Ethiopian montane forests

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Ethiopian montane forests
Ecology
Realm Afrotropical
Biome tropical and subtropical moist broadleaf forests
Borders
Geography
Area67,663 km2 (26,125 sq mi)
Country Ethiopia
Conservation
Conservation status Critical/endangered (WWF, 2001), [1] Nature Imperiled (One Earth, 2017) [2]
Protected7,659 km2 (11%) [3]

The Ethiopian montane forests is a tropical moist broadleaf forest ecoregion in Ethiopia. It covers the southwestern and southeastern portions of the Ethiopian Highlands. The ecoregion includes distinctive Afromontane evergreen forests. The ecoregion's biodiversity is threatened by deforestation, conversion to agriculture, and overgrazing. [2]

Contents

Geography

The Ethiopian montane forests lie in the southwestern and southeastern Ethiopian Highlands. The southwestern portion is bounded at lower elevations by the East Sudanian savanna, and the southeastern portion transitions to the Somali Acacia–Commiphora bushlands and thickets at lower elevations. [2]

At higher elevations they transition to the Ethiopian montane moorlands. [1] The Ethiopian montane grasslands and woodlands ecoregion covers most of the rest of the highlands, and includes drier montane Afromontane forests, woodlands, and grasslands to the north and east. [2]

Ecoregion delineation

Former ecoregion boundaries as defined by the WWF (2001) Ecoregion AT0112.png
Former ecoregion boundaries as defined by the WWF (2001)

In the 1983 Vegetation Map of Africa, Frank White identified three vegetation types in the Ethiopian highlands – "Evergreen and semi-evergreen bushland and thicket - East African" from 1000 to 1800 meters elevation, "Undifferentiated montane vegetation (A) Afromontane" from 1,800 to about 3800 meters elevation, and "Altimontane vegetation in tropical Africa" above 3,800 meters elevation. [4] [5] The 2001 Terrestrial Ecoregions of the World system adopted by the World Wildlife Fund followed White's vegetation types in the Ethiopian Highlands, with the "Ethiopian montane forests" ecoregion corresponding to White's "Evergreen and semi-evergreen bushland and thicket - East African", the "Ethiopian montane grasslands and woodlands" to the "Undifferentiated montane vegetation (A) Afromontane", and the Ethiopian montane moorlands to White's "Altimontane vegetation in tropical Africa". [6] [7]

In 2017 Eric Dinerstein et al. revised the ecoregion system in the highlands, following the map of potential natural vegetation of eastern Africa developed by VECEA. [8] [9] The revised ecoregion boundaries were adopted by One Earth, [2] and later by the WWF. [1]

Climate

Moisture-bearing winds from the Red Sea provide rainfall throughout the year. The highlands generate orographic precipitation, and are generally cooler and more humid than the lower-elevation deserts and dry shrublands that bound the highlands on the east and south. Orographic effects create fog and cloud cover which keep humidity high and help sustain forests. Southwesterly winds bring rainfall from May to October. Average annual rainfall varies with location, from 600 to 1500 mm. The southern and southwestern portions of the ecoregion generally have higher rainfall. [1]

Flora

The montane forest belt has several natural plant communities, including closed-canopy forests and open-canopied woodlands interspersed with grassland, savanna, and shrubland. The ecoregion's Afromontane flora includes species distinct to Africa's highland regions, often mixed with typical lowland species. In most of the ecoregion the natural vegetation has been heavily altered by livestock grazing, conversion to agriculture, and plantations of exotic trees. [1]

Kolla is an open woodland found at lower elevations. Characteristic trees are species of Terminalia, Commiphora, Boswellia , and Acacia . [1]

Areas of the south and west with higher rainfall are home to Afromontane rain forests and Afromontane moist transitional forests. Characteristic trees of the highlands' Afromontane rain forests include Diospyros abyssinica , Mitragyna rubrostipulata , Macaranga capensis , Ochna holstii , Olea capensis , Aningeria adolfi-friederici , Prunus africana , and Syzygium guineense , along with the tree fern Alsophila manniana . [10]

The lower portions of the Harenna Forest in the southern highlands includes a distinct woodland community, with an open canopy of Warburgia ugandensis, Croton macrostachyus, Syzygium guineense , and Afrocarpus gracilior , and wild coffee (Coffea arabica) as the dominant understory shrub. [1]

Fauna

Native birds include Harwood's spurfowl (Pternistis harwoodi), Ruspoli's turaco (Menelikornis ruspolii), and yellow-throated seedeater (Crithagra flavigula), which are endemic to the Ethiopian Highlands. [1]

Conservation and protected areas

11% of the ecoregion is in protected areas. [3] These include Bale Mountains National Park, Chebera Churchura National Park, Didessa National Park, Bonga Forest Reserve, and the proposed Gebre Dima, Harena-Kokosa, and Sele Anderacha National Forest Priority Areas. [11]

Only 1% of the area outside protected areas is covered in relatively intact forest. [3] One Earth assesses the ecoregion as 'imperiled', with "the amount of protected and unprotected natural habitat remaining is less than or equal to 20%. Achieving half protected is not possible in the short term and efforts should focus on conserving remaining, native habitat fragments.". [2]

Related Research Articles

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Eastern Highlands</span> Mountain range in Zimbabwe and Mozambique

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ethiopian Highlands</span> Mountain range in northern Ethiopia

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 1,500 m (4,900 ft), while the summits reach heights of up to 4,550 m (14,930 ft). It is sometimes called the "Roof of Northeastern Africa" due to its height and large area. It is the only country in the region with such a high elevated surface. This elevated surface is bisected diagonally by the Great East African Rift System which extends from Syria to Mozambique across the East African Lakes. Most of the Ethiopian Highlands are part of central and northern Ethiopia, and its northernmost portion reaches into Eritrea.

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Northern <i>Acacia</i>–<i>Commiphora</i> bushlands and thickets

The Northern AcaciaCommiphora bushlands and thickets are a tropical grasslands, savannas and shrublands ecoregion in eastern Africa. The ecoregion is mostly located in Kenya, extending north into southeastern South Sudan, northeastern Uganda and southwestern Ethiopia and south into Tanzania along the Kenya-Tanzania border.

Somali <i>Acacia</i>–<i>Commiphora</i> bushlands and thickets

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Southwestern Arabian foothills savanna</span>

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Victoria Basin forest–savanna mosaic</span>

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References

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