An Investigation into the Herbaceous Plant Formations of Yankari Game Reserve Bauchi, Nigeria

The diversity of herbaceous plant species of YGR was investigated using the point centred quarter method. Five permanent transects (sites) established earlier on were systematically sampled and plant communities encountered reported. About 45 species belonging to 5 families and 8 genera were identified. The strength of the family wise distribution of the species is Poaceae; 31 (68.8%), Cyperaceae; 9 (20%), Poligonaceae; 3 (6.7%) Ceasalpinnaceae and Malvaceae; 1 (2.2%) each. All associations and similarity values were negative except those between sites III and IV and IV and V. The relationship between Sites I and V was significant (p>0.05) indicating strong heterogeneity. The species encountered belonged to Polygonum salicifolium, Pycreus lanceolatus and Digitaria gayana community. In addition, all the species were distributed mainly in the three lower Constancy Classes (CC) of 0-20, 21-40 and 41-60. One species, Digitaria gayana was found in the CC4. Therefore, majority of the species encountered were infrequent as high values where obtained in lower constancy classes whereas low values were obtained in higher constancy classes. Thus, it is possible to conclude that there exists a high degree of floristic heterogeneity in Yankari Game Reserve.