Chirinda Forest Botanical Reserve
The 950 hectares (2,300 acres) Chirinda Forest Botanical Reserve is situated on the slopes of Mount Selinda, 30 km (19 miles) south of Chipinge, in the Chipinge Highlands of Manicaland, Zimbabwe, and is administered by the Forestry Commission. The reserve is situated at between 900 and 1,200 m (3,000 and 3,900 ft) in altitude, and receives some 1,370 mm (54 in) to 1,466 mm (57.7 in) of annual rainfall. 606 hectares (1,500 acres) of its higher levels, above 1,076 m (3,530 ft), is covered by moist evergreen forest, specifically Zanzibar-Inhambane transitional rain forest, of which it represents the southernmost occurrence. The headwaters of three streams, namely the Zona, Chinyika and Musangazi, drain the two broad highlands which it encloses. The boundaries of the reserve are not strictly enforced, so that cattle grazing and plant harvesting are ongoing. The reserve is surrounded by communal settlements, commercial timber plantations (eucalypts and pines) and small-scale commercial farming units. The naturalist Charles Swynnerton was appointed manager of the nearby Gungunyana farm in 1900, and a number of plant, bird and insect names commemorate his collecting activities of the next two decades. Chirinda means "lookout" or "vantage point" in the chiNdau language, or perhaps "place of refuge".
The medium altitude forest is likely the southernmost patch of subtropical rainforest in Africa. Phytogeographically it is classed as Afromontane forest, but with lowland and Guineo-Congolian elements. It is situated on two hill tops on dolerite-derived soils, and Müller (1991) proposed that these soil types determine its extent. Goldsmith (1876) however suggested that it is only a relic of a once much larger forest which has been reduced by gradual climatic changes in a few hundred years.
Year-round moisture, in the form of rain, mist or dew, provides for a substantial and intact moist leaf litter layer, on which its ecological processes depend. Decomposition is fungal, and not by termites or similar insects as would be the case in drier woodlands of the region. Several tree species bear fleshy fruit, resulting in a good representation of mammal and bird frugivores, which impact both negatively and positively on seed dispersal. Much of the fauna shows affinities to forests elsewhere, particularly those at lower altitudes along the East Africa coastal plains.
...
Wikipedia