Tree Species Richness, Diversity, and Vegetation Index for Federal Capital Territory, Abuja, Nigeria

Agbelade, A. D.; Onyekwelu, Jonathan C.; Oyun, Matthew B.

doi:10.1155/2017/4549756

Cited by 32 publications

(38 citation statements)

References 22 publications

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“…Similarly, within the campus of the Valley View University, near Accra, 108 plant species in 51 families were recorded, of which 89% were native to the thickets of the Accra plains [45]. The high diversity and richness values in Kumasi conform with recent findings that cities in Africa support an extremely high diversity, even when compared to neighboring natural forest [43,44]. The relatively high presence of non-native species may be linked to the city's culture and history of development.…”

Section: Species Diversity and Composition Among Green Space Typessupporting

confidence: 62%

“…The overall species richness and Shannon index of 176 and 3.70, respectively, compare favorably well with tree diversity data of other cities in the region. In Abuja, Nigeria, the species richness and Shannon index of 69 and 3.56, respectively, were recently reported [43], while in Lome, Togo, 297 tree species in 141 genera and 48 families were recorded, with 69% of the species being alien [44].…”

Section: Species Diversity and Composition Among Green Space Typesmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Structure, Diversity, and Carbon Stocks of the Tree Community of Kumasi, Ghana

Nero

Callo-Concha

Denich

2018

Forests

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Urban forestry has the potential to address many urban environmental and sustainability challenges. Yet in Africa, urban forest characterization and its potential to contribute to human wellbeing are often neglected or restrained. This paper describes the structure, diversity, and composition of an urban forest and its potential to store carbon as a means of climate change mitigation and adaptation in Kumasi. The vegetation inventory included a survey of 470,100-m2 plots based on a stratified random sampling technique and six streets ranging from 50 m to 1 km. A total of 3757 trees, comprising 176 species and 46 families, were enumerated. Tree abundance and species richness were left skewed and unimodally distributed based on diameter at breast height (DBH). Trees in the diameter classes >60 cm together had the lowest species richness (17%) and abundance (9%), yet contributed more than 50% of the total carbon stored in trees within the city. Overall, about 1.2 million tonnes of carbon is captured in aboveground components of trees in Kumasi, with a mean of 228 t C ha−1. Tree density, DBH, height, basal area, aboveground carbon storage, and species richness were significantly different among green spaces (p < 0.05). The diversity was also significantly different among urban zones (p < 0.0005). The DBH distribution of trees followed a modified reverse J-shaped model. The urban forest structure and composition is quite unique. The practice of urban forestry has the potential to conserve biological diversity and combat climate change. The introduction of policies and actions to support the expansion of urban forest cover and diversity is widely encouraged.

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Section: Species Diversity and Composition Among Green Space Typessupporting

confidence: 62%

Section: Species Diversity and Composition Among Green Space Typesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Structure, Diversity, and Carbon Stocks of the Tree Community of Kumasi, Ghana

Nero

Callo-Concha

Denich

2018

Forests

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“…We further found that species such as Azadirachta indica (neem), Mangifera indica (Mango), Elaeis guineensis (palm), Cocos nucifera (Coconut) and Polyalthia spp (weeping willow) were the top five most common species in the city. These findings are consistent with findings of floral diversity studies in Abuja and the Valley View University campus, near Accra where woody species richness of 69 and 53 were respectively observed(35,42). However, species richness and diversity of the current study was lower than the 176 species and Shannon index of 3.70 reported in Kumasi(43) and the 297 tree species in Lome, Togo(44).…”

supporting

confidence: 91%

“…However, species richness and diversity of the current study was lower than the 176 species and Shannon index of 3.70 reported in Kumasi(43) and the 297 tree species in Lome, Togo(44). The relatively high diversity and richness values in Accra, conform with recent findings that cities in Africa support extremely high diversity even when compared to neighboring natural forest(42)(43)(44)(45). Although cities are typically located in biodiversity hotspots(46)(46,47), hence their high diversity, intercity disparities in diversity and species richness are inherent in the morphology and age of the city, the natural ecological factors as well as building and population densities.…”

supporting

confidence: 83%

Tree Species Diversity and Socio-economic Perspectives of the Urban (Food) Forest of Accra, Ghana

Nero¹,

Kwapong²,

Jatta³

et al. 2018

Preprint

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In Africa, 80% of households in urban areas are food insecure and is coupled with a dramatically changing urban food culture towards increased consumption of sugary and fatty foods. Consequently, incidences of obesity and undernourishment in many African cities are becoming escalating. Urban and peri-urban forestry emerges as a complementary measure to contribute towards elimination of urban hunger and improved nutritional security. However, there is scanty knowledge about the composition, diversity and socioeconomic contributions of urban food trees in African cities and this hinders policy discussions integrating urban forestry into the food security discourse. This paper examines the diversity and composition of the urban forest and food trees of Accra and sheds light on perceptions of urbanites regarding food tree cultivation and availability in the city. Using a mixed methods approach, about 105 respondents in six neighbourhoods of Accra were interviewed while over 200 100-m2 plots were surveyed across five land use types. Twenty-two out of the 70 woody species in Accra are edible. The food tree abundance in the city is about half of the total number of trees enumerated. The species richness and abundance of the edible trees and all trees in the city were significantly different among land use types (p<0.0001) and neighbourhood types (p<0.0001). The diversity of food bearing tree species was much higher in the poorer neighbourhoods than in the wealthier neighbourhoods. Respondents in wealthier neighbourhoods indicated that tree and fruit tree cover of the city was generally low and showed greater interests in cultivating fruit trees and expanding urban forest cover than poorer neighbourhoods. These findings demonstrate the need for urban food policy reforms that integrate urban grown tree foods in the urban food system/culture.

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“…In order to achieve sustainable urban development therefore, there is the need for a corresponding increase in integrating trees into urban planning (Dobbs, Kendal, & Nitschke, 2014;Li, Wang, stochastic events by increasing their potential for adaptation and survival (Alvey, 2006). They facilitate the provision of important services such as shaping, protecting and modifying the micro climates of urban landscapes (Agbelade, Onyekwelu, & Apogbona, 2016a), carbon storage and sequestration (Nowak et al, 2013;Tang, Chen, & Zhao, 2016), providing shade and habitat for people and birds (Agbelade, Onyekwelu, & Oyun, 2017), providing recreational and spiritual amenities (Babalola, Borokin, Onefeli, & Muchie, 2013;Sheona, Chinyimba, Hebinck, Shackleton, & Kaoma, 2015;van Dillen, de Vries, Groenewegen, & Spreeuwenberg, 2012) as well as aesthetics (Kuruneri-Chitepo & Shackleton, 2011) which people enjoy. In the light of this, scholars and policy makers focus attentions on evaluating and developing the potentials of urban trees to curve some of the menaces associated with urbanization including noise, carbon pollution, soil erosion, habitat loss, and species loss (Roy et al, 2012).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Progress and Methodological Approaches in Urban Trees and Forests Research in Africa

2019

JEES

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The numerous benefits of urban trees and forests are being increasingly recognised globally but grossly under studied in the developing world. This paper reviewed the methodological approaches to urban trees and forests assessments in Africa in relation to the growing number of publications in the field between 2012 and 2017. It adopted a comprehensive search of online publications related to urban trees and forests in the Google Scholar, Springer, Science Direct, Scopus, IEEE, Tailor and Francis and African Journals databases. Number of publications increased steadily from 2 in 2012 to a cumulative total of 44 in 2017, most of which were however, from South Africa, Nigeria and Ghana with little contributions from Kenya and Rwanda. Although remote sensing may facilitate detailed studies of urban trees, most researchers used the traditional and time-consuming field surveys and to some extent, interview and questionnaire surveys. African cities are highly diverse in both native and exotic tree species but the exotic species dominate in many areas. Urban trees in Africa provide both tangible and intangible benefits which include provision of income, fruits, medicines, fuelwood and recreation opportunities. Others are micro-climate modification, erosion and desertification control, pollutants removal, spirituality and aesthetics. Advances in urban tree assessments such as the use of i-Tree Eco and i-Tree Streets, high resolution remote sensing images and LiDAR should be explored. Governmental and private organizations need to be more committed to urban trees research and management through enhanced funding.

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Tree Species Richness, Diversity, and Vegetation Index for Federal Capital Territory, Abuja, Nigeria

Cited by 32 publications

References 22 publications

Structure, Diversity, and Carbon Stocks of the Tree Community of Kumasi, Ghana

Structure, Diversity, and Carbon Stocks of the Tree Community of Kumasi, Ghana

Tree Species Diversity and Socio-economic Perspectives of the Urban (Food) Forest of Accra, Ghana

Progress and Methodological Approaches in Urban Trees and Forests Research in Africa

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