The Eastern Guinean forests are a

tropical moist broadleaf forest Tropical and subtropical moist broadleaf forests (TSMF), also known as tropical moist forest, is a subtropical and tropical forest habitat type defined by the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF). Description TSMF is generally found in large ...

ecoregion An ecoregion (ecological region) is an ecological and geographic area that exists on multiple different levels, defined by type, quality, and quantity of environmental resources. Ecoregions cover relatively large areas of land or water, and c ...

West Africa West Africa, also known as Western Africa, is the westernmost region of Africa. The United Nations geoscheme for Africa#Western Africa, United Nations defines Western Africa as the 16 countries of Benin, Burkina Faso, Cape Verde, The Gambia, Gha ...

Geography

The ecoregion includes the lowland forests extending from the

Gulf of Guinea The Gulf of Guinea (French language, French: ''Golfe de Guinée''; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Golfo de Guinea''; Portuguese language, Portuguese: ''Golfo da Guiné'') is the northeasternmost part of the tropical Atlantic Ocean from Cape Lopez i ...

a few hundred kilometres inland, from western

Côte d'Ivoire Ivory Coast, also known as Côte d'Ivoire and officially the Republic of Côte d'Ivoire, is a country on the southern coast of West Africa. Its capital city of Yamoussoukro is located in the centre of the country, while its largest city and ...

to the western shore of

Lake Volta Lake Volta (), the largest artificial reservoir in the world based on surface area, is contained behind the Akosombo Dam which generates a substantial amount of Ghana's electricity. It is completely within the country of Ghana and has a surface ...

Ghana Ghana, officially the Republic of Ghana, is a country in West Africa. It is situated along the Gulf of Guinea and the Atlantic Ocean to the south, and shares borders with Côte d’Ivoire to the west, Burkina Faso to the north, and Togo to t ...

. A few enclaves lie further east and inland in the Togo Mountains of

Togo Togo, officially the Togolese Republic, is a country in West Africa. It is bordered by Ghana to Ghana–Togo border, the west, Benin to Benin–Togo border, the east and Burkina Faso to Burkina Faso–Togo border, the north. It is one of the le ...

, eastern Ghana, and

Benin Benin, officially the Republic of Benin, is a country in West Africa. It was formerly known as Dahomey. It is bordered by Togo to the west, Nigeria to the east, Burkina Faso to the north-west, and Niger to the north-east. The majority of its po ...

. The

Sassandra River The Sassandra River is a river of western Ivory Coast in West Africa. It is formed by the confluence of the Tienba River, which originates in the highlands of north-western Ivory Coast, and the Gouan River (also known as the Bafing Sud River), ...

of Cote d'Ivoire separates the Eastern Guinean forests from the

Western Guinean forests The Western Guinean lowland forests ecoregion (WWF #AT0130) is a tropical and subtropical moist broadleaf forests, tropical moist broadleaf forest ecoregion of West Africa. It is centered on Liberia, with portions in surrounding countries. It i ...

which lie to the west. Inland and to the east, the Eastern Guinean forests transition to the

Guinean forest-savanna mosaic Demographics of Guinea describes the condition and overview of Guinea's peoples. Demographic topics include basic education, health, and population statistics as well as identified racial and religious affiliations. Population According to t ...

.Burgess, Neil, Jennifer D’Amico Hales, Emma Underwood (2004). ''Terrestrial Ecoregions of Africa and Madagascar: A Conservation Assessment''. Island Press, Washington DC. Cities in the ecoregion include

Abidjan Abidjan ( , ; N'Ko script, N'ko: ߊߓߌߖߊ߲߬) is the largest city and the former capital of Ivory Coast. As of the Demographics of Ivory Coast, 2021 census, Abidjan's population was 6.3 million, which is 21.5 percent of the overall population ...

and

Yamoussoukro Yamoussoukro (; , locally ) is the capital city of Ivory Coast and an autonomous district. As of the 2014 census, Yamoussoukro is the fifth most populous city in the Ivory Coast, with a population of 212,670. Located north-west of Abidjan, the ...

in Ivory Coast and

Kumasi Kumasi is a city and the capital of the Kumasi Metropolitan Assembly and the Ashanti Region of Ghana. It is the second largest city in the country, with a population of 443,981 as of the 2021 census. Kumasi is located in a rain forest region ...

in Ghana. The Eastern Guinean forests, together with the other tropical moist broadleaf forests of West Africa, is included within

Conservation International Conservation International (CI) is an American nonprofit environmental organization headquartered in Crystal City, Virginia, in Arlington County, Virginia. CI's work focuses on science, policy and partnership with businesses, governments and co ...

Guinean Forests of West Africa Forest along the Edéa.html" ;"title="Sanaga River at Edéa">Sanaga River at Edéa, Cameroon The Guinean forests of West Africa is a biodiversity hotspot designated by Conservation International, which includes the belt of Tropical and subtropi ...

biodiversity hotspot A biodiversity hotspot is a ecoregion, biogeographic region with significant levels of biodiversity that is threatened by human habitation. Norman Myers wrote about the concept in two articles in ''The Environmentalist'' in 1988 and 1990, after ...

Climate

The climate is tropical, with distinct wet and dry seasons. Average annual rainfall ranges from 2500 mm in the west, declining as one moves inland to 1500 mm along the northern edge and in the mountains of Togo and Benin.

Flora

Tropical moist forest is the predominant vegetation type. Moist evergreen forest is found in the west and along the coast, transitioning to moist

semi-evergreen Semi-deciduous or semi-evergreen is a botanical term which refers to plants that lose their foliage for a very short period, when old leaves fall off and new foliage growth is starting. This phenomenon occurs in tropical and sub-tropical woody spec ...

forest further inland, and dry semi-evergreen forest in the north. Characteristic trees of the moist evergreen forest are '' Entandrophragma utile,

Khaya ivorensis ''Khaya ivorensis'', also called African mahogany or Lagos mahogany, is a tall forest tree with a buttressed trunk in the family Meliaceae. It is found in Angola, Cameroon, Côte d'Ivoire, Gabon, Ghana, Liberia, and Nigeria where it grows primar ...

'', and '' Triplochiton scleroxylon''. Dominant trees in the moist semi-evergreen forests are ''

Celtis ''Celtis'' is a genus of about 60–70 species of deciduous trees, commonly known as hackberries or nettle trees, in the hemp family Cannabaceae. It has a cosmopolitan distribution. Description ''Celtis'' species are generally medium-sized tree ...

'' spp., '' Mansonia altissima, Pterygota macrocarpa, Nesogordonia papaverifera, Sterculia rhinopetala'', and ''

Milicia excelsa ''Milicia excelsa'' is a tree species from the genus '' Milicia'' of the family '' Moraceae''. Distributed across tropical Central Africa, it is one of two species (the other being '' Milicia regia'') yielding timber commonly known as ọjị, Af ...

''. Trees of the Togo Mountains forests include ''Milicia excelsa, Triplochiton scleroxylon, Antiaris toxicaria africana,

Diospyros mespiliformis ''Diospyros mespiliformis'', the jackalberry (also known as African ebony and by its Afrikaans name jakkalsbessie), is a large dioecious evergreen tree found mostly in the savannas of Africa. Jackals are fond of the fruit, hence the common names ...

, Afzelia africana'', and ''

Ceiba pentandra ''Ceiba pentandra'' is a tropical tree of the order (biology), order Malvales and the family (biology), family Malvaceae (previously emplaced in the family Bombacaceae), native to Mexico, Central America and the Caribbean, northern South America, ...

''.

Fauna

Four mammals are

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found only 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 foun ...

to the ecoregion – Wimmer's shrew (''Crocidura wimmeri''), Ivory Coast rat (''Dephomys eburneae''),

Cansdale's swamp rat Cansdale's swamp rat (''Malacomys cansdalei'') is a species of rodent in the family Muridae. It is found in Ivory Coast, Ghana, and possibly Liberia. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist lowland forest Tropical and subtropical ...

(''Malacomys cansdalei''), and

Togo mouse The Togo mouse (''Leimacomys buettneri''), also known as Büttner's African forest mouse or the groove-toothed forest mouse, is a unique muroid rodent known from only two specimens taken from near the type locality of Bismarckburg near Yege, Tog ...

(''Leimacomys buettneri'').

Protected areas

A 2017 assessment found that 42,299 km², or 23%, of the ecoregion is in protected areas. About one-third of the unprotected area is still forested.Eric Dinerstein, David Olson, et al. (2017). An Ecoregion-Based Approach to Protecting Half the Terrestrial Realm, BioScience, Volume 67, Issue 6, June 2017, Pages 534–545; Supplemental material 2 table S1b

/ref> Protected areas include Gaoulou Natural Park and the southern and western portions of Marahoue National Park in Ivory Coast, and Bia National Park,

Kakum National Park Kakum National Park, located in the coastal environs of the Central Region, Ghana, Central Region of Ghana, covers an area of . Established in 1931 as a reserve, it was gazetted as a national park only in 1992 after an initial survey of avifauna ...

, Nini-Suhien National Park, Agmatsa Wildlife Reserve, Boin Tano Forest Reserve, and Mamiri Forest Reserve in Ghana.

External links

References

{{Coord, 6.3, -3.6, display=title Afrotropical ecoregions Ecoregions of Benin Ecoregions of Ghana Ecoregions of Ivory Coast Ecoregions of Togo Forests of Ghana Forests of Ivory Coast Tropical and subtropical moist broadleaf forests