Cutting and resprouting of Detarium microcarpum and herbaceous forage availability in a semiarid environment in Burkina Faso |
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Authors: | M Rietkerk R Blijdorp M Slingerland |
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Institution: | (1) Department of Environmental Sciences, Section Erosion and Soil and Water Conservation, Wageningen Agricultural University, Nieuwe Kanaal 11, 6709 PA Wageningen, The Netherlands;(2) Department of Environmental Sciences, Section Tropical Nature Conservation and Vertebrate Ecology, Wageningen Agricultural University, Bornsesteeg 69, 6708 PD Wageningen, The Netherlands;(3) Antenne Sahelienne, 01 BP 5385, Ouagadougou 01, Burkina Faso |
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Abstract: | The tree-shrub savanna ‘Forêt Classée de Nazinon’ (Burkina Faso) is submitted to a management of grazing and rotational cutting
of Detarium microcarpum. This species resprouts after cutting. In order to investigate whether this silvopastoral land use
system is sustainable, aboveground herbaceous biomass was measured on subplots under uncut trees (‘uncut’), next to the stubs
of cut trees (‘cut’) and on subplots not influenced by the (former) crowns of trees (‘open grassland’) in four lots. These
lots were cut one, three, six and seven years before the study. Vegetation composition of the lots and the composition of
the diet of cattle were also determined. Comparisons were made between treatments and lots. Herbaceous biomass was lower in
the open grassland subplots than in uncut or cut subplots. We speculate that soil enrichment and more efficient precipitation
input in (former) tree crown zones could have resulted in this pattern. Cutting and subsequent resprouting of trees did not
lead to significant differences in herbaceous biomass between cut and uncut subplots. The most simple explanation for this
is that the trees could extend their roots beyond the location of their neighbouring trees. Biomass and coverage of perennial
grasses, mainly Andropogon ascinodis and Andropogon gayanus, did not change in lots cut one, three or six years before the
study, but decreased dramatically in lots that were cut seven years before the study. When foraging, cattle spent more than
90% of their time feeding on these species. This indicates that, as a consequence of tree cutting, forage availability may
be reduced to the point where local herdsmen are forced to take their cattle to another region.
This revised version was published online in August 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date. |
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Keywords: | bush encroachment grazing silvopastoralism tropical savanna vegatation dynamics |
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