NILL

 Journal

 Harnessing The Riches And Diversity Of Tropical Rainforest Ecosystems For Poverty Alleviation, Food And Health Security.

 Onyekwelu J.C. And Lawal A.

 2018

Though tropical forests account for about 7% of the world’s land surface and only 2% of the surface of the globe, they accommodate between 60% and 70% of all animal and plant species in world ecosystems and have the potential to provide all that is needed for human survival, including remedies against disease. Globally, about 1.6 billion people depend on the forest to some extent; 350 million people depend on the forest to a high degree while 60 million people depend almost entirely on the forest for food and nutrition, healthcare delivery, employment and economic empowerment. In addition, the forest ecosystem provides a number of ecosystem services such as biodiversity conservation, maintenance of local climate, soil protection, prevention of soil erosion, protection of water catchment, provision of scenic beauty, educational value, etc. the high biological diversity of tropical rainforest ecosystems has conferred on then a great potential to alleviate rural poverty, provide food and medicine to the people among others. This paper discusses the potentials of tropical rainforest ecosystems to contribute to food security, health security and poverty alleviation. Some measures necessary to harness these potentials of tropical rainforest were identified and briefly discussed. 

 Forestry Research Institute Of Nigeria

 Journal

 Consequence Of Timber Exploitation On Tree Species Diversity And Livelihood Of Communities Bordering Eda Forest Reserve, Ekiti State, Nigeria.

 Olayinka C.I., Lawal A. And Adekunle V.A.J

 2018

Eda forest reserve, which has the objective of maintaining biological diversity conservation and environmental protection, has been seriously degraded recently. Unfortunately, information about the extent of the degradation and its impact on rural populace is lacking. Therefore, this study was design to examine the consequence of timber exploitation on tree species diversity and livelihood of communities bordering Eda forest reserve, Ekiti State. In this study, pre-tested and validated semi-structured questionnaire was administered to 80 household heads in four communities bordering the reserve. Inventory data was collected using two transects of 1100m in length with a distance of 500m between the two parallel transects. Four sample plots of 25m x 25m were laid in alternate along each transect at 250m interval. The result revealed that the reserve has undergone various degree of degradation from both illegal and legal loggers. A total of 86 individual per hectare belonging 25 species in 20 general and 16 families were recorded. Comparing these values with what was found in this forest before and what could be obtained from other tropical forests, the deforestation rate is alarming. For instance, in 2014, a total of 500 individuals per hectare belonging to 36 species in 28 general and 16 families were found in this Forest Reserve. The impact of timber exploitation in Eda forest reserve in exacerbating rural poverty is scary as it threatens the livelihood of rural and forest dwelling people. It is therefore recommended that timber exploitation in this forest should stop and the forest should be allowed to recover through enrichment planting. 

 NAN

 Conference

 Impact Of Logging Activities In Eda Forest Reserve, Ekiti State On Carbon Sequestration

 Lawal A., Amuda A. S., Adekunle V. A. J. And Akinbi O. J.

 2018

NAN 

 Applied Tropical Agriculture

 Journal

 Disparity In Height Growth Traits In Tectona Grandis (L.f) Plantation As Influenced By Genetic And Edaphic Factors

 Lawal, A. And Oyewusi, E.O.

 2017

Genetic information of trees is stored as a sequence of four bases or nucleotides. This genetic information or genotype of trees does not normally change throughout their life time. Observed differences in any trait of interest among individual trees may be due to the differences in genes coding for that trait or variation in environmental conditions. In many cases, it is a combination of the differences in genes coding for the trait and variation in environmental conditions. This research investigated the disparity in growth traits in a teak plantation with the intention to finding out the cause of such growth dissimilarity and harnessing such potential for plus tree selection and subsequent teak plantation improvement. The study was carried out in a private teak plantation located at Itaogbolu, Ondo state. The plantation was ... 

 FUTA, AGRIC

 Conference

 Estimating Floristic Diversity And Outcrossing Rate In Community Inherited Herbal Forest, Otun Ekiti, Ekiti State, Nigeria.

 Fasalejo O. F., Lawal A. And Adekunle V.A.J

 2017

NAN 

 Applied Tropical Agriculture

 Journal

 Biosystematics, Morphological Variability And Status Of The Genus Khaya In South West Nigeria.

 Lawal, A.1*, Adekunle, V.A.J. And Onokpise, O.U.

 2016

There are about 900 different kinds of trees in Nigeria; some are easily recognized but many can only be named with certainty, when flower or fruits are available. Some tree species remain several years without flowering. For this reason, the use of vegetative characteristics to distinguish between tree families, genera or species is the norm. However, different individuals of the same species may present a variation in their morphology either naturally or in connection with local adaptations. Khaya species are among the important timber tree species in Nigeria as well as in some west and central African countries. There has been a serious and growing concern regarding the status and use of these forest resources in Nigeria. However, some researchers have pointed out that Khaya is one of the genus that is threatened by extinction because of the high level of exploitation with little or no regeneration. Therefore, it is crucial to investigate the current status of Khaya species for conservation and to conduct research that will provide up-to-date information on the morphological characteristics of species in this genus to enhance their taxonomic identification. The study area was south-western Nigeria. Four protected forest reserves and four unprotected (free) areas around each of the forest reserves were purposely selected for this study after a reconnaissance survey. Inventory of all Khaya species within these selected forests was then undertaken. Nine morphological characteristics were measured on every ten (10) randomly chosen leaves from each tree. Bark thickness of each tree was measured using bark gauge. Interestingly, discriminant analysis classified some species based on individual morphology into the different populations. This was an indication that some species have similar morphological features, with different species occupying the same geographical location. Adaptation has been seen as the reason for different species of mahogany co-existing in the same place and exhibiting the same morphological characteristics. However, this research work has provided some morphological traits that could still help to differentiate them despite their morphological similarities. 

 NILL

 Disertations

 Morphological And Genetic Variation In The Genus Khaya (African Mahogany) In South West Nigeria.

 Lawal, A.

 2016

Khaya (African mahogany) is known worldwide as one of the best timber species for furniture and construction purposes. Its bark, leaves and roots are well known for their great medicinal values in Africa. Unfortunately, these species are disappearing at an alarming rate from their natural ecosystems. To complicate this issue, plantation of Khaya species have not been successfully established anywhere in Nigeria due to the insect pest, Hypsipyla robusta, believed to aggressively destroy mahogany seedlings under plantation condition. In South West Nigeria, the upsurge in ethno-botanical studies and scientific research into the use of plant species has further enhanced the pressure on populations of medicinal forest species as more people now use different parts (roots, stems and leaves) of the tree species for treating various body ailments. Therefore, there is urgent need to evaluate the status of these important economic tree species to ensure their conservation. More so, identification of these species has always been based on their morphology which is very dependent on environmental conditions and developmental stages. Besides, field taxonomists oftentimes do confuse their identification because almost all the species in this genus show high morphological resemblance and when there is hybridization among closely related species, the hybrid may combine features of both species. In technical sense, the hybrid is a new species that can only be detected with Molecular technology. This study, which was carried out in four States (Ondo, Ekiti, Osun and Oyo) in South West Nigeria, involves inventory of Khaya species (K. grnadifoliola, K. ivorensis and K. senegalensis) in four purposively selected forest reserves and four free areas around each of the forest reserves. This inventory was carried out using key informants, forest guards, farmers or tree finders who were very knowledgeable about the free area and the location of Khaya species in the forest reserves (FR). Global Positioning System (GPS) location of each tree was recorded; leaves samples were also collected for morphological and genetic studies. Findings from this research work revealed the extent of potential extinction of each sof the three species in South West Nigeria as their numbers in different height and diameter classes were relatively few. The phylogenetic trees generated revealed genetic variation among populations of similar species despite their morphological similarity. This could be that similar species found in different States have evolved genetic mechanism to deal with the changes in their environment. Generally, the total gene diversity (Ht) within each population was relatively low (0.1292±0.03). In view of the fact that the distribution of genetic diversity within species has significant effect on survival and evolution of the species in changing environment, concerted effort should therefore be made by individual, organizations, agencies, State and Federal government towards conserving the remaining Khaya species in South West Nigeria. 

 FUTA AGRIC

 Conference

 Reforesting Our Deforested Lands.

 Onokpise, O.U., Lawal, A. And Adekunle, V.A.J.

 2015

NAN 

 Nigeria Tropical Biology Association

 Conference

 Exploring The Morphological Traits For Plus Trees Domestication Of Garcinia Kola (Heckel) In Ondo State, Nigeria.

 Lawal, A. And Rotimi, O. P.

 2015

NAN 

 Journal Of Forest Science

 Journal

 Assessment Of Timber Harvest In Tropical Rainforest Ecosystem Of South West Nigeria And Its Implication On Carbon Sequestration

 Victor A. Adekunle, Amadu Lawal And Adewole O. Olagoke

 2014

Timber harvest in natural forests and its implications on carbon sequestration were investigated in the Southwestern Nigeria. Data on timber harvest from forest estates for a 3-year period were collected from the official record of States’ Forestry Department. The data registered the species, volume and number of timbers exploited during the study period. The data were analyzed accordingly for rate of timber harvest and carbon value of the exploited timbers using existing biomass functions. Values were compared for significant differences among states using one way analysis of variance. The results showed that the most exploited logs, in terms of volume and number of trees, have the highest amount of carbon removal. There was a variation in type of timber species being exploited from each state. The total number of harvested trees from Oyo, Ondo, Ogun, Ekiti and Osun were estimated at 100,205; 111,789; 753; 15,884 and 18,153 respectively. Total quantity of carbon removed for the 3-year period stood at 2.3 million metric tons, and this translated to 8.4 million metric tons of CO2. The annual carbon and CO2 removal therefore were estimated at 760,120.73 tons and 2.8 million tons/ year respectively. There were significant differences (p?0.05) in the amount of CO2 removed from the five states. Based on our result, we inferred that there is increasing pressure on economic tree species and it is plausible that they are becoming scarce from the forests in Southwestern Nigeria.. If the present rate of log removal is not controlled, forests could become carbon source rather than carbon sink and the on biological conservation, wood availability and climate change may turn out grave. For the forest to perform its environmental role as carbon sink, urgent conservation measures and logging policies are needed to be put in place.