Abstract
This study aims at quantifying the most important ecosystem services: forage production, timber production and carbon sequestration provided by Pterocarpus lucens to local communities of Ferlo Biosphere Reserve. The results suggested that the ecological structure of Pterocarpus lucens revealed a bell-shaped form with left dissymmetric distribution indicating a predominance of individuals with small circumference and height. A regression using the software Minitab 16, with circumference and the height as explanatory variables, has allowed a development of predictive models for the estimation of the produced forage and the quantification of the timber supplied by one of the most used plant species in Sahelian pastures. Forage production of Pterocarpus lucens was estimated at 178 kg DM/ha. This large value of forage showed the predominance of this species in animal feed in the Sahel. The quantity of wood produced was 545 kg DM/ha while the quantity of above ground sequestered carbon was 325.35 kg of C/ha. Those estimations are interesting in the implementation context of the Ferlo Biosphere Reserve which aims at matching the productive capacity of ecosystems with the needs of local communities.
Highlights
Biosphere reserves have a primary function of reconciling conservation and sustainable use of ecosystem services for the subsistence of communities
The aim of this work was to quantify the most important ecosystem services such as forage, wood biomass and the amount of sequestered carbon provided by Pterocarpus lucens in the Biosphere Reserve of Ferlo
From allometric relationships on variables circumference and height, we estimated the production of forage, timber and the amount of sequestered carbon in Pterocarpus lucens
Summary
Biosphere reserves have a primary function of reconciling conservation and sustainable use of ecosystem services for the subsistence of communities. Pterocarpus lucens is one of the two most palatable species to livestock, and the most pruned by the shepherds in the pastoral zone of Ferlo It contributes to the production of wood and it is the most used species as timber service to local communities [3]. For a better estimation of the production of tree and shrub formations, it is necessary to find methods that take into account the different productions, diversity and dynamics of woody vegetation [10] Those estimations are necessary to establish a precise balance between the needs and resources, with regard to firewood [4]. The current study carried out in the Biosphere Reserve of Ferlo (Northern Senegal) aimed at quantifying the forage and timber production of Pterocarpus lucens and its carbon sequestration
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