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Floristic Composition, Vegetation Structures and Physiognomy of a Typical Guinea Savannah: A Case Study of Minna-Bida Road, Niger State

Received: 16 August 2017    Accepted: 1 September 2017    Published: 30 September 2017
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Abstract

Vegetation studies was undertaken to assess the floristic composition of Minna-Bida road of Niger State. The project area, i.e. Minna-Bida Vegetation, is a vegetation study cutting across five local government areas, Bosso, Chanchaga, Minna, Katcha and Bida local government areas of Niger State; this region lies in the Guinea Savannah. Transect and quadrat sampling methods were used to determine the vegetation cover of the study areas; in addition, GPS was used to take the coordinates of each of the sampling sites. The result showed that a total of 38 plant species belonging to 21 families were recorded in transects surveyed and comprising of both woody and herbaceous plant species. The species floristic indices of these communities is hereby presented in Table 4. Sixteen (16) species representing about 42% of the censored species were trees, ten (10) species representing about 26% are shrubs, whereas, twelve (12) species representing about 32% were herbs. The five most abundant species across the proposed project areas at the Minna-Bida community include: Hyptis suaveolens (739 individuals), Daniella oliveri (58 individuals), Vitellaria paradoxa (35 individuals), Mangifera indica (14 individuals), and Ageratum conyzoides (160 individuals). However, five of the species that had the least abundance are: Vitex doniana (1 individual), Prosopis africana (3), Senna sp (7 individuals), Nymphaea lotus (5 individuals), Khaya senegalensis (2 individuals). The IUCN status of most of the plant species encountered during the study showed that they can be broadly classified into two conservation status; most of the plants encountered are Data Deficient (DD), were as few of them are Vulnerable (V). Sheanut tree, Utricularia, Afzelia africana, and Mahogany are vulnerable, whereas, most of the other plants are either data deficient or least concerned. It is therefore concluded that Minna-Bida road represents a typical guinea savannah due to the composition of plants encountered. The floristic composition of the project area is highly diverse in species even over a seemingly homogenous area.

Published in International Journal of Biochemistry, Biophysics & Molecular Biology (Volume 2, Issue 4)
DOI 10.11648/j.ijbbmb.20170204.11
Page(s) 22-30
Creative Commons

This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, provided the original work is properly cited.

Copyright

Copyright © The Author(s), 2024. Published by Science Publishing Group

Keywords

Vegetation, Floristic Composition, Guinea Savannah, Abundance

References
[1] S. R. Levick, G. P. Asner, T. Kennedy-Bowdoin, and D. E. Knapp, “The relative influence of fire and herbivory on savannah three dimensional vegetation structure. Biological Conservation,” 2009; vol. 142, pp. 1693-1700.
[2] G. Sarmiento, “The ecology of neotropical savannahs. Cambridge: Harvard University Press,” 1984.
[3] G. J. Martin, “Ethnobotany: A method manual. Botanic Garden, Kew. UK: Chapman and Hall press.” 1996.
[4] M. Sankaran, N. P. Hanan, R. J. Scholes, and J. Ratnam, “Determinants of woody cover in African savannah,” Nature, vol. 438(7069), pp. 846-849.
[5] C. Giri, Z. Zhu, and B. Reed, “A comparative analysis of the Global L and Cover 2000 and MODIS land cover data sets,” Remote Sensing of Environment,” 2005, vol. 94(1), pp. 123-132.
[6] Privette, J. L., Tian, Y., Roberts, G., and Scholes, R. J., (2004). Vegetation structure characteristics and relationships of Kalahari woodlands and savannahs. Global Change Biology, 10, pp. 281-291.
[7] L. E. Herber, “The Natural History of Trees” Nicolson Oxford University Press, Ibadan, 1976, pp 1.
[8] Food and Agricultural Organization [FAO], “Global Forest Resources Assessment: 2000 Main Report F. A. O Forestry paper, 140 F. A. O, Rome, 2001.
[9] W. W. Sanford, and A. O. Isichei, “Savannah. In G. W. Lawson (ed.), Plant ecology in West Africa: systems and processes Chichester: John Wiley & Sons,” 1986, pp. 95-150.
[10] N. Sokpon, T. Sinadouwirou, F. Gbaguidi, and S. H. Biaou, “Survey of the wetland forests of Benin. Belgian Journal of Botany,” 2001, vol. 134, pp.79-93.
[11] A. D. Bradshaw, and M. J. Chadwick, “The restoration of land. University of California Press, Berkeley, Calif,” 1980.
[12] W. W. Sanford, “Effects of Seasonal burning on Nigerian Savanna. Proceed MAB State of Knowledge Workshop on Nigerian Savanna, Kainji, Nigeria,” 1980.
[13] G. W. Lawson, “Plant Life in West Africa. Oxford University Press, London,” 1966, pp. 28-44.
[14] Scottish Environmental Protection Agency, “Engineering in the Water Environment Good Practice Guide: Riparian Vegetation Management,” 2009, pp 1-47.
[15] A. Jibrin, and I. A. Jaiyeoba, “Characterization of Structural Composition and Diversity of Vegetation in the Kpashimi Forest Reserve, Niger State, Nigeria,” Journal of Geography and Geology, 2013, vol. 5(3), pp. 75-87.
[16] A. D. Agbelade, and O. A. Fagbemigun, “Assessment of Incentives for Forest Biodiversity Conservation in Rainforest and Derived Savannah Vegetation Zones of Ekiti State, Nigeria,” Forest Research, 2015, vol. 4(3), 1000150.
[17] M. Zahid, K. Nasrullah, A. Shaukat, U. Atta, M. K. Shahid, “Density and Taxonomic Diversity of Understory Vegetation in Relation to Site Conditions in Natural Stands of Acacia modesta in Malakand Division, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan,” Science, Technology and Development, 2016, vol. 35(1), pp. 26-34.
[18] T. F. Daniel, “Catalog of Acanthaceae in El Salvador. Contributions from the University of Michigan Herbarium,” 2001, vol. 23, pp. 115-137.
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    Daudu Oladipupo Abdulazeez Yusuf, Abubakar Abdulhakeem, Dangana Mohammed Chatta. (2017). Floristic Composition, Vegetation Structures and Physiognomy of a Typical Guinea Savannah: A Case Study of Minna-Bida Road, Niger State. International Journal of Biochemistry, Biophysics & Molecular Biology, 2(4), 22-30. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijbbmb.20170204.11

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    Daudu Oladipupo Abdulazeez Yusuf; Abubakar Abdulhakeem; Dangana Mohammed Chatta. Floristic Composition, Vegetation Structures and Physiognomy of a Typical Guinea Savannah: A Case Study of Minna-Bida Road, Niger State. Int. J. Biochem. Biophys. Mol. Biol. 2017, 2(4), 22-30. doi: 10.11648/j.ijbbmb.20170204.11

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    Daudu Oladipupo Abdulazeez Yusuf, Abubakar Abdulhakeem, Dangana Mohammed Chatta. Floristic Composition, Vegetation Structures and Physiognomy of a Typical Guinea Savannah: A Case Study of Minna-Bida Road, Niger State. Int J Biochem Biophys Mol Biol. 2017;2(4):22-30. doi: 10.11648/j.ijbbmb.20170204.11

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  • @article{10.11648/j.ijbbmb.20170204.11,
      author = {Daudu Oladipupo Abdulazeez Yusuf and Abubakar Abdulhakeem and Dangana Mohammed Chatta},
      title = {Floristic Composition, Vegetation Structures and Physiognomy of a Typical Guinea Savannah: A Case Study of Minna-Bida Road, Niger State},
      journal = {International Journal of Biochemistry, Biophysics & Molecular Biology},
      volume = {2},
      number = {4},
      pages = {22-30},
      doi = {10.11648/j.ijbbmb.20170204.11},
      url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijbbmb.20170204.11},
      eprint = {https://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/pdf/10.11648.j.ijbbmb.20170204.11},
      abstract = {Vegetation studies was undertaken to assess the floristic composition of Minna-Bida road of Niger State. The project area, i.e. Minna-Bida Vegetation, is a vegetation study cutting across five local government areas, Bosso, Chanchaga, Minna, Katcha and Bida local government areas of Niger State; this region lies in the Guinea Savannah. Transect and quadrat sampling methods were used to determine the vegetation cover of the study areas; in addition, GPS was used to take the coordinates of each of the sampling sites. The result showed that a total of 38 plant species belonging to 21 families were recorded in transects surveyed and comprising of both woody and herbaceous plant species. The species floristic indices of these communities is hereby presented in Table 4. Sixteen (16) species representing about 42% of the censored species were trees, ten (10) species representing about 26% are shrubs, whereas, twelve (12) species representing about 32% were herbs. The five most abundant species across the proposed project areas at the Minna-Bida community include: Hyptis suaveolens (739 individuals), Daniella oliveri (58 individuals), Vitellaria paradoxa (35 individuals), Mangifera indica (14 individuals), and Ageratum conyzoides (160 individuals). However, five of the species that had the least abundance are: Vitex doniana (1 individual), Prosopis africana (3), Senna sp (7 individuals), Nymphaea lotus (5 individuals), Khaya senegalensis (2 individuals). The IUCN status of most of the plant species encountered during the study showed that they can be broadly classified into two conservation status; most of the plants encountered are Data Deficient (DD), were as few of them are Vulnerable (V). Sheanut tree, Utricularia, Afzelia africana, and Mahogany are vulnerable, whereas, most of the other plants are either data deficient or least concerned. It is therefore concluded that Minna-Bida road represents a typical guinea savannah due to the composition of plants encountered. The floristic composition of the project area is highly diverse in species even over a seemingly homogenous area.},
     year = {2017}
    }
    

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  • TY  - JOUR
    T1  - Floristic Composition, Vegetation Structures and Physiognomy of a Typical Guinea Savannah: A Case Study of Minna-Bida Road, Niger State
    AU  - Daudu Oladipupo Abdulazeez Yusuf
    AU  - Abubakar Abdulhakeem
    AU  - Dangana Mohammed Chatta
    Y1  - 2017/09/30
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    DO  - 10.11648/j.ijbbmb.20170204.11
    T2  - International Journal of Biochemistry, Biophysics & Molecular Biology
    JF  - International Journal of Biochemistry, Biophysics & Molecular Biology
    JO  - International Journal of Biochemistry, Biophysics & Molecular Biology
    SP  - 22
    EP  - 30
    PB  - Science Publishing Group
    SN  - 2575-5862
    UR  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijbbmb.20170204.11
    AB  - Vegetation studies was undertaken to assess the floristic composition of Minna-Bida road of Niger State. The project area, i.e. Minna-Bida Vegetation, is a vegetation study cutting across five local government areas, Bosso, Chanchaga, Minna, Katcha and Bida local government areas of Niger State; this region lies in the Guinea Savannah. Transect and quadrat sampling methods were used to determine the vegetation cover of the study areas; in addition, GPS was used to take the coordinates of each of the sampling sites. The result showed that a total of 38 plant species belonging to 21 families were recorded in transects surveyed and comprising of both woody and herbaceous plant species. The species floristic indices of these communities is hereby presented in Table 4. Sixteen (16) species representing about 42% of the censored species were trees, ten (10) species representing about 26% are shrubs, whereas, twelve (12) species representing about 32% were herbs. The five most abundant species across the proposed project areas at the Minna-Bida community include: Hyptis suaveolens (739 individuals), Daniella oliveri (58 individuals), Vitellaria paradoxa (35 individuals), Mangifera indica (14 individuals), and Ageratum conyzoides (160 individuals). However, five of the species that had the least abundance are: Vitex doniana (1 individual), Prosopis africana (3), Senna sp (7 individuals), Nymphaea lotus (5 individuals), Khaya senegalensis (2 individuals). The IUCN status of most of the plant species encountered during the study showed that they can be broadly classified into two conservation status; most of the plants encountered are Data Deficient (DD), were as few of them are Vulnerable (V). Sheanut tree, Utricularia, Afzelia africana, and Mahogany are vulnerable, whereas, most of the other plants are either data deficient or least concerned. It is therefore concluded that Minna-Bida road represents a typical guinea savannah due to the composition of plants encountered. The floristic composition of the project area is highly diverse in species even over a seemingly homogenous area.
    VL  - 2
    IS  - 4
    ER  - 

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Author Information
  • Department of Biological Sciences, Federal University of Technology, Minna, Nigeria

  • Department of Biological Sciences, Federal University of Technology, Minna, Nigeria

  • Department of Biological Sciences, Federal University of Technology, Minna, Nigeria

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