ASSESSMENT OF TREE SPECIES DENSITY AND STRUCTURE IN GANGUME FOREST RESERVE BALI LOCAL GOVERNMENT AREA TARABA STATE, NIGERIA

Abstract

Taraba State is one of the states in Nigeria that produce high quality timber. A study to determine the density and stands structure of Gangume Forest Reserve was carried out in Bali Local Government Area of Taraba State, Nigeria. Twenty hectare plots were lay out in the forest and each plot was re-demarcated into four equal sizes of 50m x 50m and one was randomly selected for enumeration. A total of 592 tree species were enumerated belonging to 17 families. The data were analyzed using frequency, percentage, density, basal area, diameter (dbh), and total height of the tree species. The result of the study revealed that the average density was 118 trees/ha, total basal area was 18.2918m2 with an average of 0.91459m2/ha and the diameter distribution revealed that majority (152) 26.0% of the trees falls into diameter class of 20-29cm, followed by 10-19cm (102) 17-2%, and 30-39cm (101) 17.0%. The density was more in the lower DBH from 10cm to 39cm accounting for a total of 380 (64.1) trees in the forest. Four stratum of tree species population structures were identified with the intermediate strata with the highest (201) 33.9% population of trees, followed by the co-dominant with (199) 33.6%, ground floor with (192) 32.4% and the dominant/emergent with only (10) 1.6% population of trees. There is high human activities in the forest despite the fact that the forest has good reproduction and ability of regeneration. The forest should be left undisturbed to regenerate naturally.