Ethiopian wolf (Canis simensis citernii)

The Sanetti Plateau is a major

plateau In geology and physical geography, a plateau (; ; ), also called a high plain or a tableland, is an area of a highland consisting of flat terrain that is raised sharply above the surrounding area on at least one side. Often one or more sides ...

of 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 . ...

, in the

Oromia Region Oromia (Amharic: ) ( om, Oromiyaa) is a regional state in Ethiopia and the homeland of the Oromo people. The capital of Oromia is Addis Ababa. It is bordered by the Somali Region to the east; the Amhara Region, the Afar Region and the Benis ...

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 ...

. The plateau is the highest part of the Bale Mountains, and is located within

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 ...

.L.J.G. van der Maesen, X.M. van der Burgt and J.M. van Medenbach de Rooy. 1994. ''The Biodiversity of African Plants: Proceedings, XIVth AETFAT Congress'', 22–27 August 1994, Wageningen, The Netherlands, Published by Springer,

Geography

The plateau exceeds 4000 meters in elevation, and its highest point is Mount Tullu Dimtu at . The southern edge of the plateau forms a steep

escarpment An escarpment is a steep slope or long cliff that forms as a result of faulting or erosion and separates two relatively level areas having different elevations. The terms ''scarp'' and ''scarp face'' are often used interchangeably with ''esca ...

, known as the Harenna escarpment, which descends from 3800 to 2800 meters elevation. The northern slopes drain into the

Shebelle River The Shebelle River ( so, Webi Shabeelle, ar, نهر شبيلي, am, እደላ) begins in the highlands of Ethiopia, and then flows southeast into Somalia towards Mogadishu. Near Mogadishu, it turns sharply southwest, where it follows the coast ...

, and the southern slopes are drained by tributaries of the Ganale River, including the Weyib. The southern slopes receive higher rainfall, generally 1000 mm or more annually, while the northern slopes are in the drier rain shadow of the mountains.

Flora and fauna

The highest portion of the plateau, from approximately 3800 to 4377 meters, is covered by

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 ...

vegetation, including ''

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 nam ...

'' shrublands, tussock grasslands with '' Festuca abyssinica'' predominant, and groves of 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 ...

''. A belt of low ericaceous subalpine forest lies below the alpine zone, between 3800 and 3250 meters elevation, and extending up to 4000 meters in sheltered stream valleys. ''

Erica arborea ''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 o ...

'' and '' Erica trimera'' are the characteristic plants, growing as shrubs or small trees. These alpine and subalpine plant communities are part of the Ethiopian montane moorlands ecoregion, and the plateau is the largest Afroalpine area in the Ethiopian Highlands.Bussmann, Rainer W. (2006). "Vegetation zonation and nomenclature of African Mountains - An overview". ''Lyonia'' Volume 11(1), June 2006. The Harenna Forest covers the southern slope of the Bale Mountains, below 3250 meters elevation. The upper elevations of the forest include extensive groves of bamboo (''

Yushania alpina ''Oldeania alpina'', the African alpine bamboo, is a perennial bamboo of the family Poaceae and the genus '' Yushania''. It can be found growing in dense but not large stands on the mountains and volcanoes surrounding the East African Rift bet ...

'') and cloud forest dominated by ''

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 ...

''. The drier northern slopes include some remnant woodlands of ''Hagenia abyssinica'', African juniper (''Juniperus procera''), and '' Hypericum revolutum'' below 3400 meters elevation. Much of the north slope's original dry woodland has been cleared for agriculture and pasture. This region is known for its mammals, amphibians and

bird Birds are a group of warm-blooded vertebrates constituting the class Aves (), characterised by feathers, toothless beaked jaws, the laying of hard-shelled eggs, a high metabolic rate, a four-chambered heart, and a strong yet lightweig ...

s including many

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also found else ...

species. The plateau's afroalpine grasslands and shrublands are home to the largest population of 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''). The endangered

mountain nyala The mountain nyala (Amharic: የተራራ ኒዮላ) (''Tragelaphus buxtoni'') or balbok is an antelope found in high altitude woodland in a small part of central Ethiopia. It is a monotypic species (without any identified subspecies) first ...

(''Tragelaphus buxtoni'') is found in the subalpine and upper montane woodlands. The

Bale shrew The Bale shrew (''Crocidura bottegoides'') is a species of mammal in the family Soricidae. It is endemic to Ethiopia, in the Bale Mountains of the Ethiopian Highlands. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist montane forests and h ...

(''Crocidura bottegoides'') is found only in the afroalpine grasslands of the plateau and clearings in the adjacent high-mountain forests.Lavrenchenko, Leonid. (2000). The mammals of the isolated Harenna Forest (southern Ethiopia): Structure and history of the fauna. ''Bonner Zoologische Monographien''. 46. 223-231. The Sanetti Plateau once was habitat to packs of the

endangered An endangered species is a species that is very likely to become extinct in the near future, either worldwide or in a particular political jurisdiction. Endangered species may be at risk due to factors such as habitat loss, poaching and in ...

painted hunting dog The African wild dog (''Lycaon pictus''), also called the painted dog or Cape hunting dog, is a wild canine which is a native species to sub-Saharan Africa. It is the largest wild canine in Africa, and the only extant member of the genus '' Lyca ...

, (''Lycaon pictus'') but the presence of this canid is now in question here due to the population pressures of expanding human presence.C. Michael Hogan. 2009
''Painted Hunting Dog: Lycaon pictus'', GlobalTwitcher.com, ed. N. Stromberg
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References

External links

{{Clear Plateaus of Africa Landforms of Ethiopia Bale Mountains Ethiopian Highlands Geography of Oromia Region Ethiopian montane moorlands

Geography

Flora and fauna

See also

References

External links