Aikpon Gorgias, Koura Kourouma, Ganglo Jean C
Laboratory of Forest Sciences, Abomey-Calavi, Benin Laboratory of Forest Sciences Abomey-Calavi Benin.
Biodivers Data J. 2024 Sep 5;12:e129134. doi: 10.3897/BDJ.12.e129134. eCollection 2024.
The south of Benin, a country in West Africa, is still home to remnants of dense forests that benefit from a particularly rainy sub-equatorial climate, with annual rainfall of up to 1,200 mm. These forest ecosystems are an integral part of the West African forest block, which stretches from Liberia to Togo. However, despite their richness and ecological importance, these forests are unfortunately subject to strong human pressures, particularly from slash-and-burn agriculture, intensive logging and the growing urbanisation of coastal areas. Preserving these forests is crucial, however, as they are home to remarkable plant and animal biodiversity, with many endemic species. What's more, these forests play an essential role in regulating the local climate, protecting soil and water resources, as well as providing local populations with a vital source of energy wood, non-timber forest products and support for their traditional agricultural practices. Faced with these conservation challenges, identifying and characterising the main tree species found in the forests of southern and central Benin, forest species and their ecology is an essential prerequisite for implementing sustainable management and restoration strategies for these threatened forest ecosystems in southern Benin. This work aims to identify and draw attention to the different forest species, specially tree forest species present in southern and central Benin.
The dataset provides information on forest species found in southern and central Benin, West Africa. This dataset is extremely useful for forestry research, as it focuses mainly on the various forest species of major importance. It can be used as a basis for characterising individuals or populations of species, based on their abundance in relation to anthropogenic pressure and changes in environmental conditions.These species are characteristic of forests and, above all, are of particular interest both to populations and to managers of protected areas. Field collections were initiated in 2007 as part of natural forest inventory work. The data collected have been completed by various field works that followed this work on forest species in southern Benin. The latest version of the dataset is publicly and freely accessible on the GBIF website at the address https://www.gbif.org/dataset/aff3a10a-a86b-4eff-98e4-d63f92fd6f7e.It should be noted that the fact that the collection and monitoring were carried out in southern Benin, a region known for its great diversity of species, over a period of 10 years making these data particularly relevant information to study the effects of climate change and human pressure on ecosystems in this area.
贝宁是西非的一个国家，其南部仍留存着茂密森林的遗迹，得益于赤道附近特别多雨的气候，年降雨量可达1200毫米。这些森林生态系统是西非森林带的一个组成部分，该森林带从利比里亚延伸至多哥。然而，尽管这些森林资源丰富且具有重要的生态意义，但不幸的是，它们面临着巨大的人类压力，特别是来自刀耕火种农业、高强度伐木以及沿海地区日益城市化的压力。然而，保护这些森林至关重要，因为它们是众多珍稀动植物的栖息地，拥有许多特有物种。此外，这些森林在调节当地气候、保护土壤和水资源以及为当地居民提供重要的能源木材、非木材森林产品以及支持其传统农业实践方面发挥着重要作用。面对这些保护挑战，识别和描述贝宁南部和中部森林中主要的树种、森林物种及其生态特征，是为贝宁南部这些受威胁的森林生态系统实施可持续管理和恢复战略的重要前提。这项工作旨在识别并引起人们对贝宁南部和中部不同森林物种，特别是树木森林物种的关注。
该数据集提供了有关西非贝宁南部和中部森林物种的信息。这个数据集对林业研究极为有用，因为它主要关注各种具有重要意义的森林物种。它可作为根据物种相对于人为压力和环境条件变化的丰度来描述物种个体或种群特征的基础。这些物种是森林的特征物种，最重要的是，它们对当地居民和保护区管理者都特别有吸引力。作为天然森林清查工作的一部分，野外采集工作始于2007年。所收集的数据已通过随后在贝宁南部进行的各种关于森林物种的野外工作得到补充。该数据集的最新版本可在GBIF网站上公开免费获取，网址为https://www.gbif.org/dataset/aff3a10a-a86b-4eff-98e4-d63f92fd6f7e。需要注意的是，采集和监测工作是在贝宁南部进行的，该地区以物种多样性极高而闻名，历时10年，这使得这些数据成为研究气候变化和人类压力对该地区生态系统影响的特别相关的信息。
