Moorlands
High altitude moorlands develop above the tree line in what is known as the African Alpine ecoregion. In our basin they consist of grasslands and scrub situated at the summit of the Nyandarua Range (formerly Aberdares), above 2900 m a.s.l., where they represent a relatively small biome growing on top of extict volcanoes. Climatic conditions can be extreme, with occasional frost at night combined with high irradiation and high temperatures during the day; the diurnal extremes are as great as summer-winter differences in parts of the temperate zone at the latitudes of lowland England. These high diurnal climatic excursions are associated to modest seasonal variation mostly influenced by seasonal rains.
Low temperatures have become less frequent during the last 50 years as a consequence of deforestation within the underlying forests, leading to a significant decrease in evapotranspiration; a phenomenon that is causing the loss of the glacial cover on Mount Kenya and on Mount Kilimandjaro, which are also part of the same ecoregion.
Common moorland species growing along the Nyandarua Range comprise heath (Erica excelsa, E. trimera, E. arborea, and the endemic E. princeana aberdarica), and flowering plants such as Cliffortia nitidula, Helichrysum nandense, Stroebe kilimandscharica. The highest portion of the moorland is dominated by an association formed by Koeleria convoluta-Alchemilla cyclophylla. Specialised distinctive species include endmic giant groundsels (Dendrosenecio spp.) and giant lobelia (Lobelia sp.).
On the eastern side of the Aberdare National Park, from the famous hotels Treetops and The Ark (that are inside the forest zone), tourists make day excursions into the moorlands, some of their photographs can be seen on Tripadvisor here.
Moorlands are populated by few specialised organisms, including a number of endemic amphibians (Kinangop River Frog, Phrynobatrachus kinangopensis), reptiles (Alpine Meadow Lizard, Adolfus alleni) and small mammals (for example: the Aberdare Mole Shrew, Surdisorex norae). Typical fauna comprises Rock hyraxes and predators such as Mongooses and the Clawless Otter, including rarer ones such as: Leopard, Hunting dog, Civet cat, Genet. Elephant and several ungulates visit the area from the forest below, sporadically.
The high altitude moorlands of East Africa are internationally recognised as being part of the Global 200 most outstanding ecoregions identified by the World Wildlife Fund; their unique species significantly contribute to the rich variety of life present on our Planet.
