High aboveground carbon stock of African tropical montane forests
The result's identifiers
Result code in IS VaVaI
<a href="https://www.isvavai.cz/riv?ss=detail&h=RIV%2F60076658%3A12310%2F21%3A43903132" target="_blank" >RIV/60076658:12310/21:43903132 - isvavai.cz</a>
Alternative codes found
RIV/67985939:_____/21:00545207 RIV/68081766:_____/21:00545207 RIV/00216208:11310/21:10434242 RIV/60460709:41320/21:89741
Result on the web
<a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-021-03728-4.pdf" target="_blank" >https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-021-03728-4.pdf</a>
DOI - Digital Object Identifier
<a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s41586-021-03728-4" target="_blank" >10.1038/s41586-021-03728-4</a>
Alternative languages
Result language
angličtina
Original language name
High aboveground carbon stock of African tropical montane forests
Original language description
Tropical forests store 40-50 per cent of terrestrial vegetation carbon(1). However, spatial variations in aboveground live tree biomass carbon (AGC) stocks remain poorly understood, in particular in tropical montane forests(2). Owing to climatic and soil changes with increasing elevation(3), AGC stocks are lower in tropical montane forests compared with lowland forests(2). 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 megagrams of carbon per hectare (95% confidence interval 137.1-164.2), which is comparable to lowland forests in the African Tropical Rainforest Observation Network(4) and about 70 per cent and 32 per cent higher than averages from plot networks in montane(2,5,6) and lowland(7) forests in the Neotropics, respectively. Notably, our results are two-thirds higher than the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change default values for these forests in Africa(8). We find that the low stem density and high abundance of large trees of African lowland forests(4) is mirrored in the montane forests sampled. This carbon store is endangered: we estimate that 0.8 million hectares 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 to guide forest conservation and reforestation interventions. Our findings highlight the need for conserving these biodiverse(9,10) and carbon-rich ecosystems. The aboveground carbon stock of a montane African forest network is comparable to that of a lowland African forest network and two-thirds higher than default values for these montane forests.
Czech name
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Czech description
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Classification
Type
J<sub>imp</sub> - Article in a specialist periodical, which is included in the Web of Science database
CEP classification
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OECD FORD branch
10618 - Ecology
Result continuities
Project
<a href="/en/project/GA21-17125S" target="_blank" >GA21-17125S: A hazy barrier: Mid-elevation exchange of avian communities on Mt. Cameroon</a><br>
Continuities
I - Institucionalni podpora na dlouhodoby koncepcni rozvoj vyzkumne organizace
Others
Publication year
2021
Confidentiality
S - Úplné a pravdivé údaje o projektu nepodléhají ochraně podle zvláštních právních předpisů
Data specific for result type
Name of the periodical
Nature
ISSN
0028-0836
e-ISSN
—
Volume of the periodical
596
Issue of the periodical within the volume
7873
Country of publishing house
GB - UNITED KINGDOM
Number of pages
7
Pages from-to
536-542
UT code for WoS article
000688549200028
EID of the result in the Scopus database
2-s2.0-85113372577