East African Montane Moorlands
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The East African montane moorlands is a
montane grasslands and shrublands Montane grasslands and shrublands are 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 t ...
ecoregion An ecoregion (ecological region) is an ecological and geographic area that exists on multiple different levels, defined by type, quality, and quantity of environmental resources. Ecoregions cover relatively large areas of land or water, and c ...
which occupies several high mountain peaks in
Kenya Kenya, officially the Republic of Kenya, is a country located in East Africa. With an estimated population of more than 52.4 million as of mid-2024, Kenya is the 27th-most-populous country in the world and the 7th most populous in Africa. ...
,
South Sudan South Sudan (), officially the Republic of South Sudan, is a landlocked country in East Africa. It is bordered on the north by Sudan; on the east by Ethiopia; on the south by the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Uganda and Kenya; and on the ...
,
Tanzania Tanzania, officially the United Republic of Tanzania, is a country in East Africa within the African Great Lakes region. It is bordered by Uganda to the northwest; Kenya to the northeast; the Indian Ocean to the east; Mozambique and Malawi to t ...
, and
Uganda Uganda, officially the Republic of Uganda, is a landlocked country in East Africa. It is bordered to the east by Kenya, to the north by South Sudan, to the west by the Democratic Republic of the Congo, to the south-west by Rwanda, and to the ...
.


Geography

The ecoregion occupies an area of , covering several small mountaintop enclaves. These include
Mount Elgon Mount Elgon is an extinct shield volcano on the border of Uganda and Kenya, north of Kisumu and west of Kitale. The mountain's highest point, named "Wagagai", is located entirely within Uganda.
on the Uganda-Kenya border, the
Aberdare Mountains The Aberdare Range (formerly the Sattima Range, Kikuyu: ''Nyandarua'') is a long mountain range of upland, north of Kenya's capital Nairobi with an average elevation of . It straddles the counties of Nyandarua, Nyeri, Murang'a, Kiambu and La ...
and
Mount Kenya Mount Kenya (Meru people, Meru: ''Kĩrĩmaara,'' Kikuyu people, Kikuyu: ''Kĩrĩnyaga'', Kamba language, Kamba: ''Ki nyaa'', Embu language, Embu: ''Kĩ nyaga'') is an extinct volcano in Kenya and the Highest mountain peaks of Africa, second-highe ...
in Kenya, and
Mount Meru Mount Meru (Sanskrit/Pali: मेरु)—also known as Sumeru, Sineru or Mahāmeru—is a sacred, five-peaked mountain present within Hindu, Jain and Buddhist cosmologies, revered as the centre of all physical, metaphysical and spiritua ...
,
Mount Kilimanjaro Mount Kilimanjaro () is a dormant volcano in Tanzania. It is the highest mountain in Africa and the highest free-standing mountain above sea level in the world, at above sea level and above its plateau base. It is also the highest volcano i ...
, and Ngorongoro Crater in Tanzania. The ecoregion occupies areas higher than in elevation. Below the montane moorlands is the
East African montane forests The East African montane forests is a montane tropical moist forest ecoregion of eastern Africa. The ecoregion comprises several separate areas above 2000 meters in the mountains of South Sudan, Uganda, Kenya, and Tanzania. Geography The East Af ...
ecoregion.


Flora

Plant communities include ericaceous woodland, wooded grassland, ''
Dendrosenecio ''Dendrosenecio'' is a genus of flowering plants in the sunflower family. It is a segregate of ''Senecio'', in which it forms the subgenus ''Dendrosenecio''. Its members, the giant groundsels, are native to the higher-altitude zones of ten mou ...
'' woodland, wooded grassland, tussock grassland, ''
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 na ...
'' shrub, and swamps or mires. The flora includes many
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 ...
endemic species which are adapted to the harsh conditions. Adaptations include rosette forms, tussock forms, and silvery leaves. From 3500 to 4500 meters elevation, plants can grow up to eight meters high, and include giant species of ''Dendrosenecio'' and ''Lobelia''. Tussock grasslands are found in dry and fire-prone areas. ''Helichrysum'' scrub is found on dry and rocky slopes. Above 4500 meters elevation, vegetation is mostly low
cushion plant A cushion plant is a compact, low-growing, mat-forming plant that is found in alpine, subalpine, arctic, or subarctic environments around the world. The term "cushion" is usually applied to woody plants that grow as spreading mats, are limited i ...
s, including ''Agrostis sclerophylla'' and ''Sagina afroalpina'', which extend up to the limit of vegetation at around 5000 meters. The East African moorland flora has much in common with that of the Rwenzori-Virunga montane moorlands.Burgess, Neil, Jennifer D’Amico Hales, Emma Underwood (2004). ''Terrestrial Ecoregions of Africa and Madagascar: A Conservation Assessment''. Island Press, Washington DC.


Fauna

The montane moorlands ecoregion shares several limited-range bird species with the lower-elevation
East African montane forests The East African montane forests is a montane tropical moist forest ecoregion of eastern Africa. The ecoregion comprises several separate areas above 2000 meters in the mountains of South Sudan, Uganda, Kenya, and Tanzania. Geography The East Af ...
.
Hunter's cisticola Hunter's cisticola (''Cisticola hunteri'') is a species of bird in the family Cisticolidae. It is found in Kenya, Tanzania, and Uganda. Its natural habitats are tropical moist montane and high-elevation shrubland Shrubland, scrubland, scrub, ...
(''Cisticola hunteri'') is found on all the mountains in the ecoregion. Jackson's francolin (''Pternistis jacksoni'') and
Sharpe's pipit Sharpe's longclaw (''Macronyx sharpei'') is a passerine bird in the longclaw family Motacillidae, which also includes the pipits and wagtails. It is Endemism in birds, endemic to Kenya. It is 16–17 cm long, with upperparts heavily marked ...
(''Macronyx sharpei'') is found on Mount Elgon, the Aberdare Range, and Mount Kenya. The
Aberdare cisticola The Aberdare cisticola (''Cisticola aberdare'') is a species of bird in the family Cisticolidae. It is endemic to Kenya. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical high-elevation grassland. It is threatened by habitat loss. Description Th ...
(''Cisticola aberdare'') is found only in the Aberdare Mountains and the
Mau Escarpment The Mau Escarpment is a fault scarp running along the western edge of the Great Rift Valley in Kenya. The top of the escarpment reaches approximately 3,000 m (10,000 ft) above sea level, and is over 1,000 m higher than the floor of ...
.


Protected areas

Protected areas in the ecoregion include
Aberdare National Park The Aberdare National Park is a protected area in the Aberdare Mountain Range in central Kenya located east of the East African Rift Valley. It covers the higher areas and the Aberdare Salient to the east. Overview The park is located about ...
,
Aberdare Forest Reserve Aberdare ( ; ) is a town in the Cynon Valley area of Rhondda Cynon Taf, Wales, at the confluence of the Rivers Dare (Dâr) and Cynon. Aberdare has a population of 39,550 (mid-2017 estimate). Aberdare is south-west of Merthyr Tydfil, north-w ...
,
Mount Kenya National Park Mount Kenya National Park is a national park in Kenya that was established in 1949 around Mount Kenya to protect its surrounding environment and wildlife. It is also a drainage basin for the region's water supply. History Initially, it was a for ...
,
Mount Kenya Forest Reserve Mount is often used as part of the name of specific mountains, e.g. Mount Everest. Mount or Mounts may also refer to: Places * Mount, Cornwall, a village in Warleggan parish, England * Mount, Perranzabuloe, a hamlet in Perranzabuloe parish, ...
,
Mount Elgon National Park Mount Elgon National Park is a national park in Kenya and Uganda that lies northeast of Lake Victoria. The park covers an area of . The Ugandan part of the park covers while the Kenyan part covers . The Kenyan part of the park was gazetted in ...
,
Kilimanjaro National Park Kilimanjaro National Park (''Hifadhi ya Taifa ya Kilimanjaro'', in Swahili) is a national park of Tanzania located south of the equator in the Kilimanjaro Region, Tanzania. The park is located near the region of Moshi. The park includes the ...
,
Arusha National Park The Arusha National Park (''Hifahdi ya Taifa ya Arusha'', in Swahili) is a national park of Tanzania, with the IUCN category II located within Meru District and Arusha Rural District of the Arusha Region of Tanzania that covers Mount Meru ...
, and Kipipiri Forest Reserve."East African Montane Moorlands". DOPA Explorer. Accessed 4 February 2021. https://dopa-explorer.jrc.ec.europa.eu/ecoregion/31005


External links

*
East African montane moorlands (DOPA)


References

{{reflist Afromontane ecoregions Afrotropical ecoregions Ecoregions of Kenya Ecoregions of Tanzania Ecoregions of Uganda Montane grasslands and shrublands