Soil–plant relations in a natural forest inviolate plot at Akure, Nigeria

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Abstract
To up-date and extend knowledge of the Akure Strict Natural Reserve an assessment, block by block, of forest in the core of the Inviolate Plot was undertaken in 1974 and complemented with soil sampling. Principal components analysis indicated a gradient of soil reaction and available phosphorus through the core of the plot. Ordination (DECORANA) of floristic data revealed that a floristic trend paralleled the soil trend. In the vicinity of a drainage line, at the western end of the core, soils were lower in available phosphorus, more acid, sandier and texturally more uniform with depth. Typical trees of ferralsols were prominent on these soils but were replaced by species of ferric luvisols, especially members of the Sterculiaceae, on soils of superior nutrient status towards the eastern end. It is suggested that the soil gradients were not effects produced by the trees.Comparison of a 1946 data set with the 1974 data supported the view that the forest had been structurally and floristically stable over the interval between assessments. This is considered justification of the original choice of the area as a Strict Natural Reserve representative of high forest in this part of Nigeria.