Afrotropical secondary forests exhibit fast diversity and functional recovery, but slow compositional and carbon recovery after shifting cultivation

• Published in: Journal of vegetation science Vol. 32; no. 5
• Main Authors: Makelele, Isaac Ahanamungu, Verheyen, Kris, Boeckx, Pascal, Cizungu Ntaboba, Landry, Mujinya Bazirake, Basile, Ewango, Corneille, Bauters, Marijn, Carlucci, Marcos
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Hoboken Wiley Subscription Services, Inc 01.09.2021
• Subjects: Afrotropical region; anthropogenic activities; basins; Biodiversity; botanical composition; Carbon; Carbon content; carbon stocks; Central Africa; clearcutting; Composition; Congo basin; Cultivation; Diameters; Ecological succession; ecosystems; fine roots; forest dynamics; Forest ecosystems; Forests; functional composition; functional diversity; Herbivores; inventories; Leaves; Life history; natural regeneration; Old growth; old-growth forests; Plant diversity; Plant species; Questions; Recovery of function; reforestation; Regrowth; secondary succession; Shifting cultivation; Soil properties; Soil texture; Species composition; Species diversity; species diversity and composition; Texture; tree and stand measurements; Trees; Tropical environments; Tropical forests; Wood; Central Africa

Questions Human disturbance is increasingly affecting forest dynamics across the tropics. Forests can recover via natural secondary succession to pre‐disturbance levels of biodiversity, species composition, and ecosystem carbon stocks. Central Africa will be subject to increasingly high shifting‐cul...