Environmental filtering of dense-wooded species controls above-ground biomass stored in African moist forests

Autor: Gourlet-Fleury, S., Rossi, V., Réjou-Méchain, M., Freycon, V., Fayolle, A., Saint-André, Laurent, Cornu, G., Gerard, J., Sarrailh, J. M., Flores, Olivier, Baya, F., Billand, A., Fauvet, N., Gally, M., Henry, Mathieu, Hubert, D., Pasquier, A., Picard, N.
Přispěvatelé: Centre de Coopération Internationale en Recherche Agronomique pour le Développement (Cirad), Unité de recherche Biogéochimie des Ecosystèmes Forestiers (BEF), Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique (INRA), Ecologie fonctionnelle et biogéochimie des sols et des agro-écosystèmes (UMR Eco&Sols), Centre de Coopération Internationale en Recherche Agronomique pour le Développement (Cirad)-Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (IRD)-Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique (INRA)-Centre international d'études supérieures en sciences agronomiques (Montpellier SupAgro)-Institut national d’études supérieures agronomiques de Montpellier (Montpellier SupAgro), Institut national d'enseignement supérieur pour l'agriculture, l'alimentation et l'environnement (Institut Agro)-Institut national d'enseignement supérieur pour l'agriculture, l'alimentation et l'environnement (Institut Agro), Peuplements végétaux et bioagresseurs en milieu tropical (UMR PVBMT), Centre de Coopération Internationale en Recherche Agronomique pour le Développement (Cirad)-Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (IRD)-Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique (INRA)-Université de La Réunion (UR), Ministère Centrafricain des Eaux, Forêts, Chasses et Pêches (MEFCP), Forêt Ressources Management, Partenaires INRAE, AgroParisTech, Tuscia University, AFD (PARPAF project): ANR (ERA-net BiodivERsa CoForChange project), ANR-08-BDVA-0001,CoForChange,Comment, pourquoi et où les espèces d'arbres survivront-elles à une augmentation des perturbations : diagnostic et outils d'aide à la decision pour atténuer l'effet des changements globaux sur la biodiversité dans les forêts du bassin du Congo.(2008)
Jazyk: angličtina
Rok vydání: 2011
Předmět:
Zdroj: Journal of Ecology
Journal of Ecology, Wiley, 2011, 99 (4), pp.981-990. ⟨10.1111/j.1365-2745.2011.01829.x⟩
ISSN: 0022-0477
1365-2745
DOI: 10.1111/j.1365-2745.2011.01829.x⟩
Popis: International audience; 1. Regional above-ground biomass estimates for tropical moist forests remain highly inaccurate mostly because they are based on extrapolations from a few plots scattered across a limited range of soils and other environmental conditions. When such conditions impact biomass, the estimation is biased. The effect of soil types on biomass has especially yielded controversial results. 2. We investigated the relationship between above-ground biomass and soil type in undisturbed moist forests in the Central African Republic. We tested the effects of soil texture, as a surrogate for soil resources availability and physical constraints (soil depth and hydromorphy) on biomass. Forest inventory data were collected for trees >= 20 cm stem diameter in 2754 0.5 ha plots scattered over 4888 km(2). The plots contained 224 taxons, of which 209 were identified to species. Soil types were characterized from a 1:1 000 000 scale soil map. Species-specific values for wood density were extracted from the CIRAD's data base of wood technological properties. 3. We found that basal area and biomass differ in their responses to soil type, ranging from 17.8 m(2) ha(-1) (217.5 t ha(-1)) to 22.3 m(2) ha(-1) (273.3 t ha(-1)). While shallow and hydromorphic soils support forests with both low stem basal area and low biomass, forests on deep resource-poor soils are typically low in basal area but as high in biomass as forests on deep resource-rich soils. We demonstrated that the environmental filtering of slow growing dense-wooded species on resource-poor soils compensates for the low basal area, and we discuss whether this filtering effect is due to low fertility or to low water reserve. 4. Synthesis. We showed that soil physical conditions constrained the amount of biomass stored in tropical moist forests. Contrary to previous reports, our results suggest that biomass is similar on resource-poor and resource-rich soils. This finding highlights both the importance of taking into account soil characteristics and species wood density when trying to predict regional patterns of biomass. Our findings have implications for the evaluation of biomass stocks in tropical forests, in the context of the international negotiations on climate change.
Databáze: OpenAIRE
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