Characteristics of the herbaceous vegetation of an exclosure in North Ferlo in Senegal

Abstract

This study aimed to assess the characteristics of the herbaceous vegetation in North Ferlo in Senegal. The vegetation plays an essential role in the life of Sahelian populations because it constitutes a very important fodder resource for animals. It is also commonly used by the local population for firewood, timber and food. Thus, the sustainable management of plant resources in a given location requires knowledge of the flora to support sustainable development policies. To this end, inventories of the grass layer were carried out under cover and out of the canopy on a five-hectare exclosure. The inventory methodology adopted was the ‘cross-the-field-inall- directions’ technique over a four-year period (2014–2017). The results enabled to identify 66 species in 43 genera and 20 families. Among the species, dicotyledons were dominant with 46 species (69.7%), whereas monocotyledons were represented by only 20 species (30.3%). The most representative families were the Poaceae with 17 species, followed by the Fabaceae with 7 species, and the Malvaceae with 6 species. Therophytes accounted for 91% of the biological types, whereas chamephytes and geophytes accounted for only 4.5% each. Biogeographically, African and pantropical affinity species were dominant with respectively 30.3% and 24.2% of the species in the flora.