Identité et écologie des espèces forestières commerciales d'Afrique centrale : le cas de Milicia spp. (synthèse bibliographique)

• Main Authors: Daïnou, K., Doucet, JL., Sinsin, B., Mahy, G.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Presses Agronomiques de Gembloux 2012-01-01
• Series: Biotechnologie, Agronomie, Société et Environnement
• Subjects: Moraceae; forest trees; taxonomy; autecology; natural regeneration; genetic variation; Central Africa
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/11006/16
• ISSN: 1370-6233; 1780-4507

Identity and ecology of Central African timber tree species: the case of Milicia spp., a review. Iroko designates the two African tree species Milicia excelsa (Welw.) C.C.Berg and Milicia regia (A.Chev.) C.C.Berg known as highly valuable in the timber trade. Despite its economical importance and a decrease in population densities due to exploitation, there is a significant lack of ecological and sylvicultural knowledge required for a sustainable management of iroko. In West Africa, M. excelsa has received more attention from scientists than M. regia, but several topics clearly need further investigations or outcomes cannot be transferred in the context of Central African rainforests. A first thing to verify is whether speciation really occurred in the genus Milicia: morphological differences between the two species are very low, and a revision in this genus may lead to some rearrangements of conservatory and management policies related to this taxonomic group. Furthermore, (i) patterns related to the reproductive phenology and its controlling factors, (ii) gene flow among and between populations and individuals regarding life history traits, influence of human activities and paleoecological perturbations, and (iii) dynamics of seedling populations are among aspects that require emphasis in order to propose efficient tools for forest managers. Unless scientists provide these crucial data, the abundance of iroko in tropical rainforests will only depend on expensive plantations activities.