Ethiopia is the largest afro-alpine in Africa She owns the ecosystem. Averages more than 3,200 meters above sea level are generally called afroalpine and subafroalpine.The lower limit of Afro-alpine is 3,500 meters and the upper limit is 5,000 meters.
Subaffroalpine ranges from 3200 to 3,500 meters.
These ecosystems are found in mountain ranges, especially in the simien Mountains National Park and Bale Mountains National Park.
The highest peak in Ethiopia is Ras Dashen at 4533 m. At 0 ° C, the alpine climate lasts throughout the year, with occasional snow cover for up to two days.
However, arid lowland savanna and deserts surround this wetland.
Vegetation. The Afroalpine zone is characterized by strawflower:- እንጆሪ አበባ (Helichrysum:- ሄሊችሪሰምor citrispinum:- ሲትሪስፓኔም) scrub, and tussock grasses, which grow at an altitude of 3200 m.
Ethiopian endemic animal red Fox seen on Helichrysum plants
Tree heather (Erica arborea:- ኤሪካ አርቦሪያ ) and Philippia shrubs:- የፊሊፒንስ ቁጥቋጦዎች occur as treeline. Some of the cold-hardy plants they have thick, leathery lyeaves.
Above 12,000 ft sedges (Carex spp.) and fescue grasslands dominate in an open “forest” of giant lobelias:- ጃይንት ሎቢሊየስ
Gigantism as an adaptation to cold is a strategy of some plants.
can have flower stalks that stand nearly 20 ft tall. Giant St. John’s Wort (Hypericum revolutum:- ሃይፐርኩም ሪቮሉተም ) attains heights of 40 ft,
whereas in other parts of the world the genus contains only forbs and shrubs.
Animal life. The endangered and endemic Ethiopian wolf (Canis simensis) hunts in the afroalpine zone, where it preys upon giant mole rat (Tachyoryctes macrocephalus:- ታኪዎሬቲክስ ማክሮሴፕለስ), grass rat (Lophuromys melanoyx:-ሎፒሮሚስ ማሌኖይ ), and Stark’s hare (Lepus starki).
A number of rodents, including the two just mentioned, are endemic to the Ethiopian afroalpine zone.
An interesting endemic denizen of the cold moorland in the Simien Mountains is the gelada baboon (Theropithecus gelada).
Not a true baboon, but closely related, it is the only primate that consumes grasses and seeds as the chief food sources.
They will also eat flowers, roots, and rhizomes.
Geladas live in large troops that can number in the hundreds and forage by day in the alpine grasslands and sleep at night on ledges on precipitous cliffsides.






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