1. High aboveground carbon stock of African tropical montane forests
- Author
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Janvier Lisingo, Tibebu Y. Simegn, Miroslav Svoboda, Murielle Simo-Droissart, Dismas Hakizimana, Charles Kayijamahe, Emanuel H. Martin, Aida Cuni-Sanchez, Jan Altman, Petri Pellikka, Hans Verbeeck, Rob Marchant, Andreas Hemp, Jefferson S. Hall, Jiri Dolezal, Janne Heiskanen, Valerio Avitabile, Pascal Boeckx, Olivier J. Hardy, Vincent Droissart, Roy E. Gereau, Mark Lung, Felix Nchu, Hermann Taedoumg, Philip J. Platts, Charlotte E. Wheeler, Jonathan Timberlake, Colin A. Chapman, Brigitte Nyirambangutse, Andrew J. Plumptre, Demisse Sheleme, Abreham Berta Aneseyee, Joseph Okello, Terese B. Hart, Peter M. Umunay, John Tshibamba Mukendi, Lan Qie, Simon L. Lewis, Mathieu Decuyper, Senbeta Feyera, Teshome Soromessa, Kelvin S.-H. Peh, Corneille E. N. Ewango, Simon Willcock, Wannes Hubau, Aster Gebrekirstos, Edward T. A. Mitchard, Ben DeVries, Gerard Imani, Martin Herold, David Horák, Andrew R. Marshall, Serge K. Begne, Achim Bräuning, Kim Calders, C. Amani, A. C. Hamilton, Marie Noel Djuikouo Kamdem, Jean-Remy Makana, Martin J. P. Sullivan, Mwangi James Kinyanjui, Yadvinder Malhi, Tomáš Albrecht, Tom Muller, Hazel M. Chapman, Robert Bitariho, Julia A. Klein, Alain Senghor K. Ngute, Marijn Bauters, Eustrate Uzabaho, Göran Wallin, Christine B. Schmitt, Hari Adhikari, Iveren Abiem, Franklin Bulonvu, Ulrike Hiltner, Moses Nsanyi Sainge, James Taplin, Amy C. Bennett, John T. Woods, Sean C. Thomas, Jason Vleminckx, David Taylor, Oliver L. Phillips, Alexandra C. Morel, James A. Comiskey, Douglas Sheil, Thalès de Haulleville, Francesco Rovero, Darlington Tuagben, Neil D. Burgess, Jon C. Lovett, Terry Sunderland, Rodrigue Batumike, Martin Gilpin, Bonaventure Sonké, Jan Bogaert, Ondrej Sedlacek, Etienne Zibera, David Kenfack, Lindsay F. Banin, Hans Beeckman, University of York [York, UK], Manchester Metropolitan University (MMU), International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), University of Leeds, Université officielle de Bukavu, Royal Museum for Central Africa [Tervuren] (RMCA), University of Jos [Nigeria], Helsingin yliopisto = Helsingfors universitet = University of Helsinki, Charles University [Prague] (CU), Addis Ababa University (AAU), European Commission - Joint Research Centre [Ispra] (JRC), UK Centre for Ecology & Hydrology, Natural Environment Research Council (NERC), Universiteit Gent = Ghent University (UGENT), Botanique et Modélisation de l'Architecture des Plantes et des Végétations (UMR AMAP), Centre de Coopération Internationale en Recherche Agronomique pour le Développement (Cirad)-Université de Montpellier (UM)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (IRD [France-Sud])-Institut National de Recherche pour l’Agriculture, l’Alimentation et l’Environnement (INRAE), University of Rwanda, European Project: 328075,EC:FP7:PEOPLE,FP7-PEOPLE-2012-IEF,ASEC-DRYLAND-FORESTS(2014), University of Helsinki, Universiteit Gent = Ghent University [Belgium] (UGENT), Earth Change Observation Laboratory (ECHOLAB), and Department of Geosciences and Geography
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0106 biological sciences ,DIVERSITY ,Endangered species ,Datasets as Topic ,Geographic Mapping ,life_on_land ,[SDV.BID.SPT]Life Sciences [q-bio]/Biodiversity/Systematics, Phylogenetics and taxonomy ,01 natural sciences ,Trees ,Laboratory of Geo-information Science and Remote Sensing ,Biomass ,0303 health sciences ,Biomass (ecology) ,GLOBAL PATTERNS ,Multidisciplinary ,Ecology ,Reforestation ,EASTERN ARC MOUNTAINS ,Carbon cycle ,[SDV.BV.BOT]Life Sciences [q-bio]/Vegetal Biology/Botanics ,Biogeochemistry ,PE&RC ,Geography ,MAP ,C180 Ecology ,climate_action ,STORAGE ,Carbon Sequestration ,Conservation of Natural Resources ,Rainforest ,Climate Change ,Climate change ,010603 evolutionary biology ,Ecology and Environment ,Earth and environmental sciences ,03 medical and health sciences ,[SDV.EE.ECO]Life Sciences [q-bio]/Ecology, environment/Ecosystems ,Forest ecology ,Life Science ,Ecosystem services ,Bosecologie en Bosbeheer ,Laboratorium voor Geo-informatiekunde en Remote Sensing ,Ecosystem ,1172 Environmental sciences ,030304 developmental biology ,Tropical Climate ,SINK ,Forestry ,15. Life on land ,Carbon ,Forest Ecology and Forest Management ,Attitude ,13. Climate action ,Africa ,[SDE.BE]Environmental Sciences/Biodiversity and Ecology ,Tropical rainforest - Abstract
Tropical forests store 40–50 per cent of terrestrial vegetation carbon 1. However, spatial variations in aboveground live tree biomass carbon (AGC) stocks remain poorly understood, in particular in tropical montane forests 2. Owing to climatic and soil changes with increasing elevation 3, AGC stocks are lower in tropical montane forests compared with lowland forests 2. 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 Network 4 and about 70 per cent and 32 per cent higher than averages from plot networks in montane 2,5,6 and lowland 7 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 Africa 8. We find that the low stem density and high abundance of large trees of African lowland forests 4 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 biodiverse 9,10 and carbon-rich ecosystems.