Trunk carbon (C) concentrations were assessed for 32 species of tropical trees to understand sources of variation. The main effect of species accounted for 38% of the total variance in C concentration (p < 0.0001). Tectona grandis demonstrated the greatest C concentration (49.4%), while Ormosia macrocalyx displayed the lowest C concentration (44.4%). We also observed significant differences among the sampling sites (F = 2.2, p < 0.02). For three of the species sampled in both plantations and natural forests, the natural forest individuals had significantly higher C concentrations (Dipteryx panamensis: F = 6.10, p = 0.06; Hura crepitans: F = 5.53, p = 0.06; and Miconia argentea: F = 8.92, p = 0.02). C concentration was highly correlated with wood specific gravity (r2 = 0.86). A canonical correspondence analysis was performed to identify the environmental and (or) growth factors explaining variation in trunk C concentration. The two factors with the highest loading values on the first canonical axis are site and diameter at breast height (DBH), while DBH and density load on axis 2. The biplot shows that species respond differently to environmental factors. Our results suggest that a better consideration of interspecific variation in C concentration could reduce the error associated with estimates of C sequestration by up to 10%.

The shea tree (Vitellaria paradoxa) is indigenous to Africa's Sudano-Sahelian region and crucial to savanna ecosystems and peoples. African women have long collected, marketed and transformed shea nuts into a multipurpose butter. The growing global trade in shea butter destined for the Western food and cosmetics industries thus represents an opportunity to bolster impoverished female incomes. However, such international sales are also prompting changes in the west African shea landscape. This article examines the role of shea as a female heritage in Burkina Faso, West Africa's largest shea exporter. It focuses on the knowledge systems informing the management, conservation and processing of shea. It also considers the effects of global shea commercialization on the maintenance of traditional agroforestry practices, tenure rights, and butter-making techniques. In so doing, the article illuminates the cultural and botanical heritage of shea as well as the significance of this species in biodiversity protection, African natural heritages and female knowledge systems.

This is a repository copy of Ten people-centered rules for socially sustainable ecosystem restoration.

This article presents a review of seven guides for gender-equitable value chain development (VCD). The guides advocate persuasively the integration of gender into VCD programming and raise important issues for designing more inclusive interventions. However, gaps persist in their coverage of gender-based constraints in collective enterprises, the influence of norms on gender relations, and processes to transform inequitable relations through VCD. Guidance for field implementation and links to complementary value chain tools are also limited. The article identifies opportunities for conceptual and methodological innovation to address the varying roles, needs, and aspirations of women and men in VCD. ARTICLE HISTORY

(2017) Exploring local knowledge and preferences for shea (Vitellariaparadoxa) ethnovarieties in Southwest Burkina Faso through a gender and ethnic lens, Forests, Trees and Livelihoods, 26:1, 13-28,