The Congolian rainforests are a broad belt of lowland
tropical moist broadleaf forests which extend across the
basin of the
Congo River
The Congo River ( kg, Nzâdi Kôngo, french: Fleuve Congo, pt, Rio Congo), formerly also known as the Zaire River, is the second longest river in Africa, shorter only than the Nile, as well as the second largest river in the world by discharge ...
and its tributaries in
Central Africa
Central Africa is a subregion of the African continent comprising various countries according to different definitions. Angola, Burundi, the Central African Republic, Chad, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the Republic of the Congo ...
. They are the only major rainforests which absorb more carbon than they emit.
Description
The Congolian rainforest is the world's second-largest
tropical forest
Tropical forests (a.k.a. jungle) are forested landscapes in tropical regions: ''i.e.'' land areas approximately bounded by the tropic of Cancer and Capricorn, but possibly affected by other factors such as prevailing winds.
Some tropical fore ...
, after the
Amazon rainforest. It covers over across six countries and contains a quarter of the world's remaining tropical forest.
The Congolian forests cover southeastern Cameroon, Gabon, Republic of the Congo, the northern and central Democratic Republic of the Congo, and portions of southern and central Africa. The Congolian rainforest is home to a large number of flora and fauna, including more than 10,000 species of plants and over 10,000 species of animals. It is estimated that the region contains more than a quarter of the world’s plant species and is home to one of the world’s most threatened primate species, the western lowland gorilla.
There are also a number of other species of primates, including the chimpanzee, black colobus monkey, red colobus monkey, and olive baboon.
To the north, south, and southwest, the forests transition to drier
forest-savanna mosaic, a mosaic of drier forests,
savanna
A savanna or savannah is a mixed woodland- grassland (i.e. grassy woodland) ecosystem characterised by the trees being sufficiently widely spaced so that the canopy does not close. The open canopy allows sufficient light to reach the ground to ...
s, and
grassland
A grassland is an area where the vegetation is dominated by grasses ( Poaceae). However, sedge ( Cyperaceae) and rush ( Juncaceae) can also be found along with variable proportions of legumes, like clover, and other herbs. Grasslands occur na ...
s. To the west, the Congolian forests transition to the coastal
Lower Guinean forests The Lower Guinean forests is region of coastal tropical moist broadleaf forest in West Africa, extending along the eastern coast of the Gulf of Guinea from eastern Benin through Nigeria and Cameroon.
The Dahomey Gap, a region of savanna and dry fo ...
, which extend from southwestern Cameroon into southern Nigeria and Benin; these forest zones share many similarities and are sometimes known as the Lower Guinean-Congolian forests. To the east, the lowland Congolian forests transition to the highland
Albertine Rift montane forests, which cover the mountains lining the
Albertine Rift
The Albertine Rift is the western branch of the East African Rift, covering parts of Uganda, the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), Rwanda, Burundi and Tanzania.
It extends from the northern end of Lake Albert to the southern end of Lake Tan ...
, a branch of the
East African Rift system.
Ecoregions
The
World Wide Fund for Nature
The World Wide Fund for Nature Inc. (WWF) is an international non-governmental organization founded in 1961 that works in the field of wilderness preservation and the reduction of human impact on the environment. It was formerly named the Wor ...
divides the Congolian forests into six distinct
ecoregion
An ecoregion (ecological region) or ecozone (ecological zone) is an ecologically and geographically defined area that is smaller than a bioregion, which in turn is smaller than a biogeographic realm. Ecoregions cover relatively large areas of ...
s:
*
Atlantic Equatorial coastal forests
The Atlantic Equatorial coastal forests, also known as the Congolian coastal forests, are a tropical moist broadleaf forest ecoregion of Central Africa, covering hills, plains, and mountains of the Atlantic coast of Cameroon, Equatorial Guinea, Ga ...
(Cameroon, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Republic of the Congo, Angola, Democratic Republic of the Congo)
*
Northwestern Congolian lowland forests
The Northwestern Congolian lowland forests is a tropical moist broadleaf forest ecoregion that spans Cameroon, Gabon, the Republic of Congo, the Central African Republic and a minuscule part of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. It forms part o ...
(Cameroon, Central African Republic, Gabon, Republic of Congo)
*
Western Congolian swamp forests
The Western Congolian swamp forests are an ecoregion of the Republic of the Congo, Democratic Republic of the Congo and adjoining Central African Republic. Together with the adjacent Eastern Congolian swamp forests, it forms one of the largest con ...
(Republic of the Congo, Democratic Republic of the Congo)
*
Eastern Congolian swamp forests
The Eastern Congolian swamp forests are a fairly intact but underresearched ecoregion of the tropical and subtropical moist broadleaf forests biome. It is located within the Democratic Republic of the Congo. This is the eastern half of one of the ...
(Democratic Republic of the Congo)
*
Central Congolian lowland forests
The Central Congolian lowland forests are an ecoregion within the Democratic Republic of the Congo. This is a remote, inaccessible area of low-lying dense wet forest, undergrowth and swamp in the Cuvette Centrale region of the Congo Basin south of ...
(Democratic Republic of the Congo)
*
Northeastern Congolian lowland forests (Democratic Republic of the Congo, Central African Republic)
Flora and fauna
The Congolian rainforests are home to over 10,000 species of plants of which 30% are
endemic
Endemism is the state of a species being found in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also found else ...
.
The Congolian rainforests are less biodiverse than the Amazon and
Southeast Asia
Southeast Asia, also spelled South East Asia and South-East Asia, and also known as Southeastern Asia, South-eastern Asia or SEA, is the geographical south-eastern region of Asia, consisting of the regions that are situated south of mainlan ...
n rainforests. However, its plant and animal life is still more rich and varied than most other places on Earth. The Congolian Forests are a
global 200
The Global 200 is the list of ecoregions identified by the World Wide Fund for Nature ( WWF), the global conservation organization, as priorities for conservation. According to WWF, an ecoregion is defined as a "relatively large unit of land or w ...
ecoregion
An ecoregion (ecological region) or ecozone (ecological zone) is an ecologically and geographically defined area that is smaller than a bioregion, which in turn is smaller than a biogeographic realm. Ecoregions cover relatively large areas of ...
.
There are over 400 species of mammals in the rainforest, including
African forest elephant
The African forest elephant (''Loxodonta cyclotis'') is one of the two living African elephant species. It is native to humid forests in West Africa and the Congo Basin. It is the smallest of the three living elephant species, reaching a shoulde ...
s,
African bush elephants,
chimpanzees,
bonobos,
mountain gorilla
The mountain gorilla (''Gorilla beringei beringei'') is one of the two subspecies of the eastern gorilla. It is listed as endangered by the IUCN as of 2018.
There are two populations: One is found in the Virunga volcanic mountains of Centr ...
s, and
lowland gorilla
The western lowland gorilla (''Gorilla gorilla gorilla'') is one of two Critically Endangered subspecies of the western gorilla (''Gorilla gorilla'') that lives in montane, primary and secondary forest and lowland swampland in central Afri ...
s.
The
okapi
The okapi (; ''Okapia johnstoni''), also known as the forest giraffe, Congolese giraffe, or zebra giraffe, is an artiodactyl mammal that is endemic to the northeast Democratic Republic of the Congo in central Africa. It is the only species ...
is endemic to the northeastern Congolian rainforests.
The rainforests have 1,000 native species of birds, and 700 species of fish.
[
]
Conservation
Threats to the rainforests include destruction and fragmentation of forests by commercial logging, oil palm
''Elaeis'' () is a genus of palms containing two species, called oil palms. They are used in commercial agriculture in the production of palm oil. The African oil palm '' Elaeis guineensis'' (the species name ''guineensis'' referring to its c ...
plantations, and mining. The bushmeat trade and poaching is depleting the rainforests of wildlife. With annual forest loss of 0.3% during the 2000s, the region has the lowest deforestation
Deforestation or forest clearance is the removal of a forest or stand of trees from land that is then converted to non-forest use. Deforestation can involve conversion of forest land to farms, ranches, or urban use. The most concentrated ...
rate of any major tropical forest zone.
References
External links
* https://web.archive.org/web/20120308120322/http://www.whrc.org/mapping/pantropical/carbonmap2000.html
Congo Basin Ecoregions
Yale School of Forestry and Environmental Studies
The Congo Rainforest
Congo Rainforest and Basin (WWF)
{{Regions of Africa
Afrotropical ecoregions
Rainforests of Africa
Congolian forests
The Congolian rainforests are a broad belt of lowland tropical moist broadleaf forests which extend across the basin of the Congo River and its tributaries in Central Africa. They are the only major rainforests which absorb more carbon than they ...
Ecoregions of Cameroon
Ecoregions of Gabon
Ecoregions of the Central African Republic
Ecoregions of the Democratic Republic of the Congo
Ecoregions of the Republic of the Congo
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