Floral Lists from Five Study Sites of Apes in the African Tropical Forests. Flora and Vegetation of Wamba Forest, Central Zaire with Reference to Bonobo (Pan paniscus) Foods.

Abstract

This paper lists 510 species of plants belonging to 93 families that occur within the 60km2 Wamba forest, a bonobo (Pan paniscus) study site since 1974. Most plant specimens were collected by ad libitum basis, but bonobo food species were collected as often as possible. Regarding food plants for bonobos, the part eaten is listed. The list incompletely represents floral diversity at Wamba, but is useful ecological background for comparisons of food plants at Wamba and those at other sites. Some differences in feeding habits between bonobos at Wamba and Lomako were detected by using this list. Data on trees with a diameter of breast height (DBH) of 5cm or more, collected systematically along line transects of 4m width and 4150m total length, are also presented. Bonobo food trees constituted the majority of trees recorded in each of the major 3 forest types; primary, secondary and swamp forest, in terms of both total basal area and density of stems. This and additional information on the abundance of terrestrial herbaceous vegetation (THV) and the Apocynaceae vines, suggest that food resources are rich and stable, and sustain the large party sizes ofbonobos at Wamba.