Abstract
In central Africa, most of the timber species require high light at the seedling stage for survival and growth. Forest managers face a regeneration shortage of these light-demanding timber species. To achieve long-term sustainability, there is a need for enrichment methods combining low cost and high species performance. The aim of this study was to assess the performance of Pericopsis elata seedlings in enriched logging gaps in Cameroon. Over five years; the survival and size of each seedling was monitored in 27 logging gaps that were either left without maintenance or cleared. Gaps were relatively small with an average total area of 155 m2. We found that planted seedlings of P. elata performed well in logging gaps. Even without any maintenance 61% of the planted seedlings survived after five years with an average annual diameter increment of 0.28 cm. P. elata appeared to be a good candidate species for enrichment in logging gaps. We demonstrated that the seedlings of P. elata tolerated a wide range of soil conditions but that their performance was strongly influenced by light availability (gap clearance), suggesting potentially improved performance of P. elata in high light environments such as in plantation or larger gaps.
Highlights
Increasing conversion of tropical African forests into crops for agriculture or mining requires knowing how to maintain the economic value, the carbon stock and the biodiversity of natural forests [1]
We identified the variation in soil textural and chemical properties with a principal component analysis (PCA)
The good performance of Pericopsis elata in logging gaps is of extreme importance to favor the population recovery of this light-demanding timber species that do not naturally regenerate in central
Summary
Increasing conversion of tropical African forests into crops for agriculture or mining requires knowing how to maintain the economic value, the carbon stock and the biodiversity of natural forests [1]. If an increase of the felling intensity could stimulate both the growth and the survival of future crop trees [4], it will not be sufficient to improve the regeneration of commercial species that are generally outcompeted by the regeneration of non-commercial tree species [10,11,12]. In this context, the long-term sustainability of felling cycles can be achieved through enrichment planting of valuable timber species [13,14]. There is a need for new-generation silvicultural experiments using native timber species and combining low cost and high species performance (but see [9,16,17,18]), especially for several logging companies under the independent FSC (Forest Stewardship Council) certification which have to implement regular planting activities (FSC-STD-CB-01-2012 Regional Standard)
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