Description
This database is a combination of sets of Plant data made in the Continental Cameroon Mountains at Rumpi Hills Forest Reserve (RHFR), and Mbembe Forest Reserve (MFR) within 2011 to 2016. This preliminary database project will run from November 2017 to November 2018 and is implemented by Tropical Plant Exploration Group (TroPEG) Cameroon and Biodiversity Institute, University of Kansas; USA in collaboration with the Department of Botany and Plant Physiology, University of Buea, under a project titled: Mobilization of Biodiversity Data Related to Protected Areas and Threatened Species in Western Cameroon. This project is controlled and managed under project number: BID-AF2017-0039-SMA of the Biodiversity Information for Development (BID) of the Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF) with funds from the European Union (EU). At the Mbembe Forest Reserve, four one hectare plots were sampled at different vegetation types of semi-deciduous, grassland and woody savanna forest following the method of Condit 1998. Coordinates (Latitude, Longitude and elevation) were recorded at the four corners of each plot. Plots were selected based on physical and human factors like climate, altitude, slopes, and degree of forest used. Plot data was replicated independently and randomly using quadrants. Diameter of all trees and lianas in each plot ≥ 1 cm (10 mm) were recorded and specimens collected mostly for doubtful species. Specimens for well-known species were not collected. At Rumpi Hills Forest Reserve, 25 1-ha plots were sampled, with GPS coordinates of the four corners of each plot recorded to assure repeated plot locations in the future. Precise coordinates of each plot are available in tabular form at http://hdl.handle.net/1808/25180. Plots were established following line transects of 500 m x 20 m, which were sub-divided into 25 quadrats of 20 m x 20 m each (Thomas et al., 2003). This was to facility data collection and to reduce error margin during data collections. In mountainous areas, plots were located strategically so that 25 quadrats of 20 x 20 m representing one-hectare fit within a particular sampling area. All trees and lianas within each plot with dbh ≥10 cm were measured with the help of a diameter tape, while in five nested plots of 10 m x 10 m, all trees and lianas with dbh ≤10 cm were measured with the aid of a caliper. Most species were identified in the field by two Botanists (Sainge Moses and Mambo Peter). Doubtful species were collected for further identification at the National Herbarium of Cameroon using other specimens in the herbarium, Botanists, floras, and monographs. The current database is based on physical specimen’s observations. A total of 23,427 occurrence records are presented in this first pass database, accounting to two classes, 39 orders, 83 families, 335 genera and 723 species. This database will be hosted by GBIF Cameroon and VERTNET, published by TroPEG Cameroon, and will be made available to Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF) portal for visibility.
Data Records
The data in this occurrence resource has been published as a Darwin Core Archive (DwC-A), which is a standardized format for sharing biodiversity data as a set of one or more data tables. The core data table contains 43,420 records.
This IPT archives the data and thus serves as the data repository. The data and resource metadata are available for download in the downloads section. The versions table lists other versions of the resource that have been made publicly available and allows tracking changes made to the resource over time.
Versions
The table below shows only published versions of the resource that are publicly accessible.
How to cite
Researchers should cite this work as follows:
Sainge, NM, Ngoh, ML, and Peterson, AT (2018) Plant Diversity and Distribution on the the Continental Cameroon Mountains. Tropical Plant Exploration Group (TroPEG), Cameroon.
Rights
Researchers should respect the following rights statement:
The publisher and rights holder of this work is Tropical Plant Exploration Group (TroPEG), Cameroon. To the extent possible under law, the publisher has waived all rights to these data and has dedicated them to the Public Domain (CC0 1.0). Users may copy, modify, distribute and use the work, including for commercial purposes, without restriction.
GBIF Registration
This resource has been registered with GBIF, and assigned the following GBIF UUID: 572a4f02-fae9-4052-a10d-03fecbeb18de. Tropical Plant Exploration Group (TroPEG), Cameroon publishes this resource, and is itself registered in GBIF as a data publisher endorsed by GBIF Cameroon.
Keywords
Occurrence; Rumpi Hills; Mbembe Forest Reserve
Contacts
- Metadata Provider
- Metadata Provider
- Distributor
Geographic Coverage
Northwest and Southwest Regions of Cameroon
| Bounding Coordinates | South West [1.626, 8.481], North East [12.297, 16.304] |
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Taxonomic Coverage
No Description available
| Kingdom | Plantae (Plants) |
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Temporal Coverage
| Start Date / End Date | 2011-01-05 / 2016-01-11 |
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Project Data
Containing several distinct ecoregions designated as part of a biodiversity hotspot, Western Cameroon is home to numerous endemic and threatened plant and animal species. Although the country has established several protected areas in the region, the process has taken place in the absence of data-driven prioritization analyses due to lack of biodiversity data resources on which to base decision-making. In this project, a team led by the Tropical Plant Exploration Group (TroPEG) will seek to bolster data mobilization efforts to assemble a representative and comprehensive database of the plants in the region, with which to characterize and document endemism and threatened status. Significant holdings of primary botanical data have so far been held by individual scientists who worked in the region over recent decades, and by institutions that have not facilitated access to data associated with the specimens that they hold. This wealth of information, based on decades of collecting efforts represents a major challenge, as data exists, but is unused in the analysis of western Cameroonian biodiversity. An example of unaccessible data is the The Limbe Botanical Garden Herbarium (SCA), the only herbarium in the region, with approximately 7,400 high-quality botanical specimens from crucial sites across western Cameroon. Established about 100 years, the herbarium has been out of use by researchers and students for more than a decade. TroPEG itself, currently the sole institution with concentrated efforts on the plant biodiversity of Western Cameroon holds more than 40,000 data records. This project will concentrate effort on mobilizing this data while providing detailed training to potential students and biodiversity data managers in capturing and improving biodiversity data.
| Title | Mobilization of Biodiversity Data Related to Protected Areas and Threatened Species in Western Cameroon |
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| Identifier | BID-AF2017-0039-SMA |
| Funding | Funded By European Union GBIF Co Funded By Tropical Plant Exploration Group (TroPEG), Cameroon |
The personnel involved in the project:
- Point Of Contact
Bibliographic Citations
- Harvey Y, Tchiengué B, Cheek M. 2010. The plants of Lebialem Highlands, Cameroon: A conservation checklist. Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, p. 170
- Hutchinson J, Dalziel JM. 1954. Flora of west tropical Africa. Volume I, part 1. Whitefriars Press. London, p. 295
- Harvey Y, Pollard BJ, Darbyshire L, Onana JM, Cheek M. 2004. The plants of Bali Ngemba forest reserve. A conservation checklist. Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, p. 154
- Hutchinson J, Dalziel JM. 1958. Flora of west tropical Africa. Volume I, part 2. Whitefriars Press. London, p. 828
- Hutchinson J, Dalziel JM. 1963. Flora of west tropical Africa. Volume II. Whitefriars Press. London, p. 544
- Onana JM. 2011. The vascular plants of Cameroon. A taxonomic check list with IUCN assessments. Flore du Cameroun 39. IRAD-National Herbarium of Cameroon, Yaoundé. p. 195
- Onana JM. 2013. Synopsis of endemic and rare vascular plants species of Cameroon. Flora of Cameroon 40. Ministry of scientific research and innovation (MINRESI). Yaoundé, p. 279
- Thomas DW, Kenfack D, Chuyong GB, Sainge MN, Losos E, Condit RS, Songwe NC. 2003. Tree species of southwestern Cameroon: tree distribution maps, diameter tables, and species documentation of the 50-hectare Korup Forest dynamics plot. Center for Tropical Forest Science of the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, Washington D.C, p. 247
- Vivien J, Fare JJ. 1985. Arbres des forêts denses d’Afrique Centrale. Ministère de la Coopération. Agence de Coopération Culturelle et Technique. Paris, p. 565.
Additional Metadata
| Alternative Identifiers | 572a4f02-fae9-4052-a10d-03fecbeb18de |
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| http://ipt-cameroun.gbif.fr/resource?r=tropeg |