West Africa is a floristically understudied region that is facing severe environmental changes in the 21st century. Basic distribution data and information on the conservation status for most plant species of the region are scarce, and good information only exists for small areas of interest or for key species. This lack of knowledge seriously hampers urgently needed regional conservation efforts. Here we present comprehensive distribution information and preliminary, automated species conservation assessments for the flora of Burkina Faso, a country in tropical West Africa with a flora and vegetation typical for the savanna belt of the region. We documented and analysed the distribution of 1,568 species or 80% of the flora of Burkina Faso based on an expert curated dataset comprising ca. 150,000 occurrence records from herbarium specimens and vegetation surveys. We used this dataset and environmental niche models to calculate three indicator variables for a preliminary, automated conservation assessment. We classified 350 species (18% of the flora, excluding introduced species) as potentially "Critically Endangered", "Endangered", "Vulnerable" or "Near-Threatened" on the national level. The analyses confirmed species-rich areas in the south-west and south-east of the country, and showed a particular concentration of potentially Endangered species in the south. Furthermore, the proportion of potentially Endangered species differed between plant families, growth forms and habitats. Our results set the base for further plant geographical and ecological studies and are a data-driven baseline for further conservation assessments and large scale conservation strategies of the West African flora.

The West African vegetation zones from the Sahara desert to the Guinean rainforests are shaped by a steep latitudinal precipitation gradient. Their taxonomical and functional composition changes considerably along this gradient. Based on comprehensive distribution data from herbariun collections and relevés this paper presents modelled distributions of the 129 most frequent woody taxa of Burkina Faso with climatic, topographic and remote sensing parameters at a 1 km resolution as predictor variables. Subsequently we analysed this set of modelled distributions according to their functional composition. The resulting maps show clear geographical patterns for several key traits such as spinescence, plant size, flowering phenology and fruit type. The interactions between environmental factors and plant functional traits are discussed.

Termite mounds represent abundant microhabitats of high biodiversity in tropical savanna ecosystems and are an important source of landscape heterogeneity in Sub–Saharan West Africa. Floristic composition as well as density, structure and zonation of plant cover on the mounds were investigated in northern Benin and compared to the adjacent savanna vegetation. A total of 57 abandoned and densely vegetated termite mounds of comparable size and similarly affected by erosion  located  in different types of savannas inside and outside of the W National Park and in cotton fields were studied. This study revealed that termitaria are special habitats differing in density, composition and structure from surrounding savannas. The plant cover of termite mounds showed a distinctive zonation. Succulents, geophytes, and lianas were much more abundant on mounds, the family Capparaceae was found exclusively on mounds. The floristic composition and vegetation on termitaria proved to be rather homogeneous; although those mounds located in cotton fields differed by higher abundance of Poaceae and lower species richness.