The Miombo woodland is a

tropical and subtropical grasslands, savannas, and shrublands Tropical and subtropical grasslands, savannas, and shrublands is a terrestrial biome defined by the World Wide Fund for Nature. The biome is dominated by grass and/or shrubs located in semi-arid to semi-humid climate regions of subtropical and t ...

biome (in the

World Wide Fund for Nature The World Wide Fund for Nature Inc. (WWF) is an international non-governmental organization founded in 1961 that works in the field of wilderness preservation and the reduction of human impact on the environment. It was formerly named the Wor ...

scheme) located primarily in

Central Africa Central Africa is a subregion of the African continent comprising various countries according to different definitions. Angola, Burundi, the Central African Republic, Chad, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the Republic of the Congo, ...

. It includes four woodland

savanna A savanna or savannah is a mixed woodland-grassland (i.e. grassy woodland) ecosystem characterised by the trees being sufficiently widely spaced so that the canopy does not close. The open canopy allows sufficient light to reach the ground to ...

ecoregions (listed below) characterized by the dominant presence of ''

Brachystegia ''Brachystegia'' is a genus of tree of the subfamily Detarioideae that is native to tropical Africa. Trees of the genus are commonly known as miombo, and are dominant in the miombo woodlands of central and southern tropical Africa. The Zambezian ...

'' and ''

Julbernardia ''Julbernardia'' is a genus of plants in the family Fabaceae. There are eight species found in tropical Africa. They are medium-sized trees. Species accepted by the Plants of the World Online as of February 2021: *'' Julbernardia baumii'' *' ...

'' 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 The dry season is a yearly period of low rainfall, especially in the tropics. The weather in the tropics is dominated by the tropical rain belt, which moves from the northern to the southern tropics and back over the course of the year. The te ...

to reduce water loss and produce a flush of new leaves just before the onset of the

wet season The wet season (sometimes called the Rainy season) is the time of year when most of a region's average annual rainfall occurs. It is the time of year where the majority of a country's or region's annual precipitation occurs. Generally, the sea ...

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 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 and

Shona Shona often refers to: * Shona people, a Southern African people * Shona language, a Bantu language spoken by Shona people today Shona may also refer to: * ''Shona'' (album), 1994 album by New Zealand singer Shona Laing * Shona (given name) * S ...

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

in the west to

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 ...

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''), ''

'' and ''

Isoberlinia ''Isoberlinia'' is a genus in the family Fabaceae of five species of tree native to the hotter parts of tropical Africa. They are an important component of miombo woodlands. The leaves have three or four pairs of large leaflets and stout seed ...

'', which are rarely found outside miombo woodlands. The four ecoregions are: *

Angolan miombo woodlands Angolan miombo woodlands cover most of central Angola and extend into the Democratic Republic of Congo. They are part of the larger miombo ecosystem that covers much of eastern and southern Africa. Location and description This area of savanna an ...

(

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

) * Central Zambezian miombo woodlands (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 The Democratic Republic of the Congo (french: République démocratique du Congo (RDC), colloquially "La RDC" ), informally Congo-Kinshasa, DR Congo, the DRC, the DROC, or the Congo, and formerly and also colloquially Zaire, is a country in ...

Malawi Malawi (; or aláwi Tumbuka: ''Malaŵi''), officially the Republic of Malawi, is a landlocked country in Southeastern Africa that was formerly known as Nyasaland. It is bordered by Zambia to the west, Tanzania to the north and northeast ...

Zambia Zambia (), officially the Republic of Zambia, is a landlocked country at the crossroads of Central Africa, Central, Southern Africa, Southern and East Africa, although it is typically referred to as being in Southern Africa at its most cent ...

) *

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 Mozambique (), officially the Republic of Mozambique ( pt, Moçambique or , ; ny, Mozambiki; sw, Msumbiji; ts, Muzambhiki), is a country located in southeastern Africa bordered by the Indian Ocean to the east, Tanzania to the north, Malawi ...

, Tanzania) *

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 Con ...

(Malawi, Mozambique, southern Zambia,

Zimbabwe Zimbabwe (), officially the Republic of Zimbabwe, is a landlocked country located in Southeast Africa, between the Zambezi and Limpopo Rivers, bordered by South Africa to the south, Botswana to the south-west, Zambia to the north, and Mozam ...

) 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 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 elsew ...

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 The African wild dog (''Lycaon pictus''), also called the painted dog or Cape hunting dog, is a wild canine which is a native species to sub-Saharan Africa. It is the largest wild canine in Africa, and the only extant member of the genus '' Ly ...

(''Lycaon pictus''),

sable antelope The sable antelope (''Hippotragus niger'') is an antelope which inhabits wooded savanna in East and Southern Africa, from the south of Kenya to South Africa, with a separate population in Angola. Taxonomy The sable antelope shares the genus ''Hi ...

(''Hippotragus niger'') and

Lichtenstein's hartebeest Lichtenstein's hartebeest (''Alcelaphus buselaphus lichtensteinii'')Wilson, Don E. & Reeder, DeeAnn M. (editors). 2005. Mammal Species of the World. A Taxonomic and Geographic Reference (3rd ed), Johns Hopkins University Press, 2,142 ppAvailable ...

(''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