Journal of Plant Sciences

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Vegetation Characteristics of Bowé in Benin (West Africa)

Received: 21 October 2014    Accepted: 04 November 2014    Published: 10 November 2014
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Abstract

Bowé are particular form of degraded land where ferricrete, a hard erosion-resistant layer, is exposed. This study investigated vegetation characteristics of bowé (species composition, life form, chorological type, and plant family) in the semiarid and sub-humid climate zones in Benin. In both climate zones, bowé sites were characterized by grassland and savanna. The species composition on bowé varied according to the climate zone. Woody species were frequent on bowé in sub-humid (51% of the total species recorded) than in semiarid (44%). Geophytes, hemicryptophytes and phanerophytes were frequent on bowé in the sub-humid than in the semiarid climate zone. The difference between the two climate zones on the occurrence of therophytes on bowé was not significant. The frequency of chamaephytes was higher on bowé sites in the semiarid zone. Afro-tropical, Afro-Malgache, Pluri regional African and Pantropical chorological types were frequent on bowé than in woodlands in each climate zone while the opposite was found for Guineo-Congolian and Sudano-Zambesian chorotypes. Plant families such as Amaranthaceae, Zingiberaceae, Chrysobalanaceae, Connaraceae, Loganiaceae, Moraceae and Ochnaceae were only found on bowé in the sub-humid climate zone, while Convolvulaceae, Loganiaceae, Rhamnaceae, Araceae, Colchicaceae, Cucurbitaceae, Olacaceae, Pedaliaceae, Amaranthaceae, and Cyperaceae were only found on bowé in the semiarid zone.

DOI 10.11648/j.jps.20140205.27
Published in Journal of Plant Sciences (Volume 2, Issue 5, October 2014)
Page(s) 250-255
Creative Commons

This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, provided the original work is properly cited.

Copyright

Copyright © The Author(s), 2024. Published by Science Publishing Group

Keywords

Bowal, Ferricrete, Climate Zone, Species Composition, Life Form, Chorological Type, Plant Families

References
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Author Information
  • Faculty of Agronomic Sciences, University of Abomey-Calavi, Abomey-Calavi, Benin

  • National Herbarium, Faculty of Sciences and Technics, University of Abomey-Calavi, Abomey-Calavi, Benin

  • Institute of Ecology, Evolution and Diversity, J.W. Goethe University, Frankfurt am Main, Germany

  • Department of Bioscience, Aarhus University, Silkeborg, Denmark

  • Faculty of Agronomic Sciences, University of Abomey-Calavi, Abomey-Calavi, Benin

Cite This Article
  • APA Style

    Elie Antoine Padonou, Aristide Cossi Adomou, Yvonne Bachmann, Anne Mette Lykke, Brice Sinsin. (2014). Vegetation Characteristics of Bowé in Benin (West Africa). Journal of Plant Sciences, 2(5), 250-255. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.jps.20140205.27

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    ACS Style

    Elie Antoine Padonou; Aristide Cossi Adomou; Yvonne Bachmann; Anne Mette Lykke; Brice Sinsin. Vegetation Characteristics of Bowé in Benin (West Africa). J. Plant Sci. 2014, 2(5), 250-255. doi: 10.11648/j.jps.20140205.27

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    AMA Style

    Elie Antoine Padonou, Aristide Cossi Adomou, Yvonne Bachmann, Anne Mette Lykke, Brice Sinsin. Vegetation Characteristics of Bowé in Benin (West Africa). J Plant Sci. 2014;2(5):250-255. doi: 10.11648/j.jps.20140205.27

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  • @article{10.11648/j.jps.20140205.27,
      author = {Elie Antoine Padonou and Aristide Cossi Adomou and Yvonne Bachmann and Anne Mette Lykke and Brice Sinsin},
      title = {Vegetation Characteristics of Bowé in Benin (West Africa)},
      journal = {Journal of Plant Sciences},
      volume = {2},
      number = {5},
      pages = {250-255},
      doi = {10.11648/j.jps.20140205.27},
      url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.jps.20140205.27},
      eprint = {https://download.sciencepg.com/pdf/10.11648.j.jps.20140205.27},
      abstract = {Bowé are particular form of degraded land where ferricrete, a hard erosion-resistant layer, is exposed. This study investigated vegetation characteristics of bowé (species composition, life form, chorological type, and plant family) in the semiarid and sub-humid climate zones in Benin. In both climate zones, bowé sites were characterized by grassland and savanna. The species composition on bowé varied according to the climate zone. Woody species were frequent on bowé in sub-humid (51% of the total species recorded) than in semiarid (44%). Geophytes, hemicryptophytes and phanerophytes were frequent on bowé in the sub-humid than in the semiarid climate zone. The difference between the two climate zones on the occurrence of therophytes on bowé was not significant. The frequency of chamaephytes was higher on bowé sites in the semiarid zone. Afro-tropical, Afro-Malgache, Pluri regional African and Pantropical chorological types were frequent on bowé than in woodlands in each climate zone while the opposite was found for Guineo-Congolian and Sudano-Zambesian chorotypes. Plant families such as Amaranthaceae, Zingiberaceae, Chrysobalanaceae, Connaraceae, Loganiaceae, Moraceae and Ochnaceae were only found on bowé in the sub-humid climate zone, while Convolvulaceae, Loganiaceae, Rhamnaceae, Araceae, Colchicaceae, Cucurbitaceae, Olacaceae, Pedaliaceae, Amaranthaceae, and Cyperaceae were only found on bowé in the semiarid zone.},
     year = {2014}
    }
    

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  • TY  - JOUR
    T1  - Vegetation Characteristics of Bowé in Benin (West Africa)
    AU  - Elie Antoine Padonou
    AU  - Aristide Cossi Adomou
    AU  - Yvonne Bachmann
    AU  - Anne Mette Lykke
    AU  - Brice Sinsin
    Y1  - 2014/11/10
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    DO  - 10.11648/j.jps.20140205.27
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    JF  - Journal of Plant Sciences
    JO  - Journal of Plant Sciences
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    EP  - 255
    PB  - Science Publishing Group
    SN  - 2331-0731
    UR  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.jps.20140205.27
    AB  - Bowé are particular form of degraded land where ferricrete, a hard erosion-resistant layer, is exposed. This study investigated vegetation characteristics of bowé (species composition, life form, chorological type, and plant family) in the semiarid and sub-humid climate zones in Benin. In both climate zones, bowé sites were characterized by grassland and savanna. The species composition on bowé varied according to the climate zone. Woody species were frequent on bowé in sub-humid (51% of the total species recorded) than in semiarid (44%). Geophytes, hemicryptophytes and phanerophytes were frequent on bowé in the sub-humid than in the semiarid climate zone. The difference between the two climate zones on the occurrence of therophytes on bowé was not significant. The frequency of chamaephytes was higher on bowé sites in the semiarid zone. Afro-tropical, Afro-Malgache, Pluri regional African and Pantropical chorological types were frequent on bowé than in woodlands in each climate zone while the opposite was found for Guineo-Congolian and Sudano-Zambesian chorotypes. Plant families such as Amaranthaceae, Zingiberaceae, Chrysobalanaceae, Connaraceae, Loganiaceae, Moraceae and Ochnaceae were only found on bowé in the sub-humid climate zone, while Convolvulaceae, Loganiaceae, Rhamnaceae, Araceae, Colchicaceae, Cucurbitaceae, Olacaceae, Pedaliaceae, Amaranthaceae, and Cyperaceae were only found on bowé in the semiarid zone.
    VL  - 2
    IS  - 5
    ER  - 

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