Systèmes Agroforestiers A Garcinia Kola Heckel Au Sud-Est Du Bénin : Distribution Géographique, Connaissances Endogènes Et Retombées Financières

This study was carried out in three districts (Avrankou, Adjarra, and Ifangni) of south-eastern Benin, and aimed to analyze the socio-economic and ethnobotanical importance of Garcinia kola Heckel, in order to contribute to their sustainable management. Focus groups were conducted with three groups, composed of 10 owners of G. kola per district each and the result showed that Garcinia kola Heckel became extinct in their naturally occurring state in Benin. Besides, a survey was conducted among 140 owners of G. kola randomly selected in the study area. The results showed that the average number of G. kola feet per owner varies between 3 and 4, and the annual income generated from seeds marketing by an owner is XOF 1036000 in Adjarra district, XOF 356250 in Avrankou district, and XOF 290892 in Ifangni district. Furthermore, the ethnobotanical study showed that G. kola organs are well known and used by local people for medicine, food (for both humans and animals), commercial, spiritual purpose, and for timber and shading. The medicinal use was the most widespread with a diversity of uses (UD = 0.64 in Adjarra, UD = 0.61 in Avrankou and UD = 0.68 in Ifangni). The old men held more knowledge about the use of various organs of the species (ID = 0.91, IE = 0.91), while young women hold less knowledge (ID = 0.20, IE = 0.20). The seeds are the most common part used regardless of the district considered

Floristic and structural changes in secondary forests following agricultural disturbances: the case of Lama forest reserve in Southern Benin

Structural changes in secondary forests are less known in West Africa, and this precludes their management. This study aims at providing quantitative information on floristic composition and structure of the Lama secondary forests (Benin), so as to contribute to their restoration, and fill part of knowledge gaps on West African secondary forests. Data of 77 permanent plots each of 0.5 ha were used to analyze the floristic composition, the trajectory of the recovery and the recovery of stocking in these forests, compared to nearby old-growth forests. The results showed that the forests were less diversified with few species very common in the forest stands; the most dominant were Lonchocarpus sericeus and Anogeissus leiocarpa in the secondary forests, and Dialium guineense, Diospyros mespiliformis and Afzelia africana in the old-growth forests. The secondary forests hold more species than the mature ones. Their compositions will recover that of the original forest because species of the original forest were actively regenerating in the secondary forests. About 28 years after recovery, large trees were insufficient and basal area was about 60% of those of the mature forests. Further studies are needed to elucidate barriers to tree regeneration and dynamics of tree population.© 2016 International Formulae Group. All rights reserved.Keywords: Secondary forest, recovery, diversity, species composition, timber stock, Beni

Régénération Naturelle Assistée Du Teck (Tectona Grandis L. F.) Dans La Forêt Classée De La Lama Au Bénin

La régénération naturelle assistée, technique utilisée pour favoriser le développement du potentiel adventif et du potentiel séminal des arbres, est un mode de reproduction adopté de nos jours pour renouveler et pérenniser les formations forestières. La présente étude a été réalisée dans les plantations de la forêt classée de la Lama, situées entre 6°55' et 7°00' de latitude Nord et entre 2°4' et 2°12' de longitude Est. Elle vise à proposer une technique de régénération naturelle assistée peu coûteuse adaptée aux peuplements de teck installés sur des vertisols hydromorphes. Trois méthodes de régénérations naturelles assistées ont été testées sur quatre types de sols (vertisol argilosableux, vertisol argileux, vertisol argilo-calcaire et vertisols argilo-calcaire superficiel). Pour chaque traitement sur chaque type de sol, deux placeaux carrées de 100 m2 ont été matérialisés avec chacun huit placettes de 4 m2. La régénération a été inventoriée dans chaque placette et des relevés ont été effectués par rapport au nombre, hauteur et circonférence au collet des jeunes plants. L’évaluation des coûts de la méthode a été réalisée grâce à une comptabilité analytique régulière prenant en compte toutes les dépenses d’installation et de maintenance des parcelles expérimentales. La densité, hauteur et circonférence au collet varient significativement en fonction des types de sol. Toutefois, les plants sont plus développés en hauteur et en circonférence au collet dans les interlignes que sur les lignes. La régénération sur sol non travaillé est le moins coûteuse et donc celui à recommander aux gestionnaires des teckeraies de la Lama. Assisted natural regeneration is a technique used to promote the development of the seminal potential of trees. Actually, it is a mode of reproduction adopted to renew and sustain the forests. This study was carried out in the plantations of the Lama reserve (between 6° 55' and 7° 00' north and between 2° 4'and 2° 12' east). It aims to propose an inexpensive assisted natural regeneration method adapted to teak stands installed on hydromorphic vertisols. Three assisted natural regeneration methods were tested on four soil types ((clay-sandy vertisol, clay vertisol, clay-limestone vertisol, and superficial clay-limestone vertisols). For each treatment about each type of soil, two square plots (100 m2) were materialized with eight plots of 4 m2 each one. Regeneration was inventoried in each plot and data are collected about number, height, and circumference at the neck of seeding. The production costs were assessed through regular cost accounting taking into account all the installation and maintenance expenses of the experimental plots. From the results, density, height, and collar circumference vary significantly with soil types. However, the seedlings are more developed in height and circumference at the collar in the interlinings than on the lines. Regeneration on unworked soil is the least expensive and therefore the one to recommend to managers of teak plantations of the Lama

GBIF Benin's Data Portal

GBIF Benin, hosted at the University of Abomey-Calavi, has published more than 338,000 occurrence records in 87 datasets and checklists. It has been a Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF) node since 2004 and is a leader in several projects from the Biodiversity Information for Development (BID) programme. GBIF facilitates collaboration between nodes at different levels through its Capacity Enhancement Support Programme (CESP) [https://www.gbif.org/programme/82219/capacity-enhancement-support-programme]. One of the actions included in the CESP guidelines is called ‘Mentoring activities’. Its main goal is the transfer of knowledge between partners such as information, technologies, experience, and best practices. Sharing architecture and development is the key solution to solve some technical challenges or impediments (hosting, staff turnover, etc.) that GBIF nodes could face. The Atlas of Living Australia (ALA) team developed a functionality called ‘data hub’. It gives the possibility to create a standalone website with a dedicated occurrence search engine that seeks among a range of data (e.g. specific genus, geographic area). In 2017, GBIF Benin and GBIF France wanted to strengthen their partnership and started a CESP project. One of the core objectives of this project is the creation of the Atlas of Living Benin using ALA modules. GBIF France developers, with the help of the GBIF Benin team, are in the process of configuring a data hub that will give access to Beninese data only, while at the same time Atlas of Living France will give access to French data only. Both data portals will use the same back end, therefore the same databases. Benin is the first African GBIF node to implement this kind of infrastructure. On this poster, we will present the Atlas of Living Benin specific architecture and how we have managed to distinguish data coming from Benin and coming from France

The Living Atlases community in action: the GBIF Benin data portal

Atlas of Living Australia (ALA) (https://www.ala.org.au/) is the Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF) node of Australia. They developed an open and free platform for sharing and exploring biodiversity data. All the modules are publicly available for reuse and customization on their GitHub account (https://github.com/AtlasOfLivingAustralia). GBIF Benin, hosted at the University of Abomey-Calavi, has published more than 338 000 occurrence records from 87 datasets and 2 checklists. Through the GBIF Capacity Enhancement Support Programme (https://www.gbif.org/programme/82219/capacity-enhancement-support-programme), GBIF Benin, with the help of GBIF France, is in the process of deploying the Beninese data portal using the GBIF France back-end architecture. GBIF Benin is the first African country to implement this module of the ALA infrastructure. In this presentation, we will show you an overview of the registry and the occurrence search engine using the Beninese data portal. We will begin with the administration interface and how to manage metadata, then we will continue with the user interface of the registry and how you can find Beninese occurrences through the hub