Light-demanding canopy tree species do not indicate past human disturbance in the Yangambi rainforest (Democratic Republic of the Congo)

Key message

In a former paper, we investigated whether the presence of light-demanding tree species in the forest canopy of the Yangambi Biosphere Reserve (central Congo basin) might be a result of past human disturbances (Luambua et al., Ecol Evol 11:18691–18707, 2021). We focussed on the spatial distribution of the most abundant light demanders, but this approach did not yield conclusive results. In the present study, we focus on all species in the forest and conclude that light demanders are not a transient feature of successional tropical forests but an intrinsic component of old-growth forests in Yangambi.

Keywords
Central African rainforest; Forest composition; Forest history; Light-demanding canopy species; Recovery from human disturbance hypothesis; Yangambi Biosphere Reserve

Publication
Luambua, N.K., Kadorho, A.S., Nshimba, H.S.M. et al. Light-demanding canopy tree species do not indicate past human disturbance in the Yangambi rainforest (Democratic Republic of the Congo). Annals of Forest Science 81, 45 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1186/s13595-024-01263-6

Data and/or Code availability
Focal species inventory data of the Moni transects that support the findings of this study are available on Dryad: https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.qv9s4mwdf. The dataset of permanent inventory plots is also available on Dryad via the link: https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.nk98sf81m.
The custom R code generated during the current study are available via the link: https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.11636748.

Handling Editor
Erwin Dreyer