Seed rain beneath remnant trees in a slash-and-burn agricultural system in southern Cameroon

Carrière Stéphanie M., André Mathieu, Letourmy Philippe, Olivier Isabelle, McKey Doyle B.. 2002. Seed rain beneath remnant trees in a slash-and-burn agricultural system in southern Cameroon. Journal of Tropical Ecology, 18 : 353-374.

Résumé : On clearing fields, Ntumu farmers in southern Cameroon leave some large trees. The seed rain beneath 30 such remnant trees (12 species) was compared with that 10 m away from the edges of their crowns. Of a total of 39 765 seeds recorded in 90 seed traps over 2 y, 73.6% were of species different from the tree associated with each set. of traps ('foreign seed rain'). Seed rain included 100 morphospecies, two-thirds of which possessed endozoochorous seeds. Seeds of the pioneer tree Musanga cecropioides accounted for 71.4% of total foreign seed rain; seeds of this and other animal-dispersed species accounted for 94.5% of the total. Seed rain was 25 times higher beneath remnant trees than 10 m away. Mean species richness of monthly seed rain was three times higher beneath remnant trees than 10 m away. Both fleshy-fruited and wind-dispersed species of remnant trees attracted seed-dispersing animals which greatly enhanced the seed rain; attraction thus did not depend solely on presence of fleshy fruits. Seed rain was lower when human activity in fields was intense and increased during the period of growth of the last crops, which were not usually weeded. Heavy seed rain just before fallow may contribute significantly to regeneration, as does the presence of remnant trees.

Mots-clés Agrovoc : jachère forestière, ensemencement, culture itinérante, système de culture, traitement des données

Mots-clés géographiques Agrovoc : Cameroun

Classification Agris : K10 - Production forestière

Auteurs et affiliations

• Carrière Stéphanie M., CEFE (FRA)
• André Mathieu, CEFE (FRA)
• Letourmy Philippe, CIRAD-CA-DIR (FRA) ORCID: 0000-0003-1040-0860
• Olivier Isabelle, CEFE (FRA)
• McKey Doyle B., CNRS (FRA)

Source : Cirad - Agritrop (https://agritrop.cirad.fr/517249/)

Métriques

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