The East African halophytics ecoregion covers the saline soda lakes of the eastern arm of the Great Rift Valley, spanning northern Tanzania and southern Kenya, and takes in Lake Natron, Lake Eyasi, and Lake Manyara on the Tanzanian side along with Lake Magadi in Kenya. Resting on volcanic lava and ash that weather into deep, sodium-rich soils, the lakes are largely devoid of rooted (macrophytic) vegetation; instead they teem with blue-green algae, chiefly Spirulina, while only a few salt-loving halophytic plants persist on the alkaline soils fringing the water. The climate is semi-arid, with erratic rainfall concentrated between December and May, a long dry season, and daytime temperatures that frequently climb above 40 degrees Celsius alongside high evaporation. Despite waters so hot and alkaline that most life is excluded, the ecoregion is globally important for the lesser flamingo, its flagship species, with Lake Natron serving as the single most important breeding site for the bird, and it also shelters endemic salt-tolerant alkaline tilapia in its hot-spring margins.

At a glance

About the flooded grasslands & savannas biome

Grasslands and savannas subject to seasonal or year-round flooding, including large wetland complexes. Exceptionally productive, they concentrate waterbirds and aquatic life.

Catalog plants suited to this ecoregion

Computed from each plant's stated USDA zone range against this ecoregion's CHELSA-derived current zone range, with the CHELSA mid-century warming delta applied for the projection. Plants whose stated range falls outside both the current and projected zone end up dropped; the rest land in one of the three buckets below.

Collections for this ecoregion

No curated collection's plants all fit this ecoregion's zone range. We surface a collection only when every member would grow here — partial fits get filtered out rather than mislead. As the catalog and the curated set both grow, this section will fill in.

Related ecoregions