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Plant diversity in a Central African rain forest: Implications for biodiversity conservation in Cameroon all right but cf. species, 3 cf. genus and species, etc.). A duplicate of each specimen was mounted and preserved in the Kribi Herbarium. Others duplicates were sent to the National Herbarium in Yaounde, Cameroon (YA) and the Nationaal Herbarium Nederland, Wageningen University Branch (WAG) for further identification and preservation. Soil sampling In order to assess the influence of soil characteristics on the vegetation, random soil samples were collected in the center of some plots located in representative vegetation types. Soils were described according to the FAO (1990) guidelines in selected representative soil profile pits of about 1 m depth. Soil horizons were described by auguring in the soil pit. Samples from the soil horizons were taken for 72 representative soil profiles (Annex 2). In each representative plot, soil samples were taken at four different depths (0-10 cm, 10-20 cm, 20-30 cm and 30-50 cm) in addition to the horizon samples. Each of these samples was made of a mixture of three samples collected at the same depth in the upper half, center and bottom half of the plot. Taking into consideration the financial constraints, only the soil pH and electric conductivity (EC) were measured for all the samples in the soil laboratory of the Tropical Nature Conservation and Vertebrate Ecology Group, Wageningen University. Data analysis All survey data were entered into TREMA (Tree Management) software for data management (Hawthorne, 1999). TREMA contains both species level and plots data, and can integrate the two directly in an analysis. Herbarium specimens data were entered into the BRAHMS (Botanical Research and Herbarium Management System) database (Filer, 1996). This database that is currently used at Kew, Wageningen, Yaounde and Limbe herbaria for the management of their botanical data, has a module known as RDE (Rapid Data Entry) which allows easy and rapid entry of label information. Once entered and stored in RDE, data can be imported directly into BRAHMS (or transferred into different packages) for the preparation of several taxonomic outputs such as labels, determination slips, distribution maps, simple and annotated checklists. Detrended Correspondence Analysis (DCA or DECORANA) and its relative Canonical Correspondence Analysis (CANOCO or CCA) was used to detect patterns in the vegetation data (Hill, 1979a & 1979b; Jongman et al., 1987; ter Braak, 1986a & 1987b; Kent & Coker, 1992). The distribution of species and samples in the ordination space given by DCA was used to identify species and site clusters, and to corroborate groupings derived from the two-way indicator species analysis (TWINSPAN). Phytosociological parameters such as basal area, relative density, relative dominance, relative frequency, important value index and Shannon diversity index (H’) were used to describe the forest structure and composition, and to measure the species richness and diversity of the various vegetation types. They were calculated following Whittaker (1975), Kent & Coker (1992) and Magurran (1988). 14
Basal area = (1/2d)²π where d = DBH Relative density = Number of individuals of the species x 100 Total number of individuals Relative dominance = Total basal area of the species x 100 Total basal area of all species Relative frequency = Frequency of a species x 100 Frequency of all species General introduction Importance value index (IVI) = Relative density + Relative dominance + Relative frequency Shannon diversity index (H') = - Σp i lnp i Where Pi = ni /N, ni = number of individuals of species, N = total number of individuals, and ln = log basen 1.5. OUTLINE OF THE BOOK The main objective of this thesis research is to provide baseline botanical information essential for the preparation of a strategic management plan for the Campo-Ma’an Technical Operational Unit and particularly for the conservation and management of the National Park. In order to make significant contributions to this management and conservation process, a study of the vegetation and the flora of the Campo-Ma’an rain forest is made. Chapter 1 presents a succinct state of knowledge of the Campo-Ma’an biodiversity. In Chapter 2, we identify, classify, describe and map the various vegetation types and analyse their structure and composition. Later on, we discuss the effect of environmental factors such as rainfall, altitude, soils, proximity to the sea and human disturbance that influence or delimit the found vegetation types. Chapter 3 deals with the diversity of the flora in the Campo-Ma’an rain forest. We search for correlation between tree species diversity and the diversity of other growth forms such as shrubs, herbs and lianas, in order to understand whether, in the contest of the African tropical rain forest, tree species diversity tells it all. The Campo-Ma’an area falls within a series of postulated rain forest refugium in Central Africa. In Chapter 4, we study patterns in the distribution of sensitive bio-indicator forest species such as strict endemics and other well-known slow dispersal species to find out whether if the entire Campo-Ma’an area was part of a refugium or not. Special attention is given to these taxa because of their biology (life strategy) and/or distribution (endemism) they may act as indicators for refuge areas. In Chapter 5, the forest inventory data and taxonomic collections are used to examine the distribution and convergence patterns of strict and narrow endemic 15
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Chapter 5 BIODIVERSITY HOTSPOTS AND
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Chapter 6 GENERAL CONCLUSIONS AND I
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REFERENCES
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ANNEXES
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SUMMARY Summary The fragile ecosyst
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Summary suggest that the Campo-Ma
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RESUME Résumé La biodiversité de
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Résumé nombreux auteurs qui argum
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SAMENVATTING Gildas Peguy Tchouto M
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