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Aim Forest plots are a benchmark tool to quantify aboveground carbon (AGC) stocks and biodiversity in tropical forests. However, atypical edaphic forest types such as seasonally flooded forests or forests on sandy soil are scarce in the plot networks, despite their widespread occurrence. This study assessed how edaphic conditions shape tropical forests, in terms of forest structure, tree diversity and composition. Location Lomami National Park in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Methods We installed 89 plots of 0.25 ha each in the understudied southeastern Congo basin. Plots are spread over eight different combinations of flooding regime (seasonally flooded vs. terra firme), soil texture (clay vs. sand) and region (north vs. south). We tested the influence of flooding regime, soil texture and region on structural attributes, tree diversity, and tree species composition. We also assessed relationships between structural attributes, diversity indices, and compositional gradients. Results We inventoried 9156 trees and identified a total of 416 tree species, with 93 species (22.4%) belonging to the Fabaceae family. Species diversity is much higher in terra firme than in seasonally flooded forests. The latter also shows a different species composition but holds similar AGC (163 Mg C ha−1 on average). We also found that region influences both species diversity and structural attributes (diversity and AGC highest in the north), while soil texture only influences structural attributes (AGC highest on clay). Finally, we found that structural attributes are independent of diversity indices at different scales. Main Conclusions This study describes for the first time the forests in the southeastern Congo basin, which show a high degree of structural variability, high tree biodiversity and important carbon stocks. The region merits further exploration, with specific attention to seasonally flooded forests which harbor a less diverse but different tree flora, and similar carbon stocks as compared to terra firme forests.

Though substantial research has been conducted on possible historical, physiological, and symbiotic mechanisms that permit monodominance to occur within tropical lowland rainforests, less is known about the successional rates at which monodominance exerts itself on surrounding forest structures. Here we extend efforts to evaluate the longitudinal dynamics of Gilbertiodendron dewevrei -dominated forest in Central Africa by considering this species’ spatial dynamics. Using three 10-ha censused field plots measured across three time periods, we present the first quantitative estimates of the spatial propagation of Gilbertiodendron into adjacent mixed species forest. Using three analytical strategies, we demonstrate that Gilbertiodendron is increasing in dominance and that monodominant forest patches are expanding into the surrounding forest at a statistically significant rate. The rates of successional advance vary by patch and direction, but average 0.31 m year −1 , with speeds greatest in the direction of the prevailing winds. We show that the advancement of Gilbertiodendron is significantly slower than documented rates from other forest ecotones across Central Africa. When paired with stress tolerance traits and ectomycorrhizal associations, these findings help to clarify the means by which Gilbertiodendron dewevrei gains dominance in otherwise species-diverse regions.

While the methods for monitoring deforestation are relatively well established, there is still no compromise on those for forest degradation. We propose here a systematic review on studies about forest degradation in the Congo Basin. Our analysis focused on seven key anthropogenic causes of forest degradation. Shifting agriculture emerged as the most significant driver, accounting for 61% ± 28.58% (mean ± SD) of canopy opening, 73.16% ± 16.88% aboveground carbon loss, and 30.37% ± 30.67% of tree species diversity loss over a 5–60-year period. Our analysis reveals a significant disconnect. Only 29% of the reviewed studies address this driver, while over 64% focus primarily on the consequences of industrial timber harvesting. Despite its comparatively minor contribution to degradation, with effects range from only 8.98% ± 13.63% of canopy opening, 14.79% ± 22.21 aboveground carbon loss, and 4.27 ± 21.07 tree species diversity loss over 1–20 years. Indeed, most of the methods focus on detecting changes in canopy structure associated with forest logging over a short period (0–5 years). These illustrate the need for a shift in focus in scientific research towards innovative methods, which can be developed over time, to monitor the various impacts of all causes of forest degradation.

Resource allocation within trees is a zero-sum game. Unavoidable trade-offs dictate that allocation to growth-promoting functions curtails other functions, generating a gradient of investment in growth versus survival along which tree species align, known as the interspecific growth–mortality trade-off. This paradigm is widely accepted but not well established. Using demographic data for 1,111 tree species across ten tropical forests, we tested the generality of the growth–mortality trade-off and evaluated its underlying drivers using two species-specific parameters describing resource allocation strategies: tolerance of resource limitation and responsiveness of allocation to resource access. Globally, a canonical growth–mortality trade-off emerged, but the trade-off was strongly observed only in less disturbance-prone forests, which contained diverse resource allocation strategies. Only half of disturbance-prone forests, which lacked tolerant species, exhibited the trade-off. Supported by a theoretical model, our findings raise questions about whether the growth–mortality trade-off is a universally applicable organizing framework for understanding tropical forest community structure. Using demographic data for 1,111 tree species across ten tropical forests, the authors test the generality of the growth–mortality trade-off, finding that it holds in undisturbed but not disturbed forests.

We present a unique dataset of historical tropical tree phenology observations at two sites from different bioclimatic regions across the Congo Basin. We cover both the Atlantic Mayombe forest and the tropical forest in the central Congo Basin. To our knowledge this is the complete extant historical (1937–1957) phenology data across the Congo basin. The data contains ~10 million observations of 876 species, across 6339 individuals, and phenology metrics including leaf, flowering, and fruiting phenology. The data were recovered through expert transcription and validated community science based crowdsourcing. These data may provide a reference baseline and key information on how tree species are responding to a changing climate.

Patterns of structural change associated with monodominant tropical forest complexes have remained enigmatic for decades. Here, we extend previous efforts in presenting a longitudinal, local-scale analysis of forest dynamics in central Africa. Using four 10-ha census plots measured across three time periods (959,312 stems ≥1 cm DBH), we analyzed changes in a number of biometrical attributes for four distinct forest types capturing the developmental gradient from mixed species forest to Gilbertiodendron dewevrei-dominated forest. We modeled above-ground biomass (AGB), basal area (BA), and stem density across all species, and diameter at breast height (DBH), recruitment, and mortality for Gilbertiodendron dewevrei. We hypothesized that trends in these attributes are consistent with a slow spread of Gilbertiodendron dewevrei into adjacent mixed species forest. We identified statistically significant increases in AGB and BA across sites and positive, though nonsignificant, increases in AGB and BA for most forest types. DBH and relative recruitment increased significantly for Gilbertiodendron dewevrei stems, while relative mortality did not. When looking from mixed species to transitional to monodominant forest types, we found a statistically significant pattern of developmental aggradation and net expansion of monodominant forest. We do not attribute this to atmospheric forcing but to a combination of (a) landscape-scale recovery or response to widespread disturbance (primarily historical fires), (b) Gilbertiodendron dewevrei’s ectomycorrhizal association, and (c) Gilbertiodendron dewevrei’s exceptional stress tolerance traits.

Issue Title: Themed Issue: Forest Diversity and Management: Safeguarding the Earth's Biota Mature tropical forests at agricultural frontiers are of global conservation concern as the leading edge of global deforestation. In the Ituri Forest of DRC, as in other tropical forest areas, road creation associated with selective logging results in spontaneous human colonization, leading to the clearing of mature forest for agricultural purposes. Following 1-3 years of cultivation, farmlands are left fallow for periods that may exceed 20 years, resulting in extensive secondary forest areas impacted by both selective logging and swidden agriculture. In this study, we assessed forest structure, tree species composition and diversity and the regeneration of timber trees in secondary forest stands (5-10 and ~40 years old), selectively logged forest stands, and undisturbed forests at two sites in the Ituri region. Stem density was lower in old secondary forests (~40 years old) than in either young secondary or mature forests. Overall tree diversity did not significantly differ between forest types, but the diversity of trees ≥10 cm dbh was substantially lower in young secondary forest stands than in old secondary or mature forests. The species composition of secondary forests differed from that of mature forests, with the dominant Caesalpinoid legume species of mature forests poorly represented in secondary forests. However, in spite of prior logging, the regeneration of high value timber trees such as African mahoganies (Khaya anthotheca and Entandrophragma spp.) was at least 10 times greater in young secondary forests than in mature forests. We argue that, if properly managed and protected, secondary forests, even those impacted by both selective logging and small-scale shifting agriculture, may have high potential conservation and economic value.[PUBLICATION ABSTRACT]

The abundance of forest tree species may be locally limited by the inability of species to disperse to all sites suitable for germination and establishment. This phenomenon of \"dispersal limitation\" has been suggested to promote the maintenance of high species diversity in tropical forests by slowing down competitive exclusion. We present the first direct experimental evaluation of dispersal limitation in tropical forests, and of its importance relative to other factors affecting recruitment. Seed addition, litter removal and light availability effects on seedling establishment were evaluated in a full factorial experiment on two African mahogany species, Entandrophragma utile and Khaya anthotheca. Seedling recruitment after 18 months, was ∼22 times greater in seed addition treatments (with addition rates corresponding to the tail of seed shadows of large reproductive trees) compared to controls. This seed addition effect was an order of magnitude greater than either gap or litter removal effects, with similar results observed in both logged and primary forest locations. We conclude that dispersal limitation strongly limits seedling establishment for the two species studied. An important \"applied corollary\" of this result is that seed supplementation may substantially increase local abundance of valuable or rare species in disturbed or managed tropical forests.

The future trajectory of global forests is closely intertwined with tree demography, and a major fundamental goal in ecology is to understand the key mechanisms governing spatio‐temporal patterns in tree population dynamics. While previous research has made substantial progress in identifying the mechanisms individually, their relative importance among forests remains unclear mainly due to practical limitations. One approach to overcome these limitations is to group mechanisms according to their shared effects on the variability of tree vital rates and quantify patterns therein. We developed a conceptual and statistical framework (variance partitioning of Bayesian multilevel models) that attributes the variability in tree growth, mortality, and recruitment to variation in species, space, and time, and their interactions – categories we refer to as organising principles (OPs). We applied the framework to data from 21 forest plots covering more than 2.9 million trees of approximately 6500 species. We found that differences among species, the species OP, proved a major source of variability in tree vital rates, explaining 28–33% of demographic variance alone, and 14–17% in interaction with space, totalling 40–43%. Our results support the hypothesis that the range of vital rates is similar across global forests. However, the average variability among species declined with species richness, indicating that diverse forests featured smaller interspecific differences in vital rates. Moreover, decomposing the variance in vital rates into the proposed OPs showed the importance of unexplained variability, which includes individual variation, in tree demography. A focus on how demographic variance is organized in forests can facilitate the construction of more targeted models with clearer expectations of which covariates might drive a vital rate. This study therefore highlights the most promising avenues for future research, both in terms of understanding the relative contributions of groups of mechanisms to forest demography and diversity, and for improving projections of forest ecosystems.

Pericopsis elata (a.k.a. African teak) is one of the most valuable timber species in Central Africa. Like other shade intolerant tropical tree species, P. elata could play a vital role in economic development, and ecological sustainability, but regenerates poorly following selective logging. Now endangered, there is a critical need for sustainable silvicultural systems to restore this once prominent timber species. To assess management options for P. elata we analyzed growth performance and survival in primary and secondary forest plots under burning and weeding treatments in Yoko Forest Reserve, Ubundu Democratic Republic of Congo. We transplanted nursery-grown seedlings of P. elata to experimental gaps and followed their growth and survival for 1 year. Seedlings in large canopy gaps 50 × 50 m were taller (mean difference; P  = 0.006) and more likely to survive (mean difference; P  < 0.001). Weeding improved both diameter ( P  = 0.024) and height ( P  = 0.007) growth rates; however, burning alone did not significantly improve the performance of P. elata seedlings. Our data suggest that P. elata regeneration is compatible with shelterwood harvesting and traditional swidden agricultural systems widely practiced in the region.