What is it about?
Trees important for people in Zambia vary in terms of how they reproduce with implications for their conservation. Pollinators that ensure gene flow and genetic diversity among forest trees are important since this helps forests stay healthy, enabling them to keep providing forest products that people rely on for their livelihoods, especially as deforestation continues
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Why is it important?
African forests are under-researched despite providing a multitude of goods and services to local people. Information on the reproductive ecology of forest trees is needed if forests are to be effectively conserved for the benefit of people and nature.
Perspectives
This article is one of few studies presenting data on aspects of the reproductive ecology of African trees. This baseline information is important in the context of rapid deforestation rates in the region which may negatively affect certain trees more than others, based on their dependence on insect pollinators which are often negatively affected by habitat loss. These factors in turn, affect livelihoods that rely on forest products.
Christine Coppinger
University College Dublin
Read the Original
This page is a summary of: The breeding systems and floral visitors of two widespread African dry forest species of ethnobotanical significance, PLOS One, October 2023, PLOS,
DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0292929.
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