RECOVERY OF PLANT COMMUNITY AND SOIL ATTRIBUTES DURING LAND ABANDONMENT FOLLOWING CULTIVATION IN NIGERIAN NORTHERN GUINEA SAVANNA

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Published: 2016-12-22

Page: 113-126


TOMA BUBA *

Department of Biological Sciences, Faculty of Science, Abubakar Tafawa Balewa University, P.M.B 0248, Bauchi, Nigeria.

*Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.


Abstract

This study was aimed to understand the chances in herbaceous plant composition and soil characteristics during plant community succession following abandonment of arable cultivated land using quadrat method. While soil exchangeable potassium, pH and textual class were less affected by abandonment of cultivated land, the soil organic carbon, total nitrogen and available phosphorus increased significantly (α = 0.05) upon abandonment. The abundances of most dominant species changes significantly during different stages of the succession. Along the course of the succession, changes (increase and decrease) in species diversity were corresponded to species richness but not to abundance and evenness. In conclusion, abandonment of cultivated land affects physical and chemical properties of soil mostly in the first year after abandonment, which implies that subsequent changes in the process of the succession were determined mostly by species interactions through competition or facilitation of the earlier arriving species and lesser by their influence on soil properties.

Keywords: Available phosphorus, diversity, dominance, Nigeria, species richness, succession


How to Cite

BUBA, T. (2016). RECOVERY OF PLANT COMMUNITY AND SOIL ATTRIBUTES DURING LAND ABANDONMENT FOLLOWING CULTIVATION IN NIGERIAN NORTHERN GUINEA SAVANNA. Journal of Global Agriculture and Ecology, 6(2), 113–126. Retrieved from https://ikprress.org/index.php/JOGAE/article/view/2244