title: Present-day central African forest is a legacy of the 19th century human history.
abstract: The populations of light-demanding trees that dominate the canopy of central African forests are now aging. Here, we show that the lack of regeneration of these populations began ca. 165 ya (around 1850) after major anthropogenic disturbances ceased. Since 1885, less itinerancy and disturbance in the forest has occurred because the colonial administrations concentrated people and villages along the primary communication axes. Local populations formerly gardened the forest by creating scattered openings, which were sufficiently large for the establishment of light-demanding trees. Currently, common logging operations do not create suitable openings for the regeneration of these species, whereas deforestation degrades landscapes. Using an interdisciplinary approach, which included paleoecological, archaeological, historical, and dendrological data, we highlight the long-term history of human activities across central African forests and assess the contribution of these activities to present-day forest structure and composition. The conclusions of this sobering analysis present challenges to current silvicultural practices and to those of the future.
authors.affiliation: TERRA Research Centre, Central African Forests, University of Liège - Gembloux Agro-Bio Tech, Gembloux, Belgium.|BIOSE, Management of Forest Resources, University of Liège - Gembloux Agro-Bio Tech, Gembloux, Belgium.|Wood Biology Service, Royal Museum for Central Africa, Tervuren, Belgium.
authors.forename: Julie
authors.identifier: 0000-0003-1823-6532
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Morin-Rivat
authors.affiliation: TERRA Research Centre, Central African Forests, University of Liège - Gembloux Agro-Bio Tech, Gembloux, Belgium.|BIOSE, Management of Forest Resources, University of Liège - Gembloux Agro-Bio Tech, Gembloux, Belgium.
authors.forename: Adeline
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Fayolle
authors.affiliation: ISEM, Institut des Sciences de l'Évolution, UMR 5554-CNRS, Université Montpellier II, Montpellier, France.
authors.forename: Charly
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Favier
authors.affiliation: ISEM, Institut des Sciences de l'Évolution, UMR 5554-CNRS, Université Montpellier II, Montpellier, France.
authors.forename: Laurent
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Bremond
authors.affiliation: Unité de Recherche Biens et Services des Écosystèmes Forestiers tropicaux, Département Environnements et Sociétés du CIRAD, Montpellier, France.
authors.forename: Sylvie
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Gourlet-Fleury
authors.affiliation: FRM, Montpellier, France.
authors.forename: Nicolas
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Bayol
authors.affiliation: TERRA Research Centre, Central African Forests, University of Liège - Gembloux Agro-Bio Tech, Gembloux, Belgium.|BIOSE, Management of Forest Resources, University of Liège - Gembloux Agro-Bio Tech, Gembloux, Belgium.
authors.forename: Philippe
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Lejeune
authors.affiliation: Wood Biology Service, Royal Museum for Central Africa, Tervuren, Belgium.
authors.forename: Hans
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Beeckman
authors.affiliation: TERRA Research Centre, Central African Forests, University of Liège - Gembloux Agro-Bio Tech, Gembloux, Belgium.|BIOSE, Management of Forest Resources, University of Liège - Gembloux Agro-Bio Tech, Gembloux, Belgium.
authors.forename: Jean-Louis
authors.initials: JL
authors.lastname: Doucet
mesh_terms: D000350:Africa, Central; D003247:Conservation of Natural Resources; D017753:Ecosystem; D065928:Forests; D049672:History, 19th Century; D049673:History, 20th Century; D049674:History, 21st Century; D006802:Human Activities / Q000266:history*; D006801:Humans
keywords: European colonization; anthropogenic disturbance; central Africa; ecology; human; plant biology; recent history; tree regeneration; tropical forests