The African Tropics are hotspots of modern-day land use change and are, at the same time, of great relevance for the cycling of carbon (C) and nutrients between plants, soils, and the atmosphere. However, the consequences of land conversion on biogeochemical cycles are still largely unknown as they are not studied in a landscape context that defines the geomorphic, geochemical, and pedological framework in which biological processes take place. Thus, the response of tropical soils to disturbance by erosion and land conversion is one of the great uncertainties in assessing the carrying capacity of tropical landscapes to grow food for future generations and in predicting greenhouse gas fluxes from soils to the atmosphere and, hence, future earth system dynamics. Here we describe version 1.0 of an open-access database created as part of the project “Tropical soil organic carbon dynamics along erosional disturbance gradients in relation to variability in soil geochemistry and land use” (TropSOC). TropSOC v1.0 (Doetterl et al., 2021, https://doi.org/10.5880/fidgeo.2021.009) contains spatially and temporally explicit data on soil, vegetation, environmental properties, and land management collected from 136 pristine tropical forest and cropland plots between 2017 and 2020 as part of monitoring and sampling campaigns in the eastern Congo Basin and the East African Rift Valley system. The results of several laboratory experiments focusing on soil microbial activity, C cycling, and C stabilization in soils complement the dataset to deliver one of the first landscape-scale datasets to study the linkages and feedbacks between geology, geomorphology, and pedogenesis as controls on biogeochemical cycles in a variety of natural and managed systems in the African Tropics. The hierarchical and interdisciplinary structure of the TropSOC database allows linking of a wide range of parameters and observations on soil and vegetation dynamics along with other supporting information that may also be measured at one or more levels of the hierarchy. TropSOC's data mark a significant contribution to improve our understanding of the fate of biogeochemical cycles in dynamic and diverse tropical African (agro-)ecosystems. TropSOC v1.0 can be accessed through the Supplement provided as part of this paper or as a separate download via the websites of the Congo Biogeochemistry Observatory and GFZ Data Services where version updates to the database will be provided as the project develops.

The study highlights the impact of global change on forest structure within and around the Muanda mangrove marine park in RD Congo, focusing on key forest structure parameters such as species composition, basal area, tree height, and Leaf Area Index (LAI). This study assessed forest structure parameters in and around the park and linked between forest structure to global change. Forest structure parameters, namely species composition, basal area, tree height and Leaf Area Index (LAI), were measured at 5 sites. Analyses showed significant variation in mean height between the different sites, in the order of 22m, 25m and 30m for the marine sites, and 7m and 10m for the terrestial sites. The mean basal area of trees varied from 52 m2. ha-1 to 15 m2.ha-1. Two undisturbed mangrove sites have the highest basal area, the lesser disturbed sites have the average basal area and the degraded sites have the lowest basal area. The carbon stock capacity shows the same trend. The highest average LAI is 3.79. The lowest is 1.08. Within the same site, there is a certain homogeneity of LAI values for undisturbed sites, whereas the variability of these values is high for degraded sites. In other words, forest structure parameters vary from one area of the park to another for reasons related to human activities and climate change. The existence of a link between forest structure and global change is evident.

Forests are a large reservoir of biodiversity on which riparian populations frequently rely. Non-timber forest products (NTFPs) are an important source of income for millions of people living in forest-adjacent communities. This study aims at characterizing the types and uses of NTFPs in order to determine whether their exploitation in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo is sustainable. Interviews and direct observation were carried out with NTFP stakeholders (harvesters, sellers, and consumers) in Kalonge, near the Kahuzi-Biega National Park. The results showed that 40 NTFPs of plant origin and 10 NTFPs of animal origin are commonly exploited and used in food and traditional medicine. The most common NTFP harvesting techniques are debarking, picking, digging up, felling, and wine extraction, which are all tailored to the plant part. A significant relationship (p-value< 0.001) has been established between the types of NTFPs used and harvesting methods as well as between the types of NTFPs used and organs retrieved. NTFP products are mainly obtained from the natural forest KBNP but also in the woodland, trees grown outside of forest or through domestication. Their abundance, however, is hampered by the extraction of wood for charcoal, energy, and timber, as well as agricultural expansion. The supply of NTFPs is determined by the market demand for the products, the nature of the product, and the ease of disposal. The NTFPs value chain in Kalonge is important to the local economy, however exploitation of NTFP products remains uncontrolled and should be well managed to ensure sustainability.

The African Tropics are hotspots of modern-day land-use change and are, at the same time, of great relevance for the cycling of carbon (C) and nutrients between plants, soils and the atmosphere. However, the consequences of land conversion on biogeochemical cycles are still largely unknown as they are not studied in a landscape context that defines the geomorphic, geochemically and pedological framework in which biological processes take place. Thus, the response of tropical soils to disturbance by erosion and land conversion is one of the great uncertainties in assessing the carrying capacity of tropical landscapes to grow food for future generations and in predicting greenhouse gas fluxes (GHG) from soils to the atmosphere and, hence, future earth system dynamics. Here, we describe version 1.0 of an open access database created as part of the project “Tropical soil organic carbon dynamics along erosional disturbance gradients in relation to variability in soil geochemistry and land use” (TropSOC). TropSOC v1.0 contains spatial and temporal explicit data on soil, vegetation, environmental properties and land management collected from 136 pristine tropical forest and cropland plots between 2017 and 2020 as part of several monitoring and sampling campaigns in the Eastern Congo Basin and the East African Rift Valley System. The results of several laboratory experiments focusing on soil microbial activity, C cycling and C stabilization in soils complement the dataset to deliver one of the first landscape scale datasets to study the linkages and feedbacks between geology, geomorphology and pedogenesis as controls on biogeochemical cycles in a variety of natural and managed systems in the African Tropics. The hierarchical and interdisciplinary structure of the TropSOC database allows for linking a wide range of parameters and observations on soil and vegetation dynamics along with other supporting information that may also be measured at one or more levels of the hierarchy. TropSOC’s data marks a significant contribution to improve our understanding of the fate of biogeochemical cycles in dynamic and diverse tropical African (agro-)ecosystems. TropSOC v1.0 can be accessed through the supplementary material provided as part of this manuscript or as a separate download via the websites of the Congo Biogeochemistry observatory and the GFZ data repository where version updates to the database will be provided as the project develops.

Forests offer numerous ecosystem services that enhance human livelihoods. However, without proper regulation, human activities can deteriorate forest ecosystems. This study aims to evaluate the land use and cover dynamics in Mumosho municipality, South Kivu, Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), and assess the diversity and carbon sequestration capacity of its woody species. We conducted a supervised classification of Landsat images from 1994, 2004, 2013, and 2023 and calculated spatial structure indices to analyze anthropization and deforestation in the area. From 1994 to 2013, the Mumosho landscape experienced significant deforestation, with rates of 3.69% per year (1994–2004) and 0.12% per year (2004–2013), while the anthropization rate increased from 0.45 in 1994 to 1.33 in 2013. However, from 2013 to 2023, forest cover began to recover at a rate of 0.99% per year. The current floristic diversity in the Mumosho forest is notable, with a high Shannon index of 3.59, including 30 woody species from 19 botanical families. Eucalyptus globulus and Grevillea robusta are the most abundant species, with relative frequencies of 25.84% and 17.16%, respectively. Collectively, these woody species contribute an average carbon sequestration capacity of 113.429 ± 91.354 tC/ha. These findings underscore the importance of reinforcing (re)forestation initiatives and sustainable forest management strategies to safeguard ecosystem services and mitigate environmental degradation.