The Plight of Trees in Disturbed Forest: Conservation of Montane Trees, Nigeria
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The Plight of Trees in Disturbed Forest: Conservation of Montane Trees, Nigeria A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for a Masters in Evolutionary Biology at the University of Canterbury. Joshua A. Thia School of Biological Sciences University of Canterbury 2014 Supervised by Assoc. prof. Hazel Chapman, Dr. Marie Hale, and Dr. Daniel Stouffer Table of Contents ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ......................................................................................................... i EQUATIONS, FIGURES, AND TABLES ................................................................................ iii CHAPTER 1 | Introduction ........................................................................................................ 1 1.1 The Afromontane Archipelago ..................................................................................... 1 1.2 Conservation in Africa ................................................................................................. 3 1.3 Habitat Fragmentation and Disturbance ....................................................................... 4 1.3.1 Genetics in conservation ................................................................................ 5 1.3.2 Genetic effects of fragmentation .................................................................... 6 1.3.3 Anthropogenic disturbance, forest fragmentation, and ecological impacts ...... 7 1.3.4 Habitat degradation and tree populations: Regeneration and evolution ........... 8 1.4 This Thesis ................................................................................................................ 11 1.4.1 The study site .............................................................................................. 11 1.4.2 The study species ........................................................................................ 14 1.4.3 Thesis outline and research goals ................................................................. 16 CHAPTER 2 | Genetic diversity patterns of tree population in Ngel Nyaki Forest and on the Mambilla Plateau ...................................................................................................................... 19 Abstract ........................................................................................................................... 19 2.1 Overview ................................................................................................................... 20 2.1.1 The montane forests of West Africa, forest fragmentation, and tree population genetics ................................................................................................................ 20 2.1.2 Molecular markers in ecology ..................................................................... 22 2.1.3 Universal cpSSRs for comparative studies of tree populations ..................... 23 2.2 Research Goals .......................................................................................................... 24 2.3 Methods ..................................................................................................................... 25 2.3.1 Sample collection and lab work ................................................................... 25 2.3.2 Genetic analyses .......................................................................................... 28 2.4 Results ....................................................................................................................... 30 2.5 Discussion ................................................................................................................. 32 CHAPTER 3 | Phylogenetic relationships of West African Cordia species ............................. 39 Abstract ........................................................................................................................... 39 3.1 Overview ................................................................................................................... 40 3.2 Research Goals .......................................................................................................... 44 3.3 Methods ..................................................................................................................... 44 3.3.1 Sample collection and lab work ................................................................... 44 3.3.2 Phylogenetic analyses .................................................................................. 47 3.4 Results ....................................................................................................................... 52 3.5 Discussion ................................................................................................................. 54 CHAPTER 4 | Regeneration of montane forest trees .............................................................. 64 Abstract ........................................................................................................................... 64 4.1 Overview ................................................................................................................... 65 4.2 Research Goals .......................................................................................................... 68 4.3 Methods ..................................................................................................................... 69 4.3.1 Surveying the recruiting juvenile population ................................................ 69 4.3.2 Measuring the seed dispersal profile of Ngel Nyaki’s C. millenii ................. 71 4.3.3 Quantifying the extent of C. millenii seed predation .................................... 73 4.3.4 Understanding factors that impact recruitment in C. millenii ........................ 74 4.4 Results ....................................................................................................................... 76 4.5 Discussion ................................................................................................................. 81 4.5.1 The importance of primary vertebrate dispersal of C. millenii seed .............. 81 4.5.2 Factors driving the survival of C. millenii seedlings in Ngel Nyaki .............. 83 4.5.3 Summary remarks ....................................................................................... 85 CHAPTER 5 | Final Remarks .................................................................................................. 87 REFERENCES .......................................................................................................................... 93 Acknowledgements I would like to begin by thanking the funding bodies that made my research possible. For starters, the Nigerian Montane Forest Project would not exist if it were not for the support of the A. G. Leventis Foundation, the North of England Zoological Society, Gombe State University, Nexen Inc. and Nexen Nigeria, and the Taraba State Government. Next, credit is due to the North of England Zoological Society and the Explorers Club who provided me with the bulk of the research money to complete my project. I also want to extend my gratitude to the University of Canterbury for providing my with a Masters Scholarship, the School of Biological Sciences for awarding me the Bill Makepeace Prize, the Lester Fund for providing me a scholarship, the Royal Society of New Zealand Canterbury for providing me with a travel grant to Nigeria, and finally, the New Zealand Ecological Society for the travel grant that allowed me to attend my first scientific conference (EcoTas13). Of course, there have been so many people that have played an important part too. Firstly, to my family: Dad, Mum, Alisa, Isaac and Dayna, love you, and thank you for always being there for me. To my science buddies―Hannah, Sasha, Tim, Christie, and Robyn―thanks for your friendship and all those intoxicated nights we complained about our theses together. To Marcus, Jasmine and Kyla, thank you all for being fantastic friends and flat mates for the three years of my postgraduate study. My trip to Nigeria would also not have been possible without assistance from the University of Canterbury Students’ Association, Paula Jameson, Matt Walters, Jenny Ladley, Arvind Varsani, and my friends (Marcus, Chrissy, Robyn, Duncan and Chris) who all helped me in various ways fundraise for my plane ticket. Also, thank you to every member that has ever been in the Chapman, Hale, or Stouffer lab groups during my time at the University of Canterbury—I have learnt a lot from you guys and have loved being a part of these groups. A huge thank you is also due to my field assistants Hamasumo, Musa, Alfred and Peter for accompanying me every day to the field. I also need to express my gratitude to Hammadu, Idris, Suleiman, Augustine, Sambo, Thomas and Usman who helped me out in various ways with my work at Ngel Nyaki. Finally, Misa: thank you for taking such good care of Ngel Nyaki and being such a caring host to me. Lab work was such a huge component of my thesis and I have a few key personal to thank for their support. Pieter Pelser, your many pearls of wisdom with respect to working with plant DNA i. have been invaluable: the reasons why I have results to present in this thesis are thanks to your trouble-shooting tips! Craig Galilee and Thomas Evans, thank you both for your help around the lab. Last, but most definitely not least, a humongous amount of gratitude needs to be given to the wonderful Maggie Tisch for being the most supportive and accommodating