Tree growth in West African cocoa agroforestry systems : high timber yields and superior performance of natural regenerationuse asterix (*) to get italics

Aimé K. Kouassi, Irié C. Zo-Bi, Bruno Hérault, Isaac K. Konan, Marie R. Dago, Baptiste Lasbats, Sylvain Schmitt, Anny E. N'Guessan, Raphaël AussenacPlease use the format "First name initials family name" as in "Marie S. Curie, Niels H. D. Bohr, Albert Einstein, John R. R. Tolkien, Donna T. Strickland"

2024

<p>In West Africa, where over 80% of original forests have been lost to agriculture, finding alternative timber sources is critical for regional needs and sustainability. The widespread development of agroforestry could be a promising source of timber wood, but the production potential of trees in agricultural &nbsp;fields cannot be directly transferred from natural forests or dedicated plantations due to different biophysical environments. Our study assesses the timber production potential of trees in 150 cocoa agroforestry systems (AFS) in Côte d'Ivoire. To achieve this, we: (i) modelled the diameter growth of forest tree species with timber potential in cocoa AFS; (ii) developed specific allometric models for trees in cocoa AFS to estimate their volume at minimum logging diameter (MLD); and (iii) evaluated the effect of tree origin (natural regeneration vs. plantation) on growth trajectories, allometry, and bole volumes. Our results show that trees can reach a 50 cm diameter (the smallest MLD) as early as 14 years old, and a bole height of up to 8.83 m at this diameter. Spontaneous trees grow 10% faster annually than (trans)planted trees, reaching their MLD up to 10 years earlier. For a given bole height, spontaneous trees have a 43 % greater volume compared to (trans)planted trees, with a bole volume up to 0.71 m³ higher. These findings highlight that natural regeneration is a more efficient and effective strategy than plantation for renewing trees in cocoa AFS. Natural regeneration results in higher growth rates and greater timber volumes compared to planting. Therefore, natural regeneration shows great potential for (i) sustainable forestry management in agroforestry systems and (ii) significantly contributing to meeting regional timber demands.</p>

https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.12581454You should fill this box only if you chose 'All or part of the results presented in this preprint are based on data'. URL must start with http:// or https://

https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.12581454You should fill this box only if you chose 'Scripts were used to obtain or analyze the results'. URL must start with http:// or https://

https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.12581454You should fill this box only if you chose 'Codes have been used in this study'. URL must start with http:// or https://

Timber wood Growth trajectories Allometry Silvicultural management Natural regeneration Cocoa agroforestry West Africa

NonePlease indicate the methods that may require specialised expertise during the peer review process (use a comma to separate various required expertises).

Conservation and restoration, Forest ressources and dynamics, Silviculture and forest management

Christine Deleuze suggested: Fleur Longuetaud fleur.longuetaud@inrae.fr, Christine Deleuze suggested: BILLARD Antoine antoine.billard@onf.fr, Jean-Daniel Bontemps suggested: Raphaël Trouvé

e.g. John Doe john@doe.com

No need for them to be recommenders of PCI Forest Wood Sci. Please do not suggest reviewers for whom there might be a conflict of interest. Reviewers are not allowed to review preprints written by close colleagues (with whom they have published in the last four years, with whom they have received joint funding in the last four years, or with whom they are currently writing a manuscript, or submitting a grant proposal), or by family members, friends, or anyone for whom bias might affect the nature of the review - see the code of conduct

2024-07-08 14:29:01

Bernard Thibaut