HR: 0800h
AN: NS31B-07    [Abstracts]
TI: Human ecology, land use and biomass burning in DRC, Central Africa, using GIS and remote-sensing
AU: * Kazadi, S
EM: sanga@bio.mie-u.ac.jp
AF: Graduate School of Bioresources, Mie University, 1577 Kurima-Machiya, TSU, MIE 514- 8507, Japan
AU: KOBAYASHI, S
AF: Graduate School of Bioresources, Mie University, 1577 Kurima-Machiya, TSU, MIE 514- 8507, Japan
AB: Four major vegetation types are shown to be the dominant ecosystems over Kayamba County in the Congo (DRC). Covering about 76.6% of the County total area, savanna is the largest land cover type, and the marshlands (grass formations over waterlogged soils) the second (12.9% of the area). This amounts to 89.5% of the County lands being covered with herbaceous vegetations, compared to a very weak proportion of forests cover (10.5%). Open water bodies are rare, covering only 1.1 km2 (0.04%) of the County territory. They consist mostly of small ponds in the vast marshlands along the main rivers. Kayamba is thus shown to be a savanna area, with large expanse of wetlands and scattered patches of various types of tropical rainforests (natural or man-made forests, and sparse woodlands). Rain fed agriculture (slash and burn in the forests, or shifting cultivation in the savanna) is shown to be the main life-sustaining human activity among the Luba of Kayamba County. Its full dependence on the natural elements (especially the rainfall) makes it easily affected by any variability in the climatic regimes. Hunting, fishing and gathering provide a supplement to the daily food intake. This lifestyle compares to that of other tropical rainforest dwellers (e.g. the Kayapo Indian in Brazil or the Karen in Thailand). A strong village dynamics (permanent relocations in the North and the Center, new villages built at important crossways, or splitting followed by relocation along main arteries in the South), more likely in response to the need for a new economy-oriented way of life in the County is also observed, pointing to the need for more investigation in relation with the possible development of this area. Biomass burning in Kayamba is either planned (bushfire hunting) or accidental (uncontrolled fires from field debris burning), occurring exclusively during the peak of the dry season (June-July). The seasonal bushfires regime is analyzed and discussed. It is shown that of the annual GHG emissions into the atmosphere, 615,000 tCO₂⋯ (99.6%) are from bush fires, and the remaining 3,206 tCO₂⋯ from fuel wood burning. This amounts to about 13,612 tCO₂⋯ for every one of the 45,000 inhabitants of the County.
UR: http:www.agu.org/sanga2
DE: 0426 Biosphere/atmosphere interactions (0315)
DE: 0429 Climate dynamics (1620)
DE: 0480 Remote sensing
DE: 1631 Land/atmosphere interactions (1218, 1843, 3322)
DE: 1632 Land cover change
SC: Near-Surface Geophysics [NS]
MN: 2007 Joint Assembly