Malundwe Mountain, also known as Malundwe Hill, is a mountain in

Tanzania Tanzania (; ), officially the United Republic of Tanzania ( sw, Jamhuri ya Muungano wa Tanzania), is a country in East Africa within the African Great Lakes region. It borders Uganda to the north; Kenya to the northeast; Comoro Islands and ...

. It is located in

Mikumi National Park Mikumi National Park is a national park near Morogoro, Tanzania with an area of that was established in 1964. It is the fourth largest in the country. The park is crossed by Tanzania's A-7 highway. Territory Mikumi National Park borders Sel ...

Morogoro Region Morogoro Region (''Mkoa wa Morogoro'' in Swahili) is one of Tanzania's 31 administrative regions. The region covers an area of . The region is comparable in size to the combined land area of the nation state of Ireland. Morogoro Region is border ...

Geography

Malundwe consists of three peaks along a ridge running north and south. Malundwe's south peak is the highest point in the park, reaching elevation. Malundwe is the highest of a belt of hills that extend east and west through the park, connecting the

Uluguru Mountains The Uluguru mountains are a mountain range in eastern Tanzania, named after the Luguru tribe. The main portion of the Uluguru mountains is a ridge running roughly north-south and rising to altitude at its highest point. On the main Uluguru rang ...

to the northeast with the Uvidunda Mountains to the west. Malundwe's eastern slopes drain into the

Ruvu River The Ruvu River is a river in eastern Tanzania. The Ruvu River originates in the southern Uluguru Mountains and flows eastwards to empty into the Indian Ocean near Bagamoyo. Its chief tributary is the Ngerengere River, which rises in the northern ...

, its western slopes drain into the

Great Ruaha River The Great Ruaha River is a river in south-central Tanzania that flows through the Usangu wetlands and the Ruaha National Park east into the Rufiji River. It traverses and marks the borders between Iringa Region, Dodoma Region and Morogoro Region. ...

, and the northern slope drains into the Wami River.

Ecology

Malundwe is covered with

miombo woodland 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 b ...

above 700 meters elevation. A patch of evergreen submontane forest covers the peaks, with an area 4.5 km², descending to 800 meters on wetter eastern face of the peaks. The forests are an enclave of the

Eastern Arc forests The Eastern Arc forests is a montane tropical moist forest ecoregion of eastern Africa. The ecoregion comprises several separate highland areas above 800 meters in Kenya, and (mostly) Tanzania. Setting The Eastern Arc forests extend across a tot ...

, which extend across higher elevations in the

Eastern Arc Mountains The Eastern Arc Mountains is a chain of mountains found in Kenya and Tanzania. The chain runs from northeast to southwest, with the Taita Hills being in Kenya and the other ranges being in Tanzania. They are delimited on the southwest by the fau ...

of Tanzania and Kenya.N. D. Burgess ''et al''. (2007). "The biological importance of the Eastern Arc Mountains of Tanzania and Kenya". ''Biological Conservation'' 134 (2007) pp. 209–231. 228 species of trees, shrubs, lianas, herbs, and ferns live in the forest. Eight tree species found in the submontane forests – '' Allanblackia stuhlmannii, Beilschmiedia kweo, Dasylepis integra, Diospyros amaniensis, Leptonychia usambarensis, Leptonychia usambarensis,

Polyscias stuhlmannii ''Polyscias'' is a genus of flowering plants in the family Araliaceae. They bear pinnately compound leaves. In 2003, a checklist and nomenclator was published for Araliaceae.David G. Frodin and Rafaël Govaerts. 2003. ''World Checklist and Bibl ...

Uvariodendron usambarense ''Uvariodendron usambarense'' is a species of plant in the family Annonaceae. It is endemic to Tanzania Tanzania (; ), officially the United Republic of Tanzania ( sw, Jamhuri ya Muungano wa Tanzania), is a country in East Africa within ...

'', and '' Zenkerella perplexa'' – are endemic to the Eastern Arc forests. Another three – '' Drypetes usambarica'', '' Greenwayodendron suaveolens'', and ''

Isoberlinia scheffleri ''Isoberlinia scheffleri'' is a species of plant in the family Fabaceae. It is found only in Tanzania Tanzania (; ), officially the United Republic of Tanzania ( sw, Jamhuri ya Muungano wa Tanzania), is a country in East Africa within t ...

'' – are found only in the Eastern Arc forests and the evergreen coastal forests. These endemic and near-endemic trees are 12% of the trees species found in the forest. The submontane forests are home to the

Usambara Thrush The Usambara thrush (''Turdus roehli''), also known as Roehl's thrush or Usambara olive thrush, is a species of thrush found in eastern Africa. Formerly, it was considered as a subspecies of the olive thrush, with which it is known to hybrid ...

(''Turdus roehli''), which is endemic to the Eastern Arc forests, and to eight other bird species which are near-endemic, found in the Eastern Arc forests and one other ecoregion –

Shelley's greenbul Shelley's greenbul (''Arizelocichla masukuensis'') or Shelley's bulbul, is a species of the bulbul family of passerine birds. It is found in east-central Africa. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical dry forests and subtropical or tr ...

(''Andropadus masukuensis''),

Chapin's apalis Chapin's apalis (''Apalis chapini'') is a species of bird in the family Cisticolidae. It is found in Malawi, Tanzania, and Zambia. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist montane forest. The common name and the Latin binomial commem ...

(''Apalis chapini''),

Forest batis The forest batis or short-tailed batis (''Batis mixta'') is a species of bird in the wattle-eye family, Platysteiridae occurring in eastern Africa. Taxonomy The forest batis was described by the English ornithologist George Ernest Shelley in 188 ...

(''Batis mixta''),

Fülleborn's boubou Fülleborn's boubou (''Laniarius fuelleborni'') is a species of bird in the family Malaconotidae. It is found in Malawi, Tanzania, and Zambia, where its typical habitat is humid montane forest, dense undergrowth, secondary growth, forest edges a ...

(''Laniarius fuelleborni''),

Spot-throat The spot-throat (''Modulatrix stictigula'') is a species of bird in the family Modulatricidae. It is the only member of the genus ''Modulatrix''. It is found in Tanzania and northern Malawi. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist mo ...

(''Modulatrix stictigula''),

Green-headed oriole The green-headed oriole (''Oriolus chlorocephalus''), or montane oriole, is a species of bird in the family Oriolidae. It is found in eastern Africa. Taxonomy and systematics Subspecies Three subspecies are recognized: * ''O. c. amani'' - Be ...

(''Oriolus chlorocephalus''),

Sharpe's akalat Sharpe's akalat (''Sheppardia sharpei'') is a species of bird in the family Muscicapidae. It is found in Tanzania and northern parts of Zambia and Malawi. Its natural habitats are boreal forests and subtropical or tropical moist montane forests. ...

(''Sheppardia sharpei''), and the

Green barbet The green barbet (''Stactolaema olivacea'') is a species of bird in the Lybiidae family (African barbets). It is found in Kenya, Tanzania, Malawi, Mozambique and South Africa. It occurs in forests from sea level to . Its isolated populations are ...

(''Stactolaema olivacea'').

Conservation

The mountain has been part of Mikumi National Park since its establishment in 1964.

References

{{coord, 07, 24, S, 37, 18, E, display=title, region:TZ_type:mountain Eastern Arc forests Eastern Arc Mountains Eastern miombo woodlands Geography of Morogoro Region Mountains of Tanzania