The zoogeography of the montane forest avifauna of eastern Tanzania - Biogeography and Ecology of the Rain Forests of Eastern Africa - page 210

in fact closest in species composition to
the northwest subgroup of the Central
East African Group (but its highest Q is
only 0.588 with Mount Elgon).
(c) Ufipa Plateau. Recognised by Moreau
(1966) as a very difficult forest to
categorise, its highest Q is only 0.571
with the Crater Highlands.

occur in the region, but not in the forests used for
this analysis. Examples include the Prince
Ruspoli's Turaco Ta uraco uspolii in the Ethiopian
Group, and the Dappled Mountain-robin
Modulatix orostruthus in the Southen Malawi
Group. Once again, the same pattens of species
richness can be seen, with the highest diversity in
the Alberine Rift Group.

Pattens of species rich ness
The montane bird species totals for each of the 50
forests used in this analysis are given in Table
10.1. One of the most noiceable aspects of these
igures is the exraordinary species richness of the
Alberine Rift Montane Forest Group. The
richest single forest area is the Itombwe Moun-
tains in easten Zaire, which, with 83 montane
species, has approimately half the total number
of montane forest species in all of Africa. The
Lendu Plateau (37 species) is considered species-
poor compared to the other Alberine it forests
(see above), but this area is not impoverished
when compared with the rest of Africa.
Most of the forests in the Cameroun, Easten
Coast Escarpment and Cenral East African
Montane Forest Groups have moderate species
richness, usually between 30 and 43 species, with
only a few excepions. The Ethiopia, Southern
Malawi and South of the Zambezi Montane For-
est Groups are all species-poor.
Table 10.2 presents combined species totals for
each of the Montane Forest Groups idenified by
the cluster analysis dendrogram in Figure 10.1.
This table also draws on addiional data, because
there are a few montane forest species which

Endemic and charaaeristic species
Table 10.2 also presents data on the number of
endemic species (i.e. those occurring nowhere
else) and the percentage of endemism within each
of the Montane Forest Groups. These results are
discussed below.

1. Cameroun. This Group has the highest
level of endemism, hence the remarkable
disinctiveness of its avifauna remarked
upon earlier. Characterisic species (i.e.
those endemics which occur through
virtually all forests within the Group) are
the Cameroun Mountain Greenbul
Andropadus montanus, Cameroun Olive
Greenbul Phyllastrphus poensis, Cameroun
Mountain Robin-chat Cossypha isabellae,
Green Longtail Urolais pichlora,
Cameroun Blue-headed Sunbird
Neaarinia oritis and Little Olive-back
Nesocharis shelyi.
2. Ethiopia. Despite its poverty in species,
the Ethiopian Group is relaively rich in
endemics, characterisic species being the
Black-winged Lovebird Agaponis taranta,
White-cheeked Turaco Ta Turaco leucotis

Table 10.2. Avian sp ecies richness and endemism in the Af rican Montane Forest Groups

Total number of Number of endemics Percentage

Montane Forest Group species to the Group endemism

Cameroun 50 20 40.0

23

Ethiopia 8 34.8

Alberine Rift 32 36.8

87

5 7

28.l

East Coast Escarpment 16

Cenral East Africa 59 2 3.4

South Malawi 23 I 4.3

South of Zambezi 18 3 16.7