Species Composition and Structure of Habitats Exploited by Elephants (Loxodonta Africana Cyclotis) in the Campo Maan Forest, South Region, Cameroon

Abstract

Purpose: The main objective of this study was to determine the species composition and structure of habitats exploited by elephants in the Campo Maan Forest.
 Methodology: Using the transect methods, purposively, 1km transects were laid along identified feeding tracts in various habitats. 15 transects with each having 4 quadrates of 30x30m were established at interval of 220m summing up to a total of 5.4 hectares of land covered for the study within which data was collected. In the quadrates, all vascular plants with dbh >10cm (diameter at breast height about 1.3m above the ground) were measured and identified. In each quadrate, four subplots of 15mx15m were placed at the corners to sample understory and herbs.
 Findings: Results reveal a total of 1113 individual trees with DBH of ≥ 10 cm identified and measured belong to 49 species from 24 families. Fabaceae was the most dominant family of plants with 425 individual trees counted with Caesalpinioideae being the dominant specie type (116); followed by Calpocalyx heitzii (92). Lowland evergreen forest (Casalpinioideae) recorded the highest number of tree species counted (462, 41.5%) of the total tree species. Trees DBH varies between 10 and 64 cm with mean values of 29.45±11.48 cm, 23.3±7.759 cm, 27.69±9.189 cm and 25.75±14.056 cm for Lowland evergreen forest (Casalpinioideae), Lowland evergreen forest (mixed), Coastal forest (Sacoglotis gabonensis) and Coastal forest (mixed) respectively. A large number of trees recorded heights of above 30m though it was higher for Lowland evergreen forest (mixed), Coastal forest (Sacoglotis gabonensis) and the Coastal forest (mixed). For the understory, the dominant specie types are Scaphopetalum blackii, Palisota ambigua, Asystasia macrophylla, Podococcus barteri, Microdesmis puberula, Heistera pavifora, Haumania danckelmaniana, Alchornea floribunda all counting 9 and 10 individual Trees). Results revealed highly positive and significant correlations between trees DBH and height (r=0.84, p=0.000). The Shannon’s diversity index indicates that the tree diversity for all habitats are fairly even with Coastal forest (Sacoglotis gabonensis) having a value of 4.73. The Coastal forest (mixed) shows the highest rate of basal area (76.39); followed by Coastal forest (Sacoglotis gabonensis) (41.50) and Lowland evergreen forest (Casalpinioideae) (32.26), all indicating high basal areas.
 Recommendation: Further studies on habitat fragmentation are needed to assess its effects on elephant movement within the area.