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Fragmentation of Forest Landscapes in Central Africa: Causes, Consequences and Management

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Patterns and Processes in Forest Landscapes

Abstract

Forest fragmentation has a paramount impact on landscape pattern and has therefore been a key focus of landscape ecology. Trends and causes of deforestation are analysed for the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Rwanda and Burundi, and are put in a regional, continental and global perspective. In order to investigate the role of shifting cultivation as a driver of fragmentation, the dynamics of a forest landscape between 1970 and 2005 for a study area in the Bas-Congo province of the Democratic Republic of the Congo were analysed. Using a transition matrix and the identification of the spatial land transformation processes involved, historical data are compared with the current situation based upon field visits and remote sensing imagery. As a consequence of non sustainable shifting agriculture, forest fragmentation is observed, leading to an expansion of savannah, fallow lands and fields which replace secondary forest vegetation and limit forest succession towards primary forest. Since forest ecosystems are known to be the habitat of indicator species only observed in one specific phytogeographic territory, the potential impact of habitat preservation for these species is investigated. A dataset of 310 Acanthaceae species containing 6362 herbarium samples for the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Rwanda and Burundi is analysed and species presence is compared with the phytogeographic theories of Robyns (1948), White (1979,1983) and Ndjele (1988). Study of the spatial distribution and analyses of species habitats reveal the importance of forest preservation to protect these indicator species. Conservation of these habitats should therefore be given priority to avoid loss of genetic resources for future generations. Implications for the management of forested landscapes are discussed, regarding the role of local populations, the application of ecological principles, the conservation of virgin forests, the potential role of forest plantations, and the importance of landscape pattern analysis.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Université libre de Bruxelles, Laboratoire d’Ecologie du Paysage, 50 Avenue F.D. Roosevelt, CP169, B-1050 Bruxelles, Belgium

    Jan Bogaert

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  1. Jan Bogaert
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  2. Issouf Bamba
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  3. Kouao J. Koffi
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  6. Dominique Champluvier
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  7. Elmar Robbrecht
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  8. Charles De Cannière
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  9. Marjolein N. Visser
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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Dept. of Scienze delle Produzioni Vegetali, University of Bari, Via Amendola 165/A, 70126 Bari BA, Italy

    Raffaele Lafortezza  & Giovanni Sanesi  & 

  2. Dept. Earth, Ecological & Environmental Sciences, University of Toledo, 2801 W. Bancroft St., Toledo, OH 43606-3390, USA

    Jiquan Chen

  3. USDA Forest Service Environmental Sciences Research, WFWAR - Stop Code 1113 1400 Independence Avenue, SW Washington DC, 20250-1113, USA

    Thomas R. Crow

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Bogaert, J. et al. (2008). Fragmentation of Forest Landscapes in Central Africa: Causes, Consequences and Management. In: Lafortezza, R., Sanesi, G., Chen, J., Crow, T.R. (eds) Patterns and Processes in Forest Landscapes. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4020-8504-8_5

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