The Zambezian dry evergreen forest, also known as the Zambezian ''Cryptosepalum'' dry forest, is a tropical dry broadleaf forest

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 ...

of Southern Africa. It consists of several areas of thick forest in western

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

and adjacent

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

. It is one of the largest areas of tropical evergreen forest outside the equatorial zone.

Location

The forest are found on rolling hills of sandy soil drained by the Kabompo River of northern

Barotseland Barotseland ( Lozi: Mubuso Bulozi) is a region between Namibia, Angola, Botswana, Zimbabwe including half of eastern and northern provinces of Zambia and the whole of Democratic Republic of Congo's Katanga Province. It is the homeland of the ...

in Western

, with one area across the border in

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

. The Western Zambezian grasslands separate the forest enclaves from one another. The

Barotse Floodplain The Barotse Floodplain, also known as the Bulozi Plain, Lyondo or the Zambezi Floodplain, is one of Africa's great wetlands, on the Zambezi River in the Western Province of Zambia. It is a designated Ramsar site, regarded as being of high conserv ...

, part of the

Zambezian flooded grasslands The Zambezian flooded grasslands is an ecoregion of southern and eastern Africa that is rich in wildlife. Setting The Zambezian flooded grasslands can be found on seasonally- or permanently-flooded lowlands in the basin of the Zambezi and neighb ...

ecoregion, lies to the southwest. The Central Zambezian miombo woodlands and the

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 ...

lie on the better soils to the east and west, respectively. The ecoregion is at 1100 to 1200 meters elevation. The climate is tropical savanna, with average annual temperature around 21°C.

Flora

The characteristic trees are tall evergreen mavunda trees ''( Cryptosepalum exfoliatum pseudotaxus)''. Other trees include '' Brachystegia spiciformis,

Brachystegia longifolia ''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 ...

, Brachystegia floribunda, Colophospermum mopane, Syzygium guineense afromontanum,

Bersama abyssinica ''Bersama abyssinica'' is a species of medium-sized evergreen tree in the Francoaceae family. The leaves are pinnately divided with a strongly winged rachis (hence the common name winged bersama). The inflorescence is a spike. This species is ...

, Erythrophleum africanum'', and '' Combretum elaeagnoides''. There is a dense undergrowth of creepers and shrub thickets, with mosses carpeting the ground in the denser forests.

Fauna

The forests are home to a variety of wildlife including

ungulates Ungulates ( ) are members of the diverse clade Ungulata which primarily consists of large mammals with hooves. These include odd-toed ungulates such as horses, rhinoceroses, and tapirs; and even-toed ungulates such as cattle, pigs, giraffes, ca ...

such

yellow-backed duiker The yellow-backed duiker (''Cephalophus silvicultor'') is a forest dwelling antelope in the order Artiodactyla from the family Bovidae. Yellow-backed duikers are the most widely distributed of all duikers. They are found mainly in Central and West ...

blue duiker The blue duiker (''Philantomba monticola'') is a small antelope found in central, southern and eastern Africa. It is the smallest duiker. The species was first described by Swedish naturalist Carl Peter Thunberg in 1789. 12 subspecies are i ...

and their

predator Predation is a biological interaction where one organism, the predator, kills and eats another organism, its prey. It is one of a family of common feeding behaviours that includes parasitism and micropredation (which usually do not kill th ...

s, as well as other species such as bushpigs. The only two endemic species are a mammal Rosevear's striped grass mouse, and a bird white-chested tinkerbird ''(Pogoniulus makawai)''. However the latter has not been actually spotted since 1964 and may in fact be a variant of the common and widespread yellow-rumped tinkerbird ''(Pogoniulus bilineatus)''. The forests are particularly rich in birdlife, with nearly 400 species found here, including: the ''Guttera edouardi kathleenae'' subspecies of the

crested guineafowl The crested guineafowl (''Guttera pucherani'') is a member of the Numididae, the guineafowl bird family. It is found in open forest, woodland and forest-savanna mosaics in sub-Saharan Africa. Description It has a total length around 50 cm ...

, olive long-tailed cuckoo ''(Cercococcyx olivinus)'',

Ross's turaco Ross's turaco or Lady Ross's turaco (''Tauraco rossae'') is a mainly bluish-purple African bird of the turaco family, Musophagidae. Characteristics This species expresses very little sexual dimorphism, with both males and females being the same ...

''(Musophaga rossae)'', Cabanis's greenbul ''(Phyllastrephus cabanisi)'', purple-throated cuckoo-shrike ''(Campephaga quiscalina)'', Boulton's batis ''(Batis margaritae)'', African crested-flycatcher ''(Trochocercus cyanomelas)'',

common square-tailed drongo The common square-tailed drongo (''Dicrurus ludwigii''), formerly the square-tailed drongo, is a passerine bird in the family Dicruridae. It is a common resident breeder in parts of southern Africa. These insectivorous birds are usually found i ...

''(Dicrurus ludwigii)'', black-fronted bushshrike ''(Telophorus nigrifrons)'', Perrin's bushshrike ''(T. viridis viridis)'', olive sunbird ''(Nectarinia olivacea)'', forest weaver ''(Ploceus bicolor)'' and black-tailed waxbill ''(Estrilda perreini)''. There are many species of reptiles and amphibians typical of tropical and southern Africa although none are endemic to the region.

Threats and preservation

These dry forests stand on infertile sandy soil with little surface water and are therefore uninhabitable and fairly undisturbed, apart from poaching of wildlife. More research is needed into the flora and fauna of the area.

Protected areas

23.21% of the ecoregion is in protected areas. They include

Kafue Kafue is a town in the Lusaka Province of Zambia and it lies on the north bank of the Kafue River, after which it is named. It is the southern gateway to the central Zambian plateau on which Lusaka and the mining towns of Kabwe and the Copperb ...

and West Lunga national parks, Chibwika Ntambu, Chizera, Lukwakwa, and West Zambezi game management areas, and Chavuma, Kasesi, Mambwe, and Namboma forest reserves.

References

External links

* {{WWF ecoregion, name=Zambezian ''Cryptosepalum'' dry forests, id=at0203
Zambezian ''Cryptosepalum'' dry forests (Encyclopedia of Earth)
Afrotropical ecoregions Ecoregions of Angola Ecoregions of Zambia Tropical and subtropical dry broadleaf forests Zambezian region Cryptosepalum