FUW TRENDS IN SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY JOURNAL
(A Peer Review Journal)
e–ISSN: 2408–5162; p–ISSN: 2048–5170
keywords: Amboi forest reserve, forest stocking, basal area, tree density
The study was carried out to estimate woody plants stand density in Amboi Forest Reserve in Taraba State, Nigeria. All individual woody plants of ≥ 5 cm diameter in each plot were enumerated. Data collected were the species total heights and diameter at breast height (dbh). The total numbers of trees and basal area from each plot were used to estimate the stands densities. Sixty eight hectare plots of land were demarcated out from the forest. Each hectare plot was re-demarcated into four equal sizes of 50 x 50 m (2500 m2) out of which one were randomly selected for enumeration. They enumeration covers a total land area of 170,000 m2 (17 ha). The total number of trees and basal area from each plot were used to estimate plant densities. Diameter tape and halga altimeter was used for the measurements of the species diameter at breast height (dbh and total heights in the respective plots. The result shows that Plots 1 and 5 had the highest number of trees (density) with 37 each while; plot 13 had the least number of trees of 14. The total number of trees encountered in the study area was 7,532 with a mean of 110.8 per hectare. The stand basal area is ranged from 0.151 to 1.77 m2, and the total basal area obtained in the study area was 63.33 m2 with a mean of 0.93 m2 per hectare. Plot 26 had the highest basal area with 1.77 m2 and plot 33 had the least with 0.60 m. The results showed that the forest is under- stocked and to increase the number of trees in the reserve so as to raise the basal area per hectare of the forest, it is recommended that enrichment planting be carried out using fast growing exotic and indigenous species.
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