Caractérisation de la Biomasse sèche des mosaïques forêt-savane des plateaux Okouma et Bagombé au sud-est du Gabon

Objectif : Quantifier la biomasse sèche de savanes et du sous-bois en forêts dans la mosaïques forêtsavane au Sud-est du Gabon (Okouma et Bagombé).Méthodologie et résultats : La méthode destructive a été utilisée pour l’acquisition des données. En effet, elle a consisté à identifier, mesurer l’aide d’un pied à coulisse et peser les différents arbustes dans une parcelle de 25m2.Pour les arbustes dont les diamètres sont compris entre 1 et 5cm, ont été sectionnés, mesurés et pesés .Les aliquotes prélevés sur chaque échantillon ont permis d’estimer la biomasse en laboratoire .Ainsi, l’analyse statistique réalisée sur ces données a montré que la productivité moyenne de biomasse sèche est beaucoup plus importante en savane (35466760kg/ha) qu’en sous-bois (3442996kg/ha). Par ailleurs, la comparaison statistique «ANNOVA» entre la biomasse sèche produite dans les différents biotopes anthropisés montre que la productivité moyenne de biomasse sèche n’est pas différente d’un biotope à un autre, et afin une estimation des gains perçus par la vente des stockes de carbone dans le cadre du programme REDD a été simulée sur une aire de 3700haConclusion and application : Ce travail a permis de quantifier les stocks de carbone en savane et dans les sous-bois des mosaïque-forêt-savane. Ces travaux sont également d’intérêt capital pour les gouvernants à la fois dans la mise en oeuvre des politiques de réductions des émissions des gaz à effet des serres et d’un impact économique notamment dans le cadre du programme REDD.Mots clés: Carbone, Biomasse sèche, Gabon, savanes, forêt, changement climatiqu

Central African biomes and forest succession stages derived from modern pollen data and plant functional types

New detailed vegetation reconstructions are proposed in Atlantic Central Africa from a modern pollen data set derived from 199 sites (Cameroon, Gabon and Congo) including 131 new sites. In this study, the concept of plant functional classification is improved with new and more detailed plant functional types (PFTs) and new aggregations of pollen taxa. Using the biomisation method, we reconstructed (1) modern potential biomes and (2) potential succession stages of forest regeneration, a new approach in Atlantic Central African vegetation dynamics and ecosystem functioning reconstruction. When compared to local vegetation, potential biomes are correctly reconstructed (97.5% of the sites) and tropical rain forest (TRFO biome) is well identified from tropical seasonal forest (TSFO biome). When the potential biomes are superimposed on the White's vegetation map, only 76.4% of the sites are correctly reconstructed. But using botanical data, correspondence and cluster analyses, the 43 sites from Congo (Mayombe) evidence more affinities with those of central Gabon and so they can also be considered as correctly reconstructed as TRFO biome and White's map should be revised. In terms of potential succession stages of forest regeneration, the mature forest (TMFO) is well differentiated from the secondary forest (TSFE), but inside this latter group, the young and the pioneer stages are not clearly identified due probably to their low sampling representation. Moreover, linked to their progressive and mosaic character, the boundaries between two forest biomes or two forest stages are not clearly detected and need also a more intensive sampling in such transitions

Augmentation de la biomasse de la roselle (Hibiscus sabdariffa L. var. sabdariffa) par des traitements à l’acide borique, au Gabon

Pour intensifier la production de la roselle (Hibiscus sabdariffa L. var. sabdariffa), une plante à forte valeur marchande au Gabon, un essai de stimulation de la croissance végétale a été réalisé par prétraitement des graines à différentes solutions d’acide borique (H3BO3). L’effet inducteur a été mesuré par la variation de matière sèche des racines, des tiges et rameaux, des feuilles et des fruits des plantes âgées de 100 jours. Les résultats montrent que l’acide borique a induit 2 actions morphologiques opposées : la réduction de la matière sèche des organes à des concentrations élevées, supérieures à 10-10 M, et l’augmentation de celle-ci, pour des concentrations faibles inférieures à cette valeur. Les stimulations les plus importantes ont été induites par les concentrations de 10-10 M, avec des hausses de matière sèche supérieures à 30%. L’emploi de l’acide borique est donc théoriquement envisageable dans les programmes d’amélioration de la production de la roselle au Gabon.Mots clés: Acide borique, Roselle, Prétraitement, Biomasse, Augmentation, Diminutio

Western equatorial African forest-savanna mosaics: a legacy of late Holocene climatic change?

Past vegetation and climate changes reconstructed using two pollen records from Lakes Maridor and Nguène, located in the coastal savannas and inland rainforest of Gabon, respectively, provide new insights into the environmental history of western equatorial African rainforests during the last 4500 cal yr BP. These pollen records indicate that the coastal savannas of western equatorial Africa did not exist during the mid-Holocene and instead the region was covered by evergreen rainforests. From ca. 4000 cal yr BP a progressive decline of inland evergreen rainforest, accompanied by the expansion of semi-deciduous rainforest, occurred synchronously with grassland colonisation in the coastal region of Gabon. The contraction of moist evergreen rainforest and the establishment of coastal savannas in Gabon suggest decreasing humidity from ca. 4000 cal yr BP. The marked reduction in evergreen rainforest and subsequent savanna expansion was followed from 2700 cal yr BP by the colonization of secondary forests dominated by the palm, <i>Elaeis guineensis</i>, and the shrub, <i>Alchornea cordifolia</i> (Euphorbiaceae). A return to wetter climatic conditions from about 1400 cal yr BP led to the renewed spread of evergreen rainforest inland, whereas a forest-savanna mosaic still persists in the coastal region. There is no evidence to suggest that the major environmental changes observed were driven by human impact

Closing a gap in tropical forest biomass estimation : taking crown mass variation into account in pantropical allometries

Accurately monitoring tropical forest carbon stocks is a challenge that remains outstanding. Allometric models that consider tree diameter, height and wood density as predictors are currently used in most tropical forest carbon studies. In particular, a pantropical biomass model has been widely used for approximately a decade, and its most recent version will certainly constitute a reference model in the coming years. However, this reference model shows a systematic bias towards the largest trees. Because large trees are key drivers of forest carbon stocks and dynamics, understanding the origin and the consequences of this bias is of utmost concern. In this study, we compiled a unique tree mass data set of 673 trees destructively sampled in five tropical countries (101 trees > 100 cm in diameter) and an original data set of 130 forest plots (1 ha) from central Africa to quantify the prediction error of biomass allometric models at the individual and plot levels when explicitly taking crown mass variations into account or not doing so. We first showed that the proportion of crown to total tree aboveground biomass is highly variable among trees, ranging from 3 to 88 %. This proportion was constant on average for trees = 45 Mg. This increase coincided with a progressive deviation between the pantropical biomass model estimations and actual tree mass. Taking a crown mass proxy into account in a newly developed model consistently removed the bias observed for large trees (> 1 Mg) and reduced the range of plot- level error (in %) from [-23; 16] to [0; 10]. The disproportionally higher allocation of large trees to crown mass may thus explain the bias observed recently in the reference pantropical model. This bias leads to far- from- negligible, but often overlooked, systematic errors at the plot level and may be easily corrected by taking a crown mass proxy for the largest trees in a stand into account, thus suggesting that the accuracy of forest carbon estimates can be significantly improved at a minimal cost

The biogeography of Gabonese savannas: evidence from termite community richness and composition

DATA AVAILABILITY STATEMENT : All biological samples collected for this study are stored at the Natural History Museum of London and remain the property of the Gabonese government. Research authorisation from Gabon's Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique et Technologique (CENAREST) will be required for use of these samples for any other research. R scripts and raw data are archived on Zenodo (DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.6475429). Sequence data have been submitted to the GenBank database under accession numbers ON952588-ON953141.SUPPLEMENTARY MATERIAL 1 : Data S1.SUPPLEMENTARY MATERIAL 2 : Table S1. Table S3. Table S4. Table S5. Table S6.SUPPLEMENTARY MATERIAL 2 : Table S2.AIM : The mosaic of savannas that persists in the forest-dominant Congo Basin is thought to be palaeoclimatic relics, but past biogeographical processes that have formed and maintained these systems are poorly understood. Here, we explored the post-Pleistocene biogeography of Gabon's savannas using termites as biological indicators to understand historical and mechanistic factors influencing present-day termite communities in the country's extant savannas. LOCATION : Gabon, Central Africa. TAXON : Blattodea: Termitoidae. METHODS : Using standardised transect methods, we sampled termite communities in four disjunct modern savanna areas of Gabon: the centre (Lopé), the southeast (Batéké) and the south (Mayombe North and South). Termites at Lopé were collected in three habitats (annually burned savannas, savannas with a depressed fire regime and forest). We used DNA barcoding of the COII region to identify termite species and compared abundance, species richness and community composition across areas and habitats. RESULTS : Community composition differed greatly between Lopé and both Batéké and Mayombe savannas with Lopé being exceptionally depauperate and lacking characteristic savanna species. Within Lopé, termite abundance and diversity was highest in forests and lowest in annually burned savannas, with a gradual change in species composition across the forest–savanna gradient associated with fire history. MAIN CONCLUSIONS : The absence of savanna typical species in Lopé savannas challenges current assumptions that these savannas were linked to the south/southeastern savannas during the Pleistocene and suggests a different evolutionary history. Lopé savannas may instead have opened as an isolated grassland and never have been contiguous with neighbouring savannas, or were isolated soon after forest expansion began and have now lost savanna-typical species. Furthermore, the patterns of termite community composition in fire suppressed savannas support a hypothesis of rapid change driven by fire frequency where either fire suppression or infrequent burning over 23 years has meant savannas have become ecologically much more forest-like.DFID and Office of the Royal Society.http://www.wileyonlinelibrary.com/journal/jbihj2024Zoology and EntomologySDG-15:Life on lan

Range Expansion Drives Dispersal Evolution In An Equatorial Three-Species Symbiosis

A-09-14International audienceBackground Recurrent climatic oscillations have produced dramatic changes in species distributions. This process has been proposed to be a major evolutionary force, shaping many life history traits of species, and to govern global patterns of biodiversity at different scales. During range expansions selection may favor the evolution of higher dispersal, and symbiotic interactions may be affected. It has been argued that a weakness of climate fluctuation-driven range dynamics at equatorial latitudes has facilitated the persistence there of more specialized species and interactions. However, how much the biology and ecology of species is changed by range dynamics has seldom been investigated, particularly in equatorial regions. Methodology/Principal Findings We studied a three-species symbiosis endemic to coastal equatorial rainforests in Cameroon, where the impact of range dynamics is supposed to be limited, comprised of two species-specific obligate mutualists –an ant-plant and its protective ant– and a species-specific ant parasite of this mutualism. We combined analyses of within-species genetic diversity and of phenotypic variation in a transect at the southern range limit of this ant-plant system. All three species present congruent genetic signatures of recent gradual southward expansion, a result compatible with available regional paleoclimatic data. As predicted, this expansion has been accompanied by the evolution of more dispersive traits in the two ant species. In contrast, we detected no evidence of change in lifetime reproductive strategy in the tree, nor in its investment in food resources provided to its symbiotic ants. Conclusions/Significance Despite the decreasing investment in protective workers and the increasing investment in dispersing females by both the mutualistic and the parasitic ant species, there was no evidence of destabilization of the symbiosis at the colonization front. To our knowledge, we provide here the first evidence at equatorial latitudes that biological traits associated with dispersal are affected by the range expansion dynamics of a set of interacting species

Historical sampling reveals dramatic demographic changes in western gorilla populations

Background: Today many large mammals live in small, fragmented populations, but it is often unclear whether this subdivision is the result of long-term or recent events. Demographic modeling using genetic data can estimate changes in long-term population sizes while temporal sampling provides a way to compare genetic variation present today with that sampled in the past. In order to better understand the dynamics associated with the divergences of great ape populations, these analytical approaches were applied to western gorillas (Gorilla gorilla) and in particular to the isolated and Critically Endangered Cross River gorilla subspecies (G. g. diehli).Results: We used microsatellite genotypes from museum specimens and contemporary samples of Cross River gorillas to infer both the long-term and recent population history. We find that Cross River gorillas diverged from the ancestral western gorilla population ~17,800 years ago (95% HDI: 760, 63,245 years). However, gene flow ceased only ~420 years ago (95% HDI: 200, 16,256 years), followed by a bottleneck beginning ~320 years ago (95% HDI: 200, 2,825 years) that caused a 60-fold decrease in the effective population size of Cross River gorillas. Direct comparison of heterozygosity estimates from museum and contemporary samples suggests a loss of genetic variation over the last 100 years.Conclusions: The composite history of western gorillas could plausibly be explained by climatic oscillations inducing environmental changes in western equatorial Africa that would have allowed gorilla populations to expand over time but ultimately isolate the Cross River gorillas, which thereafter exhibited a dramatic population size reduction. The recent decrease in the Cross River population is accordingly most likely attributable to increasing anthropogenic pressure over the last several hundred years. Isolation of diverging populations with prolonged concomitant gene flow, but not secondary admixture, appears to be a typical characteristic of the population histories of African great apes, including gorillas, chimpanzees and bonobos

Leveraging Signatures of Plant Functional Strategies in Wood Density Profiles of African Trees to Correct Mass Estimations From Terrestrial Laser Data

peer reviewedWood density (WD) relates to important tree functions such as stem mechanics and resistance against pathogens. This functional trait can exhibit high intraindividual variability both radially and vertically. With the rise of LiDAR-based methodologies allowing nondestructive tree volume estimations, failing to account for WD variations related to tree function and biomass investment strategies may lead to large systematic bias in AGB estimations. Here, we use a unique destructive dataset from 822 trees belonging to 51 phylogenetically dispersed tree species harvested across forest types in Central Africa to determine vertical gradients in WD from the stump to the branch tips, how these gradients relate to regeneration guilds and their implications for AGB estimations. We find that decreasing WD from the tree base to the branch tips is characteristic of shade-tolerant species, while light-demanding and pioneer species exhibit stationary or increasing vertical trends. Across all species, the WD range is narrower in tree crowns than at the tree base, reflecting more similar physiological and mechanical constraints in the canopy. Vertical gradients in WD induce significant bias (10%) in AGB estimates when using database-derived species-average WD data. However, the correlation between the vertical gradients and basal WD allows the derivation of general correction models. With the ongoing development of remote sensing products providing 3D information for entire trees and forest stands, our findings indicate promising ways to improve greenhouse gas accounting in tropical countries and advance our understanding of adaptive strategies allowing trees to grow and survive in dense rainforests. © 2020, The Author(s)

Long-Term Vegetation Change in Central Africa: The Need for an Integrated Management Framework for Forests and Savannas

peer reviewedTropical forests and savannas are the main biomes in sub-Saharan Africa, covering most of the continent. Collectively they offer important habitat for biodiversity and provide multiple ecosystem services. Considering their global importance and the multiple sustainability challenges they face in the era of the Anthropocene, this chapter undertakes a comprehensive analysis of the past, present, and future vegetation patterns in central African forests and savannas. Past changes in climate, vegetation, land use, and human activity have affected the distribution of forests and savannas across central Africa. Currently, forests form a continuous block across the wet and moist areas of central Africa, and are characterized by high tree cover (>90% tree cover). Savannas and woodlands have lower tree cover (<40% tree cover), are found in drier sites in the north and south of the region, and are maintained by frequent fires. Recent tree cover loss (2000–2015) has been more important for forests than for savannas, which, however, reportedly experienced woody encroachment. Future cropland expansion is expected to have a strong impact on savannas, while the extent of climatic impacts depends on the actual scenario. We finally identify some of the policy implications for restoring ecosystems, expanding protected areas, and designing sustainable ecosystem management approaches in the region