Drivers of aboveground wood production in a lowland tropical forest of West Africa: teasing apart the roles of tree density, tree diversity, soil phosphorus, and historical logging.

ABSTRACT: Tropical forests currently play a key role in regulating the terrestrial carbon cycle and abating climate change by storing carbon in wood. However, there remains considerable uncertainty as to whether tropical forests will continue to act as carbon sinks in the face of increased pressure from expanding human activities. Consequently, understanding what drives productivity in tropical forests is critical. We used permanent forest plot data from the Gola Rainforest National Park (Sierra Leone) - one of the largest tracts of intact tropical moist forest in West Africa - to explore how (1) stand basal area and tree diversity, (2) past disturbance associated with past logging, and (3) underlying soil nutrient gradients interact to determine rates of aboveground wood production (AWP). We starte

SUBMITTER: Jucker T 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4875916 | biostudies-literature | 2016 Jun

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature