The genus Khaya is extractives rich, but the extractives in the stem bark are among the most abundant, accessible and utilised materials in Nigeria. These extractives are of considerable interest for wood protection because of their pesticidal properties. In this study, the chemical constituents of Khaya ivorensis stem bark and their termiticidal activity were investigated on Triplochiton scleroxylon and Vitex doniana woods. Spectrophoto-metric and Forlin-Ciocalteu analyses showed that Khaya ivorensis stem bark contained total: alkaloids 38,98±0,02 mg/g, flavonoids 0,37±0,02 mg/g, phenol 50,62±0,11 mg/g, saponins 156,31±0,76 mg/g, and tannins 59,95±0,54 mg/g. Field tests demonstrated that the extract from Khaya ivorensis stem bark had significant termiticidal activity at tested concentrations compared to the control. The results indicated that Khaya ivorensis stem bark has potential as a natural agent for termite control.
This study was conducted to count Apate terebrans opened tunnels in Terminalia mantaly at the 3 Parks of the University of Port Harcourt. All trees were assessed visually for the presence and absence of tunnels, frass, and exudates during the 6-months (January-July) field survey in 2018. The mean numbers of tunnels/tree were 16.12±2.13 from 58 trees representing 19.9% of 291 total trees. The spread of attack was fairly scattered and more closely associated with diameter at breast height (DBH) of tree (χ2= 12.763, df = 4, α0.012*). While a majority (67.0%) of the trees experienced breaking reflecting both the immediate and residual impact of opened and closed tunnels, respectively, 10.7% experienced tearing of branches, and 5.5% experienced both breaking and tearing. Strong wind was found as a contributory factor to breaking and tearing. The findings suggest T. mantaly as a poor adaptable environmental species in Nigeria ecosystems and its current utilisation as ornamental tree may be revisited.
Contribution/Originality:This study documents the resurgence of wood borer, Apate terebrans and its impacts on the Terminalia mantaly used as one of the current popular urban trees in Nigeria.
INTRODUCTIONA world-wide-spread problem in wood utilisation is related to the protection of wood products that are often attacked by insects. The same problem is encountered in the environmental utilisation of trees (living woods). Until now a satisfactory solution to control the trees' degradation by wood-boring beetles had not been found, and the applied conservation methods offered only temporary reduced controls [1, 2] without guaranteeing a real and durable effectiveness. Beetles are one of the major devastating pests of plants worldwide with many types economically, environmentally and socially attacking healthy trees [3,4]. Among these, wood-boring beetles are the most common disturbance of trees worldwide [5,6] with a high prevalence from Bostrichidae [7, 8] and higher incidence in introduced species than native ones [9]. The black beetle, Apate terebrans (Pallas, 1772) (Coleoptera: Bostrichidae), is a widely distributed pest in Africa and Neotropical climes [10,11]. Also, the occurrence of this beetle in Austria, and Europe has been reported [1]. Its primary hosts include many agricultural and forest trees [12]. In Nigeria, Murray [13] in 1867 listed A.
Forest bathing (FB) as a medicine is gaining popularity across the globe but little is known about this medicine in Nigeria. Health professionals (HPs) are central to the usage of this medicine through their communications and prescriptions. Therefore, we investigated HPs willingness to acquire, share knowledge and prescribe FB in Nigeria. Cross-sectional data from the 371 HPs (Doctors, n = 215; Nurses, n = 103; Pharmacists, n = 53) from teaching and military hospitals in Port Harcourt were analyzed. About half (49.9%) of HPs were aware of the importance of forest, mostly as a source of drugs/herbs. However, only 16.4% of HPs were aware of FB of which just 4.6% had prescribed it to patients. Online internet search and seminars/conferences were dominant approaches for the acquisition and sharing of knowledge, respectively. While multinomial logistic regression results indicated age as a significant factor influencing the willingness of HPs to acquire knowledge about FB, years of experience were found as a significant factor predicting the willingness of HPs to share knowledge about FB. Gender specificity analyses indicated female HPs more willing to prescribe FB than male counterparts. The results of this study may significantly improve HPs awareness and their willingness for health communication research/practices of FB as medicine in Nigeria.
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