Editing Mount Kilimanjaro (section)

=== Vegetation===

[[File:Forest in Marangu route in Kilimanjaro area 001.JPG|thumb|left|The cloud forest on the Marangu route on the south eastern slope]]

Natural forests cover about {{convert|1000|km2|acre|abbr=on}} on Kilimanjaro.<ref name="PlantEcology">{{cite journal |doi=10.1007/s11258-005-9049-4 |title=Continuum or zonation? Altitudinal gradients in the forest vegetation of Mt. Kilimanjaro |journal=Plant Ecology |volume=184 |pages=27–42 |year=2006 |last1=Hemp |first1=Andreas |issue=1 |bibcode=2006PlEco.184...27H |s2cid=21864541 }}</ref> In the foothill area, [[maize]], beans, [[sunflower]]s and, on the western side, wheat are cultivated. There are remnants of the former [[savanna]] vegetation with ''[[Acacia]]'', ''[[Combretum]]'', ''[[Terminalia (plant)|Terminalia]]'' and ''[[Grewia]]''. Between {{convert|1000|m|ft|abbr=on}} and {{convert|1800|m|ft|abbr=on}}, coffee appears as part of the "[[Chaga people|Chagga]] home gardens" [[agroforestry]]. Native vegetation at this altitude range (''[[Strombosia]]'', ''[[Newtonia (plant)|Newtonia]]'', and ''[[Entandrophragma]]'') is limited to inaccessible valleys and gorges<ref name="MaundiCrater">{{cite journal |doi=10.1016/j.quascirev.2012.02.003 |bibcode=2012QSRv...39....1S |title=Vegetation, climate and fire-dynamics in East Africa inferred from the Maundi crater pollen record from Mt Kilimanjaro during the last glacial-interglacial cycle |journal=Quaternary Science Reviews |volume=39 |pages=1–13 |last1=Schüler |first1=Lisa |last2=Hemp |first2=Andreas |last3=Zech |first3=Wolfgang |last4=Behling |first4=Hermann |year=2012 }}</ref> and is different from vegetation at higher altitudes. On the southern slope, [[montane forest]]s first contain ''[[Ocotea usambarensis]]'' as well as [[fern]]s and [[epiphyte]]s; farther up in [[cloud forest]]s ''[[Podocarpus latifolius]]'', ''[[Hagenia abyssinica]]'' and ''[[Erica excelsa]]'' grow, as well as fog-dependent mosses. On the drier northern slopes [[olive]], ''[[Croton (plant)|Croton]]''-''[[Calodendrum]]'', ''[[Cassipourea]]'', and ''[[Juniperus]]'' form forests in order of increasing altitude. Between {{convert|3100|m|ft|abbr=on}} and {{convert|3900|m|ft|abbr=on}} lie ''[[Erica (plant)|Erica]]'' bush and heathlands, followed by ''[[Helichrysum]]'', until {{convert|4500|m|ft|abbr=on}}.<ref name="PlantEcology2"/><ref>{{cite book | author1=L. A. Bruijnzeel | author2=F. N. Scatena | author3=L. S. Hamilton | title=Tropical Montane Cloud Forests: Science for Conservation and Management | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=N6FkwMnSX8EC&pg=PA134 | date=6 January 2011 | publisher=Cambridge University Press | isbn=978-1-139-49455-7 | page=136 | access-date=4 October 2016 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170224001044/https://books.google.com/books?id=N6FkwMnSX8EC&pg=PA134 | archive-date=24 February 2017 | url-status=live }}</ref> [[Neophyte (botany)|Neophytes]] have been observed, including ''[[Poa annua]]''.<ref name="PlantEcology2">{{cite journal |doi=10.1007/s11258-007-9356-z |title=Introduced plants on Kilimanjaro: Tourism and its impact |journal=Plant Ecology |volume=197 |pages=17–29 |year=2008 |last1=Hemp |first1=Andreas |issue=1 |bibcode=2008PlEco.197...17H |s2cid=25001477 }}</ref>

The lower northern and western slopes are dominated by ''[[Acacia]]'' savanna, while most of the wooded grassland of the lower southern and eastern slopes have been destroyed for cultivation.{{Sfn|Grimshaw|Cordeiro|Foley|1995|p=106}}

Records from the Maundi crater at {{convert|2780|m|ft|abbr=on}} indicate that the vegetation of Kilimanjaro has varied over time. Forest vegetation retreated during the Last Glacial Maximum and the ericaceous vegetation belt lowered by {{convert|1500|m|ft|abbr=on}} between 42,000 and 30,000 years ago because of the drier and colder conditions.<ref name="MaundiCrater"/>

The Tussock Grassland is an area on the slopes of Mount Kilimanjaro that contains many unique species of vegetation, such as the [[water holding cabbage]].{{citation needed|date=November 2021}}