Asian Journal of Research in Botany

Ferns are important flora of the tropical forest which provides several ecosystem functions, however, not much attention have been given to this group of plants unlike the seed bearing plants. The Taxonomic inventory and identification of ferns in Ekureku, Abi Local Government Area, Cross River State was carried out. Ten (10 m × 10 m) plots were established each for Ekureku 1 and 2. The study adopted a non-random preferential sampling method where all fern species encountered in each plot were collected, identified, and documented. Collected ferns were identified using taxonomic flora, literatures and experts in the field of Taxonomy, while conservation status of each identified fern species was assessed from recent IUCN 2023 red list website. Voucher specimens were deposited in the Herbarium of University of Cross River State (UNICROSS), Calabar.The distribution of ferns per family, genus and Species was presented using tables of numbers, percentages and charts, while diversity was determined using Shannon-Wiener index. All data were analyzed using Paleontological Statistics (PAST) software Geographical coordinates of each sampled plot were obtained using a Global Positioning System (GPS) device. A total of eighteen (18) species of ferns belonging to thirteen (13) genera were recorded with Nephrolepidiaceae and Aspleniaceae dominating the study. Similarly, the most abundant species was Diplazium esculentum followed by Nephrolepsis exaltata and Nephrolepsis biserrata while Pteris vittata was the least abundant species. Similarly, fern species was observed to be higher in Ekureku 2 compared to Ekureku 1. All the species identified were terrestrial; whereas assessment of growth form showed 56% epiphytic species, 39% non-epiphytic species and 5% species that occurred both as epiphyte and non-epiphyte. Conservation statusshowed that thirteen (13) species have Not been evaluated, while five (5) species have been considered least concern. An overall Shannon index of 2.650, Evenness of 0.786 and abundance of 0.089 were recorded for the study. Although there was a low number of species present in the sampling areas, a high Shannon Index of 2.471 was recorded for Ekureku 2, while Ekureku 1 has a high Evenness value of 0.865. This study gave information on the fern species richness and diversity in Ekureku. The study therefore showed that most of the fern species documented were epiphytes which invariably depend on different tree hosts for accommodation and protection but, there is incessant falling down of trees in the study area especially in Ekureku I, due to man-made activities such as farming, urbanization, bush burning and other anthropogenic activities. It is recommended that conservation education and awareness be expanded to this area in order to stop incessant destruction of habitats which houses Ferns, and to avoid the disappearance of this group of plants.