Research
Biodiversity checklist - a growing list of the species that have so far been identified in and around the Ngel Nyaki forest reserve.
Students 2010
- Aliyu, Babale The fate of large seed in an Afromontane forest with few wide gaped frugivores. PhD.
- Adewoye, Ralph Remote sensing and geographical information system application to biodiversity assessments of Nigeria’s montane forest fragments. PhD, UC.
- Azizan, Tengku Rinalfi Putra Ibn Tengku The role of putty nose monkeys (Cercopithecus nicitans) in forest restoration. PhD, UC.
- Barnes, Andrew Forest edges, livestock encroachment, and boundary fencing: The effects of habitat edges on dung beetle (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae) community structure and function. MSc, UC.
- Campbell, Delyse The potential for natural seed dispersal in the restoration of West African montane forest. MSc, UC.
- Dutton, Paul Foraging behaviour of the Nigerian/Cameroon chimpanzee (Pan troglodytes ellioti) in a small remnant of montane forest: assessment of technology, diet and habitat. PhD, UC.
- Grassham, Abby Relationships between the tantalus monkey and forest structure in a West African montane forest. MSc, UC
- Korndoerfer, Martin Fulani pastoral practices around the Ngel Nyaki Forest Reserve. MSc, UC.
- Nsor, Charles Ayuk The relative importance of birds and insects as pollinators of a west african montane forest: a case study of Ngel Nyaki forest reserve. PhD, UC.
- Osinubi, Samuel (Dayo) Temidayo Habitat choice and evolutionary fitness in the yellow breasted boubou (Laniarius atroflavus). PhD, UC.
- Udy, Christy Dung beetle taxonomy, ecology and foraging behaviour. Student volunteer, UC.
- Umar, Danladi Mohammed How do varying land-uses affect stream communities in highland tropical streams in Nigeria? PhD, UC.
Postdoctoral Research
- Kennedy Poloma A preliminary pollinator web in a West African montane forest.
Completed Theses
- Agmen, Fiona Tantalus monkeys Chlorocebus tantalus and seed dispersal. BSc(Hons).
- Korndoerfer, Tammy Natural Resource use and Livelihoods of Villagers on the Mambilla Plateau, Nigeria: Yelwa Village as a case study MSc.
- Weston, Kerry-Anne The role of sunbirds in pollination at Ngel Nyaki forest. MSc.
Students Visitors from other Universities
- Asory, Priscilla from FUTY spent a week at Ngel Nyaki working on her MSC project to do with forest soils.
Tantalus monkeys and seed dispersal
Fiona Agmen BSc Hons (UC) (Completed)
Along with birds, primates are key dispersers in Afromontane forests,
making up between 25 and
40 % of frugivore biomass. Primates are important because they have a wider gape than most
bird species, and so are theoretically able to disperse (through swallowing) larger seed than even
wide-gaped bird species. However primate populations are in decline, and so for conservation
management it are important to highlight why their continued survival is important for forest
ecosystem function.
Ngel Nyaki Forest Reserve and the surrounding riverside forests (from here on referred to
as forest fragments) are degraded and increasingly fragmented due to recent increases in
human and cattle populations. Hunting has been rife, especially during the 1980’s so that the
only primate species now regularly crossing open grassland and visiting forest fragments is
Chlorocebus tantalus (tantalus monkey). In the past other primates such as chimpanzee, putty
nose and mona monkeys were common visitors to the fragments.
The aims of this research are to:
1) Identify which fruit tree species C. tantalus feeds on in the fragments
2) Determine the relative importance (effectiveness) of C. tantalus in the dispersal of each of
these species compared with their other frugivores.
3) Investigate the potential for C. tantalus to move seed from Ngel Nyaki forest back into
depleted fragments.
The results of this work will contribute to our understanding of the vulnerability of forest
fragments to frugivore decline and to the importance (or not) of C. tantalus in their survival.
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Tantalus monkey |
Collection of fruit |
Aspects of the ecology of the Cameroon Olive Pigeon (Columba sjostedti) at Ngel-Nyaki
Adang, Kombe Lucas, BSc, MSc, PhD (ABU)
The Cameroon Olive Pigeon (Columba sjostedti) is one of the endemic bird species found in the
Montane Forests at Ngel Nyaki. Little is known of the ecology of this species, thus the proposed
study is aimed at providing information on some aspects of the ecology of this species at Ngel
Nyaki Forests. The ecological aspects of interest are outlined below.
Aspects of interest
- Food habits
(a) Visual observations of the bird’s feeding and noting the plant or tree species on which it feeds.
(b) Mist-netting the bird to collect crop contents (regurgitates) for analysis of possible or identifiable food items.
(c) Collection of faecal samples for analysis of possible or identifiable food items.
(d) Possible feeding regimes of the bird on a particular tree species viz a viz competition with other bird species on such food item. - Breeding Biology
Try to identify or locate nests of the bird and monitor its breeding biology from courtship or territoriality to fledging. - Habitat preference
(a) Note where the bird is commonly sighted, i.e. in the fragment or main forest and to postulate reasons for such preference.
(b) Record the number of sightings of the bird in a day within the fragments and main forest.
(c) Perform ringing experiments to determine the territorial range of the bird within the plateau and its environs, especially the Gashaka Gumti National park.
The role of sunbirds in pollination
Kerry-Anne Weston MSc (UC) (Completed)
When addressing conservation issues currently facing areas of afromontane forest such as the
Ngel Nyaki forest reserve, anthropogenic impacts upon the flora and fauna within the forest
must be addressed not only in terms of species loss, but also in terms of disruption to the
mutualisms between these species which may be indirectly precipitating or compounding
this species loss. An increased understanding of plant-animal interactions such as pollination
services may be vital in advising conservation efforts. The first step towards this understanding
is to identify the web of interactions linking plants species and their pollinators. Sunbirds are
small, largely nectarivorous passerines with long, slender, sharply pointed, decurved bills. There
are 131 species of sunbird worldwide, 28 of which occur in Nigeria. The sunbirds are thought
to be implicated in the pollination of several tree species of the Nigerian afromontane forest,
however the relative role and 
consequently the importance of sunbirds as pollinators is largely
unknown.
Predicting the main pollinators of flowering plants can be difficult from pollination syndromes
alone due to the wide taxonomic range of pollinators servicing most plant species, often
resulting in temporally and spatially variable natural selection. Consequently, field observations
combined with experimentation are required to test these predictions and identify the role and
importance of these interactions in overall ecosystem function.
The specific objectives of this project are to:
- Evaluate current knowledge on the role of sunbirds/birds as pollinators in afromontane forests?
- Assess the relative visitation rates of sunbirds versus other flower visitors to afromontane forest tree species
- Evaluate the relative effectiveness of sunbirds as pollinators of afromontane forest tree species
Prof Dave Kelly (UC) and Assoc Prof Jim Briskie (UC) are involved with this project.
A preliminary mutualist web in a West African
montane forest
Kennedy Poloma Yoriyo, PostDoc (Gombe State University); A PhD student (Aplori); Merodie Beavon, MSc graduate (UC), Volunteer; and Delyse Campbell, Undergraduate (UC) Volunteer
In order to begin to understand the role of different seed dispersers and pollinator species /
groups at Ngel Nyaki we are going to begin to create a mutualist web. To do this we need to
identify all the different seed dispersers and pollinators (at least to family level) on all (or as
many as possible) of the tree species in Ngel Nyaki forest.
To do this transects (already cut throughout the forest) will be walked on a regular basis and
trees will be observed for seed dispersers and both insect (K. Poloma and D. Campbell) and bird
(M. Beavon and D. Campbell) pollinator activity. Because of the difficulties of 
differentiating
between insect/bird visitation and pollination, we shall initially record only visitation. Insects
will be collected and identified to genus level wherever possible.
We may have to build viewing platforms at several strategic locations along the transects to give
us access to higher trees.
Prof Dave Kelly (UC) and Dr Ulf Ottoson (Aplori) are involved with this project.
The influence of land degradation on fresh water
macro invertebrates in streams in and close to
Ngel Nyaki forest Reserve
Danladi Umar, PhD FUTY (UC) Nov 07
Almost nothing is known about the stream life of Nigerian Montane forests, or how land
degradation is affecting stream ecology in terms of the invertebrate fauna. All over Mambilla
Plateau land use is changing, forest cover is being lost around streams, and erosion is
increasing.
Within and around Ngel Nyaki Forest Reserve streams are suffering from varying levels of
degradation. Within Ngel Nyaki forest itself streams are relatively undisturbed, while streams
running across grasslands are often denuded of trees.
The aims of this study are to:
- Identify the macro invertebrate fauna in the streams around Ngel Nyaki
- Investigate the effect of different levels of land degradation on the macro invertebrates
- Design experiments to identify which environmental factors most affect the macro invertebrates.
The results of this work will be used in assessing the environmental impact of overgrazing on Mambilla Plateau.
Danladi is working with Dr Jon Harding from UC on this project.
Medicinal properties of trees used as medicines
within Ngel Nyaki Forest Reserve
Aliyu Babale, Lecturer at University of Jos, PhD
(U Maiduguri) Nov 07
Extract from the stem, bark and leaves of key tree species within Ngel Nyaki forest will be
analysed for the presence or absence of phytochemical constituents such as tannins, alkaloids,
resins, saponins, triterpenes, coumarin and some steroids. The toxicity of these species will be
investigated by administering extracts orally on Swiss albino mice to determine the mortality
rate. This will undertaken under laboratory conditions using lethal dose (LD50) in mice.
Anti-microbial / bacterial properties will be tested against type strains of fungi, Staphylococcus
aureus, Escherichia coli, Pseudomonas sp, Salmonella sp, Bacillus subtiblis and clinical isolates
of Staphylococcus spp., using agar diffusion techniques. The extracts will inhibit the growth or
otherwise of the organisms listed above.
Remote sensing and geographical information system application to forest biodiversity
assessments of Ngel Nyaki montane forest and its associated 
fragments
Ralph Adewoye (UC), PhD Nov 07
No GIS survey has been carried out around Ngel Nyaki forest reserve, yet this sort of survey
would provide valuable base-line data for future biological work.
Objectives of study
- Determine the current land cover and land use around Ngel Nyaki Forest using satellite imagery.
- Identify and delineate Ngel Nyaki Forest and its associated riverine fragments from satellite imagery and aerial photographs.
- Determine the reduction in forest cover and identify land use changes in the area over the last 30 years.
- Determine the vegetation diversity within the delineated forest and fragments.
- Determine the soil properties of the study area under different land use.
- Determine the relationship between soil properties and the vegetation distribution of the study area.
- Produce a vegetation and soil map of the study area.
- Make necessary recommendations regarding land use in relation to forest management.
It is envisaged that this project will be the beginning of a more wide ranging GIS survey of Mambilla Plateau.
Dr Hamish Cochrane (UC) is an associate supervisor on this project.
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