Horn of Africa
The Horn of Africa (HoA), also known as the Somali Peninsula, is a large peninsula and geopolitical region in East Africa.Robert Stock, ''Africa South of the Sahara, Second Edition: A Geographical Interpretation'', (The Guilford Press; 2004), ...
. It is home to diverse communities of plants and animals, including several endemic species.
Setting
The Somali ''Acacia''–''Commiphora'' bushlands and thickets ecoregion occupies most of the Horn of Africa east and south 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 ...
, including eastern Ethiopia's
Haud
The Haud (also Hawd) (, ), formerly known as the Hawd Reserve Area is a plateau situated in the Horn of Africa consisting of thorn-bush and grasslands. The region includes the southern part of Somaliland as well as the northern and eastern parts ...
plateau and adjacent parts of Somaliland, Somalia and northeastern Kenya.
It also extends along the floor 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. In the past it was considered to be part of a ...
, bisecting the Ethiopian highlands, and along the northeastern edge of the highlands into Eritrea and Sudan.
The ecoregion is bounded on the southwest by the Northern Acacia–Commiphora bushlands and thickets and the
Masai xeric grasslands and shrublands
The Masai xeric grasslands and shrublands is a Desert and xeric shrubland ecoregion in Kenya and Ethiopia. It includes the lowlands around Lake Turkana and the Chalbi Desert east of the lake.
The ecoregion is surrounded by ''Acacia–Commiphora' ...
. To the south, it is bounded by the humid
Northern Zanzibar–Inhambane coastal forest mosaic
Northern Zanzibar–Inhambane coastal forest mosaic, also known as the Northern Swahili coastal forests and woodlands, is a tropical moist broadleaf forest ecoregion of coastal East Africa. The ecoregion includes a variety of habitats, including ...
in the lower
Shebelle
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. ...
–
Jubba River
The Jubba River or Juba River ( so, Wabiga Jubba) is a river in southern Somalia which flows through the autonomous region of Jubaland. It begins at the border with Ethiopia, where the Dawa and Ganale Dorya rivers meet, and flows directly south ...
valley. The
Hobyo grasslands and shrublands
The Hobyo grasslands and shrublands is a desert and xeric scrubland ecoregion in Somalia. The ecoregion includes a belt of coastal dunes, 10 to 15 km wide, along the Indian Ocean coast, extending from north of Hobyo to south of Mogadishu ...
occupy a narrow strip of coastal dunes along Somalia's central Indian Ocean coast. To the northeast, the Somali montane xeric woodlands occupy the
Ogo Mountains
The Ogo Mountains, also known as the Galgodon Highlands, (, ) are a mountain range in Somaliland. They cross the Sanaag and Togdheer regions. With a mean peak height of , the ecology of this landform is semi-desert.
Ecology
Due to the Ogo M ...
along Somaliland's northern coast, and the
Ethiopian xeric grasslands and shrublands
The Ethiopian xeric grasslands and shrublands ecoregion is a semi-desert strip on or near the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden coasts in Eritrea, Ethiopia, Djibouti and Somaliland. This ecoregion lies mainly between sea level and 800 meters (m) elev ...
occupy the lowlands along the Red Sea. Between 1100 and 1500 meters elevation in the Ethiopian Higlands, the Acacia–Commiphora woodlands transition to the
Ethiopian montane forests
The Ethiopian montane forests is a tropical moist broadleaf forest ecoregion in eastern Africa. It covers the middle elevations of the Ethiopian Highlands in Ethiopia and extends into neighboring Eritrea, Sudan, Djibouti, and Somaliland. The ecoreg ...
.
Climate
The ecoregion has a
hot semi-arid
Hot or the acronym HOT may refer to:
Food and drink
*Pungency, in food, a spicy or hot quality
*Hot, a wine tasting descriptor
Places
*Hot district, a district of Chiang Mai province, Thailand
** Hot subdistrict, a sub-district of Hot Distric ...
to
hot desert climate
The desert climate or arid climate (in the Köppen climate classification ''BWh'' and ''BWk''), is a dry climate sub-type in which there is a severe excess of evaporation over precipitation. The typically bald, rocky, or sandy surfaces in deser ...
. Rainfall ranges from below 100 mm annually in the Ogaden to 600 mm on the lower slopes of the Ethiopian Highlands. Rainfall can be erratic and vary widely from year to year.
Flora
The plant communities include woodlands, shrublands, grasslands, and thickets. The predominant trees are deciduous species of ''
Acacia
''Acacia'', commonly known as the wattles or acacias, is a large genus of shrubs and trees in the subfamily Mimosoideae of the pea family Fabaceae. Initially, it comprised a group of plant species native to Africa and Australasia. The genus n ...
'' and ''
Commiphora
The genus of the myrrhs, ''Commiphora'', is the most species-rich genus of flowering plants in the frankincense and myrrh family, Burseraceae. The genus contains approximately 190 species of shrubs and trees, which are distributed throughout t ...
'', with a low herbaceous understory. ''
Dactyloctenium aegyptium
''Dactyloctenium aegyptium'', or Egyptian crowfoot grass is a member of the family Poaceae native in Africa. The plant mostly grows in heavy soils at damp sites.
Description
This grass creeps and has a straight shoot which are usually about ...
'' and ''
Panicum turgidum
''Panicum turgidum'' is an old world clumping desert bunchgrass of the genus ''Panicum''. It is a plant of arid regions across Africa and Asia, and has been introduced to other parts of the world.
Description
''Panicum turgidum'' is a perennia ...
'' are the principal grass species. Where rainfall is lower, the ''Acacia–Commiphora'' woodlands yield to low bushlands and grasslands.
Fauna
The ecoregion is home to many species of gazelle, including the endemic
dibatag
The dibatag (''Ammodorcas clarkei''), or Clarke's gazelle, is a medium-sized slender antelope native to Ethiopia and Somalia. Though not a true gazelle, it is similarly marked, with long legs and neck. It is often confused with the gerenuk du ...
hirola
The hirola (''Beatragus hunteri''), also called the Hunter's hartebeest or Hunter's antelope, is a critically endangered antelope species found on the border between Kenya and Somalia. It was first described by the big game hunter and zoologi ...
(''Damaliscus hunteri'', CR) and
Speke's gazelle
Speke's gazelle (''Gazella spekei'') is the smallest of the gazelle species. It is confined to the Horn of Africa, where it inhabits stony brush, grass steppes, and semi deserts. This species has been sometimes regarded as a subspecies of the Dor ...
(''Gazella spekei'', VU).
Protected areas and conservation
10.88% of the ecoregion is in protected areas. Protected areas include
Yangudi Rassa National Park
Yangudi Rassa National Park ( am, ያንጉዲ ራሳ ብሔራዊ ፓርክ, translit=yanigudī rasa biḥērawī pariki) is a national park in Ethiopia located in Afar Region.
Geography
Its of territory include Mount Yangudi () near the souther ...
,
Nechisar National Park
Nechisar National Park (or Nech Sar National Park) is a national park in the Southern Nations, Nationalities, and Peoples' Region (SNNPR) of Ethiopia. It is in the Great Rift Valley, within the southwestern Ethiopian Highlands.
Geography
The ...
,
Awash National Park
Awash National Park is a national park in Ethiopia. Located at the border of Oromia state and Afar state, the park covers an area of 827 square kilometers, most of it lies at an altitude of 900 meters. Spanning across the southern tip of the ...
,
Omo National Park
Omo National Park is a national park in Ethiopia founded in 1980. Located in the Southern Nations, Nationalities, and Peoples' Region on the west bank of the Omo River, the park covers approximately 4,068 square kilometers, about 870 kilometers so ...
,
Mago National Park Mago may refer to:
Places
*Mago Island, an island in Fiji
* Mago, Minorca, a Carthaginian and later Roman town in Menorca
* Mago, Russia, a rural locality (a settlement) in Khabarovsk Krai, Russia
* Mago National Park, in Ethiopia
**Mount Mago a ...
,
Borena National Park
Borana National Park (also known as Borena National Park) is a national park in southern Ethiopia. The national park was established in 2017 and is one of Ethiopia's largest protected areas.Nigatu, Tesfaye. (2016). POTENTIALITY ASSESSMENT FOR ECO ...
,
Chelbi Wildlife Reserve
Chelbi Wildlife Reserve or Stephanie Wildlife Reserve is a protected area in Ethiopia's Southern Nations, Nationalities, and Peoples' Region."Chelbi Wildlife Reserve". Southern Nations Nationalities and Peoples Region (SNNPR) Culture and Tourism ...
,
Babille Elephant Sanctuary
The Babile Elephant Sanctuary is a protected area and wildlife sanctuary in eastern Ethiopia. It is located in Babille district, East Hararghe Zone of Oromia Region, which lies 560 km east of Addis Ababa and 40 km south of Harar.
Geography
...
Malka Mari National Park
Malka Mari National Park is a national park of Kenya, situated along the Dawa River on the Kenya-Ethiopia border.Alifuuto Nature Reserve in Somalia.