Botanical Research in the Comoé National Park
Floristics and ecology of rock outcrops (Inselbergs and ferricretes)
Throughout the CNP a large number of inselbergs and ferricretes occur which form terrestrial habitat islands. Due to harsh environmental conditions their vegetation is clearly demarcated against the surrounding vegetation. Of particular importance is the presence of certain plant adaptive types, such as desiccation tolerance. Within the CNP these azonal rock outcrops occur in an undisturbed state what is rarely the case today outside protected areas. In the first phase of our studies we conducted mainly inventorying and monitoring work, which resulted in a detailed knowledge about their floristic composition.
Currently we are studying the effects of isolation and population size for selected specialized species (e.g. Afrotrilepis pilosa) on individual rock outcrops by applying appropriate molecular methods.
Vegetation dynamics in a forest-savanna mosaic
Detailed floristic inventories along transects from forest to savanna have been conducted in 2001 in the CNP. On all transects tree individuals have been marked which can be retrieved until today. Currently (2015) these transects are revisited and data on tree diameter, crown size and height will be collected and subsequently compared with the data from 2001. Data on increment rates will be used to calculate rates of carbon fixation between 2001 and 2015.
Researchers:
- Prof. Stefan Porembski
- Dr. Dethardt Goetze
Contact:
Prof. Stefan Porembski
stefan.porembski@uni-rostock.de
University of Rostock
Institute of Bioscience
