Effect of climate and habitat on morphological characteristics and fruit production of Picralima nitida (Stapf) in West Africa

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Ghislain Comlan Akabassi
Elie Antoine Padonou
Gbodja Houéhanou François Gbesso
Achille Ephrem Assogbadjo
Noël Zirihi Guede

Abstract

Picralima nitida is an important African medicinal plant species used in pharmaceutical industries and traditional medicine to treat several diseases. Despite its importance, the species faces conservation problem. This study evaluated the effect of climate and habitat on morphological characteristics and fruit production of P. nitida. A total of 132 fruiting trees was randomly sampled from three habitat types (home gardens, botanical garden and natural forest) and three soils (Nitisols, Arenosols and Acrisols) in Dahomey Gap and Guineo-Congolese zone.  A total of 5 morphological traits and fruit production were recorded per tree to describe the relationship between morphological determinism of the species and climate. Pearson correlation was performed to identify the suitable habitat type in each climatic zone. Harmonized World Soil Database was used to determine physicochemical characteristics of the soil types on which the species occurred. Results revealed that the climatic zones (p<0.001) and habitat types (p<0.0001) influenced significantly the morphological characteristics and fruit production of P. nitida. High trees with more number of fruits were observed in home gardens on acid soils (Nitisols (pH: 5) and Arenosols (pH: 5.3)) in Dahomey Gap. In Guineo-Congolese zone, the species was more present in natural forest on acid Acrisols (pH: 5).

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How to Cite
Akabassi, Ghislain Comlan, Elie Antoine Padonou, Gbodja Houéhanou François Gbesso, Achille Ephrem Assogbadjo, and Noël Zirihi Guede. 2023. “Effect of Climate and Habitat on Morphological Characteristics and Fruit Production of Picralima Nitida (Stapf) in West Africa”. Journal of Environmental Geography 16 (1-4):95-101. https://doi.org/10.14232/jengeo-2023-44667.
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Articles
Author Biographies

Ghislain Comlan Akabassi, Université Félix Houphouët-Boigny

African Center of Excellence for Climate Change, Biodiversity and Sustainable Agriculture, Unviversity Félix Houphouët Boigny, Côte d’Ivoire

Laboratory of Applied Ecology, Faculty of Agronomic Sciences, University of Abomey Calavi, Cotonou, Benin

Laboratoire de Botanique, UFR Biosciences, Unviversity Félix Houphouët Boigny, Côte d'Ivoire

Elie Antoine Padonou, Université d'Abomey-Calavi

Laboratory of Applied Ecology, Faculty of Agronomic Sciences, University of Abomey Calavi, Cotonou, Benin

School of Tropical Forestry, National University of Agriculture, Kétou, Benin

Gbodja Houéhanou François Gbesso, Université d'Agriculture de Kétou

Horticultural Research and Management of Green SpacesUnit, Laboratory of Plant, Horticultural and Forest Sciences, School of Horticulture and Management of Green Spaces, National University of Agriculture, Ketou, Benin

Achille Ephrem Assogbadjo, Université d'Abomey-Calavi

Laboratory of Applied Ecology, Faculty of Agronomic Sciences, University of Abomey Calavi, Cotonou, Benin

Noël Zirihi Guede, Université Félix Houphouët-Boigny

Laboratoire de Botanique, UFR Biosciences, Unviversity Félix Houphouët Boigny, Côte d'Ivoire

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