Deciphering African tropical forest dynamics in the Anthropocene: How social and historical sciences can elucidate forest cover change and inform forest management

Détails

Ressource 1Télécharger: Walters 2019 Preprint Forest History Africa.pdf (820.75 [Ko])
Etat: Public
Version: de l'auteur⸱e
Licence: Non spécifiée
ID Serval
serval:BIB_FF8380BAB22E
Type
Article: article d'un périodique ou d'un magazine.
Collection
Publications
Institution
Titre
Deciphering African tropical forest dynamics in the Anthropocene: How social and historical sciences can elucidate forest cover change and inform forest management
Périodique
Anthropocene
Auteur⸱e⸱s
Walters G., Fraser J. Angus, Picard N., Hymas O., Fairhead J.
ISSN
2213-3054
Statut éditorial
Publié
Date de publication
09/2019
Volume
27
Pages
100214
Langue
anglais
Résumé
Forests bear the historical legacies of human activities over thousands of years, including agriculture, trade, disease and resource extraction. Many of these activities may represent indices of the proposed geological epoch of the Anthropocene. Modifications to soil, topography and vegetation evidence anthropogenic influences. Yet studies of vegetation change throughout the humid tropics tend to occlude these by focussing on forest dynamics, timber, and biodiversity through permanent sample plots or forestry inventory plots. We highlight how history and social science can be combined with ecology to help better understand human signatures in forest dynamics. We (1) critically review ecological methods in the light of the environmental and social history of the Afrotropics; (2) map current plot networks for West and Central Africa in relation to the Human Footprint Index; (3) using two case-studies, demonstrate how history and social science bring new insights and inferences to plot-based studies; all leading to (4) novel forms of interdisciplinary collaboration for sustainable forest conservation, management and restoration.
Mots-clé
Forest ecology, Africa, historical sciences, social sciences, forest management, interdisciplinarity
Création de la notice
31/07/2019 11:28
Dernière modification de la notice
21/08/2019 6:11
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