Contribution à l'inventaire et à l'analyse de la flore ligneuse du plateau des Cataractes (Congo—Brazzaville)

Abstract

Before this study, the ligneous flora of the Cataracts plate was known only very partially. It was limited to the savannah species of the shrubby layer and an unpublished floristic statement (1950) of about thirty forest species. As for the principal wood (14 species) interested by the forest industry, data are available since the year 2005, within the framework of the inventory of the forest unit of installation Loamba which integrates the forests of our zone of investigation. With the present stage of knowledge, it is inventoried 153 woody species being distributed in 42 families whose floristic diversity varies from 0.65 to 13.07%. As in the African tropical forests, the families best represented are Fabaceae, Euphorbiaceae, Malvaceae and Rubiaceae. In spite owing to the fact that the Cataracts plate evolve in the Guineo-Congolese—Zambezienne transition zone, the phytogeographical analysis shows that the element base is dominated by the guinéo-Congolese species (59.86%). The floristic composition and the phytogeographical behaviour of this flora seem to mark its affinities with the Mayombian and Chaillu flora. © 2009, Taylor & Francis Group, LLC.