Woody vegetation composition and diversity in woodlands inside and outside a Forest Reserve in Jos,Nigeria

Protected areas such as forest reserves are often assumed to be best ways to conserve biodiversity and maintain intact ecosystems. We examined woody plant composition and diversity in the gallery forest and savannah woodland habitats of Amurum Forest Reserve and areas immediately surrounding it in Jos, Nigeria. A total of 100 10 × 10 m sample plots were established inside and outside the reserve. All woody plants ≥1 cm diameter at breast height (dbh) were identified and measured. A total of 7,564 individual plants categorized as 134 species from 44 families were recorded. Overall species diversity was significantly higher in the Forest Reserve than outside the reserve, although more species were encountered outside the reserve. Our findings suggest that, protected areas and the areas surrounding them are important for the conservation of biodiversity as the areas outside protected areas also contain species of conservation value. The continuous degrading areas outside protected areas isolates them and poses a serious threat to the long‐term viability of wildlife populations, so it is important that biodiversity in protected areas and their surrounding areas be conserved.     

Factors limiting plant recruitment in a tropical Afromontane Forest

Predicting how forest species composition may change in response to global change is essential for meaningful management. Which species are most likely to successfully recruit depends on a multitude of factors, but processes operating at the seed-to-seedling transition being especially important. Here, we explore how insufficient seed dispersal (dispersal limitation) and ecological filtering of seedlings (establishment limitation) influence species recruitment in an Afromontane Forest. We combined census data from seeds in seed traps and seed-seedling transition plots in a Nigerian montane forest to measure dispersal and establishment limitation across species, life history strategies, and seed sizes. From 106 seed traps and 318 seedling plots, we recorded 11,278 seeds from 38 species and 2688 seedlings of 61 species. All species except for one liana showed strong dispersal limitation while 23 out of the 30 species showed establishment limitation. The two lianas sampled had significantly lower dispersal limitation compared to the trees investigated in the study. Our results suggest that both dispersal and establishment limitation are markedly high in this Afromontane forest than would be expected in a lowland counterpart.