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A study of the flowering plant flora of West Africa south of the Sahara with the emphasis upon species of ecological or economic importance.
Nowhere eise in the world did industrialized countries leave such early marks in the rainforest as in West Africa. Past and present developments here are in one way or the other significant for rainforests on other continents as weil. West Africa is a pioneer in both a good and a bad sense. This is reason enough to take a closer Iook at the history of moist tropical West Africa. Until recently, no one really seemed to be interested in the rainforests except for a few specialists. The world's scientific community neglected to study the incalculable riches of tropical forests, to make the public aware of them and their due importance. Although interdisciplinary research has been a popular topic for some decades now, it was not applied to just the most complex habitat on earth. Scientists from all fields studied only that which was easiest to record, seemingly blind to a myriad of details awaiting closer examination. Botanists wentabout establishing their herbariums and paid much too little attention to the vegetation as a whole, or to the significance of useful plants for local populations. Zoologists, too, busied themselves with collecting and describing species. Anthropologists, on the other hand, tended to overlook faunal details: in their ignorance of the animal world, they wrote of tigers and deer in Africa. And finally, foresters saw neither the forest nor the trees for the timber - and even confused rainforests with monocultures of fir trees.
The rain forests of West Africa have been designated as one of the world's hotspots of biodiversity. This book focuses on the biodiversity and ecology of these forests. It analyses the factors that give rise to biodiversity and the structure of tropical plant communities. It includes an atlas with ecological profiles of 280 rare plant species and 56 large timber species, each with a one page entry including a colour photograph and distribution map.
Brings together authoritative and up-to-date accounts of the principal types of vegetation found in West Africa and describes the main processes that occur within them. Deals with such varied topics as the complex inter-relationships between plants and animals, the breeding systems found in West African plants, the structure and dynamics of forest, savanna, desert, coastal and montane vegetation, and the urgent need to conserve this natural environment.
Climbing plants, including lianas, represent a fascinating component of the ecology of tropical forests. This book focuses on the climbing plants of West African forests. Based on original research, it presents information on the flora (including a checklist), diversity (with overviews at several levels of integration), ecology (distribution, characteristics in relation to environment, their role in forest ecosystems) and ethnobotany. Forestry aspects, such as their impact on tree growth and development, and the effects of forestry interventions on climbers are also covered.
This report is the second in a series of three evaluating underexploited African plant resources that could help broaden and secure Africa's food supply. The volume describes the characteristics of 18 little-known indigenous African vegetables (including tubers and legumes) that have potential as food- and cash-crops but are typically overlooked by scientists and policymakers and in the world at large. The book assesses the potential of each vegetable to help overcome malnutrition, boost food security, foster rural development, and create sustainable landcare in Africa. Each species is described in a separate chapter, based on information gathered from and verified by a pool of experts throughout the world. Volume I describes African grains and Volume III African fruits.
UNESCO pub. Technical report and maps of the vegetation (plants) of Africa - covers geology and physiography, climate and plant growth, soils, animals, fire, land utilization and nature conservation; discusses a regional level approach to classification, mapping units, etc. Bibliography, index of plant names.