Enquête Ethnobotanique sur les Usages de Euphorbia Heterophylla L. (Euphorbiaceae) dans le Nord de la Côte d’Ivoire

Euphorbia heterophylla est une herbe envahissante dans la région nord de la Côte d’Ivoire. Elle est connue par les éleveurs, les agriculteurs et les herboristes. Le but de ce travail est d’identifier les différents usages de cette plante. À cet effet, une enquête ethnobotanique basée sur la méthode d'échantillonnage stratifiée probabiliste a été menée dans les régions du Poro, de la Bagoué et du Tchologo. En élevage, Euphorbia heterophylla est utilisée comme fourrage pour le lapin (46,5 %), le cobaye (34,9 %) et le porc (18,6 %). Chez les Hommes, elle est utilisée pour favoriser la production de lait maternel chez la femme (28,6 %), le traitement des plaies (25,7 %), les infections gastriques (25,70 %), l’amélioration de la qualité du sperme (11,4 %) et le traitement des rougeurs des bébés (8,6 %). Ces résultats peuvent constituer une source d’informations non négligeables pour les recherches scientifiques sur Euphorbia heterophylla et la domestication.   Euphorbia heterophylla is an invasive plant in the northern region of Côte d'Ivoire. It is known by breeders, farmers, and herbalists. The aim of this work is to identify the different uses of this plant. To this end, an ethnobotanical survey based on the stratified probability sampling method was conducted in the Poro, Bagoué, and Tchologo regions. In breeding, Euphorbia heterophylla is used as fodder for rabbits (46.5%), guinea pigs (34.9%), and pigs (18.6%). In men, it is used for the production of breast milk in women (28.6%), the treatment of wounds (25.7%), gastric infections (25.70%), the improvement of the quality semen (11.4%), and the treatment of rashes in babies (8.6%). These results could constitute a significant source of information for scientific research on Euphorbia heterophylla domestication

Characteristics of Positive Deviants in Western Chimpanzee Populations

With continued expansion of anthropogenically modified landscapes, the proximity between humans and wildlife is continuing to increase, frequently resulting in species decline. Occasionally however, species are able to persist and there is an increased interest in understanding such positive outliers and underlying mechanisms. Eventually, such insights can inform the design of effective conservation interventions by mimicking aspects of the social-ecological conditions found in areas of species persistence. Recently, frameworks have been developed to study the heterogeneity of species persistence across populations with a focus on positive outliers. Applications are still rare, and to our knowledge this is one of the first studies using this approach for terrestrial species conservation. We applied the positive deviance concept to the western chimpanzee, which occurs in a variety of social-ecological landscapes. It is now categorized as Critically Endangered due to hunting and habitat loss and resulting excessive decline of most of its populations. Here we are interested in understanding why some of the populations did not decline. We compiled a dataset of 17,109 chimpanzee survey transects (10,929 km) across nine countries and linked them to a range of social and ecological variables. We found that chimpanzees seemed to persist within three social-ecological configurations: first, rainforest habitats with a low degree of human impact, second, steep areas, and third, areas with high prevalence of hunting taboos and low degree of human impact. The largest chimpanzee populations are nowadays found under the third social-ecological configuration, even though most of these areas are not officially protected. Most commonly chimpanzee conservation has been based on exclusion of threats by creation of protected areas and law enforcement. Our findings suggest, however, that this approach should be complemented by an additional focus on threat reduction, i.e., interventions that directly target individual human behavior that is most threatening to chimpanzees, which is hunting. Although changing human behavior is difficult, stakeholder co-designed behavioral change approaches developed in the social sciences have been used successfully to promote pro-environmental behavior. With only a fraction of chimpanzees and primates living inside protected areas, such new approaches might be a way forward to improve primate conservation

Effet de l'herbe de Guinée (Panicum maximum Jacq.) associée à l'herbe de lait (Euphorbia heterophylla L.) ou aux feuilles de patate douce (Ipomoea batatas (L.) Lam) sur la croissance des lapins (Oryctolagus cuniculus L.)

Objectif : Le présent travail vise à trouver une solution alternative à l'utilisation des feuilles de patate douce (Ipomoea batatas (L.) Lam. ) dans l'alimentation des lapins (Oryctolagus cuniculus L.) dont la récolte non contrôlée des feuilles peut induire une baisse de la production de tubercules d'environ 32%.Méthodologie et Résultats: L'effet de l'ingestion de l'herbe de guinée (Panicum maximum Jacq.) associé à l'herbe de lait (Euphorbia heterophylla) (Paneuph) ou à Ipomoea batatas (Panipo) sur la croissance journalière et l'indice de consommation a été déterminé chez les lapins. Les poids à la naissance et en fin d'engraissement (90 jours d’âge) étaient de 67,6 g et 60,8 g et de 770,0 et 933,8 g respectivement pour Panipo et Paneuph. Le régime Paneuph induisait une croissance journalière et un indice de consommation significativement supérieurs durant les deux derniers mois d'essai.Conclusion et Application des résultats : Les résultats de cette étude permettent de conclure que l'utilisation de l'herbe de lait en substitution des feuilles de patate douce dans l’alimentation des lapins en milieu traditionnel pourrait être envisagée.Mots clés : Cuniculture traditionnelle, Oryctolagus cuniculus, Panicum maximum, Euphorbia heterophylla, Ipomoea batatas, alimentation Effect of Guinea grass (Panicum maximum Jacq.) associated with Milk weed (Euphorbia heterophylla L.) or sweet potatoes leaves (Ipomoea batatas (L.) Lam) on rabbits growth (Oryctolagus cuniculus L.).Objective : The aim of this study was to find an alternative to the use of leaves of sweet potatoes (Ipomoea batatas (L.) Lam. ) in the diet of rabbits (Oryctolagus cuniculus L.) whose uncontrolled leaves harvesting can induce a decrease in production of tubers up to 32%.Methodology and Results: The effect of ingestion of guinea grass (Panicum maximum Jacq.) associated with milk weed (Euphorbia heterophylla) (Paneuph) or sweet potatoes (Ipomoea batatas) (Panipo) on daily weight gain and feed efficiency was determinate in rabbits. The weight a the birth and the end fattening (90 days old) were 67.6 g and 60.8 g and 770.0 and 933.8 g respectively for Panipo and Paneuph. The Paneuph diet induced a daily growth and a feed efficiency significantly higher in the last two months of the test.Conclusions and Application of Results: Results of this study indicated using of milk weed in substitution of leaves of sweet potatoes in rabbits feed could be considered.Keywords: Traditional cuniculture, Oryctolagus cuniculus, Panicum maximum, Euphorbia heterophylla, Ipomoea batatas, feedin