Ecological challenges for the buffer zone management of protected areas of forest-savannah mosaic in West Africa

In sub-Saharan Africa, the management of buffer zones around protected areas does not often take into serious account the needs of resource exploitation by the local populations or the conservation needs of these areas. We described the ecological characteristics and management issues affecting the buffer zone around the Fazao-Malfakassa National Park; a 192,000-ha protected area in central-western Togo of utmost conservation importance within the Dahomey Gap region. Within the buffer zone (10 km radius, 334,800 ha), we focussed on four high conservation value areas totalling 65,594 ha (20% of the total buffer zone area). Using 2015 sentinel-2 images we analyzed land cover patterns and described existing ecological zones. We complemented these with field surveys and interviews with 300 people living in 22 villages within the buffer zone to describe the conditions affecting the resident human population. Although over 60% of the total buffer zone area is degraded, we identified four areas of high conservation value (total area = 65,594 ha). Interviewees recognized that slash-and-burn was the most common form of land use, followed by agroforestry practices. Agriculture, charcoal, and firewood production were the main drivers affecting habitats, and land conflicts were recurrent due to the rise in human population. The decline in agriculture, reported by interviewees in some sectors, was attributable to ravages of crops by elephants. Three independent diversity indices showed that, in preserved zones, a greater diversity of animals (with similar utilization frequencies) were hunted than in degraded sites (where grasscutters were the dominant hunted species). There were also significant differences between degraded and preserved zones in terms of plants used for charcoal production and for non-timber forest products. We advocate the development of community-controlled hunting areas to enhance the conservation value of the four well-preserved zones. Instead, promoting sustainable agricultural production systems in the degraded areas can help to further stabilize the agricultural front and reduce land pressure on the park

Wind dispersed tree species have greater maximum height

AimWe test the hypothesis that wind dispersal is more common among emergent tree species given that being tall increases the likelihood of effective seed dispersal.LocationAmericas, Africa and the Asia‐Pacific.Time period1970–2020.Major taxa studiedGymnosperms and Angiosperms.MethodsWe used a dataset consisting of tree inventories from 2821 plots across three biogeographic regions (Americas, Africa and Asia‐Pacific), including dry and wet forests, to determine the maximum height and dispersal strategy of 5314 tree species. A web search was used to determine whether species were wind‐dispersed. We compared differences in tree species maximum height between biogeographic regions and examined the relationship between species maximum height and wind dispersal using logistic regression. We also tested whether emergent tree species, that is species with at least one individual taller than the 95% height percentile in one or more plots, were disproportionally wind dispersed in dry and wet forests within each biogeographic region.ResultsOur dataset provides maximum height values for 5314 tree species, of which more than half (2914) had no record of this trait in existing global databases. We found that, on average, tree species in the Americas have lower maximum heights compared to those in Africa and the Asia Pacific. The probability of wind dispersal increased significantly with tree species maximum height and was significantly higher among emergent than non‐emergent tree species in both dry and wet forests in all three biogeographic regions.Main conclusionWind dispersal is more prevalent in tall, emergent tree species than in non‐emergent species and may thus be an important factor in the evolution of tree species maximum height. By providing the most comprehensive dataset so far of tree species maximum height and wind dispersal strategies, this study paves the way for advancing our understanding of the eco‐evolutionary drivers of tree size