A Survey of the Terrestrial Angiospermic Indigenous Flora of College of Education, Agbor, Delta State, Nigeria

Evangeline O Chiedu, Bernard O Obadoni, Oseghale E Ehilen, Philippine C Okubor

Seeking to explore the impact of developmental activities on plant biodiversity, a survey was embarked upon to document plant species naturally occurring on the College of Education (now University of Delta), Agbor, Delta State, Nigeria. A total of 48 species were recorded on Campus I, and 54 species were recorded on Campus II, belonging to 20 and 26 families respectively. On Campus I, the family Poaceae had the highest number of plant species of 12, representing 25% of the entire taxa, followed by Asteraceae and Euphorbiaceae, which had 6 species each and both contributed 25%, Cyperaceae and Amaranthaceae had 12.5%, while the remaining 18 families had 37.5%. On Campus II, the family Asteraceae had the highest plant species representation of 14.81%, Poaceae 11.11% and Euphorbiaceae 9.26%. Cyperaceae, Mimosaceae and Rubiaceae contributed 5.56% each, while others contributed 48.15%. Andropogon gayanus had the highest relative abundance on Campus II, while on Campus I, Gomphrena celosioides recorded the highest relative abundance. Based on growth habits on both campuses, herbs were represented by 19 and 26 species, shrubs by 10 and 13 species, grasses by 12 and 6 species, climbers by 3 and 3 species, sedges by 3 and 3 species, and trees by 1 and 3 species on Campus I and Campus II respectively. Twenty-six plant species were common to both campuses, and Jaccard’s similarity coefficient between both campuses was 0.366. The results clearly depicted varying degrees of human interference on both campuses, altering species composition and vegetation structure. This suggests the need to evolve effective methods for conserving nature while exploring its resources for development.