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 by the dominant presence of '' Brachystegia'' and '' Julbernardia'' species of trees, and has a range of climates ranging from humid to semi-arid, and tropical to subtropical or even temperate. The trees characteristically shed their leaves for a short period in the dry season to reduce water loss and produce a flush of new leaves just before the onset of the wet season with rich gold and red colours masking the underlying

chlorophyll Chlorophyll (also chlorophyl) is any of several related green pigments found in cyanobacteria and in the chloroplasts of algae and plants. Its name is derived from the Greek words , ("pale green") and , ("leaf"). Chlorophyll allow plants to a ...

, reminiscent of

autumn Autumn, also known as fall in American English and Canadian English, is one of the four temperate seasons on Earth. Outside the tropics, autumn marks the transition from summer to winter, in September ( Northern Hemisphere) or March ( Sou ...

colours in the temperate zone. The woodland gets its name from ''miombo'' (plural, singular ''muombo''), the

Bemba Bemba may refer to: * Bemba language (Chibemba), a Bantu language spoken in Zambia * Bemba people (AbaBemba), an ethnic group of central Africa * Jean-Pierre Bemba, the former vice-President of the Democratic Republic of Congo * A Caribbean drum, ...

word for ''Brachystegia'' species. Other

Bantu languages The Bantu languages (English: , Proto-Bantu: *bantʊ̀) are a large family of languages spoken by the Bantu people of Central, Southern, Eastern africa and Southeast Africa. They form the largest branch of the Southern Bantoid languages. The t ...

of the region, such as

Swahili Swahili may refer to: * Swahili language, a Bantu language official in Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda and widely spoken in the African Great Lakes * Swahili people, an ethnic group in East Africa * Swahili culture Swahili culture is the culture of ...

and Shona, have related if not identical words, such as Swahili ''miyombo'' (singular ''myombo'').

Ecoregions

Miombo woodlands form a broad belt across south-central Africa, running from Angola in the west to Tanzania in the east. These woodlands are dominated by trees of subfamily

Caesalpinioideae Caesalpinioideae is a botanical name at the rank of subfamily, placed in the large family Fabaceae or Leguminosae. Its name is formed from the generic name ''Caesalpinia''. It is known also as the peacock flower subfamily. The Caesalpinioideae ...

, particularly miombo (''Brachystegia''), '' Julbernardia'' and '' Isoberlinia'', which are rarely found outside miombo woodlands. The four ecoregions are: * Angolan miombo woodlands ( Angola) *

Central Zambezian miombo woodlands The Central Zambezian miombo woodlands ecoregion spans southern central Africa. Miombo woodland is the predominant plant community. It is one of the largest ecoregions on the continent, and home to a great variety of wildlife, including many large ...

(Angola,

Burundi Burundi (, ), officially the Republic of Burundi ( rn, Repuburika y’Uburundi ; Swahili language, Swahili: ''Jamuhuri ya Burundi''; French language, French: ''République du Burundi'' ), is a landlocked country in the Great Rift Valley at the ...

, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Malawi, Tanzania, Zambia) *

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 co ...

( Mozambique, Tanzania) * Southern miombo woodlands (Malawi, Mozambique, southern Zambia, Zimbabwe) Miombo woodlands can be classified as dry or wet based on the per annum amount and distribution of rainfall. Dry woodlands occur in those areas receiving less than 1000 mm annual rainfall, mostly in Zimbabwe, central Tanzania and southern areas of Mozambique, Malawi and Zambia. Wet woodlands are those receiving more than 1000 mm annual rainfall, mainly located in northern Zambia, eastern Angola, central Malawi and southwestern Tanzania.

People

The miombo woodlands are important to the livelihoods of many rural people who depend on the resources available from the woodland. The wide variety of species provides non-timber products such as fruits, honey, fodder for livestock and fuelwood.

Flora and fauna

Despite the relatively nutrient-poor soil, long dry season, and low rainfall in some areas, the woodland is home to many species, including several endemic bird species. The predominant tree is miombo (''Brachystegia'' spp.). It also provides food and cover for mammals such as the African elephant (''Loxodonta africana''), African wild dog (''Lycaon pictus''), sable antelope (''Hippotragus niger'') and Lichtenstein's hartebeest (''Sigmoceros lichtensteinii'').Campbell

Notes

References

*Campbell, Bruce M., ed. 1996. ''The Miombo Transition: Woodlands & Welfare in Africa'', CIFOR,

External links

*
Earthtrends.wri.org: Map of Miombo forests-grasslands-drylands
{{Authority control Ecoregions of Africa Tropical and subtropical grasslands, savannas, and shrublands Grasslands of Africa Ecoregions of Angola Ecoregions of Burundi Ecoregions of the Democratic Republic of the Congo Ecoregions of Malawi Ecoregions of Mozambique Ecoregions of Tanzania Ecoregions of Zambia Ecoregions of Zimbabwe Swahili words and phrases Afrotropical realm biota Afrotropical ecoregions Zambezian region