• Contact Us
    • Send Feedback
    • Login
    View Item 
    •   Home
    • Journal and Journal Articles
    • Journal and Journal Articles
    • View Item
    •   Home
    • Journal and Journal Articles
    • Journal and Journal Articles
    • View Item
    JavaScript is disabled for your browser. Some features of this site may not work without it.

    Browse

    Whole Repository
    CollectionsIssue DateRegionCountryHubAffiliationAuthorsTitlesSubject
    This Sub-collection
    Issue DateRegionCountryHubAffiliationAuthorsTitlesSubject

    My Account

    Login

    Welcome to the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture Research Repository

    What would you like to view today?

    Exploring the floristic diversity of tropical Africa

    Thumbnail
    View/Open
    U17ArtSosefExploringInthomNodev.pdf (3.883Mb)
    Date
    2017-03-07
    Author
    Sosef, M.S.M.
    Dauby, G.
    Blach-Overgaard, A.
    Burgt, X. van der
    Catarino, L.
    Damen, T.
    Deblauwe, V.
    Dessein, S.
    Dransfield, J.
    Droissart, V.
    Duarte, M.C.
    Engledow, H.
    Fadeur, G.
    Figueira, R.
    Gereau, R.E.
    Hardy, O.J.
    Harris, D.J.
    Heij, J. de
    Janssens, S.
    Klomberg, Y.
    Ley, A.C.
    Mackinder, B.A.
    Meerts, P.
    Poel, J.L. van de
    Sonké, B.
    Stévart, T.
    Stoffelen, P.
    Svenning, J.C.
    Sepulchre, P.
    Zaiss, R.
    Wieringa, J.J.
    Couvreur, T.L.P.
    Type
    Journal Article
    Target Audience
    Scientists
    Metadata
    Show full item record
    Abstract/Description
    Background: Understanding the patterns of biodiversity distribution and what influences them is a fundamental pre-requisite for effective conservation and sustainable utilisation of biodiversity. Such knowledge is increasingly urgent as biodiversity responds to the ongoing effects of global climate change. Nowhere is this more acute than in species-rich tropical Africa, where so little is known about plant diversity and its distribution. In this paper, we use RAINBIO – one of the largest mega-databases of tropical African vascular plant species distributions ever compiled – to address questions about plant and growth form diversity across tropical Africa. Results: The filtered RAINBIO dataset contains 609,776 georeferenced records representing 22,577 species. Growth form data are recorded for 97% of all species. Records are well distributed, but heterogeneous across the continent. Overall, tropical Africa remains poorly sampled. When using sampling units (SU) of 0.5°, just 21 reach appropriate collection density and sampling completeness, and the average number of records per species per SU is only 1.84. Species richness (observed and estimated) and endemism figures per country are provided. Benin, Cameroon, Gabon, Ivory Coast and Liberia appear as the botanically best-explored countries, but none are optimally explored. Forests in the region contain 15,387 vascular plant species, of which 3013 are trees, representing 5–7% of the estimated world’s tropical tree flora. The central African forests have the highest endemism rate across Africa, with approximately 30% of species being endemic. Conclusions: The botanical exploration of tropical Africa is far from complete, underlining the need for intensified inventories and digitization. We propose priority target areas for future sampling efforts, mainly focused on Tanzania, Atlantic Central Africa and West Africa. The observed number of tree species for African forests is smaller than those estimated from global tree data, suggesting that a significant number of species are yet to be discovered. Our data provide a solid basis for a more sustainable management and improved conservation of tropical Africa’s unique flora, and is important for achieving Objective 1 of the Global Strategy for Plant Conservation 2011–2020.
    http://dx.doi.org/10.1186/s12915-017-0356-8
    Multi standard citation
    Permanent link to this item
    https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.12478/1655
    Digital Object Identifier (DOI)
    http://dx.doi.org/10.1186/s12915-017-0356-8
    IITA Subjects
    Biodiversity
    Agrovoc Terms
    Tropical Forests; Plant Growth Forms; Botanical Composition; Climate Change; Herbarium Specimens; Digitization; Botanical Exploration; Species Richness; Floristic Patterns
    Regions
    Africa; East Africa; West And Central Africa
    Countries
    Benin; Cameroon; Cote D'Ivoire; Gabon; Liberia; Tanzania
    Journals
    BioMed Central Biology
    Collections
    • Journal and Journal Articles4842
    copyright © 2019  IITASpace. All rights reserved.
    IITA | Open Access Repository