Papers by Shadrach Akindele
Journal of Sustainable Development in Africa, 2015
We determined the impact of ecotourism infrastructural development on the woody components of Oko... more We determined the impact of ecotourism infrastructural development on the woody components of Okomu National Park. This necessitated identifying the ecotourism attractions/facilities, interviewing of respondents and on-site observation and quadrant method were employed in acquiring information on ecotourism attractions/facilities and vegetation assessment respectively. Significant variations were observed in the tree growth variables measured between the ecotourism built-up and the control areas. The abundance distribution model, kernel density and species accumulation curves itinerated the pictorial disparity in distribution of woody vegetations' abundance between the areas. Furthermore, the IUCN Red data endangered species of Diospyros crassiflora had been eroded from the ecotourism built-up areas; while the vulnerable species of Anopyxis klaineana were conspicuously absent in the control areas. These differences depicted the non eco-friendly approaches taken in the design, implementation and maintenance of ecotourism attractions and facilities. However, concerted efforts had to be taken by relevant stakeholders to forestall this inimical growth towards sustainable ecotourism development.
Bowen Journal of Agriculture, 2009
Stepwise multiple regression technique was used to develop logarithmic and quadratic models for e... more Stepwise multiple regression technique was used to develop logarithmic and quadratic models for estimating charcoal yield from a 25-year-old Eucalyptus camaldulensis plantation in the semi-arid region in northeastern Nigeria. Forty-eight (48) mean trees were clear-felled and immediately separated into components: bole, branches and twigs. The green weights of three replicate wood discs were measured and were thereafter dried in the oven until constant weight was attained. The fresh : dry weight ratio of the samples were used to estimate the dry biomass of the mean trees. Charcoal yield was determined by carbonizing the oven-dried wood samples (of known weights) at 350°C for 3 hours. The total charcoal production per tree ranged from 82.62 to 290.07 kg (average; 145.86±7.43 kg). The mean contribution by tree components to total yield were: bole, 84.75±4.59 kg; branches, 45.42±2.39 kg; and twigs, 15.59±0.93 kg (i.e. 58.1%, 31.1% and 10.7%, respectively). Total charcoal per tree increased as the dbh of the trees increased. The same trend was observed in the yeild from both boles and branches but it was slightly different from that of twigs. The total aboveground biomass production per hectare (256,245.2 kg) culminated into 128,940.2 kg of charcoal. Simple linear, quadratic, semi-log and double log equations were fitted as appropriate, for total charcoal, bole charcoal, branch charcoal and twig charcoal as dependent variables, but the best-fit models found were semi-log and double log and quadratic models that incorporated diameter at breast height (dbh), dbh , dbh H, and the product of dbh and 2 2 merchantable height [(dbh)MH] as independent variables. Results of residual analysis showed that the models satisfied all the assumptions of regression analysis.
Tropical Forestry, 2011
Secondary forests are forests regenerating through natural processes after significant reduction ... more Secondary forests are forests regenerating through natural processes after significant reduction in the original vegetation at a point in time or over an extended period, and displaying a major difference in forest structure and/or canopy species composition with respect to nearby primary forests on similar sites. Despite their large extent, existing and potential benefits, secondary forests are mostly overlooked. The increasing area of secondary forests necessitates their professional management. If properly managed, secondary forests can provide important social and environmental benefits, contribute to poverty alleviation and reduce the pressure on the few remaining areas of primary forest. However, only suitable silvicultural treatments can restore and increase the commercial value of secondary forests. This chapter discusses the degradation processes leading to secondary forest formation, their structures, growth and yield and regeneration processes. Three insightful and demonstrative case studies were also presented to illustrate key points.
… Center Journal International 1 (1): 10, 2010
Quadratic functions for estimating biomass yield were developed for 25-year-old Eucalyptus camald... more Quadratic functions for estimating biomass yield were developed for 25-year-old Eucalyptus camaldulensis energy plantations, in a semi-arid region of northeastern Nigeria. Data obtained using the mean tree method were subjected to stepwise multiple regression analysis. Forty-eight (48) mean trees were clearfelled, separated into components and weighed fresh. Replicate wood discs and foliage samples were extracted fresh from tree components and dried in the oven until constant weight was attained. The fresh:dry weight ratio of the samples were used to estimate the dry biomass of the mean trees. The total aboveground biomass (TAGB) production per hectare was 256,245.08 kg. Mean TAGB per tree was 289.87 kg, biomass of the bole, branches, twigs and the foliage were 153.08, 85.52, 29.81 and 21.46 kg, respectively. Mean contribution of components to total above ground biomass were 52.82, 29.5, 10.28 and 7.4%, by the bole, branches, twigs and foliage respectively. Increases in dbh of the trees resulted in a corresponding increase in TAGB, total woody biomass, bole and biomass of the branches, but increases in twigs and foliage biomasses was less responsive to dbh. Dbh as the only measured independent variable explained a lot of the variation observed in yield. The combination of Dbh and Dbh within the same models gave better estimations of biomass yield, than the 2 use of Dbh only. The addition of a third variable Dbh H made only a slight improvement in a few of the models. 2 For foliage biomass, dbh alone gave a good estimate, but the addition of another variable; number of large branches (NTBr) made an improvement. Results of residual analysis showed that the models satisfied all the assumptions of regression analysis.
Biomass and Bioenergy, 1997
The above-ground biomass yield of seven-year-old trees of Gliricidia sepium, Gmelina arborea and ... more The above-ground biomass yield of seven-year-old trees of Gliricidia sepium, Gmelina arborea and Leucaena leucocephala grown for fuel production were assessed. The combustion properties of the fuelwood and charcoal produced from the trees (moisture content, density, percentage fixed carbon, volatile matter, micro-elemental composition and heat of combustion) were determined. There were significant differences in the above-ground biomass and the charcoal yield from the various species. The stand biomass was 37.4 t/ha for Gliricidia sepium, 85.6 t/ha for Gmelina arborea and 46.2 t/ha for Leucaena leucocephala. The charcoal yield (range 25-42%) was highest in Leucaena leucocephala. The average heat of combustion of charcoal, 33.25 MJ/kg, was higher than that of wood, 21.6 MJ/kg. Gmelina arborea gave the greatest energy yield per hectare due to its high stand biomass.
Journal of Tropical Forest Science, 1989
... Received June 1989 AKINDELE, SO 1989. Teak yields in the dry lowland rain forest area of Nige... more ... Received June 1989 AKINDELE, SO 1989. Teak yields in the dry lowland rain forest area of Nigeria. ... Live crown ratio was expressed as a percentage of the length from the top of the tree to the branch collar of the lowest live branch as compared to the total height of the tree. ...
The ability of the PrognosisBC (Version 3.0) growth model to predict tree and stand growth was as... more The ability of the PrognosisBC (Version 3.0) growth model to predict tree and stand growth was assessed against a series of remeasured permanent sample plots, including some which had been precommercially thinned. In addition, the model was evaluated for logical consistency across a variety of stand structures using simulation. By the end of the evaluation process, we were pleased with the performance of the model. Some of the less obvious benefits of growth model evaluation and the value of using multiple approaches when evaluating growth models are discussed.
GeoJournal
The study aimed at identifying the drivers and dynamics of the land use/land cover around the eco... more The study aimed at identifying the drivers and dynamics of the land use/land cover around the ecotourism hotspots of Pendjari National Park, Benin Republic on temporal and proximity scales. Field observation, remote sensing and geographic information technology were employed. ASTER satellite imageries (2002 and 2015) were subjected to image pre-processing, data validation, image classification, and measurements of transition. The results revealed significant impacts of ecotourism development on the land use/land cover around the ecotourism hotspots in the Park. This is based on the annual degradation (negative values)/restoration (positive values) rates of different land use/land cover classes within 100 m (− 0.220 to 0.335), 200 m (− 0.260 to 0.171) and 300 m (− 0.285 to 0.130) buffered areas. Thus, bare soil/built-up areas (a major indicator of ecotourism development) increased and decreased along the temporal and proximity scales respectively in Pendjari National Park. The later fitted and satisfied the Tobler’s first law of Geography and distance decay theory. Moreover, few other anthropogenic and managerial activities were observed to be drivers of the dynamics, apart from ecotourism development. According to the results, we suggest that monitoring technology, comprehensive and multidisciplinary approaches should be adopted in the ecotourism planning of the Park.
Anatolia
ABSTRACT This paper used eight factors to evaluate the land suitability for ecotourism of Okomu N... more ABSTRACT This paper used eight factors to evaluate the land suitability for ecotourism of Okomu National Park (ONP), Nigeria, and Pendjari National Park (PNP), Benin. Poor ecotourism planning could cause irreversible loss of extensive vegetation areas. Therefore, ecotourism experts’ responses through analytic hierarchy process (AHP) and geographic information systems were employed to calculate the criteria evaluation weights. The AHP results showed that the maximum and minimum weights of the criteria are the land use/land cover and aspect, respectively, in ONP, while the visibility and aspect, respectively, in PNP. Large areas of ONP were classified as unsuitable, while that of PNP were classified as moderately suitable. However, the land suitability models for ecotourism will serve a dual-purpose of effective park planning and value-added game viewing. Abbreviation: LSMs: Land Suitability Models
Journal of Tropical Forest Science
ABSTRACT
Secondary forests are forests regenerating through natural processes after significant reduction ... more Secondary forests are forests regenerating through natural processes after significant reduction in the original vegetation at a point in time or over an extended period, and displaying a major difference in forest structure and/or canopy species composition with respect to nearby primary forests on similar sites. Despite their large extent, existing and potential benefits, secondary forests are mostly overlooked. The increasing area of secondary forests necessitates their professional management. If properly managed, secondary forests can provide important social and environmental benefits, contribute to poverty alleviation and reduce the pressure on the few remaining areas of primary forest. However, only suitable silvicultural treatments can restore and increase the commercial value of secondary forests. This chapter discusses the degradation processes leading to secondary forest formation, their structures, growth and yield and regeneration processes. Three insightful and demons...
Forest Ecology and Management, 2006
Volume equations were developed for common timber species in Nigeria's tropical rain forests. Dat... more Volume equations were developed for common timber species in Nigeria's tropical rain forests. Data consisted of merchantable volume, stump diameter, diameter at breast height and merchantable height for 77 timber species. Number of observations per species ranged from 5 to 142, and diameter at breast height ranged from 20.0 to 230.0 cm. Schumacher-Hall's volume function was fitted to the data of each of the 33 well-sampled species (n ! 30), using weighted least squares. The coefficients from these species-specific equations were used as input variables for species grouping. Species grouping was obtained using a two-stage approach of cluster analysis followed by discriminant analyses. First, cluster analysis was used to group the 33 well-sampled species into five clusters, and then discriminant analysis was used to assign each of the remaining 44 species (with n < 30) into one of the five clusters. The species groups obtained did not follow any particular taxonomic pattern, as there were species of the same genus that fell into different clusters. The Schumacher-Hall's volume function was fitted to the data for each species group. The resulting equations possessed desirable statistical properties and model behaviours, and can be used to estimate merchantable volume for common timber species in the tropical rain forest areas of Nigeria.
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Papers by Shadrach Akindele