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White fonio (Digitaria exilis Stapf) is one of the most promising cereals in West Africa due to its nutritional qualities and for its potential to generate financial returns for women. In Senegal, its culture has declined in recent years as well as the distribution area of its wild relatives. This study aims to specify the ecology of wild relatives of fonio. The data used come from collections of DAKAR and IFAN Herbaria, the GBIF database and field collections which made it possible to draw species distribution maps according to the climatic zones, vegetation and soils types. The results of the study revealed that the Sudanian zone is the richest in term of specific diversity with 11 inventoried species. The species occupy all types of vegetation in Senegal and the presence of some in arid zones, steppe type, and wet zones composed mainly of forests and wooded savannahs attests their remarkable adaptation to contrasting environmental conditions. It is also apparent from this study that species prefer tropical ferruginous soils, lithosols, ferralitic and hydromorphic soils. Digitaria ciliaris and D. gayana occur on almost all types of soils. As for D. exilis, it grows on the same soil as D. longiflora, its closest wild relative. The development of seed banks for the ex situ conservation of these wild species, potential sources of genes for fonio, would be of primary importance for the protection of this biodiversity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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