ABSTRACT
Vegetation distribution in Mozambique is strongly influenced by certain ecological factors. These include levels of rainfall and seasonality; relief and the water-holding capacity of the soils; and botanical factors which influence the distribution of species (White, 1983). This floristic division is most noticeable between the vegetation types of southern Mozambique, and central and northern Mozambique. There is a further major division between the central and northern inland regions, and the coast. The automated classification of vegetation types has produced a series of biomass classes that have amalgamated a number of distinct vegetation types. Within each biomass class there are broad similarities in quantity, productivity and seasonality, regardless of vegetation type. This suggests that the botanical criteria previously used to classify vegetation in Mozambique have less application in fuelwood assessment than classifications based on ecological and structural criteria. In this respect, the work carried out by Malleux (1980) is very useful.
