ABSTRACT Somalia is one of the most drought prone countries in Africa. Drought is the country’s costliest natural disaster. The impact of drought events on the economy, on people`s livelihoods and on lives has grown. Drought events usually develop gradually unnoticed, causing tremendous effects on both agriculture and environment. This study evaluated the spatio-temporal variations of drought occurrences in Somalia and its implication on forest cover. In this study, precipitation and temper...
ABSTRACT The study sought to determine abundance and species of nematode parasites of Oreochromis tilapicus and Clarias gariepinus in Lower Umguza Dam,in the Gwayi catchment area. Fish samples were collected from fishermen and sent to the laboratory for observation and identification using standard parasitological methods and identification guides. 479 nematode parasites were recovered from 160 fish belonging to 2 species; Oreochromis tilapicus and Clarias gariepinus. Four nematode genera; P...
Abstract The savanna biomes are characterised by a coexistence of two antagonist – woody plants and herbaceous plants in defiance of competing theories. Scientific efforts to understand this unique coexistence are still largely inconclusive; various theories have been proposed, but no unanimous theoretical framework exists to date. Among these theories, the root niche-partitioning model offers the most popular, yet the most controversially debated viewpoint. It argues that this coexistence...
Abstract The Iceland Basin in the N. Atlantic has attracted considerable recent attention because the spring bloom in this region acts as the most powerful biological carbon pump anywhere in the world oceans. Furthermore, the link between primary productivity and herbivory by the calanoid copepod, Ca/anus finmarchicus provides the trophic link between primary producers and the important commercial fishery for Atlantic Cod. However one result of ocean warming is that the distribution of t...
ABSTRACT: Residual levels of lead, chromium, cadmium and zinc in water and fish tissue from Ubeji River, Warri and blood samples from residents of Ubeji were analysed. Control water and fish samples were obtained from Eleyele River and blood from residents of Ibadan. All the samples collected were digested using a modified procedure from the Association of Official Analytical Chemists (AOAC) and were subsequently analyzed using Atomic Absorption Spectroscopy. Levels of lead and cadmium in Ube...
Abstract Across West and Central Africa, duikers are important for trade and consumption; their populations are expected to become depleted. Reliable data on their status are scanty in Nigeria. We assessed duiker populations in the Oban Sector of Cross River National Park through diurnal and nocturnal surveys along 32 transects of 2 km each. After 508-km survey effort, only Ogilby’s duiker (Cephalophus ogilbyi) and blue duiker (Philantomba monticola) were recorded. Using habitat as a covari...
Abstract: A two-year field experiment was conducted to evaluate the influence of nitrogen (0, 30, 60, and 120 kg N ha-1) and phosphorus (0, 30, and 60 kg P2O5 ha-1) application on grain yield and yield components of five New Rice for Africa (NERICA) cultivars, their parents, and a check on a degraded soil in the moist savanna of Nigeria. Nerica 14 recorded the highest grain yield of 1.3 mg ha-1compared to the other NERICA cultivars. It also produced significantly (P < 0.05) longer panicles (1...
Rapid Rural Appraisals (RRA) were conducted among one hundred and fifty five farmers in rice growing areas of Obafemi/Owode and Ifo Local Government Areas of Ogun State in South-West of Nigeria to investigate farmers’ practices of growing rice in rice/cassava intercropping system in 2007. The farmers in these villages cultivated 2 to 4 farms with an average farm size of about 2 ha. Results from the RRA showed that the farmers have been growing rice for over 21 years. About 31% of the farmer...
ABSTRACT Microscopic examination of pollen grains determined the botanical origin and geographical location of honey. This study was aimed at determining the botanical sources of honey using qualitative and quantitative pollen analysis. Ten grams (10g) of honey was diluted with 8ml of distilled water and centrifuged at 2,500 rpm for ten minutes, and the sediments were used to analyse the po...
Cattails (Typha latifolia) are noxious and invading species which are rapidly spread across water bodies. This study aims at determining the distribution and ecological effects of cattail on invaded ecosystems in Kwara State. Survey was made across the wetlands in the sixteen Local Government Areas in Kwara State. Out of these, wetlands of eight Local Government were selected due to the prevalence of cattails in them. Each location with cattail distribution was divided into three subplots whi...
Abstract Low fruit quality and yield in cucumber is linked directly to continuous cropping under poor soil fertility management practices in Nigeria. In 2014 and 2015 planting seasons, field trials were conducted at the National Horticultural Research Institute (NIHORT), Ibadan to determine effects of poultry manure and NPK 15:15:15 fertilizer on growth, nutrient uptake and yield of cucumber on Ferruginous soil. Ten treatment combinations comprising two cucumber varieties and five levels of s...
Salinity is a major problem directly affecting the ecological balance and the development of agriculture in the Mediterranean basin, particularly North Africa. This phenomenon is considered as the most important abiotic factor limiting crops growth and productivity, degrading and polluting soils in arid and semi-arid. In order to study the influence of salinity, on the physiological parameters and to assess the potential of adaptation of the olive tree in a saline environment, three parcels c...
Biodiversity (biological diversity) is commonly defined as the variety of all life. It includes genetic, species and ecosystem diversity and all the interactions between them. Biodiversity is important because it contributes to environmental, economic, cultural and social well-being by providing valuable ecosystem services such as pollination, carbon storage by forests, bio filtration of water, nutrient cycling, soil formation, erosion control, sediment retention and recreation opportunities....
Crops are faced with several definite environmental stresses either concurrently or at different periods during their entire growth and productivity season. Combinational occurrence of stresses and pollution such as salinity stress and crude oil pollution is destructive to crop growth and productivity than these stresses occurring separately at different crop growth. This research was aimed at showing different stress combinations (salinity stress and crude oil pollution) and their impact on ...