Structural and Ecological Characteristics of Tree Communities in the Forest of Pobe in Southeast Benin

Abstract

The main objective of this study is to determine the different tree communities in the forest of Pobe and characterize their structure and ecology to contribute to the sustainable management of this forest. The forest of Pobe is located between the parallels 6° 57' 20" and 6° 58' 04" north latitude and 2° 39' 46" and 2° 40' 45" east longitude. The sampling used for data collection is one central plot of 1 hectare (100 m x 100 m) at the center of a square of 4 ha (200 m x 200 m). Twenty-five plots were installed and the dendrometric measurements were taken on the trees (dbh≥10cm). The regeneration inventory was done in 125 quadrats of 100 m2 each at the rate of 5 quadrats per plot. The main results obtained showed that the forest of Pobe is diversified with 56 species of trees with an average density of 157 trees/ha and a basal area of 28.01m²/ha. The diameter structure shows that the trees of small diameters (≤40 cm) are the most represented, which presages a forest able of ensuring its own renewal. Two tree communities have been identified and characterized. The most representative is the community dominated by Triplochiton scleroxylon, Ceiba pentandra and Antiaris toxicaria and the community dominated by Triplochiton scleroxylon, Antiaris toxicaria and Terminalia superba. These two tree communities are well diversified and do not present a significant difference at the threshold of 5% for the diversity indexes calculated. The biggest threat of loss of biodiversity and the forest of Pobe degradation is anthropization, marked by the presence of vegetation fires, fuelwood cutting for charcoal production and the traffic paths often source of forest fragmentation.