REGENERATION OF THE VEGETATION IN DUEKOUÉ AND SCIO PROTECTED FORESTS UNDER ANTHROPOGENIC ACTIVITIES IN SOUTHWESTERN CÔTE D’IVOIRE

Résumé

Duekoué and Scio forests are two protected rain forests in Southwestern Côte d’Ivoire. These forests have been under timber harvesting since their protection in 1929. The national Forest Service in Côte d’Ivoire had developed plantations of indigenous timber species and teak since 1996 to increase their productivities for timbers. Additionally, they host many plantations of cash crop among which coffee, cocoa and rubber are the most important. This study analyses the effects of anthropogenic disturbance on the density of the juvenile plants and of the seedlings and herbaceous plants in these forests. The aim is to understand how the crop farms and forest plantations affect the regeneration of local vegetation. Ten plots of 10 m × 10 m size were established per vegetation type and individuals with DBH < 10 cm were inventoried. The highest density of individuals with 10 cm > DBH ≥ 1 cm was found in the coffee farms of both sites while the lowest density was obtained in the rubber plantations at the Duekoué site; all the other vegetation types had medium density value. But for the individuals with DBH < 1 cm, the lowest density was found in the cocoa farms of both sites and in the teak plantations at the Duekoué site; all the other vegetation types presented the same higher density.