INTEGRATING DIVERSITY INDICES AND MULTIVARIANCE ANALYSIS TO ASSESS TREE COMMUNITY STRUCTURE IN LANLANTE FOREST RESERVE, SOUTHWESTERN NIGERIA

Abstract

Tropical forest reserves in Nigeria are under increasing pressure from plantations, farming, and community use, leading to shifts in tree species composition and structure. This study assessed tree community structure in Lanlante Forest Reserve, Southwestern Nigeria, using diversity indices and multivariate analysis. Tree inventory from eight plots were analyzed using Shannon-Weiner, Simpson’s index, Evenness and Dominance, while principal component analysis (PCA) was used to identify major ecological patterns.
Results showed moderate diversity (H’ = 2.43; Simpson = 0.85) with high evenness (0.90) despite the dominance of Tectona grandis. Principal component analysis revealed three components explaining 72% of total variance: PC1 represented plantation versus indigenous species, PC2 highlighted agroforestry-related rare species, and PC3 reflected other uncommon species. Overall, the reserve shows structural stability but is compositionally skewed toward plantations. Management should focus on reducing plantation dominance, enhancing indigenous species, and strengthening community-based conservation.