Southeast African Subtropical Grasslands bioregion
The bioregion’s land area is provided in units of 1,000 hectares. The conservation target is the combined Global Safety Net (GSN1) areas for the component ecoregions. The protection level indicates the percentage of the GSN goal that is currently protected on a scale of 0-10. N/A means data is not available at this time.
The Southeast African bioregion, part of the Southern Afrotropics subrealm located in the Afrotropics realm, is centered around the inland Highveld, a plateau formed by the Great Escarpment ridge in South Africa dominated by mountain grasslands, which transition to subtropical grasslands in the east and mid-altitude bushlands in the north. The bioregion contains five ecoregions—Central Bushveld (38), Drakensberg Escarpment Savanna and Thicket (40), Drakensberg Grasslands (41), Limpopo Lowveld (48), Highveld Grasslands (81)—with a total area of more than 63 million hectares. Although fragmented, it contains the greatest expanse of remaining grassland in southern Africa and provides habitat for numerous birds and mammal species, including pangolins, honey badgers, and mountain zebras.
The Southeast African Subtropical Grasslands bioregion is part of the Southern Afrotropics subrealm and is made up of five ecoregions: Central Bushveld [1], Limpopo Lowveld [2], Highveld Grasslands [3], Drakensberg Grasslands [4], Drakensberg Escarpment Savanna and Thicket [5].
Learn more about each of the Southeast African Subtropical Grasslands ecoregions below.
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