Pericopsis elata (Harms) Meeuwen in southeastern Cameroon: ecological and pedological approaches to improve the management of an endangered commercial timber species

Pericopsis elata (gregarious Fabaceae), a moist semi-deciduous hardwood logged in Central African forests, is on the IUCN Red List and in CITES Appendix II. Our study evaluated its main ecological and pedological parameters in Cameroon. We obtained a mean diameter increment of 0.32 ± 0.04 cm.year–1. Minimum fertile and effective fruiting diameters were 32 and 35 cm, respectively. Flowering started in March-April, and fruits ripened over 7 months. Seed rain was studied in 1 × 45 m cleared corridors in each cardinal direction around 4 isolated mother trees. Indehiscent pods (average weight: 131.6 ± 10.1 cg) were dispersed mainly to the west: 86% of the variation of the number of collected fruits could be explained by the distance to the mother tree and the direction (GLM analysis, p < 0.001). The proportion of seeds eaten by insect larvae depended on the mother tree (10–95% – χ2 test, p < 0.001). Soils were compared at a regional scale: soils with P. elata contain higher levels of C (2.2 ± 0.5 SD- g.100g–1), Fe (261 ± 83 mg.kg–1), and P (33 ± 10 mg.kg–1), and were more acidic (pH 4.0 ± 0.2). A planting method in logging gaps is currently being tested taking into account physicochemical soil parameters