BIOPHYSICAL CHARACTERISTICS AND LANDUSE/LANDCOVER CHANGES IN THE UPPER KUBANNI RIVER BASIN, KADUNA STATE, NIGERIA

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dc.contributor.authorAYUBA, GRACE
dc.date.accessioned2014-03-03T10:47:08Z
dc.date.available2014-03-03T10:47:08Z
dc.date.issued2011-06
dc.descriptionA THESIS SUBMITTED TO THE POSTGRADUATE SCHOOL,AHMADU BELLO UNIVERSITY,ZARIA, KADUNA STATE, NIGERIA IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE AWARD OF THE DEGREE OF MASTER OF SCIENCE IN GEOGRAPHYen_US
dc.description.abstractThe study is on Biophysical Characteristics and Landuse/landcover Changes in the Upper Kubanni River Basin, Kaduna State, Nigeria. The objectives are mainly to assess the local vegetation cover; evidence of firewood gathering and grazing activities. Soil erosion and the spatial variation were also assessed as well as the intensity of landuse/landcover changes and the significance of these baseline data to water resource development in the Upper Kubanni Reservoir. The data for local vegetation cover and soil characteristics were obtained through field survey. Data on the vegetation cover was obtained using the modified technique of Whittaker (1970). Two N-S transects were also developed across the study area within which three quadrangles of 100m x100m (10000sq meters) were sampled. Soil samples were collected from profile pits at 0 cm – 120cm depth. The soil samples taken from the pedogenic horizons of the profiles were weighed and subjected to laboratory analysis particularly that of the physical soil properties. Landuse/landcover changes over the years were obtained from three sets of Land Sat imageries for the years 1987, 1994 and 2005. The results of the study showed evidence of vegetation degradation characterized by few trees and are short statured. Beside the absence of periodical grasses, the degradation was aided by the excessive wood harvesting, cultivation and overgrazing activities on the basin. The soils of the study area as shown from the results were mainly loamy in texture with preponderance of sand fraction. And the aggregate stability index was relatively stable. But the soil bulk density result of 1.53 mgm3 for a sandy loam soil is tending towards the threshold. The landsat imagery showed that cultivation and grazing rank highest in the landuse/landcover on the basin, while built up areas continued to rise. Important to note also is the disappearance of natural open savanna vegetation which was being replaced by shrub regrowth. Gully growth has been on the increase. But a decrease in growth of gullies was observed in the year 2009, which may not be unconnected to the tree planting exercise carried out by Ahmadu Bello University. These results have implications on increasing sediment yield into the Basin.en_US
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/123456789/3072
dc.language.isoenen_US
dc.subjectBIOPHYSICAL,en_US
dc.subjectCHARACTERISTICS,en_US
dc.subjectLANDUSE/LANDCOVER,en_US
dc.subjectCHANGES,en_US
dc.subjectUPPER,en_US
dc.subjectKUBANNI RIVER BASIN,en_US
dc.subjectKADUNA STATE,en_US
dc.subjectNIGERIAen_US
dc.titleBIOPHYSICAL CHARACTERISTICS AND LANDUSE/LANDCOVER CHANGES IN THE UPPER KUBANNI RIVER BASIN, KADUNA STATE, NIGERIAen_US
dc.typeThesisen_US
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