A first comprehensive account of floristic diversity and endemism on the Nyanga massif, Manica highlands (Zimbabwe-Mozambique)

Clark, Vincent Ralph; Timberlake, Jonathan; Hyde, Mark; Mapaura, Anthony; Palgrave, Meg Coates; Würsten, Bart; Ballings, Petra; Burrows, John E.; Linder, H. Peter; McGregor, Gillian; Chapano, Christopher; Plowes, D. C. H.; Childes, S. L.; Dondeyne, Stefaan; Müller, Tom; Barker, Nigel P.

doi:10.5167/uzh-131473

Cited by 3 publications

(2 citation statements)

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“…This centre can be subdivided into at least three sub-centres, such as the Maputaland (sensu stricto), the Lebombo Mountains Centre and the Inhambane Centre ( Darbyshire et al 2019 ). As part of the Afromontane Archipelago-like Centre of Endemism, Mozambique shares the Chimanimani-Nyanga Centre of Endemism with neighbouring Zimbabwe ( Clark et al 2017 ; Darbyshire et al 2019 ), and includes large part of the Mulanje-Namuli-Ribáuè Centre of Endemism, which extends from southern Malawi to Zambézia and Nampula provinces ( Darbyshire et al 2021 ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

An updated checklist of Mozambique’s vascular plants

Odorico¹,

Nicosia²,

Datizua³

et al. 2022

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An updated checklist of Mozambique’s vascular plants is presented. It was compiled referring to several information sources such as existing literature, relevant online databases and herbaria collections. The checklist includes 7,099 taxa (5,957 species, 605 subspecies, 537 varieties), belonging to 226 families and 1,746 genera. There are 6,804 angiosperms, 257 pteridophytes, and 38 gymnosperms. A total of 6,171 taxa are native to Mozambique, while 602 are introduced and the remaining 326 taxa were considered as uncertain status. The endemism level for Mozambique’s flora was assessed at 9.59%, including 278 strict-endemic taxa and 403 near-endemic. 58.2% of taxa are herbaceous, while shrubs and trees account respectively for 26.5% and 9.2% of the taxa. The checklist also includes ferns (3.6%), lianas (1.7%), subshrubs (0.5%) and cycads (0.3%). Fabaceae, Poaceae and Asteraceae are the three most represented families, with 891, 543 and 428 taxa, respectively. The extinction risk of 1,667 taxa is included, with 158 taxa listed as Vulnerable, 119 as Endangered and as 24 Critically Endangered. The geographical distribution, known vernacular names and plants traditional uses are also recorded.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

An updated checklist of Mozambique’s vascular plants

Odorico¹,

Nicosia²,

Datizua³

et al. 2022

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show abstract

“…Some regions with shallow groundwater are within these hotspots, such as Box-B showing the South of Lake Chad, between the Logone and Chari Rivers and the Sudd Swamp-Figure 2 (refer to Fan et al, 2013 for water table depth estimates), consistent with previous studies on the relevance of shallow water tables for vegetation activity in water-limited environments (Koirala et al, 2017;Roebroek et al, 2020). Furthermore, we found strong terrain effects over mountainous regions such as the Ethiopian Highlands (Box-E) and, to a lesser extent, the Manica Highlands (Box-F) (refer to Clark et al, 2017 for further information about the Manica Highlands). This likely reflects the effects of topographical complexity on lateral water flows and moisture convergence in valleys and riparian zones (Fan et al, 2019).…”

Section: Importance Of Terrain Properties On Seasonal Decay Rate Of V...mentioning

confidence: 89%

Observation-based assessment of secondary water effects on seasonal vegetation decay across Africa

Küçük¹,

Koirala²,

Miralles³

et al. 2022

Front. Big Data

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Local studies and modeling experiments suggest that shallow groundwater and lateral redistribution of soil moisture, together with soil properties, can be highly important secondary water sources for vegetation in water-limited ecosystems. However, there is a lack of observation-based studies of these terrain-associated secondary water effects on vegetation over large spatial domains. Here, we quantify the role of terrain properties on the spatial variations of dry season vegetation decay rate across Africa obtained from geostationary satellite acquisitions to assess the large-scale relevance of secondary water effects. We use machine learning based attribution to identify where and under which conditions terrain properties related to topography, water table depth, and soil hydraulic properties influence the rate of vegetation decay. Over the study domain, the machine learning model attributes about one-third of the spatial variations of vegetation decay rates to terrain properties, which is roughly equally split between direct terrain effects and interaction effects with climate and vegetation variables. The importance of secondary water effects increases with increasing topographic variability, shallower groundwater levels, and the propensity to capillary rise given by soil properties. In regions with favorable terrain properties, more than 60% of the variations in the decay rate of vegetation are attributed to terrain properties, highlighting the importance of secondary water effects on vegetation in Africa. Our findings provide an empirical assessment of the importance of local-scale secondary water effects on vegetation over Africa and help to improve hydrological and vegetation models for the challenge of bridging processes across spatial scales.

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Mountains of the Mist: A first plant checklist for the Bvumba Mountains, Manica Highlands (Zimbabwe-Mozambique)

Timberlake¹,

Ballings

Vidal³

et al. 2020

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The first comprehensive plant checklist for the Bvumba massif, situated in the Manica Highlands along the Zimbabwe-Mozambique border, is presented. Although covering only 276 km2, the flora is rich with 1250 taxa (1127 native taxa and 123 naturalised introductions). There is a high proportion of Orchidaceae and Pteridophyta, with both groups showing a higher richness than for adjacent montane areas, which may be due to the massif’s relatively high moisture levels as a result of frequent cloud cover. However, in contrast to other mesic montane regions in southern Africa, there are relatively few near-endemic or range-restricted taxa: there is only one local endemic, Aeranthes africana, an epiphytic forest orchid. This is likely to be an effect of the massif having limited natural grassland compared to forest, the former being the most endemic-rich habitat in southern African mountains outside of the Fynbos Biome. Six other near-endemic taxa with limited distribution in this portion of the Manica Highlands are highlighted. The high number of invasive species is probably a result of diverse human activities in the area. The main species of concern are Acacia melanoxylon, a tree that is invading grassland and previously cultivated land, the forest herb Hedychium gardnerianum which in places is transforming forest understorey with an adverse effect on some forest birds, and the woody herb Vernonanthura polyanthes which invades cleared forest areas after fire. Future botanical work in the massif should focus on a more detailed exploration of the poorly known Serra Vumba on the Mozambican side and on the drier western slopes. This will allow for a more detailed analysis of patterns of endemism across the Manica Highlands.

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A first comprehensive account of floristic diversity and endemism on the Nyanga massif, Manica highlands (Zimbabwe-Mozambique)

Cited by 3 publications

References 0 publications

An updated checklist of Mozambique’s vascular plants

An updated checklist of Mozambique’s vascular plants

Observation-based assessment of secondary water effects on seasonal vegetation decay across Africa

Mountains of the Mist: A first plant checklist for the Bvumba Mountains, Manica Highlands (Zimbabwe-Mozambique)

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A first comprehensive account of floristic diversity and endemism on the Nyanga massif, Manica highlands (Zimbabwe-Mozambique)

Cited by 3 publications

References 0 publications

﻿An updated checklist of Mozambique’s vascular plants

﻿An updated checklist of Mozambique’s vascular plants

Observation-based assessment of secondary water effects on seasonal vegetation decay across Africa

Mountains of the Mist: A first plant checklist for the Bvumba Mountains, Manica Highlands (Zimbabwe-Mozambique)

Contact Info

Product

Resources

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An updated checklist of Mozambique’s vascular plants

An updated checklist of Mozambique’s vascular plants