Forest structure and diversity of Lianas and understory treelets in monodominant and mixed stands in the Ituri forest, Democratic Republic of the Congo

lianas >= 2 cm diameter. All free-standing stems 1 cm in diameter at breast height. A liana with several rooted stems received a single tag, but all stems with leaves above 1.3 m were mapped at the point of rooting and measured at breast height. For lianas, as for free-standing stems, the point of measurement was marked with white oil-based paint. Lianas were more than 4 times as abundant in mixed forest at Edoro than in monodominant forest at Lenda. The Edoro plot also had a greater numberof large lianas and, consequently, a greater liana basal area. 20 liana families represented on the 3 ha inventoried at Lenda and 25 at Edoro. Seven of eight most common liana families were shared between the two sites; however, there was no correlation of ranked abundance. Annonaceae was one of eight abundant liana families at Edoro, but was not represented on the LEnda plot. Much of the liana density at Edoro was concentrated in two families, Connaraceae and Euphorbiaceae. Euphorbiaceae, the most abundant family, was represented almost exclusively by a single, very abundant species, Manniophyton fulvum, that occurred at 225 individuals ha-1 and constituted 31% of all lianas at Edoro. No family or species achieved comparable dominance in G. dewevrei forest at Lenda.