Volume 45, Issue 1, March 2025, Pages 183–196
Atsu K. Dogbeda HLOVOR1, Kossi ADJONOU2, Katché Komlanvi AKOETE3, Fifonsi Ayélé DANGBO4, Kossi SEGLA5, and Kokou Kouami6
1 Department of Botany, Université de Lomé, Faculté Des Sciences, Laboratoire de Recherche Forestière, Lomé, Togo
2 Department of Botany, Université de Lomé, Faculté Des Sciences, Laboratoire de Recherche Forestière, Lomé, Togo
3 Department of Botany, Université de Lomé, Faculté Des Sciences, Laboratoire de Recherche Forestière, Lomé, Togo
4 Direction forêts et risques naturels, Office National des Forêts, France
5 Department of Botany, Université de Lomé, Faculté Des Sciences, Laboratoire de Recherche Forestière, Lomé, Togo
6 Laboratoire de Physiologie et Biotechnologie Végétales, Faculté des Sciences, Université de Lomé, Lomé, Togo
Original language: English
Copyright © 2025 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.
In the context of climate emergency and biodiversity loss due mainly to agriculture, this study aims to characterize the forest ecosystems of the Kara basin agropolis and a 10 km buffer zone. The methodology is based on two approaches: land cover mapping using Landsat satellite images and a detailed description of forest ecosystems, focusing on the floristic composition of woody species to assess their conservation, structure and ecological functioning. This characterization was carried out through 56 20 mx 20 m inventory surveys, where all species presents were counted and woody individuals with a DBH ≥ 10 cm measured. The results show that 67% of the area consists of cultivated and fallow land, with a higher proportion in the agropole (72%) than in the buffer zone (63%). Forests account for 13% in the agropole and 21% in the buffer zone. The floristic survey identified 105 woody species in 79 genera and 31 families, with a higher average diversity in the agropole (H’ = 2.69) than in the buffer zone (H’ = 2.13). Four species are on the IUCN Red List. Although tree density is lower in the agropole (97.2 trees/ha) than in the buffer zone (119.08 trees/ha), basal area is greater in the buffer zone (32.30 m2/ha) than in the agropole (29.86 m2/ha), indicating an annual pressure on tree species.
Author Keywords: agropole, tree density, floristic survey, IUCN red list.
Atsu K. Dogbeda HLOVOR1, Kossi ADJONOU2, Katché Komlanvi AKOETE3, Fifonsi Ayélé DANGBO4, Kossi SEGLA5, and Kokou Kouami6
1 Department of Botany, Université de Lomé, Faculté Des Sciences, Laboratoire de Recherche Forestière, Lomé, Togo
2 Department of Botany, Université de Lomé, Faculté Des Sciences, Laboratoire de Recherche Forestière, Lomé, Togo
3 Department of Botany, Université de Lomé, Faculté Des Sciences, Laboratoire de Recherche Forestière, Lomé, Togo
4 Direction forêts et risques naturels, Office National des Forêts, France
5 Department of Botany, Université de Lomé, Faculté Des Sciences, Laboratoire de Recherche Forestière, Lomé, Togo
6 Laboratoire de Physiologie et Biotechnologie Végétales, Faculté des Sciences, Université de Lomé, Lomé, Togo
Original language: English
Copyright © 2025 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
In the context of climate emergency and biodiversity loss due mainly to agriculture, this study aims to characterize the forest ecosystems of the Kara basin agropolis and a 10 km buffer zone. The methodology is based on two approaches: land cover mapping using Landsat satellite images and a detailed description of forest ecosystems, focusing on the floristic composition of woody species to assess their conservation, structure and ecological functioning. This characterization was carried out through 56 20 mx 20 m inventory surveys, where all species presents were counted and woody individuals with a DBH ≥ 10 cm measured. The results show that 67% of the area consists of cultivated and fallow land, with a higher proportion in the agropole (72%) than in the buffer zone (63%). Forests account for 13% in the agropole and 21% in the buffer zone. The floristic survey identified 105 woody species in 79 genera and 31 families, with a higher average diversity in the agropole (H’ = 2.69) than in the buffer zone (H’ = 2.13). Four species are on the IUCN Red List. Although tree density is lower in the agropole (97.2 trees/ha) than in the buffer zone (119.08 trees/ha), basal area is greater in the buffer zone (32.30 m2/ha) than in the agropole (29.86 m2/ha), indicating an annual pressure on tree species.
Author Keywords: agropole, tree density, floristic survey, IUCN red list.
How to Cite this Article
Atsu K. Dogbeda HLOVOR, Kossi ADJONOU, Katché Komlanvi AKOETE, Fifonsi Ayélé DANGBO, Kossi SEGLA, and Kokou Kouami, “Characterization of forest ecosystems in the Agropole of the Kara River basin in northern Togo (West Africa),” International Journal of Innovation and Applied Studies, vol. 45, no. 1, pp. 183–196, March 2025.
