The Ethiopian montane moorlands is a

montane grasslands and shrublands Montane grasslands and shrublands is a biome defined by the World Wildlife Fund. The biome includes high elevation grasslands and shrublands around the world. The term "montane" in the name of the biome refers to "high elevation", rather than th ...

ecoregion An ecoregion (ecological region) or ecozone (ecological zone) is an ecologically and geographically defined area that is smaller than a bioregion, which in turn is smaller than a biogeographic realm. Ecoregions cover relatively large areas of l ...

Ethiopia Ethiopia, , om, Itiyoophiyaa, so, Itoobiya, ti, ኢትዮጵያ, Ítiyop'iya, aa, Itiyoppiya officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a landlocked country in the Horn of Africa. It shares borders with Eritrea to the ...

. It lies above 3,000 meters elevation in the

Ethiopian Highlands The Ethiopian Highlands is a rugged mass of mountains in Ethiopia in Northeast Africa. It forms the largest continuous area of its elevation in the continent, with little of its surface falling below , while the summits reach heights of up to . ...

, the largest

Afroalpine The Afromontane regions are subregions of the Afrotropical realm, one of the Earth's eight biogeographic realms, covering the plant and animal species found in the mountains of Africa and the southern Arabian Peninsula. The Afromontane regions of ...

region in Africa. The montane moorlands lie above the tree line, and consist of grassland and moorland with abundant herbs and shrubs adapted to the high elevation conditions.

Geography

The ecoregion occupies an area of . The ecoregion covers areas above elevation, extending up to 4,550 meters on

Ras Dashen Ras Dashen (Amharic: ራስ ዳሸን ''rās dāshn''), also known as Ras Dejen, is the highest mountain in Ethiopia and fourteenth highest peak in Africa. Located in the Simien Mountains National Park in the North Gondar Zone of the Amhara Regio ...

, the highest peak in the Ethiopian Highlands. Below the montane moorlands is the

Ethiopian montane grasslands and woodlands The Ethiopian montane grasslands and woodlands is a montane grasslands and shrublands ecoregion in Ethiopia. It occupies the middle elevations of the Ethiopian Highlands, between the high-altitude Ethiopian montane moorlands and the lower-elevatio ...

ecoregion.Burgess, Neil, Jennifer D’Amico Hales, Emma Underwood (2004). ''Terrestrial Ecoregions of Africa and Madagascar: A Conservation Assessment''. Island Press, Washington DC. The

Sanetti Plateau The Sanetti Plateau is a major plateau of the Ethiopian Highlands, in the Oromia Region of Ethiopia. The plateau is the highest part of the Bale Mountains, and is located within Bale Mountains National Park.L.J.G. van der Maesen, X.M. van der Bu ...

in the

Bale Mountains The Bale Mountains (also known as the Urgoma Mountains) are mountain ranges in the Oromia Region of southeast Ethiopia, south of the Awash River, part of the Ethiopian Highlands. They include Tullu Demtu, the second-highest mountain in Ethiopia ...

is the largest single area of moorland.

Climate

The ecoregion has a montane tropical climate. Rainfall varies across the ecoregion – as high as 2,500 mm in the southwest, and as little as 1,000 mm in the north. There is an annual dry season, which can last for only two months in the southwest and up to ten 10 months in the north. Frosts are common throughout the year, especially in the November-to-March winter months.

Flora

The main vegetation plant communities are moorland, grassland, and herb meadow. The moorland is characterized by shrubs from a half-meter to a meter high, including

tree heath ''Erica arborea'', the tree heath or tree heather, is a species of flowering plant (angiosperms) in the heather family Ericaceae, native to the Mediterranean Basin and Ethiopia, Kenya and Tanzania in East Africa. It is also cultivated as an or ...

(''Erica arborea''), ''

Erica trimera ''Erica trimera'' is a species of flowering plant. It is a shrub or tree which grows in the mountains of eastern and central Africa. Description ''Erica trimera'' is an evergreen shrub or tree which grows from .4 to 12 meters in height, with a ...

'', and other shrubs. The giant lobelia ''

Lobelia rhynchopetalum ''Lobelia rhynchopetalum'', the giant lobelia, is a plant endemic to Ethiopia. Its habitat is the Afroalpine climate of the Semien Mountains and Bale Mountains National Park Bale Mountains National Park (BMNP) is a national park in Ethiopia. Th ...

'' can reach up to 6 meters when flowering. Herbs and grasses grow between the shrubs, including species of ''

Helichrysum The genus ''Helichrysum'' consists of an estimated 600 species of flowering plants in the sunflower family (Asteraceae). The type species is ''Helichrysum orientale''. They often go by the names everlasting, immortelle, and strawflower. The name ...

Alchemilla ''Alchemilla'' is a genus of herbaceous perennial plants in the family Rosaceae, with the common name lady's mantle applied generically as well as specifically to ''Alchemilla mollis'' when referred to as a garden plant. The plant used as a herb ...

'', and ''

Cerastium ''Cerastium'' is a genus of annual, winter annual, or perennial plants belonging to the family Caryophyllaceae. They are commonly called mouse-ear chickweed. Species are found nearly worldwide but the greatest concentration is in the northern tem ...

'', and the grasses ''

Festuca ''Festuca'' (fescue) is a genus of flowering plants belonging to the grass family Poaceae (subfamily Pooideae). They are evergreen or herbaceous perennial tufted grasses with a height range of and a cosmopolitan distribution, occurring on every ...

'' spp. and ''

Aira ''Aira'' is a genus of Old World plants in the grass family, native to western and southern Europe, central and southwest Asia, plus Africa. The common name, shared with the similar related genera ''Deschampsia'' and ''Koeleria'', is hair-grass ...

'' spp. The sedge ''

Carex monostachya ''Carex monostachya'' is a species of sedge native to the mountains of East Africa. Distribution and ecology ''Carex monostachya'' lives at altitudes of above sea level in Afromontane region, including Mount Kenya, the Aberdare Range and Mount ...

'' is common in wet areas. Six Afro-alpine plant communities occur in the

Guassa Community Conservation Area The Guassa Community Conservation Area (GCCA) is a protected area in central Ethiopia. It is one of the oldest known common property resource management in Sub-Saharan Africa. It has been the focus of an indigenous natural resource management ins ...

of the northern Highlands – ''Festuca'' grassland, ''

Euryops ''Euryops'' is a genus of flowering plants in the sunflower family. They are native mostly to rocky sites in southern Africa, with a few species in other parts of Africa and on the Arabian Peninsula. They produce daisy-like flowerheads from fe ...

-Alchemilla'' shrubland, Mima mound (''Euryops-Festuca'' grassland), ''Erica'' moorland, ''Helichrysum-Festuca'' grassland, and swamp grassland. Guassa is the local name for four species of native ''Festuca'' bunchgrasses which are valued by local communities for thatching and rope- and basket-making.Ashenafi, Z. T., Leader-Williams, N., & Coulson, T. (2012). Consequences of Human Land Use for an Afro-alpine Ecological Community in Ethiopia. Conservation and Society, 10(3), 209–216. http://www.jstor.org/stable/26393078

Fauna

The endangered

Ethiopian wolf The Ethiopian wolf (''Canis simensis''), also called the Simien jackal and Simien fox, is a canine native to the Ethiopian Highlands. In southeastern Ethiopia it is also known as the horse jackal. It is similar to the coyote in size and build ...

(''Canis simensis'') is endemic to the ecoregion. It lives in open moorlands where it hunts rodents. There are two subspecies – a northern subspecies, ''C. s. simensis'', which lives north of the Rift Valley, and the southeastern subspecies, ''C. s. citernii'', which lives in

Bale Mountains National Park Bale Mountains National Park (BMNP) is a national park in Ethiopia. The park encompasses an area of approximately in the Bale Mountains and Sanetti Plateau of the Ethiopian Highlands. The park's Afromontane habitats have one of the highest incid ...

and surrounding areas. Of the 14 rodent species endemic to the Ethiopian Highlands, six are endemic to the montane moorlands ecoregion. These include the Ethiopian mole-rat (''Tachyoryctes macrocephalus''),

Nikolaus' mouse Nikolaus's mouse (''Megadendromus nikolausi'') is a species of rodent in the family Nesomyidae. It is the only species in the genus ''Megadendromus''. It is found only in Ethiopia. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical high-altitude sh ...

(''Megadendromus nikolausi''),

Ethiopian narrow-headed rat The Ethiopian narrow-headed rat (''Stenocephalemys albocaudata'') is a species of rodent in the family Muridae. It is found only in Ethiopia. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical high-elevation shrubland and subtropical or tropical ...

(''Stenocephalemys albocaudata''),

gray-tailed narrow-headed rat The gray-tailed narrow-headed rat (''Stenocephalemys griseicauda'') is a species of rodent in the family Muridae. It is found only in Ethiopia. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist montane forests, subtropical or tropical high- ...

(''Stenocephalemys griseicauda''), and

black-clawed brush-furred rat The black-clawed brush-furred rat (''Lophuromys melanonyx'') is a species of rodent in the family Muridae. It is found only in Ethiopia. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical high-altitude grassland. It is threatened by habitat loss ...

(''Lophuromys melanonyx'').

Protected areas

41.26% of the ecoregion is in protected areas. Protected areas in the ecoregion include

Simien Mountains National Park Simien Mountains National Park is the largest national park in Ethiopia. Located in the North Gondar Zone of the Amhara Region, its territory covers the highest parts of the Simien Mountains and includes Ras Dashan, the highest point in Ethi ...

Arsi Mountains National Park Arsi Mountains National Park is a national park in Arsi Zone of Oromia Region in Ethiopia. It protects a portion of the Ethiopian Highlands, and includes montane forests, subalpine heath, and alpine grasslands and shrublands. The park was desig ...

, and

Chebera Churchura National Park Chebera Churchura National Park is a national park located in South West Ethiopia Peoples' Region in the southwest of Ethiopia. The park was founded by the regional government in 2005. The park is located 133 km south from Jimma and 483 km southw ...

External links

*
Ethiopian montane moorlands (DOPA)

References

{{reflist Ecoregions of Ethiopia Afromontane ecoregions Ethiopian Highlands Montane grasslands and shrublands