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{{Short description|Tropical moist forest region of West Africa}}
The '''Upper Guinean forests''' is a [[tropical and subtropical moist broadleaf forests|tropical moist forest]] region of [[West Africa]]. The Upper Guinean forests extend from [[Guinea]] and [[Sierra Leone]] in the west through [[Liberia]], [[Côte d'Ivoire]] and [[Ghana]] to [[Togo]] in the east, and a few hundred kilometers inland from the [[Atlantic Ocean|Atlantic]] coast. A few enclaves of [[montane forest]] lie further inland in the mountains of central Guinea and central Togo and [[Benin]]. ▼
[[File:Galleryforest_300.jpg|thumb|right]]
▲The '''Upper Guinean forests''' is a [[tropical and subtropical moist broadleaf forests|tropical moistseasonal forest]] region of [[West Africa]]. The Upper Guinean forests extend from [[Guinea]] and [[Sierra Leone]] in the west through [[Liberia]], [[Côte d'Ivoire]] and [[Ghana]] to [[Togo]] in the east, and a few hundred kilometers inland from the [[Atlantic Ocean|Atlantic]] coast. A few enclaves of [[montane forest]] lie further inland in the mountains of central Guinea and central Togo and [[Benin]].<ref name=WWF/>
 
In the drier interior, the Upper Guinean forests yield to the [[Guinean forest-savanna mosaic]], a belt of dry forests and [[savanna]]s that lies between the coastal forests and the savannas and grasslands of the [[Sudan (region)|Sudan]] further north. The [[Dahomey Gap]], a region of Togo and Benin where the Guinean forest-savanna mosaic extends to the Atlantic coast, separates the Upper Guinean forests from the [[Lower Guinean forests]] to the east, which extend from eastern Benin through [[Nigeria]], [[Cameroon]], and south along the coast of the [[Gulf of Guinea]].<ref>{{cite book|author1=Frans Bongers|author2=Marc P. E. Parren|author3=Dossahua Traoré|title=Forest Climbing Plants of West Africa: Diversity, Ecology and Management|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=x_wHxTE-cEsC&pg=PA5 |year=2005 |publisher=CABI |isbn=978-0-85199-914-2|page=5}}</ref> The Upper Guinean forests are a [[Global 200]] [[ecoregion]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://planet.uwc.ac.za/nisl/Biodiversity/pdf/OlsonDinerstein1998.pdf |title=The Global 200: A representation approach to conserving the Earth's most biologically valuable ecoregions |author=Olson, D. M.; Dinerstein, E. |year=1998 |work=Conservation Biology |access-date=1 November 2016}}</ref>
 
The Guinean moist forests are much affected by winds from the hot dry area to the north and the cool Atlantic currents. This gives the region a very seasonal climate with over {{convert|80|in|cm|0|abbr=on}} of rain falling in some areas in the wet season. Over 2000 species of vascular plant have been recorded in the ecoregion, and mammals found here include the [[Common chimpanzee|chimpanzee]] (''Pan troglodytes''), [[leopard]] (''Panthera pardus''), [[pygmy hippopotamus]] (''Hexaprotodon liberiensis''), [[Ogilby's duiker]] (''Cephalophus ogilbyi''), [[Nimba otter shrew]] (''Micropotamogale lamottei'') and the [[African golden cat]] (''Profelis aurata'').<ref name=WWF/> There are twenty-one endemic/near-endemic and seasonal forest birds in the ecoregion; three avian species, the [[Nimba flycatcher]] (''Melaenornis annamarulae''), the [[Gola malimbe]] (''Malimbus ballmanni'') and the [[spot-winged greenbul]] (''Phyllastrephus leucolepis'') are further restricted in distribution to the western forests only.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Allport|first=Gary|date=1991|title=The status and conservation of threatened birds in the Upper Guinea forest|journal=Bird Conservation International|volume=1|issue=1|pages=53–74|doi=10.1017/S095927090000054X|issn=1474-0001|doi-access=free}}</ref>
The [[World Wide Fund for Nature]] (WWF) designated the Upper Guinean forests, which it calls the Guinean moist forests, as one of its [[Global 200]] critical regions for conservation. The WWF divides the Upper Guinean forests into three [[ecoregion]]s. The [[Western Guinean lowland forests]] extend from Guinea and Sierra Leone through Liberia and southeastern Côte d'Ivoire as far as the [[Sassandra River]].
 
The [[World Wide Fund for Nature]] (WWF) listed the Upper Guinean forests (which it calls the Guinean moist forests) on its [[Global 200]] Critical Regions for Conservation.
[[Guinean montane forests]] are found at higher elevations in the highlands of central Guinea, northern Sierra Leone, and eastern Côte d'Ivoire. The [[Eastern Guinean forests]] extend east from the Sassandra River through Côte d'Ivoire and Ghana to western Togo, with a few isolated enclaves further inland in the highlands of central Togo and Benin.▼
<ref name=WWF>{{cite web |url=http://wwf.panda.org/about_our_earth/ecoregions/guinean_moist_forests.cfm |title=Guinean moist forests |publisher=World Wide Fund for Nature |access-date=1 November 2016 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161103233723/http://wwf.panda.org/about_our_earth/ecoregions/guinean_moist_forests.cfm |archive-date=3 November 2016 }}</ref>
 
The WWF divides the Upper Guinean forests into three [[ecoregion]]s:
* The [[Western Guinean lowland forests]], extending from Guinea and Sierra Leone through Liberia and southeastern Côte d'Ivoire, and as far as the [[Sassandra River]].<ref name=WWF/>
▲[[Guinean montane forests]] are found at higher elevations in the highlands of central Guinea, northern Sierra Leone, and eastern Côte d'Ivoire.* The [[Eastern Guinean forests]], extendextending east from the Sassandra River through Côte d'Ivoire and Ghana to western Togo, with a few isolated enclavespockets further inland, in the highlands of central Togo and Benin.<ref name=WWF/>
* The [[Guinean montane forests]] are found at higher elevations in the [[Guinea Highlands]], which extend through central and southeastern Guinea, northern Sierra Leone, and eastern Côte d'Ivoire.<ref name=WWF/>
 
==See also==
*[[Guinean Forests of West Africa]]
*[[Phytochorion]]
 
==References==
{{reflist}}
 
==External links==
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20060418174814/http://www.biodiversityhotspots.org/xp/Hotspots/west_africa/ Guinean Forests of West Africa (Conservation International)]
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20050522062541/http://www.biodiversityhotspots.org/ImageCache/Hotspots/content/west_5fafrica_2d13/ci_5fmap13_2epdf/v1/ci_5fmap13.pdf Map of the Guinean Forests of West Africa (Conservation International)] ([[Portable Document Format|PDF]] file)
* [http://www.panda.org/about_wwf/where_we_work/ecoregions/guinean_moist_forests.cfm Guinean moist forests (World Wide Fund for Nature)]
*[http://herbaria.plants.ox.ac.uk/vfh/about/Projects/Ecosyn_book.html Woody Plants of Western African Forests(Reference to Upper Guinean Plants)]
 
[[Category:AfrotropicAfrotropical ecozonerealm]]
[[Category:Biodiversity hotspots]]
[[Category:Tropical and subtropical moist broadleaf forests]]
[[Category:Endemic Bird Areas]]
 
 
{{ecoregion-stub}}
{{AfricaW-geo-stub}}
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