Tree species composition and stand structure of woody savanna in Dahomey Gap

Abstract

The Dahomey gap is a savanna region separating the West African rainforests to two regions. We set two sites in this woody savanna, at north and south regions in purpose to examine the differences in tree community properties between sites and among canopy-closure types, and to reveal the factors affecting the differences. Two sites are ca. 225 km distant from each other and have different rainfall patterns. Six 1-ha plots in each site were studied, which cover three types of canopy-closure (closed, semi-open and open). We recorded 3,720 trees that are equal to or more than 5 cm diameter at the breast height, consisted of 70 species belonging to 34 families. Most abundant three species, Isoberlinia doka, Vitellaria paradoxa and Pericopsis laxiflora appeared in both sites. The detrended correspondence analysis (DCA) based on species abundance divided 12 plots into groups of north and south sites along the first axis, whereas canopy-closure types were not associated with DCA axes. At any given total tree height, trees in the north site had slenderer stems with narrower crowns than those in the south site. The specific leaf area was smaller in the north site. Between-site differences in species abundance and allometry are possibly driven by rainfall variation.