Abstract
The demographic impacts of harvesting nontimber forest products (NTFP) have been increasingly studied because of reports of potentially unsustainable harvest. Nevertheless, our understanding of how plant demographic response to harvest is altered by variation in ecological conditions, which is critical for developing realistic sustainable-use plans, is limited. We built matrix population models to test whether and how variation in ecological conditions affects population responses to harvest. In particular, we examined the effect of bark and foliage harvest on the demography of populations of African mahogany (Khaya senegalensis) in two contrasting ecological regions of Benin, West Africa. K. senegalensis bark and foliage harvest significantly reduced its stochastic population growth rates, but ecological differences between regions had a greater effect on population growth rates than did harvest. The effect of harvest on population growth rates (Deltalambda) was slightly stronger in the moist than in the drier region. Life-table response experiments revealed that the mechanism by which harvesting reduced lambda differed between ecological regions. Lowered stasis (persistence) of larger life stages lead to a reduction in lambda in the drier region, whereas lowered growth of all life stages lowered lambda in moist region. Potential strategies to increase population growth rates should include decreasing the proportion of individuals harvested, promoting harvester-owned plantations of African mahogany, and increasing survival and growth by promoting no-fire zones in gallery forests. Our results show how population responses to harvest of NTFP may be altered by ecological differences across sites and emphasize the importance of monitoring populations over the climatic range in which they occur to develop more realistic recommendations for conservation.
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Claims 9
Claim · model-written summary
Bark and foliage harvest significantly reduced stochastic population growth rates.
- Taxon
- K. senegalensis
Khaya senegalensise0 - Treatment
- bark and foliage harveste0
- Outcome
- stochastic population growth ratese0
- Direction
- reducede0
Not reportedComparator
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“K. senegalensis bark and foliage harvest significantly reduced its stochastic population growth rates”
Claim · model-written summary
Regional ecological differences affected population growth rates more than harvest did.
- Taxon
- African mahogany (Khaya senegalensis)
Khaya ivorensise1 - Outcome
- population growth ratese0
- Direction
- greatere0
- Comparator
- harveste0
- Setting
- regionse0
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“ecological differences between regions had a greater effect on population growth rates than did harvest”
e1“populations of African mahogany (Khaya senegalensis)”
Claim · model-written summary
The harvest effect on population growth was slightly stronger in the moist region.
- Taxon
- African mahogany (Khaya senegalensis)Khaya ivorensise1
- Treatment
- harveste0
- Outcome
- population growth ratese0
- Direction
- strongere0
- Comparator
- drier regione0
- Setting
- moiste0
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“The effect of harvest on population growth rates (Deltalambda) was slightly stronger in the moist than in the drier region.”
e1“populations of African mahogany (Khaya senegalensis)”
Claim · model-written summary
Reduced persistence of larger stages lowered population growth in the drier region.
- Taxon
- African mahogany (Khaya senegalensis)Khaya ivorensise1
- Outcome
- reduction in lambdae0
- Qualifier
- Lowered stasis (persistence) of larger life stagese0
- Setting
- drier regione0
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“Lowered stasis (persistence) of larger life stages lead to a reduction in lambda in the drier region”
e1“populations of African mahogany (Khaya senegalensis)”
Claim · model-written summary
Reduced growth of all life stages lowered population growth in the moist region.
- Taxon
- African mahogany (Khaya senegalensis)Khaya ivorensise1
- Outcome
- lambdae0
- Qualifier
- lowered growth of all life stagese0
- Setting
- moist regione0
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“lowered growth of all life stages lowered lambda in moist region”
e1“populations of African mahogany (Khaya senegalensis)”
Claim · model-written summary
The authors recommend reducing the proportion of harvested individuals.
- Taxon
- African mahoganyKhaya ivorensise1
- Outcome
- decreasing the proportion of individuals harvestede0
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“decreasing the proportion of individuals harvested”
e1“plantations of African mahogany”
Claim · model-written summary
The authors recommend harvester-owned African mahogany plantations.
- Taxon
- African mahoganyKhaya ivorensise0
- Outcome
- promoting harvester-owned plantationse0
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“promoting harvester-owned plantations of African mahogany”
Claim · model-written summary
The authors recommend no-fire zones in gallery forests to increase survival and growth.
- Taxon
- African mahoganyKhaya ivorensise1
- Outcome
- promoting no-fire zones in gallery forestse0
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“increasing survival and growth by promoting no-fire zones in gallery forests”
e1“plantations of African mahogany”
Claim · model-written summary
The authors recommend monitoring populations across their climatic range.
- Taxon
- African mahoganyKhaya ivorensise1
- Outcome
- monitoring populations over the climatic range in which they occure0
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“monitoring populations over the climatic range in which they occur”
e1“plantations of African mahogany”