Spatio-Temporal Variation in Species Diversity between Plantation and Secondary Forest of Kakamega Tropical Rain Forest in Kenya

John Nyongesah,Yuelin Li

doi:10.12912/27197050/139410

Abstract

Spatio-Temporal Variation in Species Diversity between Plantation and Secondary Forest of Kakamega Tropical Rain Forest in Kenya

Highlights

Tropical forests store the majority of the world’s tree diversity, with an estimated 53,000 tree species (Talbot, 2010) as well as provide many goods and ecosystem services, such as prevention of soil erosion and preservation of habitats for plants and animals (Anbarashan and Parthasarathy, 2013)
Species richness was significantly different between plantation and secondary forest types (P
Middle age had consistently higher diversity throughout the years compared to a young secondary forest type and secondary plant succession was highly influenced by stand age (Fig. 2)

Summary

Introduction

Tropical forests store the majority of the world’s tree diversity, with an estimated 53,000 tree species (Talbot, 2010) as well as provide many goods and ecosystem services, such as prevention of soil erosion and preservation of habitats for plants and animals (Anbarashan and Parthasarathy, 2013). The forests in the tropics are some of the habitats that have come under a great deal of degradation for several decades, but have received very little attention because of limited empirical research findings (Otuoma et al, 2020). It is critical to assess the biodiversity conservation potential of secondary tropical and plantation forests by analyzing species biodiversity of tropical forests during succession. Sustainable management of these forests requires good knowledge of all the natural forest resource and plantations through studies of the forest environment. Plantation forests currently represent approximately 187 million ha worldwide, an increase of approximately 20 million ha since 1995 (FAO., 2001; Otuoma et al, 2014). Some plantation forests are typically viewed negatively and considered to be “biological deserts” (Hartley, 2002), little work has been done to establish a link between biodiversity and forest management in most forest types in Kakamega forest

Methods

Results

Discussion

Conclusion