Albertine Rift Montane Forests - A Global Ecoregion
Supports one of Africa's most distinctive montane biotas
Snapshot: Ecoregion 7
Size:
104,000 sq. km (40,000 sq. miles)
Habitat type:
Tropical and Subtropical Moist Broadleaf Forests
Africa: Burundi, Democratic Republic of Congo, Rwanda, Tanzania, Uganda
Conservation Status:
Critical/Endangered
Music in the wild!
A chorus of birdsong fills the Albertine Rift Montane Forests throughout the day. Grauer's warblers, Chapin's flycatchers, and the Rwenzori turacos are just a few of the birds that sing here and nowhere else on Earth. Stay quiet, and you may also hear the hoots and chest-beating drum of a Mountain gorilla.
About the Area
The Albertine Rift Montane Forests begin near the lowland Congolian rainforests, stretch eastward up and over the area's mountain ranges, with some isolated mountains nearly reaching the shores of Lake Tanganyika.
This ecoregion of montane and highland moist forests of Central Africa supports one of Africa's most distinctive montane biotas. The western sides of the highlands fringe the lowland Congolian rainforests, resulting in a diverse transitional flora and fauna.Local Species
There is all sorts of life to amaze you in this high forest region like the 14 species of butterflies (including the vulnerable cream-banded swallowtail butterfly) and 37 species of birds including the Rwenzori batis (Batis diops), Chapin's flycatcher (Muscicapa lendu), Collared apalis (Apalis ruwenzorii), Grauer's warbler (Graueria vittata), Albertine owlet (Glaucidium albertinum) - the highest figure in Africa for any equivalent-sized area, found nowhere else in the world.
If you were to travel through the forests from west to east, you'd see a great number of species of plants and animals in the transition from lowland to highland habitat. The area has a significant number of endemic amphibians like the bamboo frog (Callixalus pictus), copper-colored treefrog (Chrysobatrachus cupreonites), giant torrent frog (Phrynobatrachus asper), Johnston's chameleon (Chamaeleo johnstoni), and mammals such as the Mountain gorilla (Gorilla beringei beringei), Chimpanzee (Pan troglodytes), chisel-toothed shrew (Paracrocidura graueri), and the Ruwenzori sun squirrel (Heliosciurus ruwenzori). However, despite the forests' high biological importance, much of them remain poorly studied.
Threats
The biodiversity of this region is threatened by a number of activities: agriculture, grazing of livestock, hunting, and logging. Highland forests have been largely cleared but some sizable blocks of montane forest still occur in areas such as the Virunga, Itombwe, and Rwenzori Ranges.
Resources
• NationalGeographic.com
