Guinean montane forests

Guinean montane forests
Map of the Guinean montane forests
Ecology
RealmAfrotropical
Biometropical and subtropical moist broadleaf forests
Borders
Geography
Area30,924 km2 (11,940 sq mi)
Countries
Coordinates9°00′N 9°24′W / 9°N 9.4°W / 9; -9.4
Conservation
Conservation statusCritical/endangered
Global 200Guinean moist forests
Protected8,715 km2 (28%)[1]

The Guinean montane forests are a tropical moist broadleaf forest ecoregion of West Africa.[2][3][4]

The ecoregion occupies the portions of the Guinea Highlands lying above 600 meters elevation, extending across portions of Guinea, Sierra Leone, Liberia, and Côte d'Ivoire. It includes the Fouta Djallon plateau and the massifs of Ziama, Simandou, Tétini, Béro, Kourandou in Guinea, the Loma Mountains and Tingi Hills in Sierra Leone, the Nimba Range in Guinea, Liberia, and Côte d'Ivoire, and the Monts du Toura in Côte d'Ivoire. Mount Bintumani in the Loma Mountains is the highest peak in West Africa west of Mount Cameroon. The next highest peaks in the region are in the Sankan Biriwa massif (1850 meters) in the Tingi Hills.

Average rainfall is between 1,600 and 2400 mm per year and many important rivers have their sources in these mountains.[5]

  1. ^ 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. [1]
  2. ^ "Map of Ecoregions 2017". Resolve. Retrieved August 20, 2021.
  3. ^ "Guinean montane forests". Digital Observatory for Protected Areas. Retrieved August 20, 2021.
  4. ^ "Guinean montane forests". The Encyclopedia of Earth. Retrieved August 20, 2021.
  5. ^ "Guinean montane forests." WWF ecoregion profile. Accessed November 16, 2012 [2]