Caracterização do povoamento do imbondeiro (Adansonia digitata), na comuna de Catengue, município de Caimbambo, província de Benguela

The general objective of this work was to characterize the population of the baobab tree in the commune of Catengue, municipality of Caimbambo, province of Benguela. comprised the descriptive method, based on the description of the population's behavior in relation to the treatment of the baobab population, and the quantitative method based on the sampling technique in plots made based on a sample area of 30 km2, representing 33.3% of the total area studied, which corresponds to approximately 90 km2. 10 random sampling plots and 20 systematic sampling plots were installed, totaling 30 1ha plots. The interview with the Communal Administrator of Catengue, with the Head of the Agrarian Development Stations, with the leader of the traditional authorities (governor) and the bibliographical review, served to achieve the objectives. The data were statistically treated with the help of the Excell software from the Microsoft Office student 2013 package, which was used to construct bar and scatter graphs, calculate the similarity index and phytosociological parameters. The results indicate a population of 226 adult plants and 12 young plants in the systematic plot “I”, 205 adult plants and 145 young plants in the systematic plot “II” and 61 adult plants and 313 young plants in the random plot, mirroring the decrease in baobab plants as the altitude increases, the number of adult plants decreases from East to West, increasing the number of young plants in this direction. The increase in the local population, the extension of urban areas, cultivated areas and uncontrolled logging contribute to the destruction of the baobab habitat.