http://196.220.128.81:8080/xmlui/handle/123456789/150 2026-04-27T00:01:41Z 2026-04-27T00:01:41Z OFFIAH, CHINEDU JOEVITA http://196.220.128.81:8080/xmlui/handle/123456789/5042 2022-01-11T11:36:49Z 2021-11-01T00:00:00Z

COMPARATIVE INVESTIGATION OF SOIL PHYSICAL AND CHEMICAL PROPERTIES OF DIFFERENT FOREST TYPES IN RAINFOREST ECOSYSTEM OF SOUTHWESTERN NIGERIA OFFIAH, CHINEDU JOEVITA This study was carried out to investigate soil physical and chemical properties of primary forests (Akure forest reserve and Omo biosphere reserve), degraded forests (Eda Forest reserve and degraded part (OA3) of Oluwa forest reserve), and sacred groves (Osun-Oshogbo and Idanre Hills) in rainforest ecosystem of southwestern Nigeria. Two Line transects of 1000 m each in length and separated by a distance of at least 1000 m from each other were laid approximately at the middle of each site. Temporary sample plots of 40 m × 20 m were laid at alternate sides along each transect after every 250 m interval, giving 4 plots per transect, 8 per site, and 48 for this study. Soil samples were collected at any two edges of each sample plot at four fixed depths of 0–15 cm, 15–30 cm, 30–45 cm, and 45–60 cm using a soil auger. Soil samples from similar depths in each sample plot were bulked together, and representative samples were taken to the laboratory for analysis. Soil particle size distribution was the soil physical property investigated while the chemical properties were soil pH, organic carbon, organic matter, available phosphorus, exchangeable cations, and total nitrogen. The analyses were conducted at the wet laboratory of the Department of Forestry and Wood Technology, the Federal University of Technology, Akure. The results revealed that some of the Physico-chemical properties of the soils varied significantly across the different forest types and soil depths. Generally, the soils of all the study sites were sandy and acidic, which is important for tropical rainforests to maintain soil fertility.Sand contents ranged from 60.07 % to 79.68 %. The sand contents of Akure forest reserve, Oluwa forest reserve, and Idanre Hills sacred grove decreased with an increase in soil depth while the sand contents of Eda forest reserve increased with depth. The sand contents of Omo Biosphere Reserve and Osun-Oshogbo sacred grove did not follow any discernable pattern. The clay contents of the different forest sites ranged from 9.46 % to 23.85 % while the silt contents range from 10.87 % to 18.88 %. The soils of the study sites were acidic. The pH ranged from 4.71 to 5.20 for primary forests; 5.19 to 5.39 for degraded forests and 3.84 to 5.37 for sacred groves. The availability of essential nutrients and exchangeable bases under the study sites were tolerable to supporttree growth and thus, beneficial in planning sustainable forest management. However, there were variations in the soil nutrients between the study sites. For example, organic matter content ranged from 1.75 % to 5.17 % in primary forests, 1.71 % to 2.55 % in degraded forests, and 3.23 % to 5.10 % in sacred groves. This indicates a better ability of primary forests and sacred groves to support tree growth and thus are beneficial in planning sustainable forest management. The low soil organic matter content of degraded forests limits their potential to support tree growth. However, the high concentrations of available P in the soils of the degraded forests can enhance the fertility of the soil and by extension support the growth of trees. Based on the result of this research, the addition of a relatively higher plant residue should be adopted to enhance the total N contents of the degraded forests which will, in turn, improve the soil conditions. M. TECH. Thesis

2021-11-01T00:00:00Z FALADE, OLUBANJI ISAIAH http://196.220.128.81:8080/xmlui/handle/123456789/5040 2022-01-11T11:32:44Z 2021-10-01T00:00:00Z

ABUNDANCE, DIVERSITY AND SOCIO-ECONOMIC BENEFITS OF EDIBLE WILD PLANTS IN SOME FOREST RESERVES IN SOUTH-WEST, NIGERIA FALADE, OLUBANJI ISAIAH The study investigated the abundance, diversity and socio-economic benefits of edible wild plants in some selected forest reserves in South-Western Nigeria. To achieve these, multistage sampling technique was employed for the study. At the first stage, three forest-belt States (Ondo State, Ogun State and Osun State) were purposely selected as the study areas. The second stage was a purposive selection of two forest reserves which were: Akure forest reserve and Idanre forest reserve from Ondo State, Omo forest reserve and Olokemeji forest reserve from Ogun State and Shasha forest reserve and Oke-Oni forest reserve from Osun State. At the third stage, three forest communities were purposely selected in each of the selected forest reserve. Lastly, semi-structured questionnaire which were used to obtain information from 180 household heads and 36 key informants from the entire forest communities were administered. In addition, group interviews were conducted in order to determine group consensus and define respondent’s socio-economic benefits on edible wild plant species in the study area. The selected wild plants were based on respondent’s choice. For abundance and diversity study of edible wild plants, two transects of 330 m each in length with a distance of 200 m between the two parallel transects were used in each of the study site. Eight (8) sample plots of 20 m x 20 m at 50 m interval were laid in each of the selected forest reserves. Alpha Diversity Variety Index, Species Diversity Index, Simpson’s Index and Mangalef’s Index, Shannon’s Equitability (E H ) were used to measure plant species richness, evenness, and diversity in the selected forest reserves. The results of the study showed that edible wild plants based on uses were categorized into food and ethno medicine. The plant products include highly nutritious wild fruits, wild leafy vegetables, nuts/seeds, roots, flowers and barks. The research work established that edible wild plants provide food security to the forest dwellers especially during food shortage and that the wild medicinal plants are used by the forest dwellers to prevent and cure both common sicknesses and chronic diseases in the study area. Almost all the forest dwellers collected and used edible wild plants for food security, ethno-medicine and sold to generate little income to sustain their livelihoods in the study area. The Chi-square test confirmed that age of respondents has significant association with the uses of edible wild plants in the study area. While there was no significant association between religions, gender, educational level and economic status of the respondents and uses of edible wild plants in the study area. The diversity and abundance of plant species in the study area implies that some of the edible wild plants used for food in the selected forest reserves are moderately available. But those used for medicinal purposes were abundantly available in the forest reserves. The deplorable level of forest reserves in the study area, especially Olokemeji, Oke-oni and Shasha forest reserves has contributed to the low diversity and abundance of tree plants but more herbs and shrubs. Consequently, it contributes to the high plants frequency per hectare in Shasha, Olokemeji and Oke-oni forest reserves. Concerted efforts are therefore needed to implement the applicable suggestions on conservation, collection and uses of edible wild plants to improve the life of people in the study area. M. TECH. Thesis

2021-10-01T00:00:00Z ADEBULE, AYODELE KOLAWOLE http://196.220.128.81:8080/xmlui/handle/123456789/4833 2021-10-25T11:09:41Z 2021-02-01T00:00:00Z

EVALUATION OF THE EFFECTIVENESS OF FOREST PROTECTION LAWS ON ILLEGAL FELLING ACTIVITIES IN EKITI STATE, NIGERIA ADEBULE, AYODELE KOLAWOLE This study focused on the effectiveness of forest law on felling activities in Ekiti State, Nigeria. Primary data were collected with the aid of semi-structured questionnaire. Two sets of questionnaires were used. The first set was administered on forest community dwellers and the other set was administered on forestry personnel in the State Forestry Department. For the first set of questionnaire four forest reserves in the study area were randomly selected. Forty questionnaires were administered in each four forest reserve. This makes total of one hundred and sixty questionnaires. The second set of questionnaire was administered on 10 forestry personnel in each of the selected forest reserve. Secondary data on the arrest and fine collected from forest offender were collected from Ekiti state forestry commission. The data were collected from reports and narrows and were between 2015 and 2020. The result from this study revealed that there are many illegal activities perpetrated by member of the forest community which ranged from conversion of forested land to farming. This was evident in the destruction of forest trees while some erected permanent structures inside the forest reserves. Majority of the forest dweller hunt and kill some of the wild animals and illegal logging were common. The result of the research were collated and subjected to descriptive statistics while chi-square was used to test the stated Hypotheses. The result of the Chi-Square test (p>0.05), shows that the level of education of the respondents has no significant association with their compliance with forest laws of Ekiti state. This study revealed that in all the sampled forest, respondents have no association with their compliance with forest laws.

2021-02-01T00:00:00Z OLAWALE, ADEOLA ELIZABETH http://196.220.128.81:8080/xmlui/handle/123456789/4691 2021-09-29T10:19:29Z 2015-06-01T00:00:00Z

MORPHOLOGY, USES AND PROXIMATE COMPOSITION OF Blighia sapidaK.D Koenig IN RAINFOREST AND SAVANNA AREAS OF SOUTH – WEST, NIGERIA OLAWALE, ADEOLA ELIZABETH The study was carried out to determine the morphology, uses and proximate composition of Blighia sapida, an indigenous fruit tree, in rainforest and savanna zone of Ondo, Osun and Oyo States, Nigeria.10% of the total number of local governments in each ecological zone was randomly selected. Three Blighia sapida trees were selected from each local government and their diameter, height and crown diameter were measured using girth tape, relaskop and diameter tape respectively. Thereafter, samples of matured Blighia sapida fruit were collected from the three trees and the seed weight, haul weight and length of the fruit were measured using weighing balance and venier caliper. The fruits from the three trees were polled together for analyses. Information on the uses of Blighia sapida was obtained from three communities in each local government using a well structured questionnaire. The analyses that were performed for the edible part (aril) and seed of Blighia sapida include, Analyses for proximate composition (moisture content, ash, crude protein, crude fibre, fat, carbohydrate, pH) and mineral contents (calcium, magnesium, manganese, iron, potassium, sodium, zinc).The result for the proximate composition of Blighia sapidaaril showed that it is significantly (p ≤ 0.05) higher in Oyo State in Potassium, Sodium, Calcium and moisture content with the values of (80.33±12.62), (67.33±17.80), (61.50±19.17)and (66.36±3.62) respectively. Its high deterioration is due to its high moisture content. Significant differences were observed for some of the chemical components between savanna and rainforest while some had no significant differences. The findings from this study provide information on the dependence of respondents, on the various uses of Blighia sapida as a whole or in part to meet their various needs (for food, medicine, laundry and building) across the study areas. The morphology of the ackee tree varies across the study areas thereby contributing to the variations in the fruit parameters. Blighia sapida is a good source of Vitamin A; it can be consumed for bright eyes as it was confirmed by few of the respondents interviewed and it can also be consumed by pregnant women because of its high concentration of minerals. The consumption of Blighia sapida is not detrimental to health; the morphological traits can be studies so as to devise a proper domestication strategy that will encourage the wide use of the plant as food supplements in food manufacturing companies.

2015-06-01T00:00:00Z