Testing the ecological apparency hypothesis in Sudano‑Sahelian parklands in Burkina Faso

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Résumé

Agroforestry, by integrating trees and shrubs into agricultural systems, serves as an effective nature-based solution for strengthening climate
resilience and food security. While its adoption has received increasing research attention in West Africa, the relationships between plants’ apparency and local importance remain poorly understood. This study aims to examine whether plants’ ecological apparency in parklands explains their local importance to farming households. We conducted ethnobotanical surveys with 150 farmers, and carried out vegetation inventories in their parklands. Use Value (UV) and Importance Value Index (IVI) were calculated as proxies for plants’ local importance and ecological apparency, respectively. Data were analyzed through linear regression, and interpreted using the language
of evidence. The results showed that Vitellaria paradoxa (UV = 4), Lannea microcarpa (UV = 2.01) and Parkia biglobosa (UV = 1.72) were the most
used plants, whereas V. paradoxa (IVI = 86.56), Azadirachta indica (IVI = 73.07) and Adansonia digitata (IVI = 31.45) were the most apparent. Evidence of positive associations was found between plants’ UV and structural parameters, supporting the ecological apparency hypothesis (EAH). Furthermore, plants’ apparency was positively associated with their importance across most use categories, with very strong evidence (P < 0.001) for energy, construction and medicine, strong evidence (P < 0.01) for soil fertilization and economic income, and moderate evidence (P = 0.02) for food. Use values by category

Mots-clés

Agroforestry systems, Apparent trees, Farming households, Plant usefulness, West African Sahel