ECOLOGICAL LANDSCAPE ANALYSIS OF SAVANNA WOODLAND AREA IN NIGER STATE, NIGERIA.

Jibrin Abdullahi

There is widespread concern that landscape ecology of savannah woodlands are poorly understood particularly in sub-Saharan Africa. Climate change mitigation concerns and sustainable conservation necessitates a sound understanding of savannah woodlands spatial heterogeneity. The aim of this study is to examine the appearance and patterns of savannah woodland ecological landscape in Niger State. A forest reserve and adjoining parkland area were used as study sites. Field survey method involving inventory and biometric/morphometric measurement techniques were employed for data collection. The structural variables (Tree Height, Girth, Diameter at Breast Height- dbh, Basal Area, Crown cover, Shrub cover, Grass cover) and composition variables (Tree Density, Species per plot, Species richness and Diversity) were analysed. Findings revealed that the plant community structure exhibit variability in pattern among virtually all the parameters. The results also portray that the forest reserve plant community structure parameters exhibited downward skewness and more dispersion in mid values; while the parkland exhibits almost symmetric data set with equal dispersion. Further, all measures of plant community composition in the study area suggest a heterogeneous spatial distribution of species both in the forest reserve and parkland. The observed heterogeneity was partly due to deforestation and forest degradation which could enhance atmospheric carbon concentration. The study thus recommends adoption of carbon offset projects in the study area for effective conservation of the ecological landscape and enhancement of carbon sink.

Key words: Ecology, Landscape, Heterogeneity, Parkland, Savanna woodland.