Qualla: Zambezian evergreen dry forests

Zambezian evergreen dry forests: Introduction

Thu, 23 Apr 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Evergreen forests are supposed to be equatorial. Pull away from the equator by more than a few degrees and most trees switch to seasonal strategies - dropping leaves in the dry months, going dormant through the cool ones. But between 12 and 13 degrees south, on the sandy hills west of the Kabompo River in northern Barotseland, something unusual happens. Tall evergreen mavunda trees hold their canopies year-round, mosses carpet the forest floor in the denser stands, and the undergrowth weaves creepers through shrub thickets the way rainforest undergrowth does closer to the line. The Zambezian evergreen dry forests are one of the largest patches of tropical evergreen forest outside the equatorial zone - and they exist, paradoxically, because the soil is too poor to bother farming.

Zambezian evergreen dry forests: Sand That Held a Forest

Thu, 23 Apr 2026 00:00:00 GMT

The ecoregion occupies rolling hills of sandy soil drained by the Kabompo River in western Zambia, with one enclave spilling across the border into Angola. The hills sit at 1,100 to 1,200 meters elevation, high enough for the climate to stay moderate - average annual temperature ...

Zambezian evergreen dry forests: The Mavunda and Their Neighbors

Thu, 23 Apr 2026 00:00:00 GMT

The characteristic tree here is the mavunda, Cryptosepalum exfoliatum pseudotaxus - a tall evergreen that gives the forest its scientific alias, Zambezian Cryptosepalum dry forest. The mavunda hold their leaves through the long dry season, depending on deep roots to reach water t...

Zambezian evergreen dry forests: The Birds of a Quiet Country

Thu, 23 Apr 2026 00:00:00 GMT

The forest is modest in mammals - yellow-backed duiker, blue duiker, their predators, bushpigs. The only two endemic species are Rosevear's striped grass mouse and the white-chested tinkerbird, Pogoniulus makawai. The tinkerbird is the mystery of the ecoregion: it has not been re...

Zambezian evergreen dry forests: Preserved by Poverty

Thu, 23 Apr 2026 00:00:00 GMT

These forests have survived largely because nobody wanted them. The sandy soil supports scarcely any agriculture. Surface water is limited, making permanent settlement difficult. The combination has left the ecoregion fairly undisturbed, with poaching of wildlife the main ongoing...