Savanna woody plants and their provision of foodresources to bees in southern Burkina Faso, West Africa
- Journal of Forest and Landscape Research , 5 : 14-23
Résumé
West African savanna ecosystems and biodiversity are threatened by intensified land use and increasing degradation of natural habitats. Despite the importance of bees for pollinating crops and native plant species, little information is available regarding the importance of savanna woody plant species to provide bees with food resources. This study was carried out in the Sahelo-Sudanian zone of Burkina Faso, West Africa. Three study areas (the Dano basin, the wildlife reserve of Bontioli and the Nazinga game ranch) were selected. Floristic inventories were carried out on 48 subplots laid out across three land-use types. The three study areas followed a gradient of land-use intensity from Nazinga (lowest intensity) to Bontioli and Dano (highest land-use intensity). The number of bee morphospecies and their abundance as flower visitors was recorded from inflorescences of plants during the different flowering periods. Out of a total diversity of 82 woody plant species, 53 species (64.63%) from 38 genera and 21 families were melliferous. These plants were visited by bees for foraging nectar and/or pollen. Species of Combretaceae were the most visited by bees in terms of individuals (53.85%). Combretum glutinosum alone accounted for 36% of visits. More than half of the melliferous plants (50.94%) were visited for both nectar and pollen. About 32.08% of plants were visited for nectar only (32.08%), while 16.98% were visited for pollen only (16.98%). The majority of savanna plants are flowering in the dry season, but few flowering species can be found throughout the whole year. Savanna woody plant species constitute important food resources for bees, therefore providing a wide range of applications for the development of beekeeping activities in the Sudanian region of West Africa.
Mots-clés
bees, food resources, melliferous plants, plant diversity, bee foraging, plant-bee interactions, southern Burkina Faso