Environmental factors and pattern of riparian vegetation along the downstream sections of the Lower Ogun River, Nigeria

Abstract

The River Continuum Concept (RCC) is an existing theory regarding the distribution of plant communities along riverbanks. This study is concerned with the pattern of riparian vegetation along the Lower Ogun River (LOR) in relation to the observed downstream variation of various environmental factors (bank height, width, gradient, distance, cross‐sectional area and particle size). The LOR transits between undisturbed and disturbed sections. Forty‐eight cross sections were established at bankfull stage along the river channel stretch of about 90 km. Environmental variables distribution were determined using standard field procedures. Gradient was estimated from a 1:50 000 topographical map. At each corridor along the study sites, a 0.1 ha sampling site was chosen, in which 10 transects of 100 m2 were demarcated. In all, 332 individuals stratified under 80 species were recorded across the transects. The study revealed that total species richness (TSR) downstream decreases exponentially. TSR is significantly correlated with channel width, suggesting that hydraulic variable contributes more to the variation in TSR. The downstream total environmental factors revealed that width is inversely significant with downstream distance, suggesting that the river channel is narrower downstream. This affects plant life form distribution downstream and confirms why there is appearance of anthropogenic induced species downstream as against those in the upper course.