IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/spr/endesu/v24y2022i10d10.1007_s10668-021-01947-3.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Land cover transitions and effects of transhumance on available forage biomass of rangelands in Benin

Author

Listed:
  • James Ellison

    (Universität Kassel)

  • Katja Brinkmann

    (Universität Kassel
    ISOE - Institute for Social-Ecological Research)

  • Rodrigue V. Cao Diogo

    (Université de Parakou)

  • Andreas Buerkert

    (Universität Kassel)

Abstract

This study examined the effects of transhumance pressure on total abavoe-ground biomass and forage availability on rangelands in Benin. We also investigated the implications of land cover transitions on rangelands over a 31-year period. Our work was carried out in three regions of Benin representing distinct phytogeographic regimes: Ketou, Tchaourou, and Sinende. Ground-truthing and biomass sampling of the herbaceous and phanaerophyte strata were carried out between the 2016 peak vegetation period and the onset of the 2017 rainy season. Herbaceous biomass was determined by destructive sampling, and biomass of shrub and trees was estimated using non-destructive sampling and allometric equations. Historical and present-day Landsat data allowed an analysis of land cover change for the 1986–2002 and 2002–2017 periods. Land cover analyses yielded evidence of significant expansion of agricultural areas, especially in the latter period. The data also revealed progressive landscape fragmentation and transformations to a land cover of reduced total phytomass. There were no long-term effects of transhumance on trees, but likely on herbaceous biomass. Land cover changes in the study regions seem primarily the result of population pressure, infrastructural changes, persisting norms, and traditions regarding environmental management and the increasing popularity of livestock keeping as an insurance strategy. Rangeland transformations had negative impacts on transhumant herds’ mobility and forage availability. As rangeland stability and consent between agricultural and pastoral land users are at a tipping point, informed policies, and land use planning that foster compromises among all stakeholders are needed.

Suggested Citation

  • James Ellison & Katja Brinkmann & Rodrigue V. Cao Diogo & Andreas Buerkert, 2022. "Land cover transitions and effects of transhumance on available forage biomass of rangelands in Benin," Environment, Development and Sustainability: A Multidisciplinary Approach to the Theory and Practice of Sustainable Development, Springer, vol. 24(10), pages 12276-12310, October.
  • Handle: RePEc:spr:endesu:v:24:y:2022:i:10:d:10.1007_s10668-021-01947-3
    DOI: 10.1007/s10668-021-01947-3
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://link.springer.com/10.1007/s10668-021-01947-3
    File Function: Abstract
    Download Restriction: Access to the full text of the articles in this series is restricted.

    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1007/s10668-021-01947-3?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Baumgärtner, Stefan & Quaas, Martin F., 2009. "Ecological-economic viability as a criterion of strong sustainability under uncertainty," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 68(7), pages 2008-2020, May.
    2. Mark Moritz, 2010. "Crop–livestock interactions in agricultural and pastoral systems in West Africa," Agriculture and Human Values, Springer;The Agriculture, Food, & Human Values Society (AFHVS), vol. 27(2), pages 119-128, June.
    3. Rodrigue Vivien Cao Diogo & Luc Hippolyte Dossa & Sèyi Fridaïus Ulrich Vanvanhossou & Badirou Dine Abdoulaye & Kossi Hélliot Dosseh & Marcel Houinato & Eva Schlecht & Andreas Buerkert, 2021. "Farmers’ and Herders’ Perceptions on Rangeland Management in Two Agroecological Zones of Benin," Land, MDPI, vol. 10(4), pages 1-17, April.
    4. Augustine Ayantunde & Rainer Asse & Mohammed Said & Abdou Fall, 2014. "Transhumant pastoralism, sustainable management of natural resources and endemic ruminant livestock in the sub-humid zone of West Africa," Environment, Development and Sustainability: A Multidisciplinary Approach to the Theory and Practice of Sustainable Development, Springer, vol. 16(5), pages 1097-1117, October.
    5. Padonou, Elie A. & Lykke, Anne M. & Bachmann, Yvonne & Idohou, Rodrigue & Sinsin, Brice, 2017. "Mapping changes in land use/land cover and prediction of future extension of bowé in Benin, West Africa," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 69(C), pages 85-92.
    6. Saverio Kr&aauml;tli & Nikolaus Schareika, 2010. "Living Off Uncertainty: The Intelligent Animal Production of Dryland Pastoralists," The European Journal of Development Research, Palgrave Macmillan;European Association of Development Research and Training Institutes (EADI), vol. 22(5), pages 605-622, December.
    7. Houessou, Sandrine O. & Dossa, Luc Hippolyte & Diogo, Rodrigue V.C. & Houinato, Marcel & Buerkert, Andreas & Schlecht, Eva, 2019. "Change and continuity in traditional cattle farming systems of West African Coast countries: A case study from Benin," Agricultural Systems, Elsevier, vol. 168(C), pages 112-122.
    8. Mark Moritz & Britney R. Kyle & Kevin C. Nolan & Steve Patrick & Marnie F. Shaffer & Gayatri Thampy, 2009. "Too Many People and Too Few Livestock in West Africa? An Evaluation of Sandford's Thesis," Journal of Development Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 45(7), pages 1113-1133, August.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Sèyi Fridaïus Ulrich Vanvanhossou & Luc Hippolyte Dossa & Sven König, 2021. "Sustainable Management of Animal Genetic Resources to Improve Low-Input Livestock Production: Insights into Local Beninese Cattle Populations," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(17), pages 1-20, September.
    2. Rodrigue Vivien Cao Diogo & Luc Hippolyte Dossa & Sèyi Fridaïus Ulrich Vanvanhossou & Badirou Dine Abdoulaye & Kossi Hélliot Dosseh & Marcel Houinato & Eva Schlecht & Andreas Buerkert, 2021. "Farmers’ and Herders’ Perceptions on Rangeland Management in Two Agroecological Zones of Benin," Land, MDPI, vol. 10(4), pages 1-17, April.
    3. Olson, Kent & Gauto, Victor & Erenstein, Olaf & Teufel, Nils & Swain, Braja & Tui, Sabine Homann-Kee & Duncan, Alan, 2021. "Estimating Farmers’ Internal Value of Crop Residues in Smallholder Crop-Livestock Systems: A South Asia Case Study," 2021 Conference, August 17-31, 2021, Virtual 315188, International Association of Agricultural Economists.
    4. Doyen, Luc & Péreau, Jean-Christophe, 2012. "Sustainable coalitions in the commons," Mathematical Social Sciences, Elsevier, vol. 63(1), pages 57-64.
    5. Jaleta, Moti & Kassie, Menale & Shiferaw, Bekele A., 2012. "Tradeoffs in Crop Residue Utilization in Mixed Crop-Livestock Systems and Implications for Conservation Agriculture and Sustainable Land Management," 2012 Conference, August 18-24, 2012, Foz do Iguacu, Brazil 126282, International Association of Agricultural Economists.
    6. Sylvie Ferrari & Sébastien Lavaud & Jean-Christophe Pereau, 2012. "Critical natural capital, ecological resilience and sustainable wetland management: a french case study," Post-Print hal-00799051, HAL.
    7. Saifullahi Sani Ibrahim & Huseyin Ozdeser & Behiye Cavusoglu, 2020. "Testing the impact of environmental hazards and violent conflicts on sustainable pastoral development: micro-level evidence from Nigeria," Environment, Development and Sustainability: A Multidisciplinary Approach to the Theory and Practice of Sustainable Development, Springer, vol. 22(5), pages 4169-4190, June.
    8. Iglesias, Eva & Báez, Karen & Diaz-Ambrona, Carlos H., 2016. "Assessing drought risk in Mediterranean Dehesa grazing lands," Agricultural Systems, Elsevier, vol. 149(C), pages 65-74.
    9. Martin F. Quaas & Ralph Winkler, 2017. "A Market Mechanism for Sustainable and Efficient Resource Use under Uncertainty," CESifo Working Paper Series 6524, CESifo.
    10. Luiz Fernando Rodrigues Pinto & Glória de Fátima Pereira Venturini & Salvatore Digiesi & Francesco Facchini & Geraldo Cardoso de Oliveira Neto, 2020. "Sustainability Assessment in Manufacturing under a Strong Sustainability Perspective—An Ecological Neutrality Initiative," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(21), pages 1-40, November.
    11. Finger, Robert & Buchmann, Nina, 2015. "An ecological economic assessment of risk-reducing effects of species diversity in managed grasslands," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 110(C), pages 89-97.
    12. DeMartino, George & Grabel, Ilene & Scoones, Ian, 2024. "Economics for an uncertain world," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 173(C).
    13. Berhe, Melaku & Hoag, Dana & Tesfay, Girmay & Oniki, Shunji & Kagatsume, Masaru, 2016. "Effects of adaptation to climate change on income of cattle owners in the pastoral and agro-pastoral communities of Northern Ethiopia," 2016 Fifth International Conference, September 23-26, 2016, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia 246974, African Association of Agricultural Economists (AAAE).
    14. Doyen, L. & Martinet, V., 2012. "Maximin, viability and sustainability," Journal of Economic Dynamics and Control, Elsevier, vol. 36(9), pages 1414-1430.
    15. De Lapparent, Alice & Sabatier, Rodolphe & Paut, Raphaël & Martin, Sophie, 2023. "Perennial transitions from market gardening towards mixed fruit tree - vegetable systems," Agricultural Systems, Elsevier, vol. 207(C).
    16. Fleurbaey, Marc, 2015. "On sustainability and social welfare," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 71(C), pages 34-53.
    17. Padonou, Elie Antoine & Gbaï, N. Innocent & Kolawolé, Moustapha Arèmou & Idohou, Rodrigue & Toyi, Mireille, 2021. "How far are mangrove ecosystems in Benin (West Africa) conserved by the Ramsar Convention?," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 108(C).
    18. Lauriane Mouysset & Luc Doyen & François Léger & Frédéric Jiguet & Tim G. Benton, 2018. "Operationalizing Sustainability as a Safe Policy Space," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(10), pages 1-9, October.
    19. Armando Cartenì & Ilaria Henke & Clorinda Molitierno & Luigi Di Francesco, 2020. "Strong Sustainability in Public Transport Policies: An e-Mobility Bus Fleet Application in Sorrento Peninsula (Italy)," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(17), pages 1-19, August.
    20. Martínez-Valderrama, J. & Ibáñez, J. & Ibáñez, M.A. & Alcalá, F.J. & Sanjuán, M.E. & Ruiz, A. & del Barrio, G., 2021. "Assessing the sensitivity of a Mediterranean commercial rangeland to droughts under climate change scenarios by means of a multidisciplinary integrated model," Agricultural Systems, Elsevier, vol. 187(C).

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:spr:endesu:v:24:y:2022:i:10:d:10.1007_s10668-021-01947-3. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.springer.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.