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Customary Fire Regimes and Vegetation Structure in Gabon’s Bateke Plateaux

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Abstract

Most fires in Africa are anthropogenic yet remain understudied. Studies typically address managed fire, or the “fire triad” of early dry season-late dry season-suppression, and fire regimes which are annual or less, leaving unstudied the anthropogenic fire regimes that occur in the majority of African savannas. I take the case of the Bateke Plateaux area where burning today occurs both annually and semi-annually and measure the impacts of these regimes on savanna structure, measuring stem survival post fire and post fire regeneration of resprouts of the dominant savanna tree. While annual fires are hot and burn completely, semi-annual fires are cooler and patchy, favouring re-sprout survival and an escape route for small stems to mature into trees. This work extends the fire triad model to include an anthropogenic semi-annual regime which favours tree survival. The integration of local fire regimes into future studies will help increase our understanding of climate, vegetation dynamics as well as help orient policy and conservation.

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Notes

  1. Despite changing fire regimes, many cultural land fertility beliefs remain active (Walters et al. 2011).

  2. Many outsiders assume that Bateke either burn annually or continually, and assume that it is destructive to the landscape (e.g., Ikamba 2005; Congo Basin Forest Partnership 2006).

  3. These fires are not used by the Bateke in the study area to improve soil, as in the écobuage or “Maala” techniques of neighbouring Republic of Congo practiced in the Niari Valley and in some parts of the Bateke Plateaux, but only on ferrous, clay soils. In the study area, the presence of pure sands as the substrate prevents fires from having an impact on soil (Mboukou-Kimbatsa 1997; Mapangui 1992).

  4. Stems may escape fire damage when protected by fuel moisture around trees (Higgins et al. 2000).

  5. With the unexplained exception of those on Kalahari sands. The study site is on this same substrate.

  6. However, approximately 90 years ago, a nearby former village site was inhabited, suggesting that at that time the study site would have been cultivated and grazed. The historic continual shifting of village sites in the Bateke Plateau area prior to resettlement suggests that the study site represents many places in the plateaux that have a serial history of cultivation/grazing followed by hunting use.

  7. The same trend was observed for stem diameter.

  8. Maturity is defined as grasses at full height, in the flowering stage. Maturity is independent of fuel moisture.

  9. However, in the Ivory Coast, even areas repeatedly burned over 20 years in an annual fire regime resulted in a 30 % increase in woody density (Menaut et al. 1990).

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Acknowledgments

This work was supported by grants from the Rufford Foundation, the University College London Graduate School, Overseas Research Scholarship Award Scheme, and the Parkes Foundation. The directors and colleagues of the Parc National des Plateaux Bateke, Herbier National du Gabon, the Institut de Pharmacopée et Médécines Traditionelles, the Wildlife Conservation Society-Bateke, the Projet Protection des Gorilles-Gabon, and the Missouri Botanical Garden are thanked for institutional support. This work was permitted by the Centre National de Recherche Scientifique et Technique, Gabon and the Agence National des Parcs Nationaux. Thanks to the University of Maryland for sharing their Firemapper data. Thanks to P. Laris, J. Fairhead, C. Parr, K. Homewood, and P. Burnham who read earlier versions of this manuscript; the comments of two anonymous reviewers improved the manuscript. Discussions with O. Hymas were helpful in developing this work. For help with statistical analysis, I thank Pius Korner. Joe Kewemie is thanked for field assistance. The people of Saaye, Lewu, Ekouyi-Mboma, and Kebiri are thanked for their welcome and support during the study, for keeping the firebreak clean, burning the plots, and for sharing their knowledge about fire-use.

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  1. Gretchen Walters

    Present address: International Union for the Conservation of Nature, West and Central Africa Regional Forest Program, B.P. 5506, Yaoundé, Cameroon

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  1. Department of Anthropology, University College London, Gower Street, WC1E 6BT, London, England, UK

    Gretchen Walters

  2. Institut de Pharmacopée et Médécines Traditionelles, Herbier National du Gabon, BP 1135, Libreville, Gabon

    Gretchen Walters

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  1. Gretchen Walters
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Correspondence to Gretchen Walters.

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Walters, G. Customary Fire Regimes and Vegetation Structure in Gabon’s Bateke Plateaux. Hum Ecol 40, 943–955 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10745-012-9536-x

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10745-012-9536-x

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