Cargando…

The montane trees of the Cameroon Highlands, West-Central Africa, with Deinbollia onanae sp. nov. (Sapindaceae), a new primate-dispersed, Endangered species

We test the hypothesis that the tree species previously known as Deinbollia sp. 2. is a new species for science. We formally characterise and name this species as Deinbollia onanae (Sapindaceae-Litchi clade) and we discuss it in the context of the assemblage of montane tree species in the Cameroon H...

Descripción completa

Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores principales: Cheek, Martin, Onana, Jean Michel, Chapman, Hazel M.
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: PeerJ Inc. 2021
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7971092/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/33777527
http://dx.doi.org/10.7717/peerj.11036
_version_ 1783666551787880448
author Cheek, Martin
Onana, Jean Michel
Chapman, Hazel M.
author_facet Cheek, Martin
Onana, Jean Michel
Chapman, Hazel M.
author_sort Cheek, Martin
collection PubMed
description We test the hypothesis that the tree species previously known as Deinbollia sp. 2. is a new species for science. We formally characterise and name this species as Deinbollia onanae (Sapindaceae-Litchi clade) and we discuss it in the context of the assemblage of montane tree species in the Cameroon Highlands of West-Central Africa. The new species is a shade-bearing, non-pioneer understorey forest tree species reaching 15 m high and a trunk diameter that can attain over 40 cm at 1.3 m above the ground. Seed dispersal has been recorded by chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes ellioti) and by putty-nose monkeys (Cercopithecus nictitans) and the species is used by chimpanzees for nesting. Cameroon has the highest species-diversity and species endemism known in this African-Western Indian Ocean genus of 42, mainly lowland species. Deinbollia onanae is an infrequent tree species known from six locations in surviving islands of montane (sometimes also upper submontane) forest along the line of the Cameroon Highlands, including one at Ngel Nyaki in Mambilla, Nigeria. Deinbollia onanae is here assessed as Endangered according to the IUCN 2012 standard, threatened by severe fragmentation of its mountain forest habitat due to extensive and ongoing clearance for agriculture. The majority of the 28 tree species of montane forest (above 2000 m alt.) in the Cameroon Highlands are also widespread in East African mountains (i.e. are Afromontane wide). Deinbollia onanae is one of only seven species known to be endemic (globally restricted to) these highlands. It is postulated that this new species is morphologically closest to Deinbollia oreophila, a frequent species at a lower (submontane) altitudinal band of the same range. Detailed ecological data on Deinbollia onanae from the Nigerian location, Ngel Nyaki, where it has been known under the name Deinbollia “pinnata”, is reviewed.
format Online
Article
Text
id pubmed-7971092
institution National Center for Biotechnology Information
language English
publishDate 2021
publisher PeerJ Inc.
record_format MEDLINE/PubMed
spelling pubmed-79710922021-03-25 The montane trees of the Cameroon Highlands, West-Central Africa, with Deinbollia onanae sp. nov. (Sapindaceae), a new primate-dispersed, Endangered species Cheek, Martin Onana, Jean Michel Chapman, Hazel M. PeerJ Biodiversity We test the hypothesis that the tree species previously known as Deinbollia sp. 2. is a new species for science. We formally characterise and name this species as Deinbollia onanae (Sapindaceae-Litchi clade) and we discuss it in the context of the assemblage of montane tree species in the Cameroon Highlands of West-Central Africa. The new species is a shade-bearing, non-pioneer understorey forest tree species reaching 15 m high and a trunk diameter that can attain over 40 cm at 1.3 m above the ground. Seed dispersal has been recorded by chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes ellioti) and by putty-nose monkeys (Cercopithecus nictitans) and the species is used by chimpanzees for nesting. Cameroon has the highest species-diversity and species endemism known in this African-Western Indian Ocean genus of 42, mainly lowland species. Deinbollia onanae is an infrequent tree species known from six locations in surviving islands of montane (sometimes also upper submontane) forest along the line of the Cameroon Highlands, including one at Ngel Nyaki in Mambilla, Nigeria. Deinbollia onanae is here assessed as Endangered according to the IUCN 2012 standard, threatened by severe fragmentation of its mountain forest habitat due to extensive and ongoing clearance for agriculture. The majority of the 28 tree species of montane forest (above 2000 m alt.) in the Cameroon Highlands are also widespread in East African mountains (i.e. are Afromontane wide). Deinbollia onanae is one of only seven species known to be endemic (globally restricted to) these highlands. It is postulated that this new species is morphologically closest to Deinbollia oreophila, a frequent species at a lower (submontane) altitudinal band of the same range. Detailed ecological data on Deinbollia onanae from the Nigerian location, Ngel Nyaki, where it has been known under the name Deinbollia “pinnata”, is reviewed. PeerJ Inc. 2021-03-15 /pmc/articles/PMC7971092/ /pubmed/33777527 http://dx.doi.org/10.7717/peerj.11036 Text en ©2021 Cheek et al. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) , which permits unrestricted use, distribution, reproduction and adaptation in any medium and for any purpose provided that it is properly attributed. For attribution, the original author(s), title, publication source (PeerJ) and either DOI or URL of the article must be cited.
spellingShingle Biodiversity
Cheek, Martin
Onana, Jean Michel
Chapman, Hazel M.
The montane trees of the Cameroon Highlands, West-Central Africa, with Deinbollia onanae sp. nov. (Sapindaceae), a new primate-dispersed, Endangered species
title The montane trees of the Cameroon Highlands, West-Central Africa, with Deinbollia onanae sp. nov. (Sapindaceae), a new primate-dispersed, Endangered species
title_full The montane trees of the Cameroon Highlands, West-Central Africa, with Deinbollia onanae sp. nov. (Sapindaceae), a new primate-dispersed, Endangered species
title_fullStr The montane trees of the Cameroon Highlands, West-Central Africa, with Deinbollia onanae sp. nov. (Sapindaceae), a new primate-dispersed, Endangered species
title_full_unstemmed The montane trees of the Cameroon Highlands, West-Central Africa, with Deinbollia onanae sp. nov. (Sapindaceae), a new primate-dispersed, Endangered species
title_short The montane trees of the Cameroon Highlands, West-Central Africa, with Deinbollia onanae sp. nov. (Sapindaceae), a new primate-dispersed, Endangered species
title_sort montane trees of the cameroon highlands, west-central africa, with deinbollia onanae sp. nov. (sapindaceae), a new primate-dispersed, endangered species
topic Biodiversity
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7971092/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/33777527
http://dx.doi.org/10.7717/peerj.11036
work_keys_str_mv AT cheekmartin themontanetreesofthecameroonhighlandswestcentralafricawithdeinbolliaonanaespnovsapindaceaeanewprimatedispersedendangeredspecies
AT onanajeanmichel themontanetreesofthecameroonhighlandswestcentralafricawithdeinbolliaonanaespnovsapindaceaeanewprimatedispersedendangeredspecies
AT chapmanhazelm themontanetreesofthecameroonhighlandswestcentralafricawithdeinbolliaonanaespnovsapindaceaeanewprimatedispersedendangeredspecies
AT cheekmartin montanetreesofthecameroonhighlandswestcentralafricawithdeinbolliaonanaespnovsapindaceaeanewprimatedispersedendangeredspecies
AT onanajeanmichel montanetreesofthecameroonhighlandswestcentralafricawithdeinbolliaonanaespnovsapindaceaeanewprimatedispersedendangeredspecies
AT chapmanhazelm montanetreesofthecameroonhighlandswestcentralafricawithdeinbolliaonanaespnovsapindaceaeanewprimatedispersedendangeredspecies