Studies on Extinction Risk of Genus Afzelia in Nigeria from Biogeographical Perspective

Abstract

Taxa in the genus Afzelia are trees of great economic importance and they have provided several ecosystem services to man and the environment. This genus has been heavily exploited to meet several human needs which include medicinal uses, timber production, and source of food for man and animals. These taxa that meet several demands should be evaluated for conservation purposes. This is because much reliance on plant resources is fast depleting plant global biodiversity and resulting in massive plant extinction risk. In this study, literature was consulted to determine the number of species in the genus Afzelia. Their conservation status was extracted from the IUCN (International Union of Conservation of Nature) Red List. Herbarium records for Afzelia taxa in Nigeria were collected to determine the region of species diversity of Afzelia in Nigeria. This study revealed that Afzelia is made up of a very small number of taxa in which the majority are threatened. In Nigeria, these taxa are well distributed in the Southern and middle belt region of Nigeria. From this study it can be clearly concluded that Afzellia is a threatened genus and needs to be given conservation intervention anywhere they are around the world. A current population survey of Afzelia taxa in all the locations in Nigeria identified in this study is recommended to keep track of the level of decline and to design conservation intervention plans and programs for this threatened genus.