Studies on the Altitudinal Zonation of Forests and Alpine Plants in the Central Bale Mountains, Ethiopia

Abstract

The Bale Mountains form the highest section of the southern plateau of Ethiopia southeast of the Rift Valley, located at about latitude 70 North and longitude 400 East. The bedrock is composed of volcanics, including alkali basalts and tuffs with occasional rhyolites. Because of remoteness, relatively low population density, and the difficulty of access, there are extensive areas of forest which have never been brought under management and which, for the most part, are undisturbed. The vegetation of the area falls within a group of distinct mountain ecosystems and displays a pronounced ecological zonation, mainly at the higher elevations near the forest limit and above treeline. Nowhere else in Ethiopia can such a continuous sequence of different vegetation belts be found; nowhere else exists such a vast area of afro-alpine vegetation as in the central area of the Bale Mountains. This area is known