IMPACT OF URBANIZATION ON TREE DIVERSITY IN THE UNIVERSITY OF BENIN

ABSTRACT

Trees are as important as man to himself and its environment. The present study assessed the impact of urbanization on tree diversity in the University of Benin, Benin City. The study adopted field inventory of tree flora for the data. The areas under study was partitioned into two sites (Site A and Site B), the tree flora in terms of diversity and richness of University of Benin, Ugbowo campus were determined from different sections of the school within the areas that were partitioned. Using four ecological models: Margalef species richness (d), Shannon-Wiener diversity (H), Relative Density of species (RD) and Relative abundance (%). The data for this study were collected manually through trees count. A total of 139 trees were distributed in the study area, the total tree flora is distributed among13 plant families. The dominant trees found were Pinus sylvestris. The study revealed enormous diversity of tree flora in the sites assessed based on the diversity index values of the two sites. The results showed that sites A have more diversity of tree Species with an index value of 0.888, while site B has a Shannon index of 0.87. The diversity index from the Shannon index scale indicates that the higher the index value the greater the diversity. To help the ecology and tree species in University of Benin, this study recommends that systems for sustainable conservation of trees species in the University should be put in place to discourage illegal fallings of trees and other anthropogenic activities that threatens tree population in the University premises.