Marromeu, Mozambique Photograph by Judy Oglethorpe   Afrotropics Flooded Grasslands and Savannas   7,500 square miles (19,500 square kilometers) -- about the size of New Jersey Vulnerable

· Flooded with Nutrients
· Special Features
· Did You Know?
· Wild Side
· Cause for Concern
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Flooded with Nutrients

Although many people associate floods with damage and destruction, seasonal flooding is beneficial to many ecosystems. For example, when Mozambique's Zambezi River used to surge with spring floodwaters each year, it brought nutrients and sustenance to the plants and animals of its delta. Today, dams on the Zambezi River control its flooding, but it continues to provide good habitat for a variety of species, including waterbirds and grazing animals.

Special Features

The Zambezian Coastal Flooded Savanna ecoregion includes the floodplain deltas of the Zambezi, Buzi, Pungue, and Save rivers. These deltas are located along the coast of the Indian Ocean. The climate of the region is surprisingly dry, with limited rain falling mostly from October to March. Temperatures range from about 65 to 85° F (18-30° C). The vegetation of these wetlands consists of open grassland and mixed freshwater swamp forests.

	Female and young male reedbucks are known to leap into the air and whistle in what scientists have called a "rocking horse" display--a behavior they think is designed to appease adult males.

Wild Side

Many wintering and breeding waterbirds congregate along the floodplains of this ecoregion. Pintails, garganey, open-billed storks, saddle-billed storks, wattled cranes, and white pelicans are just some of the waterbirds common to the region. Small populations of large mammals graze within the region, including water buffaloes, waterbucks, reedbucks, hippopotamuses, and zebras. In total, the region is home to over 300 birds, 80 mammals, and 70 reptiles and amphibians.

Cause for Concern

Recently, a long war in Mozambique took a huge toll on local wildlife populations. During the war, the military took over the country's parks and hunted wildlife for food. In just 13 years, populations of buffalos, waterbucks, and reedbucks declined by about 90 percent. Now that the war is over, the major threat to biodiversity is now damming of the rivers. Dams dry out downriver habitats, permanently flood upriver habitats, increase the number of fires, spread exotic vegetation, and lead to increased salinity of freshwater habitats.

For more information on this ecoregion, go to the World Wildlife Fund Scientific Report.