Dambo
Dambo is a word used for a class of complex shallow wetlands in central, southern and eastern Africa, particularly in Zambia and Zimbabwe. They are generally found in higher rainfall flat plateau areas, and have river-like branching forms which may be nowhere very large, but common enough to add up to a large area. For instance, dambos have been estimated to comprise 12.5% of the area of Zambia. Similar African words include mbuga (commonly used in East Africa), matoro (Mashonaland), vlei (South Africa), fadama (Nigeria), and bolis (Sierra Leone); the French bas-fond and German Spültal have also been suggested as referring to similar grassy wetlands.
Dambos are characterised by grasses, rushes and sedges, contrasting with surrounding woodland such as Miombo woodland. They may be substantially dry at the end of the dry season, revealing grey soils or black clays, but unlike a flooded grassland, they retain wet lines of drainage through the dry season. They are inundated (waterlogged) in the wet season but not generally above the height of the vegetation and any open water surface is usually confined to streams, rivers and small ponds or lagoons at the lowest point, generally near the centre.
The name dambo is most frequently used for wetlands on flat plateau which form the headwaters of streams and rivers. The definition for scientific purposes has been proposed as “seasonally waterlogged, predominantly grass covered, depressions bordering headwater drainage lines”.
The problem with the preceding definition is that the word may also be used for wetlands bordering rivers far from the headwaters, for example the dambo of the Mbereshi River where it enters the swamps of the Luapula River in Zambia, 09°43′30″S 28°46′00″E / 9.72500°S 28.76667°E.
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