Zambezian and mopane woodlands

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Map of the 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 of Botswana, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, South Africa, Swaziland, Zambia, and Zimbabwe, including the lower basin of the Zambezi River. It is generally at a lower elevation, and has lower rainfall, than the neighboring Central Zambezian miombo woodlands, Eastern miombo woodlands, and Southern miombo woodlands, which occupy the higher plateaus and escarpments. It is bounded to the southwest by the Drakensberg Range and Southern African Bushveld and Drakensberg montane grassland, woodland, and forest ecoregions. To the east, it transitions to the drier Zambezian baikiaea woodlands and Kalahari Acacia-Baikiaea woodlands on the Kalahari sands. The more humid Southern Zanzibar-Inhambane coastal forest mosaic and Maputaland coastal forest mosaic ecoregions lie between the Zambezian and mopane woodlands and the Indian Ocean.

See also

• Tropical and subtropical dry broadleaf forests
• Tropical and subtropical grasslands, savannas, and shrublands

References

• Burgess, Neil, Jennifer D’Amico Hales, Emma Underwood (2004). Terrestrial Ecoregions of Africa and Madagascar: A Conservation Assessment. Island Press, Washington DC.

External links

• Zambezian and Mopane woodlands (Encyclopedia of Earth)