Details
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Article number | 64 |
| Journal | ECOSPHERE |
| Volume | 6 |
| Issue number | 4 |
| Publication status | Published - 1 Apr 2015 |
| Externally published | Yes |
Abstract
Logging roads in the Congo Basin are often associated with forest degradation through fragmentation and access for other land uses. However, in concessions managed for timber production, secondary roads are usually closed after exploitation and are expected to disappear subsequently. Little is known about the effectiveness of this prescription and the factors affecting vegetation recovery rate on abandoned logging roads. In a novel approach we assessed logging roads as temporary elements in the forest landscape that vary in persistence depending on environmental conditions. We analyzed road persistence during the period 1986-2013 in adjacent parts of Cameroon, Central African Republic and Republic of Congo. Three successive phases of road recovery were identified on LANDSAT images: open roads with bare soil, roads in the process of revegetation after abandonment and disappeared roads no longer distinguishable from the surrounding forest. Field based inventories confirmed significant differences between all three categories in density and richness of woody species and cover of dominant herbs. We used dead-end road segments, built for timber exploitation, as sampling units. Only 6% of them were identified as being re-opened. Survival analyses showed median persistence of four years for open roads before changing to the revegetating state and 20 years for revegetating roads before disappearance. Persistence of revegetating roads was 25% longer on geologically poor substrates which might result from slower forest recovery in areas with lower levels of soil nutrient content. We highlight the contrast amongst forests growing on different types of substrate in their potential for ecosystem recovery over time after roads have been abandoned. Forest management plans need to take these constraints into account. Logging activities should be concentrated on the existing road network and sites of low soil resource levels should be spared from business-as-usual exploitation.
Keywords
- Central africa, Deforestation, Geological substrate, GIS, Land cover change, Land sharing-land sparing, LANDSAT, Regeneration, Road ecology, Selective logging, Survival analysis, Tropical rain forest
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Agricultural and Biological Sciences(all)
- Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics
- Environmental Science(all)
- Ecology
Sustainable Development Goals
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In: ECOSPHERE, Vol. 6, No. 4, 64, 01.04.2015.
Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › Research › peer review
}
TY - JOUR
T1 - Legacy of logging roads in the Congo Basin
T2 - How persistent are the scars in forest cover?
AU - Kleinschroth, Fritz
AU - Gourlet-Fleury, Sylvie
AU - Sist, Plinio
AU - Mortier, Fréderic
AU - Healey, John R.
N1 - Publisher Copyright: © 2015 Kleinschroth et al.
PY - 2015/4/1
Y1 - 2015/4/1
N2 - Logging roads in the Congo Basin are often associated with forest degradation through fragmentation and access for other land uses. However, in concessions managed for timber production, secondary roads are usually closed after exploitation and are expected to disappear subsequently. Little is known about the effectiveness of this prescription and the factors affecting vegetation recovery rate on abandoned logging roads. In a novel approach we assessed logging roads as temporary elements in the forest landscape that vary in persistence depending on environmental conditions. We analyzed road persistence during the period 1986-2013 in adjacent parts of Cameroon, Central African Republic and Republic of Congo. Three successive phases of road recovery were identified on LANDSAT images: open roads with bare soil, roads in the process of revegetation after abandonment and disappeared roads no longer distinguishable from the surrounding forest. Field based inventories confirmed significant differences between all three categories in density and richness of woody species and cover of dominant herbs. We used dead-end road segments, built for timber exploitation, as sampling units. Only 6% of them were identified as being re-opened. Survival analyses showed median persistence of four years for open roads before changing to the revegetating state and 20 years for revegetating roads before disappearance. Persistence of revegetating roads was 25% longer on geologically poor substrates which might result from slower forest recovery in areas with lower levels of soil nutrient content. We highlight the contrast amongst forests growing on different types of substrate in their potential for ecosystem recovery over time after roads have been abandoned. Forest management plans need to take these constraints into account. Logging activities should be concentrated on the existing road network and sites of low soil resource levels should be spared from business-as-usual exploitation.
AB - Logging roads in the Congo Basin are often associated with forest degradation through fragmentation and access for other land uses. However, in concessions managed for timber production, secondary roads are usually closed after exploitation and are expected to disappear subsequently. Little is known about the effectiveness of this prescription and the factors affecting vegetation recovery rate on abandoned logging roads. In a novel approach we assessed logging roads as temporary elements in the forest landscape that vary in persistence depending on environmental conditions. We analyzed road persistence during the period 1986-2013 in adjacent parts of Cameroon, Central African Republic and Republic of Congo. Three successive phases of road recovery were identified on LANDSAT images: open roads with bare soil, roads in the process of revegetation after abandonment and disappeared roads no longer distinguishable from the surrounding forest. Field based inventories confirmed significant differences between all three categories in density and richness of woody species and cover of dominant herbs. We used dead-end road segments, built for timber exploitation, as sampling units. Only 6% of them were identified as being re-opened. Survival analyses showed median persistence of four years for open roads before changing to the revegetating state and 20 years for revegetating roads before disappearance. Persistence of revegetating roads was 25% longer on geologically poor substrates which might result from slower forest recovery in areas with lower levels of soil nutrient content. We highlight the contrast amongst forests growing on different types of substrate in their potential for ecosystem recovery over time after roads have been abandoned. Forest management plans need to take these constraints into account. Logging activities should be concentrated on the existing road network and sites of low soil resource levels should be spared from business-as-usual exploitation.
KW - Central africa
KW - Deforestation
KW - Geological substrate
KW - GIS
KW - Land cover change
KW - Land sharing-land sparing
KW - LANDSAT
KW - Regeneration
KW - Road ecology
KW - Selective logging
KW - Survival analysis
KW - Tropical rain forest
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=84928663079&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1890/ES14-00488.1
DO - 10.1890/ES14-00488.1
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:84928663079
VL - 6
JO - ECOSPHERE
JF - ECOSPHERE
SN - 2150-8925
IS - 4
M1 - 64
ER -