Marien Ngouabi University
Republic of the Congo
Problem Statement
While Central Africa contains the second-largest continuous block of tropical forests after the Amazonian basin, it is expected to lose 41% of its forest cover by 2050. Human disturbances are increasingly being in tropical forests, threatening their biodiversity and the goods and services that benefit human well-being. Dr. Loubota Panzou’s research evaluates whether changes in biodiversity, ecosystem functions, and services will vary by type of disturbance and whether these changes alter trajectories of degradation and/or recovery and resilience to disturbance in Central Africa.
Progress Highlights
Six ongoing fieldworks in two forest allocations (undisturbed forest and selectively logged forests), Installation of 1-ha permanent plots, Tree measurements (diameter, height, and crown dimensions), diverse interviews and field surveys, and Installation of camera traps in the permanent plots.
Key Findings
About 30 permanent plots of 1ha were set up in undisturbed and selectively logged forests. Trees with diameters ≥10cm were identified and measured with reference standards. To date, 7078 trees have been inventoried with their diameter measurement, and 3246 of 7078 trees were selected for height and crown measurements.
Potential Impact
The project has major scientific and societal implications because it will enhance national culture for future African generations. It will strengthen knowledge and skills in multiple disciplines and approaches to forest ecology. The knowledge acquired will be made available to universities and research institutions to build science capacities.
Summary
Tropical forests in Africa contain a high biodiversity, play key roles in global carbon cycle, and deliver crucial ecosystem services for local people and the global community. A better understanding of the functioning of these ecosystems will strengthen the basis for effective management, conservation, and restoration. Dr Loubota Panzou's research will evaluate whether changes in biodiversity, ecosystem functions and services will vary by type of disturbance, and whether these changes alter trajectories of degradation and/or recovery, and resilience to disturbance in Central Africa.
Grantee Description
Associated researcher to laboratory of biodiversity and ecosystem and environment management at the Marien Ngouabi University in the Republic of Congo, Dr Grace Jopaul Loubota Panzou is a forest ecologist interested in understanding the functioning of tropical forests across spatial and temporal scales. He obtained his PhD in forest ecology and management from Gembloux Agro-Bio Tech (Liege University) in 2018. His research work focused on tree allometry in tropical forests from Central Africa to pantropical scale.
Dr Loubota Panzou’s long-term studies are to expand new methodologies for the quantitative modelling of land-use change trajectories in tropical forests. He aims to deliver understanding of how human--induced disturbances affect biodiversity-ecosystem service relationships in Central Africa, contributing to conceptual framework developed by the Intergovernmental Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES).
Project: Quantifying impacts of human-induced disturbances on biodiversity–ecosystem functioning relationships in Central Africa
Central African forests form the second largest continuous block of tropical forests in the world with a substantial biodiversity and a multitude of provisioning, regulating, and cultural ecosystem services to human populations. Despite their important role, they are threatened from a wide range of disturbances (e.g., logging, slash and burn agriculture, …) that induce an irreversible and drastic biodiversity loss with major ecological consequences. The project aims to quantify the impacts of human-induced disturbances on biodiversity–ecosystem functions relationships in three forest allocations (undisturbed forest, selectively logged forests and clear-cut secondary forests) of two research areas contrasted by climate in Central Africa. Using three data fusion approach employing the field ecological, socio-economical, and remote sensing data, this study is framed around three research objectives. First, we will assess perceptions of the supply and the use of ecosystem services by local populations, and its determinants and sustainability. Second, we will examine biodiversity–ecosystem functioning relationships in response to the underlying environmental determinants. Third, we will estimate the recovery dynamic and time scales of biodiversity, ecosystem functions and services. The integrated assessment of ecosystem services in combining social, ecological, and economic approaches, will offer new important perspectives for forest management to promote the biodiversity conservation in tropical forests.
