Présentation du milieu et du programme de travail

Overview & Synopsis

The Lamto ecological field-station was established in 1961, near the Bandama river, at the edge of the Ivory Coast rain forest. The environment is described. The average daily tem perature ranges from 24 to 30° C during the dry season and from 25 to 28° C during the rains. The annual rainfall varies from 1,078 mm to 1,657 mm according to the years ; two dry seasons occur, the long one from November to March and a short one in August. Gallery forests are found along the Bandama river and its tributaries ; elsewhere the open savanna is interspersed with numerous Borassus palms. During the dry season (mainly in January) the grasses are burnt by bush fires. To permit com parative studies of unburnt and burnt grasslands, fires are pre vented in a study area around the station.