Management Practices And Ecological Status Of A Humid Tropical Rainforest

This study attempts to put in perspective the spatial and floristic variations, which exist in the tropical rainforest belt of Nigeria by virtue of different management practices. The variations were examined by comparing the floristic and biomass properties of a government-managed forest with that of an adjacent community-managed forest in the same eco-climatic zone. A floristic similarity of 38.4% was observed between the two sites, while the species richness of the two sites were not significantly different, despite the different management regimes. A classification of the tree species found on both sites using Principal Component Analysis (PCA) revealed that savanna elements were gradually being introduced into the community-managed forest. However, this variation may be presumed to be temporal if forest management by rural dwellers is monitored or guided by responsible government agencies.