Savanna woody plants and their provision of food resources to bees in southern Burkina Faso, West Africa

Authors

  • Coulibaly Drissa Université Peleforo Gon Coulibaly de Korhogo, Unité de Formation et de Recherche des Sciences Biologiques, Département de Biologie Animale
  • Yalamoussa Tuo Université Peleforo Gon Coulibaly de Korhogo, Unité de Formation et de Recherche des Sciences Biologiques, Département de Biologie Animale
  • Mouhamadou Koné Université Peleforo Gon Coulibaly de Korhogo, Unité de Formation et de Recherche des Sciences Biologiques, Département de Biologie Animale
  • Larba Hubert Balima Université Joseph Ki-Zerbo, Ouagadougou. Laboratoire de Biologie et Ecologie Végétales
  • Souleymane Konaté Université Nangui Abrogoua, Unité de Formation et de Recherche des Sciences de la Nature, Unité de Recherche en Ecologie et Biodiversité
  • Karl Eduard Linsenmair Biocenter, Department of Animal Ecology and Tropical Biology, University of Wuerzburg https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2132-8721
  • Stefan Porembski Department of Botany and Botanical Garden, Institute of Biological Sciences, University of Rostock
  • Dethardt Goetze Department of Botany and Botanical Garden, Institute of Biological Sciences, University of Rostock
  • Katharina Stein Department of Botany and Botanical Garden, Institute of Biological Sciences, University of Rostock

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.13141/jflr.v5i1.2436

Keywords:

Pollen, Nectar, Foraging, Sudanian region, Melliferous plants

Abstract

West African savanna ecosystems and biodiversity are severely threatened by intensified land use and increasing degradation of natural habitats. Despite the importance of bees for pollinating crops and native plant species little information is available regarding the importance of savanna woody plant species to provide bees with food resources. Flora inventories were carried out on 48 subplots laid out across three land use types. The number of bee morphospecies and their abundance as flower visitors were recorded from inflorescences of plants during the different flowering periods. Out of a total diversity of 82 woody plant species, 53 species (64.63%) from 38 genera and 21 families were melliferous. These plants were visited by bees for foraging nectar and/or pollen. Species of the Combretaceae family were the most visited by bees in terms of individuals (53.85%). Combretum glutinosum alone accounted for 36% of visits. More than half of the melliferous plants (50.94%) were visited for both nectar and pollen. About 32.08% of plants were visited for nectar only (32.08%), while 16.98% were visited for pollen only (16.98%). The majority of savanna plants are flowering in the dry season, but few flowering species can be found throughout the whole year. Savanna woody plant species constitute important food resources for bees, therefore providing a wide range of applications for the development of beekeeping activities in the Sudanian region of West Africa.

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Published

2020-10-21

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Original research paper