Editing Zambezi (section)

==Delta==<!-- This section is linked from redirect "[[Zambezian coastal flooded savanna]]" -->
The delta of the Zambezi is today about half as broad as it was before the construction of the Kariba and Cahora Bassa dams controlled the seasonal variations in the flow rate of the river.{{citation needed|date=September 2017}} Before the dams were built, seasonal flooding of the Zambezi had quite a different impact on the ecosystems of the delta from today, as it brought nutrient-rich fresh water down to the Indian Ocean coastal wetlands. The lower Zambezi experienced a small flood surge early in the dry season as rain in the [[Gwembe]] catchment and north-eastern Zimbabwe rushed through while rain in the upper Zambezi, Kafue, and Lake Malawi basins, and Luangwa to a lesser extent, is held back by swamps and floodplains.

The discharges of these systems contribute to a much larger flood in March or April, with a mean monthly maximum for April of {{cvt|6700|m3|cuft}} per second at the delta. The record flood was more than three times as big, {{cvt|22500|m3|cuft}} per second being recorded in 1958. By contrast, the discharge at the end of the dry season averaged just {{cvt|500|m3|cuft}} per second.<ref name="Beilfuss"/>

In the 1960s and 1970s, the building of dams changed that pattern completely. Downstream, the mean monthly minimum–maximum was {{cvt|500|to|6000|m3|cuft}} per second; now it is {{cvt|1000|to|3900|m3|cuft}} per second. Medium-level floods especially, of the kind to which the ecology of the lower Zambezi was adapted, happen less often and have a shorter duration. As with the [[Itezhi-Tezhi Dam]]'s deleterious effects on the Kafue Flats, this has these effects:
* Fish, bird, and other wildlife feeding and breeding patterns were disrupted.
* Less grassland remains after flooding for [[grazing]] wildlife and cattle.
* Traditional farming and fishing patterns were disrupted.<ref>{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=eiR_RLPB6GAC&q=traditional+farming+and+fishing+patterns+disrupted&pg=PA41 |title=Revise AS Level Geography for Edexcel Specification B |last=Knifton |first=Dulcie |date=July 2004 |publisher=Heinemann |isbn=9780435101541}}</ref>

===Ecology of the delta===
{{main|Zambezian coastal flooded savanna}}
[[File:Zambezi River Delta.jpg|thumb|300px|Annotated view of the Zambezi River Delta from space<ref>{{cite web |url=http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/IOTD/view.php?id=82361 |title=Zambezi River Delta : Image of the Day |date=29 August 2013 |website=earthobservatory.nasa.gov |access-date=12 December 2013 |archive-date=6 January 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170106173513/http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/IOTD/view.php?id=82361 |url-status=live }}</ref>]]
[[File:Zambezi Barotse floodplain.jpg|thumb|NASA false-colour image of the upper Zambezi and [[Barotseland|Barotse]] (Balozi) floodplain during an extreme flood in 2003]]
The Zambezi Delta has extensive seasonally and permanently flooded grasslands, savannas, and swamp forests. Together with the floodplains of the [[Buzi River (Mozambique)|Buzi]], [[Pungwe River|Pungwe]], and [[Save River (Africa)|Save]] Rivers, the Zambezi's floodplains make up the [[World Wide Fund for Nature|World Wildlife Fund]]'s [[Zambezian coastal flooded savanna]] [[ecoregion]] in Mozambique. The flooded savannas lie close to the Indian Ocean coast. [[East African mangroves|Mangroves]] fringe the delta's shoreline.

Although the dams have stemmed some of the annual flooding of the lower Zambezi and caused the area of floodplain to be greatly reduced, they have not removed flooding completely. They cannot control extreme floods, and they have only made medium-level floods less frequent. When heavy rain in the lower Zambezi combines with significant runoff upstream, massive floods still happen, and the wetlands are still an important habitat. The shrinking of the wetlands, though, resulted in uncontrolled hunting of animals such as [[African buffalo|buffalo]] and [[waterbuck]] during the [[Mozambican Civil War]].

Although the region has had a reduction in the populations of the large mammals, it is still home to some, including the [[reedbuck]] and migrating [[common eland|eland]]. Carnivores found here include [[lion]] (''Panthera leo''), [[leopard]] (''Panthera pardus''), [[cheetah]] (''Acinonyx jubatus''), [[spotted hyena]] (''Crocuta crocuta''), and [[side-striped jackal]] (''Canis adustus''). The floodplains are a haven for migratory waterbirds, including [[northern pintail|pintails]], [[garganey]], [[African openbill]] (''Anastomus lamelligerus''), [[saddle-billed stork]] (''Ephippiorhynchus senegalensis''), [[wattled crane]] (''Bugeranus carunculatus''), and [[great white pelican]] (''Pelecanus onocrotalus'').<ref name = wwf>{{WWF ecoregion|name=Zambezian coastal flooded savanna|id=at0906}}</ref>

Reptiles include [[Nile crocodile]] (''Crocodylus niloticus''), [[Nile monitor]] lizard (''Varanus niloticus''), [[Python sebae|African rock python]] (''Python sebae''), the endemic Pungwe worm snake (''Leptotyphlops pungwensis''), and three other snakes that are nearly endemic - floodplain water snake (''Lycodonomorphus whytei obscuriventris''), dwarf wolf snake (''Lycophidion nanus''), and swamp viper (''[[Proatheris]]'').<ref name = wwf/>

Several butterfly species are endemic.
{{gallery|mode=packed|align=center
|Image:Zambezi delta.jpg|The Zambezi's delta
|Image:ISS009-E-7622- Zambezi river near Mongu.jpg|The river and its floodplain near Mongu in Zambia
|Image:Zambezi Flood Plain, Namibia (MODIS).jpg|Water is black in this false-colour image of the Zambezi flood plain.
|Image:Zambezi Flood Plain, Namibia (EO-1).jpg|This detailed true-colour image shows the stark eastern edge of the Zambezi floodplain.
}}