Plant Community Structure, Fire Disturbance, and Recovery in ...

Contributions to the Study of Biological Diversity Vol. 3
CHAPTER 1.
THE WAINI PENINSULA ENVIRONMENT AND ITS FLORA
INTRODUCTION
Any protected natural area is well served
by the assembly of comprehensive baseline
information and by ongoing environmental
description and monitoring. The broad goal of
this chapter is to provide a detailed, initial
documentation of the plant species and plant
communities of the Waini Peninsula, to serve
as a foundation for future studies and
management. The Waini Peninsula is a proposed
reserve in northern Guyana that has been known
for its marine turtle nesting beaches and
conservation activities. It is also the location of
long stretches of coastal mangrove swamps,
freshwater swamps, and extensive intertidal
mudflats that are habitat for many types of
wildlife. Included are a description of the study
site, a summary of the botanical collections
made to document the flora, and descriptions
of basic vegetation zones. The quantity of new
distributional information revealed by plant
collections activities is of scientific interest, as
that allows insight into the state of basic
knowledge about an area, which guides future
data gathering efforts for research and
conservation activities. A more accurate
delineation of Guyana’s mangrove communities,
which are of high conservation concern, is
desirable considering the wide variations in
existing estimates for the country (Saenger et
al. 1983; Snedaker 1986; Spalding et al. 1997).
As part of the plant community description, an
estimate was also made of areas affected by the
1998 soil fires on the Waini Peninsula. Those
fires were unusual for their impact to large areas
of mangrove swamp, which is an ecosystem type
normally considered to be unaffected by fire.
Appendix 1 provides additional review of
mangrove ecology in Guyana, including
relationships to fire in the wet tropics. Appendix
2 fully lists the plant species that were
documented for the Waini Peninsula.
STUDY SITE
Guyana is located in northeastern South
America on the Atlantic Ocean, just north of the
Equator (Figure 1.1). The Waini Peninsula is a
relatively undisturbed, coastal region of northern
Guyana (Figure 1.2). It is the site of most of
Guyana’s remaining intact coastal ecosystems,
including mangrove swamps, freshwater
swamps, flooded savannas, and their associated
fauna. The peninsula’s “wild coast” stretches for
more than 75 kilometers along the Atlantic
Ocean, from near the Venezuelan border (59º
50' W, 8º 25' N), southeast almost to the mouth
of the Pomeroon River (59º 05' W, 8º N). For
this paper, the study area includes approximately
the northern third of the Waini Peninsula, from
Figure 1.1. Location map of Guyana, with major
rivers.
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