EPOW - Ecology Picture of the Week

The Dambos of Nyika

Dambo Ravine Wetlands within Grasslands
Nyika Plateau and National Park, Malawi

Explanation:  Welcome to the high country of Nyika Plateau and National Park, in the northern corner of Malawi in east Africa.  These remote grasslands are home to a wide variety of amazing animals and plants alike.  

But nestled in the gulleys and drainages of the savanna are small patches of wetlands, locally called dambos.  Dambos are only seasonally wet and occur mostly in the headwaters of streams that fill the rivers far below.  Here in the Nyika Plateau we are at a good 7,000 feet (2100 m) elevation.  
  

What good are dambos?  For one, they do provide habitat for a wide variety of animals -- mammals, birds, even amphibians and reptiles find key resources there.  They also are places where wet-site plants grow that are not found in the surrounding grasslands or woodlands.  So, dambos provide for local and regional biodiversity.
  

  
But dambos, as with other wetlands, are also important for people.  They can provide clean, naturally filtered water, and for the livelihood of local communities.  Such ecosystem services beg for conservation and wise use.  Indeed, the organization Wetlands International has promoted sustainable conservation and management of dambos in Malawi.

In Nyika Plateau, dambos can also provide important hiding cover for ungulates such as roan antelope and zebras.  As placid and peaceful as the grasslands appear, there lurks danger from hungry cats.

Skull of an adult zebra, taken as prey by what was likely
a pride of lions. It's not safe out there after dark!
(The pen is for scale.)

Information:
     Roberts, N.  1988.  Dambos in development: management of a fragile ecological resource.  Journal of Biogeography 15(1):141-148.
     von der Heyden, C.J. and M.G. New.  2003.  The role of a dambo in the hydrology of a catchment and the river network downstream.  Hydrology and Earth System Sciences 7(3):339-357.