TITLE:
Quantification of Ecosystem Services Provided by Pterocarpus lucens Lepr. Ex Guill. and Perrott.: Forage Production, Timber and Carbon Sequestration in the Biosphere Reserve of Ferlo (Northern Senegal)
AUTHORS:
Daouda Ngom, Emile Codjo Agbangba, Thioro Fall, Sekouna Diatta, Léonard E. Akpo
KEYWORDS:
Ecosystem Services; Regression; Forage; Timber Production; Carbon Sequestration
JOURNAL NAME:
American Journal of Plant Sciences,
Vol.5 No.5,
March
19,
2014
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.