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Habitat specificity and diversity of tree species in an African wet tropical forest

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Abstract

Niche differentiation with respect to habitat has been hypothesized to shape patterns of diversity and species distributions in plant communities. African forests have been reported to be relatively less diverse compared to highly diversed regions of the Amazonian or Southeast Asian forests, and might be expected to have less niche differentiation. We examined patterns of structural and floristic differences among five topographically defined habitats for 494 species with stems ≥1 cm dbh in a 50-ha plot in Korup National Park, Cameroon. In addition, we tested for species–habitat associations for 272 species (with more than 50 individuals in the plot) using Torus translation randomization tests. Tree density and basal area were lowest in areas with negative convexity, which contained streams or were inundated during rainy periods and highest in moist well-drained habitats. Species composition and diversity varied along the topographical gradient from low flat to ridge top habitats. The low depression and low flat habitats were characterized by high diversity and similar species composition, relative to slopes, high gullies and ridge tops. Sixty-three percent of the species evaluated showed significant positive associations with at least one of the five habitat types. The majority of associations were with low depressions (75 species) and the fewest with ridge tops (8 species). The large number of species–habitat associations and the pronounced contrast between low (valley) and elevated (ridgetop) habitats in the Korup plot shows that niche differentiation with respect to edaphic variables (e.g., soil moisture, nutrients) contributes to local scale tree species distributions and to the maintenance of diversity in African forests.

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Acknowledgments

We thank the Ministry of Environment and Forests, Cameroon for permission to conduct the field program in the Korup National Park. The Korup FDP is affiliated with the Center for Tropical Forest Science, a global network of large-scale demographic tree plots. Analyses were partially supported by U.S. National Science Foundation award DEB-9806828 to the Center for Tropical Forest Science of the Smithsonian Institution. KEH acknowledges support from NSF (DEB 0211004 and OISE 0314581) that contributed toward the completion of this manuscript. LSC acknowledges support from the National Center for Ecological Analysis and Synthesis, a Center funded by NSF (Grant #EF-0553768), the University of California, Santa Barbara, and the State of California.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Plant and Animal Sciences, University of Buea, PO Box 63, Buea, Cameroon

    George B. Chuyong

  2. Center For Tropical Forest Science, Arnold Arboretum, Harvard University, 22 Divinity Avenue, Cambridge, MA, 02138, USA

    David Kenfack

  3. Department of Biological Sciences, Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, LA, 70803, USA

    Kyle E. Harms

  4. Department of Botany and Plant Pathology, Oregon State University, Corvallis, OR, 97331, USA

    Duncan W. Thomas

  5. Center for Tropical Forest Science, Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, Apdo. 2072, Balboa, Republic of Panama

    Richard Condit

  6. National Center for Ecological Analysis & Synthesis, 735 State St, Suite 300, Santa Barbara, CA, 93101, USA

    Liza S. Comita

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  1. George B. Chuyong
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Correspondence to George B. Chuyong.

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Chuyong, G.B., Kenfack, D., Harms, K.E. et al. Habitat specificity and diversity of tree species in an African wet tropical forest. Plant Ecol 212, 1363–1374 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11258-011-9912-4

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