Site-Specific Nutrients Cycling in Manage Recreational Ecosystem of Sarius Palmetium Botanical Garden, Maitama, Abuja, Nigeria.

The study examines site-specific variation of soil nutrients in a managed recreational ecosystem at Maitama, Abuja, the federal capital territory of Nigeria, which is Sarius Palmetus Botanical Garden. The focus of the study was to evaluate the soil nutrients dynamic and the existence of heavy metal considering the utilization of the garden as a recreational service.  Soil samples were collected from site specific locations in both wet and dry seasons for elements such as N, K, P, SOM, OC, exchangeable cations, textural properties, Fe, pb among other nutrients.  A total of sixty soil samples were in both seasons from six site specific locations using a quadrat sampling technique of size 50cm by 50cm which was further subdivided into small cells of 10cm by 10cm. The soil samples were taken at the intersection of each cell and homogenized into six sampling for both top soils and sub soils at the depths of 0-15cm and 16cm -30cm, respectively the soil samples were analyzed using standard laboratory procedures. The results obtained from the field were analyzed using descriptive statistics such as means and tables.  From the analysis, there exists soil nutrient dynamic across all sites in all the depths in both seasons. Furthermore, the presence of heavy metals such as iron and lead are present in the managed recreational park, though not at elevated values, and therefore, the safety limit is within human safety. Consequently, recommendations were made to ensure sustainable ecological service of the managed ecosystem.