Islands in the Forest: A Photo Exploration of Congo's Bai Ecosystem.

Unique to the Congo basin, bais are one of the world's largest types of forest clearings. Bais are important habitat for a wide range of animal species including the critically endangered African forest elephant (Loxodonta cyclotis) and the western lowland gorilla (Gorilla gorilla gorilla), which access the clearings for rare mineral resources and social opportunities. However, the distribution, biodiversity, and abiotic characteristics of bais are poorly known. Our results show that bais are a rare and clustered riparian ecosystem. We also determined that bais are divided into two distinct types with different biodiversity and abiotic conditions: elephant and gorilla bais.