Spatial Distribution of Insect Diversity in Selected Locations within Forestry Research Institute of Nigeria, Ibadan, Nigeria

With the increase in the rate of tree removal and construction of buildings within the Forestry Research Institute of Nigeria premises, there has been concomitant rise in habitat modification. These changes in habitat composition affect the insect population. This study therefore investigated the insect species diversity and abundance within some selected locations within FRIN with the view to determining different insect species available in FRIN premises. Sweep nets were used to trap the insects along a predetermined line transect. Data were analyzed using Microsoft Excel 2007 and Paleontological Statistics were used for the data analysis. Descriptive statistics, one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) and species diversity and composition were all assessed. A total number of 1073 individual insects belonging to 6 orders, 27 families and 34 species were recorded across the three locations. Out of this, Order Lepidoptera had the highest relative abundance (53%), followed by Coleoptera (22%), then by Hymenoptera, Hemiptera, Heteroptera and Diptera with 10%, 9%, 4% and 2% relative abundance respectively. The result of ANOVA showed that there was no significant difference in species composition/richness across the locations at probability level of 5%. The insect species diversity, evenness and richness also varied across the locations. This study therefore, brings to the fore the diversity and abundance of insects within FRIN premises and highlighted the need for a more intensive study by the entomology section and for sustainable actions to be taken in conserving beneficial rare species while, managing the abundant pestiferous ones.

Measuring E-Learning Readiness in the Forestry Research and Development Agency of Indonesia

<p>This research investigates organisational readiness for implementing organisational elearning systems (OES) in the Forestry Research and Development Agency (FORDA) of Indonesia. The study measures the level of organisational readiness for OES implementation at FORDA; and determines factors that need to be addressed in order to implement successful OES at FORDA, in a context with no prior OES knowledge. A mixed-methods approach was employed in this study. A cross-sectional survey was delivered in two forms: online and paper-based. The survey sample consisted of 288 employees of FORDA (policy makers, researchers, research assistants, and general employees). Statistical measures - reliability analysis, factor analysis, and multiple regression - were conducted using SPSS version 16.0. As a complementary method, 12 semi-structured interviews were conducted with 12 policy makers at FORDA. A comprehensive organisational e-learning readiness instrument (COERI) was developed to assess the level of organisational readiness for OES from the perspective of all target respondents (policy makers, e-learning providers, facilitators, and learners). The study proposes twelve readiness dimensions: technological skills; positive online learning style; negative online learning style; equipment/infrastructure; attitude; human resources; environmental; positive cultural; negative cultural; financial affordability; financial availability; and financial possibility. Overall, to implement successful OES at FORDA the results show that only five areas are ready but need a few improvements (equipment/infrastructure, attitude, environment, positive online culture, and financial availability); five areas are not ready of which three areas need some improvements (technological skills, positive online learning style, and human resources), and two areas need major improvements (financial affordability and financial possibility). Factors that affect organisational readiness and need to be developed further in order to implement successful OES are: personal characteristics (age, education, gender, and computer experience), Internet access, central support, finance, environment, face-to-face contact, human resources capacity, English proficiency, and prior e-learning knowledge. Further exploration is required to achieve a more reliable instrument and to improve the applicability of COERI to similar research contexts.</p>

Measuring E-Learning Readiness in the Forestry Research and Development Agency of Indonesia

<p>This research investigates organisational readiness for implementing organisational elearning systems (OES) in the Forestry Research and Development Agency (FORDA) of Indonesia. The study measures the level of organisational readiness for OES implementation at FORDA; and determines factors that need to be addressed in order to implement successful OES at FORDA, in a context with no prior OES knowledge. A mixed-methods approach was employed in this study. A cross-sectional survey was delivered in two forms: online and paper-based. The survey sample consisted of 288 employees of FORDA (policy makers, researchers, research assistants, and general employees). Statistical measures - reliability analysis, factor analysis, and multiple regression - were conducted using SPSS version 16.0. As a complementary method, 12 semi-structured interviews were conducted with 12 policy makers at FORDA. A comprehensive organisational e-learning readiness instrument (COERI) was developed to assess the level of organisational readiness for OES from the perspective of all target respondents (policy makers, e-learning providers, facilitators, and learners). The study proposes twelve readiness dimensions: technological skills; positive online learning style; negative online learning style; equipment/infrastructure; attitude; human resources; environmental; positive cultural; negative cultural; financial affordability; financial availability; and financial possibility. Overall, to implement successful OES at FORDA the results show that only five areas are ready but need a few improvements (equipment/infrastructure, attitude, environment, positive online culture, and financial availability); five areas are not ready of which three areas need some improvements (technological skills, positive online learning style, and human resources), and two areas need major improvements (financial affordability and financial possibility). Factors that affect organisational readiness and need to be developed further in order to implement successful OES are: personal characteristics (age, education, gender, and computer experience), Internet access, central support, finance, environment, face-to-face contact, human resources capacity, English proficiency, and prior e-learning knowledge. Further exploration is required to achieve a more reliable instrument and to improve the applicability of COERI to similar research contexts.</p>

Study of native dendroflora of Khabarovsk city

The problem of studying the dendroflora of cities is relevant when conducting modern ecological andbotanical research. The article presents the results of an inventory of native dendroflora of the city of Khabarovsk. Anannotated list of 116 species from 27 families was compiled, which exceeds the corresponding figures for the dendrofloraof Vladivostok and Birobidzhan. At the same time, the dendroflora of Komsomolsk-on-Amur, Blagoveshchensk,Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky is much richer in terms of plant composition. Taxonomic, general, and biomorphologicalanalyzes of the flora have been carried out. The leading botanic families have been identified: Rosaceae, Salicaceae,Betulaceae, Caprifoliaceae. Large species are: Salix, Acer, Betula, Lonicera, Ulmus, Picea, Populus, Ribes, Spiraea, Rosa,Euonymus. Among woody plants, East Asian species predominate, which corresponds to the position of the city ofKhabarovsk within the Manchurian region of the East Asian floristic region. The nemoral group is the richest in species,which is typical for broad-leaved and coniferous-broad-leaved forests of the temperate zone. Analysis of life forms andrhythms of annual development show the predominance of summer-green shrubs, evergreen and summer-green trees inthe flora of the city. There is a small number of lianas, dwarf shrubs. Dwarf forms in the dendroflora of the city are rare,they are found on the territory of the Far Eastern Forestry Research Institute‘s Arboretum. There is rare and protectedspices in the flora of the city – Taxus cuspidata.

Comparative Studies on Phytochemicals and Physicochemical Compositions of Chrysophyllum albidum G: Don Seeds Oil and Edible Commercial Oil

Aims: This study was designed to compare the extractable yield of Chrysophyllum albidum seed oil, the phytoconstituents, and physicochemical parameters with the commercially available vegetable oil, to ascertain their suitability for human consumption and industrial uses. Place and Duration of Study: Biomedicinal Research Centre, Forestry Research Institute of Nigeria in collaboration with the Pharmaceutical Chemistry Laboratory, University of Ibadan, Oyo State, Nigeria, between October, 2018 to July, 2019. Methodology: The seeds were collected from two locations (a parent tree in the Forestry Research Institute of Nigeria (FRIN) and as well procured at Akesan market in Oyo town (Oyo) all in Oyo State, Nigeria. The experiments were executed adopting the standard procedures. The air-dried powdered C. albidum seed was cold macerated with analytical grade N-Hexane. The oils were purified using activated charcoal and qualitatively screened to ascertain the phytochemicals in them. Physico-chemical parameters were quantitatively determined following AOAC guidelines. Results: The results revealed that C. albidum is a low oil yielding seed especially when cold maceration was employed. The phytochemical screening revealed the presence of alkaloids, anthraquinones, terpenoids, and cardiac glycosides in all the oils. Saponins were found only in the oil from the FRIN source. While tannins and flavonoids were absent in all the oils. The physico-chemical parameters revealed the ranges of 0.90 - 9.45 mgKOH/g (Acid value), 101.90 - 356.60 mgKOH/g (saponification value), 65.30 - 78.00 mg/g (iodine value), 101.00 - 348.50 (ester value), 2.93 - 6.21 (PH value), 0.787 - 0.900g/cm3 (Relative density) and 1.4590 - 1.6560 (Refractive index @280C). Conclusion: It can be deduced that there are disparities in the yield, phytoconstituents and the physico-chemicals of the oils used for this study. Further research is needed on the C. albidum oil to validate its edibility and affirm its medicinal uses.

Forestry Research in the Middle East: A Bibliometric Analysis

Research trends in the field of forestry have experienced a significant evolution in recent years. However, there has been little use of bibliometric analyses to assess academic organizations and individual researchers in this field of science. This study investigates the progress of forestry research in Iran, Israel, and Turkey based on a bibliometric analysis of 2482 documents published between 2005 and 2019 and indexed in the Web of Science (WoS) scientific information platform. The countries were analyzed and compared in terms of the number of documents, the number of citations, the mean number of citations per document, the h-index, the share of funded articles, and several other metrics. A complete keyword network with graphical visualization and cluster analysis was also used for depicting the most frequent keywords used by the authors from these three countries. The results showed that the number of publications on forestry research grew steadily during the study period. Turkey, with 1529 documents, was the most active in publishing research in the field of forestry, followed by Iran (726 documents) and Israel (219 documents). Turkey’s publications received 11,220 citations with a cooperation coefficient (CC) of 0.587 that revealed a strong relationship between international collaboration with the USA, Germany, and Italy, and the number of citations, such that the articles with co-authors affiliated to foreign institutions were cited far more often than the articles with Turkish authorship. Although Iran (CC = 0.680) and Israel (CC = 0.706) recorded more activities in international collaboration than Turkey, their publications received much lower citations (Iran’s citations = 4433, Israel’s citations = 3939). Israel had 136 articles (62%) that received research funding, followed by Turkey and Iran with 604 (39%) and 284 (38%) articles. Nine out of the ten most popular journals among Israeli researchers were ranked as quartiles 1 and 2 in the forestry category, whereas Iranian and Turkish researchers mostly published in fewer journals ranked as quartiles 1 and 2. The most frequent keywords (i.e., topics) were species, condition, forest, and tree. Insights provided here can help balance research activities towards publishing more informed and effective scientific articles.

JOB PROMOTION AND EMPLOYEE PERFORMANCE IN KENYA FORESTRY RESEARCH INSTITUTE HEADQUARTER IN MUGUGA, KIAMBU COUNTY

Employee performance at Kenya Forestry Research Institute has been found to be poor, with more than one third of organization’s employees failing to meet deadlines, regarding accomplishing their tasks or organizational targets. This study sought to investigate the effects of job promotion practices on employee performance in Kenya Forestry Research Institute in Muguga, Kenya. The study was anchored on expectancy theory. The study used a positivism philosophy and a descriptive research design. The unit of analysis was Kenya Forestry Research Institute. The target population was all the 178 staff working in Kenya Forestry Research Institute in Muguga. A sample of 121 respondents was selected through stratified random sampling. A semi-structured questionnaire was used in collecting primary data. A pilot study was conducted to ensure the data collection tool is reliable. Analysis of qualitative data was carried out through thematic analysis. Descriptive statistics focused on frequency distribution, percentages, mean and standard deviation. Components of inferential statistics include; Pearson correlation coefficient and multivariate regression analysis. Both descriptive and inferential data was analyzed by the help of SPSS Version 25. The results obtained were presented both in tables as well as figures (pie charts and bar graphs). The study found that job promotion practices have significant effect on employee performance in Kenya Forestry Research Institute. Further, the study found that employees acquire new skills through job promotion. Henceforth, the study recommends that Kenya Forest Research Institute Headquarter should consider leadership abilities, attitude of staff and review past performance when promoting staff so as to improve on their overall competency skills. JEL: J01; J81 <p> </p><p><strong> Article visualizations:</strong></p><p><img src="/-counters-/edu_01/0778/a.php" alt="Hit counter" /></p>

Pedogenic forms and distribution of potassium in soils along a complex toposequence within Forestry Research Institute of Nigeria, Ibadan

The study was designed to examine the forms and pedogenic distribution of potassium in soils formed along a toposequence within Forestry Research Institute of Nigeria, Ibadan. Four (4) profile pits were established, described and sampled. Particle size, soil reaction and organic matter were determined in addition to exchangeable K, solution K and Fixed K which were determined using flame photometer. Results of particle size analysis showed that the silt content is low and varied randomly within the profiles possibly due to their location on the topography. The clay content was relatively high in the genetic B horizons. The exchangeable K, solution K, fixed K and total K varied randomly across the profiles, and this can also be attributed to the topographic positions. Results also showed that there is a high correlation between clay and exchangeable K and between total K and organic matter. This is an indication that soils with high clay content are likely to be rich in exchangeable K and where organic matter in the soil is high, the soil is likely to have a high value of total K Key words: Toposequence, Pedogenic, Potassium

The Network Structure of the Forestry Research as a Scientific Field in Turkey between 1999 and 2019

This study aims to analyse and map the network structure of the scholarly communications in the realm of forestry research between 1999 and 2019 in Turkey using bibliometric analysis and social network analysis methods of the articles published within Clarivate Analytics’ Web of Science (WoS). A total of 8689 records, including their bibliographic data, were extracted from WoS. The analysis of each sub-period shows that the number of international collaboration of Turkish authors has increased globally from 23 countries in the first sub-period to 113 countries in the last sub-period within forestry publications. Also, the annual percentage rate of publications has increased from 58 articles in 1999 to 1016 in 2019 in the realm of forestry alongside with their received average citations in each sub-period. Multi-author articles precede single-author articles in the field of forestry in each sub-period. This research is the first analysis of forest research production using bibliometric and network analysis in Turkey. According to the results biomass, remote sensing and climate change were current trends on forest research in Turkey. Incidentally, the research findings can be used by policymakers regarding future investments in forestry research development.