Epiphyte Diversity in Primary and Fragmented Forests of Cameroon, Central Africa: A Preliminary Survey
PDF

Keywords

Africa
biodiversity
Cameroon
epiphyte
forest
orchid
tropics

How to Cite

Nkongmeneck, B.-A., Lowman, M. D., & Atwood, J. T. (2002). Epiphyte Diversity in Primary and Fragmented Forests of Cameroon, Central Africa: A Preliminary Survey. Selbyana, 23(1), 121–130. Retrieved from https://ojs.test.flvc.org/selbyana/article/view/121632

Abstract

In this study our objectives were to compare the diversity of epiphytes in undisturbed and fragmented forests, to identify the most abundant host tree species, and to collect specimens for the University of Yaounde. To protect epiphytes in villages where these plants are often perceived as parasites (especially of fruit trees), the senior author organized conservation classes for local villagers who participated in data collection at each site. Preliminary results showed that epiphytic flora was rich in disturbed forests of Cameroon and that preservation of forest fragments may benefit epiphyte conservation. The most abundant host tree species differ in both intact and disturbed habitats at each site. Human disturbance, despite reducing epiphyte population sizes, serves as a catalyst for promoting change (and perhaps a shortterm increase) in diversity by increasing habitat diversity.

   
PDF

Open Access and Copyright Notice

 

Selbyana is committed to real and immediate open access for academic work. All of Selbyana's articles and reviews are free to access immediately upon publication. There are no author charges (APCs) prior to publication, and no charges for readers to download articles and reviews for their own scholarly use.  To facilitate this, Selbyana depends on the financial backing of the Marie Selby Botanical Gardens, the hard work and dedication of its editorial team and advisory board, and the continuing support of its network of peer reviewers and partner institutions.

Authors are free to choose which open license they would like to use for their work. Our default license is the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 (CC BY-NC 4.0). While Selbyana’s articles can be copied by anyone for noncommercial purposes if proper credit is given, all materials are published under an open-access license with authors retaining full and permanent ownership of their work. The author grants Selbyana a perpetual, non-exclusive right to publish the work and to include it in other aggregations and indexes to achieve broader impact and visibility.

Authors are responsible for and required to ascertain that they are in possession of image rights for any and all photographs, illustrations, and figures included in their work or to obtain publication or reproduction rights from the rights holders. Contents of the journal will be registered with the Directory of Open Access Journals and similar repositories. Authors are encouraged to store their work elsewhere, for instance in institutional repositories or personal websites, including commercial sites such as academia.edu, to increase circulation (see The Effects of Open Access).