Florent Noulekoun

• PhD
• Research Professor at Korea University

Decentralised Forest Management (DFM), a forest management approach involving local communities, has been implemented in many countries worldwide to remedy the failure of state-centred forest management to conserve resources. This review shed new insights into the progress of DFM in Africa. Despite the great interest in forest management, many Afri...

Identifying the best genetic material across provenances and genotypes, particularly for vigorous seedling production, is a key aspect of domestication programs. This study aimed to (i) assess provenance and tree-to-tree differences in the germination performance of Balanites aegyptiaca and (ii) identify mother trees with the best germination perfo...

Land use/cover (LULC) changes have unequivocally affected biodiversity and ecosystem functioning, with enormous repercussions for human well‐being. However, the mechanistic ecological mechanisms underlying the impact of land conversion on ecosystem multifunctionality (EMF) remain insufficiently examined from the perspective of multiple biodiversity...

African Oak (Afzelia africana Sm. ex Pers.) is a keystone species with high socio-economic importance for local populations in tropical Africa. Yet, the long-term survival of the species in its natural habitats is uncertain given a lack of natural regeneration. Although substantial research has been conducted on this species, little consensus exist...

Riparian ecosystems are recognized as large reservoirs of biodiversity providing important ecosystem services. However, the relationship between tree species diversity and ecosystem functions and the underlying ecological mechanisms have less been studied in riparian corridors. This study assessed the effect of tree diversity (taxonomic, functional...

Aim Despite mounting empirical evidence regarding the positive effects of forest structural diversity (STR DIV ) on forest functioning, the underlying biotic mechanisms and controlling abiotic factors remain poorly understood. This study provides the first assessment of the interactive effects of STR DIV and diversity in species and functional trai...

Both attributes of functional traits and phylogenetic diversity influence ecosystem functions, but which of these factors is most important is still poorly understood in natural systems. Using data from West African forests and tree savannas, we analyse how (i) phylogenetic diversity complements attributes of functional traits in explaining abovegr...

Despite the importance of agroforestry parkland systems for ecosystem and livelihood benefits, evidence on determinants of carbon storage in parklands remains scarce. Here, we assessed the direct and indirect influence of human management (selective harvesting of trees), abiotic factors (climate, topography, and soil) and multiple attributes of spe...

Sustainable management and conservation of multipurpose tree species in their natural habitats is crucial, given their vulnerability to climate change and increasing human activities. This can be achieved by harnessing insights from local ecological knowledge (LEK) and classical ecological approaches to support biodiversity conservation efforts. Us...

Climatic and edaphic effects are increasingly being discussed in the context of biodiversity-ecosystem functioning. Here we use data from West African semi-arid tree savannas and contrasting climatic conditions (lower vs. higher mean annual precipitation-MAP and mean annual temperature-MAT) to (1) determine how climate modulates the effects of spec...

Aims: Mixed-species forests are known to be highly productive systems because of their high species diversity, including taxonomic diversity (species richness) and structural diversity. Recent empirical evidence also points to plant maximum height, as a functional trait that potentially drives forest above-ground biomass (AGB). However, the interre...

Climate change is predicted to affect species distribution worldwide. Most of the methods used to evaluate such impact so far assume that species respond to the environmental gradients in a uniform way along their distribution range. Because populations occupying different niches may differ in their response to climate change due to local adaptatio...

Forests mitigate climate change by absorbing CO2. However, N2O emissions in forests, which has 298 times larger global warming potential than CO2, can diminish the climate mitigation role of forests. Thus, it is crucial to project not only CO2 absorption but also N2O emissions in forests to provide a scientific basis for the 1.5 °C Paris Agreement...

Church forests on the premises of Ethiopian Orthodox Churches have been recognized as refugia of tropical plant biodiversity within the predominantly agricultural landscape matrix. Understanding the species composition, population structure, and human use of trees in forested areas is crucial for sustainable conservation efforts. We investigated th...

Projected changes in temperature and precipitation in mid-latitude wet regions are expected to significantly affect forest ecosystems. We studied the physiological and shoot growth responses of Abies holophylla and Abies koreana seedlings to warming (3 °C above ambient temperature) and increased precipitation (irrigation with 40% of rainfall) treat...

Chapter 11 Woody Species Composition, Diversity, Structure and Uses of Selected Church Forests in Central Ethiopia Eguale Tadesse Kifle, Asia Khamzina, Yowhan Son, Florent Noulèkoun, Abdu Abdelkadir, and Wubalem Tadesse Abstract The objectives of this study were to investigate woody species diversity, species richness, and identify endangered plant...

Biogeochemical models use estimates of carbon (C) and nitrogen (N) turnover times for the future projection of global forest C and N stocks, but unexplained variation in the C and N turnover times is causing considerable uncertainty. This study aimed to estimate C and N turnover times of South Korean forests and explain their variation with forest...

Humans have affected the carbon (C) and nitrogen (N) cycles in forests; however, the quantification of the responses of forest C and N balances to human activities is limited. In this study, we have quantified the impacts of the long-term national forest rehabilitation plan and the contribution of the increase in air temperature, CO2 concentration,...

Various studies have shown that plant species richness can promote ecosystem functions such as biomass storage. However, it is less well known whether this is mostly driven by the dominance of a few species and their associated traits (functional identity), or by complementarity among species that highly vary in their traits (functional diversity)....

The establishment of grazing exclosures is widely practiced to restore degraded agricultural lands and forests. Here, we evaluated the potential of grazing exclosures to contribute to the”4 per 1000” initiative by analyzing the changes in soil organic carbon (SOC) stocks and sequestration (SCS) rates after their establishment on degraded communal g...

The adverse impacts of ecosystem degradation have raised the need for forest landscape restoration (FLR) to be included in international sustainability agendas. However, the path towards successful FLR implementation faces numerous biophysical, socioeconomic and governance challenges because FLR operates within complex socioecological systems. In t...

Grazing exclosures have been promoted as an effective and low-cost land management strategy to recover vegetation and associated functions in degraded landscapes in the tropics. While grazing exclosures can be important reservoirs of biodiversity and carbon, their potential in playing a dual role of conservation of biodiversity and mitigation of cl...

Biotic and abiotic drivers of seedling establishment and survival are fundamental not only for elucidating processes occurring at plant early life stages, but also for assisting species natural regeneration. Keystone, multipurpose and economically important tree species such as Afzelia africana Sm. are reportedly facing recruitment constraints, yet...

The importance of terrestrial ecosystems for carbon sequestration and climate regulation is acknowledged globally. However, the underlying structural drivers are still not well understood, particularly across distinct tropical forest ecosystems where trees species have different growth habits and potential to reach different maximal size. In partic...

The increasing rate of land use intensification and the rising evidence of climate change impacts raise concerns about the viability of valued non-timber forest product (NTFP)-providing trees. This calls for the assessment of the current status and future trajectories of their populations. Using population data collected from three land-use types (...

Understanding the complex diversity of species and their potential uses in traditional agroforestry systems is crucial for enhancing the productivity of tropical systems and ensuring the sustainability of the natural resource base. The aim of this study is the evaluation of the role of home gardens and parklands, which are prominent tropical agrofo...

The interaction of human land use, steep slopes and erosion has been a serious threat to Ethiopia’s ecosystems. Community’s initiated land rehabilitation programmes such as tree regeneration on farm lands, hill-side planting and exclosures have been established to rejuvenate debilitated lands. To characterize, map out and monitor such transformatio...

The early growth stage is critical in the response of trees to climate change and variability. It is not clear, however, what climate metrics are best to define the early-growth sensitivity in assessing adaptation strategies of young forests to climate change. Using a combination of field experiments and modelling, we assessed the climate sensitivi...

Allometric equations are routinely used in the estimation of biomass stocks for carbon accounting within forest ecosystems. However, generic equations may not reflect the growth trajectories of afforestation species that are introduced to degraded farmland characterized by water and nutrient limitations. Using sequential measurements of the height,...

Purpose This paper aims at providing the evidence about how carbon sequestration in terrestrial ecosystems could contribute to the decrease of atmospheric CO 2 rates through the adoption of appropriate cropping systems such as agroforestry. Design/methodology/approach Stratified randomly selected plots were used to collect data on tree diameter at...

Key message The changes in the relative biomass allocation to roots in juvenile stands of fast-growing ( Leucaena leucocephala Lam., Moringa oleifera Lam., and Jatropha curcas L.) and slow-growing ( Anacardium occidentale L. and Parkia biglobosa Jacq.) afforestation species are driven mainly by ontogeny rather than resource availability. However, s...

In the Sudano-Sahelian zone of West Africa, where deforestation and cropland soil degradation occur at alarming rates, the (re-)introduction of trees on degraded lands can improve and sustain farming systems and landscapes. The shoot and root morphological traits of five woody species introduced to degraded cropland were assessed with a particular...

Concerns about sustainable management and conservation of multipurpose trees in their habitat have led to increased number of studies on the ecological characterization of their population. Such knowledge on Faidherbia albida, the most used tree in agroforestry parklands in Ethiopia, is limited. F. albida population was characterized in and compare...

Given recent and projected climate change, the study of adaptation and mitigation strategies which involve ecologically and economically important plant species is urgently needed. Faidherbia albida (Delile) A. Chev. is a species of both economic and ecological importance. We use 229 locational records gathered in the dry highlands of Ethiopia, nin...

As a measure to adapt to flooding in agricultural areas, different technologies have been introduced or enhanced in the Southern and NorthEastern parts of Bangladesh. While there is detailed knowledge about the impact floods have on the society and the environment, very few studies have investigated the effects adaptation technologies for flood man...