RESEARCH ARTICLE
Ecological Importance of Small-Diameter Trees to the Structure, Diversity and Biomass of a Tropical Evergreen Forest at Rabi, Gabon Hervé R. Memiaghe1, James A. Lutz2, Lisa Korte3, Alfonso Alonso4, David Kenfack5*
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1 Institut de Recherche en Écologie Tropicale (IRET), Libreville, Gabon, 2 Wildland Resources Department, Utah State University, Logan, Utah, United States of America, 3 Center for Conservation and Sustainability, Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute, Gamba, Gabon, 4 Center for Conservation and Sustainability, Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute, Washington DC, United States of America, 5 Center for Tropical Forest Science -Forest Global Earth Observatory, Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, Smithsonian Institution, Washington DC, United States of America * [email protected]
Abstract OPEN ACCESS Citation: Memiaghe HR, Lutz JA, Korte L, Alonso A, Kenfack D (2016) Ecological Importance of SmallDiameter Trees to the Structure, Diversity and Biomass of a Tropical Evergreen Forest at Rabi, Gabon. PLoS ONE 11(5): e0154988. doi:10.1371/ journal.pone.0154988 Editor: RunGuo Zang, Chinese Academy of Forestry, CHINA Received: January 14, 2016 Accepted: April 22, 2016 Published: May 17, 2016 Copyright: This is an open access article, free of all copyright, and may be freely reproduced, distributed, transmitted, modified, built upon, or otherwise used by anyone for any lawful purpose. The work is made available under the Creative Commons CC0 public domain dedication. Data Availability Statement: The Rabi 25-hectare Forest Monitoring Plot data belongs to the plot PIs and is managed by the CTFS-ForestGEO network. Data are available under request at (http://www.ctfs. si.edu/site/Rabi). Funding: Shell Gabon provided financial support for field work, especially to HRM and LK. Shell Gabon also provided logistical support including flights, lodging and food to LK, HRM, DK and 14 other field staff. Shell Gabon had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript. The Smithsonian
Tropical forests have long been recognized for their biodiversity and ecosystem services. Despite their importance, tropical forests, and particularly those of central Africa, remain understudied. Until recently, most forest inventories in Central Africa have focused on trees 10 cm in diameter, even though several studies have shown that small-diameter tree population may be important to demographic rates and nutrient cycling. To determine the ecological importance of small-diameter trees in central African forests, we used data from a 25-ha permanent plot that we established in the rainforest of Gabon to study the diversity and dynamics of these forests. Within the plot, we censused 175,830 trees 1 cm dbh from 54 families, 192 genera, and 345 species. Average tree density was 7,026 trees/ha, basal area 31.64 m2/ha, and above-ground biomass 369.40 Mg/ha. Fabaceae, Ebenaceae and Euphorbiaceae were the most important families by basal area, density and above-ground biomass. Small-diameter trees (1 cm dbh
Ecological Importance of Small-Diameter Trees to the Structure, Diversity and Biomass of a Tropical Evergreen Forest at Rabi, Gabon Hervé R. Memiaghe1, James A. Lutz2, Lisa Korte3, Alfonso Alonso4, David Kenfack5*
a11111
1 Institut de Recherche en Écologie Tropicale (IRET), Libreville, Gabon, 2 Wildland Resources Department, Utah State University, Logan, Utah, United States of America, 3 Center for Conservation and Sustainability, Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute, Gamba, Gabon, 4 Center for Conservation and Sustainability, Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute, Washington DC, United States of America, 5 Center for Tropical Forest Science -Forest Global Earth Observatory, Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, Smithsonian Institution, Washington DC, United States of America * [email protected]
Abstract OPEN ACCESS Citation: Memiaghe HR, Lutz JA, Korte L, Alonso A, Kenfack D (2016) Ecological Importance of SmallDiameter Trees to the Structure, Diversity and Biomass of a Tropical Evergreen Forest at Rabi, Gabon. PLoS ONE 11(5): e0154988. doi:10.1371/ journal.pone.0154988 Editor: RunGuo Zang, Chinese Academy of Forestry, CHINA Received: January 14, 2016 Accepted: April 22, 2016 Published: May 17, 2016 Copyright: This is an open access article, free of all copyright, and may be freely reproduced, distributed, transmitted, modified, built upon, or otherwise used by anyone for any lawful purpose. The work is made available under the Creative Commons CC0 public domain dedication. Data Availability Statement: The Rabi 25-hectare Forest Monitoring Plot data belongs to the plot PIs and is managed by the CTFS-ForestGEO network. Data are available under request at (http://www.ctfs. si.edu/site/Rabi). Funding: Shell Gabon provided financial support for field work, especially to HRM and LK. Shell Gabon also provided logistical support including flights, lodging and food to LK, HRM, DK and 14 other field staff. Shell Gabon had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript. The Smithsonian
Tropical forests have long been recognized for their biodiversity and ecosystem services. Despite their importance, tropical forests, and particularly those of central Africa, remain understudied. Until recently, most forest inventories in Central Africa have focused on trees 10 cm in diameter, even though several studies have shown that small-diameter tree population may be important to demographic rates and nutrient cycling. To determine the ecological importance of small-diameter trees in central African forests, we used data from a 25-ha permanent plot that we established in the rainforest of Gabon to study the diversity and dynamics of these forests. Within the plot, we censused 175,830 trees 1 cm dbh from 54 families, 192 genera, and 345 species. Average tree density was 7,026 trees/ha, basal area 31.64 m2/ha, and above-ground biomass 369.40 Mg/ha. Fabaceae, Ebenaceae and Euphorbiaceae were the most important families by basal area, density and above-ground biomass. Small-diameter trees (1 cm dbh
