International Research Journal of Plant Science (ISSN: 2141-5447) Vol. 2(3) pp. 070-077, March, 2011 Available online http://www.interesjournals.org/IRJPS Copyright © 2011 International Research Journals Full length Research Paper Relationships between the occurrence of Desert locust (Schistocerca gregaria Forsk) and plant communities in Niger from 1965 to 2007 Issoufou Dogo 1, L. Mina Idrissi Hassani2, Abdelghani Bouaichi3 , Abdou Mamadou1, Garba Yahaya4, Issoufou Alfhari5. 1 Direction Générale Protection des Végétaux, Niamey, Niger 2 Faculté des Sciences Ibn Zohr, Agadir, Maroc, 3 Centre National de Lutte Anti Acridienne, Agadir, Maroc, 4 Centre National de Lutte Anti Acridienne, Niamey, Niger, 5 Centre Régional Agrhymet, Niamey, Niger. Accepted 24 march, 2011 The study of relationships between Desert locust and plant species evolving in the same habitat was realized on the basis of archives database of locust prospection conducted from 1965 to 2007 and available at the Crop Protection Directorate of Niger and the Regional International Organization for the Control of Migrant Pests based in Niger and Senegal. The objective set for this study is to know better the main plants having a certain affinity with Desert Locust to lead an efficient locust monitoring. The results obtained have shown that nearly 66% of the territory of Niger was affected by the presence of locust with a strong concentration in Aïr, Tamesna and Termit. For all the solitarious, gregarious and transiens of the Desert locust, the strongest correlations based on a level of significance higher than 0, 5 are obtained with Tribulus terrestris, Acacia sp, Aerva javanica, Schouwia sp, Boerhavia coccinea, Citrullus sp and Panicum tirgidum. Two affinity groups of variables were identified. One containing gregarious adults and dominant woody plants and the other affected by the herbaceous plants contained hoppers, solitary and transiens adults. Key words: plant, correlation, Desert locust, occurrence, Niger INTRODUCTION Among the devastating pests of crops, Desert locust (Schistocera gregaria, Forsk, 1775, Orthoptera, Acrididae) occupies a prominent place and plays an important role during invasion period or major resurgence (Popov, 1958; Uvarov, 1977). Its economic impact extends to the majority of arid and semi-arid countries, from the west coast of Africa to India (Hemming et al., 1979; Lecoq, 2005). Its threat lies in its phases of transformation (Uvarov, 1977), its high reproductive capacity, its migratory faculties, its large spectrum of polyphagy (Husain et al., 1946; FAO, 1967; Roffey and Popov, 1968) and its abilities to adapt itself to extreme ecological situations. *Corresponding author Email: issoufoudogo1@yahoo.fr Consequently, the Desert locust remains a major threat for the social and food stability, particularly for many rural people living on agriculture at high climatic risk (Lecoq, 2004). Niger which is a locust frontline, stretches on 1267000 km2 between the longitudes 00°16’ and 16°00 East, and the latitude 11°10’ and 23°17’ North (CNEDD, 2006), and shelters important zones of summer reproduction and gregarization for Desert locust what are Tamesna and Aïr (Germaux et al., 1964; Pedgley, 1981). Among which is to add the area Termit potentially favorable (Mallamaire and Roy, 1958.) and in the past have attracted special attention from the monitoring teams of the Regional International Organization for the Control of Migrant Pests (OCLALAV). During the last generalized invasion of 1987-1989, the Issoufou et al. 071 recorded losses of Niger were estimated at approximately 50% of the one million ha of grazing land and about 33% of around 12 000 ha of attacked rain-fed crops (Lecoq, 2003).The consequences of the invasion of 2004, combined to those of the drought have caused significant losses of cereal production (FAO/WFP, 2004). To delineate the extent damage caused by the high predation of locusts in areas of crops and pasturage is generally used chemical control (Steedman, 1988; FAO, 1991) notwithstanding the adverse environmental and human health (Levitan et al., 1996; Langewald et al., 1999) and inadequacy of economic profitability (FAO, 2003). Hence the interest of favoring approach prevention (Lomer et al., 2001) based on a permanent monitoring of locust in remission period and the control of gregarious populations (Roffey and Popov, 1968). It is the only strategy of struggle economically bearable and ecologically acceptable (Lecoq, 2004) because the recurrent costs can be lesser to those created by the simple management of necessary emergency assistances in period of invasion. Under current conditions in Niger, where access to certain parts of zones is often difficult due to its vast extent, problems of insecurity and the limited human and material means(Showler, 2003; FAO, 2010), a better knowledge of the habitats mostly attended by the Desert locust could contribute to a more efficient locust monitoring. Indeed, these habitats often colonized at various degrees by many plant species, which could be precious sources of food of, shelter for Locust, and play a big role in its spatiotemporal distribution. Through this present work, we will try to determine exclusively the correlation that could exist between Desert locust and plant species having evolved together in the same natural environment, while basing ourselves on the data archive collected during the prospection locust prospection led from 1965 to 2007 in Niger. The perception of this relationship could contribute to know of advantage the plants having a certain affinity with the Desert locust and to allow the reinforcement of predictive capacity teams of prospection in the planning of their monitoring activities focusing locust best sites colonized by these plants. Studies of this kind strictly centered on the archival data are rather rare or absent in the typical case of Niger. However, certain works already highlighted the importance of some plant species towards Desert locust through methods other than those based on the analysis of archival data. In fact, in the particular case of Mamadou et al. (2009) who led studies on the influence of fifteen plant species on the genesic activity in the Locust while carrying out a breeding out of cages in the valley of Tafidet in Niger. The work of Freiburg (2002) undertaken in Mauritania showed the part which can be played by the vegetation in the displacement of the larval bands in natural environment, by evaluating the damage caused using the method of analysis of density with an estimate of the damage. To determine qualitatively the food mode of the Locust, Benrima et al. (2002) compared the range of 50 plant species in the biotopes occupied by Schistocerca gregaria with those, which compose their feces. MATERIALS AND METHODS The documentary archives that have been exploited for the data collection stemmed from different locust prospection done all over Niger from 1965 to 2007 were come from OCLALAV and the Crop Protection Directorate (CPD) of Niger. The choice of this period is justified by the availability and regularity of data according to a step of monthly time in these structures. OCLALAV data OCLALAV data have covered the period going from 1965 to 1989. Since it stopped its activities in 1989, the documents have been stocked in its former offices in Dakar in Senegal and Zinder in Niger. For this last one, the archives have been kept in very bad conditions often piled on the floor in different offices that required a major dust before entering. The operation consisted in to extracting the whole documents related to Desert locust and its ecology then to sort and categorize them according to their nature (report of activities, bulletins, work, registers, notebook, and binders). The second step consisted in classifying them year per year in order to constitute series of reports bulletins of activities following a temporal, monthly and decade slot. CPD data The data collected have covered the period from 1990 to 2007 and have widely been provided by those collected at the National AntiLocust Center of Agadez where the majority of document and information related to it one for the essential digitalized. Data from 1996 to 2007 have already been recorded in a RAMSES-Niger base (Reconnaissance and Management System of the Environment Schistocerca) finalized by FAO. Data Processing Excel software under Windows have been used for the constitution of matrix data. The database created for the seizure of the recordings consists of two corpus named A and B. We put on line, sites (A), in column (B), all information about Locust and its environment that we ship called variables. These are as follows : date of list, the decade, name of the locality, geographic coordinates converted in decimal degree, year, month, solitary hoppers, transiens hoppers, gregarious hoppers, solitary adults, transiens adults, gregarious adults, bands, swarms, habitat, soils, prospected area, infected and treated as well as the different plant species. The set of all such information collected at a site surveyed was called registration. At the junction of each line and each column, qualitative variables (presence and absence) were used to make the presence or absence of Desert locust or plant species for each of the sites surveyed. To facilitate the treatment of this information, we have encoded these variables numerically by using value “1” for the presence and “0” for the absence. For the exclusive need of this study, it was extracted from initial database the records of locust’ presence (6), seven (7) grassy 072 Int. Res. J. Plant Sci. species and (6) woody species. The choice of these plant species from 70 genera identified are explained by their importance in number of frequency in our initial matrix and belongs to the principal plants reported by the studies of Germaux et al. (1964), Popov (1965) and Duranton et al. (1982). Designation of variables The nineteen (19) variables used for the study of this relationship titled as follows: Six (6) locust conditions: solitary hoppers, transiens hoppers, gregarious hoppers, solitary adults, transiens adults and gregarious adults; Six (6) species of the woody vegetation: Acacia sp, Balanites aegyptiaca, Indigofora sp, Maerua sp, Calotropis sp and Salvadoria persica; Seven (7) species of grassy vegetation like Aerva javanica, Aristidae sp, Boerhavia coccinea, Citrullus sp, Panicum tirgidum, Schouwia sp and Tribulus terrestris. Generation of maps From the initial matrix, we trained for each variable an Excel file formed by three columns: variable, latitude and longitude converted to decimal degree. The files thus formed, converted into Text file to be consistent with the device's System of Information for Geography (SIG) of the Regional Center of Agrhymet /Niamey/ Niger. A layer of mesh at ¼ degree square geographic (approximately 50 km x 50 km) is used. This, for to be in adequacy with the work of Ould Baba (2001), Keita (2009) and of El Mouden (2009), which led studies on the cartographic distribution of locust presence thanks to the data archive of locust prospection .After the coupling of the Text file in tools SIG, we started the automatic process of generation of the maps. From the data of the table attribute maps of the 19 variables, we constituted a rectangular table in the form of matrix (X) articulated below and comprising N(1 to 295) lines and p(1 to 19) columns and with Xij like the frequency of presence of individual i (mesh i) for the variable J. Variables’ processing A Principal component analysis (PCA) was used for the data processing of the rectangular matrix (X) of the variables thanks to XLSTAT program, method which relays on a geometrical model according to Michael and Christopher (1999) and centered on the synthesis of information that a table of figures containing individuals and quantitative variables. It makes it possible to identify a possible similarity between the individuals and to determine the connection between the variables. This present analysis, which is exclusively about the variables, has aim to determine the links being able to exist between the locusts’ variables on the one hand and plant variables on the other. The studies of cases of principal component analysis presented in the work of Pardoux et al. (2010) and Turler (2006) have been our reference for constructing the graph and interpreting the results. In this sense, our analysis conducted on two axes: a) The determination of the matrix of correlation to inform us about the intensity of the link and the direction of the correlation which can exist between the variables taken two by two on a level of 5 % significance. b) The determination of the number of the factorial axes to interpret by using the rule of Kaiser (1960) in order to proceed to the chart of the variables being able to allow us to identify the possible regrouping of the adjacent variables. RESULTS Distribution of the mesh In referring to the map generated for all variables, it appears for Niger, 448 meshes quarter-degree square mesh on which 295 showed the presence of locusts and / or plants is 66% (Figure 1). Links between variables According to the signs and strengths of correlation between pairs of variables (Table 1), we distinguished two main groups. Strong supposed positive linear connections (correlations > 0, 50) in particular between: a) Solitary and Tribulus terrestris (r = 0,888), Schouwia sp (r = 0,862), Citrullus sp (r = 0,832), Aerva javanica (r = 0,818), Panicum tirgidum (r = 0,738), Acacia sp (r = 0,506); b) Transiens and Panicum tirgidum (r = 0,748), Acacia sp (r = 0,723), Schouwia sp (r = 0,655), Tribulus terrestris (r = 0,635), Citrullus sp (r = 0,649), Aristidae sp (r = 0,620), Boerhavia coccinea (r = 0,607), Balanites aegyptiaca (r = 0,541); c) Gregarious and Balanites aegyptiaca (r = 0,710), Acacia sp (r = 0,686), Aristidae sp (r = 0,581), Tribulus terrestris (r = 0,571), Panicum tirgidum (r = 0,654), Citrullus sp (r = 0,543) Boerhavia coccinea (r = 0,540), Schouwia sp (r = 0,529), Indigofora sp (r = 0,527). Low supposed positive linear connections (correlations < 0, 50) mainly between: d) Solitary and Aristidae sp (r = 0,449), Calotropis procera (r = 0,387), Maerua sp (r = 0,335), Salvadoria persica (r = 0,210), Balanites aegyptiaca (r = 0,106), Indigofora sp (r = 0,078); e) Transiens and Maerua sp (r = 0,497), Aerva javanica (r = 0,484), Indigofora sp (r = 0,369), Salvadoria persica (r = 0,345), Calotropis procera (r = 0,330); f) Gregarious and Acacia sp (r = 0,425), Aristidae sp (r = 0,358), Calotropis procera (r = 0,305), Maerua sp Issoufou et al. 073 Figure1. Mesh layer frequencies of Desert locust and plants from 1965 to 2007 in Niger. Table 1. Correlation Matrix [Pearson (n)] Variables Solitary adults Transiens Gregarious Solitary adults adults hoppers Transiens Gregarious hoppers hoppers Acacia sp Aerva javanica Aristidae sp Balanites aegyptiaca Boerhavia coccinea Citrullus sp Indigofora sp Maerua sp Panicum tirgidum Salvadoria persica Schouwia sp Tribulus terrestris Calotropis procera 0,506 0,818 0,449 0,106 0,708 0,832 0,078 0,335 0,738 0,210 0,862 0,888 0,387 0,723 0,484 0,620 0,541 0,607 0,649 0,369 0,497 0,748 0,345 0,655 0,635 0,330 0,563 0,383 0,406 0,301 0,433 0,519 0,115 0,339 0,577 0,198 0,576 0,479 0,258 (r = 0, 2359, Salvadoria persica (r = 0,127), Balanites aegyptiaca (r = 0,079), Indigofora sp (r = 0,071). 0,686 0,350 0,581 0,710 0,540 0,543 0,527 0,380 0,654 0,341 0,529 0,571 0,284 0,425 0,720 0,358 0,079 0,624 0,754 0,071 0,235 0,660 0,127 0,829 0,855 0,305 0,422 0,263 0,245 0,380 0,219 0,345 0,067 0,148 0,360 0,181 0,407 0,266 0,116 alone more than 70% of the total variance, they were retained for the graphic representation of variables consigned in figure 2. Choice of the factorial axes Analyses The application of the rule of Kaiser (1960), which recommends taking into account factors to proper values superior to 1, seems to be verified with the first three components of table 2. Thus, as the two first explain Based on the data matrix, we can group together meshes with the largest recorded Locust and plant frequencies in two different sectors. 074 Int. Res. J. Plant Sci. Table 2 . Eigen Values Component Main 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 Eigenvalue 10.609 3.012 1.766 0.889 0.685 0.475 0.36 0.281 0.226 0.173 0.119 0.107 0.085 0.071 0.05 0.031 0.025 0.019 0.017 Cumulative variance explained (%) 55.838 71.69 80.987 85.664 89.267 91.766 93.66 95.138 96.325 97.237 97.863 98.428 98.876 99.252 99.517 99.68 99.811 99.911 100 Figure 2. Graphic representation of variables The first which extends to the great ecological units from the Tamesna and Aïr, already defined by the work of Duranton et al.(1982) could cover the meshes M281 to M286, M254 to M259, M278 to M279, M336 to M241, M363 to M366, M390 to M395, M416 to M422, M416 to M422, M447 to M450, M472 to M475, M499 to M450, Issoufou et al. 075 M499 to M502 and M529, which extend between 16°00' and 19°00' north and 04°30' and 10° 00' east. These zones of strong frequency could be related to the large valleys fed by rainwater from the mountains of Aïr where the vegetation could be more important (Popov, 1965; Pedgley, 1981). They could be also assimilated to gregarious areas, confirming the status of the permanent habitat of Aïr and Tamesna reported by many authors (Popov, 1958; Germaux et al., 1964; Roeffy an Popov, 1968; Uvarov, 1977; Pedgley, 1981). These areas are typically characterized by sandy and clayey soil, an annual pluviometric index lower than 200 mm and vegetation composed of many herbaceous and woody species (Popov, 1965; Germal et al, 1964). Of these plants, we can note Schouwia sp, Tribulus terrestris, Panicum tirgidum, Citrullus sp, Aerva javanica, Boerhavia coccinea, Acacia sp and Balanites aegyptiaca , which are the subject of the present study. The second area could be made of meshes M603 to M606 and M630 to M631, which extend between 15°30' and 16°30' north, and 11° and 11°30 east, and are located in Termit. According to Saadou and al. (1998) and Popov (1965), this zone crossed by isohyets 100 mm contains plants as Tribulus terrestris, Boerhavia sp, Aristida sp, Acacia sp and Maerua sp, which our study highlighted. Through this study, it arises from the matrix of correlation that the plant species having strong positive linear constraints with the three phases (solitary adults, gregarious adults and transiens adults) are Acacia sp, Aerva javanica, Boerhavia coccinea, Citrullus sp, Panicum tirgidum, Schouwia sp and Tribulus terrestris contrary to Maerua sp, Salvadoria persica and Calotropis procera, which present weak positive links. By referring to the studies of Turler (2006) and Pardoux et al. (2010) which report, that if two variable points are close to the circle and that their arrows form a weak angle, their correlation is strong, whereas it is almost null if the angle is of 90°. It thus emerges, of figure 2, that all the couples of the plant variables and locust are far away from the center and that the angles that they form between them are lower than 90°. We may thus, suppose that these variables are relatively correlated, thus corroborating the data of the matrix correlation. Apart from the confirmation of the force links, the graphic representation filters variables by showing two groups of affinities. The first on, composed of Tribulus terrestris, Schouwia sp, Citrullus sp, Aerva javanica, solitary hoppers, solitary adults, transiens adults and gregarious hoppers, is singularly dominated by grassy plants. This association could be justified by the accessibility that these types of plants, generally low, could offer to the hoppers and protection that they bring against predators and extremes temperatures. The possibility to meet hoppers in the areas of locust distribution in Niger, even in dry season, could find its justification in this association with these species. Which have the capacity to vegetate until cold season (January-February), when the rains recorded during the season is sufficient in certain Oueds of Aïr and Tamesna and in the edges of large valleys of Termit. The second group composed of gregarious adults, Acacia sp, Aristidae sp, Balanites aegyptiaca, Calotropis procera, Indigofora sp, Maerua sp, Panicum tirgidum, Salvadoria persica and Boerhavia coccinea, where woody plants mainly dominated. The preference of adults for plant tree could be explained by the fact that the mandibles of locusts are morphologically better adapted for gnawing the leaves of woody than herbaceous vegetation, and the gregarious usually fly day and night, they arise on wood (Latchininsky et al, 1997). These two tendencies affinity that our study has highlighted, corroborate the works of Ashall and Chaney (1979) and Popov (1965) out of the two food behaviors recognized with the Locust where they reported that the adults feed on plants on which they pose in the late afternoon and early morning and the hoppers feed intermittently throughout the day by walking. The common elements that these plants could lay out and who are of a great interest for the herbivores in general and the Locust in particular would be their water content, in carbohydrate, in proteins and nitrogen, like those studies reported by Mamadou (2009), Correra (2006) and Simpson (2002). These links recorded between the plant variables and Locusts which could be expressed in the forms of food, shelters or perch and from which our study comes to put forward on the data basis of locust files, corroborate the results of certain work concerning the Desert locust and his food, although they were conducted by methods different from ours. Thus according to the results of the studies undertaken by Benrima et al.(2002), the plant species mostly appreciated by the Locust belong to the families of Boraginaceae, Poacaea, Zygophyllaceae, Solanaceae and Nyctaginaceae and those which are completely forsaken belong to the families like Capparidaceae, Convolvulaceae, Mimosaceae Cucurbitaceae and Asclepiadaceae. This is in adequacy with the whole of the species that we recorded apart from Citrullus sp, which presents a strong relation with the Locust although it belongs to the family of the Cucurbitaceous. In Niger, Mamadou et al. (2009) had to study the influence of fifteen plant species on the fecundity of the Locust in his two phase’s conditions in semi-controlled habitat. From these species, Schouwia thebaica, Boerhavia coccinea, Acacia sp, Panicum turgidum and Aristida sp belong to those, which are accepting mostly by the Locust. On the other hand, Cassia sp, Aerva javanica, Citrillus colocynthis, Salvadora persica and Calotropis procera belonged to the group of the least favorable species on the genesic plant , therefore the 076 Int. Res. J. Plant Sci. least consumed by the Locust; although our observations were noted a strong correlation with Aerva javanica and Citrillus sp. For the studies of Uvarov (1977), Schouwia thebaica, Tribulus terrestris and Boerhavia repens formed also part of the principal plant species, which composed the mode of food of the hopper’s locust. According to Philippe (1991), the association of Tribulus terrestis and Boehravia repens contributes to make of a station, a preferential habitat of the Locust which although polyphageous, expresses its preference for certain plant species such as Tribulus terrestris, Schouwia purperea, Aerva javanica (Popov, 1965; Chapman and Sword, 1997). Our results confirm apparently this link between the Desert locust and these plants brought back by these authors. For the various plant species consumed by the hoppers of Locust, one can note Aerva javanica, Schouwia purpurea, Maerua crassifolia, Balanites aegypitiaca, Panicum turgidum, Boerhavia repens, Tribulus sp and Indigifora sp. Unlike Citrullus colocynthis, Calotropis procera and Aristida adscensionis rejected by the hoppers (Freiburg, 2002), although in the case of our study, the presence of Citrullus colocynthis was well correlated with Locust. Based on this observation, we can suppose that the part played by the latter could be that of a shelter. In the light of the results of our study and the works of some authors, it comes out that the plant species having privileged links with Desert Locust are none other than Acacia sp, Boerhavia sp, Panicum tirgidum, Schouwia sp Tribulus terrestris and Aerva javanica. Nevertheless the case of Citrullus sp whose link is variously appreciated deserves a special attention. These non-exhaustive results that we have just recorded subsequently consolidate the thesis according to which the Locust in his solitary phase despite its polyphagy, shows preferences which very often determine its presence on such or such other plant (Woldewahid et al., 2004; Popov, 1958), which could be used to better fight it. CONCLUSION The results of this study based on archives data of locust surveys that carried out from 1965 to 2007 in Niger, has enabled us to reinforce the major knowledge on the relationship plants-locust thanks to a Principal component analysis, notwithstanding its constraints often related to the choices of the axes and their interpretation. The importance of this relationship raised between the Locust and certain plant species mainly Boerhavia coccinea, Citrullus sp, Acacia sp, Tribulus terrestris, Schouwia and Aerva javanica, could be more consolidated by showing if this relationship depends on the preference of the food plants, their availability or other dissimulated factors. For this, studies could be conducted in areas with higher frequencies of locust and plant presence based on a phytosociological protocol adapted to enhance the results obtained from the archives. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS At the end of this study, the authors thank the Department of Vegetation Protection of Niger and the responsible of former OCLALAV offices in Dakar, Senegal for making available to them all the archives. Their thanking go also goes to the PLUCP (Emergency Project to Fight against Desert Locust) in Niger and to Agryhmet Regional Center of Niamey respectively for their financial and material support. 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