eastern arc mountains forests of tanzania - Campaign for the ...

Eastern Arc Mountains Forests of Tanzania
Kinabalu National Park Borneo 75,300 152–4095 5000–6000 326 (10)
Cerrado sites __ Brazil 65,514 400–1650 2,077 78 >354 84 (4) (10)
Mount Nimba Nat.Reserve
Guinea & Côte
d’Ivoire
17,740
+ 31,020
buffer
Bwindi Impenetrable National Park Uganda 32,092 1190–2607
450–1752 >2000 55 >72 >10 (4) (11)
>200
tree spp.
120 350 ? (4) (11)
Sinharaja Sri Lanka 8,864 270–1060 39 147 45 + 20 (5) (11)
Data sources: (1) Lovett, J.C. 1990; (2) Lovett, J.C. 1993; (3) WWF EcoRegions Database; (4) UNEP/WCMC 2007; (5) Sinharaja website
http://www.sinharaja.4t.com/; (6) TROPICOS database figures courtesy of Dr. Roy E. Gereau; (7) Detailed data sheet on each endemic and threatened species
originally compiled by Kim Howell of the University of Dar es Salaam, and updated by Jonathan Green of the University of Cambridge with data from Nisha Owen
(BREAM) and Francesco Rovero (CEPF), January 2010; (8) http://albertinerift.org/portals/49/media/file/Biodiversity-7.pdf Accessed January 2010; (9)
http://www.panda.org/about_our_earth/ecoregions/cameroon_highlands_forests.cfm Accessed January 2010; (10) UNESCO World Heritage Site Documents,
available from www.unesco.org; (11) UNEP–WCMC Data sheets http://www.unep-wcmc.org/sites/wh/pdf/[name].pdf; (12) Detailed data sheet on each endemic
and threatened species compiled by Michele Menegon, Museo Trento, January 2010. This includes 14 undescribed new amphibian species from Nguru mountains.
In terms of absolute numbers of vertebrate species, the Eastern Arc Mountains is the 6 th most important site for
reptile and amphibian diversity, 6 th for bird diversity and 7 th for mammal diversity, with the same caveat that no
comparative data are available for the Discovery Atlantic Forests or Canaima National Park. Comparison of
absolute numbers needs to be enhanced by by factoring in the size of an area, as more extensive sites can be
expected to have a wide variety of habitats and micro-habitats and, therefore, host greater numbers of species. A
tentative comparison can be made using the area correction equation S=cA z , where S is the number of species,
A is the habitat area, z is the species–area exponent obtained from the slope of the regression line of log S on
log A, and c is a constant that describes the steepness of the S to A z regression. Rosenzweig’s (2002) review of
studies on the species area relationship shows that z values of 0.12 to 0.18 are representative for mainland
subdivisions. Applying the value of z = 0.12 (favours larger areas) to the dataset of tropical forest World Heritage
properties (Table 5), the Eastern Arc Mountains ranks equal third in importance for vascular plants, equal fourth
for both bird and reptile/amphibian diversity, and equal fifth most important site in terms of mammal diversity
(Table 5a). The same rank order is obtained for the Eastern Arc Mountains if a value of z = 0.18 is applied, which
favours small areas (Table 5b). Again, comparisons cannot be made with either Discovery Atlantic Forests or
Canaima National Park.
Table 5: Ranking of Eastern Arc Mountains with respect to tropical forest World Heritage properties, according
to their importance for vascular plant and vertebrate species diversity, adjusted for habitat area
(a) z = 0.12 (favours larger sites)
Rank Vascular plants Mammals Birds Amphibians and Reptiles
(z=0.12)
1 Kinabalu, Borneo Cerrado sites, Brazil Cerrado sites, Brazil Atsinanana, Madagascar
2 Cerrado sites, Brazil Talamanca–La Amistad, Costa Virunga, D.R. Congo
Cerrado sites, Brazil
Rica & Panama
Manu, Peru
Talamanca–La Amistad, Costa
Rica & Panama
3 Eastern Arc Mts, Tanzania Virunga, D.R. Congo – –
4 Noel Kempff, Bolivia Manu, Peru Talamanca – La Amistad, Costa Eastern Arc Mts, Tanzania
Rica & Panama
Virunga, D.R. Congo
Eastern Arc Mts, Tanzania Darien, Panama
5 Tropical Rainforest, Sumatra Kahuzi-Biega, D.R. Congo
Eastern Arc Mts, Tanzania
Bwindi, Uganda
Darien, Panama
Tropical Rainforest, Sumatra
– –
(b) z = 0.18 (favours smaller sites)
Rank Vascular plants Mammals Birds Amphibians and Reptiles
(z=0.18)
1 Cerrado sites, Brazil Cerrado sites, Brazil Cerrado sites, Brazil Cerrado sites, Brazil
2 Kinabalu, Borneo Talamanca-La Amistad, Costa
Rica & Panama
Virunga, D.R. Congo Atsinanana, Madagascar
3 Mount Nimba, Guinea & Liberia Virunga, D.R. Congo
Manu, Peru Talamanca – La Amistad, Costa
Eastern Arc Mts, Tanzania Bwindi, Uganda
Rica & Panama
4 – – Talamanca-La Amistad, Costa Eastern Arc Mts, Tanzania
Rica & Panama
Darien, Panama
Eastern Arc Mts, Tanzania Virunga, D.R. Congo
5 Tropical Rainforest, Sumatra Manu, Peru
Eastern Arc Mts, Tanzania
– –
Ministry of Natural Resources and Tourism 78