DIVERSITY AND ECOLOGICAL CHARACTERISTICS OF LIANESCENT AND HERBACEOUS SPECIES OF THE BINGERVILLE BOTANICAL GARDEN (SOUTH OF COTE DIVOIRE)

A floristic study was carried out in the Bingerville botanical garden, an urban green space in the south of Cote dIvoire.The objective of this study is to determine the structure and ecological profile of the lianascent and herbaceous flora, for better management of the garden. The round-the-field inventory method was carried out in 29 plots on the site.The study identified 143 species, including 32 lianas and 111 herbaceous species. The flora is divided into 103 genera grouped into 45 families.The Poaceae and Fabaceae are the dominant families with a contribution of 16.78% and 10.49% respectively of the total species recorded.This flora is characterised by the predominance of phanerophytes with 46.15%, followed by therophytes with 20.98%.As regards chorological affinity, it is mainly composed of pantropical species (26.57%) and endemic species (33.57%), which account for more than half the species (61.14%).Zoochory (62.24%) was found to be the main adaptation to the spread of species diaspores.Heliophilous pioneer species (77.34%) make up the bulk of the plant community.The quantitative analysis of this flora reveals that six species constitute potential weeds that can be very common in the botanical garden.