Jos Plateau, Nigeria Photograph by Cliff Missen   Central Africa: Nigeria Montane Grasslands and Shrublands   5,100 square miles (13,300 square kilometers) -- about the size of Connecticut Critical/Endangered

· High, Cool Plateau
· Special Features
· Did You Know?
· Wild Side
· Cause for Concern
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High, Cool Plateau

The Jos Plateau rises out of the middle of Nigeria, to the largest land mass over 1000 m in the country. The high altitude and cool temperatures combine to draw rainfall from passing clouds. This heavy rainfall nourishes small relict patches of rain forest found on the southwest slopes of the plateau.

Special Features

The relict forests support species that are not found in the surrounding savannas, and normally occur only in rain forest. The presence of these species, including a number of bats, suggests that the rain forest zone once extended as far north as the Jos Plateau. A number of species are also found in the Cameroonian Highlands, indicating that the two regions were once linked. Most of the plateau is covered with extensive grassland and rocks, but no trees. The lack of trees is not well explained – it may be due to soil and climate or as the result of human occupation during the last 300 years. Riparian forest is still found along some watercourses.

	Jos Plateau indigo-birds parasitize rock firefinches. By mimicking the begging behavior and mouth colorings of rock firefinches, newly hatched Jos Plateau indigo-birds fool the foster parent rock firefinches into feeding them.

Wild Side

Mammals are generally uncommon on open areas of the Jos Plateau, due largely to the lack of cover and human disturbance. Six mammals species found here are found nowhere else in Nigeria: the Cameroon horseshoe bat, high-crowned bat, Nigerian gerbil, dark-eared climbing-mouse, ochre mole-rat, and klipspringer, a small antelope that prefers rock outcrops. The Nigerian gerbil is endemic to the ecoregion, but the other mammal species are also found in the Cameroonian Highlands. Among bird species, the brightly colored rock firefinch and the Jos Plateau indigo-bird are two that can be found here.

Cause for Concern

Nigeria’s human population is the largest in Africa, containing 25 percent of the continent’s total population. As a result, the pressures exerted on natural resources are immense. Heavy grazing, mining, and cutting of trees have destroyed most of the dry forest that once covered this area. There are no reserves or protected areas in this ecoregion.

For more information on this ecoregion, go to the World Wildlife Fund Scientific Report.