Ethiopian Fauna and Flora
The richness and variety of the wildlife of Ethiopia are determined and have been shaped by Ethiopia’s diversity of terrain which has wide variations in climate, soils, natural vegetation, and settlement patterns. Ethiopia has a vast highland complex of mountains and dissected plateaus that are divided by the Great Rift Valley. The valley stretches from the southwest to the northeast and is surrounded by lowlands, steppes, or semi-desert.
Ethiopia is an ecologically diverse country. The ecology varies from the deserts that are found along the eastern border to the tropical forests located in the south to extensive Afromontane in the northern and southwestern parts. The Afromontane regions form the sub-regions of the Afrotropical realm and are one of the Earth’s eight biogeographic realms, that cover the plant and animal species found in the mountains of Africa and the southern Arabian Peninsula. Lake Tana located in northern Ethiopia is the source of the Blue Nile River.
Ethiopia has many endemic species that include 31 mammal species that are notably the gelada, the Walia ibex, and the Ethiopian wolf or Simien fox. There are seven mammal species in Ethiopia that have been classified as “critically endangered”, while others have been classified as “endangered” or “vulnerable”. The wide ranges of altitude have given Ethiopia a variety of ecologically distinct areas that have encouraged the evolution of endemic species in ecological isolation although some of their habitats have been drastically reduced or threatened.
Ethiopia is a land of geographical contrasts that range from the vast fertile west with forests and numerous rivers, to the world’s hottest settlement of Dallol in its north. The Ethiopian Highlands are the largest continuous mountain ranges in Africa, and the Sof Omar Caves have the largest cave on the continent. Additionally, Ethiopia has the second-largest number of UNESCO World Heritage Sites on the continent.
There are many types of vegetation, flowers, and plants in Ethiopia. Numerous cactus plants grow in Ethiopian highlands. Ethiopia has many species of flowers that can be used for medication and as stunning decorations. In the natural habitat, the plants are used to make honey and oil while some plants are used for flavoring or spice. Ethiopia has a different climate and geological zones that provide different types of floras that include different alpine and evergreen floras. Some plants form a critical part of Ethiopia’s exports to other countries and including coffee which plays a significant role in the economy.
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