Abstract

Erakhrumen Andrew Agbontalor

Specific gravity (SG) of wood has not been adequately reported to be a factor directly or indirectly influencing its selection for incorporation into or retention in some of the agroforestry systems. In this study, the SG of twelve wood species that top the priority ranking of respondents in Akinyele and Ido Local Government Areas (LGAs), Oyo State, Nigeria, where the predominant type of agroforestry system practiced is that of scattered trees in croplands, were evaluated and found to range between 0.42 and 0.85 with eleven of the species having values > 0.60. Ranking pattern by the respondents in the two LGAs was found not to be significantly different using Friedman chi-square analysis ( 2 = 2.17, p < 0.05). Data obtained for SG were subjected to two-way analysis of variance which indicated a significant variation (p < 0.05) in the values among the species but not within each species. Follow up test was carried out using Fisher’s Least Significant Difference. The correlation analysis gave positive coefficient values (r > 0.80, p < 0.05) between SG and cumulative ranking values in the two LGAs. Conclusion and recommendations were made in line with the outcome of the study.