Kupeantha yabassi(Coffeeae- Rubiaceae), a new Critically Endangered shrub species of the Ebo Forest area, Littoral Region, Cameroon

Abstract

A new species to science of evergreen forest shrub, Kupeantha yabassi (Coffeeae - Rubiaceae), is described, illustrated, mapped, and compared morphologically with the closely similar species K. pentamera. Restricted so far to a single site in evergreen lowland forest near the Ebo Forest, Yabassi, Littoral Region, Cameroon, this species is Critically Endangered using the IUCN 2012 standard due to habitat clearance driven mainly by agriculture, adding to the growing list of threatened species resulting from anthropogenic pressure on Cameroon forests. A revised key to the six species of Kupeantha is presented. Two distinct geographical and ecological species groupings within the genus are identified and discussed. Notes are given on other narrowly endemic and threatened species in the Ebo forest area, a threatened centre of diversity important for conservation in Littoral Region.

The endemic plant species of Bali Ngemba Forest Reserve, Bamenda Highlands Cameroon, with a new Endangered cloud-forest tree speciesVepris onanae(Rutaceae)

“…About 2000 species of vascular plant have been described as new to science each year for the last fifteen years or more. Cameroon currently has the highest number of new species to science published each year (Cheek et al 2020c), recent examples being published are (Achoundong et al 2021;Aguirre-Alvarez et al 2021;Cheek et al 2021b;Cheek et al 2021c;Cheek et al 2021d;Couvreur et al 2021;Gosline et al 2021). Until species are known to science, they cannot be assessed for their conservation status and the possibility of protecting them is reduced (Cheek et al 2020c).…”

Distribution, habitat use and human disturbance of gorillas (Gorilla gorilla) in the Ebo forest, Littoral Region, Cameroon

“…Survey efforts across the Ebo forest since 2005 have resulted in the discovery and description of numerous plant species new to science (Alvarez-Aguirre et al, 2021;Gosline et al, 2022), several of which have been named after the landscape, including Ardisia ebo, Gilbertiodendron ebo, Inversodicraea ebo, Kupeantha ebo, Palisota ebo and Pseudohydrosme ebo (Cheek et al, 2017(Cheek et al, , 2018(Cheek et al, , 2021Mackinder et al, 2010;van der Burgt et al, 2015). The Ebo forest also contains the Critically Endangered Preuss's red colobus (Piliocolobus preussi), the forest elephant (Loxodonta cyclotis), the Nigeria-Cameroon chimpanzee (Pan troglodytes ellioti) and the drill (Mandrillus leucophaeus; Morgan et al, 2011;Whytock & Morgan, 2010).…”