Dynamics of climbing palms in an African forest

Background/Question/Methods

Climbing palms or rattans (Arecaceae-Calamoideae) are often abundant in tropical forests and many species are economically important for the production of rattan cane. In tropical Africa, rattan is often over-harvested from forests and is rarely managed sustainably. In 2008 -2011 we conducted a study of rattan stem phenology from 18 hectares of seasonally wet lowland forest in Cameroon’s Korup National Park, as part of a larger study of trees and lianas. We asked the questions: what is the diversity of rattans, how are they spatially distributed, and what is the phenology of stem production? Annual counts of stems were taken and each year’s cohort of new stems was color-coded with spray paint.

Results/Conclusions

A total of eight rattan species in three genera were recorded from 18 hectares of forest with gentle topography with a mosaic of well drained soils and seasonally wet areas. Six species showed a strongly clumped growth form with unbranched, monocarpic stems arising from a compact rootstock. These species occurred predominantly in moister sites near creeks. Two species had vegetative reproduction with stems that branched and rooted occasionally. These species showed a straggling habit and occurred in both moist and drier sites. The clumped species are long-lived perennials, but their long aerial shoots are relatively short lived. By comparing the ratio of new shoots to total living shoots we were able to estimate the average life-spans of the shoots and document differences between the species. Mean stem life-spans ranged from 2 to 4.5 years.