ABSTRACT
This chapter describes the most important montane environments of southern Africa, with a particular focus on their geography, climate, soils, vegetation, surface processes and wetlands. Montane regions are considered particularly important in the context of global and regional change, given their high Earth system and ecological sensitivity to environmental conditions. The vegetation of southern African montane regions is exceptionally diverse owing to substantial micro-climatic, substrate and associated hydrological variability, which is itself controlled in part by altitude and topography. Montane regions are generally grassland-dominated because of the low-nutrient and thin soils. Proteaceous and ericaceous heathlands are typical in many montane regions in southern Africa, extending from the west coast to the Eastern Highlands of Zimbabwe, and along elevated portions of the East African Rift system. Apart from the montane forests, grasslands and heathlands, many of southern Africa's high mountain areas host wetlands with their own unique hydro-geomorphology and botany.
