Dynamics of sahelian pastures in relation to drought and grazing

Abstract

The dynamics of the vegetation were studied in the transition zone from the savannah to the Sahel in order to distinguish between the influence of the recent drought and the influence of overgrazing on the natural rangelands. The drought affected especially the different plant species at the northern limit of their habitat. It is, however, not well possible to speak of a sahelisation of the savannah, since the species in regression were replaced by invaders, like Borreria spp, and not by true Sahelian species. An exception was Blepharis linariifolia, which moved to the south. Grazing affected good fodder grasses like Andropogon gayanus, which were replaced by a legume with a short growth cycle, Zornia glochidiata, and an unpalatable annual grass Elionurus elegans. The species much stimulated by the drought, Borreria spp. and Blepharis linariifolia, did not occur in the intensively grazed pastures.