International Journal of Mol. Ecol. and Conserv 2015, Vol.5, No.5, 1-6
1
Research Report Open Access
Population Density and Diversity of Plants Species in Ikot Efre Itak Community
Forest, Akwa Ibom State, Nigeria
I.U. Nelson
1
, U. I. Udoakpan
2
, D.E. Jacob
2
1. Biodiversity Preservation Center, Uyo, Nigeria
2. Forestry and Wildlife Department, University of Uyo, Nigeria
Corresponding author email: Email
International Journal of Mol. Ecol. and Conserv, 2015, Vol.5, No.5 doi: 10.5376/ijmec.2015.05.0005
Received: 02 Mar., 2015
Accepted: 13 Apr., 2015
Published: 06 May., 2015
Copyright
©
2015 Nelson et al., This is an open access article published under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted
use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
Preferred citation for this article:
Nelson et al., 2015, Population Density and Diversity of Plants Species in Ikot Efre Itak Community Forest, Akwa Ibom State, Nigeria, International Journal of
Mol. Ecol. and Conserv, Vol.5, No.5 1
-
6 (doi
Abstract
This study was aimed at assessing the diversity and population of plants species in Ikot Efre Itak Community forest in
Nigeria. A total of 59 plant species were identified in the study area comprising 33 tree species, 12 shrub, 7 herbs, 34 climbers and 3
palms species.
Mimusops heckelii
and
Canarium schweinfurthii,
had the highest tree population density of 16 and 12 individual/0.6
ha respectively, all other tree species has a density of less than 10 individual/ha. In the shrub category,
Bambusia vulgaris
had the
highest shrub population density with 31 individual/0.6 ha. Also,
Costus afar
and
Hippocratea africana
had the highest density of
53/0.6 ha and 11/0.6 ha respectively in the herb category. The result further shows that
Ancistrophyllum secondiflorum
had the
highest population density of 23 in the palm category. Given the high rate of forest destruction in the country, there is need for to
ensure sustainable conservation of the forest area to avoid further destruction by provision of alternative means of livelihood for the
local population to reduce their dependence on these forest.
Keywords
Population density; Diversity; Rainforest; Akwa Ibom; Nigeria
Introduction
A forest is a natural resource of multiple values,
oftentimes, estimated from the stand point of
population density or standing volume of timber
tree species present, while ignoring the more
valuable non
-
timber species (Udo et al., 2009). The
Nigerian forest is predominantly a rainforest
occupying only 9.7% (95 372 km
2
) of the country’s
land area of 983 213 km
2
(Onyekwelu et al., 2005).
The tropical rainforest is the most biologically
diverse terrestrial ecosystem on earth (Jacob, 2012).
It is also a complex community whose framework is
provided by trees of many sizes, form and species.
Trees are often the most conspicuous plant life form
in a tropical rain forest. Upon the framework of
these trees and within the microclimate of the
canopy of the trees, grow a wide range of other
kinds of plants such as epiphytes, strangling plants,
climbers, parasitic and saprophytes. Unfortunately,
only a fragment of the country’s tropical rainforest
(21% of the rainforest ecosystem and 2% of the
country’s land mass) has been constituted into forest
reserves (Udo et al., 2009).
Nigeria has one of the highest rates of deforestation
(3.3 percent/year) in the world (Sodhi et al., 2004).
Between 1990 and 2000, the country has lost some 6.1
million hectares or 35.7 percent of its original forest
covers. Currently, since 2000 Nigeria has been losing
an average of 11 percent of its primary forests per
year—doubles the rate of the 1990s (Mongabey.org).
These figures give Nigeria the dubious distinction of
having the highest deforestation rate of natural forest
on the planet, consequently our pristine ecosystems
have been significantly altered (Turner, 2001) with
severe consequences on biodiversity, soil and climate
(Udofia et al., 2011)
The need to conserve the remaining areas of tropical
rainforest cannot be over emphasized given the high
rate of forest destruction, degradation and
fragmentation threatening the survival of both fauna
and flora species in the country. As efforts are geared
towards preventing the utter destruction of our
ecosystem and ensuring the conservation of its rich
biodiversity, adequate quantitative and qualitative
ecological data of the flora and fauna species is
