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Review Article.Cdr Ife Journal of Science vol. 16, no. 2 (2014) 319 REVIEW ARTICLE STATUS OF INSECT DIVERSITY CONSERVATION IN NIGERIA: A REVIEW Temitope Kehinde,1* Babatunde Amusan,1 Abel Ayansola,2 Seyi Oyelade,2 Williams Adu3 1Department of Zoology Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, Nigeria 2Natural History Museum Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, Nigeria 3Adeyemi College of Education, Ondo, Nigeria. Corresponding author: Tel: +234 80 513 17913 *[email protected], (Received: 28th April, 2014; Accepted: 25th July, 2014) ABSTRACT With a rapid surge in human population, there has been concomitant increase in anthropogenic threats to biodiversity, especially for ecologically-important groups such as insects. With the loss of about 79% of its forest cover, Nigeria ranked as the nation with the highest rate of forest loss in 2005. How these and other environmental stressors affect insect biodiversity is yet to be fully understood. Nigeria, like most of the countries in the tropics is a treasure trove of insect diversity; however, limited information is available on the taxonomy, ecology, genetics and biogeography of its insect fauna. This dearth of background scientific knowledge impedes successful insect conservation policy and practice. Even though a National Biodiversity Action and Strategic Plan has been formulated in line with the targets of Convention on Biological Diversity, these clear knowledge gaps have to be recognized and filled for sustainable progress to be made in insect conservation. This review identifies the key challenges to insect diversity conservation in Nigerian ecosystems. The need to provide sufficient baseline information on the taxonomy, species distribution and ecology of Nigerian insects at both eco-regional and national scales is proposed. Well designed and targeted insect diversity surveys as well as citizen science programs are suggested as potential approaches to accumulating necessary baseline data to drive conservation of insects in both aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems in the country. Keywords: Citizen Science, Distribution, Diversity Survey, Management, Taxonomy INTRODUCTION Various anthropogenic threats such as intensive Insects are important components in most natural agriculture, land fragmentation and deforestation and transformed landscapes. They play crucial have plagued the success of biodiversity with functional roles that ensure delivery of various consequent limitations on the delivery of possible ecosystem services which are important for some biodiversity benefits (Laurance 2006). Estimates aspects of human livelihood such as agriculture, have shown that Nigeria has lost 55.7% of its tourism, natural resource use etc. (Samways 1994; primary forest to anthropogenic activities such as Tscharntke et al. 2005). Nigeria is an afro-tropical logging, subsistence agriculture, collection of fuel country endowed with rich flora and fauna wood etc. (FAO 2005). The high endemism of biodiversity, typical of most tropical countries of insects and other animal and plant taxa, coupled the world. The tropics which has been reported to with the extent of threat to these endemic species be home to about 70% of global biodiversity is confer the status of a global hotspot of also a treasure trove of insect diversity which is biodiversity on the Nigerian rainforest and estimated to parallel the extent of plant diversity savannah vegetation zones (Myers et al. 2000). of this region (Bradshaw et al. 2009). Nigeria's tropical rainforest and savannah vegetation zones Drivers of biodiversity loss act at local, regional lie within the Guinea Forests of West African and global scales (Green Facts 2012), hence the Biodiversity Hotspots (Myer et al. 2000). This need for a holistic approach in conservation region is identified as one of the most severely research and practice, especially for highly mobile threatened forests in the world, being left with just groups such as insects which move across local, 15% of its original forest cover (Conservation regional and in some cases across national International 2010). boundaries. Though insect loss is a global challenge, inventories, assessments and 320 Kehinde et al.: Status of Insect Diversity Conservation in Nigeria development of conservation strategies may be characterized by vegetation destruction and better targeted at local or regional scales. This landscape fragmentation. Large scale plantation would possibly remove the ambiguity that may establishment of cash crops as well as result when conservation efforts are approached indiscriminate bush burning and overgrazing lead globally with limited consideration for local scale to habitat destruction with consequent impact on dynamics that shape insect diversity loss and insect species (Emma-Okafor et al. 2010). At conservation needs (Tscharntke et al. 2008). This present, the destruction of natural habitats in review, therefore, examines the status of insect Nigeria continues apace resulting in the depletion diversity conservation in Nigeria, a biodiversity of the country's biodiversity (Imeht and rich country, currently faced with incipient Adebobola 2001). Every year, a considerable part biodiversity loss. of the nation's forest resources is destroyed through industrialization, urbanization, road NIGERIAN FORESTS AND INSECT construction, commercial agriculture and other POPULATION activities thereby disturbing the ecological balance Forests are among the world's most important that nature maintains with living and non-living biomes in terms of the area of land surface they resources (Imeht and Adebobola 2001). cover (approximately 30% of all land, over 3.8 billion hectares) and the biodiversity they contain Insects are habitat-specific in nature and as a (approximately 90% of terrestrial biodiversity) result, they are highly sensitive to disturbance, (FAO 2000). Forests serve as reservoir of particularly habitat fragmentation (Kearns et al. biodiversity and serve as recreation and tourism 1998; Aizen and Feinsinger 2002; Ashworth et al. centres. Invertebrates account for the greatest 2004). Most forest insects have narrow amount of biodiversity in forest ecosystems. geographical range of distribution, often nearly Invertebrates (especially insects) dominate among endemic in a particular biogeographic forest type multicellular organisms in forests in terms of (Spitzer et al. 1993). Modifications of the natural richness, abundance and biomass (Erwin et al. environment as a result of sustained human 2004). A careful study of the vegetation of Nigeria activity will affect the relative abundance of shows that true and protected forest is mainly species and in extreme cases lead to extinction of found in the southern part of the country and it certain species (Groombridge 1992). Several occupied 93,345 km2 in 1993 i.e 9.6 % of the total studies from different parts of the world have land area of the country. This area increased to provided evidence to support the view that 11.4 % in 1994 but dropped to 10 % in 1995 (CBN deforestation and other forms of habitat 2001). Conservation efforts have led to the disturbance can cause a reduction in insect establishment of game reserves and protected abundance and species richness. Ricketts et al. ecosystems in some parts of the country, (2002) in Costa Rica; Kitching et al. (2000) in especially in the northern savannah e.g Yankari in Australia; Holloway et al. (1992) in Borneo; Watt et Bauchi state, Borgu in Niger State and the old Oyo al. (1997) in Cameroon; Eggleton et al. (1995,1996) National Park in Oyo state just to mention a few. in Cameroon. These studies brought about a general consensus in the field of insect Deforestation is a serious problem in Nigeria conservation that the most important factor in which currently has one of the highest rates of maintaining diversity is maintaining appropriate forest loss in the world. Since 1990, the country habitat (Pullin 1995). However, our understanding has lost some 6.1million hectares or 35.7% of its of the impact of deforestation and other forest covers (FAO 2000). According to the anthropogenic activities on insect species richness revised deforestation figures from FAO (2005), and abundance in Nigerian forests is poor due to between 1990 and 2005, Nigeria lost a staggering lack of published information. 79% of its forests and since 2000, the country has been losing an average of 11% of its primary Although, appreciable attempts have been made forests per year - double the rate of the 1990s. to quantify the impact of deforestation on global Intensive farming methods are among the primary species extinction, resulting in estimates of global causes of habitat destruction in Nigeria as it is species extinction rates of 1-10% species per Kehinde et al.: Status of Insect Diversity Conservation in Nigeria 321 decade (Reid 1992). These estimates have all been where they are found and their presence in water obtained by extrapolating from known serve various purposes; some serve as food for relationships between species richness and habitat fishes and other invertebrates, others acts as area. However, the fate of many species of vectors through which disease pathogens are organisms following forest disturbance is transmitted to both humans and animals (Foil uncertain (Lugo 1988) and there is a need to 1998; Chae et al. 2000). Most importantly, aquatic measure directly the impact of deforestation and insects are very good indicators of water qualities forest disturbance on insect diversity and since they have various environmental
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