The Sanetti Plateau is a major
plateau
In geology and physical geography, a plateau (; ; : plateaus or plateaux), 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. ...
of the
Ethiopian Highlands
The Ethiopian Highlands (also called the Abyssinian 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 , whil ...
, in the
Oromia Region
Oromia (, ) is a Regions of Ethiopia, regional state in Ethiopia and the homeland of the Oromo people. Under Article 49 of 1995 Constitution of Ethiopia, Ethiopian Constitution, the capital of Oromia is Addis Ababa, also called Finfinne. The ...
of
Ethiopia
Ethiopia, officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a landlocked country located in the Horn of Africa region of East Africa. It shares borders with Eritrea to the north, Djibouti to the northeast, Somalia to the east, Ken ...
. The plateau is the highest part of 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 Mount Tullu Demtu, Tullu Demtu, the fourth-highest mou ...
, and is located within
Bale Mountains National Park.
[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.
Due to the similarity, the term '' scarp'' may mistakenly be incorrectly used inte ...
, known as the Harenna escarpment, which descends from 3800 to 2800 meters elevation.
The northern slopes drain into the
Shebelle River
The Shebelle River ( Oromo: Laga Shabeellee, , , ) also known historically as the Nile of Mogadishu, begins in the highlands of Ethiopia, and then flows southeast into Somalia towards Mogadishu. Near Mogadishu, it turns sharply southwest, where ...
, 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
A rain shadow is an area of significantly reduced rainfall behind a mountainous region, on the side facing away from prevailing winds, known as its leeward side.
Evaporated moisture from body of water, bodies of water (such as oceans and larg ...
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 na ...
'' shrublands,
tussock grasslands with ''
Festuca abyssinica'' predominant, and groves of the giant lobelia ''
Lobelia rhynchopetalum''. 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
The Ethiopian montane moorlands is a montane grasslands and shrublands ecoregion in Ethiopia. It lies above 3,000 meters elevation in the Ethiopian Highlands, the largest Afroalpine region in Africa. The montane moorlands lie above the tree line, ...
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
''Yushania'' is a genus of bamboo in the grass family.
Recent classification systems place ''Yushania'' in the tribe Arundinarieae.
The species of ''Yushania'' are evergreen, spreading, thornless bamboos native to Himalayan, African, Ch ...
'') 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 A ...
''. 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 ]mammal
A mammal () is a vertebrate animal of the Class (biology), class Mammalia (). Mammals are characterised by the presence of milk-producing mammary glands for feeding their young, a broad neocortex region of the brain, fur or hair, and three ...
s, amphibian
Amphibians are ectothermic, anamniote, anamniotic, tetrapod, four-limbed vertebrate animals that constitute the class (biology), class Amphibia. In its broadest sense, it is a paraphyletic group encompassing all Tetrapod, tetrapods, but excl ...
s and bird
Birds are a group of warm-blooded vertebrates constituting the class (biology), class Aves (), characterised by feathers, toothless beaked jaws, the Oviparity, laying of Eggshell, hard-shelled eggs, a high Metabolism, metabolic rate, a fou ...
s including many endemic
Endemism is the state of a species being found only 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 foun ...
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 red jackal, the Simien jackal or 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 si ...
(''Canis simensis''). The endangered mountain nyala
The mountain nyala (Amharic: የተራራ ኒዮላ) (''Tragelaphus buxtoni'') or balbok, is a large antelope found in high altitude woodlands in a small part of central Ethiopia. It is a monotypic species (without any identified subspecies) fi ...
(''Tragelaphus buxtoni'') is found in the subalpine and upper montane woodlands. The Bale shrew (''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, inv ...
painted hunting dog
The African wild dog (''Lycaon pictus''), also called painted dog and Cape hunting dog, is a wild canine native to sub-Saharan Africa. It is the largest wild canine in Africa, and the only extant member of the genus '' Lycaon'', which is disti ...
, (''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
/ref>
See also
*
*
References
External links
{{coord missing, Ethiopia
Plateaus of Africa
Landforms of Ethiopia
Bale Mountains
Ethiopian Highlands
Geography of Oromia
Ethiopian montane moorlands