Description of vegetation patterns associated with environmental factors such as grazing, climate, landforms, substrate variables etc. are helpful for land management planning. This study used new synecological tools to investigate plants composition and to provide ecological descriptions of plants communities of communal pastures in Sahelian Ecological Zone of Niger. Vegetation and several environmental variables were recorded in 197 plots using the Braun-Blanquet cover-abundance scale. A composite soil sample of about 1 kg from each plot was collected for analysis. A total of 252 species were recorded, belonging to 148 genera from 47 families, in which the angiosperms families counting 251 species are more represented and the pteridophytes are represented by one species belonging to the family of Marsileaceae. Poaceae, Leguminosae-Papilionoideae, Convolvulaceae, Cyperaceae and Leguminosae-Mimosoideae are the largest families. High abundance of the Poaceae species reveal the great potential forage value of the Sahelian rangelands.
En biologie, un écosystème est un système qui se compose d'un ensemble d'organismes vivants, la biocénose, et de l'environnement physique où ils vivent, le biotope. Un écosystème est une unité composée d'organismes interdépendants qui partagent le même habitat. L'étude d'un écosystème donne la base méthodologique permettant de réaliser une synthèse complexe des relations existant entre des organismes (biocénose) et leur environnement (biotope).