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Intl. J. of Mol. Ecol. and Conserv. 2012, Vol. 2, 8-14
http://ijmec.sophiapublisher.com
9
Figure 1 Map of the University of Agriculture showing the study area
Figure 2 Map of study area
of which present a good landscape for aesthetics.
There is a general drop in elevation from the eastern to
the western part towards Ogun river flood plain where
the seasonal stream network within the sitew empties
their content. Six soil series have been identified in
the area. These are Egbeda series (
Oxic paleudults
),
Asejire series (
Typic psammaquent
), Iregun series
(
Oxic ustropept
), Balogun series (
Psamentic
hapludults
), and Iwo series (
Oxic paleudalts
). The soil
is mainly sandy to sandy loam with medium depth
underlain by crystalline basement complex. The soils
have low to moderate organic matter and essential
nutrients (National Research Council (U.S.) and
Board on Science and Technology for International
Developmen, 1992).
1 Result
A hundred and eighteen (118) plant species (Table 1)
being members of fifty-three families were found to
constitute the major vegetation of the study site. The
Gramineae contain the most number of species
(nineteen) followed by Papilionaceae (nine) and
Euphorbiaceae with eight species (Table 2). The
predominance of the appearance of the species of
Gramineae and particularly Papilionaceae could be
attributed to the climatic condition, soil type and the
seed dispersal mechanism of members of the family.
Thirty-one shrub species (Table 3) were collected
indicating the modification of the vegetation to a
derived savannah ecosystem. Most of the plants
encountered have simple leaves indicative of
primitiveness as simple leaves were believed to have
evolved earlier than compound leaves (Radford et al.,
1974). Also the solitary inflorescences were observed
in most cases. Dicotyledons accounts for more than 80
percent of the ecosystem (Figure 3). Tress like
Blighia
sapida
,
Cordia milllenii
and
Daniella olliverri
etc.,
provides shades and comforts in quite many parts of
the Nature Reserve.
Figure 3 The distribution of plant species in relation to their
major plant groups
2 Discussions
The loss of many plant species as a result of human
activities is diminishing the world’s genetic resources
and is endangering man’s heritage of biodiversity.
Therefore, there is no doubt to preserve genetic
diversity including plant resources of known and
unknown economic benefit which will ensure the
availability of all potentials for sustainable use
(Olowokudejo, 1987). The exploration of economic
development and improvement of the life conditions
must consider the resource restrictions and the
situation of future generation must be considered in
terms of carrying capacity of ecosystem. It
demonstrates the importance of modern conservation.
It is obvious that because they are precious global
resource, biological diversity must be accorded, be
indexed, used sustainably and preserved well. Three
facts make it important for unprecedented urgency
particularly in West Africa. Firstly, the environmental