The East African montane moorlands form a scatter of isolated, high-altitude "sky islands" capping the tallest equatorial peaks of Kenya, Tanzania, and Uganda, including Mount Kilimanjaro, Mount Kenya, the Aberdare Range, Mount Meru, and Mount Elgon. Above the surrounding montane forest, the afroalpine vegetation sorts into ericaceous woodland, tussock grassland, Helichrysum scrub, Dendrosenecio woodland, and high mires, with giant rosette plants of Dendrosenecio and Lobelia rising through the grasslands as the signature growth form. The climate is harsh and wildly variable, often summarized as "summer every day and winter every night," with nightly frosts at altitude and low overall rainfall. Endemism is high and varies mountain by mountain, and much of the ecoregion lies protected within national parks such as Mount Kenya, Aberdare, Kilimanjaro, and Arusha, though fire and climate change remain pressing threats. For gardeners, its tussock grasses and bold, architectural rosette plants exemplify cold-hardy, high-elevation forms native to the tropics.
Marker placed inside the RESOLVE 2017 polygon at 0.1°S, 37.4°E.
Climate snapshot for this ecoregion
°C
°F
Current zone range (2011–2040)
12a-13b
Plotwright
CHELSA-derived typical winter month at this ecoregion's bbox grid.
Projected (2041–2070)
12a-13b
Plotwright
Where the CHELSA models say the typical winter month is heading.
Average warming this ecoregion is on track for: +4.0°F by mid-century. SSP3-7.0 (current trajectory) · CHELSA v2.1 bio06 sampled across 10 of 10 points within this ecoregion's bounding box.
At a glance
Dominant biome
Montane Grasslands & Shrublands
Realm
Afrotropic
Approximate area
1,198 sq mi
Conservation tier
Half Protected (Dinerstein NNH 1)
About the montane grasslands & shrublands biome
High-elevation grasslands, meadows, and shrublands above the treeline or in mountain basins, including alpine and páramo systems. Cool temperatures, intense sunlight, and specialized, often endemic flora characterize them.
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.
Climate-resilient picks · 4
These plants fit this ecoregion today AND remain in range under the mid-century SSP3-7.0 projection. Lead with these for a planting that holds up as the climate shifts.
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
Other montane grasslands & shrublands ecoregions to explore: