[en] Dry tropical forests are widespread in continental Africa where they account for 70-80% of forested area. Miombo is a dry forest characterized by the dominance of trees in the genera Brachystegia, Julbernardia and Isoberlinia. Dry-season fires are a characteristic feature of these forests. Fire is not a frequent natural disturbance but they originate from anthropic. The impact of fire on forest species depends on the intensity and timing in relation to plant phenology. Due to urban pressure, more than 85% of woodland forests were converted to savannahs given several degree of forest degradation in the landscape. After a disturbance, tropical forest ecosystem can return to a trajectory close to the original ecosystem. The time it takes for this ecosystem recover to its predisturbance ecological condition is termed resilience. Loss of resilience can trigger a shift to another ecological state with ecosystems that are different in species and/or that are different in their functional and structural aspects. The broad goal of our study was to examine impact of fire on resilience of miombo after human disturbances. Mosaic of the MODIS 500m burned area product from 2002 to 2012 were used to calculate return frequency of fires around Lubumbashi. Five degrees of miombo degradation have been established : no degraded forest/little disturbed (level 1), moderately degraded forest (level 2), degraded forest (level 3), severely degraded forest (level 4) et deforested (level 5). For each degree of degradation, 9 circular plots (18 m radius, 0.1ha) were established, excepted for level 4 where 8 plots were laid. Within each circular plot, all woody individuals >= 2 cm diameter at breast height (DBH) were tagged, measured (height and diameter) and identified. Tree seedlings < 2 cm DBH and of height > 20cm were also sampled and identified. Herbaceous biomass was measured.
Floristic composition in level 4 corresponded to fire-tolerant species. In other degree of forest degradation, most abundant species in mature trees consisted to tolerant or semi-tolerant species. Floristic composition of regeneration in most degraded degree consisted to a mixte of miombo species and fire-tolerant species.
Fire has an impact on resilience of miombo after human degradation. Level 4 corresponded to a typical floristic community of a chipya habitat, where all woody species are fire tolerant. Fire can lead degraded miombo toward an alternative stable degraded states.
