Occurrence and ecological habitat effect on Vitellaria paradoxa (C. F. Gaertn.) parasitism: implication for pest management and plant conservation

This study determines the prevalence of shea butter tree attack by the African mistletoe and stem borers, explores statistical relationship between prevalence, land use and tree morphological traits. In a the Bohicon shea parklands in Benin, a total of 258 shea butter trees was examined and measured in ten inventory plots in fallows, ten inventories plot in savannah, and ten inventory plots in cropped fields (Agroforestry systems). The classic inference was used to estimate the prevalence of shea trees attacks and Generalized Linear Models (GLMs) of the Binomial and Beta families were used, respectively, to model the relationship between the morphological traits and the attack risk, and the relationship between the land uses and the prevalence. The overall prevalence of pest attack in shea butter trees was 28.7% (CI = 23.3–34.7%), with a prevalence of African mistletoe of 24.8% (CI = 19.7–30.5%) and stem borers had attacked 6.2% (CI = 3.6–9.9%). These prevalence rates are lower than what has been reported from other sites before. Ecology; Estimation; Pest management; Shea trees; Stem borers; Tapinanthus sp.