Biological Diversity

Abstract

The tropical moist forests of Africa, like those in Asia and Latin America, are the richest ecosystems in the region. They are estimated to house more than half of Africa’s biota. The fauna of the region is by far the richest of the African continent, with the major block, the Guineo-Congolean region, holding some 84 per cent of African primate species (see chapter 4), 68 per cent of passerine birds (Crowe and Crowe, 1982) and 66 per cent of butterfly species (Carcasson, 1964). The forests are estimated to contain over 8000 plant species, a floristic diversity rivalled in Africa only by the Mediterranean-climate Cape floristic region, which may itself be botanically the richest region on earth (White, 1983). This richness is largely made up of species confined to tropical moist forest, and indeed to species endemic to these regions, although a notable part of the fauna consists of species that are also widespread outside the forests. The mammals include the elephant Loxodonta africana, buffalo Syncerus caffer and leopard Panthera pardus.