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The sexually dimorphic dynastine centaurus beetle, genus Augosoma (Coleoptera: Scarabeidae), is endemic to tropical Africa where two species are found (A. centaurus and A. hippocrates). These beetles are consumed by rural populations, cause damage in plantations and are targets of insect collectors and traders. We present information on size differences and analyzed intersexual niche divergence and seasonality of A. centaurus in seven study sites in three West African countries (Ivory Coast, Togo and Nigeria). We recorded 711 light-attracted and/or opportunistically encountered individuals, as well as another 97 beetles in standardized transect surveys. In the latter, we found the adult sex ratio was equal, but was significantly skewed towards females in light-attracted and/or opportunistically encountered individuals. In a sample of 298 adult beetles, males were significantly larger than females, with almost no size overlap between sexes. Beetle activity was highly seasonal with most animals observed in November, active from 19:00 h to 24:00 h. Differences in habitat use were not significant between sexes, with most individuals observed in secondary forest. Males were found higher on vegetation than females and beetles of both sexes were found on Pandanus and raffia palms. Beetles were larger in sites with more vegetation cover, and there was a significant effect of tree species on body size of both sexes. Study area or country had no effect on any of the studied parameters. Our study confirms that transect surveys without light trapping can be an effective tool for understanding large-sized tropical beetles of similar ecological characteristics.

Biodiversity informatics is a new and evolving field, requiring efforts to develop capacity and a curriculum for this field of science. The main objective was to summarise the level of activity and the efforts towards developing biodiversity informatics curricula, for work-based training and/or academic teaching at universities, taking place within the Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF) countries and its associated network. A survey approach was used to identify existing capacities and resources within the network. Most of GBIF Nodes survey respondents (80%) are engaged in onsite training activities, with a focus on work-based professionals, mostly researchers, policy-makers and students. Training topics include data mobilisation, digitisation, management, publishing, analysis and use, to enable the accessibility of analogue and digital biological data that currently reside as scattered datasets. An initial assessment of academic teaching activities highlighted that countries in most regions, to varying degrees, were already engaged in the conceptualisation, development and/or implementation of formal academic programmes in biodiversity informatics, including programmes in Benin, Colombia, Costa Rica, Finland, France, India, Norway, South Africa, Sweden, Taiwan and Togo. Digital e-learning platforms were an important tool to help build capacity in many countries. In terms of the potential in the Nodes network, 60% expressed willingness to be recruited or commissioned for capacity enhancement purposes. Contributions and activities of various country nodes across the network have been highlighted and a working curriculum framework has been defined.

The label transcription and imaging of specimens in key African herbaria has been ongoing since the early 2000s. Many collections in Benin, Cameroon, Côte d’Ivoire, Gabon, Guinea Conakry, and Togo are now fully transcribed and partially digitized. More than 200 000 transcribed specimens are available with the following distribution: Benin: 45 000 Cameroon: 70 000 Côte d’Ivoire: 18 000 Gabon: 70 000 Guinea Conakry: 5 000 Togo: 15 000 Benin: 45 000 Cameroon: 70 000 Côte d’Ivoire: 18 000 Gabon: 70 000 Guinea Conakry: 5 000 Togo: 15 000 In April 2021, a BID project was started to deliver a regional data platform of West and Central African herbaria. Biodiversity Information for Development (BID) is a multi-year programme funded by the European Union and led by GBIF with the aim of enhancing capacity for effective mobilization and use of biodiversity data in research and policy in the 'ACP' nations of sub-Saharan Africa, the Caribbean and the Pacific. Our project's funding runs from April 2021 to April 2023. At this stage of the project, we are working on defining the information technology (IT) architecture (Fig. 1) and selecting the tools that we will be using to achieve our goals. In the talk, we will present our conclusions through architecture schemas and tools demonstrations. Each of the 6 countries will have its own PostgreSQL database, storing its data. They will also have access to the RIHA data management platform (Réseau Informatique des Herbiers d'Afrique / Digital Network of African Herbaria). This is a web application, developed in PHP, allowing full management of the data by herbarium administrators (Fig. 2). An Integrated Publishing Toolkit (IPT) will fetch these herbaria data from the databases, create the Darwin Core archives, and connect these data automatically to gbif.org on a periodic basis (Fig. 3). On the databases, we will use a PostgreSQL view to ease conversion from the RIHA data model to the Darwin Core model. On the IPT, we will create one dataset per country, linked to each PostgreSQL view. The SQL query will be configured to only fetch validated data, depending on the herbarium administrator's validation in the RIHA platform. The automatic and periodic data transmission to gbif.org is a feature available in the IPT, and recently improved by the GBIF France team, which contributes to the IPT development. Another part of the automatic data workflow will be to feed a Living Atlases portal for the West and Central African herbaria. This web application will allow public users to search, display and download herbaria data from West and Central Africa (Fig. 4). Internally, this Living Atlases application will reuse open source modules developed by the Atlas of Living Australia (ALA). The application is mainly written in Java, uses JQuery/Bootstrap for the interface and relies on SolR and Spark in the backend. It has been developed to be easily reusable, by only modifying configuration and doing web customization (HTML / CSS), hiding most of the backend technological complexity. The automatic data workflow will transfer datasets generated by the IPT, in Darwin Core Archive format, to the Living Atlases portal backend. A technical task orchestrator, yet to be selected, will implement this feature. Living Atlases subportals, limited to data of one participating country, could be easily set up, leveraging the existing backend resources (Fig. 5). One of the benefits of the Living Atlases portal is that we can easily deploy additional front end applications with limited data, configured by a filter (here, a filter on the data owner country). Only configuration and web customization (HTML / CSS) are required. All the backend modules, especially the ones storing data, are shared by the multiple front-ends, limiting the hardware consumption and data administration. The full automation of the workflow will allow this platform to run at a very low maintenance cost for IT administrators. Moreover, adding a new herbarium member from West and Central Africa will be quite easy thanks to the architecture of the Integrated Publishing Toolkit and Living Atlases tools (Fig. 6).

A study of factors impacting landslide displacement rates was conducted on the Ripley Landslide within the Thompson River valley in British Columbia, Canada for the International Programme on Landslides’ project #202. Seasonal and multiyear changes in atmospheric factors cause cyclic fluctuation of matric suction in the vadose zone through changes to the in situ water content. The ingress of moisture is shown to contribute to multiyear and seasonal loss of stability causing increasing landslide displacement rates, often disregarded in slope stability calculations. However, the water content in the unsaturated zone is important, especially in semi-arid to arid climates where the water table is low and large portions of the slope are unsaturated. Additional tools for studying long-term variations in climate and seasonal changes in water content are presented. These tools are used to characterize historical climate and compare several factors that have resulted in changing landslide displacement rates and magnitude. Infiltration of precipitation and snowmelt directly contributes to matric suction loss in the head scarp and is exacerbated by the presence of tension cracks. While groundwater levels are often correlated to changing displacement rates, changes in matric suction can also influence the rates of displacement. Climatic trends over subsequent years alter the long-term soil water accumulation which impacts rates of landslide displacement. By accounting for additional strength, or potentially a loss in strength due to increasing water content, it is possible to develop a more complete understanding of the mechanisms of climate change which drive displacement rates in the translational, metastable earthen slides that dominate the Thompson River valley. These mechanisms can be applied to comparable river valleys around the world.

The field of biodiversity informatics has developed rapidly in recent years with broad availability of large-scale information resources. However, online biodiversity information are biased (Boakes et al. 2010, Stropp et al. 2016) as a result of the relatively slow capture and digitization of existing data resources. The West African Plants (WAP) initiative approach to data capture is a prototype of a novel solution to the challenge of the traditional model, in which the institutional “owner” of the specimens is responsible for digital capture of associated data. The WAP Initiative is a consortium of West African researchers in botany, in coordination with six institutions across Europe and North America; its goal is to digitize and mobilize available, high-quality, primary biodiversity occurrence data resources for West African plant diversity (http://jrsbiodiversity.org/grants/university-of-ghana-herbaria/). Here, we developed customized workflows for data capture in formats directly and permanently useful to the “owner” herbarium, and digitized significant new biodiversity records adding to the information available for the plants of the region. Data records were captured strictly in accordance with DarwinCore standards, achieved either by (a) capturing data records from existing images (e.g., images supplied by Naturalis Bodiversity Centre), or (b) capturing data from images taken quickly and efficiently by project personnel in West African Herbaria. Digitization of images and data began in 2015 in West African partner institutions, and by middle of 2018 resulted in 190,953 records of species in 1965 genera and 331 families from 16 West African countries (Fig. 1). Our approach is cost-effective, allows development of information resources even for regions in which political situations make it impossible, and it provides a historical context against which to compare newer data as the latter become available (Peterson et al. 2016). Further measures of success of the initiative will center on whether the institutions “owning” the specimens follow through and put the new data records online. Already, several project institutions have put initial project data online as part of their GBIF data contributions, but—of course—success would consist of all project-generated data being completely available online. Note that this model is the reverse of the traditional model, in which the institutions holding the specimens create the information resources that are used by the rest of the world. This new paradigm in specimen digitization has considerable promise to accelerate and improve the process of generating biodiversity information, and can be replicated and applied in many biodiversity-rich, information-poor regions to remedy the oft-cited massive gaps in information availability.

This article describes the herbarium database of the University of Lomé. The database provides a good representation of the current knowledge of the flora of Togo. The herbarium of University of Lomé, known also as Herbarium togoense is the national herbarium and is registered in Index Herbariorum with the abbreviation TOGO. It contains 15,000 specimens of vascular plants coming mostly from all Togo's ecofloristic regions. Less than one percent of the specimens are from neighbouring countries such as Ghana, Benin and Burkina Faso. Collecting site details are specified in more that 97% of the sheet labels, but only about 50% contain geographic coordinates. Besides being a research resource, the herbarium constitutes an educational collection. The dataset described in this paper is registered with GBIF and accessible at https://www.gbif.org/dataset/b05dd467-aaf8-4c67-843c-27f049057b78. It was developed with the RIHA software (Réseau Informatique des Herbiers d'Afrique). The RIHA system (Chevillotte and Florence 2006, Radji et al. 2009) allows the capture of label data and associated information such as synonyms, vernacular names, taxonomic hierarchy and references.

This dataset contains information on the presence and distribution of sea turtles in Togo. Observations were carried out through a network of ten ecoguards (local guides), facilitated by five fishermen, and coordinated by a field technician, all under the supervision of a scientific coordinator. Data on the occurrence or direct observation of sea turtles on the Togolese coast from September 2012 to August 2013 is presented based on 740 occurrences.

Biodiversity informatics has been characterized as a rapidly growing interdisciplinary field, which aims to bring together the areas of biodiversity and informatics. A study was conducted looking at the current level of activity within the GBIF Participant countries and its associated network in relation to work-based training and/or academic teaching at universities, in the field of biodiversity informatics. It was intended to get an overview of GBIF Node Managers, (hence, member countries), already engaged in developing course curricula, or in providing training, and whether they would be willing to share resources or enter into collaborations, to further elaborate this field of science. This investigation followed a survey approach, conducted globally across the GBIF community to identify the existing capacities and resources within the network. The results indicated that the vast majority of GBIF Nodes survey respondents, are engaged in onsite training activities in biodiversity informatics areas, with a focus on professionals, mostly researchers, policy makers and students. Training includes data digitization, management, publishing, analysis and use, to enable the accessibility of analogue and digital biological data which currently resides as scattered databases/datasets. A list containing the associated URL's for training and dissemination activities in GBIF Nodes has been developed, based on survey results, and will be presented. An initial assessment of the academic teaching activities indicated that many countries across most regions were already engaged in the conceptualisation, development and/or implementation of formal academic programs in biodiversity informatics including Benin, Colombia, Costa Rica, Finland, France, India, Norway, South Africa, Sweden, Taiwan and Togo. This study also identified that digital e-learning platforms were a very important tool to help build capacity in a number of countries. To assess the level of potential in the network to support academic teaching and work-based training, sixty percent indicated that they would be willing to be recruited or commissioned to support teaching activities, demonstrating the value of the Nodes network to support the development of biodiversity informatics globally. The contributions and activities of various nodes across the network will be highlighted and a working high-level curriculum framework will be discussed.

GBIF Togo, hosted at the University of Lomé, has published more than 62,200 occurrence records from 37 datasets and checklists. As a node participant of Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF) since 2011, it has participated actively in several projects including the Biodiversity Information for Development (BID) programme. GBIF facilitates collaboration between nodes at different levels through its Capacity Enhancement Support Programme (CESP). One of the actions included in the CESP guidelines is called ‘Mentoring activities’. Its main goal is the transfer of knowledge between partners, such as information, technologies, experience, and best practices. Sharing architecture and development is the key solution to solving some the technical challenges and impediments (e.g. hosting, staff turnover, etc.) that GBIF nodes occasionally face. The Atlas of Living Australia (ALA) team have developed a feature called ‘data hub’, which allows the creation of a standalone website with a dedicated occurrence search engine that supports data discovery (e.g. specific genus, geographic area) published by particular GBIF nodes. In 2017, a CESP project between the GBIF Benin and the GBIF France led to the creation of a new portal: Atlas of Living Beninises. This portal shared the same back-end database as the Atlas of Living France portal, while at the same time, each portal displayed and managed information relevant only to its region. In 2018, another CESP project between GBIF France and GBIF Togo shared the same goal as the previous one: implement a new Atlas of Living Australia portal for Togo. This goal will be fulfilled using a similar implementation as the previous project: a shared back-end and different front-end. Togo will be the second African GBIF node to implement this kind of infrastructure. This poster will highlight the architecture specific to the Atlas of Living Togo, and present the management procedure that distinguishes data coming from the three different countries.

Djamde Wildlife Reserve, with an area of about 8,000 ha, is located in Kozah prefecture (Kara region in northern Togo), between 9°31’ and 9°35’ N latitude and 1°01’ and 1°05’ E longitude. This reserve was created by the merger in 2003 of the classified forests of Djamde and Kindja. These two forests were classified respectively by Decision No. 766-54/EF and No. 765-54/EF signed on July, 29th 1954 by the colonial authority. To date, there is still no legislative enactment that establishes Djamde’s reserve status. Since 2003, its management has been granted to TOGO-FAUNE Company. Different plant communities identified are: clear forests, gallery forests, shrubby savannas and a mosaic of wooded/tree savannas. The inventory of woody species carried out on circular plots, allowed to identify 126 ligneous species distributed in 40 botanical families and 94 genera. Eleven of these species are classified in the IUCN Red List with the status of “extinction risk”. The pressures on the biodiversity of Djamde’s reserve include poaching, wood fuel production and vegetation fires. Aim of this project is to create an Ecological Corridor between Wildlife Reserve and Sarakawa’s Park and to promote public-private partnership in protected area management.

Pterocarpus erinaceus Poir (Fabaceae) is an endemic, highly exploited and threatened plant species in arid and semi-arid zones of West Africa. This study was conducted at the sub-regional level across three countries, namely Burkina Faso, Niger and Togo. These countries represent a spatial ecological gradient of P. erinaceus distribution to collect information on population structure and silviculture operating standards that could guide the industry, ensure species regeneration and establish appropriate management strategies for the species. Data were collected in P. erinaceus populations by means of forest inventories. Results showed that the average tree density was 1.17 ± 0.75 trees/ha in the Sahelian zone, 49.20 ± 63.2 trees/ha in the Sudanian zone and 110.9 ± 1.15 trees/ha in the Guinean zone. The average stem diameter values were 26.63 ± 7.89 cm (Guinean zone), 29.02 ± 15.44 cm (Sudanian zone) and 49.63 ± 19.44 cm (Sahelian) with noticeable variability (CV = 53.6%). Significant differences for these parameters were noted between the zones (P

In an increasingly urbanized environment, the need for greenery and flowers is being more and more felt for esthetic reasons and ecological benefits. In Togo, more than six hundred species of horticultural plants are identified and composed of approximately 59% of dicotyledons (49 families, 145 genera, and 315 species) and 37.37% of monocotyledons. Pteridophytes and gymnosperms account for less than 6%. The spectrum of morphological types indicates that herbs are account for 55%, while trees and shrubs represent 15%. More than 50% of the species of this flora is exotic horticulture. A species distribution is made according to their decorative parts and their place of use. Across the country, 55 plantings are recorded and unevenly distributed in cities. Apart from their ornamental purpose, ornamental plants are used for feeding, traditional and industrial cosmetics in psychotherapy, horticultural therapy, and in traditional and conventional medicine. In this study, 79 species from 39 families are reported as medicinal plants. The Apocynaceae and Fabaceae (six species), the Euphorbiaceae and Liliaceae (five species), the Arecaceae and Verbenaceae (four species) are the best represented families. Production systems in ornamental horticulture in Togo are very diverse in terms of speculation, access to land (variable surfaces, direct or indirect forms of tenure, acquisition methods, land use, etc.) and socio-economic profiles of farmers (men, women, young, old, people with little or no qualifications, rural to urban, etc.). The family horticultural production system, which represents over 90% of 55 horticultural farms of this study, is the main production system. It is characterized by areas of less than 0.1 hectare and farms in relative land insecurity (97% of land used belongs to the state). Throughout the system, there is a salaried labor representing 5–8% of turnover. Temporary and permanent employees are paid on weekends or at the end of the month. Farmers use gardening equipment and processing plant more or less modern including clippers, shears, pruners, and sprayers. Production units provide direct employment (more than 3 employees per unit) and directly to several hundred people. Horticulture in urban and peri-urban areas improves the living conditions of farmers (income) and the population (embellishment of streets, maintenance or creation of green area buffer) despite some negative externalities associated particularly with the use of prohibited pesticides and uncontrolled use of spaces along the roads. Its survival is threatened by many constraints, including the extension of urban housing and road building. In Togo, beneficial effects of ornamental horticulture may be more noticeable if the political authorities, private stakeholders, and the researchers work together to organize the sector. It could thus participate effectively in the formal economy and the emergence of true development plans at the municipal level.

Background The Pteridaceae family is the largest fern family in Togo by its specific and generic diversity. Like all other families of ferns in the country, Pteridaceae are poorly studied and has no identification key. The objective of this study is to perform a taxonomic revision and list establishment of this family of leptosporangiate ferns in the light of current available knowledge about the family. Pteridaceae was also assessed in terms of its diversity and conservation status, this was conducted through the recent field data and the existing herbaria specimens. The current study permits to confirm the presence of Pteris similis Kuhn. which brought the number of Pteridaceae to 17 in Togo. New information This study provides first local scientific information about the fern flora of Togo. It confirmed the presence of Pteris similis Kuhn. in Togo and brought the Pteridaceae family diversity to 17 species. A species identification key is provided for the easy identification of the Pteridaceae of Togo.

Lawsonia inermis L. ou henne, est extremement repute pour ses vertus cosmetiques, tinctoriales mais aussi medicinales. Cultive dans les regions tropicales et subtropicales, le mode preferentiel dans les plantations industrielles des principales regions exportatrices du Moyen Orient, d’Asie et d’Afrique, est le semis. Cependant plusieurs contraintes limitant sa germination et sa multiplication a grande echelle au Togo ont ete rapportees. Les graines entourees d’une coque dure et resistante germent difficilement au-dela de 20% et ne sont conservables qu’au plus trois mois. Cette etude vise la vulgarisation de la culture de cette espece a valeur ajoutee au Togo. L’evaluation des effets de facteurs externes et endogenes sur la germination montre que la lumiere est indispensable pour la germination. Les graines reagissent positivement a l’allongement de la photoperiode de 0% a obscurite continue a 94% pour 16 h de lumiere. L’enfouissement dans le substrat reduit drastiquement ce taux des 5 mm de profondeur. Conservees a 25±2 °C sur huit mois en boites plastiques a l’obscurite, les graines revelent une excellente capacite germinative depassant les 93%. In vitro , elles germent a plus de 90% et les jeunes plants presentent une croissance reguliere. Les conditions optimales de germination ainsi etablies permettront donc la vulgarisation de la culture du henne. © 2019 International Formulae Group. All rights reserved Mots cles: Lawsonia inermis L., graines, germination, lumiere, conservation, etablissement in vitro English Title: Germination of Lawsonia inermis L. under different abiotic constraints English Abstract Lawsonia inermis L. or henna is one of the best-known plants for its cosmetic, dyeing and medicinal properties. Grown in the tropics and subtropics regions of the world, the preferred method used for industrial plantations in the main exporting regions of the Middle East, Asia and Africa is seed sowing. However, several constraints have been reported as impediment to henna germination, thus limiting a large-scale multiplication of the species in Togo. Those include the presence of a hard and resistant shell-seeds, low germination rates that hardly reaching 20% and limited shelf life (<

Lome, capitale du Togo, a connu des etudes qui ont montre que les espaces verts qui etaient inseparables de la ville a l’origine n’ont pas suivi l’extension spatiale et ont meme disparu. Ainsi, Lome est caracterisee par un environnement de plus en plus urbanise ou le besoin de verdure et de fleurs est de plus en plus ressenti. Cela pose donc un probleme de gestion de ces espaces verts en l’occurrence un probleme de politique publique de gestion des espaces verts. Une prospection de la ville de Lome a permis de repertorier, quantifier et de dresser la typologie des espaces verts. Des interviews ont permis d’etablir le diagnostic du cadre institutionnel et juridique de ces espaces verts. Il ressort de cette etude que chaque habitant de la ville de Lome dispose de 0,75 m 2 d’espace vert contre une norme de 10 m 2 preconisee par l’Organisation Mondiale de la Sante. Et pourtant, des cadres institutionnel et juridique de mise en valeur et gestion des espaces verts existent et sont incarnes par des services publics (la direction des espaces verts, des monuments historiques et de l’embellissement ; l’atelier espaces verts de la municipalite et le service technique de la prefecture du Golfe) et la loi n°2008-005 du 30 mai 2008 portant loi-cadre sur l’environnement. Cette etude fait un bilan de la politique publique et de l’etat des lieux de la gestion des espaces verts et analyse les dysfonctionnements et manquements lies aux cadres institutionnel et juridique. © 2015 International Formulae Group. All rights reserved. Mots cles: Espaces verts, politique publique, gestion municipale, Lome English Abstract Some studies done in Lome, the capital city of Togo, have shown that the green spaces which at the beginning were inseparable from the city did not follow the space extension and have even disappeared today. Therefore, Lome is characterized today by an environment that is more and more urbanized and where the need for greenery and the flowers is more felt. This leads to a problem that is the management of these green spaces known as the problem of public of green spaces management policy. A prospecting of the city of Lome made it possible to index, quantify and to draw up the typology of green spaces. Interviews let to establish the diagnosis of the institutional and legal framework of the green spaces. From this study it comes out that each inhabitant of Lome only has 0,75 m 2 of green spaces against a norm of 10 m 2 that is recommended by the World Health Organization. Yet, the executive and law institutions that regularize the management of green spaces exist and are incarnated by public services (management of green spaces, historic monuments and embellishment) and the law n°2008-005 of 30 may 2008 concerning the framework law on the environment. This study is an assessment of the public policy and the inventory management of green spaces. It also analyzes the dysfunctioning and failures related to the institutional and legal framework. © 2015 International Formulae Group. All rights reserved. Keywords: Green spaces, public policies, municipal management, Lome

Impact of Small-Scale Logging in Semi Deciduous Forest of Togo (West Africa) In Togo, small-sale or artisanal logging is undergoing much processing with the use of mobile saws. This study is conducted to provide an overview of the supply chain of timber in Litime (Southwest Togo) and to show the performance of the local enterprise of timber exploitation. In this regard, felling and cut up of forty logs of seventeen species belonging to nine Angiosperm families were followed up in the forest. The influence of the diameters and the heights of the logs are the parameters observed on diverse forms of the products. Results reveal that many species which were not processed before are actively undergoing today. A relationship was established between the low yield, the diameters and the heights of the logs. Results also show that the rate of wastes is important. Consequently, there is a rapid depletion of forest cover and biodiversity, with a considerable negative impact on the Litime environment.

Dans un environnement de plus en plus urbanisé, le besoin de verdure et de fleurs est davantage ressenti pour des raisons d’esthétique et des bienfaits écologiques. Dans les villes du Togo, zones de cette étude, 612 espèces utilisées comme plantes d’ornement sont recensées et identifiées dans 55 exploitations horticoles et plus de soixante-dix espaces aménagés. Environ 52 % des espèces identifiées proviennent de l’Amérique contre 20 % pour l’Afrique. Les 274 espèces préférentielles (RI, In an increasingly urbanized environment, the need for greenery and flowers is being more and more felt for aesthetic reasons and ecological benefits. In the cities of Togo, area of this study, more than six hundred species of horticultural plants are identified and composed of approximately 59 % of Dicotyledons (49 families, 145 genera and 315 species) and 37.37 % of Monocotyledons. Pteridophyta and Gymnosperms account for less than 6 %. The spectrum of morphological types indicates that herbs are account for 55 %, while trees and shrubs represent 15 %. More than 50 % of the species of this flora is exotic horticulture. Approximately 52 % of identified species are native of America against 20 % for Africa. The 274 preference species (RI

Production systems in ornamental horticulture in Togo are very diverse in terms of speculation, access to land (variable surfaces, direct or indirect forms of tenure, acquisition methods and land use, etc.) and socio-economic profiles of farmers (men, women, young, old, people with little or no qualifications, rural to urban, etc.). The family horticultural production system, which represents over 90% of 55 horticultural farms of this study, is the main production system. It is characterized by areas of less than 0.1 hectare and farms in relative land insecurity (97% of land used to belong to the state). Throughout the system, there is a salaried labor representing 5-8% of turnover. Temporary and permanent employees are paid on weekends or at the end of the month. Farmers use gardening equipment and processing plant more or less modern including clippers, shears, pruners and sprayers. Production units provide direct employment (more than 3 employees per unit) and directly to several hundred people. Horticulture in urban and peri-urban areas improves the living conditions of farmers (income) and the population (embellishment of streets, maintenance or creation of green areas buffer) despite some negative externalities associated particularly with the use of prohibited pesticides and uncontrolled use of spaces along the roads. Its survival is threatened by many constraints, including the extension of urban housing and road building. In Togo, beneficial effects of ornamental horticulture may be more noticeable if the political authorities, private stakeholders and the researchers work together to organize the sector. It could thus participate effectively in the formal economy, and the emergence of true development plans at the municipal level.

In Togo, firewood and charcoal contribute more than 80% to the total domestic energy requirements (Kokou et al., 2009). This traditional energy represents about an annual average consumption of 419,964 tons per year on national level (Fontodji, 2007). This incessant growing request for traditional energy is ensured by national production. Unfortunately, this important consumption of charcoal had enormous consequences on the ecosystems since the methods used by the producers and the consumption modes of charcoal by households still remain archaic. Indeed, the production yield is about 15 to 20% i.e. 150 to 200 kg of wood produced per ton of woody material (Girard, 2002) and during the cooking with charcoal, the loss in energy is about 8 to 13% (Thiam, 1991). This situation is an important waste of wood causing the felling of a great number of trees. Moreover, the producers claim that the charcoal is of good quality when part of the wood used is fresh. Therefore, the excessive exploitation of the forestry resources for energy purposes puts an important pressure on the ecosystems and leads consequently to serious harmful effects on the environment and the biodiversity preservation. The objectives of this article are: (1) to analyze the impact of charcoal production on the natural ecosystems; (2) to assess the pressure on the key plant species as well as (3) on the soil physico-chemical properties soil and fauna diversity inside the kilns; (4) to assess how national environment policies and laws regulate charcoal production activities.

L’horticulture ornementale est en plein essor au Togo, mais reste meconnue, ainsi que son secteur commercial. Cette etude realise un inventaire floristique et presente la morphologie des especes utilisees en horticulture ornementale au Togo. Sur les 55 exploitations etudiees, 612 especes sont recensees et identifiees. Ces especes sont regroupees en 72 familles et les plus riches en nombre de genre sont entre autres les Arecaceae et les Cactaceae. Par ailleurs, les plus visibles dans le pays sont les Nyctaginaceae, les Annonaceae et les Rubiaceae. Tres peu de ces especes sont autochtones pourtant, il est urgent de mieux valoriser la flore locale spontanee. © 2010 International Formulae Group. All rights reserved. Mots-cles : Horticulture urbaine, pepinieres, biodiversite, valorisation, flore locale.

Pterocarpus erinaceus Poir. est une espèce endémique des zones sahélo-soudanienne et soudano-guinéenne, recherchée pour son bois, son fourrage et son intérêt médi- cinal. Ces usages se traduisent par une mu- tilation répétée des individus, entraînant une dégradation sensible des peuplements naturels. Les structures démographiques de P. erinaceus selon les zones pédoclima- tiques et l’effet des principales variables environnementales et de l’intensité d’ex- ploitation sur ses effectifs ont été évalués au Niger et au Burkina Faso. Des mesures dendrométriques (diamètre, hauteur to- tale, hauteur du fût, diamètres perpen- diculaires du houppier) sur les individus d’un diamètre supérieur ou égal à 5 cm à 1,30 m du sol ont été effectuées dans huit forêts. Dans chacune, les mesures ont été conduites selon deux transects perpendi-culaires. La densité de P. erina- ceus augmente de manière significative (P < 0,003) de la zone sahélo-soudanienne à la zone soudano-guinéenne : 1,2 ± 0,7 pied/ha dans la zone sahélo-soudanienne ; 2,6 ± 2,2 pieds/ha dans la zone nord-sou- danienne ; 6,1 ± 4,6 pieds/ha dans la zone sud-soudanienne ; 15,0 ± 1,1 pieds/ha dans la zone soudano-guinéenne. L’analyse des structures en diamètre et en hauteur révèle une augmentation de la fréquence des indi- vidus jeunes suivant le gradient pluviomé- trique. Par contre, l’intensité de l’exploita- tion est plus élevée dans les zones les moins arrosées, où l’espèce s’avère menacée.

Pterocarpus erinaceus de la famille des Fabaceae, est un arbre eminemment utile pour les populations. C’est une espece endemique multi-usage des zones guineo-soudaniennes et soudano-saheliennes. La presente etude analyse les parametres structuraux du peuplement naturel de P. erinaceus, determine la distribution spatiale des plantules et leurs relations spatiales avec leurs geniteurs et les autres especes. Des mesures dendrometriques et la cartographie des peuplements naturels de Pterocarpus erinaceus ont ete effectuees dans la foret de Tiogo en zone soudanienne du Burkina Faso. L’analyse des structures en diametre et en hauteur montre que le peuplement est domine par des individus âges, les individus jeunes etant absents. La distribution spatiale des jeunes plantules de l’espece montre qu’elles ont une distribution gregaire et ont besoin des milieux plus ou moins ouverts pour germer. L’analyse de la fonction L12 (r) montre que ces plantules sont en competition avec la plupart des especes en presence hormis Acacia macrostachya et Vittelaria paradoxa. Cette germination preferentielle des milieux ouverts expose ces plantules a la secheresse pendant la saison seche, aux feux de vegetation et a la dent des herbivores qui parcourent chaque jour les forets en zone soudanienne. Mots cles : Structure, distribution spatiale, regeneration, Pterocarpus erinaceus, Tiogo, Burkina Faso.

Pterocarpus erinaceus est une espece exploitee et menacee dans toute la zone Sahelo-soudanienne de l’Afrique de l’ouest. L’espece est utilisee en sculpture, en menuiserie et surtout pour le bois exporte. Objectif : L’objectif de cette etude est la construction de Tarif de cubage de Pterocarpus erinaceus et la quantification de volume de bois commercial dans 7 forets de differentes zones agro-ecologiques du Burkina Faso et du Niger. Methodologie et resultats : L’echantillon est compose de deux transects perpendiculaires en bande dans chaque foret et tous les individus du Pterocarpus erinaceus ayant un diametre superieur a 5 cm ont ete mesures. Pour ce faire la hauteur du fut et le diametre a 1,30 m du sol, a la base de l’arbre et la partie superieure de l’arbre a la base de premiere ramification ont ete mesures afin de calculer le volume du fut et etablir le tarif de cubage. Les resultats ont revele que le meilleur modele de tarif de cubage de Pterocarpus erinaceus est de type puissance. Les tiges de diametre compris entre 20 cm et 50 cm sont les plus representes dans la majorite des forets et c’est dans cette classe que le volume de bois commercial est concentre. Conclusion et application des resultats : Les forets sahelo-soudaniennes et soudaniennes disposent d’important potentiel ligneux de Pterocarpus erinaceus bien que l’espece est menacee par des pratiques diverses avec comme consequence une faible regeneration.

Les îlots de forêts semi-décidues de la réserve de faune de Togodo constituent l’un des rares écosystèmes forestiers dans le paysage dénudé et fortement anthropisé de la plaine côtière du Sud Togo. L’analyse structurale de ces îlots forestiers a été réalisée au travers d’inventaires forestiers conduits dans 45 placettes. Dans chaque placette (625 m² de superficie), chaque individu ligneux (souche autonome dont le dbh ≥ 10 cm) a fait l’objet d’une détermination botanique et de mesure de ses caractéristiques dendrométriques. Les données recueillies ont permis d’établir un diagnostic sur l’état de conservation des espèces végétales de cette aire protégée. Au total, 73 espèces ligneuses ont été recensées avec une densité moyenne évaluée à 955 ± 303,1 N/ha et la surface terrière égale à 38,9 ± 18,9 m²/ha. La densité moyenne de la régénération a été estimée à 6465 N/ha. La répartition des espèces par mode de régénération montre que l’essentiel des espèces se régénère préférentiellement par semis (84,1 %), faiblement par rejets de souches (12,4 %) et rarement par drageonnage (3,5 %). La courbe exponentielle décroissante que révèle la distribution des individus en classes de diamètre indique que ces formations forestières ont subi une ou plusieurs dégradations et sont actuellement en cours de reconstitution, mais regorgent encore d’un grand potentiel en ressources forestières ligneuses. Les informations obtenues à travers cette étude constituent d’importantes bases techniques pour tester les indicateurs écologiques de gestion durable des forêts et fournissent des informations sur la mise en oeuvre des directives de gestion pour la sauvegarde de cette aire protégée., The dry facies semi-deciduous forest islands of Togodo fauna reserve constitute one of the rare forestry ecosystems in the bare and highly anthropized landscape of the costal plain of Southern Togo. The structural analysis of these forestry islands is conducted through some forestry inventories in 45 plots. In each plot (surface area of 625 m²), each tree (dbh ≥ 10 cm) was the subject of a botanical determination and measurement of its dendrometric characteristics. These data were used to establish a diagnosis on the preservation state of plant species of this protected area. In all, 73 ligneous species were recorded with an average density estimated to 955 ± 303.1 N/ha and a basal area equal to 38.9 ± 18.9 m2/ha. Regeneration average density, all species taken into account, is estimated to 6465 N/ha. The species distribution per regeneration strategy shows that most of the species preferentially regenerate by seedling (84.1 %), slightly by shoots of stumps (12.4 %) and scarcely by sucker (3.5 %). The decreasing exponential curve revealed by the distribution of species according to diameter groups indicates that these forests underwent one or much degradations and are currently being reconstituted but abounds still in with a great potential in ligneous forestry resources. The information gathered through this study constitute important technical bases to test the ecological indicators of sustainable forest management and provides information on the implementation of management guidelines to safeguard this protected area.