Abstract

Prosopis africana is a species of great socio-economic importance, threatened with extinction from its natural habitat in Niger due to overexploitation. The main objective of this study is to determine the potential geographic distribution of P. africana in Niger. Climatic and botanical data has been collected and used to model the distribution, on the basis of principle of maximum entropy (MAXENT) using MAXENT 3.3.3k, DIVA-GIS 7.5, and ArcGIS 10.0. programs. Rainfall and temperature are the most significant variables in the distribution of P. africana in Niger. Thus the southern band of the country (from the sudanian zone to the sahelio-soudanian zone), the wettest, is the area conducive to the development of P. africana (128,692.32 km² in total, 10.16% of the territory). Given the extent of this area revealed by this study, a reforestation policy implementation of P. africana would allow to restore its stands in Niger.

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