Projekt
The Dahomey Gap: Vegetation history of the forest-savanna boundary in Benin and Southwest Nigeria
Duration
1999-2002
Funding
Volkswagen-Stiftung, Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG)
Project coordinator
Katharina Neumann
Scientific collaborators
A. Akoegninou, M. Toussou, Cotonou (Benin); A. Ballouche, Angers (France); U. Salzmann, Frankfurt; M. Adebisi Sowunmi, Ibadan (Nigeria), S. Uitdehaag, Utrecht (Netherlands)
Cooperation partners
Université Nationale du Benin, Cotonou (Benin)
Short description
The Dahomey Gap is a savanna corridor separating the African rainforest into the western Guinea zone and the Central African Congo zone, reaching the Atlantic coast in Togo and Benin. Due to the separation, the Guinea zone and the Congo zone differ from each other in their floristic composition.
At the beginning of the project it was not clear when and why the savanna corridor developed. Had there been a causal relationship with climate change or with human impact, leading to the destruction of the forest? Because pollen profiles from the neighbouring regions could not answer these questions, we had to find and study profiles from the Dahomey Gap itself.
Results
Read more about the results.
