Structure and Diversity of Agroforestry Parklands in the Sudano-Sahelian Zone of Cameroon

Abstract

The general objective of the study is to characterize the woody vegetation of 05 agroforestry parkland in the Sudano-Sahelian zone of Cameroon. A total of 40 floristic surveys of 200  20 m were carried out. A total of 33 species in 20 families and 31 genera were recorded. The dendrometric survey method enabled us to characterize the vegetation of the agroforestry parks. The dendrometric parameters and indices calculated according to the agroforestry parks vary from one park to another. Thus, density varies from 108±2.98-223±8.01 individuals/ha, recovery from 6.11±0.21-10.12±0.31%, basal area from 6.54±1.12 to 10.05±1.87 m²/ha, biovolume from 20.09±2.22-38.54±3.76 m 3 /ha, total height from 2.11±0.01-5.06±0.04 m, natural regeneration rate from 2.11±0.52-7.40±1.09%. The Shannon index varies from 1.36±0.20-2±0.29 bits, Pielou index from 0.14±0.07-0.35±0.18 and Simpson index from 0.82±0.02-0.97±0.03. The species with the highest SIV and SIR are Combretum glutinosum, Combretum adenogonium, Sclerocarya birrea, Prosopis africana, Entada africana, Anacardium occidentale, Burkea africana, Maytenus senegalensis, Ficus glumosa. The Mimosaceae, Caesalpiniaceae, Combretaceae show a high representativeness in relation to their family importance value. The diameter structure showed a predominance of young individuals and the height structure showed a predominance of individuals of class [4-6 m]. These results can be used as a reference in monitoring the vegetation dynamics of agroforestry parks subject to recurrent droughts and anthropogenic pressures. This study provides a better understanding of the vegetation in agroforestry parks in order to better manage these plant resources.