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Urban green spaces have been shown to play an important role in maintaining biodiversity within the urbanized landscapes of cities. However documented evidence of their value to species in sub-Saharan Africa is scarce. In this study, the avian species utilizing 16 green spaces, comprising of 8 parks and 8 road strip corridors within the megacity of Lagos, Nigeria were surveyed between August – October 2017. Generalized Linear Models were used to compare the relative abundance of different avian foraging guilds as well as how bird richness varies in response to habitat and human disturbance variables. A total of 567 individual birds of 19 species, representing 13 families were recorded across the green spaces measuring from 0.25 - 1.77 ha. Mean relative abundance differed significantly only between insectivorous and frugivorous species. Bird species richness increased significantly with increase in shrub abundance and distance to the nearest road. This study highlights the importance of landscape features and human-induced disturbances in moderating urban bird species composition. In conclusion, available green spaces within the Lagos megacity have the potential of sustaining and improving avifaunal diversity. However, their magnitude of influence on species diversity is dependent on how they are designed and the general landscape structure.
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Avifaunal Potential of Lagos State Urban Green Spaces Page 382
Journal of Scientific Research and Development (2020) Vol. 19 (1) 382-394
A bi-annual journal published by the Faculty of Science, University of Lagos, Nigeria
http://jsrd.unilag.edu.ng/index.php/jsrd
The Assessment of Avifaunal Potential of Lagos State Urban Green Spaces
*Lawal, Sulaimon Olayemi and Iwajomo, B. Soladoye
Department of Zoology, Faculty of Science, University of Lagos, Akoka, Yaba, Lagos, Nigeria.
*Corresponding author Email: lslawal@unilag.edu.ng,
(Received 11February 2020/Revised 29 May 2020/Accepted 31 May 2020)
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ABSTRACT
Urban green spaces have been shown to play an important role in maintaining biodiversity within the
urbanized landscapes of cities. However documented evidence of their value to species in sub-Saharan Africa
is scarce. In this study, the avian species utilizing 16 green spaces, comprising of 8 parks and 8 road strip
corridors within the megacity of Lagos, Nigeria were surveyed between August October 2017. Generalized
Linear Models were used to compare the relative abundance of different avian foraging guilds as well as how
bird richness varies in response to habitat and human disturbance variables. A total of 567 individual birds of
19 species, representing 13 families were recorded across the green spaces measuring from 0.25 - 1.77 ha.
Mean relative abundance differed significantly only between insectivorous and frugivorous species. Bird
species richness increased significantly with increase in shrub abundance and distance to the nearest road.
This study highlights the importance of landscape features and human-induced disturbances in moderating
urban bird species composition. In conclusion, available green spaces within the Lagos megacity have the
potential of sustaining and improving avifaunal diversity. However, their magnitude of influence on species
diversity is dependent on how they are designed and the general landscape structure.
Keywords: Urban Green Spaces, Urban bird species, Lagos, relative abundance, species richness
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Introduction
Urbanization, together with the development of
modern civilization and associated industrialization,
has been associated with a rapid near-permanent
alteration or transformation of habitats (McKinney
2006; Seto et al., 2012). Habitat fragmentation, loss,
and isolation resulting from urbanization activities,
have been implicated in both current and predicted
native species endangerment and extinctions
(Czech et al., 2001; Adriaensen et al., 2003;
McDonald et al., 2008). Typically, urban centres
are characterized by a reduction in vegetation cover
but increase in concrete floors, pavings and built
environments (Marzluff, 2001; Grimm et al., 2008;
Evans et al., 2011). This reduces the area and
quality of habitats necessary for supporting a wide
array of species and in many instances resulting in
decrease in species richness (McKinney, 2006).
Lawal and Iwajomo, J. Sci. Res. Dev. (2020)
Avifaunal Potential of Lagos Urban Green Spaces Page 383
People living in species-poor mega cities suffer
from ‘extinction of experience’ due to their
disconnection from the natural world (Miller, 2005)
as urban centres are becoming increasingly isolated
from nature
Globally, urbanization has been reported to be
accompanied by the transformation of large forests
into small, isolated patches of native and/or
artificial vegetation surrounded by a matrix of
built-up areas (Jokimaki, 1999; Niemela, 1999;
Marzluff and Ewing, 2001). These small patches of
forests or vegetation called Urban Green Spaces
(UGS) areimportant for supporting the range of
species adapted to and capable of exploiting
densely populated areas (McKinney 2002). Studies
have shown that even UGSs are being depleted at a
rapid rate in urban areas across the world. For
instance, it has been found that between 7.3 and 41
percent of green spaces in Europe (EEA, 2002)
and about 1.4 million hectares in USA (McDonald
et al., 2010) have been lost to different land-uses.
The situation is worse in Africa, which is mostly
composed of developing countries, where
urbanization is occurring at an alarming rate. For
instance, the green spaces in Kumasi city, Ghana
constitute about 10.7 percent of the total land area
(Amoako and Korboe, 2011), which is not so
different in Nigeria. Fanan et al. (2011) reported
that the green spaces in Abuja have reduced to
about 12 percent of the total land area as of 2006.
As of 2011, all that is left of Zaria’s green space is
the Zaria polo and golf fields which account for
only 34.7 hectares (0.09% of built-up area)
(ABUURP, 2011). Green spaces in Lagos city
occupy less than 3 percent of the city’s landmass
(Oduwaye, 2013). These reductions in green spaces
has resulted to declines even in species thought of
as urban adapters (Robinson et al., 2005).
Birds are one of the species taxa that have
successfully exploited and adapted to cities. This is
partly due to their flight capability which enables
them to overcome the patchiness of the UGSs.
Their diversity and abundance can reveal ecological
trends in other biodiversity (Furness and
Greenwood, 1993). Studies have revealed that the
urbanization results in a decrease in bird species
richness and increase in abundance (Blair 1996;
Mckinney 2002), although this pattern may be
influenced by the intensity of urbanization
(McKinney 2008).
In recent years, the Lagos State Government,
through the Lagos State Parks and Gardens
Agency (LASPARK) has undertaken revegetation
projects to improve environmental quality of the
city and living standards of its residents. Landscape
restoration through revegetation is becoming an
increasingly popular tool in the conservation
management of highly degraded landscapes
(Shanahan et al., 2011). However, there is a paucity
of systematic and published work on the avifauna
diversity of the urban green spaces in Africa. This
is authenticated by a recent review by Nielsen et al.
(2013) which reported that no research from
African countries was identified on the topic. This
study is therefore aimed at investigating the
potentials of urban green spaces in Lagos, Nigeria
to support bird diversity and how this may be
influenced by attributes of the green spaces.
Materials and methods
Study area
This study was conducted in Lagos state located in
the south-western part of Nigeria. The coastal
state, whose southern boundary is formed by
180km long Atlantic Coastline (Adejuwon and Jeje,
1973), lies within latitudes 6°23’N and 6°41’N and
longitudes 2°42’E and 3°42E. Lagos embodies a
geographical area of 3,577.28 square kilometers
(km2), 40% of which is covered by water and
wetlands (Agbola and Agunbiade, 2009; Oshodi,
2013). Lagos is a rapidly growing megacity that
ranks as Nigeria’s largest city, the most populous
metropolis in Africa and the 5th most populated
city in the World (UN, 2007; UNWUP, 2014;
Adesuyi et al. 2015; Babalola and Akinsanola,
2016). This growth rate puts the current population
beyond 21 million (Ogundele, 2012; Digest of
Statistics, 2013; Komolafe, et al., 2014) and the
Lawal and Iwajomo, J. Sci. Res. Dev. (2020)
Avifaunal Potential of Lagos Urban Green Spaces Page 384
population density around 5,926 persons per
square kilometer (Oshodi, 2013). In recent years,
the Lagos State Government through the Lagos
State Parks and Gardens Agency (LASPARK) has
established and maintained 212 green spaces
statewide (http://laspark.lagosstate.gov.ng). These
include parks, gardens, embankments and road
medians.
Lagos has two main vegetation types: swamp forest
of the coastal belt and dry lowland rain forest
which lies to the north of the swamp forests
(Ogundele, 2012). The former is a combination of
mangrove forest and coastal vegetation
characterized by climbing palms, raffia, red
mangrove, mangrove shrubs, and stilt rooted trees
with dense undergrowth. The lowland (tropical)
rain forest is characterized by Teak (Tectona grandis),
Tripochiton, Seletrocylon (Arere), Banclea diderrichil
(Opepe) and Terminahia (Idigbo) (Ogundele, 2012).
Figure 1: Map of Lagos State. Locations of green spaces are indicated by red dots.
Site selection
A list of the green spaces in Lagos was obtained
from LASPARK. The site selection was not
restricted to any type of public green space,
particularly due to the ambiguity in the use of the
terminologies ‘park’ and ‘garden’ by the agency.
Satellite imagery (Google maps) was used to
identify potentially suitable sites in the list which
were then field-checked for confirmation. All sites
were found to be adequately managed and some
were not accessible due to ongoing rehabilitation.
Ultimately, sixteen sites were selected with a
minimum distance of 100m maintained between
them. The selected urban green spaces measured
from 0.25 to 1.77 ha with a mean of 0.89 ha ±
0.48.
Habitat characterization
The area of each site was measured using a GPS
unit (Garmin®; GPSMAP 64). Habitat and
vegetation characteristics of each green space were
assessed using the following: percentage ground
cover, number of trees, shrubs, and herbaceous
plants (Carbó-Ramírez and Zuria, 2011). Plant
specimens collected were identified to the finest
taxonomic level possible, usually the species level
at the Herbarium of the University of Lagos,
Nigeria. The distance to the nearest road was
estimated as the distance from the center of each
green space and the closest main road (i.e. road
with more than one lane and constant traffic). The
mean number of pedestrians passing through the
green spaces and the mean number of vehicles
Lawal and Iwajomo, J. Sci. Res. Dev. (2020)
Avifaunal Potential of Lagos Urban Green Spaces Page 385
traversing the adjacent roads per two minutes were
obtained as measures of human disturbance
(Carbó-Ramírez and Zuria, 2011). All
measurements were conducted by the same
observer to minimize any potential observer effect
(Prodon and Lebreton, 1981).
Avian survey
Bird survey was conducted between August and
October 2017 from 06:30am and 9:00am. Each site
was surveyed four times. A site was only revisited
when all others have been visited for that round, to
ensure that the temporal pattern in species
composition is captured. Considering that time of
day affects bird activity, which in turn affects
detection probability, the order of sampling sites
on a planned itinerary for each day was reversed on
subsequent visits (Bibby et al., 2000). Close
observation and photography of birds was
performed using Lotus binoculars (8 × 42
magnification) and Nikkon- D5100 camera fitted
with 200 mm zoom lens respectively. During each
survey, all birds encountered (visually and/or
acoustically) were systematically recorded excluding
overflying birds (not actively feeding or hunting)
and those perched a few meters above the canopy
level (Shanahan et al., 2011). This is to ensure that
data collected reflected potential habitat use at a
site. It is assumed that very few birds were
undetected due to the simple vegetation structure
of all the green spaces studied. Bird identification
was done according to Borrow and Demey, (2014).
Bird species were also grouped into feeding guilds
following (Fry et al. 1988).
Depending on the type of green space, birds were
surveyed using either a line transect or point count.
For parks, 15 minutes unlimited radius point
counts were conducted (Bibby et al. 2000) with the
first 10min of observations at the centre and the
remaining 5min for checking areas hidden from the
observer e.g. behind buildings (Fontana et al.,
2011). Special care was taken to ensure that
individuals were counted only once. Considering
the small size of the study sites, only one point was
utilized per site. For lineal road strip corridors, a
500 m line transect was walked slowly (Bibby et al.,
2000; Gregory et al., 2004). This method minimizes
the probability of double counting since the
observer was continuously on the move (Gregory
et al., 2004). These methods were chosen due to
their suitability to the different types of green
space. Line transects which are appropriate for
road strip corridors due to their linear nature and
narrow width, are however unsuitable for parks
owing to their short length and small area (Carbó-
Ramírez, and Zuria 2011).
Data analysis
Relative abundance was calculated per feeding
guilds as the number of individuals of a species in a
feeding guild divided by the total number of
individuals for that feeding guild. The mean
relative abundance of the different foraging guilds
was compared using a general linear model. Species
richness was estimated as the total number of
species recorded. We found no significant
difference in the mean species richness between
the two green space types (t-test=1.77, df=14,
p=0.099). Hence we pooled the data for species
richness from both green space types for
subsequent analysis. We tested for the relationships
between species richness and area of green space,
abundance of trees, number of shrubs, percentage
ground cover, number of herbaceous plants,
number of pedestrian and distance to nearest road
using the General Linear Model. Using the
stepwise backward elimination method (Crawley
2012), variables with the highest P-values were
removed starting with the non-significant
interactions and the procedure repeated until the
best model was attained. All the subsequent models
were compared using the Akaike’s Information
Criteron (AIC; Burnham and Anderson 2002) and
the best model was selected as the model with the
least AIC value. Statistical significance was
considered at p<0.05. Normality of dependent
variables and fit of model were tested using
Shapiro-Wilk test. All statistical analyses were
conducted using R statistical language version 3.5.0
Lawal and Iwajomo, J. Sci. Res. Dev. (2020)
Avifaunal Potential of Lagos Urban Green Spaces Page 386
(2018-04-23) (R Core Team 2018) and the
significance of all tests were determined at p<0.05.
Results
A total of 567 individuals of 19 species from 13
families were recorded utilizing the 16 sites (Table
1). The Cattle egret was the most abundant species
encountered during this study, with a total of 250
individuals recorded across all the sites. Bird
species richness ranged from 1 to 10, with a mean
of 4.9 ± 2.4 across all the sites.
Table 1: Bird species recorded across the 16 urban green spaces
Family
Scientific name
Common names
Foraging guilds*
Alcedinidae
Halcyon senegalensis
Woodland kingfisher
I
Ardeidae
Bubulcus ibis
Cattle egret
I
Ardeidae
Egretta garzetta
Little egret
P
Columbidae
Spilopelia senegalensis
Laughing dove
G
Columbidae
Columba livia
Rock dove
G
Columbidae
Streptopelia semitorquata
Red-eyed dove
G
Columbidae
Columba guinea
Speckled pigeon
G
Corvidae
Ptilostomus afer
Piapiac
O
Corvidae
Corvus albus
Pied crow
O
Cuculidae
Centropus senegalensis
Senegal coucal
C
Hirundinidae
Hirundo aethiopica
Ethiopian swallow
I
Musophagidae
Crinifer piscator
Plantain eater
F
Nectariniidae
Cinnyris venustus
Variable sunbird
N
Phoeniculidae
Phoeniculus purpureus
Green wood-hoopoe
I
Psittacidae
Poicephalus senegalus
Senegal parrot
F
Psittacidae
Psittacula krameri
Rose-ringed parakeet
F
Pycnonotidae
Pycnonotus barbatus
Common bulbul
I
Sturnidae
Lamprotornis splendidus
Splendid glossy starling
F
Tudidae
Turdus pelios
African thrush
I
*Foraging guilds were assigned according to Fry et al. (1988)
There was a significant difference between the mean relative abundance of the foraging guilds encountered in
this study (ANOVA; F6,86=3.185, p=0.007, Fig. 2). A Tukey-hsd post-hoc test revealed that only the mean
values for insectivores and frugivores were significantly different (p=0.008).
Lawal and Iwajomo, J. Sci. Res. Dev. (2020)
Avifaunal Potential of Lagos Urban Green Spaces Page 387
5
6
Guilds
Mean relative abundance ± SE
0.0
0.1
0.2
0.3
0.4
0.5
Figure 1: Mean relative abundance of different foraging guilds of bird species recorded in 16 urban green
spaces of Lagos metropolis. Legends: 1 = Carnivorous; 2 = Frugivores; 3 = Granivores; 4 = Insectivores; 5 =
Nectarivores, 6 = Omnivores;7 = Piscivores.
The final model for bird species richness retained
area, number of shrubs, number of herbaceous
plants and distance to the nearest road. Of all the
habitat variables, only the number of shrubs and
distance to the nearest road had a significant
influence on bird species richness (Table 2).
Table 2: Summary statistics of effect of habitat and vegetation variables on bird species richness. Full
model (AIC=75.1, Adj-R2 =0.28, P=0.238) and best model (AIC=71.3, Adj-R2 =0.41, P=0.041) estimates
are presented.
Full model
Best model
Estimate
SE
t-value
P
Estimate
SE
t-value
P
(Intercept)
2.826
6.056
0.467
0.655
2.801
1.686
1.662
0.125
Area
-2.116
2.771
-0.764
0.47
-1.922
1.212
-1.586
0.141
Percentage ground
cover
-0.067
0.073
-0.915
0.391
-
-
-
-
Number of shrubs
0.162
0.067
2.399
0.048
0.148
0.052
2.841
0.016
Number of
herbaceous plants
-0.104
0.102
-1.018
0.343
-0.125
0.070
-1.779
0.103
Number of Trees
0.007
0.037
0.178
0.864
-
-
-
-
Log(number of
vehicles)
2.955
4.544
0.65
0.536
-
-
-
-
Distance to nearest
road
0.075
0.042
1.768
0.120
0.094
0.034
2.756
0.019
Number of
Pedestrians
0.053
0.213
0.25
0.81
-
-
-
-
Lawal and Iwajomo, J. Sci. Res. Dev. (2020)
Avifaunal Potential of Lagos Urban Green Spaces Page 388
In this study, bird species richness increased
significantly with increase in number of shrubs and
distance to the nearest road (Figs. 3a & b). A total
of 58 plant species comprising of 29 families were
recorded across all the sites and these consisted of
31 trees, 14 shrubs and 13 herbaceous plants
(appendix 1).
10 20 30 40
2 4 6 8 10
Shrub abundance
Bird species richness
(a)
10 30 50 70
2 4 6 8 10
Distance to nearest road (m)
Bird species richness
(b)
Figure 3: Predicted relationship between bird species richness in the 16 urban green spaces within Lagos
metropolis and (a) shrub abundance (b) distance of the nearest road.
Discussion
The results of this study reveal that although the
urban green spaces within Lagos, Nigeria were
designed mainly to enhance the aesthetic quality and
recreational opportunities of the metropolis, these
relatively small patches support a number of bird
species. Although the bird species recorded in this
study are classified as common species (Borrow and
Demey 2014), they can enhance the nature
experience of the busy urban populace via the
different human-bird interactions that occur over
time and space (Miller and Hobbs, 2002; Parker et
al., 2014). Thus, emphasizing the importance of
maintaining biodiversity within urban environments.
In this study, insectivorous species were the most
abundant foraging guild recorded followed by
nectarivorous and omnivorous species. This most
likely reflects a high abundance of insects and
human-supplemented food resources that can
support insectivores and scavengers like cattle
egrets. The most abundant species recorded was the
cattle egret and this species was encountered in all
the green spaces.
Lawal and Iwajomo, J. Sci. Res. Dev. (2020)
Avifaunal Potential of Lagos Urban Green Spaces Page 389
In this study, we show that bird species richness
within the green space of Lagos, increased
significantly with increase to the distance to the
nearest road. This observation may be explained in
relation to human disturbance, as UGS are often
located between roads. The negative influence of
human disturbance in the form of vehicular traffic
and noise is high and constant along road strip
corridors which are narrow linear patches located
between major roads. However, this influence
reduces from the park edge towards the interior.
Moreover, the more complex vegetation structure of
parks may provide better cover for birds against
human disturbance. Nevertheless, road strips can
help to increase connectivity of parks and positively
influence bird species richness, if properly designed
and managed (Carbó-Ramírez and Zuria, 2011), as
tree crowns facilitate bird dispersal (Huang et al.,
2015).
Birds have been reported to be sensitive to the
composition and structure of plant community in
the habitat (Chace and Walsh, 2006). In this study,
bird species richness was found to increase
significantly with increasing number of shrubs. This
is similar to the results from previous studies that
revealed that shrub species richness is positively
related to bird species diversity (e.g. Khera et al.,
2009; Heyman, 2010; Parker et al., 2014). Shwartz et
al. (2008) also found a positive association between
bird diversity and the habitat structure complexity
provided by high richness of woody plant species
and decreased lawn cover. Similarly, Fontana et al.
(2011) and Evans et al. (2009) found that woody
plant composition is important for bird richness.
Also trees and shrubs increase the variety of
microhabitats and niches available for different
birds to occupy (Suarez-Rubio and Thomlinson,
2009; Fontana et al., 2011) while also serving as a
source of invertebrates, seeds and fruits. Despite the
high number of trees in most of the green spaces in
this study, it did not significantly influence bird
species richness. This is likely because most of the
trees are exotics selected for aesthetic purposes.
Exotics have been shown to favour less diversity of
bird species as compared to native species (e.g.
Chace and Walsh, 2006; Daniels and Kirkpatrick,
2006; Parker et al., 2014).
Conclusion
The results of this study have shown that despite
the very high human population density, even small
patches in the core of Africa’s largest megacity can
support a significant level of avifauna and as such
can contribute to urban conservation efforts
(Goddard et al., 2010; Shwartz et al., 2013). Although
aesthetic considerations most likely influenced the
selection of plant species and diversity of habitats
used as urban green spaces in Lagos metropolis, this
study reveals that they may be mutually beneficial
for birds. This study has identified significant
factors that influence the quality of urban green
spaces as habitat for birds. The report suggests that
the species and guilds of birds supported depend on
the quality of the patches in terms of vegetation
structure and landscape feature. It specifically
indicates that vegetatively-diverse patches;
consisting of many shrubs, with greater distances to
the nearest roads are attractive to many avian
species. Hence we recommend an increasing the
diversity of shrubs and the inclusion of more native
trees in the existing and future urban green spaces
with Lagos, metropolis. This will ensure that
resources that the microhabitats, niches and
resources necessary for supporting a rich diversity
of bird species are provided.
Acknowledgement
We are grateful to the Lagos State Parks and Garden
Agency (LASPARK) and the Gbagada Phase II
Estate Resident Association for the permission
granted to work in their facilities.
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Appendix 1.
Table 3: List of plant species recorded across all the 16 green spaces
Family
Category
Botanical Name
Common Name
Acanthaceae
Herb
Ruellia britoniana
Mexican petunia
Agavaceae
Herb
Agave americana (variegated)
Century plant
Agavaceae
Shrub
Cordyline fruticosa
Carbage tree
Amaryllidaceae
Herb
Agapanthus praecox Willd.
African-lily
Amaryllidaceae
Herb
Crinum asiaticum
Poison bulb
Anacardiaceae
Tree
Mangifera indica
Mango
Annonaceae
Tree
Polyalthia longifolia
Weeping mast tree
Annonaceae
Tree
Polyalthia sp.
Apocynaceae
Shrub
Nerium oleander
Oleander
Apocynaceae
Tree
Plumeria sp.
Frangipani
Apocynaceae
Tree
Thevetia peruviana
Suicide tree
Arecaceae
Tree
Caryota mitis
Fish tail palm
Arecaceae
Tree
Cocos nucifera
Coconut tree
Arecaceae
Tree
Neanthe elegans
Arecaceae
Tree
Phoenix sp.
Arecaceae
Tree
Pritchardia pacifica
Fiji fan Palm
Arecaceae
Tree
Roystonea oleraceae
Royal palm
Asparagaceae
Herb
Agave sisalana Perrine
Sisal hemp
Asparagaceae
Herb
Sansievera sp. (variegated)
Asparagaceae
Herb
Sansieveria trifasciata
Snake plant
Bignoniaceae
Tree
Tabebuia rosea (Bertol.)
Rosy Trumpet Tree
Bignoniaceae
Tree
Tecoma stans.
Boraginaceae
Tree
Cordia sebestena
Geiger tree
Cannaceae
Herb
Canna sp. (hybridized cultivar)
Lily
Casuarinaceae
Tree
Casuarina equisetifolia
Horsetail tree
Combretaceae
Tree
Terminalia cattapa
Almond tree
Combretaceae
Tree
Terminalia randii
Combretaceae
Herb
Tradenscantia spathacea
Boat Lily
Commelinaceae
Herb
Tradenscantia pallida
Purple heart
Costaceae
Herb
Costus speciosus syn. Cheilocostus speciosus
Crepe ginger
Cupressaceae
Tree
Araucaria cf. columnaria
Cupressaceae
Tree
Thuja occidentalis
Nothern cedar wood
Cycadaceae
Tree
Cycas revoluta
Cycad/Sago palm
Euphorbiaceae
Herb
Euphorbia kamerunica
Euphorbiaceae
Shrub
Euphorbia milli syn. splendens
Christ plant
Euphorbiaceae
Tree
Hura crepitans
Sandbox tree
Fabaceae
Tree
Albizia zygia
Fabaceae
Tree
Bauhinia sp.
Fabaceae
Tree
Bauhinia tomentosa
Yellow Bauhinia
Fabaceae
Tree
Delonix regia
Flame of the forest
Heliconiaceae
Herb
Heliconia psittacorum
Parrot’s beak
Lawal and Iwajomo, J. Sci. Res. Dev. (2020)
Avifaunal Potential of Lagos Urban Green Spaces Page 394
Lythraceae
Tree
Lagerstromia speciosa
Pride of India
Malvaceae
Shrub
Acalypha inferno. (improved cultivars)
Malvaceae
Shrub
Acalypha sp. (variegated)
copperleaf
Malvaceae
Shrub
Acalypha wilkesiana
Red acalypha
Malvaceae
Tree
Hildegardia barteri
Meliaceae
Tree
Azadiracha indica
Neem
Moraceae
Shrub
Ficus benjamina
Yellow ficus
Moraceae
Shrub
Ficus maclellandii
Moraceae
Shrub
Ficus sp.
Papilionoideae
Tree
Gliricidia sepium
Quick stick
Polygonaceae
Shrub
Antigonum leptopus
Bee bush
Rubiaceae
Shrub
Ixora coccinea
Simple Ixora
Rubiaceae
Shrub
Ixora parviflora
Double Ixora
Rutaceae
Shrub
Murraya paniculata
Satin wood
Verbenaceae
Shrub
Duranta varigated
Green bush
Verbenaceae
Tree
Gmelina arborea
Gmelina
Tree
unidentified
... Globally, urban environmental alterations have resulted to Urban Green Spaces (UGS) which are small, isolated patches of native and/or artificial vegetation surrounded by a matrix of built-up areas (Jokimaki, 1999;Niemela, 1999;Marzluff and Ewing, 2001). These spaces are important for supporting the range of species (such as cattle egrets) adapted to and capable of exploiting densely populated areas (McKinney 2002;Lawal and Iwajomo 2020). Lawns are a major component of UGS which are regularly managed by mowing. ...
... Its diet consists primarily of insects such as locusts and grasshoppers although frogs, tadpoles and molluscs may also be taken (del Hoyo et al 1992). Cattle egrets are perhaps one of the most successful bird species in tropical urban areas owing to their ability of utilize anthropogenic habitats such as lawns (Kuranchie et al. 2013;Lawal and Iwajomo 2020). They forage voraciously alone or in flocks mostly on insects disturbed by grazing cattle or other livestock (del Hoyo et al 1992). ...
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