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Do protected areas really work to conserve species? A case study of three vulnerable woody species in the Sudanian zone of Burkina Faso

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Abstract

Natural vegetation and native plant species contribute significantly to the daily needs of local people especially in developing countries. This exerts a high pressure on local species and jeopardizes the conservation of the most vulnerable plants. In Burkina Faso, conservation measures, such as the creation of protected forests, have been taken to safeguard the remaining indigenous vegetation. However, little is known about the effectiveness of these protected areas in conserving biodiversity. This study assessed and compared the population structures and regeneration potential of three vulnerable woody species—Diospyros mespiliformis Hochst., Prosopis africana (Guill. & Perr.) Taub. and Sterculia setigera Del.—in protected and unprotected areas in the Sudanian zone of Burkina Faso. The population structure and regeneration pattern of each species were compared between the North and South Sudanian sectors of Burkina Faso. The populations of all three species were unstable in both protected and unprotected areas. D. mespiliformis and P. africana displayed relatively good regeneration while P. africana lacked regeneration in unprotected areas. Regeneration was poor for S. setigera, regardless of protection status. The results suggest that the populations of the targeted species are unstable, regardless of the protection status of the area considered. This is probably due to the high anthropogenic pressure facing natural resources and raises serious concerns about the effectiveness of the protected areas in conserving biodiversity. Urgent measures are needed to ensure effective and efficient management and conservation of biodiversity in the protected areas of Burkina Faso.

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Acknowledgments

This research was done in the framework of the BIOTA West program (Project: 01LC0617D1W11 project) funded by the German Federal Ministry for Education and Research (BMBF). We are indebted to our many field assistants in Burkina Faso who helped with data collection. Many thanks to Will Simonson for editing the English. We are grateful to the anonymous reviewers whose pertinent comments considerably improved the quality of our paper.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Laboratory of Plant Biology and Ecology, Department of Plant Biology and Physiology, UFR-SVT, University of Ouagadougou, 09 BP 848, Ouagadougou 09, Burkina Faso

    Lassina Traoré, Salifou Traoré & Adjima Thiombiano

  2. Biodiversity, Evolution and Ecology of Plants, Biocentre Klein Flottbek and Botanical Garden, University of Hamburg, Ohnhorststr. 18, 22609, Hamburg, Germany

    Tene Kwetche Sop

  3. Département Productions Forestières, Institut de l’Environnement et de Recherches Agricoles, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique et Technologique, BP 10, Koudougou, Burkina Faso

    Sidzabda Djibril Dayamba

  4. Department of Ecology and Geobotany, Institute for Ecology, Evolution and Diversity, J. W. Goethe University, Siesmayerstraße 70, 60323, Frankfurt am Main, Germany

    Karen Hahn

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  1. Lassina Traoré
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  2. Tene Kwetche Sop
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  3. Sidzabda Djibril Dayamba
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Correspondence to Lassina Traoré.

Appendix

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Table 6 Results of log-linear analysis (in SAS Inc., 1999) applied to diameter class frequency
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Traoré, L., Sop, T.K., Dayamba, S.D. et al. Do protected areas really work to conserve species? A case study of three vulnerable woody species in the Sudanian zone of Burkina Faso. Environ Dev Sustain 15, 663–686 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10668-012-9399-8

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