High aboveground carbon stock of African tropical montane forests

Abstract

Tropical forests store 40-50% of terrestrial vegetation carbon. Spatial variations in aboveground live tree biomass carbon (AGC) stocks remain poorly understood, in particular in tropical montane forests. Because of climatic and soil changes with increasing elevation, AGC stocks are lower in tropical montane compared to 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 Mg C/ha (95% CI 137.1-164.2), comparable to lowland forests in the African Tropical Rainforest Observation Network and about 70% and 32% higher than averages from plot networks in montane and lowland forests in the Neotropics, respectively. Notably, our results are two-thirds higher than the IPCC 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 ha 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 guide forest conservation and reforestation interventions. Our findings highlight the need for conserving these biodiverse and carbon-rich ecosystems.

Metadata

Item Type:	Article
Authors/Creators:	Cuni Sanchez, Aida (acs587@york.ac.uk) Sullivan, Martin Platts, Philip John https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0153-0121 Lewis, Simon L. Marchant, Robert https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5013-4056 Imani, Gérard Hubau, Wannes Abiem, Iveren Adhikari, Hari Albrecht, Tomas Altman, Janne Amani, Christian Aneseyee, Abreham B. Avitabile, Valerio Banin, Lindsay 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 Gebrekristos, Aster Gereau, Roy E. 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, Andy https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4877-1018 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 K. E. 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
Copyright, Publisher and Additional Information:	This is an author-produced version of the published paper. Uploaded in accordance with the publisher’s self-archiving policy. Further copying may not be permitted; contact the publisher for details
Dates:	Published: 25 August 2021 Accepted: 14 June 2021
Institution:	The University of York
Academic Units:	The University of York > Faculty of Sciences (York) > Environment and Geography (York)
Depositing User:	Pure (York)
Date Deposited:	12 Aug 2021 16:30
Last Modified:	26 Jan 2025 00:18
Published Version:	https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-021-03728-4
Status:	Published
Refereed:	Yes
Identification Number:	10.1038/s41586-021-03728-4
Sustainable Development Goals:
Open Archives Initiative ID (OAI ID):	oai:eprints.whiterose.ac.uk:177080

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High aboveground carbon stock of African tropical montane forests

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