The Zambezian coastal flooded savanna is a

flooded grasslands and savannas Flooded grasslands and savannas is a terrestrial biome of the WWF biogeographical system, consisting of large expanses or complexes of flooded grasslands. These areas support numerous plants and animals adapted to the unique hydrologic regimes ...

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 ...

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 ...

. It includes the coastal flooded savannas and grasslands in the deltas 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 ...

, Pungwe, Buzi, and Save rivers.

Geography

The Zambezi, Pungwe, Buzi, and Save rivers drain extensive areas of interior Southeast Africa. Rainfall in the region is highly seasonal, and the volume of water carried by these rivers varied with the wet and dry cycles of the year. The flooded savannas are found in low-lying coastal lowlands at the river mouths, on deposits of recent

fluvisol A fluvisol in the World Reference Base for Soil Resources (WRB) is a genetically young soil in alluvial deposits . Apart from river sediments, they also occur in lacustrine and marine deposits. Fluvisols correlate with fluvents and fluvaquents ...

s deposited by the rivers. They Zambezian coastal flooded savannas cover an area of 19,346 km². The Zambezi flooded savannas cover the largest area, extending nearly 200 km along the Indian Ocean coast and extending up to 120 km inland. To the south are the adjoining floodplains of the Pungwe and Buzi, which create a flooded savanna of 4500 km². The smaller Save River flooded savannas lie further to the south. The

East African mangroves East or Orient is one of the four cardinal directions or points of the compass. It is the opposite direction from west and is the direction from which the Sun rises on the Earth. Etymology As in other languages, the word is formed from the fac ...

lie between the flooded savannas and the coast in areas of brackish or salt water. 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 ...

ecoregion occupies the coastal uplands adjacent to the flooded savannas. 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 inland river valleys.

Flora

The plant communities include flooded grasslands, flooded savannas, and freshwater swamp forests, which vary with soils and the duration of flooding. Reed swamps of ''

Phragmites australis ''Phragmites australis'', known as the common reed, is a species of plant. It is a broadly distributed wetland grass that can grow up to tall. Description ''Phragmites australis'' commonly forms extensive stands (known as reed beds), which may ...

'' and ''

Typha capensis ''Typha capensis'' is an aquatic plant known from southern and eastern Africa as far north as ''Uganda''. It has also been reported from Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the lar ...

'' are common in permanently-flooded areas. The grasses ''

Hyparrhenia ''Hyparrhenia'' is a genus of grasses. Many species are known commonly as thatching grass. They are mostly native to tropical Africa; some can be found in warmer areas in temperate Eurasia, Australia, and Latin America. These are annual and pere ...

Ischaemum ''Ischaemum'' is a taxonomically one of the most formidable genera in a huge tribe Andropogoneae belonging to the grass family, widespread in tropical and semitropical regions in many countries. Many species are known commonly as murainagrass. ...

'', and ''

Setaria ''Setaria'' is a widespread genus of plants in the grass family. The name is derived from the Latin word ''seta'', meaning "bristle" or "hair", which refers to the bristly spikelets. The genus includes over 100 species distributed in many t ...

'' predominate in seasonally-flooded areas with clay soil. Trees and shrubs of the flooded savannas include '' Parinari curatellifolia,

Uapaca nitida ''Uapaca'' is a genus of plant, in the family Phyllanthaceae first described as a genus in 1858. It is the only genus comprised in the tribe Uapaceae. The genus is native to Africa and Madagascar. ''Uapaca'' is dioecious Dioecy (; ; adj. dioe ...

'', and '' Syzygium guineense''. There are areas of ''

Borassus aethiopum ''Borassus aethiopum'' is a species of ''Borassus'' palm from Africa. In English it is variously referred to as African fan palm, African palmyra palm, deleb palm, ron palm, toddy palm, black rhun palm, rônier palm (from the French). It is wides ...

'' palm savanna. Swamp forests grow at the edges of rivers, lakes, and lagoons, and characteristic trees include ''

Barringtonia racemosa ''Barringtonia racemosa'' (powder-puff tree, af, pooeierkwasboom, zu, Iboqo, Malay: ''Putat'') is a tree in the family Lecythidaceae. It is found in coastal swamp forests and on the edges of estuaries in the Indian Ocean, starting at the east ...

Ficus verruculosa ''Ficus verruculosa'', the water fig, is a species of fig from sub-saharan Africa. It is found from north eastern South Africa, northern Botswana and Namibia to Uganda and west to Nigeria Nigeria ( ), , ig, Naìjíríyà, yo, Nàìjí ...

'', and the palm ''

Phoenix reclinata ''Phoenix reclinata'' (''reclinata'' - Latin, reclining), the wild date palm, Arabian date palm or Senegal date palm, is a species of flowering plant in the palm family native to tropical Africa, the Levant, the Arabian Peninsula, Madagascar an ...

''.

Fauna

Large mammals in the ecoregion include

hippo The hippopotamus ( ; : hippopotamuses or hippopotami; ''Hippopotamus amphibius''), also called the hippo, common hippopotamus, or river hippopotamus, is a large semiaquatic mammal native to sub-Saharan Africa. It is one of only two extant ...

(''Hippopotamus amphibius''), African buffalo (''Syncerus caffer caffer''),

waterbuck The waterbuck (''Kobus ellipsiprymnus'') is a large antelope found widely in sub-Saharan Africa. It is placed in the genus '' Kobus'' of the family Bovidae. It was first described by Irish naturalist William Ogilby in 1833. Its 13 subspecies ar ...

(''Kobus ellipsiprymnus''),

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''),

plains zebra The plains zebra (''Equus quagga'', formerly ''Equus burchellii''), also known as the common zebra, is the most common and geographically widespread species of zebra. Its range is fragmented, but spans much of southern and eastern Africa south o ...

(''Equus quagga''),

Nyala The lowland nyala or simply nyala (''Tragelaphus angasii'') is a spiral-horned antelope native to southern Africa. It is a species of the family Bovidae and genus ''Tragelaphus'', previously placed in genus ''Nyala''. It was first described i ...

(''Tragelaphus angasi''),

blue wildebeest The blue wildebeest (''Connochaetes taurinus''), also called the common wildebeest, white-bearded gnu or brindled gnu, is a large antelope and one of the two species of wildebeest. It is placed in the genus '' Connochaetes'' and family Bovidae, a ...

(''Connochaetes taurinus''), steenbok (''Raphicerus campestris''), and

common warthog The common warthog (''Phacochoerus africanus'') is a wild member of the pig family (Suidae) found in grassland, savanna, and woodland in sub-Saharan Africa. In the past, it was commonly treated as a subspecies of ''P. aethiopicus'', but today t ...

(''Phacochoerus africanus''). Mammal predators include the lion (''Panthera leo''), leopard (''P. 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 (''Crocuta crocuta''),

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 ...

(''Canis adustus''),

Cape genet The Cape genet (''Genetta tigrina''), also known as the South African large-spotted genet, is a genet species endemic to South Africa. As it is common and not threatened, it is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List. Like other genets, it ...

(''Genetta tigrina''),

African civet The African civet (''Civettictis civetta'') is a large viverrid native to sub-Saharan Africa, where it is considered common and widely distributed in woodlands and secondary forests. It is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List since 200 ...

(''Civettictis civetta''),

serval The serval (''Leptailurus serval'') is a wild cat native to Africa. It is widespread in sub-Saharan countries, except rainforest regions. Across its range, it occurs in protected areas, and hunting it is either prohibited or regulated in ran ...

(''Leptailurus serval''),

African clawless otter The African clawless otter (''Aonyx capensis''), also known as the Cape clawless otter or groot otter, is the second-largest freshwater otter species. It inhabits permanent water bodies in savannah and lowland forest areas through most of sub- ...

(''Aonyx capensis''),

spotted-necked otter The spotted-necked otter (''Hydrictis maculicollis''), or speckle-throated otter, is an otter native to sub-Saharan Africa. Description The spotted-necked otter is a relatively small species, with males measuring from nose to rump, and weigh ...

(''Hydrictis maculicollis''),

banded mongoose The banded mongoose (''Mungos mungo'') is a mongoose species native from the Sahel to Southern Africa. It lives in savannas, open forests and grasslands and feeds primarily on beetles and millipedes. Mongooses use various types of dens for shelt ...

(''Mungos mungo''),

white-tailed mongoose The white-tailed mongoose (''Ichneumia albicauda'') is a species in the mongoose family Herpestidae. It is the only member of the genus ''Ichneumia''. Taxonomy ''Herpestes albicaudus'' was the scientific name proposed by Georges Cuvier in 1829 ...

(''Ichneumia albicauda''), and

bushy-tailed mongoose The bushy-tailed mongoose (''Bdeogale crassicauda'') is a mammal in the family Herpestidae found in central Africa, from southern Kenya to central Mozambique. Characteristics The bushy-tailed mongoose has a greyish to yellowish brown fur. Th ...

(''Bdeogale crassicauda''). Some large mammals migrate seasonally between the flooded savannas and the grasslands, forests, and woodlands of the neighboring uplands.

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'') migrates to the seasonal wetlands at the start of the rainy season to browse on the young grasses. Populations of Lichtenstein’s hartebeest (''Alcelaphus lichtensteinii'') and

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'') live in the flooded savannas during the dry season, and migrate to the uplands at the start of the rainy season. The flooded savannas are home to large populations of resident and migratory

water bird A water bird, alternatively waterbird or aquatic bird, is a bird that lives on or around water. In some definitions, the term ''water bird'' is especially applied to birds in freshwater ecosystems, although others make no distinction from seabi ...

s, including African openbill stork (''Anastomus lamelligerus''),

saddle-billed stork The saddle-billed stork or saddlebill (''Ephippiorhynchus senegalensis'') is a large wading bird in the stork family, Ciconiidae. It is a widespread species which is a resident breeder in sub-Saharan Africa from Sudan, Ethiopia and Kenya south ...

(''Ephippiorhynchus senegalensis''),

lesser flamingo The lesser flamingo (''Phoeniconaias minor'') is a species of flamingo occurring in sub-Saharan Africa and western India. Birds are occasionally reported from further north, but these are generally considered vagrants. Characteristics The lesser ...

(''Phoeniconaias minor''), great white pelican (''Pelecanus onocrotalus''), great snipe (''Gallinago media''), and African skimmer (''Rynchops flavirostris'').

Conservation and threats

The construction of large dams on the Zambezi – Kariba Dam, completed in 1959, and

Cahora Bassa Dam The Cahora Bassa Dam is located in Mozambique. It is one of two major dams on the Zambezi river, the other being the Kariba. The dam was finished in December 1974 after much political debate. This dam is used to convert the Zambezi River power i ...

, completed in 1974 – altered the ecology of the Zambezi, reducing the annual wet-season flooding of the lower Zambezi and the overall volume of both water and sediment coming into the flooded savannas. Other threats include poaching and over-hunting. Wildlife was decimated during the

Mozambican Civil War The Mozambican Civil War ( pt, Guerra Civil Moçambicana) was a civil war fought in Mozambique from 1977 to 1992. Like many regional African conflicts during the late twentieth century, the Mozambican Civil War possessed local dynamics but was a ...

, and the African bush elephant (''Loxodonta africana'') and

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'') were extirpated.

Protected areas

A 2017 assessment found that 6,212 km², or 32%, of the ecoregion is in protected areas.Eric Dinerstein, David Olson, et al. (2017). An Ecoregion-Based Approach to Protecting Half the Terrestrial Realm, BioScience, Volume 67, Issue 6, June 2017, Pages 534–545; Supplemental material 2 table S1b

/ref> Protected areas include Marromeu National Reserve in the southwestern Zambezi delta, and the adjacent ''coutadas'' or hunting areas.

Gorongosa National Park Gorongosa National Park is at the southern end of the Great African Rift Valley in the heart of central Mozambique, Southeast Africa. The more than park comprises the valley floor and parts of surrounding plateaus. Rivers originating on nearby ...

protects a portion of the northern Pungwe floodplain.

External links

References

{{reflist Afrotropical ecoregions Ecoregions of Mozambique Flooded grasslands and savannas Zambezian region