ABSTRACT
The study of rural land use in geography has hitherto been largely characterized by a morphological approach to the phenomena involved, in which the individual facets have been viewed as elements of ‘landscape’ possessing readily observable properties which have agricultural significance. The land-use pattern is an expression of the agricultural system, representing the interaction between ecological and economic factors in which the vital link is the decision-maker, namely the farmer. It is not easy, in the context of tropical African conditions, to separate the plant component of the ecosystem from the soil component. Nor is it a simple matter, in many areas, to distinguish it from the animal component. Although the mangrove vegetation is not related to that of the closed forest zone, in extensive areas of the coastal belt, especially in West Africa, it is a significant ecological unit characterized by its adaptation to saline conditions.
