From tree species to forest services: ethnic differences in Lomami, Democratic Republic of the Congo. Ethnicity is well–known to affect plant species’ utilization, but how ethnicity affects the identification and importance ranking of forest ecosystem services has been less documented, particularly in the Congo Basin. This research investigates how six different ethnic groups (farmers of Bantu origin and Mbote hunter–gatherers) use and value tree species and forest ecosystem services in Lomami National Park, in central Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). Data were collected through 24 focus–group discussions with village elders, four for each ethnic group studied. Considerable variation in preferred tree species was observed: of the 89 morphospecies cited in total only two were cited by all ethnic groups for the same usage. Ethnicity also affected the identification and importance ranking of forest ecosystem services. Mbote hunters–gatherers prioritized bushmeat, honey, and identity, while farmer groups prioritized bushmeat, fish, and microclimate regulation. We discuss the implications of the findings for forest management in the Buffer Zone of the national park.

从树种到森林服务：刚果民主共和国洛马米的种族差异. 众所周知，种族会影响植物物种的利用，但种族如何影响森林生态系统服务的识别和重要性排名的文献较少，特别是在刚果盆地。本研究调查了六个不同种族群体（班图族农民和姆博特狩猎采集者）如何使用和重视刚果民主共和国中部 (DRC) 洛马米国家公园的树种和森林生态系统服务。数据是通过与村长的 24 次焦点小组讨论收集的，每个研究的族群有 4 次。观察到首选树种的相当大的变化：在总共引用的 89 种形态种中，只有两种被所有种族引用用于相同的用法。种族也影响森林生态系统服务的识别和重要性排序。Mbote 猎人-采集者优先考虑丛林肉、蜂蜜和身份，而农民团体则优先考虑丛林肉、鱼类和微气候调节。我们讨论了调查结果对国家公园缓冲区森林管理的影响。