Mount Rungwe is a volcanic mountain in

Mbeya Region Mbeya Region (''Mkoa wa Mbeya'' in Swahili language, Swahili) is one of Tanzania's 31 administrative Regions of Tanzania, regions. The region covers an area of . The region is comparable in size to the combined land area of the nation state of G ...

, in

Tanzania Tanzania, officially the United Republic of Tanzania, is a country in East Africa within the African Great Lakes region. It is bordered by Uganda to the northwest; Kenya to the northeast; the Indian Ocean to the east; Mozambique and Malawi to t ...

's Southern Highlands. At an altitude of , it is southern Tanzania's second-highest peak. Rungwe's volcano is currently inactive.

Geography

Rungwe stands at the junction of the eastern and western arms of the

East African Rift The East African Rift (EAR) or East African Rift System (EARS) is an active continental rift zone in East Africa. The EAR began developing around the onset of the Miocene, 22–25 million years ago. It was formerly considered to be part of a l ...

. It dominates the mountainous country at the north-west end of the trough that contains

Lake Malawi Lake Malawi, also known as Lake Nyasa in Tanzania and Lago Niassa in Mozambique, () is an African Great Lakes, African Great Lake and the southernmost lake in the East African Rift system, located between Malawi, Mozambique and Tanzania. It is ...

. The

Kipengere Range The Kipengere Range, also known as the Livingstone Mountains, lies entirely in Njombe Region in southwest Tanzania at the northern end of Lake Nyasa. Near Lake Nyasa they are known as the Kinga Mountains. It is a plateau-like ridge of mountains r ...

lies to the east, and the

Poroto Mountains The Poroto Mountains are a mountain range in the Mbeya Region of Tanzania. They are located east of the city of Mbeya. The Poroto Mountains are a northwestward extension of the Kipengere Range, and part of the Southern Highlands. The Poroto mount ...

lie to the north.

Kyejo Kyejo is an active stratovolcano in the Rukwa Rift Basin of Tanzania. It is located northwest of Lake Malawi. Eruptions at Kyejo are typically effusive although some moderately-sized explosions occur at its summit. Its numerous parasitic cones, ...

volcano (or Kiejo) (2176 m) lies to the southeast.Global Volcanism Program, 2013. Kyejo (222170) in Volcanoes of the World, v. 4.8.2. Venzke, E (ed.). Smithsonian Institution. Downloaded 06 Sep 2019 (https://volcano.si.edu/volcano.cfm?vn=222170). https://doi.org/10.5479/si.GVP.VOTW4-2013 The Kyela Plain, which occupies the valley of the East African Rift, lies to the south, extending to Lake Malawi. The western slopes of the mountain are drained by the Kiwira River, which empties into Lake Malawi.

Geology

Mount Rungwe is the center of the Rungwe Volcanic Province, a region of volcanic mountains that includes Mount Rungwe, Mount Ngozi in the Poroto Mountains and Kiejo. Rungwe Volcanic Province lies at a triple junction of rift valleys. The Lake Malawi Rift extends to the southeast, the

Lake Rukwa Lake Rukwa is an endorheic lake located in the Rukwa Valley of Rukwa Region, Songwe Region and Katavi Region in southwestern Tanzania. The lake is the third largest inland body of water in the country. Geography The alkaline Lake Rukwa lies ...

rift to the northwest, and the Usungu Rift to the northeast. The region has been volcanically active from the late

Miocene The Miocene ( ) is the first epoch (geology), geological epoch of the Neogene Period and extends from about (Ma). The Miocene was named by Scottish geologist Charles Lyell; the name comes from the Greek words (', "less") and (', "new") and mea ...

to historical times. Both Rungwe and Ngozi have had

Plinian eruptions Plinian eruptions or Vesuvian eruptions are Volcano, volcanic Types of volcanic eruptions, eruptions characterized by their similarity to the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 79 AD, which destroyed the ancient Roman cities of Herculaneum and Pompei ...

since the end of the Ice Age. The region has

geothermal Geothermal is related to energy and may refer to: * Geothermal energy, useful energy generated and stored in the Earth * Geothermal activity, the range of natural phenomena at or near the surface, associated with release of the Earth's internal he ...

activity, including hot springs and warm springs. Rungwe is topped with a 4-km-wide

caldera A caldera ( ) is a large cauldron-like hollow that forms shortly after the emptying of a magma chamber in a volcanic eruption. An eruption that ejects large volumes of magma over a short period of time can cause significant detriment to the str ...

, breached to the WSW. Rungwe had a large explosive eruption about 4000 years ago, and the most recent eruption was about 1200 years ago. Kyejo last erupted around 1800.

Climate

Mount Rungwe has a tropical montane climate. Most rainfall is during the November to April wet season, although mists and light rain occur during the dry season. Nighttime frosts are common from June to August. The southeastern slopes of these mountains receive up to of rainfall a year, the highest rainfall in Tanzania.

Ecology

The plant communities on Mount Rungwe vary with elevation. The surrounding lowlands are mostly

miombo woodlands Miombo woodland is a tropical and subtropical grasslands, savannas, and shrublands biome (in the World Wide Fund for Nature scheme) located in central and southern tropical Africa. It includes three woodland savanna ecoregions (listed below) charac ...

. Evergreen lower montane forests are found on the lower slopes of the forest reserve, particularly in the southeast. Common trees include ''

Aphloia theiformis ''Aphloia'' is a genus of flowering plants that contains a single species, ''Aphloia theiformis'', the sole species of the monogeneric family Aphloiaceae. It is a species of evergreen shrubs or small trees occurring in East Africa, Madagasca ...

, Ficalhoa laurifolia,

Maesa lanceolata ''Maesa lanceolata'', the false assegai, is a tree species that is widespread in the Afrotropics, including Madagascar. It occurs from the southern Arabian Peninsula, southwards to the Eastern Cape, South Africa. It grows on stream verges, river ...

Trichocladus ellipticus ''Trichocladus ellipticus'' is a species in the genus ''Trichocladus'', in the family Hamamelidaceae. It is also called white witch-hazel.Coates-Palgrave, M. 2002. Keith Coates-Palgrave "Trees of Southern Africa", edn 3, imp. 4. Random House Str ...

Albizia gummifera ''Albizia gummifera'' is a species of legume in the family Fabaceae, native to sub-saharan Africa and Madagascar, and naturalized in Brazil. It is also known as peacock flower. It is recognisable as a very large deciduous, flat-topped tree reach ...

,'' and ''

Bersama abyssinica ''Bersama abyssinica'' is a species of medium-sized evergreen tree in the family Francoaceae. The leaves are pinnately divided with a strongly winged rachis (hence the common name winged bersama). The inflorescence is a spike. This species is ...

''. Upper montane forests are found up to 2600 meters elevation, forming a broken canopy of about 10–25 meters. Common trees include ''Albizia gummifera, Aphloia theiformis, Bersama abyssinica,

Bridelia micrantha ''Bridelia micrantha'', the mitzeeri or the coastal golden-leaf, is a tree in the family Phyllanthaceae and is native to tropical and southern Africa as well as to the island of Réunion in the Indian Ocean. Description A medium to tall tree (u ...

Diospyros whyteana ''Diospyros whyteana'' (also known as the bladdernut, swartbas, wild coffee or umTenatane) is a small African tree of the ebony family. Bearing dark green, strikingly glossy leaves and creamy fragrant flowers, it is increasingly cultivated in Sou ...

Hagenia abyssinica ''Hagenia'' is a monotypic genus of flowering plant with the sole species ''Hagenia abyssinica'', native to the high-elevation Afromontane regions of central and eastern Africa. It also has a disjunct distribution in the high mountains of East A ...

Macaranga kilimandscharica ''Macaranga'' is a large genus of Old World tropical trees of the family Euphorbiaceae and the only genus in the subtribe Macaranginae (tribe Acalypheae). Native to Africa, Australasia, Asia and various islands of the Indian and Pacific Oceans, ...

Maytenus acuminata ''Maytenus'' is a genus of flowering plants in the family Celastraceae. Members of the genus are distributed throughout Central and South America, Southeast Asia, Micronesia, and Australasia, the Indian Ocean and Africa. They grow in a very wid ...

Myrianthus holstii ''Myrianthus holstii'' is a plant species within the family Urticaceae''.'' It grows either as a shrub or tree. It is considered a dioecious species but a monoecious tree has been observed. Description Species grows as a shrub or a tree, as a ...

'', and ''

Neoboutonia macrocalyx ''Neoboutonia'' is a plant genus of the family Euphorbiaceae first described as a genus in 1864. It is the only genus in subtribe Neoboutoniinae, and native to tropical Africa. It is dioecious. ;Species # '' Neoboutonia macrocalyx '' Pax - Burun ...

''. ''

Astropanax goetzenii ''Astropanax'' is a genus of flowering plants in the family Araliaceae, native to Tropical Africa, Madagascar, and other Indian Ocean islands. It was resurrected from ''Schefflera ''Schefflera'' is a genus of flowering plants in the family Ar ...

'' is a common creeping vine. At 2600 meters elevation, the upper montane forests transition to a belt of bamboo covering about 866 hectares, and heathland between 2600 and 2800 meters elevation. The heathland includes species of ''

Erica Erica or ERICA may refer to: * Erica (given name) * Erica (plant), ''Erica'' (plant), a flowering plant genus * Erica (chatbot), a service of Bank of America * Erica (video game), ''Erica'' (video game), a 2019 FMV video game * Erica (spider), ' ...

'', ''

Protea ''Protea'' () is a genus of South African flowering plants, also called sugarbushes (Afrikaans: ''suikerbos''). It is the type genus of the Proteaceae family. About 92% of the species occur only in the Cape Floristic Region, a narrow belt of mo ...

'', and ''

Aloe ''Aloe'' (; also written ''Aloë'') is a genus containing over 650 species of flowering plant, flowering succulent plant, succulent plants.WFO (2022): Aloe L. Published on the Internet;http://www.worldfloraonline.org/taxon/wfo-4000001341. Acc ...

'', with ''

Agarista salicifolia Agarista may refer to: * Alternative spelling of Agariste, a name from Greek mythology * ''Agarista'' (moth), a genus of moths in the family Noctuidae * ''Agarista'' (plant), a genus of plants in the family Ericaceae {{disambiguation Genus dis ...

Catha edulis Khat (''Catha edulis''), also known as Bushman's tea, especially in South Africa, is a flowering plant native to eastern and southeastern Africa. It has a history of cultivation originating in the Harari Region, Harar area (present day easter ...

Hypericum revolutum ''Hypericum revolutum'' is a shrub or small tree in the genus ''Hypericum'' native to Arabia and Africa. It is evergreen, with leaves opposite, closely spaced and crowded at the ends of branches, c. 20 × 5 mm, green to slightly glaucous, se ...

'', and ''

''. The mountaintop is bushed grassland, covering about 300 ha. High-elevation herbs include

bracken Bracken (''Pteridium'') is a genus of large, coarse ferns in the family (biology), family Dennstaedtiaceae. Ferns (Pteridophyta) are vascular plants that undergo alternation of generations, having both large plants that produce spores and small ...

, ''

Buchnera rungwensis ''Buchnera'' may refer to: * ''Buchnera'' (bacterium), a genus of proteobacteria * ''Buchnera'' (plant), a plant genus from the family Orobanchaceae Orobanchaceae, the broomrapes, is a family (biology), family of mostly parasitic plants of ...

'', and '' Valeriana capensis''. Two amphibians ('' Phrynobatrachus rungwensis'' and '' Probreviceps rungwensis'') are named after Mount Rungwe where they were first collected. A genus of monkey, ''

Rungwecebus The kipunji (''Rungwecebus kipunji''), also known as the highland mangabey, is a species of Old World monkey that lives in the highland forests of Tanzania. It was independently described by researchers from the Wildlife Conservation Society, the ...

'' was named for the mountain in 2005. It was initially thought to be a type of

mangabey Mangabeys are West African Old World monkeys, with species in three of the six genera of tribe Papionini. The more typical representatives of '' Cercocebus'', also known as the white-eyelid mangabeys, are characterized by their bare, upper eyel ...

from the genus ''

Lophocebus The crested mangabeys are West African Old World monkeys belonging to the genus ''Lophocebus''. They tend to have dark skin, eyelids that match their facial skin, and crests of hair on their heads. Another genus of mangabeys, '' Cercocebus'', wa ...

'', until more detailed genetic analysis showed its closer connection to

baboon Baboons are primates comprising the biology, genus ''Papio'', one of the 23 genera of Old World monkeys, in the family Cercopithecidae. There are six species of baboon: the hamadryas baboon, the Guinea baboon, the olive baboon, the yellow ba ...

s. ''Rungwecebus'' lives on Mt. Rungwe, in the adjacent Livingstone Forest Reserve in the Kipengere Range, and with a disjunct population in the

Udzungwa Mountains The Udzungwa Mountains are a mountain range in south-central Tanzania. The mountains are mostly within Iringa Region, south of Tanzania's capital Dodoma. The Udzungwa Mountains are part of the Eastern Arc Mountains, and are home to a biodiverse ...

250 miles to the east. The

Rungwe dwarf galago The Rungwe dwarf galago is a newly identified species of eastern dwarf galago. Specimens were first collected in the 1930s, but were identified as different species. A formal description of the species is presently being made. Description The R ...

, a newly identified

primate Primates is an order (biology), order of mammals, which is further divided into the Strepsirrhini, strepsirrhines, which include lemurs, galagos, and Lorisidae, lorisids; and the Haplorhini, haplorhines, which include Tarsiiformes, tarsiers a ...

species in the genus ''

Galagoides The western dwarf galagos are a group of three species of strepsirrhine primates, native to western and central Africa. They are classified in the genus ''Galagoides'' of the family Galagidae. The eastern dwarf galagos (''P. cocos, P. granti, P. ...

'', is found on Mt. Rungwe and nearby portions of the Poroto and Kipengere mountains. It inhabits montane evergreen and bamboo forests.

Mount Rungwe Nature Forest Reserve

Much of the mountain (13,652.1 ha) was listed as a Catchment Forest in 1949. In 2009 the reserve was upgraded to a Nature Forest Reserve to improve its conservation."Mount Rungwe Nature Forest Reserve". Tanzania Forest Services Agency. Accessed 4 September 2019

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References

Tanzania National Website
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Rungwe, Mount Geography of Mbeya Region Inactive volcanoes Southern Highlands, Tanzania Southern Rift montane forest–grassland mosaic Volcanoes of Tanzania Important Bird Areas of Tanzania Stratovolcanoes of Tanzania