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Importance of Combretaceae in community forests in the Sudano-Sahelian region of Senegal Volume 24, issue 1, Janvier-Février-Mars 2013

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Université de Ziguinchor département d’agroforesterie BP 523 Ziguinchor Sénégal, Université Cheikh A. Diop (Ucad) laboratoire d’écologie végétale et d’écohydrologie BP 5005 Dakar Sénégal

In Senegal's Sudano-Sahelian zone, species belonging to the Combretaceae family have a highly dynamic progression tending to occupy the space vacated by trees affected by drought and human pressure. A diagnosis of this expansion was made on the basis of their ecological importance, their spatial distribution and their regenerative capacity. The Combretaceae family indeed shows a high population growth characterized by the abundance of seedlings ensuring the renewal of woody vegetation. The quantitative structural data of vegetation showed a dominance of this family in terms of relative frequency, ecological index value and spatial distribution. The rapid growth of young plants and the capacity of scattering could be the main causes of this predominance.