The Southern miombo woodlands is a tropical grasslands and woodlands

ecoregion An ecoregion (ecological region) or ecozone (ecological zone) is an ecologically and geographically defined area that is smaller than a bioregion, which in turn is smaller than a biogeographic realm. Ecoregions cover relatively large areas of l ...

extending across portions of

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 ...

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 ...

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 ...

, and

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 ...

. It is one of four miombo woodlands ecoregions that span the African continent south of the Congo forests and East African savannas.

Geography

The Eastern miombo woodlands covers the hills and low plateaus in the watersheds of the

Zambezi The Zambezi River (also spelled Zambeze and Zambesi) is the fourth-longest river in Africa, the longest east-flowing river in Africa and the largest flowing into the Indian Ocean from Africa. Its drainage basin covers , slightly less than hal ...

and

Limpopo Limpopo is the northernmost province of South Africa. It is named after the Limpopo River, which forms the province's western and northern borders. The capital and largest city in the province is Polokwane, while the provincial legislature is ...

rivers, north and south of the Zambezi, and north and east of the Limpopo. The drier

Zambezian and mopane woodlands The Zambezian and mopane woodlands is a tropical and subtropical grasslands, savannas, and shrublands ecoregion of southeastern Africa. The ecoregion is characterized by the mopane tree ''(Colophospermum mopane)'', and extends across portions ...

occupy the lowlands along the Zambezi and its major tributaries, including the

Shire Shire is a traditional term for an administrative division of land in Great Britain and some other English-speaking countries such as Australia and New Zealand. It is generally synonymous with county. It was first used in Wessex from the beginn ...

and Lugenda, and the lowlands of the Limpopo. To the north and northwest, the Eastern miombo woodlands transition to the Central Zambezian miombo woodlands. To the southwest, they transition to the Southern Africa bushveld. The

Southern Zanzibar-Inhambane coastal forest mosaic Southern may refer to: Businesses * China Southern Airlines, airline based in Guangzhou, China * Southern Airways, defunct US airline * Southern Air, air cargo transportation company based in Norwalk, Connecticut, US * Southern Airways Express, M ...

bounds the ecoregion on the southeast, along the Indian Ocean coast. Zambia's capital

Lusaka Lusaka (; ) is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Zambia. It is one of the fastest-developing cities in southern Africa. Lusaka is in the southern part of the central plateau at an elevation of about . , the city's population was ab ...

and Zimbabwe's capital

Harare Harare (; formerly Salisbury ) is the capital and most populous city of Zimbabwe. The city proper has an area of 940 km2 (371 mi2) and a population of 2.12 million in the 2012 census and an estimated 3.12 million in its metropolitan ...

are in the ecoregion.

Flora

The predominant vegetation is savanna and open-canopy woodland. The predominant trees are species 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 Zambezi ...

'' (aka

miombo 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 ...

), ''

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'' *' ...

'', 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 ...

''. Some eastward-facing mountains intercept winds from the Indian Ocean, and

orographic rainfall In meteorology, the different types of precipitation often include the character, formation, or phase of the precipitation which is falling to ground level. There are three distinct ways that precipitation can occur. Convective precipitation is g ...

sustain pockets of moist evergreen forest. These include the Moribane forest in Mozambique, and the Haroni and Rusitu reserves and Chirinda forest in Zimbabwe. The flora is similar to the coastal evergreen forests, and canopy trees include ''

Newtonia buchananii ''Newtonia buchananii'' is a species of plant in the family Fabaceae. Description ''Newtonia buchananii'' is a tree from 10–40 meter high, forming a loose canopy with a flattish top. It has smooth bark, and the trunk has small buttresses at t ...

'', '' Celtis mildbraedii'', and ''

Khaya anthotheca ''Khaya anthotheca'', with the common name East African mahogany, is a large tree species in the Meliaceae family, native to tropical Africa. The name ''anthotheca'' was taken from the Greek word ''anthos'', meaning flower, while ''theca'' refer ...

''.

Fauna

The ecoregion is home to several large grazing mammals, including the

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''),

black rhinoceros The black rhinoceros, black rhino or hook-lipped rhinoceros (''Diceros bicornis'') is a species of rhinoceros, native to eastern and southern Africa including Angola, Botswana, Kenya, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, South Africa, Eswatini, Tanzania ...

(''Diceros bicornis''),

white rhinoceros The white rhinoceros, white rhino or square-lipped rhinoceros (''Ceratotherium simum'') is the largest extant species of rhinoceros. It has a wide mouth used for grazing (behaviour), grazing and is the most social of all rhino species. The white ...

(''Ceratotherium simum''), African buffalo (''Synerus caffer''), roan antelope (''Hippotragus equinus''),

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''),

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 ...

(''Alcelaphus buselaphus lichtensteinii''),

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 arundium''),

greater kudu The greater kudu (''Tragelaphus strepsiceros'') is a woodland antelope found throughout eastern and southern Africa. Despite occupying such widespread territory, they are sparsely populated in most areas due to declining habitat, deforestation, ...

(''Tragelaphus strepsiceros''),

common eland The common eland (''Taurotragus oryx''), also known as the southern eland or eland antelope, is a savannah and plains antelope found in East and Southern Africa. It is a species of the family Bovidae and genus '' Taurotragus''. An adult male is ...

(''Taurotragus oryx''), and

common tsessebe The common tsessebe or sassaby (''Damaliscus lunatus lunatus'') is the southern, nominate subspecies of ''Damaliscus lunatus'', although some authorities have recognised it as an independent species. It is most closely related to the Bangweulu ts ...

(''Damaliscus lunatus''). These large grazers generally have a low population density and large ranges, except for the roan antelope, which occurs in higher densities. Larger carnivores include

lion The lion (''Panthera leo'') is a large Felidae, cat of the genus ''Panthera'' native to Africa and India. It has a muscular, broad-chested body; short, rounded head; round ears; and a hairy tuft at the end of its tail. It is sexually dimorphi ...

(''Panthera leo''),

leopard The leopard (''Panthera pardus'') is one of the five extant species in the genus '' Panthera'', a member of the cat family, Felidae. It occurs in a wide range in sub-Saharan Africa, in some parts of Western and Central Asia, Southern Russia, a ...

(''Panthera pardus''),

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 specialized ...

(''Acinonyx jubatus''),

spotted hyena The spotted hyena (''Crocuta crocuta''), also known as the laughing hyena, is a hyena species, currently classed as the sole extant member of the genus ''Crocuta'', native to sub-Saharan Africa. It is listed as being of least concern by the IUC ...

(''Crocuta crocuta''),

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''),

caracal The caracal (''Caracal caracal'') () is a medium-sized wild cat native to Africa, the Middle East, Central Asia, and arid areas of Pakistan and northwestern India. It is characterised by a robust build, long legs, a short face, long tufted e ...

(''Caracal caracal''), and

side-striped jackal The side-striped jackal (''Lupulella adusta)'' is a canine native to central and southern Africa. Unlike the smaller and related black-backed jackal (''Lupulella mesomelas''), which dwells in open plains, the side-striped jackal primarily dwell ...

(''Lupulella adusta'').

Protected areas and conservation

22.5% of the ecoregion is in protected areas. Protected areas which cover part of the ecoregion include: *

Kasungu National Park Kasungu National Park is a national park in Malawi. It is located west of Kasungu, about 175 km north of Lilongwe, extending along the Zambian border. Kasungu National Park, established in 1970, is the second-largest in Malawi at , with an ...

in Malawi *

Zinave National Park The Zinave National Park ( or PNZ) is a protected area in Mabote District of Inhambane Province, Mozambique, created by decree on 26 June 1973. Land The park extends to the south of the Save River in Inhambane Province, covering an area of . I ...

in Mozambique * Lower Zambezi, Lukusuzi, and South Luangwa national parks in Zambia * Chizarira and Matusadona national parks and

Chipinge Safari Area Chipinge Safari Area is a protected area in Chipinge District of Zimbabwe, west of the town of Chipinge. Geography The safari area covers 261km2. It lies at the southwestern edge of the Eastern Highlands, and slopes generally westwards towards ...

in Zimbabwe

References

{{reflist Afrotropical ecoregions Ecoregions of Malawi Ecoregions of Mozambique Ecoregions of Zambia Ecoregions of Zimbabwe Tropical and subtropical grasslands, savannas, and shrublands Zambezian region