Altitudinal filtering of large-tree species explains above-ground biomass variation in an Atlantic Central African rain forest

Christelle Gonmadje 1, 2 Nicolas Picard 3 Sylvie Gourlet-Fleury 1, 4 Maxime Réjou-Méchain 5, 6 Vincent Freycon 1 Terry Sunderland 7 Doyle Mckey 8 Charles Doumenge 1, 4
1 CIRAD - Centre de Coopération Internationale en Recherche Agronomique pour le Développement
2 Department of Plant Biology, University of Yaounde
3 Forestry Dept., FAO
4 UPR 105 Forêts et Sociétés - Forêts et Sociétés
5 IFP - Institut Français de Pondichéry
6 UMR AMAP - Botanique et Modélisation de l'Architecture des Plantes et des Végétations
7 CIFOR - Center for International Forestry Research
8 CEFE - Centre d’Ecologie Fonctionnelle et Evolutive
Abstract : Patterns in above-ground biomass of tropical forests over short altitudinal gradients are poorly known. The aim of this study was to investigate the variation of above-ground biomass with altitude in old-growth forests and determine the importance of changes in floristic composition as a cause of this variation. We used a dataset from 15 1-ha permanent plots established from lowland (200 m asl) to submontane forests (900 m asl) in the Ngovayang Massif, south-western Cameroon. We analysed variation over altitude in two specific functional traits, the potential maximum tree height and the wood density. Forest above-ground biomass decreased from 500–600 Mg ha−1 in lowland plots to around 260 Mg ha−1 at the highest altitudes. The contribution to above-ground biomass of large-tree species (dbh ≥ 70 cm) decreased with altitude, while the contribution of smaller trees was constant. Contribution of the Fabaceae subfamily Caesalpinioideae decreased with altitude, while those of Clusiaceae, Phyllanthaceae and Burseraceae increased.While potential maximum tree height significantly decreased, wood specific gravity displayed notrend along the gradient. Finally, the decrease in above-ground biomass along the short altitudinal gradient can be at least partially explainedbyashift in species composition,withlarge-tree species beingfiltered outat the highestaltitudes. These results suggest that global change could lead to significant shifts in the properties of montane forests over time.
Keywords : Altitudinal gradient Cameroon carbon stocks Ngovayang Massif niche filtering submontane forests
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Journal articles
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Submitted on : Thursday, July 6, 2017 - 1:16:45 PM
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Christelle Gonmadje, Nicolas Picard, Sylvie Gourlet-Fleury, Maxime Réjou-Méchain, Vincent Freycon, et al.. Altitudinal filtering of large-tree species explains above-ground biomass variation in an Atlantic Central African rain forest. Journal of Tropical Ecology, Cambridge University Press (CUP), 2017, 33 (02), pp.143 - 154. ⟨10.1017/S0266467416000602⟩. ⟨hal-01557563⟩

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