Possibility of forest reconstitution from soil seed bank of cocoa and rubber farms in eastern Ivory Coast

Ménéké Distel KOUGBO; Aménan Sylvie KONAN; Mathieu DOGBA; Affoué Patricia KONAN; Djah François MALAN

doi:10.53430/ijsru.2023.5.1.0197

Possibility of forest reconstitution from soil seed bank of cocoa and rubber farms in eastern Ivory Coast

Ménéké Distel KOUGBO ^{1, *}, Aménan Sylvie KONAN ¹, Mathieu DOGBA ¹, Affoué Patricia KONAN ¹ and Djah François MALAN ^{1, 2}

¹ Environment and Sustainable Development Research Unit / Ecology and Biodiversity Research Unit, Nangui Abrogoua University, 02 BP 801, Abidjan 02, (Ivory Coast).

² AKÉ-ASSI Botanical Institute of Andokoi (IBAAN), 08 BP 172, Abidjan 08 (Ivory Coast).

Research Article

International Journal of Scientific Research Updates, 2023, 05(01), 012-022.

Article DOI: 10.53430/ijsru.2023.5.1.0197

DOI url: https://doi.org/10.53430/ijsru.2023.5.1.0197

Publication history:

Received on 10 November 2022; revised on 30 December 2022; accepted on 01 January 2023

Abstract:

What is the capacity of the soil seed bank to restore floristic diversity when forest disturbance is linked to a perennial crop? To answer this question, the main objective of the present study was to assess the contribution of the soil seed bank of cocoa and rubber farms in the process of forest flora reconstitution. To do this, 432 composite soil samples were first collected from 108 farms, 54 of which were from each of the above-mentioned farms in the Indénié-Djuablin region in eastern Ivory Coast. These samples taken at depths of 0 to 5 cm (n=108 samples), 5 to 10 cm (n=108 samples), 10 to 15 cm (n=108 samples) and 15 to 20 cm (n=108 samples) were then placed in a greenhouse for quantitative and qualitative evaluation of viable seeds. The investigations showed that in cocoa and rubber farms the maximum number of viable seeds that could initiate the process of forest reconstitution after abandonment of the crops is stored in the first five centimeters of the soil. However, this species pool contains very few tree species. Consequently, the seed stock in the soil of cocoa and rubber farms alone cannot effectively reconstitute the forest flora after crop abandonment. It would be interesting to explore other research perspectives such as the contribution of spontaneous flora of these farms in the process of reconstitution of forest flora.

Keywords:

Soil seed bank; Forest reconstitution; Farms; Ivory Coast

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Possibility of forest reconstitution from soil seed bank of cocoa and rubber farms in eastern Ivory Coast

Ménéké Distel KOUGBO 1, *, Aménan Sylvie KONAN 1, Mathieu DOGBA 1, Affoué Patricia KONAN 1 and Djah François MALAN 1, 2

Ménéké Distel KOUGBO ^{1, *}, Aménan Sylvie KONAN ¹, Mathieu DOGBA ¹, Affoué Patricia KONAN ¹ and Djah François MALAN ^{1, 2}