Author(s)

Daouda Ngom, Emile Codjo Agbangba, Thioro Fall, Sekouna Diatta, Léonard E. Akpo

Department of Agroforestery, Unité de Formation et de Recherche de Sciences et Technologie (UFR ST), University Assane Seck of Ziguinchor, Ziguinchor, Senegal.
Department of Agroforestery, Unité de Formation et de Recherche de Sciences et Technologie (UFR ST), University Assane Seck of Ziguinchor, Ziguinchor, Senegal;Department of Plant Biology, Faculty of Science and Technology, University Cheikh Anta Diop of Dakar, Dakar, Senegal.
Department of Plant Biology, Faculty of Science and Technology, University Cheikh Anta Diop of Dakar, Dakar, Senegal.

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.

Ecosystem Services; Regression; Forage; Timber Production; Carbon Sequestration

Ngom, D. , Agbangba, E. , Fall, T. , Diatta, S. and Akpo, L. (2014) 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). American Journal of Plant Sciences, 5, 766-777. doi: 10.4236/ajps.2014.55091.