Comparative assessment of plant biomass in the climatic zones of Burkina Faso
Paper Details
Comparative assessment of plant biomass in the climatic zones of Burkina Faso
Abstract
Plant biomass plays an important role in the sustainability of agropastoral systems. In Burkina Faso, climatic diversity suggests high variability in plant production across zones. This research compares herbaceous and woody biomass yields across the country’s three climatic zones using data collected from 2017 to 2019 by the Ministry of Agriculture, Animal and Fishery Resources. The methodology is based on non-parametric statistical tests (Kruskal-Wallis and Dunn) and spatial analysis (Kriging). The results show that the climatic zone significantly influences woody biomass production across all three zones. For herbaceous biomass, no significant difference is observed between the Sahelian and sudano-sahelian zones (p=0.112), while the sudanian zone stands clearly apart from the other two. The spatial representation reveals a northward-to-southward increasing productivity gradient, more pronounced woody biomass than for herbaceous biomass. These findings highlight the vulnerability of the Sahelian and sudano-sahelian zones to climate variability and provide a quantitative basis for guiding the management of pastoral resources in Burkina Faso.
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