Flora and plant biodiversity in Senegal

This paper is an updated synthesis of available data on the flora of Senegal. The update is based on the following source documents: La flore du Senegal (Berhaut, 1967), La flore illustree du Senegal (Berhaut, 1971-1978), La liste enumerative des plantes vasculaires du Senegal (Lebrun, 1971), flora surveys recently carried out by Van Den Berghen (1979) and Compere (1991), and other unpublished works. Analyses of the survey and inventory information revealed the overall structure and consistency of the country's flora. They also highlighted the taxonomic spectrum of the flora and provided the first species chorology for each Senegalese region. Chorologic studies revealed a decreasing north-south gradient for species number per region. The study finally underlines: ­ that information on several branches represented in the country is limited; ­ that data available on groups such as lichens and ferns are fragmentary, scarce, old and limited; ­ that the status of so-called rare and/or endemic species mentioned by several authors should be clarified.