Assessment of minerals composition of natural salt licks, in Kainji Lake National Park, Nigeria

Abstract

The study was carried out to determine the quantities of essential elements composition of natural salt lick, at the three (3) different horizons in Oli range, Borgu sector of Kainji lake national park. Field survey and focus group discussion were used through the help of experienced park rangers to locate the commonly utilized saltlick spots. Nine (9) samples of soil were collected from three (3) different spots, two (2) saltlick spots and one (1) control spot each from three horizons (O, A, & E).Mineral element were determined for soil pH., potassium, sodium, calcium, magnesium, organic carbon, organic matter nitrogen were used respectively. Analysis of variance (ANOVA) and Duncan Multiple Range test was used to compare the
means. Results indicated that calcium content of the saltlick at second horizon (A layer) was (15.13± 0.81b) differs significantly (p<0.05) from calcium content of the saltlick at first and third horizon (O layer) (4.03±0.81a) and E layers (1.53 ± 0.81a) respectively. Magnesium content followed the same trend. Layer (A) was where high concentration of salt-licking was observed in all the spots sampled. The study also revealed that natural licks had higher level of essential elements than the control samples.

Keywords: Salt lick, Mineral elements, Horizon and Soil Profile