ABSTRACT
Ecological study of the flora biodiversity of the Faculty of Life Sciences and Faculty of Physical Sciences at the University of Benin, Benin City, Edo State, Nigeria, was carried out. The study area was divided into two (sites A and B) for accurate recording of different plant and tree species. Site A and B were the Faculties of Life Sciences and Physical Sciences respectively. Identification of vegetation at the various sites were carried out to species level, documented and characterized using a 1 m2 frame quadrat for the smaller plants and a total of 28 quadrats were randomly placed and sampled (14 each) in the two faculties. A quadrat size of 10 m2 was used for the trees and shrubs; Six (6) quadrats each were sampled in each faculty. A total of 48 species, 35 genera and 16 families were the documented weed flora in the Faculty of Life Sciences while 41 genera, 49 species and 17 families were recorded for Faculty of Physical Sciences. The trees and shrubs species in the Faculty of Life Sciences were 17 and 10 in Physical Sciences while the Genera/ families recorded were 14, 11 and 10, 9 respectively . At the Faculty of Life Sciences the taxa ranged from 6 – 16, Individual abundance (83 – 690), Dominance_D (0.111 – 0.7175), Simpson_1-D (0.2825 – 0.889), Shannon_H (0.6573 – 2.338), Evenness_e^H/S (0. 3216 – 0.8267), Brillouin (0.6124 – 2.279), Menhinick (0.2261 – 0.8847), Margalef (0.3868 – 2.512), Equitability_J (0.3669 – 0.9085), Fisher_alpha (0.5137 – 3.359), Berger-Parker (0.1698 – 0.8429), Chao-1 (3 – 16) respectively. Diverse families in decreasing order were Poaceae ˃ Asteraceae > Cyperaceae = Euphorbiaceae = Rubiaceae > Combretaceae = Fabaceae > Amaranthaceae = Arecaceae = Commelinaceae with 11, 6, 5, 5, 5, 3, 3, 2, 2 and 2 respectively. While in Faculty of Physical Sciences the taxa ranged from 5 – 17, Individual abundance (150 – 639), Dominance_D (0.1119 – 0.4239), Simpson_1-D (0.5761 – 0.8881), Shannon_H (1.019 – 2.257), Evenness_e^H/S (0.4339 – 0.7793), Brillouin (0.9695 – 2.332), Menhinick (0.3296 – 0.7216), Margalef (0.7983 – 2.532), Equitability_J (0.6334 – 0.8799), Fisher_alpha (1.176 – 3.316), Berger-Parker (0.2066 – 0.5333), Chao-1 (5 – 17) respectively. The eleven most diverse families in decreasing order were Poaceae ˃ Asteraceae = Fabaceae > Cyperaceae > Rubiaceae = Lamiaceae > Commelinaceae = Convolvulaceae = Amaranthaceae = Euphorbiaceae = Malvaceae with 10, 7, 7, 4, 3, 3, 2, 2, 2, 2 and 2 respectively. It is crucial to study and update the flora composition in our environment to maintain ecological balance and sustain biodiversity.
