Relationship between Forest Structure and Soil Properties in Bagale Forest Reserve in North Eastern Nigeria
Keywords:
Forest structure, soil properties, fragments, forest reserveAbstract
An extensive soil survey with assessment of growth and yield of trees in Bagale forest Reserve in North East Nigeria is conducted. Five fragments within five altitudes are selected using LANDSAT ETM+ satellite imagery from Google earth. Composite soil samples are collected from 0-20cm and 20-40cm depths in the fragments and their physico-chemical analysis is done in the laboratory. Height, DBH, Volume, Basal area and crown area of trees are assessed in the quadrats, and laid in the fragments. Using Pearson's correlation coefficient, correlation matrix are derived from the relationship between soil properties and forest structure. At both, surface and sub-surface depths, negative relationships are recorded between forest structure and soil physical and chemical properties. Based on the in-depth analysis of the study, it is therefore, concluded that salinization is not a significant pedogenic process in the soil and the soil does not contain a concentration of soluble salt that may hamper the growth of plant.
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