Occurrence and species diversity of delphinids off-Lagos shore, Nigeria

Little has been documented about delphinid communities in the Nigerian coastal waters. This paper gives baseline information about the delphinid community sighted off-shore Lagos, Nigeria. A dedicated survey of the living resources of Nigerian coastal waters (6°08’N and 2°42’W to 6° 13’N and 3° 27’W ) took place from the Nigeria/Benin boarder along Badagry area to the western part of Ondo State between 17th march and 6th June 2009 and included systematic visual searching of marine mammals. A total effective effort of 264 hours was logged. The boat moved along designated transect lines at a cruising speed of 9.2 km/h. Sighting rate for delphinids was obtained by processing visual data obtained at Beaufort wind scale of 2.5 to 4 nautical miles in visibility, using Distance 2.2 software. Species were identified through Photo-identification method. Fifteen (15) schools of 746 individual’s sightings were made. Four (4) schools of 25 individuals representing 3% of total sightings were classified as “Unidentified”, while 11 schools of 721 individuals (97%) were identified and classified into five (5) species. The pantropical spotted dolphin (Stenella attenuate) with two (2) schools of 150 individuals, (Stenella frontalis) with one (1) school of 54 individuals, bottlenose dolphin (Tursiops trucantus) with one (1) school of 32 individuals, Common dolphin (Delphinus delphis ) with four (4) schools of 452 individuals and (3) schools of Atlantic hump-backed dolphin (Sousa teuszii) of 32 individuals. Sighting rate of 5.7 x 10-2 school/hr was estimated for schools while the sighting rate for individuals was estimated at 2.83 individual/hr. The results suggested that the Lagos coast is rich in delphinid biodiversity, which needs to be quantified more accurately during further research.Keywords: Sightings, Oceanic dolphins, abundance, species richness, behaviour, Nigeria

Efficacy of Major Plant Extracts/Molecules on Field Insect Pests

Insect pests are considered the major hurdle in enhancing the production and productivity of any farming system. The use of conventional synthetic pesticides has led to the emergence of pesticide-resistant insects, environmental pollution, and negative effects on natural enemies, which have caused an ecological imbalance of the predator-prey ratio and human health hazards; therefore, eco-friendly alternative strategies are required. The plant kingdom, a rich repertoire of secondary metabolites, can be tapped as an alternative for insect pest management strategies. A number of plants have been documented to have insecticidal properties against various orders of insects in vitro by acting as antifeedants, repellents, sterilant and oviposition deterrents, etc. However, only a few plant compounds are applicable at the field level or presently commercialised. Here, we have provided an overview of the broad-spectrum insecticidal activity of plant compounds from neem, Annona, Pongamia, and Jatropha. Additionally, the impact of medicinal plants, herbs, spices, and essential oils has been reviewed briefl

Effect of organic root plus (biostimulant) on nutrient content, growth and yield of tomato

Greenhouse and field experiments were conducted to investigate the effect of a new biostimulant (Organic Root Plus) on the performance of tomato (Lycopersicon lycopersicum Mill.). The Organic Root Plus (ORP) applied at 40 l/ha (full rate) was compared with the conventional NPK fertilizer (MF) at 80kg N/ha, 20 1/ha (half-full rate) ORP, complimentary use of ORP with MF at full and half-full rates and control (no fertilizer, no organic root plus). Sole application of ORP did not improve the growth parameters of tomato but increased its root dry weight, root length and root fineness. Complimentary application of ORP with MF promoted both the vegetative growth, root development and fruit yield of the crop. Application of 40 kg N/ha MF complimented with 20 l/ha ORP increased the plant height, number of branches and plant biomass by 18.2%, 45% and 71% respectively when compared with the combination of the fertilizers at full rates. When full rate of ORP was complimented with full rate of MF, the fruit yield increased by 31% over the MF. The later was similarly effective as using half-full rate of ORP and MF. Nigerian Journal of Soil Science Vol. 15 2005: 26-3