TY - JOUR

T1 - Recovery of aboveground biomass, soil carbon stocks and species diversity in tropical montane secondary forests of East Africa

AU - Ojoatre, Sadadi

AU - Barlow, Jos

AU - Jacobs, Suzanne R.

AU - Rufino, Mariana C.

PY - 2024/1/15

Y1 - 2024/1/15

N2 - Tropical montane forests are fragile ecosystems that provide a wide range of ecosystem services including hydrological services, biodiversity protection and storing carbon in the above and belowground and soils contributing to climate change mitigation. The world’s tropical montane forests are increasingly exposed to degradation and their recovery after disturbance has not been adequately quantified. Here, using information from 47 plots in three blocks of the Mau Forest Complex of Kenya, we assessed the changes in aboveground biomass (AGB), tree species diversity, soil carbon and nitrogen stocks following forest clearance. AGB recovered at an annual rate of 6.42 Mg ha−1 yr−1 in the first 20 years, the rate then slowed down to 4.46–4.67 Mg ha−1 yr−1 at around 25–30 years. Around 25 years after disturbance, AGB in recovering forests was 70 % (198.32 ± 78.11 Mg ha−1) of the AGB in the old secondary forest (OSF) (282.86 ± 71.64 Mg ha−1) and was statistically indistinguishable. Stem density, species diversity and richness indices did not show significant differences across recovery classes. There was no significant difference in soil carbon and nitrogen stocks across classes with the soil carbon (184.1 ± 41 Mg ha−1) of the young secondary forest (<10 years) being 84.5 % of that of the OSF (217.9 ± 51.8 Mg ha−1). This study reports a rapid rate of AGB and carbon accumulation within 20 years of disturbance, and high levels of species richness in these previously disturbed fragments of tropical montane forests of East Africa.

AB - Tropical montane forests are fragile ecosystems that provide a wide range of ecosystem services including hydrological services, biodiversity protection and storing carbon in the above and belowground and soils contributing to climate change mitigation. The world’s tropical montane forests are increasingly exposed to degradation and their recovery after disturbance has not been adequately quantified. Here, using information from 47 plots in three blocks of the Mau Forest Complex of Kenya, we assessed the changes in aboveground biomass (AGB), tree species diversity, soil carbon and nitrogen stocks following forest clearance. AGB recovered at an annual rate of 6.42 Mg ha−1 yr−1 in the first 20 years, the rate then slowed down to 4.46–4.67 Mg ha−1 yr−1 at around 25–30 years. Around 25 years after disturbance, AGB in recovering forests was 70 % (198.32 ± 78.11 Mg ha−1) of the AGB in the old secondary forest (OSF) (282.86 ± 71.64 Mg ha−1) and was statistically indistinguishable. Stem density, species diversity and richness indices did not show significant differences across recovery classes. There was no significant difference in soil carbon and nitrogen stocks across classes with the soil carbon (184.1 ± 41 Mg ha−1) of the young secondary forest (<10 years) being 84.5 % of that of the OSF (217.9 ± 51.8 Mg ha−1). This study reports a rapid rate of AGB and carbon accumulation within 20 years of disturbance, and high levels of species richness in these previously disturbed fragments of tropical montane forests of East Africa.

KW - Recovery

KW - Species richness

KW - Biodiversity

KW - Aboveground biomass

KW - Soil carbon

KW - Mau forest Complex

KW - Montane tropical forest

KW - East Africa

U2 - 10.1016/j.foreco.2023.121569

DO - 10.1016/j.foreco.2023.121569

M3 - Journal article

VL - 552

JO - Forest Ecology and Management

JF - Forest Ecology and Management

SN - 0378-1127

M1 - 121569

ER -