RELATIONS ENTRE LA DIVERSITÉ ET LA BIOMASSE AÉRIENNE DES ESPÈCES ARBORESCENTES DANS LES AGROFORÊTS TRADITIONNELLES À BASE DE CACAOYERS: CAS DE LA LOCALITÉ DE LAKOTA (CÔTE D’IVOIRE)

For sustainable management of cocoa based agroforestry systems, it is important to find a tradeoff to conserve both biodiversity and carbon stock; which would be an ecologically sustainable alternative to conventional agriculture. In Sub-Saharan Africa, few studies have tested relationships between plant biomass and biodiversity in these systems. This study analysed these relationships in Cocoa based agroforest in Lakota area in Côte d’Ivoire. Cocoa farms and forest patches were inventoried using the variable-area transect method. We considered all trees species with dbh 2.5 cm. Pearson correlation was used to test probable links between aboveground biomass and diversity indexes. We recorded a total of 215 tree species in all habitats, of which 57.2% were in old growth forests, 50.2% in secondary forests and 26-45% in cocoa farms. Biomass stock of old growth forests was greater (203.7 t ha-1) than in plantations, where it dropped to 90.2 t ha-1. There was no significant relationship between aboveground biomass and floristic indices in forests. In old plantations of over 15 years old, high species diversity could contribute up to 20% in the aboveground biomass. The conservation of floristic diversity in cacao based agroforestry systems may represent an important factor in mitigating global warming, through the storage of large amounts of carbon.