Managed forests support higher carbon density and sequestration in the Congo basin

Managed forests support higher carbon density and sequestration in the Congo basin | Research Square window.SnipcartSettings = { analytics: { enabled: false } }; (function() { var accessVector = localStorage.getItem('access_vector') || ''; window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; if (accessVector) { window.dataLayer.push({ user: { profile: { profileInfo: { snid: accessVector } } } }); } })(); (function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src='https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-K279D39R'); Browse Preprints In Review Journals COVID-19 Preprints AJE Video Bytes Research Tools Research Promotion AJE Professional Editing AJE Rubriq About Preprint Platform In Review Editorial Policies Our Team Advisory Board Help Center Sign In Submit a Preprint Cite Share Download PDF Article Managed forests support higher carbon density and sequestration in the Congo basin Le Bienfaiteur Sagang, Ricardo Dalagnol, Stephanie Georges, Samuel Favrichon, and 11 more This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-7512165/v1 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Under Review Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Abstract Land-use drives forest loss and carbon emissions in the Congo basin, undermining its role in climate change mitigation. Here, we assess how aboveground live carbon (AGC) stocks and fluxes vary across land-use in the Congo basin rainforests by developing AGC density map for the year 2020 and integrating it with high-resolution forest cover loss data over 30 years (1990–2020) to estimate carbon emissions and removals. Our findings reveal higher forest integrity under managed disturbances, with logged forests having 7.53% (range: 4.86%–9.5%) less AGC compared to old growth, unlike 50% differences observed with slash-and-burn and other unmanaged disturbances. Unmanaged areas hold 50% of the AGC storage, implying that much of the basin remains highly vulnerable to rapid carbon loss from unmanaged land-use. Overall, the basin remained a net AGC sink of -37.5 ± 4.29 Tg C yr − 1 , dominated my 98% removals from managed and intact forests within logging concessions (21.3 ± 2.39 Tg C yr − 1 ) and protected areas (15.73 ± 2.24 Tg C yr − 1 ), while unmanaged forests nearly remained carbon neutral. These findings underscore the critical need to integrate sustainable management strategies for unmanaged forests into climate mitigation frameworks such as REDD + to enhance carbon retention in the Congo basin. Earth and environmental sciences/Ecology/Forest ecology Earth and environmental sciences/Ecology/Ecosystem services Full Text Additional Declarations There is NO Competing Interest. Cite Share Download PDF Status: Under Review Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Research Square lets you share your work early, gain feedback from the community, and start making changes to your manuscript prior to peer review in a journal. As a division of Research Square Company, we’re committed to making research communication faster, fairer, and more useful. We do this by developing innovative software and high quality services for the global research community. Our growing team is made up of researchers and industry professionals working together to solve the most critical problems facing scientific publishing. Also discoverable on Platform About Our Team In Review Editorial Policies Advisory Board Help Center Resources Author Services Accessibility API Access RSS feed Manage Cookie Preferences © Research Square 2026 | ISSN 2693-5015 (online) Privacy Policy Terms of Service Do Not Sell My Personal Information {"props":{"pageProps":{"initialData":{"identity":"rs-7512165","acceptedTermsAndConditions":true,"allowDirectSubmit":false,"archivedVersions":[],"articleType":"Article","associatedPublications":[],"authors":[{"id":520086997,"identity":"1e16c354-1570-4e8c-a6e4-99a167fee85f","order_by":0,"name":"Le Bienfaiteur Sagang","email":"data:image/png;base64,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","orcid":"https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8778-3121","institution":"University of California","correspondingAuthor":true,"prefix":"","firstName":"Le","middleName":"Bienfaiteur","lastName":"Sagang","suffix":""},{"id":520086998,"identity":"24885f98-87da-439d-beac-84c8e5eb8be3","order_by":1,"name":"Ricardo Dalagnol","email":"","orcid":"https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7151-8697","institution":"Remote Sensing Division, National Institute for Space Research (INPE)","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Ricardo","middleName":"","lastName":"Dalagnol","suffix":""},{"id":520086999,"identity":"ac0b7e39-1e8b-4320-a50b-0882d18eb157","order_by":2,"name":"Stephanie Georges","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Ctrees","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Stephanie","middleName":"","lastName":"Georges","suffix":""},{"id":520087000,"identity":"eb159f52-daf6-4261-ad18-5ad505b4c012","order_by":3,"name":"Samuel Favrichon","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Gamma Remote Sensing AG","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Samuel","middleName":"","lastName":"Favrichon","suffix":""},{"id":520087001,"identity":"60f964a6-e069-45eb-9680-402dffb48adf","order_by":4,"name":"Shuang Li","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Ctrees","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Shuang","middleName":"","lastName":"Li","suffix":""},{"id":520087002,"identity":"3a701cf5-9f32-4583-a981-69a297c24cc5","order_by":5,"name":"Fabien Wagner","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Ctrees","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Fabien","middleName":"","lastName":"Wagner","suffix":""},{"id":520087003,"identity":"cc26fd1e-08b4-4b3f-8e59-bfadebbfc48f","order_by":6,"name":"Zhihua Liu","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Institute of Applied Ecology, Chinese Academy of Sciences","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Zhihua","middleName":"","lastName":"Liu","suffix":""},{"id":520087004,"identity":"c39d507f-5e5f-4036-9af9-d967a3db6bdb","order_by":7,"name":"Dafeng Zhang","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"UCLA","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Dafeng","middleName":"","lastName":"Zhang","suffix":""},{"id":520087005,"identity":"a5c1c957-12f6-4eb4-9ae3-08f76267a706","order_by":8,"name":"Alfred Ngomanda","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"CENAREST","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Alfred","middleName":"","lastName":"Ngomanda","suffix":""},{"id":520087006,"identity":"475519d3-5036-4a52-a469-bd9249bef806","order_by":9,"name":"Vincent Medjibe","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Independent","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Vincent","middleName":"","lastName":"Medjibe","suffix":""},{"id":520087007,"identity":"9111efe2-78ec-4e82-b87e-242ee0ac1831","order_by":10,"name":"Bonaventure Sonké","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"University of Yaounde","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Bonaventure","middleName":"","lastName":"Sonké","suffix":""},{"id":520087008,"identity":"e646f318-6b04-4d4d-b203-90a2615bbf2a","order_by":11,"name":"Nicolas Barbier","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"IRD","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Nicolas","middleName":"","lastName":"Barbier","suffix":""},{"id":520087009,"identity":"f94e59a2-2290-4e79-bd18-44b6c67f844d","order_by":12,"name":"Elsa Ordway","email":"","orcid":"https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7720-1754","institution":"UCLA","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Elsa","middleName":"","lastName":"Ordway","suffix":""},{"id":520087010,"identity":"1453adcc-5448-4d3b-9eca-f0181c2cb1e8","order_by":13,"name":"Lee White","email":"","orcid":"https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4595-5981","institution":"Institut de Recherche en Écologie Tropicale","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Lee","middleName":"","lastName":"White","suffix":""},{"id":520087011,"identity":"d376835f-955f-4fa6-8835-3f599104e3b2","order_by":14,"name":"Sassan Saatchi","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"California Institute of Technology","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Sassan","middleName":"","lastName":"Saatchi","suffix":""}],"badges":[],"createdAt":"2025-09-02 01:25:09","currentVersionCode":1,"declarations":"","doi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-7512165/v1","doiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-7512165/v1","draftVersion":[],"editorialEvents":[],"editorialNote":"","failedWorkflow":false,"files":[{"id":92579075,"identity":"a4871805-2b76-483f-b015-dd6427355504","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2025-10-01 08:58:56","extension":"pdf","order_by":1,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"manuscript-pdf","size":1982384,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"","description":"","filename":"Forestmanagementandcarboninthecongobasinmanuscriptv09012025.pdf","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-7512165/v1_covered_8a3c7546-87a1-4ed7-9432-8850d79b9c23.pdf"}],"financialInterests":"There is \u003cb\u003eNO\u003c/b\u003e Competing Interest.","formattedTitle":"Managed forests support higher carbon density and sequestration in the Congo basin","fulltext":[],"fulltextSource":"","fullText":"","funders":[],"hasAdminPriorityOnWorkflow":false,"hasManuscriptDocX":false,"hasOptedInToPreprint":true,"hasPassedJournalQc":"","hasAnyPriority":true,"hideJournal":false,"highlight":"","institution":"","isAcceptedByJournal":true,"isAuthorSuppliedPdf":true,"isDeskRejected":"","isHiddenFromSearch":false,"isInQc":false,"isInWorkflow":false,"isPdf":true,"isPdfUpToDate":true,"isWithdrawnOrRetracted":false,"journal":{"display":true,"email":"[email protected]","identity":"nature-portfolio","isNatureJournal":true,"hasQc":false,"allowDirectSubmit":false,"externalIdentity":"","sideBox":"","snPcode":"","submissionUrl":"","title":"Nature Portfolio","twitterHandle":"","acdcEnabled":false,"dfaEnabled":false,"editorialSystem":"ejp","reportingPortfolio":"","inReviewEnabled":true,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":false},"keywords":"","lastPublishedDoi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-7512165/v1","lastPublishedDoiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-7512165/v1","license":{"name":"CC BY 4.0","url":"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/"},"manuscriptAbstract":"\u003cp\u003eLand-use drives forest loss and carbon emissions in the Congo basin, undermining its role in climate change mitigation. Here, we assess how aboveground live carbon (AGC) stocks and fluxes vary across land-use in the Congo basin rainforests by developing AGC density map for the year 2020 and integrating it with high-resolution forest cover loss data over 30 years (1990\u0026ndash;2020) to estimate carbon emissions and removals. Our findings reveal higher forest integrity under managed disturbances, with logged forests having 7.53% (range: 4.86%\u0026ndash;9.5%) less AGC compared to old growth, unlike 50% differences observed with slash-and-burn and other unmanaged disturbances. Unmanaged areas hold 50% of the AGC storage, implying that much of the basin remains highly vulnerable to rapid carbon loss from unmanaged land-use. Overall, the basin remained a net AGC sink of -37.5\u0026thinsp;\u0026plusmn;\u0026thinsp;4.29 Tg C yr\u003csup\u003e\u0026minus;\u0026thinsp;1\u003c/sup\u003e, dominated my 98% removals from managed and intact forests within logging concessions (21.3\u0026thinsp;\u0026plusmn;\u0026thinsp;2.39 Tg C yr\u003csup\u003e\u0026minus;\u0026thinsp;1\u003c/sup\u003e) and protected areas (15.73\u0026thinsp;\u0026plusmn;\u0026thinsp;2.24 Tg C yr\u003csup\u003e\u0026minus;\u0026thinsp;1\u003c/sup\u003e), while unmanaged forests nearly remained carbon neutral. These findings underscore the critical need to integrate sustainable management strategies for unmanaged forests into climate mitigation frameworks such as REDD\u0026thinsp;+\u0026thinsp;to enhance carbon retention in the Congo basin.\u003c/p\u003e","manuscriptTitle":"Managed forests support higher carbon density and sequestration in the Congo basin","msid":"","msnumber":"","nonDraftVersions":[{"code":1,"date":"2025-10-01 08:50:48","doi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-7512165/v1","editorialEvents":[],"status":"published","journal":{"display":true,"email":"[email protected]","identity":"nature-communications","isNatureJournal":true,"hasQc":false,"allowDirectSubmit":false,"externalIdentity":"NCOMMS","sideBox":"Learn more about [Nature Communications](http://www.nature.com/ncomms/)","snPcode":"","submissionUrl":"https://mts-ncomms.nature.com/","title":"Nature Communications","twitterHandle":"","acdcEnabled":true,"dfaEnabled":true,"editorialSystem":"ejp","reportingPortfolio":"Nature Communications","inReviewEnabled":true,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":false}}],"origin":"","ownerIdentity":"9092e0ec-a265-47e9-8a1a-7ff329cb38c1","owner":[],"postedDate":"October 1st, 2025","published":true,"recentEditorialEvents":[],"rejectedJournal":[],"revision":"","amendment":"","status":"under-review","subjectAreas":[{"id":55281723,"name":"Earth and environmental sciences/Ecology/Forest ecology"},{"id":55281724,"name":"Earth and environmental sciences/Ecology/Ecosystem services"}],"tags":[],"updatedAt":"2025-10-01T08:50:48+00:00","versionOfRecord":[],"versionCreatedAt":"2025-10-01 08:50:48","video":"","vorDoi":"","vorDoiUrl":"","workflowStages":[]},"version":"v1","identity":"rs-7512165","journalConfig":"researchsquare"},"__N_SSP":true},"page":"/article/[identity]/[[...version]]","query":{"redirect":"/article/rs-7512165","identity":"rs-7512165","version":["v1"]},"buildId":"8U1c8b4HqxoKbykW_rLl7","isFallback":false,"isExperimentalCompile":false,"dynamicIds":[84888],"gssp":true,"scriptLoader":[]}