High aboveground carbon stock of African tropical montane forests

Aida Cuni-Sanchez; Martin J. P. Sullivan; Philip J. Platts; Simon L. Lewis; Rob Marchant; Gérard Imani; Wannes Hubau; Iveren Abiem; Hari Adhikari; Tomas Albrecht; Jan Altman; Christian Amani; Abreham B. Aneseyee; Valerio Avitabile; Lindsay Banin; Rodrigue Batumike; Marijn Bauters; Hans Beeckman; Serge Begne; Amy Bennett; Robert Bitariho; Pascal Boeckx; Jan Bogaert; Achim Bräuning; Franklin Bulonvu; Neil Burgess; Kim Calders; Colin Chapman; Hazel Chapman; James Comiskey; Thales de Haulleville; Mathieu Decuyper; Ben Devries; Jiri Dolezal; Vincent Droissart; Corneille Ewango; Senbeta Feyera; Aster Gebrekirstos; Roy Gereau; Martin Gilpin; Dismas Hakizimana; Jefferson Hall; Alan Hamilton; Olivier Hardy; Terese Hart; Janne Heiskanen; Andreas Hemp; Martin Herold; Ulrike Hiltner; David Horak; Marie-Noel Kamdem; Charles Kayijamahe; David Kenfack; Mwangi Kinyanjui; Julia Klein; Janvier Lisingo; Jon Lovett; Mark Lung; Jean-Remy Makana; Yadvinder Malhi; Andrew Marshall; Emanuel Martin; Edward Mitchard; Alexandra Morel; John Mukendi; Tom Muller; Felix Nchu; Brigitte Nyirambangutse; Joseph Okello; Kelvin S.-H. Peh; Petri Pellikka; Oliver Phillips; Andrew Plumptre; Lan Qie; Francesco Rovero; Moses Sainge; Christine Schmitt; Ondrej Sedlacek; Alain Ngute; Douglas Sheil; Demisse Sheleme; Tibebu Simegn; Murielle Simo-Droissart; Bonaventure Sonké; Teshome Soromessa; Terry Sunderland; Miroslav Svoboda; Hermann Taedoumg; James Taplin; David Taylor; Sean Thomas; Jonathan Timberlake; Darlington Tuagben; Peter Umunay; Eustrate Uzabaho; Hans Verbeeck; Jason Vleminckx; Göran Wallin; Charlotte Wheeler; Simon Willcock; John T. Woods; Etienne Zibera

doi:10.1038/s41586-021-03728-4

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High aboveground carbon stock of African tropical montane forests

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High aboveground carbon stock of African tropical montane forests

Aida Cuni-Sanchez, Martin J. P. Sullivan, Philip J. Platts, Simon L. Lewis, Rob Marchant, Gérard Imani, Wannes Hubau, Iveren Abiem, Hari Adhikari, Tomas Albrecht, …

Nature, Vol.596(7873), pp.536-542

26/08/2021

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-021-03728-4

Résumé

Africa

Forest ecology

Ecosystem services

Carbon cycle

Tropical forests store 40–50 per cent of terrestrial vegetation carbon1. However, spatial variations in aboveground live tree biomass carbon (AGC) stocks remain poorly understood, in particular in tropical montane forests2. Owing to climatic and soil changes with increasing elevation3, AGC stocks are lower in tropical montane forests compared with lowland forests2. Here we assemble and analyse a dataset of structurally intact old-growth forests (AfriMont) spanning 44 montane sites in 12 African countries. We find that montane sites in the AfriMont plot network have a mean AGC stock of 149.4 megagrams of carbon per hectare (95% confidence interval 137.1–164.2), which is comparable to lowland forests in the African Tropical Rainforest Observation Network4 and about 70 per cent and 32 per cent higher than averages from plot networks in montane2,5,6 and lowland7 forests in the Neotropics, respectively. Notably, our results are two-thirds higher than the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change default values for these forests in Africa8. We find that the low stem density and high abundance of large trees of African lowland forests4 is mirrored in the montane forests sampled. This carbon store is endangered: we estimate that 0.8 million hectares of old-growth African montane forest have been lost since 2000. We provide country-specific montane forest AGC stock estimates modelled from our plot network to help to guide forest conservation and reforestation interventions. Our findings highlight the need for conserving these biodiverse9,10 and carbon-rich ecosystems.

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Titre: High aboveground carbon stock of African tropical montane forests
Créateurs - sans rôle: Aida Cuni-Sanchez - University of York
Martin J. P. Sullivan - Manchester Metropolitan University
Philip J. Platts - Leverhulme Trust
Simon L. Lewis - University of Leeds
Rob Marchant - University of York
Gérard Imani - Université Officielle de Bukavu
Wannes Hubau - Royal Museum for Central Africa
Iveren Abiem - Forestry Research Institute of Nigeria
Hari Adhikari - University of Helsinki
Tomas Albrecht - Czech Academy of Sciences, Institute of Vertebrate Biology
Jan Altman - Czech Academy of Sciences, Institute of Botany
Christian Amani - Université Officielle de Bukavu
Abreham B. Aneseyee - Addis Ababa University
Valerio Avitabile - Joint Research Centre
Lindsay Banin - UK Centre for Ecology & Hydrology
Rodrigue Batumike
Marijn Bauters - Ghent University
Hans Beeckman - Royal Museum for Central Africa
Serge Begne - University of Leeds
Amy Bennett - University of Leeds
Robert Bitariho - Mbarara University of Science and Technology
Pascal Boeckx - Ghent University
Jan Bogaert - Gembloux Agro-Bio Tech
Achim Bräuning - Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg
Franklin Bulonvu
Neil Burgess - World Conservation Monitoring Centre
Kim Calders - Ghent University
Colin Chapman - Northwest University
Hazel Chapman - University of Canterbury
James Comiskey - National Park Service
Thales de Haulleville - Ghent University Hospital
Mathieu Decuyper - World Agroforestry Centre
Ben Devries - University of Guelph
Jiri Dolezal - University of South Bohemia in České Budějovice
Vincent Droissart - Université de Montpellier, BotAnique et Modélisation de l'Architecture des Plantes et des végétations - AMAP
Corneille Ewango
Senbeta Feyera - Addis Ababa University
Aster Gebrekirstos - World Agroforestry Centre
Roy Gereau - Missouri Botanical Garden
Martin Gilpin - University of Leeds
Dismas Hakizimana - Université du Burundi
Jefferson Hall - ForestGEO
Alan Hamilton - Kunming Institute of Botany
Olivier Hardy - Université Libre de Bruxelles
Terese Hart - American Museum of Natural History
Janne Heiskanen - University of Helsinki
Andreas Hemp - University of Bayreuth
Martin Herold - Wageningen University & Research
Ulrike Hiltner - Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research
David Horak - Charles University
Marie-Noel Kamdem - Université de Yaoundé I
Charles Kayijamahe - International Gorilla Conservation Programme
David Kenfack - ForestGEO
Mwangi Kinyanjui - Karatina University
Julia Klein - Colorado State University
Janvier Lisingo - Université de Kisangani
Jon Lovett - University of Leeds
Mark Lung
Jean-Remy Makana - Université de Kisangani
Yadvinder Malhi - University of Oxford
Andrew Marshall - University of York
Emanuel Martin - College of African Wildlife Management
Edward Mitchard
Alexandra Morel - University of Dundee
John Mukendi - Royal Museum for Central Africa
Tom Muller
Felix Nchu - Cape Peninsula University of Technology
Brigitte Nyirambangutse - University of Kigali
Joseph Okello - Mountains of the Moon University
Kelvin S.-H. Peh
Petri Pellikka - State Key Laboratory of Information Engineering in Surveying Mapping and Remote Sensing
Oliver Phillips - University of Leeds
Andrew Plumptre - BirdLife international
Lan Qie - University of Lincoln
Francesco Rovero - University of Florence
Moses Sainge
Christine Schmitt - University of Freiburg
Ondrej Sedlacek - Charles University
Alain Ngute
Douglas Sheil - Wageningen University & Research
Demisse Sheleme - Addis Ababa University
Tibebu Simegn - Ethiopian Biodiversity Institute
Murielle Simo-Droissart - Université de Yaoundé I
Bonaventure Sonké - Université de Yaoundé I
Teshome Soromessa - Addis Ababa University
Terry Sunderland
Miroslav Svoboda - Czech University of Life Sciences Prague
Hermann Taedoumg - International Institute of Tropical Agriculture
James Taplin - UK Research and Innovation
David Taylor - National University of Singapore
Sean Thomas - University of Toronto
Jonathan Timberlake
Darlington Tuagben
Peter Umunay - Yale University
Eustrate Uzabaho - International Gorilla Conservation Programme
Hans Verbeeck - Ghent University
Jason Vleminckx - Florida International University
Göran Wallin - University of Gothenburg
Charlotte Wheeler - University of Edinburgh
Simon Willcock - Bangor University
John T. Woods
Etienne Zibera - University of Rwanda
Détails de publication: Nature, Vol.596(7873), pp.536-542
Identifiants: 99152111209311
Unité académique: BotAnique et Modélisation de l'Architecture des Plantes et des végétations - AMAP
Langue: English
Type de ressource: Journal article
Champs locaux: hal-03329118