Diversity of plants in cocoa agroforests in the humid forest zone of Southern Cameroon |
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Authors: | Denis J Sonwa Bernard A Nkongmeneck Stephan F Weise Maturin Tchatat Akin A Adesina Marc J J Janssens |
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Institution: | 1.International Institute of Tropical Agriculture,Humid Forest Ecoregional Center (IITA-HFC),Messa, Yaounde,Cameroon;2.Department of Plant Biology,University of Yaoundé I,Yaounde,Cameroon;3.Institut de Recherche Agricole pour le Développement (IRAD),Yaounde,Cameroon;4.Agricultural Sciences Division,The Rockefeller Foundation,New York,USA;5.Institute of Horticulture,University of Bonn,Bonn,Germany |
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Abstract: | In the humid forest zone of Southern Cameroon, farmers generally associate cocoa with native and exotic trees in complex agroforestry
systems. Despite the socio-economic and ecological importance of these systems, few studies have investigated their plant
composition. We investigated tree composition of cocoa agroforests along a gradient of market access, population density and
resource use intensity in the humid forest zone of southern Cameroon, comprising (i) the sub-region of Yaoundé, (ii) the sub-region
of Mbalmayo, and (iii) the sub-region of Ebolowa. Market access, population density and resource use intensity all decreased
from the first to the third sub-region. We quantified the diversity of tree species associated with cocoa within individual
agroforests, among agroforests in the same region, and among the three sub-regions, and classified the tree species according
to their main uses. A total of 9.1 ha belonging to 60 cocoa agroforests were inventoried in 12 villages. We encountered a
total of 206 tree species with an average of 21 tree species per agroforest. In the more urbanized area around Yaoundé, agroforests
were less diverse than in the other sub-regions. In all of the agroforests, food producing tree species tended to be more
frequent than other species. Two thirds of the food trees were native forest species and one third was introduced. From Ebolowa
to Yaoundé, the density of food producing trees doubled and the density of exotic food-producing species increased relative
to native species. Some local species producing high-value non-timber forest products were found in the agroforests, but their
density was far lower than that of exotic tree species. The agroforests also provide medicine, charcoal and other products
for household consumption and sale. We conclude that unless there are specific efforts to promote local forest tree species
in cocoa agroforests, these will progressively lose importance with increasing market access, population pressure and land
use intensity. |
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Keywords: | Cocoa agroforest Congo Basin Humid forest zone Land use intensity Market access Plant diversity Southern Cameroon |
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