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1	Kontinentalita klimatu ve vztahu k radiačním a cirkulačním faktorům / Climate continentality with regard to radiational and circulational factors Janušková, Miriam January 2016 (has links) This thesis' topics are measurements of climate's continentality and evaluations of relations between various indexes of thermic and ombric continentalities. All indexes are plotted on continentality maps of Europe created using the ArcGIS application. Important part of the thesis consists of practical validation of relevancy of the new method for measuring degree of continentality based on research of phase shift (delay) of annual temperature diagram in relation to the sum of extraterrestrial radiation. This thesis deals mainly with the proof of closest relation between newly purposed index of thermic continentality and the pre-existing ombric indexes in comparison to the indexes of thermic continentality currently in use. Furthermore the thesis dwells into explanations of causes for territorial differences in new continentality index values related to circulatory and radiatory ratios of the Indian summer subseason. By examining the newly purposed index of thermic continentality in various latitudes it was determined that this method for measuring continentality is not applicable for several areas of subtropical zone where the temperature diagram is not majorly effected by solar radiation but instead by other factors. Therefore the results of this thesis include cartographic representation of the...
2	Prostorové a časové rozložení srážek v oblasti Vogéz / Spatial and temporal distribution of precipitation in the Vosges mountain range area Minářová, Jana January 2013 (has links) Spatial and temporal distribution of precipitation in the Vosges mountain range area Abstract The aim of this work is to study the climatology of atmospheric precipitation in the studied area situated in the Northeastern France. Factors, e.g. the global circulation of the atmosphere, that influence the spatial and temporal distribution of precipitation in the mid-latitudes, especially in Western Europe and in mountainous regions, are discussed from the macro- to micro- scale in the first part. The term "ombric continentality" is clarified and a description of the physical geography of the studied area is performed, e.g. upward and windward asymmetry of Vosges slopes and contrasts between the mountain range and the Upper Rhine Plain. Secondly a demonstration is made that the Vosges mountain range affects, due to its position, the spatio-temporal distribution of precipitation at a regional scale. This is carried out by computing the daily rainfall on 14 meteorological stations out of the period 1951-2011. Three categories of stations were determined according to their annual precipitation repartition: (i) mountain stations with the winter precipitation maximum, (ii) leeward slope stations with two precipitation maxima, i.e. in winter and summer and (iii) leeward stations located in the Upper Rhine Plain East...
3	Ambiente físico e meteorológico para análise do risco de geada / Physical environment and meteorological analysis for frost risk Simões, Débora de Souza January 2015 (has links) A geada é um fenômeno meteorológico adverso que causa perdas severas ao setor agrícola, em especial no Sul do Brasil. A baixa distribuição espacial da rede de estações meteorológicas dificulta o monitoramento e a previsão do fenômeno. O propósito principal desta tese foi o desenvolvimento de um modelo matemático para quantificar de forma direta e simples a probabilidade do risco de ocorrência de geada tendo como base em dados de fácil obtenção como altitude, latitude, continentalidade e temperatura do ar. O modelo criado, denominado Risco Geral de Geada (RGG), foi idealizado a partir de dois riscos básicos, o risco geográfico e o risco advindo da temperatura mínima do local, ambos com o mesma contribuição para a ocorrência de geada. O risco geográfico de geada (RGeo) foi obtido a partir do somatório dos riscos atribuídos aos fatores geográficos altitude, latitude e continentalidade. Cada um destes fatores contribui de forma diferente para a formação da geada e suas contribuições foram estimadas a partir de um modelo de regressão linear múltipla para a estimativa da temperatura mínima do ar climatológica de inverno no Rio Grande do Sul. No risco de geada associado à temperatura mínima (RTmín) foi feita a atribuição de riscos em um intervalo de temperatura entre 0 e 6°C. O modelo final obtido, válido apenas para o Rio Grande do Sul, foi testado com dados coletados em estações meteorológicas de superfície da mesorregião do Sudeste Rio-grandense, localizadas em Encruzilhada do Sul, Rio Grande e Santa Vitória do Palmar. Dados de temperatura mínima do ar nos meses de junho, julho e agosto, coletados entre os anos de 1961 e 2015, comprovaram a utilidade do modelo RGG para a definição da probabilidade do risco de ocorrência de geada, mesmo diante de incertezas atribuídas a outros fatores não descritos no modelo. Na região de teste também foi avaliada a qualidade de dados orbitais de temperatura da superfície terrestre (TST), obtidos do produto MDY11A1 da passagem noturna do sensor MODIS/AQUA, na detecção de temperaturas baixas relacionadas com a ocorrência de geada. A frequência de dias com TST inferiores a 3°C mostrou coerência tanto com os dados observados em estação meteorológica, quanto com o risco determinado pelo RGG. A coerência entre os resultados obtidos do modelo RGG e os dados reais observados em superfície e obtidos por satélite torna o modelo útil na descrição da probabilidade do risco de ocorrência de geada sobre o Rio Grande do Sul. / Frost is an adverse meteorological phenomenon that causes severe losses to the agricultural sector, especially in Southern Brazil. Low spatial distribution of the network of meteorological stations hinders monitoring and forecast phenomenon. The main purpose of this thesis was to develop a mathematical model to measure directly and easily the probability of the risk of frost based on readily available data such as altitude, latitude, continentality and air temperature. The model, called Frost General Risk (RGG), was designed from two basic risk, geographic risk and risk arising out of the local minimum temperature, both with the same contribution to the occurrence of frost. The geographical risk of frost (RGeo) was obtained from the sum of the risks attributed to geographical factors altitude, latitude and continental influence. Each of these factors contributes differently to the formation of frost and their contributions were estimated from a multiple linear regression model to estimate the minimum air temperature winter climatological in Rio Grande do Sul. In the frost risk associated with minimum temperature (RTmín) assigning risk was taken in a temperature range between 0 and 6° C. The final model obtained, valid only for the Rio Grande do Sul, has been tested with data collected from weather stations surface of the middle region of Sudeste Rio-grandense, located in Encruzilhada do Sul, Rio Grande and Santa Vitória do Palmar. Minimum temperature, the air in the months of june, july and august, collected between 1961 and 2015, have proved the usefulness of the model RGG to define the probability of the risk of frost, even in the face of uncertainty attributed to other factors not described in the model. In the test region was also evaluated the quality of satellite data of the land surface temperature (LST), the product obtained MDY11A1 the night passage of MODIS / AQUA sensor to detect low temperatures related to the occurrence of frost. The frequency of days with LST below 3° C showed much consistency with the observed data in weather station, and with the particular risk for the RGG. Consistency between the results obtained from the RGG model and the actual data observed in surface and from satellites makes the model useful in describing the probability of the risk of frost on the Rio Grande do Sul. Geada Altitude Temperatura : Ar Sensoriamento remoto Latitude Continentality Minimum air temperature Land surface temperature
4	Ambiente físico e meteorológico para análise do risco de geada / Physical environment and meteorological analysis for frost risk Simões, Débora de Souza January 2015 (has links) A geada é um fenômeno meteorológico adverso que causa perdas severas ao setor agrícola, em especial no Sul do Brasil. A baixa distribuição espacial da rede de estações meteorológicas dificulta o monitoramento e a previsão do fenômeno. O propósito principal desta tese foi o desenvolvimento de um modelo matemático para quantificar de forma direta e simples a probabilidade do risco de ocorrência de geada tendo como base em dados de fácil obtenção como altitude, latitude, continentalidade e temperatura do ar. O modelo criado, denominado Risco Geral de Geada (RGG), foi idealizado a partir de dois riscos básicos, o risco geográfico e o risco advindo da temperatura mínima do local, ambos com o mesma contribuição para a ocorrência de geada. O risco geográfico de geada (RGeo) foi obtido a partir do somatório dos riscos atribuídos aos fatores geográficos altitude, latitude e continentalidade. Cada um destes fatores contribui de forma diferente para a formação da geada e suas contribuições foram estimadas a partir de um modelo de regressão linear múltipla para a estimativa da temperatura mínima do ar climatológica de inverno no Rio Grande do Sul. No risco de geada associado à temperatura mínima (RTmín) foi feita a atribuição de riscos em um intervalo de temperatura entre 0 e 6°C. O modelo final obtido, válido apenas para o Rio Grande do Sul, foi testado com dados coletados em estações meteorológicas de superfície da mesorregião do Sudeste Rio-grandense, localizadas em Encruzilhada do Sul, Rio Grande e Santa Vitória do Palmar. Dados de temperatura mínima do ar nos meses de junho, julho e agosto, coletados entre os anos de 1961 e 2015, comprovaram a utilidade do modelo RGG para a definição da probabilidade do risco de ocorrência de geada, mesmo diante de incertezas atribuídas a outros fatores não descritos no modelo. Na região de teste também foi avaliada a qualidade de dados orbitais de temperatura da superfície terrestre (TST), obtidos do produto MDY11A1 da passagem noturna do sensor MODIS/AQUA, na detecção de temperaturas baixas relacionadas com a ocorrência de geada. A frequência de dias com TST inferiores a 3°C mostrou coerência tanto com os dados observados em estação meteorológica, quanto com o risco determinado pelo RGG. A coerência entre os resultados obtidos do modelo RGG e os dados reais observados em superfície e obtidos por satélite torna o modelo útil na descrição da probabilidade do risco de ocorrência de geada sobre o Rio Grande do Sul. / Frost is an adverse meteorological phenomenon that causes severe losses to the agricultural sector, especially in Southern Brazil. Low spatial distribution of the network of meteorological stations hinders monitoring and forecast phenomenon. The main purpose of this thesis was to develop a mathematical model to measure directly and easily the probability of the risk of frost based on readily available data such as altitude, latitude, continentality and air temperature. The model, called Frost General Risk (RGG), was designed from two basic risk, geographic risk and risk arising out of the local minimum temperature, both with the same contribution to the occurrence of frost. The geographical risk of frost (RGeo) was obtained from the sum of the risks attributed to geographical factors altitude, latitude and continental influence. Each of these factors contributes differently to the formation of frost and their contributions were estimated from a multiple linear regression model to estimate the minimum air temperature winter climatological in Rio Grande do Sul. In the frost risk associated with minimum temperature (RTmín) assigning risk was taken in a temperature range between 0 and 6° C. The final model obtained, valid only for the Rio Grande do Sul, has been tested with data collected from weather stations surface of the middle region of Sudeste Rio-grandense, located in Encruzilhada do Sul, Rio Grande and Santa Vitória do Palmar. Minimum temperature, the air in the months of june, july and august, collected between 1961 and 2015, have proved the usefulness of the model RGG to define the probability of the risk of frost, even in the face of uncertainty attributed to other factors not described in the model. In the test region was also evaluated the quality of satellite data of the land surface temperature (LST), the product obtained MDY11A1 the night passage of MODIS / AQUA sensor to detect low temperatures related to the occurrence of frost. The frequency of days with LST below 3° C showed much consistency with the observed data in weather station, and with the particular risk for the RGG. Consistency between the results obtained from the RGG model and the actual data observed in surface and from satellites makes the model useful in describing the probability of the risk of frost on the Rio Grande do Sul. Geada Altitude Temperatura : Ar Sensoriamento remoto Latitude Continentality Minimum air temperature Land surface temperature
5	Ambiente físico e meteorológico para análise do risco de geada / Physical environment and meteorological analysis for frost risk Simões, Débora de Souza January 2015 (has links) A geada é um fenômeno meteorológico adverso que causa perdas severas ao setor agrícola, em especial no Sul do Brasil. A baixa distribuição espacial da rede de estações meteorológicas dificulta o monitoramento e a previsão do fenômeno. O propósito principal desta tese foi o desenvolvimento de um modelo matemático para quantificar de forma direta e simples a probabilidade do risco de ocorrência de geada tendo como base em dados de fácil obtenção como altitude, latitude, continentalidade e temperatura do ar. O modelo criado, denominado Risco Geral de Geada (RGG), foi idealizado a partir de dois riscos básicos, o risco geográfico e o risco advindo da temperatura mínima do local, ambos com o mesma contribuição para a ocorrência de geada. O risco geográfico de geada (RGeo) foi obtido a partir do somatório dos riscos atribuídos aos fatores geográficos altitude, latitude e continentalidade. Cada um destes fatores contribui de forma diferente para a formação da geada e suas contribuições foram estimadas a partir de um modelo de regressão linear múltipla para a estimativa da temperatura mínima do ar climatológica de inverno no Rio Grande do Sul. No risco de geada associado à temperatura mínima (RTmín) foi feita a atribuição de riscos em um intervalo de temperatura entre 0 e 6°C. O modelo final obtido, válido apenas para o Rio Grande do Sul, foi testado com dados coletados em estações meteorológicas de superfície da mesorregião do Sudeste Rio-grandense, localizadas em Encruzilhada do Sul, Rio Grande e Santa Vitória do Palmar. Dados de temperatura mínima do ar nos meses de junho, julho e agosto, coletados entre os anos de 1961 e 2015, comprovaram a utilidade do modelo RGG para a definição da probabilidade do risco de ocorrência de geada, mesmo diante de incertezas atribuídas a outros fatores não descritos no modelo. Na região de teste também foi avaliada a qualidade de dados orbitais de temperatura da superfície terrestre (TST), obtidos do produto MDY11A1 da passagem noturna do sensor MODIS/AQUA, na detecção de temperaturas baixas relacionadas com a ocorrência de geada. A frequência de dias com TST inferiores a 3°C mostrou coerência tanto com os dados observados em estação meteorológica, quanto com o risco determinado pelo RGG. A coerência entre os resultados obtidos do modelo RGG e os dados reais observados em superfície e obtidos por satélite torna o modelo útil na descrição da probabilidade do risco de ocorrência de geada sobre o Rio Grande do Sul. / Frost is an adverse meteorological phenomenon that causes severe losses to the agricultural sector, especially in Southern Brazil. Low spatial distribution of the network of meteorological stations hinders monitoring and forecast phenomenon. The main purpose of this thesis was to develop a mathematical model to measure directly and easily the probability of the risk of frost based on readily available data such as altitude, latitude, continentality and air temperature. The model, called Frost General Risk (RGG), was designed from two basic risk, geographic risk and risk arising out of the local minimum temperature, both with the same contribution to the occurrence of frost. The geographical risk of frost (RGeo) was obtained from the sum of the risks attributed to geographical factors altitude, latitude and continental influence. Each of these factors contributes differently to the formation of frost and their contributions were estimated from a multiple linear regression model to estimate the minimum air temperature winter climatological in Rio Grande do Sul. In the frost risk associated with minimum temperature (RTmín) assigning risk was taken in a temperature range between 0 and 6° C. The final model obtained, valid only for the Rio Grande do Sul, has been tested with data collected from weather stations surface of the middle region of Sudeste Rio-grandense, located in Encruzilhada do Sul, Rio Grande and Santa Vitória do Palmar. Minimum temperature, the air in the months of june, july and august, collected between 1961 and 2015, have proved the usefulness of the model RGG to define the probability of the risk of frost, even in the face of uncertainty attributed to other factors not described in the model. In the test region was also evaluated the quality of satellite data of the land surface temperature (LST), the product obtained MDY11A1 the night passage of MODIS / AQUA sensor to detect low temperatures related to the occurrence of frost. The frequency of days with LST below 3° C showed much consistency with the observed data in weather station, and with the particular risk for the RGG. Consistency between the results obtained from the RGG model and the actual data observed in surface and from satellites makes the model useful in describing the probability of the risk of frost on the Rio Grande do Sul. Geada Altitude Temperatura : Ar Sensoriamento remoto Latitude Continentality Minimum air temperature Land surface temperature
6	Reprezentace kontinentality v regionálních klimatických modelech / Continentality representation in regional climate models Hudek, Jakub January 2021 (has links) Continentality of climate is one of the basic climate phenomena, describing the climate at current place according to annual changes of basic meteorological elements such as temperature, precipitation, etc. Its measure is usually expressed by indices and is being determined either according to observations using collected data or simulated by climate models. The goal is usually to determine the ability of climate models to represent the present state of climate and to determine and analyse the scenarios of future evolvement for Europe as an examined area. In present diploma thesis are briefly introduced terms like continentality, its indices, global and regional climate models, the ERA-Interim reanalysis, as well as the EURO-CORDEX iniciative. Subsequently individual simulations are processed, analysed and compared with the observations according to the E-OBS dataset.
7	Silné srážky ve středně vysokých pohořích střední Evropy: Porovnávací studie Vogéz a Krušných hor / Extreme precipitation in low mountain ranges in Central Europe: a comparative study between the Vosges and the Ore mountains Minářová, Jana January 2017 (has links) of the doctoral dissertation Extreme precipitation is related to flooding which is one of the most frequent natural hazards in Central Europe. Detailed understanding of extreme precipitation is the precondition for an efficient risk management and more precise projections of precipitation, which include uncertainties, especially at regional scale. The thesis focuses on extreme precipitation in the Ore Mountains (OM) and the Vosges Mountains (VG); two low mountain ranges in Central Europe experiencing orographic effect on precipitation. Based on state of the art about precipitation in OM and VG, a currently missing analysis of the temporal distribution of precipitation in VG was needed prior to the analysis of extremes. The original dataset of daily precipitation totals from 14 weather stations used in the initial study was extended to 168 stations covering a broader area of VG. The study of temporal distribution of precipitation during 1960-2013 led to a classification of stations: (i) mountainous stations with winter maxima and highest mean annual totals due to orographic enhancement of precipitation, (ii) stations on leeward slopes with two maxima (summer and winter), (iii) lee side stations with summer maxima and lowest mean annual totals due to rain shadow and more continental character, and...
8	Revisiting the Paleogene Climate Pattern of East Asia: A Synthetic Review Quan, Cheng, Liu, Zhonghui, Utescher, Torsten, Jin, Jianhua, Shu, Junwu, Li, Yongxiang, Liu, Yu Sheng (Christopher) 01 December 2014 (has links) East Asian Paleogene climates have long been regarded as controlled by the planetary wind system, which might result in a climate pattern with three latitudinally distributed zones. Two humid zones located separately in the north and south were lithologically designated by coals and oil shales, while an arid zone in the middle was represented by red beds and evaporites. Because the middle arid zone was located along ~. 30° N paleolatitude, its presence had been further linked with a then subtropical high. However, this long-standing model has recently been challenged by growing evidence from petrology, sedimentology, paleontology, paleobiogeography, paleoclimatology, and climate modeling. Here we review the primary data from these disciplines and reinterpret their climate significances to revisit the East Asian climate pattern during the Paleogene. Petrologically, while the occurrence of coals and/or oil shales is accepted as an indicator for overall humid climates, that of red beds and/or evaporites is highly equivocal to exclusively indicate perennial arid climates unless their origins are carefully investigated. In reality, generic red beds merely represent an oxidizing environment, not essentially associated with a single specific climate type. Meanwhile evaporites, although typically precipitated in arid environments, may be deposited in either perennial dry or seasonal/monsoonal climates. There is no solid evidence so far to convincingly support that the landscape of the so-called middle arid zone was dominated by desert and/or steppe under a then subtropical high during most of the Paleogene. The plant function type study additionally suggests that the "middle arid zone" appears to be lack of xerophytic vegetation, even though some xerophytic or sclerophyllous plant taxa did sporadically occur. Interestingly, paleozoological data show that the Paleogene mammalian faunas were somewhat equably distributed over East Asia, strongly suggesting the evident absence of a critical biogeographical or climatic barrier stretched across the "middle arid zone" as the planetary wind model implied. In contrast to the planetary wind model, monsoonal or monsoon-like Paleogene climates have been broadly reported from the northern, middle, and southern East Asia, as well as adjacent regions of Russia and Kazakhstan. If only the indicators for humid climates are considered, simply due to the uncertainty of those for perennial arid climates, East Asia must have had a relatively dry region in the continental interior during the late Eocene to Oligocene transition, likely caused by the continentality and/or the rain shadow effect along with the global cooling. The monsoonal interpretation is highly in agreement with the evidence from floras, faunas, basin analyses, and modeling experiments, and well explicates the Paleogene climate distribution and seasonal dynamics of East Asia. However, further studies will be largely needed to verify whether, uniformly according to the modern criteria, the Paleogene climates of the East Asia interior can be accurately attributed to the arid category. continentality East Asia monsoon or monsoon-like climate paleogene climate pattern planetary wind system rain shadow effect
9	Extreme precipitation in low mountain ranges in Central Europe : a comparative study between the Vosges and the Ore Mountains / Fortes précipitations en moyenne montagne en Europe centrale : étude de comparaison des Vosges et Monts Métallifères Minarova, Jana 12 September 2017 (has links) L’objectif principal de cette thèse est de s’intéresser aux fortes pluies dans les Monts Métallifères (OM) et les Vosges (VG) en Europe centrale. La méthode Weather Extremity Index a été appliquée sur les données de précipitation journalière de 167 stations dans les OM et 168 stations dans les VG et a permis de sélectionner les 54 plus forts évenements des précipitations extrêmes (EPEs) dans OM et VG. Plusieurs aspects des EPEs ont été examinés. Les résultats ont montré que les EPEs sont le plus souvent de courte durée (1—2 jours) dans les deux régions. Ils affectent une plus grande partie des OM que des VG. Les EPEs dans les VG apparaissent majoritairement lors de la situation synoptique d’un front froid ondulant ; dans les OM lors des cyclones générés par une goutte d’air froid isolé et dont le trajet est souvent qualifié de « Vb » (c.a.d. allant de la Méditerranée vers le nord-est). Toutefois deux des dix plus forts EPEs des VG sont apparus lors de situations de cyclones Vb. / The thesis focuses on extreme precipitation in the Ore Mountains (OM) and the Vosges Mountains (VG) in Central Europe. The Weather Extremity Index (WEI) was employed on daily precipitation totals from 167 stations in OM and 168 stations in VG. The WEI enabled to select the 54 strongest extreme precipitation events (EPEs) in OM and VG. Many characteristics of the EPEs were investigated in the thesis. The results showed that the EPEs lasted mostly 1—2 days in both regions, whereas affected a larger part of OM as compared to VG. Stationary fronts occurred most frequently during EPEs in VG, while lows in OM. Lows in OM during EPEs often originated from cold air cut-off and most of them had Vb track from Mediterranean towards the northeast. Even during two of the ten strongest EPEs in VG, the extreme precipitation was related to Vb lows, this time strongly deflected westwards. Fortes précipitations Weather Extremity Index Types de temps synoptiques Continentalité Vosges Monts Métallifères Heavy rainfall Weather Extremity Index Weather types Continentality Vosges Mountains Ore Mountains 551.694 3
10	Methodological investigations on vegetation typology and phytogeography of rain forests of tropical Africa Senterre, Bruno B.M.L. 17 June 2005 (has links) I. An original methodological discussion is proposed on the problem of the typology of tropical rain forest’s plant communities, based on the study of forest types across gradients of continentality and elevation, within Atlantic central Africa. These investigations were based on the statement that the main problems in forest typology are related to the non-zonal or zonal character of the different vegetation types and to non considering the relations and differences between forest strata. II. Field data consisted in phytosociological homogeneous sample plots localized within different recognized phytogeographical entities, in a region of tropical Africa where these entities are known to be well conserved. A total of 37 such plots were inventoried in the region extending from the littoral forests of Ndoté, Equatorial Guinea, which are wet evergreen forests, to the continental forests of the Dja, Cameroon, known as evergreen seasonal forests. The studied region also included the oriental Atlantic forests of Equatorial Guinea, known as moist evergreen forests or caesalp forests. In various parts of this continentality gradient, some plots were localized within climax non-zonal formations, namely the submontane rain forests. The emphasis was put on the vegetation of the Monte Alén National Park. The sampling methodology was willing to be as "complete ", including all strata, "quantitative ", enumerating all individuals, and "representative ", within each stratum, as possible. These multi-layers plots were realised using nested sub-plots, with a sampling size of 100 individuals for every ligneous stratum recognized (dominant trees, dominated trees and shrubs) and a sampling size of 200m² for the herbaceous and suffrutex stratum. Forest types were defined independently for each stratum and the differences were analysed. A method was proposed for the simultaneous analysis of all floristic data, converting and standardizing the values from ligneous strata, on the one hand, and from understorey strata, on the other hand. III. Ten forest types were described using IndVal and discussed in the general context of the guineo-congolian region, from a syntaxonomic view point (agglomerative classification) and from a phytogeographical view point (divisive classification). Homologies between these two approaches are described. The proposed phytogeographical system is based on an "open " conception of hierarchical classifications, combining advantages of agglomerative and divisive classifications. In concrete terms, the non-zonal criteria, for example the submontane variants, are categorised separately and in analogy with the zonal criteria, related to the usual phytochoria. Analysis of ecological relationships for the 10 communities showed that the main variables related to the floristic variability in our mainland rain forests are elevation, rainfall, hygrometry (estimated using bryophytes cover levels) and distance to the ocean. The two extremes on the vertical microclimatic gradient, dominant trees stratum and herbaceous stratum, give similar typologies, however canonical analysis showed that for the herbaceous layer, non-zonal variables (hygrometry and elevation) were gaining more importance when the influence of the two zonal variables was attenuated. In every case, spatial autocorrelation was less important than the environment in explaining floristic variability but its role increased in the spatial arrangement of understorey species, whose dispersal capacity is generally lower than canopy trees. The phytosociological, phytogeographical and ecological description of forest types is accompanied by a physiognomical description using biological types spectrum, as well as architectural models, leaf sizes, etc. With regard to diversity, we have demonstrated that species richness was higher from upper to lower strata because of the accumulation in lower strata of species from various strata. On the other hand, the proper stratum diversity, i.e. the structural set, decreased from dominant trees to shrubs. The proper diversity of the herb layer showed relatively high figures mainly due to the higher individual density in relation to the existence of microstrata. Within the 37 sample plots, 1,050 taxa have been identified to species or morpho-species levels, for a total of 25,750 individuals. These taxa represent 442 genus among 104 families. The richest forest type is found on the foothills of the Niefang range, on the windward side. This forest type is also characterised by a high number of oligotypic genus and by species belonging to functional types indicators of glacial refuges. These functional types are defined on the basis of the dispersal capacity and on kind of stand needed for effective germination. We formulated the hypothesis that this kind of "foothills refuge ", characterised by his zonal nature, could have been one of the rare refuges for species from mainland rain forests, while montane and fluvial refuges would mainly have preserved species from non-zonal forest types: (sub)montane and riverine. Based on indicator species of submontane forests, a potential distribution map of this forest type has been realised at the Atlantic central African scale. More than 400 submontane forest localities have been mapped. These forests begin at 400m of altitude near the ocean, and progressively at higher altitude for increasing distance to the ocean. Many lowland localities also comprised submontane species, which could indicate the existence of ecological transgressions. These transgressions would allow migratory tracks for submontane species between isolated mountain ranges, not only during glacial periods, through heights at the northern and southern borders of the congo basin, but also contemporarily through the lowland riverine forest network, in the centre of this basin. Finally, a special attention has been attributed to littoral forests and to some cases of choroecological transgressions, coupled to the ecological equalization phenomenon. plant diversity foothills refuge glacial refuge environmental stability conservation rarefaction curves individuals-area curves species-area curves compensations écologiques Guinée Equatoriale Monte Alén Monts de Cristal Réserve de Ndoté rainforest transgression Monte Alén Cristal mountains strate forestière sous-bois ensemble structural groupe écologique modèles architecturaux guilde types fonctionnels synusie genres monotypiques genres paucispecifiques diversité végétale courbes aire-espèces courbes individus-espèces courbes de raréfaction courbes aire-constance aire minimale morpho-espèces pléistocène constancy-area curves minimal area structural ensemble understorey ecological group synusia oligotypic genus Réserve de Biosphère du Dja Cameroun Quaternaire glaciation refuge glaciaire refuge de pied de massifs montagneux stabilité environnementale conservation transgression forestière phytosociology plant community phytogeography open classification non-zonal nested plots forest types IndVal morphospecies pleistocene littoral forest rain forest afromontane submontane altitudinal belt glaciation Quaternary Equatorial Guinea ecological equalization continentality continentalité étage d’altitude forêt littorale forêt dense humide afromontagnard submontagnard IndVal types forestiers phytosociologie phytogéographie classification ouverte azonal relevés emboîtés multistrates monotypic genus architectural model guild plant functional type Ndoté Reserve Cameroon Dja Biosphere Reserve forest stratum forest layer understory

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