Are you interested in East African mountain ranges? Curious about the intersections of biodiversity, land-use and climate change? Are you invested in the risks and opportunities associated with the anthropogenic impacts affecting the biodiversity and ecosystem services of the mountains?
Mountain Sentinel network partners yorK Institute for Tropical Ecosystems (KITE)’s Rob Marchant and AfriMont’s Aida Cuni Sanchez co-authored a paper alongside others that sparks exciting discourse on the subjects above! If you are interested, check out the abstract below and the provided link to the paper.
Abstract
The eastern African mountains include the ranges in the contiguous Ethiopian highlands and the solitary mountains in East/Central Africa. We describe the unique features of these mountains, the vegetation belts, and the status and biogeography of the flora and fauna. We present selected case studies on (1) giant rosette plants, the intriguing landmarks of these mountains; (2) a single mountain range endemic, the charismatic Walia Ibex Capra walie; (3) wild Arabica Coffee Coffea arabica; (4) genetic diversity of alpine plant populations, which typically is extremely low and of serious concern; and (5) services these mountains provide and challenges they face, by showcasing Mount Marsabit and the Eastern Arc Mountains. We describe how climate change, land-use change, and anthropogenic impact are affecting the biodiversity and ecosystem services of the mountains and the prevailing risks and opportunities.