Gorongosa National Park ecology · Ecology in Gorongosa National Park
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Ecology in Gorongosa National Park
Ecology in Gorongosa National Park
Gorongosa National Park protects a vast ecosystem defined, shaped, and given life by all the rivers that flow into Lake Urema. The Nhandungue crosses the Barue Plateau on its way down to the valley. The Nhandue and Mucombeze come from the north. Mount Gorongosa contributes the Vunduzi. Several smaller rivers pour down off the Cheringoma Plateau. Together they comprise the Urema Catchment, an area of about 7,850 square kilometers.
Most of the rivers are seasonal, reaching the valley floor only during the rainy season, between November and April. The rest of the year they are intermittent rivers that appear and disappear into the earth. Only the Vunduzi and the Nhandungue feed Lake Urema the entire year. The Nhandungue receives help from the Muera, a smaller stream that feeds it even at the height of the dry season. Like the Vunduzi, the Muera comes from Mount Gorongosa. Thus water born on the mountain is the key to life in the valley below.
On calm, clear days, the lake's surface reflects Mount Gorongosa's huge green bulk, as if in gratitude, and rightly so: it's a commanding presence the indigenous people hold sacred. An isolated, 600-square-kilometer massif, 1,863 high, it's large enough to create its own weather system. Two meters of precipitation fall annually on the mountain. Lush forests and grasslands on its upper reaches soak up much of that water and dispense it down slope all year long.
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Gorongosa National Park Travel Guide from Wikitravel. Many thanks to all Wikitravel contributors. Text is available under Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0, images are available under various licenses, see each image for details.