Spatio-temporal occurrence and comparative effect of late and early fires on the structure of savannah in Benin

Abstract

The present study aimed to determine the spatio-temporal occurrence and the effect of late and early fires on the savannahs of the Commune of Savè in Benin center. To achieve this, the analysis of active fire data provided by the MODIS sensor from 2009 to 2019 made it possible to determine the districts of hight practice for each of the two types of fire. Then, 105 plots were installed in the savannahs of the Commune to compare the effect of the two types of fires on the abundance, availability, diversity and structural parameters of woody plants in the area. The results show that the district of Offè has a strong practice of early fire and that of Kaboua has proven to have a strong practice of late fire. The assessment of the abundance and availability of species revealed that the floristic compositions and the availability of plant species vary according to the types of fires. Comparison of diversity indices between areas showed that late fire areas have higher species diversity compared to early fire areas. At the structural level, the results showed that late burning practices reduce structural parameters.

Keywords : Bénin Center, occurrence, vegetation fires, late fire, savannah