The Miombo Woodlands

Abstract This chapter on the miombo woodlands follows from the previous more generalized chapter on East African savannas. The miombo is, however, much more than a mere variant of the typical East African savanna. Covering some 50% of Tanzania it is the largest single vegetation type in East Africa. It links East Africa floristically and ecologically to south-central Africa. The miombo is distinct in its mixture of climatic and soil characteristics. The unimodal rainfall pattern, and prolonged dry season with severe fires, influence miombo ecology differently from that of savannas with two rainfall peaks per year. In species composition the miombo is largely distinct at the generic level for trees and, therefore, in many aspects of its ecology.