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Assessing the conservation status, biodiversity potentials and economic contribution of urban tree Ecosystems in Nigerian Cities

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Abstract

We investigated conservation status, biodiversity potentials and economic contribution of urban tree Ecosystems in Nigerian cities. A total of 32 families were encountered respectively in Makurdi (17), Ilorin (18) and Lokoja (25) urban forests. The diversity index, richness and evenness of the tree species were in the order Ilorin > Lokoja > Makurdi urban forests and decreased as the population of the city increased, suggesting that the urban forests and trees depends on city infrastructure development. About 32% of tree species in the three cities are threatened tree species in Nigeria and based on the IUCN red list. This situation therefore calls for urgent conservation measures. Moreover, results showed a general increasing trend in Normalized Different Vegetation Index (NDVI) value between year 2000 and 2018 for the vegetation cover in each city. The NDVI value for Makurdi was (0.23 to 0.37), Ilorin (0.42 to 0.47), and Lokoja (0.01 to 0.27), which was very low compared to forest cover NDVI. The NDVI could be used to observe the changes in vegetation greenness and the dynamic effects of temperature. The average monthly income obtained by those involved in the sales of urban tree products such as (vegetables, fruits, recreation parks, event centres, amusement parks) ₦20,000 (56 USD) to over ₦50,000 (139 USD) contributed between 40 and 70% to household annual income. This was particularly important in augmenting income from other sources in meeting basic family expenses in the cities.

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Acknowledgements

This research was supported by the International Foundation for Science (IFS), Stockholm, Sweden, through a grant (D/5609-1) to Aladesanmi Daniel Agbelade. The authors also acknowledge International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA), Ibadan, Nigeria, for scholarship in data processing and Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) analysis for the three cities.

Funding

This research was supported by the International Foundation for Science (IFS), Stockholm, Sweden, through a grant (D/5609–1) to Aladesanmi Daniel Agbelade.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Forest Resources and Wildlife Management, Ekiti State University, P.M.B. 5363, Ado Ekiti, Nigeria

    Aladesanmi Daniel Agbelade, Adebayo Adeleke John & Johnson Adedayo

  2. Department of Forestry and Wood Technology, Federal University of Technology, P.M.B. 704, Akure, Nigeria

    Jonathan Chukwujekwu Onyekwelu

  3. International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA), P.M.B. 5320, Ibadan, Nigeria

    Tunrayo Alabi

Authors
  1. Aladesanmi Daniel Agbelade
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  2. Jonathan Chukwujekwu Onyekwelu
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  3. Adebayo Adeleke John
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  4. Johnson Adedayo
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  5. Tunrayo Alabi
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Contributions

Agbelade, A.D. Research design and Conceptualization, Data analysis, Manuscript review and editing, Funding acquisition, Onyekwelu, J.C. Methodology, Data analysis, Manuscript review and editing, John, A.A. Methodology, field work and data cleaning, Adedayo, J. Methodology, field work and data cleaning, Alabi, T. GIS application supervision, Data Analysis, Manuscript review and editing.

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Correspondence to Aladesanmi Daniel Agbelade.

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The manuscript was approved by all authors. Authors declare that there are no conflicts of interest or competing interests.

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Agbelade, A., Onyekwelu, J., John, A. et al. Assessing the conservation status, biodiversity potentials and economic contribution of urban tree Ecosystems in Nigerian Cities. Urban Ecosyst 25, 165–178 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11252-021-01137-z

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