[ NOTE PRELIMINAIRE SUR L'ECOLOGIE D'UNE ASPARAGACEAE ENDEMIQUE DU BASSIN DU CONGO ]
Volume 14, Issue 3, February 2016, Pages 843–849
Anthony Kikufi1, Jean LEJOLY2, and Félicien Lukoki3
1 Laboratoire de Botanique systématique & d'écologie végétale, Faculté des Sciences, Département de Biologie, BP. 190 Kinshasa XI (Université de Kinshasa), RD Congo
2 Herbier de l'Université Libre de Bruxelles C.P. 169, Avenue F. Roosevelt, 50. 1050 Bruxelles, Belgium
3 Laboratoire de Botanique systématique & d'écologie végétale, Faculté des Sciences, Département de Biologie, BP. 190 Kinshasa XI (Université de Kinshasa), RD Congo
Original language: French
Copyright © 2016 ISSR Journals. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
A study was conducted in three localities in the southwest of RD Congo to clarify the ecology of Dracaena acutissima Hua: an endemic Asparagaceae of Congo Basin. Ecosystem characteristics (vegetation types, soil types and microclimates strata), phenological, chorological and ethnobotanical were determined. The results show that D. acutissima is a semi-sun-loving species that typically grows in the sandy soil of the undergrowth Kalahari type of riparian forest or forest or sloping plateau. It was seen with flowers and fruits during the dry season between May and July. The ethnobotanical survey showed that young leaves of this plant are used to treat childhood ear infections and stems are used for making small animal traps while its fruits are eaten by warthogs. Although, the species has not yet been confronted with the IUCN criteria; its distribution and human pressure area experienced by ecosystems that are its habitat to push the authors to classify it as a vulnerable species.
Author Keywords: ecology, phenology, phytogeographical distribution, endemic species, microclimate layers, sandy soils, riparian forest, D.R. Congo.
Volume 14, Issue 3, February 2016, Pages 843–849
Anthony Kikufi1, Jean LEJOLY2, and Félicien Lukoki3
1 Laboratoire de Botanique systématique & d'écologie végétale, Faculté des Sciences, Département de Biologie, BP. 190 Kinshasa XI (Université de Kinshasa), RD Congo
2 Herbier de l'Université Libre de Bruxelles C.P. 169, Avenue F. Roosevelt, 50. 1050 Bruxelles, Belgium
3 Laboratoire de Botanique systématique & d'écologie végétale, Faculté des Sciences, Département de Biologie, BP. 190 Kinshasa XI (Université de Kinshasa), RD Congo
Original language: French
Copyright © 2016 ISSR Journals. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
Abstract
A study was conducted in three localities in the southwest of RD Congo to clarify the ecology of Dracaena acutissima Hua: an endemic Asparagaceae of Congo Basin. Ecosystem characteristics (vegetation types, soil types and microclimates strata), phenological, chorological and ethnobotanical were determined. The results show that D. acutissima is a semi-sun-loving species that typically grows in the sandy soil of the undergrowth Kalahari type of riparian forest or forest or sloping plateau. It was seen with flowers and fruits during the dry season between May and July. The ethnobotanical survey showed that young leaves of this plant are used to treat childhood ear infections and stems are used for making small animal traps while its fruits are eaten by warthogs. Although, the species has not yet been confronted with the IUCN criteria; its distribution and human pressure area experienced by ecosystems that are its habitat to push the authors to classify it as a vulnerable species.
Author Keywords: ecology, phenology, phytogeographical distribution, endemic species, microclimate layers, sandy soils, riparian forest, D.R. Congo.
Abstract: (french)
Une étude a été menée dans trois localités situées au sud-ouest de la RD.Congo pour préciser l'écologie d'une Asparagaceae endémique du Bassin du Congo : Dracaena acutissima Hua. Les caractéristiques écosystémiques (types de végétations, types de sols et strates microclimatiques), phénologiques, chorologiques et ethnobotaniques ont été déterminées. Les résultats montrent que D. acutissima est une espèce semi-héliophile qui croit généralement dans le sous-bois sur sol sableux de type Kalahari en forêt ripicole ou en forêt de pente ou de plateau. Elle a été vue en fleurs et en fruits durant la saison sèche entre mai et juillet. L'enquête ethnobotanique a montré que les jeunes feuilles de cette plante sont utilisées pour soigner l'otite infantile et ses tiges servent pour la confection des pièges de petits animaux tandis que ses fruits seraient consommés par les phacochères. Bien que l'espèce n'ait pas encore été confrontée aux critères IUCN, son aire de distribution et la pression anthropique subie par les écosystèmes qui l'hébergent poussent les auteurs à la classer comme espèce vulnérable.
Author Keywords: écologie, phénologie, distribution phytogéographique, espèce endémique, strates microclimatiques, sols sableux, forêt ripicole, R.D. Congo.
How to Cite this Article
Anthony Kikufi, Jean LEJOLY, and Félicien Lukoki, “PRELIMINARY NOTE ON THE ECOLOGY OF AN ENDEMIC ASPARAGACEAE OF CONGO BASIN,” International Journal of Innovation and Applied Studies, vol. 14, no. 3, pp. 843–849, February 2016.
