Greener Journal of Agricultural Sciences

Greener Journal of  Agricultural Sciences Vol. 3 (1), pp.001-005, January 2013

 ISSN: 2276-7770 

Research Paper

Manuscript Number:110512225

DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.15580/GJAS.2013.1.110512225

 

Evaluation of Vegetation Types and Utilization in Wildlife Park of the University Of Agriculture Makurdi, Nigeria

           

Tyowua B.T^1*, Agbelusi   E.A ²  and Dera B.A³

 

¹Department of Wildlife and Range Management, University of Agriculture, Makurdi.

(bterungwa @ yahoo.com)

²Department of Wildlife and Ecotourism, Federal University of Technology, Akure.

³Department of Forest Production and Products, Federal University of Agriculture, Makurdi.

 

*Corresponding Author’s Email: bterungwa @ yahoo.com

Abstract: 

The vegetation types in the Wildlife Park of the University of Agriculture, Makurdi was evaluated to determine its plant species composition and percentage distribution, structure in terms of diameter at breast height (DBH) and utilization level. The point- centered quarter method (PCQ) and step-point line technique (SPLT) were used in the survey. There were 31 woody plants species in the park. The common species in the woodland vegetation type were Daniellia oliveri (14.17%), Vitex doniana (12.00%), Khaya senegalensis (9.33%), while in the Riparian vegetation, Vitex doniana (17.00%) was the prominent species. Acacia polyacantha (24.00%), Combretum molle (23.00%) and Prosopis africana (31.00%) were the commonest species in the Grassland vegetation. Syzigium guineense, Diospyros mespiliformis and Elaeis guineense occurred only in the Riparian Vegetation. The result on structure revealed that DBH class> 100 cm had the highest number of woody plants in the Riparian vegetation and was significantly (P<0.05) different from the Woodland and Grassland vegetation types. For DBH 1-10cm, the woodland was significantly different (P<0.05) from the Riparian and Grassland vegetations. The results of plant utilization level by wild animals showed that 15 plant species were utilized: 3 highly, 6 moderately and 6 lightly.
 
Keywords: Vegetation types, Wildlife Park

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