Cameroonian Highlands forests
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The Cameroonian Highlands forests are a montane tropical moist broadleaf forest ecoregion of Cameroon and Nigeria.
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[edit] Setting
The Cameroonian Highlands forests extend across the Cameroon Highlands, covering an area of 38,000 square kilometers (14,700 square miles) in eastern Nigeria and western Cameroon. The ecoregion lies above 900 meters elevation, and is surrounded at lower elevations by the Cross-Sanaga-Bioko coastal forests at the southern end of the range, and by forest-savanna mosaic along the central and northern ends of the range; the Cameroon Highlands form the boundary between the Guinean and Northern Congolian forest-savanna mosaic ecoregions.
[edit] Flora
The vegetation varies with elevation. Submontane forests extend from 900 to 1800 meters elevation. Above 1800 meters elevation are distinct montane forests and patches of montane grassland, bamboo forest, and subalpine grasslands and shrublands. The ecoregion is characterized by the presence of afromontane species, which have an archipelago-like distribution across the highlands of Africa. Typical afromontane species are Nuxia congesta, Podocarpus latifolius, Prunus africana, Rapanea melanophloeos, and Syzygium guineense bamendae.
[edit] Fauna
The ecoregion is home to a number of endemic species, along with several more that are also found in the nearby Mount Cameroon and Bioko montane forests ecoregion.
Seven species of birds are strictly endemic: the Bamenda apalis (Apalis bamendae), Bangwa forest warbler (Bradypterus bangwaensis), white-throated mountain-babbler (Kupeornis gilberti), banded wattle-eye (Platysteira laticincta), Bannerman's weaver (Ploceus bannermani), Bannerman's turaco (Tauraco bannermani), and Mt. Kupe bushshrike (Telophorus kupeensis). Fourteen species are endemic to the Cameroon Highlands forests and Mt. Cameroon: Andropadus montanus, Phyllastrephus poliocephalus, Laniarius atroflavus, Malaconotus gladiator, Cossypha isabellae and the subspecies Cisticola chubbi discolor (sometimes considered a separate species C. discolor). Nine more montane endemic species are shared with Mt. Cameroon and Bioko: Psalidoprocne fuliginosa, Andropadus tephrolaemus, Phyllastrephus poensis, Phylloscopus herberti, Urolais epichlora, Poliolais lopezi, Nectarinia oritis, Nectarinia ursulae, and Nesocharis shelleyi.
Eleven small mammal species are endemic to the ecoregion: Eisentraut's striped mouse (Hybomys eisentrauti), the African wood mouse Hylomyscus grandis, Mount Oku mouse (Lamottemys okuensis), Mittendorf's striped grass mouse (Lemniscomys mittendorfi), two brush-furred mouse species (Lophuromys dieterleni and L. eisentrauti), Oku mouse shrew (Myosorex okuensis), Rumpi mouse shrew (M. rumpii), western vlei rat (Otomys occidentalis), Hartwig's soft-furred mouse (Praomys hartwigi), and Isabella's shrew (Sylvisorex isabellae).
The ecoregion is home to several endangered primates, including the Cross River Gorilla (Gorilla gorilla diehli), an endemic subspecies of Western Gorilla, Mainland Drill (Mandrillus leucophaeus leucophaeus), Preuss's Red Colobus (Pilocolobus preussi), and Common Chimpanzee (Pan troglodytes).
Nine species of reptiles and 40 species of amphibians are endemic to the ecoregion.
