earfbenin

Alfred HOUNGNON1, Alfred Houngnon2

1 Association de Gestion Intégrée des Ressources (AGIR), Carre 1869 maison quenum angele, fifadji yenawa, 00, Cotonou, Benin; 2 

Corresponding author(s): Alfred HOUNGNON (alfred.houngnon@gmail.com), Alfred Houngnon (quenh77@gmail.com)

Received {date}; Revised {date}; Accepted {date}; Published {date}

Citation: Combination of authors, year of data paper publication (in parentheses), Title, Journal Name, Volume, Issue number (in parentheses), and doi of the data paper.

Resource Citation

HOUNGNON A (2021): earfbenin. v1.0. PhytoKeys. Dataset/Checklist. http://ipt.pensoft.net/resource?r=earfbenin&v=1.0

Abstract

Location
earfbenin (Ewe-Adaklpame Relic Forest in Benin) covers 560.14 hectares in the Kétou District at the south-east of Benin Republic; latitude 07°27'59.195" N, longitude 002°34'29.395". The Relic Forest (EARF) is a micro-refugium that shows insular characteristics within the Dahomey Gap. It is probably one of the last remnants of tropical rain forest that would have survived the late Holocene dry period. Here we provide a comprehensive list of vascular plants of EARF, based on intensive field investigations through 25 plots (10 m × 50 m size) and matching of herbarium specimens, a checklist of 185 species of vascular plant belonging to 54 families and 142 genera is presented for this forest.
Physical conditions
The forest relic is located at the north-east of the depression of "Co" or "Lama" on the plateaus of low altitude that evolved on the pre-Cambrian base rocks (Adjanohoun et al. 1989).
The mean annual rainfall in the EARF is between 900–1300 mm (Adjanohoun et al. 1989; CARDER 2002; Adomou et al. 2006) which contrasts to other similar African dense semi-deciduous forests. The rainfall recorded in Upper Guinea is between 1750–1900 mm (Martin 2008) in Côte d'Ivoire (West Africa) and annual rainfall measured around the Kakamega rain forest in East Africa was approximately 2215 mm (Cords 1987) and 1956 mm (Greiner 1991).
The landscape surrounding EARF is dominated by fallows, cultivation areas and housing. The vegetation is a mosaic of savanna. 
The total population of the villages of Ewe and Adakplame is 13,623 individuals with 2,078 households (INSAE 2016). The main activity is agriculture followed by hunting, livestock breeding and local commerce.

Keywords: Benin Republic, Checklist, Dahomey Gap, Flora, Ewe, Adakplame, Kétou Distric, Range-restricted species, Refugial, Inventorythematic

Project details

Project title: Establish a comprehensive list of the vascular plants of earfbenin and Develop a Vibrant Botanical Village with the Ewe-Adakplame Relic Forest and local communities
Personnel: Alfred HOUNGNON
Funding: Rufford Foundation small grants
Ecological Restoration Alliance of Botanic Gardens
Study area descriptions/descriptor: The forest relic is located at the north-east of the depression of "Co" or "Lama" on the plateaus of low altitude that evolved on the pre-Cambrian base rocks (Adjanohoun et al. 1989). The District is called Kétou at the south-east of Benin Republic at latitude 07°27'59.195" N, longitude 002°34'29.395" E. This part of the Benin belongs to the Guineo-Congolean Region.
The most important national protected areas are in the northern part. There are several other forests (even if small) in the southern part of the country which are within the national protected areas network (e.g. gazatted forests of Dogo-Ketou, Pobe, Lama, Pahou) which are well-managed (Adomou et al. 2006). There is also the recent Transboundary biosphere reserve of Mono which is now part of the national protected areas network. However, EARF has not yet been included in this national protected areas network.
The mean annual rainfall in the EARF is between 900–1300 mm (Adjanohoun et al. 1989; CARDER 2002; Adomou et al. 2006) which contrasts to other similar African dense semi-deciduous forests. The rainfall recorded in Upper Guinea is between 1750–1900 mm (Martin 2008) in Côte d'Ivoire (West Africa) and annual rainfall measured around the Kakamega rain forest in East Africa was approximately 2215 mm (Cords 1987) and 1956 mm (Greiner 1991). Table 1 provides parameters such as temperature, relative humidity, vegetation and soil types of the study site. The landscape surrounding EARF is dominated by fallows, cultivation areas and housing. The vegetation is a mosaic of savanna with species of the Sudanian transition zone such as Adansonia digitate L., Stereospermum kuntianum Cham., Trichilia emetic Vahl, Annona senegalensis Pers., Vitex doniana Sweet, Parkia biglobosa (Jacq.) R.Br. ex G. Don, Dichrostachys cinerea (L.) Wight & Arn., Pterocarpus erinaceus Poir., Pericopsis laxiflora (Benth.) Meeuwen, Daniellia oliveri (Rolfe) Hutch. & Dalziel, Vitellaria paradoxa C.F. Gaertn., Sarcocephalus latifolius (Sm.) E.A. Bruce, Uvaria chamae P. Beauv., Vitex grandifolia Gürke and Andropogon gayanus Kunth (Biaou 2009; Armani et al. 2018). The total population of the villages of Ewe and Adakplame is 13,623 individuals with 2,078 households (INSAE 2016). The main activity is agriculture followed by hunting, livestock breeding and local commerce.
Design description: The inventory of EARF plant species was conducted from February 2014 to December 2017. The forest investigation was based on a vegetation map divided into 250,000 m² (500 m × 500 m) grids following 6 transects, each of 500 m width and 3000 m length. Transects were oriented south-north. The floristic sampling covered different components of the EARF. At each stand, a topometer (Chaining Buddy, Fremaco Devices, Canada) with disposable filament was used to delimit quadrats of 10 m × 50 m. The observation stands were set out at intervals of 100 m along each transect line and there was one quadrat per plot of 250,000 m². In total, 25 forest quadrats of 500 m² were floristically surveyed. To set a preliminary list of EARF flora, species identification was fist based on our self-background during the sampling field work with photo captures (Olympus Digital Camera SP-620 UZ Silver and Samsung Galaxy S7 Android 6.0.1). This approach was combined with description session (on field and at the National Herbarium). Voucher specimens were systematically collected for specimens whose determination is confused. They were compared with voucher specimens of the national Herbarium. To access the systematic information notes, the botanical nomenclature followed the Analytical Flora of Benin (Akoègninou et al. 2006). The list of plant species recorded was compared to online resources such as the “Catalog of life” (Hassler 2020) and the Benin National Red List (Neuenschwander et al. 2011) in order to access botanical information notes and the conservation status of species.

Data published through GBIF: http://ipt.pensoft.net/resource?r=earfbenin

Spatial coverage

General spatial coverage: The earfBenin is an islet of a semi-deciduous forest covering 560.14 hectares in a savanna dominated vegetation at 12 km north from the Kétou District in the Plateau department, south-east of Benin Republic. Latitude 07°27'59.195" N, longitude 002°34'29.395" E.
Coordinates: 7°26'31.2''N and 7°28'55.2''N Latitude; 2°33'14.4''E and 2°35'31.2''E Longitude 

Natural collections description

Collection name: Herbier National du Bénin
Specimen preservation method: Other

Methods

Method step description: The floristic sampling covered different components of the earfbenin. At each stand, a topometer (Chaining Buddy, Fremaco Devices, Canada) with disposable filament was used to delimit quadrats of 10 m × 50 m. The observation stands were set out at intervals of 100 m along each transect line and there was one quadrat per plot of 250,000 m². In total, 25 forest quadrats of 500 m² were floristically surveyed. To set a preliminary list of EARF flora, species identification was fist based on our self-background during the sampling field work with photo captures (Olympus Digital Camera SP-620 UZ Silver and Samsung Galaxy S7 Android 6.0.1). This approach was combined with description session (on field and at the National Herbarium). Voucher specimens were systematically collected for specimens whose determination is confused. They were compared with voucher specimens of the national Herbarium. To access the systematic information notes, the botanical nomenclature followed the Analytical Flora of Benin (Akoègninou et al. 2006). The list of plant species recorded was compared to online resources such as the “Catalog of life” (Hassler 2020) and the Benin National Red List (Neuenschwander et al. 2011) in order to access botanical information notes and the conservation status of species.
Study extent description: Kétou District
Sampling description: The inventory of EARF plant species was conducted from February 2014 to December 2017. The forest investigation was based on a vegetation map divided into 250,000 m² (500 m × 500 m) grids following 6 transects, each of 500 m width and 3000 m length. Transects were oriented south-north.

Metadata language: English
Date of metadata creation: 2021-01-25
Hierarchy level: Dataset