Author(s)

Margaretha W. van Rooyen^1,2, Noel van Rooyen^2,3, Edmond S. Miabangana⁴, Gilbert Nsongola⁴, Caroline Vasicek Gaugris^2,5, Jérôme Y. Gaugris^2,5*

¹Department of Plant & Soil Sciences, University of Pretoria, Pretoria, South Africa.
²FLORA FAUNA & MAN, Ecological Services Ltd., Tortola, British Virgin Islands.
³Ekotrust, Somerset West, South Africa.
⁴Centre d’Etude sur les Ressources Végétales, Herbier National du Congo, Brazzaville, Republic of Congo.
⁵Centre for African Ecology, School of Animal, Plant and Environmental Sciences, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa.

Botanically, the Mayoko district is known only through anecdotal descriptions made in the colonial era. The present study was undertaken as part of the prerequisite for a mining feasibility study where a benchmark of the floristic composition, diversity and structure of the vegetation was needed to evaluate potential biodiversity offset areas and to guide species selection for post-mining re-vegetation. The study area comprised approximately 160,000 ha and 235 sample sites were surveyed using the Braun-Blanquet method of phytosociology. Diversity of each plant association was expressed in terms of various diversity parameters. Twelve associations were described and mapped. The associations ranged from highly disturbed and degraded to fairly intact forest associations. A wet to dry gradient and permanently inundated to temporary inundated gradient could also be distinguished. The approach followed here proved remarkably robust in illustrating the complexity in a topographically complex region of the Chaillu Massif. The data provided a high level of insight into the possible dynamics of the rainforest and indications as to possible successional pathways. This information provides a better level of understanding of forest structure and evolution potential than studies limited to trees, remote sensing carbon assessments, or time change series.

Congo, Diversity, Evenness, Fisher’s Alpha, Flora, Phytosociology, Species Richness, Structure, Rainforest, Vegetation Dynamics

van Rooyen, M. , van Rooyen, N. , Miabangana, E. , Nsongola, G. , Gaugris, C. and Gaugris, J. (2019) Floristic Composition, Diversity and Structure of the Rainforest in the Mayoko District, Republic of Congo. Open Journal of Forestry, 9, 16-69. doi: 10.4236/ojf.2019.91002.