High aboveground carbon stock of African tropical montane forests

Cuni-Sanchez, Aida; Sullivan, Martin J.P.; Platts, Philip J.; Lewis, Simon L.; Marchant, Rob; Imani, Gérard; Hubau, Wannes; Abiem, Iveren; Adhikari, Hari; Albrecht, Tomas; Altman, Jan; Amani, Christian; Aneseyee, Abreham B.; Avitabile, Valerio; Banin, Lindsay ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1168-3914; Batumike, Rodrigue; Bauters, Marijn; Beeckman, Hans; Begne, Serge K.; Bennett, Amy C.; Bitariho, Robert; Boeckx, Pascal; Bogaert, Jan; Bräuning, Achim; Bulonvu, Franklin; Burgess, Neil D.; Calders, Kim; Chapman, Colin; Chapman, Hazel; Comiskey, James; de Haulleville, Thales; Decuyper, Mathieu; DeVries, Ben; Dolezal, Jiri; Droissart, Vincent; Ewango, Corneille; Feyera, Senbeta; Gebrekirstos, Aster; Gereau, Roy; Gilpin, Martin; Hakizimana, Dismas; Hall, Jefferson; Hamilton, Alan; Hardy, Olivier; Hart, Terese; Heiskanen, Janne; Hemp, Andreas; Herold, Martin; Hiltner, Ulrike; Horak, David; Kamdem, Marie-Noel; Kayijamahe, Charles; Kenfack, David; Kinyanjui, Mwangi J.; Klein, Julia; Lisingo, Janvier; Lovett, Jon; Lung, Mark; Makana, Jean-Remy; Malhi, Yadvinder; Marshall, Andrew; Martin, Emanuel H.; Mitchard, Edward T.A.; Morel, Alexandra; Mukendi, John T.; Muller, Tom; Nchu, Felix; Nyirambangutse, Brigitte; Okello, Joseph; Peh, Kelvin S.-H.; Pellikka, Petri; Phillips, Oliver L.; Plumptre, Andrew; Qie, Lan; Rovero, Francesco; Sainge, Moses N.; Schmitt, Christine B.; Sedlacek, Ondrej; Ngute, Alain S.K.; Sheil, Douglas; Sheleme, Demisse; Simegn, Tibebu Y.; Simo-Droissart, Murielle; Sonké, Bonaventure; Soromessa, Teshome; Sunderland, Terry; Svoboda, Miroslav; Taedoumg, Hermann; Taplin, James; Taylor, David; Thomas, Sean C.; Timberlake, Jonathan; Tuagben, Darlington; Umunay, Peter; Uzabaho, Eustrate; Verbeeck, Hans; Vleminckx, Jason; Wallin, Göran; Wheeler, Charlotte; Willcock, Simon; Woods, John T.; Zibera, Etienne. 2021 High aboveground carbon stock of African tropical montane forests. Nature, 596 (7873). 536-542. 10.1038/s41586-021-03728-4

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Official URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s41586-021-03728-4

Abstract/Summary

Tropical forests store 40–50 per cent of terrestrial vegetation carbon. However, spatial variations in aboveground live tree biomass carbon (AGC) stocks remain poorly understood, in particular in tropical montane forests. Owing to climatic and soil changes with increasing elevation, AGC stocks are lower in tropical montane forests compared with lowland forests. 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 and about 70 per cent and 32 per cent higher than averages from plot networks in montane and lowland 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. We find that the low stem density and high abundance of large trees of African lowland forests 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 and carbon-rich ecosystems.

Item Type:	Publication - Article
Digital Object Identifier (DOI):	10.1038/s41586-021-03728-4
UKCEH and CEH Sections/Science Areas:	Atmospheric Chemistry and Effects (Science Area 2017-)
ISSN:	0028-0836
Additional Information. Not used in RCUK Gateway to Research.:	Publisher link (see Related URLs) provides a read-only full-text copy of the published paper.
Additional Keywords:	carbon cycle, ecosystem services, forest ecology
NORA Subject Terms:	Ecology and Environment
Related URLs:	Publisher
Date made live:	05 Oct 2021 13:30 +0 (UTC)
URI:	https://nora.nerc.ac.uk/id/eprint/531179

Item Type:

Publication - Article

Digital Object Identifier (DOI):

10.1038/s41586-021-03728-4

UKCEH and CEH Sections/Science Areas:

Atmospheric Chemistry and Effects (Science Area 2017-)

ISSN:

0028-0836

Additional Information. Not used in RCUK Gateway to Research.:

Publisher link (see Related URLs) provides a read-only full-text copy of the published paper.

Additional Keywords:

carbon cycle, ecosystem services, forest ecology