Abstract
The floristic composition and structural diversity were studied in two plots, 25 m x 25 m each, in three different sites of varying vegetation physiognomy: Taungya system, Regrowth forest and Gmelina arborea plantation (TS, RF and GA respectively) of Shasha forest reserve in Ile- Ife southwestern Nigeria. A total of 119 plant species belonging to 51 families and 100 genera were identified in the forest reserve. Woody species represented the most diverse life form. Plant species diversity was higher in the GA (H'=3.5) compared to the RF (H'=3.4) and TS (H'=2.9). Woody plant species density also differed significantly (p < 0.05) among the different physiognomy. Mean basal area and mean girth size were higher in RF compared to TS and GA. Species evenness was also quantitatively higher in the TS (E=0.12) compared to RF (E=0.09) and GA (E=0.08). Sorensen index of similarity were 12.12% (TS and RF), 19.71% (TS and GA) and 20.20% (RF and GA), which is an indication of the heterogeneity of the three different sites, as a result of different management systems of the sites. The knowledge about species composition in the forest reserve will go a long way in identifying important elements of plant diversity, protecting and preserving threatened plant species, monitoring and providing effective management of the forest reserve.
Highlights
Worldwide the degradation, fragmentation and conversion of forest ecosystems is progressing rapidly (Abramovitz, 1998)
Knowledge of the floristic composition and structure of forest reserves is critical to understanding the greater dynamics of forest ecosystems and for identifying important elements of plant diversity, protecting threatened or economic species and monitoring the state of reserves, and it is with this data that management practices can be applied
The study was carried out in three distinct study sites, namely a Taungya system (TS), cultivated site consisting of arable crops and woody species- a natural Regrowth forest (RF) and a mono-culture plantation of Gmelina arborea (GA), which were all selected from the forest reserve based on their physiognomy
Summary
Fragmentation and conversion of forest ecosystems is progressing rapidly (Abramovitz, 1998). Habitat destruction is the main cause of the biodiversity loss. Habitats can either disappear completely or they may be degraded and/or fragmented, both causing serious impacts on species development, as well as lack of balance between ecosystems’ processes (Raghubanshi and Tripathi, 2009). Many forests persist as forest fragments and there is a growing interest in quantifying habitat characteristics such as forest structure, floristic composition and plant species richness in intact and degraded forest fragments and forest landscapes (Bierregaard et al, 1992; Myers et al, 2000). Knowledge of the floristic composition and structure of forest reserves is critical to understanding the greater dynamics of forest ecosystems and for identifying important elements of plant diversity, protecting threatened or economic species and monitoring the state of reserves, and it is with this data that management practices can be applied. The study of floristic composition and structure of tropical forest becomes more imperative in the face of ever increasing threat to the forest ecosystem
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