- Lower Guinean forests
The Lower Guinean forests is region of coastal tropical moist broadleaf forest extending along the coast of the
Gulf of Guinea from easternBenin throughNigeria ,Cameroon ,Equatorial Guinea ,Gabon ,Republic of the Congo ,Cabinda , andDemocratic Republic of the Congo .The
Dahomey Gap , a region of savanna and dry forest in Togo and Benin, divides the Lower Guinean forests from theUpper Guinean forests to the west, which extend fromTogo toGuinea . To the north and northeast, the Lower Guinean forests transition to the drier inlandGuinean forest-savanna mosaic andNorthern Congolian forest-savanna mosaic . To the east, the Lower Guinean forests adjoin the vastCongolian forests of theCongo Basin , and to the southeast, the Lower Guinean forests are bounded by theWestern Congolian forest-savanna mosaic .The Lower Guinean forests share many biotic affinities with both the Upper Guinean forests and the Congolian forests, and are alternatively known as the Coastal Congolian forests by some authorities, including the World Wildlife Fund (WWF).
Ecoregions
The
World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) divides the Lower Guinean forests into a number of distinctecoregion s:*
Nigerian lowland forests (Togo, Nigeria)
*Niger Delta swamp forests (Nigeria)
*Cross-Niger transition forests (Nigeria)
*Cross-Sanaga-Bioko coastal forests (Nigeria, Cameroon, Equatorial Guinea)
*Cameroonian Highlands forests (Nigeria, Cameroon)
*Mount Cameroon and Bioko montane forests (Cameroon, Equatorial Guinea)
*Sao Tome and Principe moist lowland forests (Sao Tome and Principe)
*Atlantic Equatorial coastal forests (Cameroon, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Republic of the Congo, Cabinda (Angola) and Democratic Republic of the Congo)The WWF has designated two regions of the Lower Guinean forests as
Global 200 priority regions for conservation. The WWF's Coastal Congolian forests region includes the Cross-Sanaga Bioko coastal forests, Sao Tome and Principe moist lowland forests, and Atlantic Equatorial coastal forests ecoregions. The Cameroon Highlands forests Global 200 region includes the Cameroonian Highlands forests and the Mount Cameroon and Bioko montane forests ecoregions.External links
* [http://www.biodiversityhotspots.org/xp/Hotspots/west_africa/ Guinean Forests of West Africa (Conservation International)]
* [http://www.biodiversityhotspots.org/ImageCache/Hotspots/content/west_5fafrica_2d13/ci_5fmap13_2epdf/v1/ci_5fmap13.pdf Map of the Guinean Forests of West Africa (Conservation International)] (PDF file)
* [http://www.nationalgeographic.com/wildworld/profiles/g200/g003.html Cameroon Highlands Forests Global 200 ecoregion (National Geographic)]
* [http://www.nationalgeographic.com/wildworld/profiles/g200/g002.html Congolian Coastal Forests Global 200 ecoregion (National Geographic)]ee also
*
Congolian forests
Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.