Tropical forests have large carbon stocks, and their conservation is an important mitigation measure against global warming. However, this carbon pool is the most vulnerable to anthropogenic activities like selective logging, and little is known about its recovery after selective logging. This study aimed to determine carbon stock recovery after selectively logging using pantropical and site-specific allometric equations in the East Region of Cameroon. This study was conducted in six 1-ha permanent monitoring plots established in logged and unlogged forest types. Each 1ha was divided into 25, 20x20m, and the DBH of all trees ≥2cm was measured in 2005/2006 and re-measured in 2011/2012. Only 79% of the initial plants were recensured in 2011. The logged forests had the highest %change in the species richness, indicating the impacts of logging. Exploitable commercial trees in both forest types suggest their recruitment after logging. The insignificant difference in the AGB using Pan tropical and site-specific allometric equations indicates that the equation of Chave et al., 2005 is a good reference for the calculations of AGB in moist tropical forests. The highest AGB (101.3 Mg/ha) and ACS (47.6 Mg/ha) in Triplochiton scleroxylon may be due to its abundance in this area. The 59.4% recovery rate in forests of 21 YAL indicates that 30 years is not enough for the recovery of the Carbon timber stock, which depends on the wood density of the harvested timber species and thus the successional state of the forests as the unlogged forests had a 77.7%. The non-significant alteration in % soil organic carbon indicates that selective logging acts locally, with the percentage ofsoil organic carbon being highest in the logged sites due to the higher decomposition rates. This calls for a review of forest management plans for sustainable forest Management.
Manuscript submitted to Forest Carbon Management I
