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Floristic inventory and diversity assessment of a lowland African Montane Rainforest at Korup, Cameroon and implications for conservation
Author(s) -
Mbue Innocent Ndoh,
Ge Jiwen,
Kanyamanda Kasereka,
Nowel Njamnsi Yinkfu,
Samake Mamadou
Publication year - 2010
Publication title -
african journal of ecology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.499
H-Index - 54
eISSN - 1365-2028
pISSN - 0141-6707
DOI - 10.1111/j.1365-2028.2009.01176.x
Subject(s) - floristics , basal area , canonical correspondence analysis , national park , rainforest , alpha diversity , ecology , beta diversity , geography , species diversity , forestry , biodiversity , abundance (ecology) , biology , species richness
Twenty modified‐Whittaker plots were stratified at different sampling locations from February to May of 2008 in the central zone of Korup National Park, Cameroon. Our interest was to assess floristic diversity and investigate their relationship with environmental variables. Diversity profiles and rank abundance–curves were used for diversity analysis while canonical correspondence analysis and species–response curves were used to investigate the relationships between the response and explanatory variables. Of the 66 families identified, the Rubiaceae (999 species) were the most abundant. The Sterculiaceae (basal area = 10.482 m 2 ha −1 ) were the dominant family, while the co‐dominant families included the Ebenaceae (basal area = 9.092 m 2 ha −1 ) and the Euphorbiaceae (basal area = 8.168 m 2 ha −1 ). Soil variables explained 54.3% of total variation in family distribution. Canonical axes were related to different environmental gradients: axis1 was related to increasing canopy cover ( r = 0.6951); axis 2, increasing Magnesium ( r = 0.8465) and effective cation exchange capacity ( r = 0.5899); axis 3, increasing effective cation exchange capacity ( r = 0.5536); while axis 4, increasing Phosphorus concentration ( r = 0.5232). Our results demonstrate the advantage which diversity profiles have over single or combination of indices, and the importance of using a combination of methodologies in diversity analysis.