Central Africa: Montane Forests In The Spotlight

A specialist in palynology on January 5, 2017, presented results of a research carried out in Cameroon in 2007.

Research results carried in Cameroon in 2007 by Anne Marie Lezine on “90,000 years of montane forest in Central Africa” were made public at a lecture in Yaounde on January 5, 2017. It was on the occasion of the month of research of the Ministry of Scientific Research and Innovation.

The results reveal that mountains of Central Africa are particularly suitable for paleo-environmental and paleo-climatic studies because they host a large number of sites favourable to preserve sedimentary archives. Moreover, they are true “hot spots” of biodiversity that harbor environments known to be extremely sensitive to climate change. Lake Bambili, one of the research sites, yields an exceptional pollen series which documents for the first time the history of the Equatorial montane forests and their vulnerability to climate change over the last 90,000 years with a resolution of decades to centuries. *

Anne Marie Lezine, Research Director at the National Centre for Research, CNRS and Director of the LOCEAN Joint Research Unit (CNRS, IRD and MNHN) carried out the study in partnership with the Institute of Agricultural Research for Development and the National Herbarium. Anne Her last mission to Cameroon dates back to April 2015, during which time, she sampled soil profiles and carried out coring in Lakes Monou...