Validation of herbaceous biomass assessment model for sahelian rangelands (biomasah) in Niger.

This study was carried out in the pastoral zone of Niger with the aim of validating outputs of the
BIOMASAH model developed by the AGRHYMET Regional Centre (ARC) relative to real data
collected over the 2001-2011 period by the Ministry Livestock and Animal Industries (MEIA) of Niger. We used parametric tests (t-tests) and nonparametric tests (Wilcoxon and sign tests) for mean comparisons. A correlation analysis was performed by calculating Pearson’s r, Spearman’s ρ, Kendall’s T and Hoeffding’s D correlation coefficients. The results showed that the BIOMASAH model generally overestimated biomass (983.17 vs. 591.17 kg/ha) with a highly significant difference relative to the field findings (P <.0001). Pearson’s r (0.15), Spearman’sρ (0.22) Kendall’s T (0.13) and Hoeffding’s D (0.1) correlation coefficients were low but highly significant (p <.0001). Grazing pressure and spatiotemporal variability of rainfall helped explain the noted differences.