DOCSLIB.ORG

Two Decades of Change in Ghanaian Forests

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text

Load more

Two decades of change in Ghanaian forests Sophie Fauset Submitted in accordance with the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy The University of Leeds School of Geography May 2012 ii The candidate confirms that the work submitted is her own, except where work which has formed part of jointly authored publications has been included. The contribution of the candidate and the other authors to this work has been explicitly indicated below. The candidate confirms that appropriate credit has been given within the thesis where reference has been made to the work of others. Chapter 2: Fauset, S., Baker, T.R., Lewis, S.L., Feldpausch, T.R., Affum-Baffoe, K., Foli, E.G., Hamer, K.C. & Swaine, M.D. (2012). Drought-induced shifts in the floristic and functional composition of tropical forests in Ghana. Ecology Letters, 15, 1120-1129. SF, TRB, SLL, MDS, TRF and KCH designed the study; SF, TRF and EGF collected data; KA-B, SLL and MDS provided data; SF analysed data and wrote the paper. Chapter 3: In preparation. SF, TRB, SLL and TRF designed the study; SF and EGF collected data; KA-B, TRF and TROBIT consortium provided data; SF analysed data and wrote the paper. Chapter 4: In preparation. SF, TRB, SLL, TRF and KCH designed the study; SF, TRB and EGF collected data; KA-B, SLL and MDS provided data; SF analysed data and wrote the paper. This copy has been supplied on the understanding that it is copyright material and that no quotation from the thesis may be published without proper acknowledgement. Assertion of moral rights: The right of Sophie Fauset to be identified as Author of this work has been asserted by her in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988. © 2012 The University of Leeds and Sophie Fauset iii Acknowledgements First, many thanks to my principal supervisor, Tim Baker, for the considerable support, guidance, ideas and time given to me over the course of this project. I also thank my supervisors Simon Lewis, Ted Feldpausch, Keith Hamer and Michael Krom for all their contributions. This work could not have been carried out without the Forestry Commission of Ghana and the work put into the forest inventory network over the past decades from multiple field staff. Thank you to Kofi Affum-Baffoe for providing access to these resources, and the many forest guards, forest managers and local people for helping to locate the plots. Data from inventory plots were provided by the AFRITRON and TROBIT projects. Ernest Foli and the Forestry Research Institute of Ghana provided logistical support and guidance. I thank Jonathan Dabo for botanical assistance. Previous work on the ecology of Ghanaian tree species was essential to this thesis and I thank Michael Swaine and William Hawthorne for making this data available. Datasets on fire occurrence were provided by Rosa Maria Román Cuesta and France Gerard. Gabriela López-González provided assistance with the ForestPlots.net database, and Gloria Djabletey helped with exporting soil. I am very grateful for all the funding received: the Earth and Biosphere Institute provided my studentship, and the Royal Society, Sebright’s Educational Foundation and the Gilchrist Educational Trust funded the fieldwork. I thank the laboratory staff, Rachel Gasior, Martin Gilpin, David Ashley, John Corr and Miles Ratcliffe, for patient training in soil preparation and analytical methods, as well as caring out some of the soil analyses. I thank Oliver French for keeping me going. My family have always provided encouragement to me and even measured a few trees too! Thanks to the many iv colleagues who have become friends and provided both fun and help along the way, in particular, the support, singing and general mischief in the basement provided by Katie Aspray and Michelle Johnson. The following people also deserve a special mention: Lindsay Banin, Tim Jones, Ed Turner, Katherine Dunlavy, Keith Bloomfield, Nikée Groot, Rosie Goodman, Kate Staines, Yanan Jiang and Simon Willcock. The biggest thanks I have are for my amazing field team in Ghana. Kwaku Duah, Yaw Nkrumah and Justice Afedo Godwin were far more than I could have hoped for; hard working, supportive, loyal and kind. I have you to thank for the amazing experiences I have had and the work that was done, I think we made a great team. Finally, I wish to dedicate this thesis to Kwaku, a fantastic friend, logistics manager, tree measurer, football fan, dancer, plot finder, rat catcher, spar player, joker and forester. You are deeply missed. Kwaku Paul Duah v vi Abstract Understanding the impacts and synergies of the many threats facing tropical forests is a key research challenge. Here, three potential threats are addressed: drought, fire and lianas. Using a network of 31 plots, changes attributed to these threats are addressed over two decades in Ghanaian forests. Ghana experienced a multi-decade drought beginning in the early 1970s. The impact of this drought on functional composition and forest structure was tested. The results show clear shifts in functional composition. Despite this, biomass increased during the study period. This suggests that shifting species composition in favour of drought-tolerant species increases the resilience of tropical forests to long-term drought. A strong El Niño event in 1983 led to widespread wildfires in the Ghanaian forest zone. To test the long-term impacts of these fires the structure and composition of seven burnt plots and three control plots were compared. 27 years after initial fires, stem density and biomass were reduced in burnt plots, and composition was characteristic of disturbed forest. Over the twenty year study period, forest structure showed evidence of regeneration, but no recovery of floristic composition was observed. In contrast to the large increase in lianas observed in the Neotropics, there was only a very slight increase in the percentage of infested trees over the study period. Forest structure was found to be the main driver of liana spatial distribution. Importantly, large lianas showed different spatial patterns, as forest turnover was the strongest predictor of large liana distribution. Overall, fire was found to be the strongest threat, having a large and long-term impact on forest structure and composition. The results highlight that the prevention of fire occurrence should be a priority in tropical forest regions, as should the maintenance of biodiversity to maximise the resilience of forest to external changes. vii viii Table of Contents Acknowledgements .............................................................................................................. iv Abstract ................................................................................................................................ vii Table of Contents.................................................................................................................. ix List of Tables ....................................................................................................................... xiii List of Figures...................................................................................................................... xiv 1. Introduction........................................................................................................................1 1.1 Threats to tropical forests.......................................................................................1 1.2 Droughts..................................................................................................................5 1.2.1 Precipitation and water stress in tropical forest regions..........................5 1.2.2. Impacts of droughts on tropical forests....................................................7 1.3 Fires .......................................................................................................................12 1.3.1 Fire history of tropical forests .................................................................12 1.3.2 Current fire occurrence ...........................................................................12 1.3.3 Impacts of fires on tropical forests ..........................................................14 1.4 Lianas.....................................................................................................................18 1.4.1 Background...............................................................................................18 1.4.2 Impacts of lianas on host trees.................................................................19 1.4.3 Liana spatial distribution .........................................................................22 1.4.4 Recent increases in liana abundance.......................................................25 1.4.5 Drivers of increased liana abundance .....................................................27 1.5 Ghanaian forests....................................................................................................29 1.5.1 Climate and soils ......................................................................................29 1.5.2 31 Forest types........................................................................................................31 1.5.3 Fire and Drought History ........................................................................34 1.5.4 Plot network.............................................................................................35 1.6 Thesis aims and objectives....................................................................................38 1.6.1
Recommended publications
  • Ethnobotany and Phytomedicine of the Upper Nyong Valley Forest in Cameroon

    Ethnobotany and Phytomedicine of the Upper Nyong Valley Forest in Cameroon

    African Journal of Pharmacy and Pharmacology Vol. 3(4). pp. 144-150, April, 2009 Available online http://www.academicjournals.org/ajpp ISSN 1996-0816 © 2009 Academic Journals Full Length Research Paper Ethnobotany and phytomedicine of the upper Nyong valley forest in Cameroon T. Jiofack1*, l. Ayissi2, C. Fokunang3, N. Guedje4 and V. Kemeuze1 1Millennium Ecologic Museum, P. O Box 8038, Yaounde – Cameroon. 2Cameron Wildlife Consevation Society (CWCS – Cameroon), Cameroon. 3Faculty of Medicine and Biomedical Science, University of Yaounde I, Cameroon. 4Institute of Agronomic Research for Development, National Herbarium of Cameroon, Cameroon. Accepted 24 March, 2009 This paper presents the results of an assessment of the ethnobotanical uses of some plants recorded in upper Nyong valley forest implemented by the Cameroon wildlife conservation society project (CWCS). Forestry transects in 6 localities, followed by socio-economic study were conducted in 250 local inhabitants. As results, medicinal information on 140 plants species belonging to 60 families were recorded. Local people commonly use plant parts which included leaves, bark, seed, whole plant, stem and flower to cure many diseases. According to these plants, 8% are use to treat malaria while 68% intervenes to cure several others diseases as described on. There is very high demand for medicinal plants due to prevailing economic recession; however their prices are high as a result of prevailing genetic erosion. This report highlighted the need for the improvement of effective management strategies focusing on community forestry programmes and aims to encourage local people participation in the conservation of this forest heritage to achieve a sustainable plant biodiversity and conservation for future posterity.
  • Inventaire Et Analyse Chimique Des Exsudats Des Plantes D'utilisation Courante Au Congo-Brazzaville

    Inventaire Et Analyse Chimique Des Exsudats Des Plantes D'utilisation Courante Au Congo-Brazzaville

    Inventaire et analyse chimique des exsudats des plantes d’utilisation courante au Congo-Brazzaville Arnold Murphy Elouma Ndinga To cite this version: Arnold Murphy Elouma Ndinga. Inventaire et analyse chimique des exsudats des plantes d’utilisation courante au Congo-Brazzaville. Chimie analytique. Université Paris Sud - Paris XI; Université Marien- Ngouabi (Brazzaville), 2015. Français. NNT : 2015PA112023. tel-01269459 HAL Id: tel-01269459 https://tel.archives-ouvertes.fr/tel-01269459 Submitted on 5 Feb 2016 HAL is a multi-disciplinary open access L’archive ouverte pluridisciplinaire HAL, est archive for the deposit and dissemination of sci- destinée au dépôt et à la diffusion de documents entific research documents, whether they are pub- scientifiques de niveau recherche, publiés ou non, lished or not. The documents may come from émanant des établissements d’enseignement et de teaching and research institutions in France or recherche français ou étrangers, des laboratoires abroad, or from public or private research centers. publics ou privés. UNIVERSITE MARIEN NGOUABI UNIVERSITÉ PARIS-SUD ÉCOLE DOCTORALE 470: CHIMIE DE PARIS SUD Laboratoire d’Etude des Techniques et d’Instruments d’Analyse Moléculaire (LETIAM) THÈSE DE DOCTORAT CHIMIE par Arnold Murphy ELOUMA NDINGA INVENTAIRE ET ANALYSE CHIMIQUE DES EXSUDATS DES PLANTES D’UTILISATION COURANTE AU CONGO-BRAZZAVILLE Date de soutenance : 27/02/2015 Directeur de thèse : M. Pierre CHAMINADE, Professeur des Universités (France) Co-directeur de thèse : M. Jean-Maurille OUAMBA, Professeur Titulaire CAMES (Congo) Composition du jury : Président : M. Alain TCHAPLA, Professeur Emérite, Université Paris-Sud Rapporteurs : M. Zéphirin MOULOUNGUI, Directeur de Recherche INRA, INP-Toulouse M. Ange Antoine ABENA, Professeur Titulaire CAMES, Université Marien Ngouabi Examinateurs : M.
  • Systematics and Floral Evolution in the Plant Genus Garcinia (Clusiaceae) Patrick Wayne Sweeney University of Missouri-St

    Systematics and Floral Evolution in the Plant Genus Garcinia (Clusiaceae) Patrick Wayne Sweeney University of Missouri-St

    University of Missouri, St. Louis IRL @ UMSL Dissertations UMSL Graduate Works 7-30-2008 Systematics and Floral Evolution in the Plant Genus Garcinia (Clusiaceae) Patrick Wayne Sweeney University of Missouri-St. Louis Follow this and additional works at: https://irl.umsl.edu/dissertation Part of the Biology Commons Recommended Citation Sweeney, Patrick Wayne, "Systematics and Floral Evolution in the Plant Genus Garcinia (Clusiaceae)" (2008). Dissertations. 539. https://irl.umsl.edu/dissertation/539 This Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by the UMSL Graduate Works at IRL @ UMSL. It has been accepted for inclusion in Dissertations by an authorized administrator of IRL @ UMSL. For more information, please contact [email protected]. SYSTEMATICS AND FLORAL EVOLUTION IN THE PLANT GENUS GARCINIA (CLUSIACEAE) by PATRICK WAYNE SWEENEY M.S. Botany, University of Georgia, 1999 B.S. Biology, Georgia Southern University, 1994 A DISSERTATION Submitted to the Graduate School of the UNIVERSITY OF MISSOURI- ST. LOUIS In partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY in BIOLOGY with an emphasis in Plant Systematics November, 2007 Advisory Committee Elizabeth A. Kellogg, Ph.D. Peter F. Stevens, Ph.D. P. Mick Richardson, Ph.D. Barbara A. Schaal, Ph.D. © Copyright 2007 by Patrick Wayne Sweeney All Rights Reserved Sweeney, Patrick, 2007, UMSL, p. 2 Dissertation Abstract The pantropical genus Garcinia (Clusiaceae), a group comprised of more than 250 species of dioecious trees and shrubs, is a common component of lowland tropical forests and is best known by the highly prized fruit of mangosteen (G. mangostana L.). The genus exhibits as extreme a diversity of floral form as is found anywhere in angiosperms and there are many unresolved taxonomic issues surrounding the genus.
  • Diversity, Above-Ground Biomass, and Vegetation Patterns in a Tropical Dry Forest in Kimbi-Fungom National Park, Cameroon

    Diversity, Above-Ground Biomass, and Vegetation Patterns in a Tropical Dry Forest in Kimbi-Fungom National Park, Cameroon

    Heliyon 6 (2020) e03290 Contents lists available at ScienceDirect Heliyon journal homepage: www.cell.com/heliyon Research article Diversity, above-ground biomass, and vegetation patterns in a tropical dry forest in Kimbi-Fungom National Park, Cameroon Moses N. Sainge a,*, Felix Nchu b, A. Townsend Peterson c a Department of Environmental and Occupational Studies, Faculty of Applied Sciences, Cape Peninsula University of Technology, Cape Town 8000, South Africa b Department of Horticultural Sciences, Faculty of Applied Sciences, Cape Peninsula University of Technology, Bellville 7535, South Africa c Biodiversity Institute, University of Kansas, Lawrence, KS, 66045, USA ARTICLE INFO ABSTRACT Keywords: Research highlights: This study is one of few detailed analyses of plant diversity and vegetation patterns in African Ecological restoration dry forests. We established permanent plots to characterize plant diversity, above-ground biomass, and vegetation Flora patterns in a tropical dry forest in Kimbi-Fungom National Park, Cameroon. Our results contribute to long-term Environmental assessment monitoring, predictions, and management of dry forest ecosystems, which are often vulnerable to anthropogenic Environmental health pressures. Environmental impact assessment Dry forest Background and objectives: Considerable consensus exists regarding the importance of dry forests in species di- Bamenda highlands versity and carbon storage; however, the relationship between dry forest tree species composition, species rich- Kimbi-Fungom National Park ness, and carbon stock is not well established. Also, simple baseline data on plant diversity are scarce for many dry Carbon forest ecosystems. This study seeks to characterize floristic diversity, vegetation patterns, and tree diversity in Semi-deciduous permanent plots in a tropical dry forest in Northwestern Cameroon (Kimbi-Fungom National Park) for the first Tree composition time.
  • Distribution and Ecology of Allanblackia Spp. (Clusiaceae) in African Rain Forests with Special Attention to the Development of a Wild Picking System of the Fruits

    Distribution and Ecology of Allanblackia Spp. (Clusiaceae) in African Rain Forests with Special Attention to the Development of a Wild Picking System of the Fruits

    Distribution and ecology of Allanblackia spp. (Clusiaceae) in African rain forests with special attention to the development of a wild picking system of the fruits Photo: Fruit of Allanblackia kimbiliensis (Clusiaceae) in Bwindi forest, western Uganda Source: People and plants Online, Kew, London (http://www.rbgkew.org.uk/peopleplants/wp/wp4/bwindi.htm) Renaat Van Rompaey PhD ECOSYN Consulting, Wageningen Report to Unilever Research Laboratories, Vlaardingen 2nd draft, part West Africa, and 2nd draft part Central Africa, 6 September 2003 Address of the author: Renaat Van Rompaey ECOSYN Consulting Wim Sonneveldstraat 24 NL-6708 NB Wageningen, The Netherlands ([email protected]; tel.: +31-6-234 69 633) 2 Abstract Allanblackia trees have the largest fruits of all plants in the African rain forest. The seeds are known to contain edible fat, but have only scarcely been used on a commercial scale, e.g. in Tanzania. In most parts of Africa, the use of Allanblackia has been decreased over the last 50 years to the favour of other, mostly liquid oils. Nevertheless, Allanblackia has been identified by amongst others FAO as a crop of high potential interest to the development of rural communities. This work aims to contribute to the development of this idea by quantifying the potential on a district level. The nine species of Allanblackia are mainly distributed in wet evergreen rain forest, lowland from Sierra Leone to Congo, and upland eastwards to Tanzania. In west and central Africa the species become much more abundant in the very wet forest types, reaching densities above 1000 trees per km2. Data from timber inventories were processed to estimate the density of Allanblackia trees.
  • Favier-Et-Al 2004 Jo

    Favier-Et-Al 2004 Jo

    Journal of Biogeography (J. Biogeogr.) (2004) 31, 1445–1461 ORIGINAL Forest progression modes in littoral ARTICLE Congo, Central Atlantic Africa Charly Favier1, Christian de Namur2 and Marc-Antoine Dubois1* 1CEA Saclay Orme des Merisiers, DSM/ ABSTRACT DRECAM, Service de Physique de l’Etat Aim To understand the persistence of a forest–savanna mosaic in places where Condense´, Gif sur Yvette and 2IRD, UMR AMAP, Montpellier cedex 5, France rainfall data suggest that forest take-over should take place. To study the various modes of forest encroachment, and the role of human activities to hamper it. Location Data were collected on several forest–savanna ecotones in the coastal region of the Republic of Congo. The sites were chosen to illustrate the main different modes of forest expansion, corresponding to different levels of anthropic pressure. Methods The sites were studied on five transects perpendicular to the ecotone (total sampled area: 1.7 ha) and 10 forest clumps in savanna (with diameters from 3 to 20 m). Along the transects botanical identification, diameter measurement and cartography were performed, while leaf area index was measured with a high resolution (every meter) along two of them. Collected data were analysed using a continuous quantification approach, much more useful than the classical quadrat analysis. Time calibration of progression rates was performed using a simple model of the growth of the characteristic pioneer species, Aucoumea klaineana. Results The two main different modes are reflected in different successional ) patterns. The edge diffusion is slow (its rate is evaluated to c. 1 m year 1) and is characterized by a progressive increase in high diameter trees density and shade tolerant trees density away from the ecotone.
  • List of Plant Species Identified in the Northern Part of the Lope Reserve, Gabon*

    List of Plant Species Identified in the Northern Part of the Lope Reserve, Gabon*

    TROPICS 3 (3/4): 249-276 Issued March, 1994 List of Plant Species Identified in the Northern Part of the Lope Reserve, Gabon* Caroline E.G. TUTIN Centre International de Recherche Medicales de Franceville, Franceville, Gabon; Department of Biological and Molecular Sciences, University of Stirling, Scotland. Lee J. T. WHITE NYZS-The Wildlife Conservation Society, U.S.A.; Institute of Cell, Animal and Population Biology, University of Edinburgh, Scotland; Programme de Conservation et Utilisation Rationelle des Ecosystemes Forestiers d'Afrique Centrale (ECOFAC), Composante Gabon (Projet FED, CCE DG VIII). Elizabeth A. WILLIAMSON Psychology Department, University of Stirling, Scotland. Michel FERNANDEZ Centre International de Recherche Medicales de Franceville, Franceville, Gabon; Department of Biological and Molecular Sciences, University of Stirling, Scotland; Programme de Conservation et Utilisation Rationelle des Ecosystemes Forestiers d' Afrique Centrale (ECOFAC), Composante Gabon (Projet FED, CCE DG VIII). Gordon MCPHERSON Missouri Botanical Garden, St. Louis, Missouri, U.S.A. ABSTRACT Research on lowland gorillas (Gorilla g. gorilla) and chimpanzees (Pan t. troglodytes) began at the 'Station d'Etudes des Gorilles et Chimpanzes' in the Lope Reserve, central Gabon, in 1983 and is on-going. This paper lists 676 species of plants belonging to 91 families that occur in the 50 sq. km study area. Data on trees with diameters of 10 cm or more were collected systematically along line transects and opportunistic collections of fertile plants were made. For each plant species, the life-form, habitat preference and density (for trees recorded on transects) are listed. For plants that provide food for gorillas and chimpanzees, the part eaten is given.
  • 2015PA112023.Pdf

    2015PA112023.Pdf

    UNIVERSITE MARIEN NGOUABI UNIVERSITÉ PARIS-SUD ÉCOLE DOCTORALE 470: CHIMIE DE PARIS SUD Laboratoire d’Etude des Techniques et d’Instruments d’Analyse Moléculaire (LETIAM) THÈSE DE DOCTORAT CHIMIE par Arnold Murphy ELOUMA NDINGA INVENTAIRE ET ANALYSE CHIMIQUE DES EXSUDATS DES PLANTES D’UTILISATION COURANTE AU CONGO-BRAZZAVILLE Date de soutenance : 27/02/2015 Directeur de thèse : M. Pierre CHAMINADE, Professeur des Universités (France) Co-directeur de thèse : M. Jean-Maurille OUAMBA, Professeur Titulaire CAMES (Congo) Composition du jury : Président : M. Alain TCHAPLA, Professeur Emérite, Université Paris-Sud Rapporteurs : M. Zéphirin MOULOUNGUI, Directeur de Recherche INRA, INP-Toulouse M. Ange Antoine ABENA, Professeur Titulaire CAMES, Université Marien Ngouabi Examinateurs : M. Yaya MAHMOUT, Professeur Titulaire CAMES, Université de N’Djaména Mme. Myriam BONOSE, Maître de Conférences, Université Paris-Sud A mon père ELOUMA NDINGA, cette thèse est pour toi. A ma mère Gabrielle ESSASSA, c’est le fruit de tes sacrifices. A mes sœur et frères qui m’ont toujours poussé en avant. Voilà l’aboutissement de vos efforts. A mes frères et sœurs de CHARISMA, église chrétienne, pour avoir cru en moi plus que moi-même. A mes étudiants qui m’ont aidé dans cette tâche difficile. Je vous dédie ce travail en guise de ma gratitude et de ma reconnaissance. A mes amis et collègues A tous ceux qui m’ont encouragé et soutenu. Témoignage de ma profonde affection. i Remerciements Ces travaux de recherche, réalisés dans le cadre d’une convention internationale de cotutelle de thèse entre l’Université Marien NGOUABI et l’Université Paris-Sud, sont le fruit d’u de l’Agence Universitaire de la Francophonie « formation et recherche sur la Pharmacopée et la Médecine Traditionnelles Africaines » et de la Formation Doctorale « Ecotechnologie, Valorisation du Végétal et bio-Santé » (PER-AUF-PMTA/UC2V/FD-SEV), et le Laboratoire d’Etude des Techniques et d’Instruments d’Analyse Moléculaire (LETIAM), membre du Groupe de Chimie Analytique de Paris-Sud (GCA).
  • Oil and Gas Pipeline Construction-Induced Forest Fragmentation and Biodiversity Loss in the Niger Delta, Nigeria

    Oil and Gas Pipeline Construction-Induced Forest Fragmentation and Biodiversity Loss in the Niger Delta, Nigeria

    Natural Resources, 2014, 5, 698-718 Published Online September 2014 in SciRes. http://www.scirp.org/journal/nr http://dx.doi.org/10.4236/nr.2014.512061 Oil and Gas Pipeline Construction-Induced Forest Fragmentation and Biodiversity Loss in the Niger Delta, Nigeria Ikechukwu O. Agbagwa*, Benjamin C. Ndukwu Department of Plant Science and Biotechnology, Faculty of Biological Sciences, University of Port Harcourt, Port Harcourt, Nigeria Email: *[email protected], *[email protected] Received 17 July 2014; revised 3 August 2014; accepted 14 August 2014 Copyright © 2014 by authors and Scientific Research Publishing Inc. This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution International License (CC BY). http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ Abstract The impacts of oil and gas pipeline construction on the forest and biodiversity in parts of the Niger Delta was investigated. This was achieved by studying the construction activities and operational phases of two pipelines with cumulative length of 165 km vis-à-vis the biodiversity of the affected area. The study involved field sampling along the RoWs to inventorize the fauna and flora, visual assessments and interview with locals. It was observed that the pipelines traversed moist low- land/freshwater swamp and mangrove forests, and barrier islands with approximately 4,950,000 m2 (equivalent of 495 hectares) of forest cleared and 9,642,000 trees killed to realize the pipelines. A total of 219 plant species in 66 families and 125 different fauna species from 64 families were recorded in these areas. Three out of the 4 recorded species of Meliaceae were threatened based on IUCN Conservation Status.
  • A New Miocene Malpighialean Tree from Panama

    A New Miocene Malpighialean Tree from Panama

    Rodriguez-ReyesIAWA Journal et al. – New38 (4), Miocene 2017: malpighialean437–455 wood 437 Panascleroticoxylon crystallosa gen. et sp. nov.: a new Miocene malpighialean tree from Panama Oris Rodriguez-Reyes1, 2, Peter Gasson3, Carolyn Thornton4, Howard J. Falcon-Lang5, and Nathan A. Jud6 1Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, Box 0843-03092, Balboa, Ancón Republic of Panamá 2Facultad de Ciencias Naturales, Exactas y Tecnología, Universidad de Panamá, Apartado 000 17, Panamá 0824, Panamá 3Jodrell Laboratory, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, Richmond, Surrey TW9 3DS, United Kingdom 4Florissant Fossil Beds National Monument, P.O. Box 185, 15807 Teller County Road 1, Florissant, CO 80816, U.S.A. 5Department of Earth Sciences, Royal Holloway, University of London, Egham, Surrey TW20 0EX, United Kingdom 6L.H. Bailey Hortorium, Department of Plant Biology, 412 Mann Library Building, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY 14853, U.S.A. *Corresponding author; e-mail: [email protected] ABSTRACT We report fossil wood specimens from two Miocene sites in Panama, Central America: Hodges Hill (Cucaracha Formation; Burdigalian, c.19 Ma) and Lago Alajuela (Alajuela Formation; Tortonian, c.10 Ma), where material is preserved as calcic and silicic permineralizations, respectively. The fossils show an unusual combination of features: diffuse porous vessel arrangement, simple perforation plates, alternate intervessel pitting, vessel–ray parenchyma pits either with much reduced borders or similar to the intervessel pits, abundant sclerotic tyloses, rays markedly heterocellular with long uniseriate tails, and rare to absent axial parenchyma. This combination of features allows assignment of the fossils to Malpighiales, and we note similarities with four predominantly tropical families: Salicaceae, Achariaceae, and especially, Phyllanthaceae, and Euphorbiaceae.
  • Systematics and Floral Evolution in the Plant Genus Garcinia (Clusiaceae)

    Systematics and Floral Evolution in the Plant Genus Garcinia (Clusiaceae)

    University of Missouri, St. Louis IRL @ UMSL Dissertations UMSL Graduate Works 7-30-2008 Systematics and Floral Evolution in the Plant Genus Garcinia (Clusiaceae) Patrick Wayne Sweeney University of Missouri-St. Louis Follow this and additional works at: https://irl.umsl.edu/dissertation Part of the Biology Commons Recommended Citation Sweeney, Patrick Wayne, "Systematics and Floral Evolution in the Plant Genus Garcinia (Clusiaceae)" (2008). Dissertations. 539. https://irl.umsl.edu/dissertation/539 This Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by the UMSL Graduate Works at IRL @ UMSL. It has been accepted for inclusion in Dissertations by an authorized administrator of IRL @ UMSL. For more information, please contact [email protected]. SYSTEMATICS AND FLORAL EVOLUTION IN THE PLANT GENUS GARCINIA (CLUSIACEAE) by PATRICK WAYNE SWEENEY M.S. Botany, University of Georgia, 1999 B.S. Biology, Georgia Southern University, 1994 A DISSERTATION Submitted to the Graduate School of the UNIVERSITY OF MISSOURI- ST. LOUIS In partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY in BIOLOGY with an emphasis in Plant Systematics November, 2007 Advisory Committee Elizabeth A. Kellogg, Ph.D. Peter F. Stevens, Ph.D. P. Mick Richardson, Ph.D. Barbara A. Schaal, Ph.D. © Copyright 2007 by Patrick Wayne Sweeney All Rights Reserved Sweeney, Patrick, 2007, UMSL, p. 2 Dissertation Abstract The pantropical genus Garcinia (Clusiaceae), a group comprised of more than 250 species of dioecious trees and shrubs, is a common component of lowland tropical forests and is best known by the highly prized fruit of mangosteen (G. mangostana L.). The genus exhibits as extreme a diversity of floral form as is found anywhere in angiosperms and there are many unresolved taxonomic issues surrounding the genus.
  • Phytoconstituent of Allanblackia Floribunda Seeds

    Phytoconstituent of Allanblackia Floribunda Seeds

    European Journal of Nutrition & Food Safety 13(2): 165-175, 2021; Article no.EJNFS.67594 ISSN: 2347-5641 Phytoconstituent of Allanblackia floribunda Seeds O. E. Ezim1* and F. Idih2 1University of Port Harcourt, East/West Road, PMB 5323 Choba, Rivers State, Nigeria. 2Kogi State University, P. M. B 1008, Anyigba, Kogi State, Nigeria. Authors’ contributions This work was carried out in collaboration between both authors. Author OEE designed the study, performed the statistical analysis, wrote the protocol and wrote the first draft of the manuscript. Author FIhandled the literature searches. All authors read and approved the final manuscript. Article Information DOI:10.9734/EJNFS/2021/v13i230385 Editor(s): (1) Dr. Rasha Mousa Ahmed Mousa, University of Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. Reviewers: (1) Salimullah Khan, Abdul Wali Khan University Mardan, Pakistan. (2) Mohammad Arifur Rahman, Bangladesh Agricultural Research Institute (BARI), Bangladesh. Complete Peer review History:http://www.sdiarticle4.com/review-history/67594 Received 12 February 2021 Accepted 21 April 2021 Original Research Article Published 26 April 2021 ABSTRACT Allanblackia floribunda seed is one of the underutilized and under-exploited seeds in Nigeria, it is a flowering plant in the clusiaceae family that has been used over the years in folk medicine especially in managing hypertension in Africa. This study seeks to evaluate the phytoconstituents of Allanblackia floribunda. Qualitative phytochemical screening, proximate analysis and volatile compounds present in the seeds were evaluated using standard methods. The phytochemical screening showed the presence of alkaloids, flavonoids, tannins, triterpenoids and saponins in the seeds. The result from the proximate compositions showed that the seed had high fibre (4.21%), lipid (10.46%), protein (19.25%), and carbohydrate (61.26%) contents.