ABSTRACT
Rodgers’ paper is a very comprehensive one including the effects of different fire regimes on trees, shrubs, grasses, soils, water-sheds, dry forests and woodlands. Hopkins (1962, 1963, 1964, 1965) working at Olokemeji Forest Reserve in Nigeria made several observations on the effects of fire on tree and shrub populations, soils and herbs. Similar experiments have been carried out by Moore (1960) in the derived savannah zone of Nigeria, Onochie (1964) in the Sudan zone of Nigeria, Ramsay et al. (1963) in the Guinea savannah vegetation of Northern Ghana and Rains (1963) at Samaru in Northern Nigeria. Egunjobi (1971, 1973) carried out a series of experiments at Fasola ranch in the derived savannah of Nigeria on savannah burning, herbage productivity, soil fertility, litter deposit, and organic and mineral fluxes in the savannah. Either by design or accident none of the above experiments had been carried out in a typical wildlife habitat. All efforts so far have been concentrated on cattle ranches or in forest reserves with little game. The experiment described in this paper is the first of its type in a wildlife habitat in Nigeria.
