northern shores of Lake Mweru Wantipa and in the eastern portion of the Zambian Itigi thicket.
A 2017 assessment found that , or 35%, of the ecoregion is in protected areas.[ Protected areas include:
* Mweru Wantipa National Park,
* Nsumbu National Park, and
* Kaputa Game Management Area in Zambia.
]
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Itigi-Sumbu thicket
Afrotropical ecoregions
Ecoregions of Tanzania
Ecoregions of Zambia
Tropical and subtropical grasslands, savannas, and shrublands
Zambezian region