Plant Ecology and Evolution 153(1): 22-32, doi: 10.5091/plecevo.2020.1660
Vulnérabilité des ptéridophytes au changement climatique et implications pour leur conservation au Togo (Afrique de l’Ouest)
expand article infoKomla Elikplim Abotsi‡, Kouami Kokou§, Germinal Rouhan|, Vincent Deblauwe
‡ Kinomé SAS, Lomé, Togo§ Université de Lomé, Lomé| Institut Systématique Evolution Biodiversité (ISYEB), Muséum National d’Histoire Naturelle, CNRS, Sorbonne Université, EPHE, 57 rue Cuvier CP 39, F-75231, Paris cedex 05, France¶ International Institute of Tropical Agriculture, BP 2008, Yaoundé, Cameroon

Corresponding author: Komla Elikplim Abotsi ( abotsikomlaelikplim@yahoo.fr )

© Komla Elikplim Abotsi, Kouami Kokou, Germinal Rouhan, Vincent Deblauwe.
This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY 4.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.
Citation: Abotsi KE, Kokou K, Rouhan G, Deblauwe V (2020) Vulnérabilité des ptéridophytes au changement climatique et implications pour leur conservation au Togo (Afrique de l’Ouest). Plant Ecology and Evolution 153(1): 22-32. https://doi.org/10.5091/plecevo.2020.1660
Open Access
Abstract

Contexte et objectifs – La conservation durable de la biodiversité requiert une bonne compréhension des causes de son déclin. Mis à part les activités humaines, les changements climatiques se révèlent comme la principale menace qui pèse sur la biodiversité au 21ème siècle. Notre étude vise à déterminer l’impact du changement climatique sur les Ptéridophytes au Togo.

Méthodologie – En se basant sur 2865 occurrences de Ptéridophytes couvrant toute l’Afrique de l’Ouest et regroupés en 5 groupes écologiques, les distributions actuelle et future des Ptéridophytes ont été modélisées grâce à Maxent. La capacité de conservation des aires protégées du Togo vis-à-vis de ces plantes a été évaluée.

Résultats clés – Nos résultats montrent que 9,81% du pays peut abriter simultanément l’ensemble des groupes de ptéridophytes. Les précipitations des périodes sèches, l’isothermalité et la saisonnalité de la température sont les variables climatiques qui contraignent le plus leurs niches en Afrique de l’Ouest et particulièrement au Togo. Exceptés les taxons thermophiles dont les zones climatiquement favorables devraient quasiment doubler à l’horizon 2070, les niches des autres groupes devraient se restreindre drastiquement au Togo. Seules les aires protégées du tiers sud des Monts Togo pourront garantir la conservation des niches climatiques actuelles et futures des ptéridophytes dans le pays.

Conclusions – Le sud des Monts Togo constituera probablement un refuge climatique pour les ptéridophytes au Togo. Toutefois, la faiblesse de l’étendue des aires protégées dans cette partie du pays pourrait constituer une source de vulnérabilité pour ces plantes.

 

Vulnerability of pteridophytes to climate change and implications for their conservation in Togo (west Africa)

 

Background and aims – The sustainable conservation of biodiversity requires a good understanding of the causes of its decline. Apart from human activities, climate change is the major threat to global biodiversity during the 21st century. Our study aims to determine the impact of climate change on pteridophytes in Togo.

Methods – Based on 2865 occurrences of pteridophytes covering West Africa and grouped into 5 ecological groups, current and future distributions of pteridophytes were modelized using Maxent. The conservation capacity of Togolese protected areas for these plants was assessed.

Key results – Our results show that 9.81% of the country can shelter simultaneously all groups of pteridophytes. Precipitations of the driest periods, isothermality and temperature seasonality are the climatic variables which constrain the most their niche in West Africa and particularly in Togo. Apart from thermophilic taxa whose climatically suitable niche is expected to nearly double by 2070, niche of all other group should be drastically restricted in Togo. Only protected areas in the southern third of Togo Mountains would guarantee current and future climatic niches for pteridophytes in the country.

Conclusions – Southern Togo Mountains will probably constitute a climatic refugium for Pteridophytes in Togo. However, the small extent of protected areas in this part of the country would be a source of vulnerability for these plants.

Keywords
Pteridophytes, climatic niche, climate change, vulnerability, protected area, Togo, West Africa

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