Floristic Inventory of the Ngoltongo Botanical Garden at Sindia, Mbour Department, Senegal

Abstract

Background: The intertropical plant world has undergone and continues to undergo major destruction and/or transformation, both in terms of ‘ecosystems’ and their components. The demographic explosion on a global scale has accentuated these new spatial modifications, by encouraging the emergence of threats: fires, slash-and-burn agriculture, savannah fires; animal introductions, plant species introductions, anthropic actions, etc. Ex situ conservation is sometimes the only chance of survival for threatened species. Aim: The aim of the work carried out was to make a floristic inventory of the Ngoltongo botanical garden in Sindia, Results: The inventory of the ngoltongo botanical garden shows a relatively diverse flora with 220 species in 161 genera and 58 families. In order of importance, the Fabacaeae, Arecaeae, Apocynaceae, Euphorbiaceae and Poaceae are the best represented. The other families, which are less well represented (0.41% each), nevertheless contribute to the diversity of the flora, particularly the monospecific families (Asparagaceae, Cyperaceae, Musaceae, etc.). We have noted that some families are relatively abundant in terms of the number of species: in the Dicotyledonous class, these are the Fabacaeae Apocynaceae, Euphorbiaceae, Malvaceae and Rutaceae groups, with a total of 71 species. In the class of Monocotyledons, the Arecaeae are in the lead with 18 species, followed by the Poaceae with 9 species. In addition, certain genera are relatively well represented, including Asparagaceae (8 species),  Euphorbia (7 species), and Ficus (5 species). Conclusion: The Ngoltongo Botanical Garden appears to be a site of high biodiversity due to the diversity of species planted in a relatively large area. If it is to succeed in its conservation, education and scientific research missions, it is therefore important to consider : its protection against bush fires and the anthropics actions, labelling the feet of all plants and the construction of a seed bank to enable exchanges with other botanical gardens.