Autoecology seeks to explain how, or to what extent species are regulated in nature, why some are common, others, rare, and why some remain relatively rare over many consecutive generations. Timber and non-timber resources have suffered serious decline due to unregulated exploitation. More than 11million hectares of mature tropical forest are converted into agricultural, pasturelands, and other land uses every year threatening the existence of species of ethnoforestry importance such as Ricinodendron heudelotii. Two sites of land were demarcated in Agulli Forest Reserve, Menchum Division of Cameroon. Each site had 20 subplots of 20 m x 25 m, mapped out systematically. This study aimed to investigate the stem density (D), frequency (F), cover (C), and the regeneration potential (RP) of Ricinodendron heudelotii. The t-test was carried out to determine the differences for independent variables of each site. D, F, C and RP for Ricinodendron tree stands at both sites were not significantly (p>0.05) different.
This work investigated the effects of seed provenance and growth media on the growth performance of Vitellaria paradoxa C.F. Gaertn. Seeds were extracted from fresh fruits collected from Eruwa, Saki and New-Bussa and sown into six media in black polythene pots: top soil + sawdust (1:1); river sand + top soil (1:1); river sand + sawdust (1:1); top soil only; sawdust only and river sand. The experiment was 3 x 6 factorial laid in a Completely Randomized Design. Germination, seedling height, collar diameter, number of leaves and leaf area were evaluated. Data collected were subjected to Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) at p<0.05). Seeds from New-Bussa sown on river sand + top soil (1:1) had the highest germination percentage (92%) while the seeds from Saki sown on top soil only had the least of 74.7%. River sand + top soil medium had the longest seedling growth with 5.41 cm; also rated second in collar diameter (4.07 mm) and leaf area index (47.95 cm2). Thus, top soil based medium, especially river sand + top soil is recommended for good growth performance of this species collected from any of the three provenances.Keywords: Pseudo–radicle, germination, seed source, seedling vigour, traits.
This study was aimed at investigating the field capacity of three sacred forest soils of the West Region of Cameroon and their effect on the germination potential and early plant growth characteristics of fresh and dried seeds of Aframomum melegueta. Sample soils were collected from Bamendjo (BO), Bamendjinda (BA), and Mbing Mekoup (MB) sacred forest areas. Each area was divided into three location sites 1, 2 and 3 and each of the sites was made up of 3 collection points (P1, P2, and P3). The field capacity (FC) of each site was determined before the planting of the seeds. For each collection site, the soil of a collection point was randomly chosen to form two groups with five replicates each. In each pot, 10 fresh seeds and 10 dried seeds were planted respectively and monitored for germination. Measurements for seedling growth were spread over 14 weeks. Results showed that the field capacity (FC) of BO (71.18%) and of BA (68.64%) were significantly different from those of MB (51.66%). The germinating percentages of the seeds were very high in the soils of BO (76. 67%) and BA (61. 33%) as compared to those of MB (48%). The latent period of the seeds was longer in the soils of MB (12 days) and shorter in the soil of BO (7 days). The average height of the plants in the soils of BO (6. 75 cm) and BA (6. 05 cm) were greater than those of the plants in the soils of MB (4.61 cm). The number of leaves of the plants of BO (4), BA (4) and MB (4) were not significantly different. The leaf surface area was higher in BO (10.43 cm²) and BA (8, 30 cm²) as compared to that of MB (5. 37 cm²). This study has shown that the FC of the soils of the sacred forests of BO and BA positively affected the germination percentage and the latent period of the fresh seeds; the leaf surface area and the heights of young plants. Meanwhile, the germination rates of the fresh seeds and A. melegueta dried seeds were not affected by the FC of the soils.
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