II. The Zambezian Region, aka the Zambezian regional centre of endemism. VIII. Afromontane archipelago-like regional centre of endemism. X. The Guinea-Congolia/Zambezi regional transition zone. XIII. Zanzibar-lnhambane regional mosaic. XIV. Kalahari-Highveld regional transition zone.
English: Figure 3.1: Main phytochoria of Africa and Madagascar Title: The Conservation Atlas of Tropical Forests: Africa Identifier: conservationatla92saye (find matches) Year: 1992 (1990s) Authors: Sayer, J. A. , Harcourt, C. S. , Collins, N. M. Subjects: Publisher: IUCN Contributing Library: UNEP-WCMC, Cambridge Digitizing Sponsor: UNEP-WCMC, Cambridge View Book Page: Book Viewer About This Book: Catalog Entry View All Images: All Images From Book Click here to view book online to see this illustration in context in a browseable online version of this book. Text Appearing Before Image: Biological Diversity Text Appearing After Image: Figure 3.1 Main phytochoria of Africa and Madagascar I. Guineo-Congolian regional centre of endemism. II. Zambezian regional centre of endemism. III. Sudanian regional centre of endemism. IV. Somalia-Masai regional centre of endemism. V. Cape regional centre of endemism. VI. Karoo-Namib regional centre of endemism. VII. Mediterranean regional centre of endemism. VIII. Afromontane archipelago-like regional centre of endemism, including IX. Afroalpine archipelago-like region of extreme floristic impoverishment (not shown separately). X. Guinea-Congolia/Zambezi regional transition zone. XI. Guinea-Congolia/Sudania regional transition zone. XII. Lake Victoria regional mosaic. XIII. Zanzibar-lnhambane regional mosaic. XIV. Kalahari-Highveld regional transition zone. XV. Tongaland-Pondoland regional mosaic. XVI. Sahel regional transition zone. XVII. Sahara regional transition zone. XVIII. Mediterranean/Sahara regional transition zone. XIX. East Malagasy regional centre of endemism. XX. West Malagasy regional centre of endemism (Source.-White, 1983) (Carcasson, 1964), around 200 passerine birds compared widi up to 400 (Crowe and Crowe, 1982), and some 14 primate species compared with nearly 40. This may be partly because of the relative lack of land at high altitudes in West Africa. Although there are mountainous forested areas here, they are relatively small and low (maximum altitude of 1752 m on Mt Nimba) and their fauna and flora bear close resemblance to those in the surrounding lowlands, with relatively few endemics. In contrast there are major upland areas in the Central African forest block with their own distinctive faunas and floras, including many endemics. These make a significant contribution to the biological diversity of the region as a whole. It is also argued that Pleistocene forest refugia in West Africa were considerably smaller than those in Central Africa; this would almost cenainly have led to the loss of a considerable number of taxa during periods of forest contraction. Colonisation by the same or related taxa from the large Central African refugia would have been hampered by the distance between the two areas and the various physical barriers to dispersal discussed below. Nevertheless these forests are still diverse, with many notable endemic species. Floristically there is one endemic family in West Africa, the Dioncophyllaceae, a small family of unusual lianas comprising three monotypic genera. There is a significant number of endemic species, with, for example, an estimated 700 of the 1300 species recorded in the Tai Forest in Cote d'lvoire being endemic to the Guinean rain forests. Of these around 200 were believed confined to the region west of the Sassandra River (Guillaumet, 1967). The majority of Guinean endemic species belong to genera also found in the Central African rain forests. Notable exceptions include Pitcairnia feliciana, endemic to Guinea and the only member of the pineapple family Bromeliaceae occurring outside the Americas, and Dinklageodoxa, the only climber in the family Bignoniaceae indigenous to Africa (Brenan, 1978). Endemic mammal species include two carnivores, Johnston's genet Genetta johnstoni and the rare Liberian mongoose Libenictis kuhnii, in a monotypic genus, and four antelopes: the pygmy antelope Neotragus pygmaeus and three species of duiker, Cephalophus zebra, C. niger and the highly threatened Jentink's duiker C. jetinki. The latter is the largest of this widespread genus of forest antelopes. Noteworthy endemic rodents are the primitive gliding Pel's anomalure Anomalurus peli, the slender-tailed giant squirrel Protoxerus aubinnii and the splendid squirrel Epixerus ebii. An important relict species confined to the Nimba massif on the borders of Guinea, Liberia and Cote d'lvoire is the Mount Nimba lesser otter shrew Micropotamogale lamottei, a primitive insectivore whose closest relative, the congeneric Micropotamogale ruwenzorii, is found in the Rwenzori mountains 4500 km to the east. Several species of primate are also confined to these forests, with the precise number depending on the classification adopted — primate taxonomy is notoriously unstable and there is little general agreement on the taxonomic status of many primate populations, particularly in the genera Cercocebus, Cercopithecus and Procolobus. Generally accepted species endemic to the Guinean forests are the diana monkey Cercopithecus diana, the spot-nosed guenon C. petaurista, and the western red colobus Procolobus badius badius, with the sooty mangabey Cercocebus torquatus atys and Geoffrey's black-and-white colobus Colobus polykomos vellerosus sometimes also considered distinct species. Twenty-eight bird species are endemic to the Guinean forests. Notable among these are the rufous fishing owl Scolopelia ussheri, the white-breasted guineafowl Agelastes meleagrides, the western wattled cuckoo-shrike Campephaga lobata, the yellow-throated olive greenbul Criniger olivaceus, the spot-winged greenbul Phyllastrephus leucolepis, the white-necked picathartes Picarhartes gymnocephalum, the Nimba flycatcher Melaenornis annamarulae and the Gola malimbe Malimbus ballmanii. Most of these species have closely related equivalents, with which they form so-called superspecies, in the Central African forests, emphasising the similarities between the two areas. The amphibian fauna of West Africa is also distinctive and clearly illustrates the different faunal blocks. Schiotz (1967) has analysed the treefrog fauna (family Hyperoliidae) in detail. Sixteen species considered true tropical rain forest forms occur in the Guinean forests. Of these only four have also been recorded east of the Dahomey Gap. The fauna of the Guinean block is itself not uniform, as there is a notable division between the eastern and western pans of the forest. This division is marked by the so-called Baoule-V centred on the Bamanda River in central Cote d'lvoire. This is an area where the savanna lying north of the rain forest makes a marked V-shaped southward incursion into the forest. It is argued that this probably represented a complete break in the forest in the relatively recent past, allowing forest forms on either side to evolve in isolation from each other. Four species are confined to the western 'Liberian' forest block, and three are known only from the eastern 'Ghanaian' block. 27 Note About Images Please note that these images are extracted from scanned page images that may have been digitally enhanced for readability - coloration and appearance of these illustrations may not perfectly resemble the original work.