Habitat range shift and prediction of the potential future distribution of Ricinodendron heudelotii (Baill.) Heckel in Benin (West Africa).

Ricinodendron heudelotii (Baill.) Heckel is an important nutraceutical reservoir. Its Sustainable exploitation requires information on its potential distribution in the current context of rapid population growth and climate change threats. This study aimed to map the suitable areas for its domestication and conservation under current and future climate conditions in Benin. Occurrence data were recorded and combined with the environmental layers of two climatic scenarios (optimistic RCP 4.5 and pessimistic RCP 8.5) following the biodiversity modelling approach (biomod2). Currently, about four percent (5082 Km2) of the country's area mainly located in the sub-humid and the humid zones were potentially suitable for R. heudelotii distribution. Under future climatic conditions the potentially suitable areas were mainly in the sub-humid zone, but almost all the highly suitable areas located in the humid zone will become medium suitable areas by the years 2055 and 2085 horizons. This study shows that, whatever the future climatic scenarios, R. heudelotii will substantially maintain the size of its range across the country. These findings allow undertaking anticipated actions to better adapt to the potential effects of climate change and to better guide policies for the conservation and development of forest resources.

Modeling current and future distribution patterns of Uvaria chamae in Benin (West Africa): Challenges and opportunities for its sustainable management.

Uvaria chamae is a wild shrub species widely used as a source for traditional medicine, food and fuel in West Africa. The species is threatened by uncontrolled harvesting of its roots for pharmaceutical applications and by the extension of agricultural land. This study assessed the role of environmental variables for the current distribution and the potential impact of climate change on the future spatial distribution of U. chamae in Benin. We used data related to climate, soil, topography and land cover to model the distribution of the species. Occurrence data were combined with six least correlated bioclimatic variables derived from the WorldClim database, data on soil layers (texture and pH) and topography (slope) obtained from the FAO world database and land cover from the DIVA-GIS site. Random Forest (RF), Generalized Additive Models (GAM), Generalized Linear Models (GLM) and the Maximum Entropy (MaxEnt) algorithm were used to predict the current and future (2050-2070) distribution of the species. Two climate change scenarios (SSP245 and SSP585) were considered for the future predictions. The results showed that climate (i.e., water availability) and soil type are the key predictors of the distribution of the species. Based on future climate projections, RF, GLM and GAM models predict that the Guinean-Congolian and Sudano-Guinean zones of Benin will remain suitable for U. chamae, while it will decline in these zones according to the MaxEnt model. These results call for a timely management effort for the species in Benin through its introduction into agroforestry systems to ensure the continuity of its ecosystem services.

Coupling genetic structure analysis and ecological-niche modeling in Kersting's groundnut in West Africa.

Orphan legume crops play an important role in smallholder farmers' food systems. Though less documented, they have the potential to contribute to adequate nutrition in vulnerable communities. Unfortunately, data are scarce about the potential of those crops to withstand current and future climate variations. Using Macrotyloma geocarpum as an example, we used ecological niche modeling to explore the role of ecology on the current and future distributions of genetic populations of Kersting's groundnut. Our findings showed that: (1) the models had good predictive power, indicating that M. geocarpum's distribution was correlated with both climatic and soil layers; (2) identity and similarity tests revealed that the two genetic groups have identical and similar environmental niches; (3) by integrating the genetic information in niche modeling, niches projections show divergence in the response of the species and genetic populations to ongoing climate change. This study highlights the importance of incorporating genetic data into Ecological Niche Modeling (ENM) approaches to obtain a finer information of species' future distribution, and explores the implications for agricultural adaptation, with a particular focus on identifying priority actions in orphan crops conservation and breeding.

Food and medicinal uses of Annona senegalensis Pers.: a country-wide assessment of traditional theoretical knowledge and actual uses in Benin, West Africa.

BACKGROUND: The growing interest for more natural products in food and health industries has led to increasing research on traditional knowledge related to plants. While theoretical knowledge (TK) on the uses of a species informs on the wide spectrum of potential uses of that species, actual uses (AU) highlight their potential being actually used. Distinguishing between the two is important when reporting ethnobotanical studies. However, studies often equated AU and TK, sometimes misleading conclusions, and decision-making. This study assessed TK, AU, and difference between TK and AU of Annona senegalensis and how each is related to factors such as age, sex, sociolinguistic group, and main activity in Benin republic. METHODS: Data were collected through semi-structured individual interviews (n = 755) and analyzed using among others, relative frequency of citation (RFC), and use-value (UV). RESULTS: A total of 168 theoretical uses were recorded but only 92 were "actually" practiced, of which four were food and 88 medicinal uses. TK and AU were positively correlated. As expected, TK was also significantly higher than AU, indicating that some potential uses of the species are still not valued. Sociolinguistic group and main activity, not age and sex, were the main factors influencing TK, AU, and difference between TK and AU. The highest TK was found with Bariba sociolinguistic group and the highest AU with Otamari. Fruits (100%) and flowers (10%) were the most used organs for food, while leaves (40%) and roots (7%) were mostly used for medicinal purposes. The most common food uses were consumption of the ripe fruits (100%), and food seasoning with flowers (10%). The most cited diseases were malaria (28%) and intestinal worms (8%). CONCLUSIONS: The study illustrated the importance of differentiating between TK and AU. It documented  the wide range of the uses of A. senegalensis, while highlighting its most common uses, and the need to better valorize and sustainably manage the species.

Predicting the potential impacts of climate change on the endangered Caesalpinia bonduc (L.) Roxb in Benin (West Africa).

Caesalpinia bonduc (L.) Roxb is a medicinal plant with high therapeutic values but declared extinct in the wild in Benin. This study explored the potential distribution and climatic suitability of the species under the present-day and future conditions in Benin, based on two Representative Concentration Pathways (RCP4.5 and RCP8.5) at the 2055-time horizon. The occurrence data were recorded in the distribution area of the species in Benin. These data were supplemented with those from the Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF, www.gbif.org) website and the literature. A total of 23 environmental variables (15 bioclimatic data and 8 biophysical data) were used. The Bioclimatic variables for temperature and humidity were downloaded from Africlim site at 1 km resolution. The biophysical variables concern population, elevation, slope, landcover, wetland, distance to river, soil and distance to dwellings data that are downloaded respectively from DIVA-GIS, ISRIC and SEDAC website at different resolution. A correlation test has been applied to eliminate the highly correlated variables (r ≥ 0.9) using Pearson correlation coefficient. Species distribution modelling data were processed using five algorithms namely Random Forest (RF), Boosted Regression Trees (BRT), Maximum entropy (MAXENT), Generalized Linear Models (GLM) and Generalized Additive Models (GAM). The results showed that all models performed well with the area under the curve (AUC) values greater than 0.9. The RF, GLM, and GAM models predicted an increase in the suitable areas for the cultivation of the species. BRT and MaxEnt showed a substantial decrease in the suitable areas based on the two scenarios but this reduction is more observed with the MaxEnt model. These results show that climate change and human pressures will have significant effects on the distribution of C. bonduc throughout Benin. Sustainable management measures are necessary for C. bonduc and should be integrated in development policies to preserve the population of the species from total extinction in Benin.

Effects of seed provenance, pre-treatment and mass on germinability and seedling growth of Balanites aegyptiaca (L.) Delile and Ricinodendron heudelotii (Bail.) Pierre in Benin (West Africa).

Balanites aegyptiaca (L.) Delile and Ricinodendron heudelotii (Bail.) Pierre are socioeconomically important species in sub-Saharan Africa. This study was conducted to assess the seed germinability and seedling growth of those species based on several treatments and to define proper conservation and domestication strategies in Benin. The seeds were randomly collected in their natural habitats. The experiment was conducted using a split-split plot design and the data was analyzed using the generalized linear mixed and survival models. The heaviest seeds (B. aegyptiaca seed mass ≥3 g and R. heudelotii ≥ 1.50 g) provided the highest germination rates (73.60 ± 5.19% and 62.50 ± 5.71%, respectively) when seeds were scarified with a hammer. For B. aegyptiaca seedlings, the seeds from the phytodistrict of North Borgou scarified with a hammer and the heaviest seeds showed the highest total height (36.43 ± 1.03 cm), basal diameter (2.84 ± 0.03 mm), the greatest number of leaves (32), and ramifications. The heaviest seeds of R. heudelotii had also the highest value for total height at the day-28 after sowing (26.73 ± 13.56 cm) until the day-105 (151.97 ± 6.37 cm). The heaviest seeds of R. heudelotii from the phytodistrict of Pobe showed the highest basal diameter (12.53 ± 1.47 mm) and the greatest number of leaves (14), with almost no ramification during the trial period. These findings constitute a step forward in upscaling the reproduction of these species for better contribution to economies while serving in restoration plans.

Conventional and food-to-food fortification: An appraisal of past practices and lessons learned.

Food fortification is an important nutrition intervention to fight micronutrient deficiencies and to reduce their incidence in many low- and middle-income countries. Food fortification approaches experienced a significant rise in the recent years and have generated a lot of criticism. The present review aimed to shed light on the actual effect of food fortification approaches on the reduction of malnutrition. A set of 100 articles and reports, which have dealt with the impact of food fortification on malnutrition, were included in this review. This review identified a broad selection of local raw materials suitable for a food-to-food fortification approach.

Species richness, cultural importance, and prioritization of wild spices for conservation in the Sudano-Guinean zone of Benin (West Africa).

BACKGROUND: Spices have always been used for their flavor-enhancement characteristics and for their medicinal properties. In Benin, scientific research on spices is scarce, despite their importance in the local population's daily needs. This study investigated the diversity of wild spices and documented the associated traditional knowledge that can be used for their valuation, domestication, and sustainable management in the Sudano-Guinean Zone of Benin. METHODS: Data were collected during field expeditions using semi-structured interviews in ten localities across the three phytodistricts of the zone. Species richness and Shannon's diversity index were estimated using species accumulation curves. Use report (UR), cultural importance, use value (UV) index, and informant consensus factor (Fic) were used to assess traditional knowledge on wild species, their local importance, and informants' agreement among sociolinguistic groups. Priority wild spices were finally identified using an approach combining eight criteria (native status, economic value, ethnobotanical value, global distribution, national distribution, in-situ and ex-situ conservation status, legislation, and threats assessment) in four prioritization methods (point scoring procedure, point scoring procedure with weighting, compound ranking system, and binomial ranking system). RESULTS: A total of 14 species, belonging to 12 genera and 9 families, were inventoried. The most prominent families were Zingiberaceae (21.43%), Annonaceae (21.43%), and Rutaceae (14.29%). More than 200 specific uses were reported, with the Tchabè people holding the greatest level of knowledge (70 uses; UR = 5.70 ± 0.33). The culturally most important spices differed among sociolinguistic groups. Most of the informants agree on the use of the species among (Fic = 0.72-0.98) and across the considered use categories (Fic = 0.88-0.99). The highest UV were registered for Aframomum alboviolaceum (UV = 0.93), Lippia multiflora (UV = 0.76), and Aframomum angustifolium (UV = 0.18). Overall, people perceived wild spices as declining due to agriculture, grazing, and drought. Five species, A. alboviolaceum, L. multiflora, Monodora tenuifolia, Xylopia aethiopica, and Z. zanthoxyloides, were the most prioritized for conservation. CONCLUSIONS: This study provides information relevant for the implementation of conservation and domestication actions of wild spices in Benin. Priority species could be integrated into traditional agroforestry systems (e.g., home gardens). However, for this to be effective, further research should be undertaken on morphological and genetic diversity and propagation methods of priority wild spices.