Agricultural colonisation and floristic degradation in Nigeria's rainforest ecosystem

Abstract

This paper attempts to characterise the common tree species that are now found in the tropical rainforest belt of Nigeria. The occurrence of species present in at least 10 percent of the quadrats studied were generated from field data. Simple correlation analyses were used to examine the strength of relationships among the species in the data sets. The results show that the nature and intensity of agricultural activities have influenced the types of floristic association found within different areas of the region. The ecological grouping of the species in the region shows distinct areas where regressive succession has led to floristic degradation of the rainforest belt.