Unsung climate guardians: The overlooked role of remnant and spontaneous trees in carbon stocks and gains from tree growth in West African cocoa fields

Konan Isaac Kouamé, N’Guessan Anny E., Kouassi Aimé Kouadio, Dago Marie Ruth, N’dja Justin Kassi, Aussenac Raphaël, Guei Stéphane, Jagoret Patrick, Hérault Bruno. 2025. Unsung climate guardians: The overlooked role of remnant and spontaneous trees in carbon stocks and gains from tree growth in West African cocoa fields. PloS One, 20 (8):e0328763, 17 p.

Url - jeu de données - Entrepôt autre : https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.47d7wm3q5

Liste HCERES des revues (en SHS) : oui

Thème(s) HCERES des revues (en SHS) : Psychologie-éthologie-ergonomie; Staps

Résumé : Cocoa cultivation in West Africa has been a major driver of deforestation, leading to increased greenhouse gas emissions and threatening cocoa yields. Agroforestry, which integrates trees from various origins—remnant, spontaneous, and planted—presents a sustainable solution to enhance carbon sequestration and improve farm resilience. However, the specific contributions of these tree origins and the socio-environmental factors shaping their effectiveness remain poorly understood. This study examines carbon dynamics across 150 cocoa fields in Côte d'Ivoire, analyzing a total of 11,568 trees across 15 sites. Using Bayesian modeling, we assess carbon stocks and gains from tree growth to explore how socio-environmental factors influence carbon balance in cocoa fields. Carbon stocks varied widely with remnant having the highest median carbon stocks (6.33 Mg/ha), followed by spontaneous (2.06 Mg/ha) and planted trees (1.53 Mg/ha). Carbon gains are similar for planted and spontaneous trees up to 7 years, but afterward, spontaneous trees grow faster (11.20 ± 0.87 kg/year) than planted ones (3.96 ± 0.5 kg/year). Carbon stocks rose with informed farmers and former forest use, but declined with higher cocoa density. Carbon gains at the tree level is primarily influenced by ownership and previous forest land use with positive effects, while cocoa density and annual temperature have negative effects. To maximize carbon sequestration and ensure the sustainable management of agroforestry systems, interventions should prioritize securing land tenure, enhancing farmer training in tree botany, and promoting the conservation of remnant and spontaneous trees.

Mots-clés Agrovoc : séquestration du carbone, agroforesterie, Theobroma cacao, déboisement, changement climatique, carbone, croissance, utilisation des terres, atténuation des effets du changement climatique, propriété foncière, tenure foncière, systèmes agroforestiers

Mots-clés géographiques Agrovoc : Côte d'Ivoire, Afrique occidentale

Agences de financement européennes : European Commission

Agences de financement hors UE : Agence Française de Développement

Projets sur financement : (EU) European DeSIRA Initiative, (EU) Development Smart Innovation through Research in Agriculture

Auteurs et affiliations

• Konan Isaac Kouamé, UFHB (CIV)
• N’Guessan Anny E., UFHB (CIV)
• Kouassi Aimé Kouadio, INPHB (CIV)
• Dago Marie Ruth, CIRAD-ES-UPR Forêts et sociétés (FRA)
• N’dja Justin Kassi, UFHB (CIV)
• Aussenac Raphaël, CIRAD-ES-UPR Forêts et sociétés (FRA) ORCID: 0000-0003-1191-4716
• Guei Stéphane, UFHB (CIV)
• Jagoret Patrick, CIRAD-PERSYST-UMR ABSys (CIV) ORCID: 0000-0002-4490-2538
• Hérault Bruno, CIRAD-ES-UPR Forêts et sociétés (FRA) ORCID: 0000-0002-6950-7286 - auteur correspondant

Source : Cirad-Agritrop (https://agritrop.cirad.fr/614596/)

Métriques

[ Page générée et mise en cache le 2025-09-22 ]