Vegetation Dynamics in the Northern Zones of Niger: Case of the Rural Commune of Tanout (Zinder) and Aderbissinat (Agadez)

Abstract

The present study conducted in the northern zone of Niger aims to show the impact of land use dynamics on woody vegetation. The methodological approach consisted in making in addition to the floristic surveys, the analysis of land use maps (LANDSAT images of the years 1975 and 2018). The floristic inventory allowed the identification of twenty-seven (27) woody species of which eleven (11) in Tanout and sixteen (16) in Aderbissinat. The most important families remain the Fabaceae-Mimosoideae which represent 37.5% at Aderbissinat and 45.45% at Tanout. The biological types remain dominated by microphanerophytes which dominate (86.67%), while for the phytogeographic types it is the Sudano-Zambezian and Sudanian species that dominate, with proportions respectively equal to 31.25%. There is a regression of woody vegetation at the level of these communes with a slight loss in Aderbissinat (60588,034 ha) and an accentuated degradation of vegetation in Tanout (781797,738 ha).