Trees outside of forests as natural climate solutions

Skole, David L.; Mbow, Cheikh; Mugabowindekwe, Maurice; Brandt, Martin; Samek, Jay H.

doi:10.1038/s41558-021-01230-3

Cited by 45 publications

(22 citation statements)

References 15 publications

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“…Having robust measurement methods for mapping carbon stocks and changes in these landscapes has the important potential to bring into consideration large areas of the world for natural climate solutions that have heretofore been overlooked in favor of closed forest systems [57]. Although these TOF landscapes have relatively low carbon densities, they are vast in area.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Contribution of Trees Outside of Forests to Landscape Carbon and Climate Change Mitigation in West Africa

Skole

Samek

Dieng³

et al. 2021

Forests

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While closed canopy forests have been an important focal point for land cover change monitoring and climate change mitigation, less consideration has been given to methods for large scale measurements of trees outside of forests. Trees outside of forests are an important but often overlooked natural resource throughout sub-Saharan Africa, providing benefits for livelihoods as well as climate change mitigation and adaptation. In this study, the development of an individual tree cover map using very high-resolution remote sensing and a comparison with a new automated machine learning mapping product revealed an important contribution of trees outside of forests to landscape tree cover and carbon stocks in a region where trees outside of forests are important components of livelihood systems. Here, we test and demonstrate the use of allometric scaling from remote sensing crown area to provide estimates of landscape-scale carbon stocks. Prominent biomass and carbon maps from global-scale remote sensing greatly underestimate the “invisible” carbon in these sparse tree-based systems. The measurement of tree cover and carbon in these landscapes has important application in climate change mitigation and adaptation policies.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Contribution of Trees Outside of Forests to Landscape Carbon and Climate Change Mitigation in West Africa

Skole

Samek

Dieng³

et al. 2021

Forests

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“…The importance of TOF is receiving more attention (Kuyah et al, 2019;Skole et al, 2021), and in Taita Hills, Pellikka et al (2018) reported an addition in carbon stocks since 2003. The agriculture rules (Agriculture (Farm Forestry) Rules, 2009) of 2009 requires that at least 10 % forest cover should be left or planted on farms.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Trees that are not part of a forest are commonly called "trees outside forest" (TOF) and, by the definition of FAO (2000), include trees on farmland, in cities, and in other locations not defined as forest. Forests and TOF provide vital ecosystem services including water regulation, air purification, carbon sequestration, and climate regulation (Chakravarty et al, 2019;Kuyah et al, 2019;Skole et al, 2021). They are also a source of goods for humans, such as food and timber (Thijs et al, 2015;Martínez Pastur et al, 2018;Chakravarty et al, 2019).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Strong influence of trees outside forest in regulating microclimate of intensively modified Afromontane landscapes

et al. 2022

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Abstract. Climate change is expected to have detrimental consequences on fragile ecosystems, threatening biodiversity, as well as food security of millions of people. Trees are likely to play a central role in mitigating these impacts. The microclimatic conditions below tree canopies usually differ substantially from the ambient macroclimate as vegetation can buffer temperature changes and variability. Trees cool down their surroundings through several biophysical mechanisms, and the cooling benefits occur also with trees outside forest. The aim of this study was to examine the effect of canopy cover on microclimate in an intensively modified Afromontane landscape in Taita Taveta, Kenya. We studied temperatures recorded by 19 microclimate sensors under different canopy covers, as well as land surface temperature (LST) estimated by Landsat 8 thermal infrared sensor. We combined the temperature records with high-resolution airborne laser scanning data to untangle the combined effects of topography and canopy cover on microclimate. We developed four multivariate regression models to study the joint impacts of topography and canopy cover on LST. The results showed a negative linear relationship between canopy cover percentage and daytime mean (R2=0.65) and maximum (R2=0.75) temperatures. Any increase in canopy cover contributed to reducing temperatures. The average difference between 0 % and 100 % canopy cover sites was 5.2 ∘C in mean temperatures and 10.2 ∘C in maximum temperatures. Canopy cover (CC) reduced LST on average by 0.05 ∘C per percent CC. The influence of canopy cover on microclimate was shown to vary strongly with elevation and ambient temperatures. These results demonstrate that trees have a substantial effect on microclimate, but the effect is dependent on macroclimate, highlighting the importance of maintaining tree cover particularly in warmer conditions. Hence, we demonstrate that trees outside forests can increase climate change resilience in fragmented landscapes, having strong potential for regulating regional and local temperatures.

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“…Although dominated by use of fast-growing exotics such as Tectona grandis and Gmelina aborea, the system still has potential for management of high value forest species especially along roadsides (Davies, 1987). In this regard, the concept of "Trees outside Forests" (de Foresta et al, 2013;Zomer et al, 2016) is also relevant in the Sierra Leone context because it includes scattered trees in agricultural landscapes that can serve as biological legacies to support species dispersal, and as "keystone structures" for the multiple ecological functions they perform (Manning et al, 2006;Skole et al, 2021).…”

Section: The Environment Protection Agency Actmentioning

confidence: 99%

A framework for application of the landscape approach to forest conservation and restoration in Sierra Leone

Bakarr

Abu-Bakarr

2022

Front. For. Glob. Change

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Sierra Leone has made some progress in creating protected areas for wildlife and biodiversity conservation. Yet deforestation and habitat loss remain pervasive, driven largely by unregulated exploitation and poor land use practices. With over 50% of the country (∼36,000 km2) having climate that is favorable for tropical forest vegetation, there is considerable opportunity to advance the landscape approach for forest conservation. We propose a framework to address this need for the globally threatened Upper Guinea rainforest, which has its westernmost extent in Sierra Leone. The framework considers forest and tree cover in the following categories: old growth, disturbed old growth, secondary growth, and managed. We discuss how this typology can foster application of the landscape approach to forest conservation and restoration, including policy options to enhance protection of forests, increase tree cover in production systems, and incentivize innovative land use practices by local communities.

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Trees outside of forests as natural climate solutions

Cited by 45 publications

References 15 publications

The Contribution of Trees Outside of Forests to Landscape Carbon and Climate Change Mitigation in West Africa

The Contribution of Trees Outside of Forests to Landscape Carbon and Climate Change Mitigation in West Africa

Strong influence of trees outside forest in regulating microclimate of intensively modified Afromontane landscapes

A framework for application of the landscape approach to forest conservation and restoration in Sierra Leone

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