Sprawl and Biodiversity in Cross River State, Nigeria

Abstract

The paper sought to determine the influence of sprawl on crop types and the diversity of birds, butterflies and bumblebees in agricultural lands. The research compared the number and species of crops cultivated, birds, butterflies and bumblebees diversity between 10 peripheral agricultural lands in sprawl areas and 10 peripheral agricultural lands outside sprawl areas. At each of the farms, five sampled points were used and the mean of all observations were used for the analysis. Canonical correlation analysis was used to determine the factors influencing the diversity of birds, butterflies and bumblebees on farmlands. While the difference in crop diversity between and within species was determined by Shannon Weiner diversity index. Butterflies, bumblebees and birds were significantly correlated with the crop diversity of farm lands. Also a positive relationship was observed amongst all inventoried variables. Farms with high crop diversity had high butterfly and bird diversity. The study has implication for the sustainability of biodiversity in urban places.

Key words: Sprawl, biodiversity, peripheral lands, Cross River State