Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-7cvxr Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-24T19:18:35.555Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Soil–plant relations in a natural forest inviolate plot at Akure, Nigeria

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  10 July 2009

B. A. Ola-Adams
Affiliation:
Forest Research Institute of Nigeria, PMB 5054, Ibadan, Oyo State, Nigeria
John B. Hall
Affiliation:
Department of Forestry and Wood Science, UCNW, Bangor, Gwynedd LL57 2UW, UK

Abstract

To up-date and extend knowledge of the Akure Strict Natural Reserve an assessment, block by block, of forest in the core of the Inviolate Plot was undertaken in 1974 and complemented with soil sampling. Principal components analysis indicated a gradient of soil reaction and available phosphorus through the core of the plot. Ordination (DECORANA) of floristic data revealed that a floristic trend paralleled the soil trend. In the vicinity of a drainage line, at the western end of the core, soils were lower in available phosphorus, more acid, sandier and texturally more uniform with depth. Typical trees of ferralsols were prominent on these soils but were replaced by species of ferric luvisols, especially members of the Sterculiaceae, on soils of superior nutrient status towards the eastern end. It is suggested that the soil gradients were not effects produced by the trees.

Comparison of a 1946 data set with the 1974 data supported the view that the forest had been structurally and floristically stable over the interval between assessments. This is considered justification of the original choice of the area as a Strict Natural Reserve representative of high forest in this part of Nigeria.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1987

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

LITERATURE CITED

Ahn, P. M. 1970. West African soils. Oxford University Press, London. 332 pp.Google Scholar
Ashton, P. S. 1964. Ecological studies in the mixed Dipterocarp forests of Brunei State. Oxford Forestry Memoirs 25:175.Google Scholar
Austin, M. P., Ashton, P. S. & Greig-Smith, P. 1972. The application of quantitative methods to vegetation survey. III. A re-examination of rain forest data from Brunei. Journal of Ecology 60:305324.Google Scholar
Brunig, E. F. 1976. Classifying for mapping of kerangas and peatswamp forest as examples of primary forest types in Sarawak (Borneo). Pp. 57–75 in Ashton, P. & Ashton, M. (eds). The classification and mapping of Southeast Asian ecosystems. University of Hull Department of Geography Miscellaneous Series 17, Hull. 103 pages.Google Scholar
Charter, J. R. 1968. Nigeria. Acta Phytogeographica Suecica 54:9194.Google Scholar
Dessauvagie, T. F. J. 1975. Explanatory notes to the geological map of Nigeria, 1:1 000 000. Journal of Mining & Geology 9:328.Google Scholar
FAO-UNESCO 1977. Soil map of the world, 1:5000000, vol VI. Africa. UNESCO, Paris. 299 pp.Google Scholar
Gartlan, J. S., Newbery, D. M., Thomas, D. W. & Waterman, P. G. 1986. The influence of topography and soil phosphorus on the vegetation of Korup Forest Reserve, Cameroun. Vegetatio 65:131148.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hall, J. B. & Swaine, M. D. 1981. Distribution and ecology of vascular plants in a tropical rainforest. Junk, The Hague. 383 pp.Google Scholar
Hall, John B. 1977. Forest types of Nigeria: an analysis of pre-exploitation forest enumeration data. Journal of Ecology 65:187199.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hawkins, P. & Brunt, M. 1965. The soils and ecology of West Cameroun. FAO, Rome. 516 pp.Google Scholar
Hill, M. O. 1979. DECORANA – a FORTRAN programme for detrended correspondence analysis and reciprocal averaging. Ecology & Systematics, Cornell University Press, Ithaca. 52 pp.Google Scholar
Hutchinson, J. & Dalziel, J. M. 1954–1972. Flora of West Tropical Africa. 2nd edition. Crown Agents, London. 828, 544 and 574 pp.Google Scholar
Jones, A. P. D. 1948. The natural forest inviolate plot, Akure Forest Reserve, Ondo Province, Nigeria. Nigerian Forest Department, Ibadan. 33 pp.Google Scholar
Keay, R. W. J. 1959. An outline of Nigerian vegetation, 3rd edition. Federal Ministry of Information, Lagos. 46 pp.Google Scholar
Kio, P. R. O. 1978. Stand development in naturally regenerated forest in south-western Nigeria. Unpublished Ph.D. thesis, University of Ibadan, Ibadan. 594 pp.Google Scholar
Lawton, R. M. 1978. The management and regeneration of some Nigerian high forest ecosystems. UNESCO Natural Resources Research Series 14:580588.Google Scholar
Loetsch, F., ZÖhrer, F. & Haller, K. E. 1973. Forest inventory, vol 2. BLV, Munich. 469 pp.Google Scholar
Myers, N. 1983. Conversion rates in tropical moist forests. Pp. 289–300 in Golley, F. B. (ed.). Tropical rain forest systems. Elsevier, Amsterdam. 381 pp.Google Scholar
Newbery, D. M. & Proctor, J. 1984. Ecological studies in four contrasting lowland rain forests in Gunung Mulu National Park, Sarawak. IV. Associations between tree distribution and soil factors. Journal of Ecology 72:475493.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Newbery, D. M., Gartlan, J. S., Mckey, D. B. & Waterman, P. G. 1986. The influence of drainage and soil phosphorus on the vegetation of Douala-Edea Forest Reserve, Cameroun. Vegetatio 65:149162.Google Scholar
Ola-Adams, B. A. & Iyamabo, D. E. 1977. Conservation of natural vegetation in Nigeria. Environmental Conservation 4:217&226.Google Scholar
Onweluzo, B. S. K. & Aluko, M. A. 1977. Manual of soil analytical methods. Forestry Research Institute of Nigeria Technical Note 46:140.Google Scholar
Smyth, A. J. & Montgomery, R. F. 1962. Soils and land use in central Western Nigeria. Government Printer, Ibadan. 265 pp.Google Scholar
Sneath, P. H. A. & Sokal, R. R. 1973. Numerical taxonomy: the principles and practice of numerical classification. Freeman, San Francisco. 573 pp.Google Scholar
Thornthwaite, C. W. 1948. An approach toward a rational classification of climate. Geographical Review 38:5594.Google Scholar
Whitmore, T. C. 1975. Tropical rain forests of the Far East. Oxford University Press, Oxford. 281 pp.Google Scholar