Human pressure on forest resources in southern Benin has led to a dramatic reduction and disturbance
of natural forest patches. The largest remaining forest reserve in southern Benin is the Lama forest, which is known
to be a reserve for many endangered species and situated in the boundary between dry forest and savanna. From
cluster analysis and hierarchical classification of tree species composition, five forest types were identified in the Lama
forest, and ordination techniques were used to determine to what extent these forest types were associated with
physiognomic tree characteristics. The geographical position of vegetation plots was used to examine the spatial
distribution of the identified forest types. The forest types were interpreted as levels in a successional sequence ranging
from either disturbed forest or formerly cultivated farmland to dense forest. Based on the outlined succession sequence
it was suggested that reforestation should focus on establishment of Anogeissus leiocarpus, Albizia zygia, Lannea
nigritana, Ficus exasperata and Lonchocarpus sericeus as these tree species are associated with the initial forest types.