TY - JOUR

T1 - High aboveground carbon stock of African tropical montane forests

AU - Cuni-Sanchez, Aida

AU - Sullivan, Martin J.P.

AU - Platts, Philip J.

AU - Lewis, Simon L.

AU - Marchant, Rob

AU - Imani, Gerard

AU - Hubau, Wannes

AU - Abiem, Iveren

AU - Adhikari, Hari

AU - Albrecht, Tomos

AU - Altman, Janne

AU - Amani, Christian

AU - Aneseyee, Abreham B.

AU - Avitabile, Valerio

AU - Banin, Lindsay

AU - Batumike, Rodrigue

AU - Bauters, Marijn

AU - Beeckman, Hans

AU - Begne, Serge K.

AU - Bennett, Amy C

AU - Bitariho, Robert

AU - Boeckx, Pascal

AU - Bogaert, Jan

AU - Brauning, Achim

AU - Bulonvu, Franklin

AU - Burgess, Neil D.

AU - Calders, Kim

AU - Chapman, Colin

AU - Chapman, Hazel

AU - Comiskey, James

AU - de Haulleville, Thales

AU - Decuyper, Mathieu

AU - De Vries, Ben

AU - Dolezal, Jiri

AU - Droissart, Vincent

AU - Ewango, Corneille

AU - Feyera, Senbeta

AU - Gebrekristos, Aster

AU - Gereau, Roy

AU - Gilpin, Martin

AU - Hakizimana, Dismas

AU - Hall, Jefferson

AU - Hamilton, Alan

AU - Hardy, Olivier

AU - Hart, Terese

AU - Heiskanen, Janne

AU - Hemp, Andreas

AU - Herold, Martin

AU - Hiltner, Ulrike

AU - Horak, David

AU - Kamdem, Marie-Noel

AU - Kayijamahe, Charles

AU - Kenfack, David

AU - Kinyanjui, Mwangli J.

AU - Klein, Julia

AU - Lisingo, Janvier

AU - Lovett, Jon

AU - Lung, Mark

AU - Makana, Jean-Remy

AU - Malhi, Yadvinder

AU - Marshall, Andrew

AU - Martin, Emanuel H.

AU - Mitchard, Edward T.A.

AU - Morel, Alexandra

AU - Mukendi, John T.

AU - Muller, Tom

AU - Nchu, Felix

AU - Nyirambangutse, Brigitte

AU - Okello, Joseph

AU - Peh, Kelvin S.H.

AU - Pellikka, Petri

AU - Phillips, Oliver L.

AU - Plumptre, Andrew

AU - Qie, Lan

AU - Rovero, Francesco

AU - Sainge, Moses N.

AU - Schmitt, Christine B.

AU - Sedlacek, Ondrej

AU - Ngute, Alain S.K.

AU - Sheil, Douglas

AU - Sheleme, Demisse

AU - Simegn, Tibebu Y.

AU - Simo-Droissart, Murielle

AU - Sonké, Bonaventure

AU - Soromessa, Teshome

AU - Sunderland, Terry

AU - Svoboda, Miroslav

AU - Taedoumg, Hermann

AU - Taplin, James

AU - Taylor, David

AU - Thomas, Sean C.

AU - Timberlake, Jonathan

AU - Tuagben, Darlington

AU - Umunay, Peter

AU - Uzabaho, Eustrate

AU - Verbeeck, Hans

AU - Vleminckx, Jason

AU - Wallin, Goran

AU - Wheeler, Charlotte

AU - Willcock, Simon

AU - Woods, John T.

AU - Zibera, Etienne

N1 - Since this is Nature, I have limited the visibility. Can you check it is all ok?

PY - 2021/8/25

Y1 - 2021/8/25

N2 - Variation in aboveground live tree biomass carbon (AGC) stocks is poorly understood in tropical montane forests1, especially in African nations where montane forests often represent most of the extant evergreen old-growth forest cover. Although data are few, since primary productivity is temperature-mediated and cloud immersion, wind and steep slopes constrain tree height2, AGC is widely assumed to be lower in tropical montane than lowland forests. To test this, we assembled and analysed a new dataset of structurally intact old-growth forests (“AfriMont”) spanning 44 montane sites in 12 African countries, and compared findings with old-growth lowland forests in the African Tropical Rainforest Observation Network (AfriTRON). We find that montane sites in the AfriMont plot network have a mean AGC-stock of 149.4 Mg C ha-1 (95% CI 137.1-164.2), comparable to lowland forests in the AfriTRON plot network and higher than averages from plot networks in montane and lowland forests in the Neotropics. Notably, our results are substantially higher than the IPCC default values for these forests in Africa (89.3 Mg C ha-1)3. The distinctive structure of African lowland forests (low stem density and high abundance of large trees4-6) is mirrored in montane forests. This important carbon store is endangered, we find that 0.8 million ha of old-growth African montane forest have been lost since 2000. Our findings highlight the urgent need for conserving these biodiverse7,8 and carbon-rich ecosystems. We provide country-specific montane forest AGC estimates modelled from our plot network to help guide forest conservation and reforestation interventions.

AB - Variation in aboveground live tree biomass carbon (AGC) stocks is poorly understood in tropical montane forests1, especially in African nations where montane forests often represent most of the extant evergreen old-growth forest cover. Although data are few, since primary productivity is temperature-mediated and cloud immersion, wind and steep slopes constrain tree height2, AGC is widely assumed to be lower in tropical montane than lowland forests. To test this, we assembled and analysed a new dataset of structurally intact old-growth forests (“AfriMont”) spanning 44 montane sites in 12 African countries, and compared findings with old-growth lowland forests in the African Tropical Rainforest Observation Network (AfriTRON). We find that montane sites in the AfriMont plot network have a mean AGC-stock of 149.4 Mg C ha-1 (95% CI 137.1-164.2), comparable to lowland forests in the AfriTRON plot network and higher than averages from plot networks in montane and lowland forests in the Neotropics. Notably, our results are substantially higher than the IPCC default values for these forests in Africa (89.3 Mg C ha-1)3. The distinctive structure of African lowland forests (low stem density and high abundance of large trees4-6) is mirrored in montane forests. This important carbon store is endangered, we find that 0.8 million ha of old-growth African montane forest have been lost since 2000. Our findings highlight the urgent need for conserving these biodiverse7,8 and carbon-rich ecosystems. We provide country-specific montane forest AGC estimates modelled from our plot network to help guide forest conservation and reforestation interventions.

U2 - 10.1038/s41586-021-03728-4

DO - 10.1038/s41586-021-03728-4

M3 - Article

VL - 596

SP - 536

EP - 542

JO - Nature

JF - Nature

SN - 1476-4687

IS - 7873

ER -