Is het Afrikaanse regenwoud, en niet het Amazonewoud, de grootste long van onze planeet?
Bij tropisch regenwoud denkt iedereen onmiddellijk aan het Amazonewoud, het grootste regenwoud ter wereld. Veel minder is geweten over het tweede grootste, gelegen in het Congobekken in Centraal-Afrika. Dit regenwoud zal nochtans cruciaal zijn in de strijd tegen klimaatverandering. In mijn onderzoek vond ik namelijk indicaties dat de boomsoorten in Centraal-Afrika meer CO2 opnemen uit de atmosfeer dan die in Zuid-Amerika.
CO2 slokoppen
Tropische regenwouden spelen een essentiële rol in het globale klimaatsysteem, waaronder de koolstof- en watercyclus. Ze verwijderen grote hoeveelheden CO2 uit de atmosfeer via fotosynthese, en dat meer dan eender welk ander ecosysteem op aarde. Ze zijn dus onmisbaar in de strijd tegen klimaatverandering. De toekomst van onze planeet is onlosmakelijk verbonden met het lot van tropische bossen.
Helaas zijn tropische wouden sterk bedreigd. Jaarlijks verdwijnen er grote hoeveelheden regenwoud door ontbossing. Deze ecosystemen zijn ook heel gevoelig aan de gevolgen van klimaatverandering. Hogere temperaturen en meer periodes van extreme droogte leiden tot sterfte van tropische bomen, waardoor deze bossen veel capaciteit verliezen om CO2 op te nemen.
Modellen voor een betere toekomst
Geen vrolijke manier om een artikel te beginnen, mijn excuses. Maar er is nog hoop! Als we in staat zijn tropische wouden snel te beschermen en herstellen, kunnen we de opwarming van de aarde inperken. Heel belangrijk daarbij is het verzamelen van gegevens over tropische wouden. We moeten namelijk kunnen weten hoeveel CO2 deze bossen opnemen. Een mogelijke manier om dit te onderzoeken is het meten van fotosynthese op verschillende boomsoorten. Uit deze metingen kunnen bepaalde fotosynthetische parameters afgeleid worden, die gebruikt worden in vegetatiemodellen. Deze parameters moeten accuraat zijn, want vegetatiemodellen helpen klimaatverandering te voorspellen en de impact ervan op vegetatie. Er zijn nog heel wat extra metingen nodig in tropische bossen, om meer accurate parameters te verkrijgen.
Deze modellen gebruiken echter vaak dezelfde parameters voor alle tropische regenwouden in de wereld, waaronder de twee grootste. Iedereen kent het Amazonewoud in Zuid-Amerika, maar veel minder is geweten over het tweede grootste regenwoud ter wereld. Dat ligt in het Congobekken in Centraal-Afrika. Het is een van de regio’s in de wereld met de minste wetenschappelijke metingen. Het is nochtans van groot belang voor onze planeet. Recent onderzoek door professor Wannes Hubau (UGent) heeft aangetoond dat de regenwouden in Afrika netto meer CO2 opnemen dan die in Zuid-Amerika. Dat is vooral te wijten aan de grotere boomsterfte in de Amazone. Er zijn nog grote verschillen tussen de twee grootste tropische bossen, bijvoorbeeld in klimaat en vegetatie. Zo is het gemiddeld koeler en droger in het Congobekken en heeft het Afrikaans regenwoud minder boomsoorten, die over het algemeen minder gevoelig zijn aan droogte. Gezien deze verschillen, is het dan wel een goed idee om dezelfde parameters te gebruiken in vegetatiemodellen voor beide regenwouden?
Dat is nu exact wat ik met mijn thesis heb proberen te onderzoeken. Ik heb de fotosynthetische capaciteit en een aantal bladparameters (zoals nutriënteninhoud) vergeleken tussen bossen in het Amazone- en het Congobekken.
Door de Afrikaanse jungle
In de Amazone zijn fotosynthese en bladparameters al meermaals gemeten. Ik heb bestaande gegevens gebruikt van de bossen in Paracou en Nouragues in Frans-Guyana uit de periode 2015- 2019. In het Congobekken daarentegen was fotosynthese nog nooit gemeten. Daarom ben ik in de zomer van 2023 afgereisd naar Yangambi, een dorp langs de Congo-rivier in de Democratische Republiek Congo (DRC), centraal in het Congobekken.
En wat een avontuur was me dat! Na een lange reis per vliegtuig, boot, auto en brommer kwam ik toe met drie begeleiders en drie medestudenten. Het was een onvergetelijke ervaring, waarin ik veel geleerd heb over het tropisch regenwoud en de lokale cultuur. Een thesis hoeft niet altijd saai te zijn!
Elke dag gingen we met de brommer door het regenwoud naar de CongoFlux onderzoekssite in Yangambi om metingen uit te voeren. Samen met de lokale botanist, papa Bonyoma, kozen we soorten uit zodanig dat verschillende planttypes vertegenwoordigd waren. Zo werden zowel lichtbehoevende als schaduwminnende boomsoorten gemeten, en zowel groenblijvende als bladverliezende 
boomsoorten. Ook lianen en soorten die dichter bij de bosbodem leven, werden betrokken. Van ieder gekozen individu knipten de lokale klimmers, Papi en Bernard, twee takken af. Op elke tak werd de fotosynthese gemeten van twee bladeren. Die bladeren werden weer meegenomen naar België om in het labo te analyseren. De stikstof- en fosforinhoud en de specifieke bladoppervlakte werden bepaald. Zo werd voor de allereerste keer fotosynthese gemeten in het Centraal-Afrikaanse regenwoud op 23 soorten.
Een opmerkelijk verschil!
Nadat alle gegevens verzameld waren, kon ik deze beginnen bestuderen. En wat daaruit kwam was heel interessant! Voor ieder planttype was de fotosynthetische capaciteit maar liefst 27% hoger in het bos in Congo dan in de twee bossen in de Amazone. Dit wil zeggen dat de Congolese bomen meer CO2 opnemen. Een sluitende verklaring voor dit boeiend verschil moet nog gevonden worden. Een mogelijke verklaring die in mijn onderzoek naar boven kwam, is dat er duidelijk meer stikstof en fosfor in de bladeren aanwezig was in het Congobekken dan in de Amazone. Bomen hebben deze nutriënten nodig voor fotosynthese, dus hoe meer ervan beschikbaar is, hoe meer CO2 ze kunnen opnemen. Onderzoek van professor Marijn Bauters (UGent) toonde aan dat grote hoeveelheden stikstof en fosfor overwaaien naar het Afrikaanse regenwoud, afkomstig van branden in de Afrikaanse savannes. Dit kan de hogere bladconcentraties in Congo mogelijks verklaren.
Het zou dus beter zijn om verschillende fotosynthetische parameters te gebruiken in vegetatiemodellen voor de tropische regenwouden in Afrika en Zuid-Amerika. Zo kunnen we klimaatverandering beter voorspellen en er dus ook beter op anticiperen. We hebben meer gegevens nodig (zeker in het Congobekken) om uit te maken of de Afrikaanse regenwouden in het algemeen een hogere fotosynthese vertonen. Deze eerste vergelijking tussen beide regenwouden leverde alvast interessante resultaten op! Misschien is niet het alom bekende Amazonewoud, maar wel het Congobekken de grootste long van onze planeet.
Bronnen: zie thesis
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