This paper seeks to examine the contribution of cocoa-based agroforestry systems (CAFS) in the conservation of native tree species of nearby forests. The study was conducted in two sites in Mbankomo sub-division of Cameroon, where a field inventory was carried out in both land use systems in 26 sample plots of 30 9 30 m 2 each, in 20 cocoa agroforest plots and six adjacent secondary forests plots. Tree diversity, composition and structure in the cocoa agroforests and secondary forests were characterized, a-diversity was evaluated and similarity/ dissimilarity of species composition assessed using non-metric multidimensional scaling (NMDS). The results reveal that all the CAFS appear to conserve 46 % of forest tree species found in nearby forests. This may be justified by the multipurpose use of forest tree species during the implementation and the evolution of the CAFS on a spatial-temporal scale. CAFS harbored lower forest tree species diversity at the plot level compared to nearby forest stands meanwhile the non-parametric estimator suggested that both land uses conserve approximately the same species richness. Mean values for species richness, the Shannon and reciprocal Simpsons indices diversity, stem density and basal area were significantly higher in forests than in CAFS (p \ 0.001). The NMDS showed a clear dissimilarity which was confirmed by the R statistic = 0.998 and p value = 0.009 of the analysis of similarities test between cocoa agroforests and forest stands. In conclusion, the results show that CAFS can serve as reservoirs for the conservation of forest tree species; this can be expanded if the issue of ownership of timber forest trees is addressed in the forest law.
Dans le cadre de la Stratégie et le Plan d’Action National sur la Biodiversité, afin d’améliorer la compréhension et la documentation des écosystèmes, l’objectif de cette étude est l’identification et la cartographie les habitats naturels du Cameroun. Les matériels utilisés ont été les référentiels constitués de la classification standard des habitats de l’Union Internationale pour la Conservation de la Nature (UICN) pour la nomenclature, et les cartes phytogéographique, du relief et de l’hydrographie pour les habitats terrestres et aquatiques pour les cartes thématiques respectivement. Les méthodes ont été d’adapter la classification de l’UICN à celle des phytochories pour la nomenclature ; et la fabrique des délimitations sur des fonds de cartes existantes pour la cartographie. Les résultats obtenus sont la reconnaissance de différents types d’habitats naturels du Cameroun : trois cartes qui présentent les délimitations des habitats naturels terrestres par écosystème, et aquatiques par bassin hydrographique ; et que la répartition des habitats terrestres est corrélée avec la nature des sols. Ces données complètent les connaissances sur les écosystèmes et sont un outil pour l’application de l’approche par écosystème. C’est une contribution à la cartographie des milieux naturels du Cameroun en rapport avec la gestion durable de la biodiversité.Mots clés. Cameroun, habitat naturel, écosystème, phytochorie, hydrographie, cartographie. English Title: Natural habitats of the ecosystems of CameroonWithin the framework of the National Biodiversity Strategy and Action Plan, to improve the understanding and documentation of the ecosystems, the objectives of this study are the identification and the mapping of natural habitats of Cameroon. The materials used have been the referentials made up of the classification standard scheme of the habitats of the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) for nomenclature, and the phytogeographic, relief and hydrography maps for terrestrial and aquatic habitats respectively. The methods have been to adapt the IUCN classification to that of phytochoria for nomenclature; and fabricate boundaries on existing maps for cartography. The results obtain are the recognition of different natural habitat types in Cameroon: three maps showing the boundaries of terrestrial natural habitats by ecosystem, and aquatic by watershed; and that the distribution of terrestrial habitats is correlated with the nature of the soil. These data improve the knowledge on ecosystems, and are an instrument for the implementation of the ecosystem approach. It’s a contribution to the mapping of natural environments of Cameroon in relation with the sustainable management of the biodiversity.Keywords: Cameroon, natural habitat, ecosystem, phytochoria, hydrography, mapping
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