Genre: Information/Explanation

Victor Englebert / Photo Researchers Like hiking ? Then come and explore the plants and animals of seven of the world's major mountain ranges ! From the towering Himalayas to the austere Atlas Mountains , mountain ecosystems are chock full of interesting organisms . Often considered biological hotspots , many of these regions feature life forms with amazing adaptations to enable survival in rugged terrain and extreme weather conditions . Learn more about montane flora and fauna with this quick tour through a variety of mountains across the globe . Great Dividing Range Ron Dorman – Bruce Coleman Inc. A hike along Australia's Great Dividing Range would reveal a series of plateaus and low mountain ranges roughly paralleling the coasts of Queensland , New South Wales , and Victoria . The mountain range extends some 2,300 miles ( 3 , 700 km ) from the Cape York Peninsula , Queensland , to the Grampians in Victoria Bass Strait between Australia and Tasmania . In Queensland , the mountains average is 2,000 – 3 , 000 feet ( 600 – 900 meters ) in elevation , but they rise as high as 5,000 feet ( 1 , 500 meters ) in the Bellenden Ker and McPherson ranges and the Lamington Plateau . Farther south , a segment known as the Australian Alps , near the New South Wales – Victoria border , contains Australia's highest peak , Mount Kosciuszko ( 7 , 310 feet ) . Since the Great Dividing Range is not very high compared to other mountain ranges , few animals specifically adapted to mountainous environments occur there . Tree kangaroos and bird-wing butterflies occur in the rainforests of the mountainous northeast . Some bird species , such as the galah and the Australian magpie are found throughout Australia . Much of the Great Dividing Range is defined by forested areas of acacias , eucalyptus ( see photo ) , and casuarinas , with hummock grasses and flowering plants , including banksias , in the undergrowth . The vegetation on the western slopes is predominately subtropical or temperate woodlands of eucalyptus and scrub . The Wollemi pine is a " living fossil " that was discovered in Wollemi National Park in 1994 . Ethiopian Highlands Although Ethiopia's complex relief defies easy classification , of the five topographic regions in the country only two ( the Western Highlands and the Eastern Highlands ) might be classified as mountain ecosystems . The most spectacular portion is the North Central massifs in the Western Highlands ; these form the roof of Ethiopia , the highest being Mount Ras Dejen at 14,872 feet ( 4 , 533 meters ) . Lake Tana ( see photo ) – Ethiopia's largest inland lake and the main reservoir for the Blue Nile River – is located in this region , at an elevation of about 6,000 feet ( 1 , 800 meters ) . Another region , the Western Lowlands , are not what one would call low . They stretch north-south along the border with Sudan and South Sudan and include the lower valleys of the Blue Nile , Tekeze , and Baro rivers . With elevations of about 3,300 feet ( 1 , 000 meters ) , these " lowlands " are some of the hottest places on the planet . Several familiar African mammals live in Ethiopia , such as lions , leopards , elephants , giraffes , rhinoceroses , and wild buffalo , but these species rarely venture into the mountains . Uniquely Ethiopian mountain-dwelling species include the walia ibex of the Simien Mountains , the mountain nyala ( a kind of antelope ) , the Simien jackal , and the gelada monkey . These creatures are endangered , and they appear in both the Western and Eastern highlands in numbers ranging from a few hundred for the walia ibex to a few thousand for the others . The primary vegetation types of the Ethiopian Highlands are moorland , grassland , and herb meadow . While much of the region is predominantly grass and heathland , a number of other plants are also characteristic . Punctuating the landscape is the lovely Rosa abyssinica , an endemic rose bush that towers up to 6.5 feet ( 2 meters ) high . The kosso tree is used in traditional medicine as a vermifuge , and the wild African olive tree is found in many places throughout the range . One of the most unusual species is the giant lobelia , which reaches a height of 20 feet ( 6 meters ) when flowering . Himalayas Steven Powers / The Wildlife Collection For thousands of years the Himalayas have held a profound significance for the peoples of South Asia , as their literature , mythologies , and religions reflect . Since ancient times the vast glaciated heights have attracted the attention of the pilgrim mountaineers of India , who coined the Sanskrit name Himalaya – from hima ( " snow " ) and alaya ( " abode " ) – for this great mountain system . In contemporary times the Himalayas have offered the greatest attraction and the greatest challenge to mountaineers throughout the world . The Himalayas have more than 110 peaks rising to elevations of 24,000 feet ( 7 , 300 meters ) or more above sea level , including Kanchenjunga at the border of India ( Sikkim state ) and Nepal ( see photo ) . One of these peaks is Mount Everest ( Tibetan : Chomolungma ; Chinese : Qomolangma Feng ; Nepali : Sagarmatha ) , the world's highest , with an elevation of 29,035 feet ( 8 , 850 meters ) . The fauna of the eastern Himalayas is similar to that of the southern Chinese and Southeast Asian region . The animal life of the western Himalayas , however , have more in common with the Mediterranean , Ethiopian , and Turkmenian regions . Elephants and rhinoceroses are restricted to parts of the forested Tarai region – moist or marshy areas , now largely drained – at the base of the low hills in southern Nepal . Asiatic black bears , clouded leopards , langurs ( a long-tailed Asian monkey ) , and Himalayan goat antelopes ( e.g. , the tahr ) are some of the denizens of the Himalayan forests . In the foothills one may find the Indian rhinoceros , musk deer , and the Kashmir stag ( hangul ) , but in small numbers . In remote sections of the Himalayas , at higher elevations , snow leopards , brown bears , lesser pandas , and Tibetan yaks have limited populations . Above the tree line the most numerous animals , however , are diverse types of insects , spiders , and mites , which are the only animal forms that can live as high up as 20,700 feet ( 6 , 300 meters ) . The Himalayas are rich in floral biodiversity . On the western side of the range , the lower shrublands are defined by beautiful rhododendrons and meadows of grasses . In the eastern region , broadleaf forests receive almost 80 inches ( 200 centimeters ) of annual rainfall and feature indigenous oaks and maples with orchids and ferns in the understory . As one ascends the mountains , the temperate sub-alpine conifer forests dominate the landscape with pine , hemlock , spruce , and fir . The Himalayan balsam and other small , flowering plants can be found above the treeline in the alpine regions . Atlas Mountains Tom McHugh / Photo Researchers The Atlas system is a series of mountain ranges in northwestern Africa that run generally southwest to northeast across Morocco , Algeria , and Tunisia . They extend for more than 1,200 miles ( 2 , 000 kilometers ) from the Moroccan port of Agadir in the southwest to the Tunisian capital of Tunis in the northeast . Mount Toubkal at 13,665 feet ( 4 , 165 meters ) is the highest point in the Atlas Mountains . Other imposing peaks in the Atlas include Mount Tidirhine at 8,058 feet ( 2 , 456 meters ) , the rugged bastion of the Ouarsenis Massif ( which reaches a height of 6,512 feet ) , the Great Kabylie , which reaches 7,572 feet ( 2 , 308 meters ) at the peak of Lalla Khedidja , and Mount Chelia ( 7 , 638 feet ) . Much of the land in the Atlas has been cleared for agriculture , and a small fraction of the forest cover remains . Animal life in the mountains is also in retreat . There remain only a few jackals , a few tribes of monkeys ( Barbary macaques , the only African ape found north of the Sahara ) at higher elevations , and occasional herds of wild boars in the oak woods – found in the northern part of the range . With low rainfall and high rates of soil erosion , the Atlas Mountains are fairly sparsely vegetated . The areas with the highest rainfall feature moist forests of cork oaks with an undergrowth of arbutus ( cane apple ) and heather shrubs dotted with carpets of rockroses and lavender . Dry regions are populated with green oak and arborvitae ( a species of pine tree ) which form light , dry forests with a thin and bushy undergrowth . Stands of cedar dominate the higher altitudes , though the dry summits are often reduced to scattered stands of green oak and juniper trees . 1 Rocky Mountains Donnie Sexton / Travel Montana The Rocky Mountains are a massive cordillera made up of more than 100 separate mountain ranges stretching from Alberta and British Columbia to New Mexico . The spectacular vistas of the Rockies , such as St. Mary's Lake in Montana's Glacier National Park ( see photo ) , have inspired countless mountain climbers , explorers , and even songwriters ; John Denver wrote his famous anthem " Rocky Mountain High " about these uplands in 1972 . Among the large mammals emblematic of the rugged backcountry are the black bear , grizzly bear , mountain lion , and wolverine . Bighorn sheep and mountain goats inhabit the high crags in summer and migrate to the lower slopes for the winter months . Members of the deer family , such as the caribou , elk ( wapiti ) , mule deer , and white-tailed deer also migrate between alpine meadows and subalpine forests ; the solitary moose lumbers across northern lakes , streams , and marshy areas , feeding on willow foliage and aquatic plants . Wolves , brought to near extinction by human predation , remain rare but have resurged since 1970 as their importance in the wilderness ecosystem has come to be appreciated . Smaller mammals of the lower elevations include the least chipmunk , red squirrel , Columbian ground squirrel , black-footed ferret , and marmot . Far below the tree line , one can walk amongst beautiful forests dominated by ponderosa pines and quaking aspen . Ascend a bit higher and the forests change to subalpine spruces and firs that get progressively more gnarled and stunted with the increase in elevation . Above the tree line , one will find alpine meadows of small , herbaceous plants that are hardier than their appearance would have you believe . These include blue columbine , snow buttercup , and pink phlox .