science

Wildlife of Ethiopia

Wildlife of Ethiopia is a science topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Wildlife of Ethiopia rather than just read about it. In short: The richness and variety of the wildlife of Ethiopia is dictated by the great diversity of terrain with wide variations in climate, soils, natural vegetation and settlement patterns. Ethiopia contains a vast highland complex of mountains and dissected plateaus divided by the Great Rift Valley, which runs generally southwest to northeast and is surrounded by lowlands, steppes, or semi-desert.

Key takeaways

Wildlife of Ethiopia belongs to science; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Wildlife of Ethiopia to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Wildlife of Ethiopia from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

The richness and variety of the wildlife of Ethiopia is dictated by the great diversity of terrain with wide variations in climate, soils, natural vegetation and settlement patterns. Ethiopia contains a vast highland complex of mountains and dissected plateaus divided by the Great Rift Valley, which runs generally southwest to northeast and is surrounded by lowlands, steppes, or semi-desert. The Ethiopian Wildlife Conservation Authority (EWCA) is the governing body of wildlife conservation and management. Ethiopia is an ecologically diverse country, ranging from the deserts along the eastern border to the tropical forests in the south to extensive Afromontane in the northern and southwestern parts. Lake Tana in the north is the source of the Blue Nile. It also has many endemic species, including 31 mammal species, notably the gelada, the walia ibex and the Ethiopian wolf ("Simien fox"). There are seven mammal species classified as "critically endangered", and others as "endangered" or "vulnerable". The wide range of altitude has given the country a variety of ecologically distinct areas, and this has helped to encourage the evolution of endemic species in ecological isolation. But some of these habitats are now much reduced or threatened. The nation is a land of geographical contrasts, ranging from the vast fertile west, with its forests and numerous rivers, to the world's hottest settlement of Dallol in its north. The Ethiopian Highlands are the largest continuous mountain ranges in Africa, and the Sof Omar Caves contains the largest cave on the continent. Ethiopia also has the second-largest number of UNESCO World Heritage Sites in Africa.

Fauna

Mammals

Birds

Fish

About 14 genera of fishes are found. These include primitive bichirs, lung fishes, catfish, cyprinids, cyprinodonts, cichlids, several caracins and a few spiny rayed families. The following fish families are most peculiar of this region:

Polypteridae: protopterus (lung fish) related to lepidosiren (Neotropical lung fish) Mormyridae or African electric fishes, not related to Gymnotidae (Neotropical electric fishes) Archaic bichirs Gymnorchidae Isopondyli fishes catfishes

Butterflies

Molluscs

Reptiles

Crocodylus niloticus, Nile crocodile Rhinotyphlops somalicus, Ethiopian blind snake Homopholis fasciata, Banded velvet gecko Pelusios adansonii, Adanson's mud turtle Bitis arietans, Puff adder Dendroaspis polylepis, Black mamba Bitis parviocula, Ethiopian mountain adder Lamprophis abyssinicus, Abyssinian house snake Python sebae sebae, African rock python

Threatened species Historically, throughout the African continent, wildlife populations have been rapidly declining owing to logging, civil wars, hunting, pollution, poaching and other human interference. A 17-year-long civil war along with severe drought, negatively impacted Ethiopia's environmental conditions leading to even greater habitat degradation. Habitat destruction is a factor that leads to endangerment. When changes to a habitat occur rapidly, animals do not have time to adjust. Human impact threatens many species, with greater threats expected as a result of climate change-induced by greenhouse gas emissions. Ethiopia has a large number of species listed as critically endangered, endangered and vulnerable by the IUCN. To assess the current situation in Ethiopia, it is critical to identify the threatened species in this region.

There are 31 endemic species of mammals, meaning that a species occurs naturally only in a certain area, in this case Ethiopia. The African wild dog prehistorically had widespread distribution in Ethiopia; however, with last sightings at Fincha, this canid is thought to be potentially extirpated within Ethiopia. The Ethiopian wolf is perhaps the most researched of all the endangered species within Ethiopia. This, however, is likely not the case as a breeding pack has been seen, and photographed by Bale Mountain Lodge guests inside the park's Harenna Forest in 2015. Several conservation programs are in effect to help endangered species in Ethiopia. A group was created in 1966 called The Ethiopian Wildlife and Natural History Society, which focuses on studying and promoting the natural environments of Ethiopia along with spreading the knowledge they acquire, and supporting legislation to protect environmental resources. There are multiple conservation organizations one can access online, one of which connects directly to the Ethiopian wolf. Funding supports the World Wildlife Fund's global conservation efforts. The WWF Chairman of the Board, Bruce Babbitt holds this organization accountable for the best practices in accountability, governance and transparency throughout all tiers within the organization.

Flora There are many types of vegetation, flowers, and plants in Ethiopia. There are many cactus plants that grow in Ethiopian high lands. Ethiopia has many species of flowers that are used for medication and decoration. Many of the plants are used to make honey and oil. Moreover, many of the floras in Ethiopia can be used flavoring or spice. Ethiopia has different climate and geological zones that provide different types floras. There are different alpines and evergreen floras. There are some plants that Ethiopia exports to other countries like coffee and Kat which is significant to their economy.

References

External links "The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species: Mammals of Ethiopia". IUCN. 2001. Retrieved 22 May 2007. "Mammal Species of the World". Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History. 2005. Archived from the original on 27 April 2007. Retrieved 22 May 2007. "Animal Diversity Web". University of Michigan Museum of Zoology. 1995–2006. Retrieved 22 May 2007. "Ethiopia's Biodiversity". CHORA, INC. Ethiopian Center For Educational Information. Retrieved 27 February 2011.

External links

Illustrations

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Wildlife of Ethiopia

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Wildlife of Ethiopia claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In science, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Wildlife of Ethiopia before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Wildlife of Ethiopia ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Wildlife of Ethiopia

In research: Wildlife of Ethiopia appears in science research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Wildlife of Ethiopia in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Wildlife of Ethiopia is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics Biota of Ethiopia, Wildlife by country, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Wildlife of Ethiopia outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Wildlife of Ethiopia in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Wildlife of Ethiopia means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Wildlife of Ethiopia out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Wildlife of Ethiopia in simple terms?

Why does Wildlife of Ethiopia matter?

Because it connects several science ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Wildlife of Ethiopia?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Wildlife of Ethiopia.