Page 1 TROPICS 3 (3/4): 295-308 Issued March, 1994 List of Plant
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TROPICS 3 Ql$:295-308 Issued March, 1994 Llst of Plant Specles ldenttfted ln Kahuzl-Blega Natlonal Park, Za|re Takakazu YUMOTO Faculty of Science, Kobe University, Nada, Kobe 651,Japan Juichi YAMAGIWA Primate Research Institute, Kyoto Univenity, Inuyama, Aichi 484, Japan Ndunda MWANZA Cenue de Recherches en Sciences Naturelles, Lwiro, D.S. Bukavu, Zire Tamaki MARIJHASHI Department of Human and Cultural Sciences, Musashi Univenity, Nerima 176, Japan ABSTRACT The identified plants, which were collected during the study of eastem lowland gorillas (Gorilla gorilla grauerD and chimpanzrns (Pan troglodytes schweinfirthii) in Kahuzi-Biega National Puk,Zahe, from 1987 to 1991, are listed. Kahuzi-Biega National Park includes lowland forest and montane forest, both of which are inhibited by gorillas and chimpanzees. This paper liss 329 species belonging o 83 families that occurred in a two study ueas. 118 species were collected in the Kahuzi region (at an altitude of 1,800 ta 2,6W m ) and 220 species in the ltebero region (at an altitude of 600 to 1,300 m ). Only 9 species were collected in both regions. The foodplans of gorillas and chimpanzees (2fr) species belonging to 69 families), and trees with diameters of 10 cm at breast height or more were collected intensively. For each plant species, the life form, vernacular name ftirega or mashi) and whether apes and/or elephants utilized it as foods, are given. This list is highly biased towards food plants of primates, but provides a preliminry inventory of plants to compare with other study sites of great apes. Key lVords: chimpanzees / eastem lowland gorillas / elephants / food plants / Kahuzi-Biega Park / Zaire The evolution and adaptive radiation of primates have occurred under the influence of world- wide climate changes during the Tertiary and Quartenary periods. Among non-human primates, habitats of great apes (gorillas, chimpanzees, bonobos and orang-utans) have been confined to the Eopical rain forests until recently, except for a few chimpanzee populations, which have extended their range into savannatr woodlands. What kind of socio-ecological factors have influenced the evolutionary divergence of apes and produced proto-hominids from their common ancestors? In order tro answer this question, it is necessary to clarify the interspecific relationships among apes who are living sympatrically in various habitats. Our field work aimed to collect data on the correlation between apes' unique life styles and the structure of their habitat" and on the mechanisms of the coexistence and competition between prima0e species. Zai're is situated in cenfial Africa and has an arca of 2,345,000 km2. Approximately 8O Vo of the county is covered by tropical forest. The forest of the eastem Zaire, including Kahuzi- Biega National Park, is a part of the escarpment slope of the African Rift Valley. This forest is one of the hot points of primate evolution in the African continent during the past a few million years when wet and dry environments altemated on the African continent. It has recently been shown that in the most recent glacial age, the vegetation of the Congo Basin was almost all savannah woodland with rain forest only on the escarpment slopes or high mountains in eastern Zaire (Hamilton, 1976, 1981; Samthein, 1978). Under such big changes 296 T. YUIT,TOTO, J. YnunGIwA, N. MwaNZA & T. ManuHAsHI ZAIRE Fig. 1. Map of study area. O stoay Areas 0 50km of the forests rclated to world-wide climate change, many primates might have evolved in this region. We thought that the Kahuzi-Biega National Park would be the best study site for our research project, since the Park covers the vegetation continuity from lowland to montane foresl During the study, we realized that the identification of plant species, which occur in the habitats of primates as well as those that provide their foods, is essential. Most organized taxonomic research inZure has, in recent decades, gone into Flore d'Afrique Centrale (Flore du Congo Belge until 1960). 3,539 species of vascular plants are covered in Flore d'Afrique Centale !o 1970, and these are thought to represent about 35 Vo of the total 10,000 - 11,000 species presumed by Frodin (1984). From the specimens obained in our study, a new species, Keetia ornata Bridson et Robbrecht (Rubiaceae), was described (Bridson & Robbrecht, 1993). A lot of new species are, no doubt, still waiting for the description in this area In this paper, we provide the list of the fully identified plant species collected during our study from 1987 to 1991. The specimens were identified by T. Yumoto !o match with the identified specimen including the types in the herbarium of Jardin Botanique National de Belgique, Brussels; Museum National d'Histoire Naturelle, Paris; and Kew Garden, London. All the voucher specimen are kept in the herbarium of Faculty of Science, Kobe University, Japan. STUDY SITES AND METHODS The Kahuzi-Biega National Park, situated in the eastem part of Republic of Taire (the head- quafier, 2o5" S, 28"45 "E: Fig. 1), includes tropical and montane forests, in which chimpanzees and gorillas live sympatrically. A survey of their ecology and a population census has been progress since 1987 (Yamagiwa et. al, 1992a, 1992b,1993a,1993b, 1994; Mwanza et. al, Plant list in Kahuzi-Biega 1992). The National Park was first established as a Forest Reserve in 1960 and became a National Park in 1970 for the protection of eastern lowland gorillas (Mankoto, 1988). The original part of the Park which is situated in the highland forest zone covers an area of 600 km2 between the altitudes of 1,800 to 3,308 m. This was enlarged to cover lowland forest at altitudes of 600 to 1,800 m in 1975, and today cover a total area of 6, 000 km2. The survey was conducted in the two areas; the Kahuzi region in the original part of the Park, and the Itebero region in the extended part of the Park. The vegetation of the Kahuzi region is composed of bamboo (Arundinaria alpina) forest (.37Vo), primary montane forest (28 7o), secondary montane forest (20 Vo), Cyperus swamps (7 Vo) md other vegetation (8Vo), as described by Goodall (1977) and Murnyak (1981). The topography of this area is mountainous, with well-forested slopes. Several large, flat area are covered by Cyperus swamps. Bamboo forest consisted mainly of Arundinaria alpina is found at altitudes of 2,350 to 2,6W m, and mixed bamboo/ primary or secondary montane forest (mixed bamboo forest) are found at altitudes of 2,2N to 2,350 m. Subalpine vegetation Erica arborea (Ericaceae) appears at altitudes of 2,60O m. Giant senecio (Senecio sp.) and lobelia (Lobelia sp.) are found as dominant species on the top of Mt. Kahuzi (3,308 m). Primary montane forest covers the eastern part ofthe original Park area, and secondary montane forest covers the westem part. Dominant species of trees arc: Podocarpus usambarensis (Podo- carpaceae), Symphonia globulifera (Guttiferae) and Carapa grandiflora (Meliaceae) in primary forest; Hagenia abyssinica (Rosaceae), Myrianthus holstii (Moraceae) and Vernonia spp. (Compositae) in secondary forest; Hypericum revolutum (Guttiferae) and Rapanea rnelanophloeos (Myrsinaceae) in the Cyperus (Cyperus latifulius) swamps; Symphonia globulifera (Guttiferae) and Syzigiurn parvifulium (Myrtaceae) are also found in and around the swamps. Herbs, vines and ferns (Urera hypselodendron, Basella alba, Lactuca sp. Pteridium aquilinum, etc.) constitule the dense terresnial vegetation of secondary forest. The Itebero region is situated in the extended part of the Park at an dtitude of 600 to 1,300 m. It is covered with nopical forest, which includes primary forest, secondary forest, abandoned field, and ancient secondary forest. Primary forests are characterizedby Caesal- piniaceae: Michelsonia microphylla, Gilbertiodendron dewevrei, Julbernardia seretii, Dialium polyanthum and Cynornetra alexandrl; Mimosaceae: Piptadeniastrum africanum; and Myristicaceae: Staudtia gabonensis and Pycnanthus angolensis. The Zingiberaceae species include Aframomum spp. and Costus afer, with the Marantaceae species form the generally scarce terrestrial vegetation, but along riverside and in ravines, the density of herbaceous plan6 is quite high. The area was inhabited by local people, the kirega, and used for cultivation and hunting prior to 1985. The secondary forest and abandoned fields have been invaded by Musanga cecropioides (Moraceae) and Macaranga spinosa (Euphorbiaceae) and herbaceous plants are dense. Cassava and oil palm (Elaeis guineensis) are still found in abandoned fields. Ancient secondary forests are the result of deforestation by a mining company in the colonial era and subsequent successional regeneration. Ficus sur, Uapaca guineensis andCeltis brieyi are commonly found in this forest. Halopegia azurea is one of the dominant herbaceous plants. Uapaca corbisierii is occasionally found in swamps. We conducted the tree census in the Itebero region in 1989. We measured tree diameters (above 10 cm in DBH) in a belt transect 10 mX8,000 m along the contour line at 650 m above sea level. 6,922 individuals belonging to ca. 150 species were recorded. The most abundant 10 species made up 61.2 Vo of the total basal area, and 6 legume species (5 Caesal- 298 T. Yuuoro, J. YnnaecrwA, N. MweNzA & T. MenuHASHr Table 1. List of plants collected in the Kahuzi region Plant species Life Local name Part-eaten form by apes PTERIDOPHYTA Dennstaedtiaceae Pteridium aquilinum (L.) Kuhn F Lusilisilu (mashi) C (P) GYMNOSPERMAE Podocarpaceae P odo c arp us usambarensis Pilger T Umutu (mashi) ANGIOSPERMAE DICOTYLEDONEAE Acanthaceae Acanthus pubes c ens Engl. S Lurodu (mashi) G (P) Annonaceae Artabotrys palustris Louis ex Boutique L Mao / Munanga (mashi) G (L) Monnnthotaxis orophila (Boutique) Verdc. L Munanga (mashi) C (t ) Apocynaceiae Baissea axillaris (Benth.) Hua. L Muberebere (mashi) Tabernaemontana pachysiphon Stapf S Buroji (mashi) Tabernaemontana stapfiana Britten S Muberebere (mashi) Araliaceae Polyscia fulva (Hiern) Harms T Ndongi (mashi) G (P) Sc hffiera goetzenii Harms S Chifunanga (mashi) G (8, L) Schefflera myriantfta (Bak.) Drake S Chifirnanga (mashi) G (B, L) Asclepiadaceae Periploca linearifolia Dill.