Abstract
This study was carried out to examine the tree species diversity and abundance in a natural forest ecosystem in the Southwestern region of Nigeria. Data were collected from a four equal size sampling plot of 50×50m in a permanent sample plot section of Akure Forest Reserve. All living trees with DBH ≥ 10cm were measured and identified. A total of 956 trees were encountered. These trees were from 42 genera and 20 families. Celtis zenkeri belonging to the family of Ulmaceae was the species with the highest population distribution while Sterculiaceae was the dominant family in the study area. The Shannon-Wiener Diversity Index (Hˈ) of 3.196 and species evenness of 0.84 were obtained from the study area. The high values of diversity indices obtained indicated that the forest is rich in biodiversity and hence should be protected from any forms of disturbance to enhance sustainability as well as protect the rare species in it from going into extinction.
Highlights
This study was carried out to examine the tree species diversity and abundance in a natural forest ecosystem in the Southwestern region of Nigeria
This study was carried out in the Akure Forest Reserve, Ondo State, Nigeria to know the status of the forest reserve in terms of species diversities and abundance
The results of this study showed the level of plant species diversity, richness and distribution in a typical tropical rainforest ecosystem in southwestern Nigeria
Summary
The Study Area: This study was carried out in the Akure Forest Reserve Ondo State, Nigeria (Fig 1) It covers an area of about 32 hectares (Adeduntan and Olusola 2013). It is geographically located in a humid rainforest zone of Akure South Local government area of Ondo State, Nigeria. The following biodiversity indices were used to obtain tree species: richness and evenness within the forest. Based on the result a total number of two hundred and thirty-nine (239) individual trees were recorded with 42 genera from 20 different families were identified in the study area. For species abundance/ha, Sterculiaceae family has the highest value of 208 followed by Ulmaceae (172) and next to it is Apocynaceae (120) while the least (8) species abundance/ha was recorded for Caesalpinioidae, Cecropiaceae, Papilionaceae and Sapindaceae
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