Forest landscape dynamics in the cotton basin of North Benin

Abstract

The agro-ecological zone of the cotton basin of North Benin is a rainfed cereal farming area. In addition, the area is one of the country's favourable Cotton growing areas, which affects the configuration of its landscape. This study analyses the dynamics of the forest landscape in the cotton basin of North Benin between 1986 and 2000. A multidimensional approach was used based on a participatory inventory, field observations and statistical analyses of data from the interpretation of SPOT images. Several indices were calculated, including the importance value of the degree of disturbance, the composition and spatial configuration indices of the landscape types. Then, the sample test matched to the 5% threshold of the disturbance levels obtained between 1986 and 2000 on the one hand and between 2000 and 2016 on the other hand to ensure their significance. The results of this study show two types of disturbance, namely natural (4) and anthropogenic (7). Analysis of these disturbances also shows that agriculture (IV = 0.97), overgrazing (IV = 0.88), timber and service harvesting (IV = 0.78) and carbonization (IV = 0.63) are the main human disturbances in the study area. In addition, there is rapid population growth (IV = 0.94) and climate disturbances (IV = 0.85). In addition, the forest landscape has seen an increase in the number of spots (from 666 in 1986 to 2419 in 2016) and a decrease in the total area. Similarly, the values of the contagion index, ranging from 82.32 in 1986 to 65.82 in 2016, reflect a very fragmented landscape. Thus, the fragmentation of the forest landscape in the cotton basin of North Benin raises, in a very particular way, the problem of the conservation of plant biodiversity.