Central African rainforest; Forest composition; Forest history; Light-demanding canopy species; Recovery from human disturbance hypothesis; Yangambi Biosphere Reserve; Forestry; Ecology
Abstract :
[en] Key message: In a former paper, we investigated whether the presence of light-demanding tree species in the forest canopy of the Yangambi Biosphere Reserve (central Congo basin) might be a result of past human disturbances (Luambua et al., Ecol Evol 11:18691–18707, 2021). We focussed on the spatial distribution of the most abundant light demanders, but this approach did not yield conclusive results. In the present study, we focus on all species in the forest and conclude that light demanders are not a transient feature of successional tropical forests but an intrinsic component of old-growth forests in Yangambi. Context: Central African rainforests are characterised by an abundance of light-demanding tree species, which are aggregated in the canopy but underrepresented in the understorey. A popular explanation is that these forests are recovering from slash-and-burn farming activities preceding the relocation of settlements during the colonial era. In a former paper, we showed that the abundance of light-demanding tree species in the Yangambi Biosphere Reserve (central Congo basin) cannot be unambiguously attributed to past human disturbances, using an approach that focused on the spatial distribution of the most abundant light demanders (Luambua et al., Ecol Evol 11:18691–18707, 2021). Aims: As the former study was inconclusive, the present study aims to further test the assumptions behind the ‘recovery from human disturbance hypothesis’, by considering all species in the forest of Yangambi. We addressed four specific research questions: (i) do light demanders occur in large ‘pockets’ occupying large areas of forest? (ii) Are light demanders abundant? (iii) Do they exhibit a regeneration deficit? (iv) Is species composition in pockets of light demanders different from the surrounding forests? Methods: We identified the location and size of pockets of light demanders in several transects cumulating to 50 km. We installed permanent inventory plots within and outside these pockets and calculated the diameter and age distributions of light demanders within each pocket. We assessed whether pockets of light demanders are different from surrounding forests, using plot clustering analysis. Results: Our results showed that light demanders were aggregated, but the pockets were small, scarce, and represent a minor fraction of the total forest area. Furthermore, light demanders were not abundant, even in pockets where they were aggregated. Their age distributions did not show a regeneration deficit. Finally, species composition in pockets of light demanders did not differ substantially from surrounding forests where they were scarce or absent. Conclusions: We conclude that light-demanding canopy species do not indicate past human disturbance in Yangambi and that they are an intrinsic component of old-growth forests rather than a transient feature of successional forests. Our insights show that the large carbon sink observed in mature forests in this region is not driven by successional forest dynamics.
Luambua, Nestor K. ; Faculty of Renewable Natural Resources Management, University of Kisangani, Kisangani, Democratic Republic Congo ; UGent-Woodlab-Laboratory of Wood Technology, Department of Environment, Faculty of Bioscience Engineering, Ghent University, Ghent, Belgium ; Service of Wood Biology, Royal Museum for Central Africa, Tervuren, Belgium ; Faculté des Sciences Agronomiques, Université Officielle de Mbujimayi, Mbujimayi, Democratic Republic Congo
Kadorho, Alain S. ; UGent-Woodlab-Laboratory of Wood Technology, Department of Environment, Faculty of Bioscience Engineering, Ghent University, Ghent, Belgium ; Ecole Post Universitaire d’Aménagement Et Gestion Des Territoires Tropicaux (ERAIFT), Kinshasa, Democratic Republic Congo ; Département de Biologie, Faculté des Sciences, Université Officielle de Bukavu, Bukavu, Democratic Republic Congo
Nshimba, Hippolyte S. M. ; Department of Ecology and Flora Resources Management, Faculty of Sciences, University of Kisangani, Kisangani, Democratic Republic Congo
Beeckman, Hans ; Service of Wood Biology, Royal Museum for Central Africa, Tervuren, Belgium
Ewango, Corneille ; Faculty of Renewable Natural Resources Management, University of Kisangani, Kisangani, Democratic Republic Congo
Salako, Kolawolé V. ; Laboratoire de Biomathématiques et d’Éstimations Forestières, Faculty of Agronomic Sciences, University of Abomey-Calavi, Cotonou, Benin ; Service d’Évolution Biologique et Écologie, Université Libre de Bruxelles, Brussels, Belgium
Musepena, Donatien ; Laboratoire de Biologie du Bois, Antenne Foresterie, Institut National pour l’Étude et la Recherche Agronomiques, Yangambi, Democratic Republic Congo
Rousseau, Mélissa; Service of Wood Biology, Royal Museum for Central Africa, Tervuren, Belgium
Laurent, Félix ; UGent-Woodlab-Laboratory of Wood Technology, Department of Environment, Faculty of Bioscience Engineering, Ghent University, Ghent, Belgium ; Service of Wood Biology, Royal Museum for Central Africa, Tervuren, Belgium
Bourland, Nils ; Service of Wood Biology, Royal Museum for Central Africa, Tervuren, Belgium
Hardy, Olivier J. ; Service d’Évolution Biologique et Écologie, Université Libre de Bruxelles, Brussels, Belgium
De Mil, Tom ; Université de Liège - ULiège > TERRA Research Centre > Gestion des ressources forestières ; UGent-Woodlab-Laboratory of Wood Technology, Department of Environment, Faculty of Bioscience Engineering, Ghent University, Ghent, Belgium
Hubau, Wannes ; UGent-Woodlab-Laboratory of Wood Technology, Department of Environment, Faculty of Bioscience Engineering, Ghent University, Ghent, Belgium ; Service of Wood Biology, Royal Museum for Central Africa, Tervuren, Belgium
EU - European Union BELSPO - Belgian Federal Science Policy Office FPS DGD - Federal Public Service. Foreign Affairs, Foreign Trade and Development Cooperation. Directorate-General for Development Cooperation and Humanitarian Aid FWO - Flemish Research Foundation WBI - Wallonie-Bruxelles International
Funding text :
We sincerely thank our institutional partners: the Centre for International Forestry Research (CIFOR), the Institut National pour l'\u00C9tude et la Recherche Agronomiques (INERA-Yangambi), the \u00C9cole R\u00E9gionale Postuniversitaire d\u2019Am\u00E9nagement et de Gestion int\u00E9gr\u00E9s des For\u00EAts et Territoires tropicaux (ERAIFT-Kinshasa), Globe Consult sarl., the University of Kisangani (UNIKIS), the Royal Museum for Central Africa (RMCA) and Ghent University (UGent) for financial, logistic and scientific support for this study and to the Yangambi Wood biology laboratory. Finally, we thank the staff of INERA-Yangambi, the Wood Biology Laboratory of Yangambi, UGent-Woodlab and the Wood Biology service of the Royal Museum for Central Africa for their technical support.The major funders of this work and of the Yangambi Wood biology laboratory were the European Union (EU; project: EEC40 FORETS), the Belgian Directorate-General for Development Cooperation and Humanitarian Aid (DGD; projects: PilotMAB and PilotMABplus), the Belgian Science Policy Office (BELSPO; projects: no. I-1-D-6087\u20131/International Foundation for Science, FED-tWIN2019-prf-075-CongoFORCE, and EF/211/TREE4FLUX) and the Flemish Research Council (FWO; project: G014123N COBARCHIVES). In addition to these funders, Wallonie-Bruxelles International (WBI) had supported SKV with a Postdoctoral fellowship (no. SUB/2019/443681). The funding sources had no involvement in the study design, data collection, analysis, interpretation, manuscript preparation or decision to submit for publication.We sincerely thank our institutional partners: the Centre for International Forestry Research (CIFOR), the Institut National pour l'\u00C9tude et la Recherche Agronomiques (INERA-Yangambi), the \u00C9cole R\u00E9gionale Postuniversitaire d\u2019Am\u00E9nagement et de Gestion int\u00E9gr\u00E9s des For\u00EAts et Territoires tropicaux (ERAIFT-Kinshasa), Globe Consult sarl., the University of Kisangani (UNIKIS), the Royal Museum for Central Africa (RMCA) and Ghent University (UGent) for financial, logistic and scientific support for this study and to the Yangambi Wood biology laboratory. Finally, we thank the staff of INERA-Yangambi, the Wood Biology Laboratory of Yangambi, UGent-Woodlab and the Wood Biology service of the Royal Museum for Central Africa for their technical support. The custom R code generated during the current study are available via the link: https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.11636748.
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