Herbaceous vegetation in different forest types in the Lope Reserve, Gabon: Implications for keystone food availability

Abstract

The density of herbaceous plants in the families Marantaceae and Zingiberaceae was measured in different forest types within the Lopé Reserve, Gabon, to ascertain their distribution and availability as food for primates and elephants. Stem densities were measured in five sites with different logging histories and tree species composition. Data from a permanent five-kilometre transect at each site showed that densities varied widely between sites. It was also found that the phenology of fruit and leaf production varied both in different seasons and different forest types. It is suggested that differences in the stem densities of these plants can be explained in the Lopé Reserve by a model involving progressive savanna recolonization, and that the wide variations found must have profound implications for the past and present ranging behaviour of the animals which use them as keystone foods.