Guinean montane forests | |
---|---|
Ecology | |
Realm | Afrotropical |
Biome | tropical and subtropical moist broadleaf forests |
Borders | |
Geography | |
Area | 30,924 km2 (11,940 sq mi) |
Countries | |
Coordinates | 9°00′N9°24′W / 9°N 9.4°W |
Conservation | |
Conservation status | Critical/endangered |
Global 200 | Guinean moist forests |
Protected | 8,715 km2 (28%) [1] |
The Guinean montane forests are a tropical moist broadleaf forest ecoregion of West Africa. [2] [3] [4]
The ecoregion occupies the portions of the Guinea Highlands lying above 600 meters elevation, extending across portions of Guinea, Sierra Leone, Liberia, and Côte d'Ivoire. It includes the Fouta Djallon plateau and the massifs of Ziama, Simandou, Tétini, Béro, Kourandou in Guinea, the Loma Mountains and Tingi Hills in Sierra Leone, the Nimba Range in Guinea, Liberia, and Côte d'Ivoire, and the Monts du Toura in Côte d'Ivoire. Mount Bintumani in the Loma Mountains is the highest peak in West Africa west of Mount Cameroon. The next highest peaks in the region are in the Sankan Biriwa massif (1850 meters) in the Tingi Hills.
Average rainfall is between 1,600 and 2400 mm per year and many important rivers have their sources in these mountains. [5]
These mountains have a distinct plant cover in various phases according to elevation, with up to 35 endemic species including a Rhipidoglossum orchid found only on Mount Nimba. Common plant types in the humid mountain valleys include Uapaca togoensis, Cola lateritia maclaudii, Parinari excelsa, Piptadeniastrum africanum and Canarium schweinfurthii . Higher altitudes of the Loma and the Tingi are covered with a savanna of Syzygium, Kotschya ochreata, Monechma depauperatum, and the tree ferns, Cyathea subg. Cyathea manniana and Cyathea dregei. Other areas of high prairie are known for Gladiolus, Solenostemon monostachyus latericola, Cyanotis longiflora, and Thesium tenuissimum. Finally the high gallery forest is dominated by Parinari excelsa with the tree fern, Cyathea camerooniana , and the bamboo, Oxytenanthera abyssinica.
Pitcairnia feliciana , the only species of Bromeliad native outside the Americas, is endemic to the Fouta Jallon. [6]
Leopards (Panthera pardus) are the largest predator in the ecoregion. The ecoregion supports populations of the endangered western chimpanzee (Pan troglodytes verus).
Near-endemic birds include Sierra Leone prinia ( Prinia leontica ) and the iris glossy-starling ( Coccycolius iris ).
Endemic amphibians include the western Nimba toad (Nimbaphrynoides occidentalis), found only in the montane grasslands of the Nimba Range, and which is totally viviparous. The Guinea screeching frog ( Arthroleptis crusculum ) is a threatened species found in the Nimba Range, Mounts Béro, Tétini, and Foko, the Simandou Range (Mts. Tibe and Fon), Loma Mountains, and Tingi Hills in high-altitude grasslands and in gallery forests during the dry season. [7] Ptychadena submascareniensis is another frog species that has been found only on Mt. Nimba and in the Loma Mountains. [8]
The landscape has been badly affected by mining on Mount Nimba and general clearance for farming as well as more recent civil war in Sierra Leone and Liberia. Despite its park status iron ore mining on Mount Nimba was still ongoing up until the Liberian Civil War, while the Loma Mountains are perhaps the best preserved part of the region.
Protected areas include:
Guinée forestière is a forested mountainous region in southeastern Guinea, extending into northeastern Sierra Leone. It is one of four natural regions into which Guinea is divided and covers 23% of the country. It includes all of the Nzérékoré administrative region, and shares a border with Sierra Leone and Liberia. Its rocky topology contains several mountain ranges and has an average elevation of 460m. Forested Guinea contains important areas of biological diversity such as the UNESCO World Heritage site Mount Nimba Strict Nature Reserve and biosphere reserve Ziama Massif. The Guéckédou prefectures also recorded the initial case of the 2014 Ebola outbreak in Meliandou, a rural village. The virus subsequently spread to urban areas and neighbouring countries Sierra Leone and Liberia.
Upper Guinea is a geographical term used in several contexts:
In West Africa, the forest zone refers to the southern part of the region once covered by tropical rainforest. Sometimes this region is referred to as Guinea to distinguish it from the grassland-covered Sudan, drier Sahel and per-arid Sahara. It is made-up of vegetation having mainly trees and consist of the following local biotic communities: -mangrove swamp forest -tropical rain forest.
The Nzérékoré Region is a region in the southern part of Guinea. Its capital and largest city is Nzérékoré. It is one of the eight regions of Guinea. It is bordered by the countries of Sierra Leone, Liberia, and Ivory Coast, and the Guinean regions of Kankan and Faranah.
Mount Nimba Strict Nature Reserve is a protected area and UNESCO World Heritage Site located in both Guinea and Côte d'Ivoire, extending over a total of area of 175.4 km2, with 125.4 km2 in Guinea, and 50 km2 in Côte d'Ivoire. The reserve covers significant portions of the Nimba Range, a geographically unique area with unusually rich flora and fauna, including exceptional numbers of single-site endemic species, such as Nimbaphrynoides, the Nimba otter shrew, and multiple species of horseshoe bats. Its highest peak is Mount Richard-Molard at 1,752 m (5,750 ft), which is the highest peak of both countries.
The Western Guinean lowland forests ecoregion is a tropical moist broadleaf forest ecoregion of West Africa. It is centered on Liberia, with portions in surrounding countries. It is the westernmost tropical rainforest in Africa, and has high levels of species endemism, with over 200 species of endemic plants.
The Guinean forests of West Africa is a biodiversity hotspot designated by Conservation International, which includes the belt of tropical moist broadleaf forests along the coast of West Africa, running from Sierra Leone and Guinea in the west to the Sanaga River of Cameroon in the east. The Dahomey Gap, a region of savanna and dry forest in Togo and Benin, divides the Guinean forests into the Upper Guinean forests and Lower Guinean forests.
The Upper Guinean forests is a tropical seasonal forest region of West Africa. The Upper Guinean forests extend from Guinea and Sierra Leone in the west through Liberia, Côte d'Ivoire and Ghana to Togo in the east, and a few hundred kilometers inland from the Atlantic coast. A few enclaves of montane forest lie further inland in the mountains of central Guinea and central Togo and Benin.
The Afromontane regions are subregions of the Afrotropical realm, one of the Earth's eight biogeographic realms, covering the plant and animal species found in the mountains of Africa and the southern Arabian Peninsula. The Afromontane regions of Africa are discontinuous, separated from each other by lower-lying areas, and are sometimes referred to as the Afromontane archipelago, as their distribution is analogous to a series of sky islands.
Simandou is a 110-kilometre-long (68 mi) range of hills located in the Nzérékoré and Kankan regions of southeastern Guinea, in the country's mountainous, forested Guinée Forestière region. At the southern end of the range the site of a large iron ore deposit is currently being developed.
The wildlife of Guinea is very diverse due to its wide variety of habitats. The southern part of the country lies within the Guinean Forests of West Africa biodiversity hotspot, while the north-east is characterized by dry savanna woodlands. Ecoregions of Guinea are the Western Guinean lowland forests, Guinean montane forests, Guinean forest–savanna mosaic, West Sudanian savanna, and Guinean mangroves.
Arthroleptis crusculum is a species of frog in the family Arthroleptidae. It is found in southern Guinea, Liberia, Sierra Leone, and Côte d'Ivoire, at elevations of 500–1,750 m (1,640–5,740 ft) above sea level.
Ptychadena submascareniensis is a species of frog in the family Ptychadenidae. This West African frog is found on the Nimba Range of Ivory Coast, Guinea, and Liberia, and on the Loma Mountains of Sierra Leone.
The following outline is provided as an overview of and topical guide to Guinea:
The Guinea Highlands is a densely forested mountainous plateau extending from central Guinea through northern Sierra Leone and Liberia to western Ivory Coast. The highlands include a number of mountains, ranges and plateaus, including the Fouta Djallon highlands in central Guinea, the Loma Mountains in Sierra Leone, the Simandou and Kourandou massifs in southeastern Guinea, the Nimba Range at the border of Guinea, Liberia, and Ivory Coast, and the Monts du Toura in western Ivory Coast.
The Ziama Massif is a forested mountain range in Nzérékoré Region of southeastern Guinea.
The Nimba Range forms part of the southern extent of the Guinea Highlands. The highest peak is Mount Richard-Molard on the border of Côte d'Ivoire and Guinea, at 1,752 m (5,748 ft). "Mount Nimba" may refer either to Mount Richard-Molard or to the entire range. Other peaks include Grand Rochers at 1,694 m (5,558 ft), Mont Sempéré at 1,682 m (5,518 ft), Mont Piérré Richaud at 1,670 m (5,480 ft), Mont Tô at 1,675 m (5,495 ft), and Mont LeClerc 1,577 m (5,174 ft), all of them are located in Guinea. Mount Nimba Strict Nature Reserve of Guinea and Côte d'Ivoire covers significant portions of the Nimba Range.
Lachaise's climbing mouse is a species of climbing mouse described by Denys and Aniskine in 2012. First discovered on the slopes of Mount Nimba, it is now believed that the species is extant within Guinea, Liberia and Cote d’Ivoire.
The Mount Nimba giant forest shrew is a species of mammal in the family Soricidae. It is native to West Africa, where it is found in Ivory Coast, Guinea, Liberia, and Sierra Leone.