Dynamic Patterns of Trees Species in Miombo Forest and Management Perspectives for Sustainable Production—Case Study in Huambo Province, Angola

Abstract

This paper aims to assess important forest parameters, including tree density, diameter at breast height (DBH), and age distribution, investigate the dynamic growth of miombo tree species, and employ this information to design a management framework in miombo forests. The delineation of the management zones was based on unsupervised land cover classification that began with three zones where ground data was collected and increased to five zones. Eighteen circular plots (25.2 m radius) were randomly distributed over the study areas to assess the current situation and potential growth patterns for each species. The patterns of the six most representative tree species of miombo in Angola were described and we used KORFiT 2.4 software to fit data and develop growth curves for at least three miombo species. Growth function fitness was evaluated by root mean squared error (RMSE), coefficient of determination (R 2 ), significance of the parameters (p < 0.05), and Akaike's information criterion (AIC). The diameter distribution of miombo tree species resembled a typical distribution of uneven-aged forest stands; higher DBH classes had lower abundances of tree species. Logistic and Gompertz growth functions were the best fits for miombo tree species. Brachystegia spiciformis Benth., is suggested as a potential species for timber management in the region because they displayed high growth potential to more quickly reach an assumed minimum DBH of 20 cm. This study concluded that miombo forest stands present an irregular structure in which DBH distribution illustrated only two patterns: many small stems and a bimodal forest structure.

Crown Morphometry for Two Valuable Timber Species From Miombo Woodland in Mozambique

“…These differences can be explained by the phenotypical resilience of tree response to climate and other environmental conditions such as altitude and soil features (KALABA et al, 2013;SEIFERT et al, 2014), as well as the action of fires, observed in the woodland, in which some trees of B. madagascariensis had their trunks and crowns damaged. It is important to mention that both B. madagascariensis and P. angolensis are species of the same forest formation and belong to the same family (Fabaceae) but to different ecological groups: the first is a late-climax secondary species whereas the latter is a pioneer species (GONÇALVES et al, 2017;CHITECULO;SUROVY 2018), in other words, ecological strategies are different to obtain better results for species growth and survival (WILLIAMS et al, 2008;CHIDUMAYO, 2013). Chidumayo (2019) report different strategies of trees in the Miombo canopy where he found that most pioneer species grow slower in the initial stages.…”

Diversification of African Tree Legumes in Miombo–Mopane Woodlands

“…Thus, more efforts are needed to investigate the vegetation dynamics, anthropogenic and environmental drivers as well as the different conservation management strategies across Miombo and Mopane countries. Examples of such efforts include the recent work of, (i) Chiteculo and Surovy [46] and Chiteculo et al [47], that characterized the vegetation composition and structure and deforestation patterns of the Miombo woodlands in the Huambo province, Angola, respectively; (ii) Ribeiro et al [6] that conducted a 12-year analysis of the spatio-temporal patterns of fire to refine the fire management strategy in one of the most pristine areas of Miombo, the Niassa National Reserve, Mozambique; (iii) Mugasha et al [48] that provided a pioneer study on modeling tree growth in the Miombo woodlands from Tanzania based on long-term monitoring data; and (iii) Chidumayo [49] that performed a long-term study (1982–2018) across the Miombo woodlands in Zambia to investigate the woodland drivers and contribute to the design of management plans.…”

Forest Resources Management and Sustainability: The Specific Case of European Union Countries

“…Forest management depends on several factors [13], given the influence of different dimensions and factors upon forestry ecosystems [14], such as soil characteristics [15], soil acidity [16], sodic concentrations [17], and other soil functions (e.g., seed banks play a determinant role in these frameworks) [18]. Moreover, other factors that forest management depends on are climate changes, human, social, and economic contexts, historical records, local knowledge, public policies, and institutional frameworks.…”