Forest expansion into savanna is a pervasive phenomenon in West and Central Africa, warranting comparative studies under diverse environmental conditions. We collected vegetation data from the woody and grassy components within 73 plots of 0.16 ha distributed along a successional gradient from humid savanna to forest in Central Africa.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFPremise Of The Study: Coula edulis Baill (Coulaceae) is a common tree species in the Guineo-Congolian forests producing an edible fruit known as African walnut, which is an important food and income resource for rural populations. However, the species suffers from a deficit of natural regeneration. We developed here nuclear microsatellite markers for C.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFTrees structure the Earth's most biodiverse ecosystem, tropical forests. The vast number of tree species presents a formidable challenge to understanding these forests, including their response to environmental change, as very little is known about most tropical tree species. A focus on the common species may circumvent this challenge.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFAnnonaceae is a major pantropical family with 113 genera and about 2550 species. Cameroon is one of the most biodiverse countries in Africa but its flora remains incompletely known. In this volume of the Flora of Cameroon, we describe 166 native taxa representing 163 species in 28 native genera within the family Annonaceae.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFUnderstanding the evolutionary dynamics of genetic diversity is fundamental for species conservation in the face of climate change, particularly in hyper-diverse biomes. Species in a region may respond similarly to climate change, leading to comparable evolutionary dynamics, or individualistically, resulting in dissimilar patterns. The second-largest expanse of continuous tropical rain forest (TRF) in the world is found in Central Africa.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe world's second largest expanse of tropical rainforest is in Central Africa, and it harbours enormous species diversity. Population genetic studies have consistently revealed significant structure across Central African rainforest plants. In particular, previous studies have repeatedly demonstrated a north-south genetic discontinuity around the equatorial line, in a continuous expanse of rainforest where a climatic inversion is documented.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFIn the context of producing a revised phylogenetic Linnean taxonomy of angraecoid orchids, the monotypic and narrow-endemic genus is synonymised with . Accordingly, a new combination in is proposed for . The morphological and DNA-based evidence for this transfer is discussed.
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