Tree diversity and edge effects in Nhamacoa miombo forest, Mozambique

Sammanfattning: Mozambique is to fifty percent covered by forest, most of which belongs to the biodiverse miombo woodlands. The last decades, Mozambique has been suffering from rapid deforestation. The once continuous forest cover has turned into a mosaic of forest patches, farmland, settlements etc. The remaining forest patches are in many cases very isolated. These forests have distinct edges towards the neighbouring land, which means that the edge zones have different environmental conditions (more light, higher temperatures etc.) and tree species composition than the interior. In order to examine how the forests of Mozambique are affected by edge effects, the highly isolated Nhamacoa forest was studied. An additional aim of the project was to make a floristic inventory of the forest in order to further assess its conservation status. Specimens were collected, pressed and photographed for identification. Edge effects were studied in plots at the edge and in the interior of the forest in a paired design. Trees inside the plots were identified, counted and measured (dbh (diameter at breast height) and height) to search for differences in species richness, diversity, biomass and height-to-dbh ratios. Environmental parameters (air temp., soil temp., light and slope) were also measured. In total, 76 species of trees were sampled and 44 (35 in the interior and 32 at the edge) of these were found inside the plots. The interior plots harboured significantly more individuals and species of trees than their paired edge plots. Additionally, biomass and height-to-dbh ratios were higher in the interior plots than in the edge plots. These differences strongly suggest that the Nhamacoa forest is affected by edge effects, although none of the measured environmental parameters could explain why. That the Nhamacoa forest is affected by edge effects goes in line with the research hypothesis and shows that it is important to maintain large and intact pieces of forest in order to preserve the Mozambican miombo forests. For future studies, additional environmental parameters (wind speed, humidity etc.) could be examined in order to better explain the presence of edge effects in the Nhamacoa forest.