Abundance and Diversity of Trees Species Under Different Land Uses in the Sudan Savannah Ecological Zone of Ghana, West Africa

Mah  Coulibaly; Kapoury  Sanogo; Halimatou Aboubacar  Toure; Nat  Owusu-Prempeh; Grace  B. Villamore; Stephen  Adu Bredu; Emmanuel Amponsah  Manu

Mah Coulibaly Department of civil engineering, Kwame Nkrumah University of Sciences and Technology, Kumasi, Ghana
Kapoury Sanogo Institute of Rural Econimy (IER), Bamako (Mali), Bp 262,
Halimatou Aboubacar Toure Institue of Society Sciences (INSS), Burkina Faso, 03Bp 7047
Nat Owusu-Prempeh Department of Forest Resources Technology, FRNR, KNUST, Kumasi, Ghana
Grace B. Villamore Scion (New Zeland Forest Research, Ltd), Rotorua, New Zeland, Department of Ecology and Natural Resources Management, Center for Development Research, University of Bonn, Germany
Stephen Adu Bredu CSIR-Forest Research Institute of Ghana
Emmanuel Amponsah Manu CSIR-Forest Research Institute of Ghana

Keywords: Abundance, Tree species diversity, Land use types, conservation, Sudan savannah ecological zone, Ghana

Abstract

Knowledge on tree species abundance and diversity is critical for sustainable land management and biodiversity conservation. The aim of the study was to assess tree species abundance and diversity across different land uses and sites in the Sudan savannah ecological zone of Ghana, a total of 64 plots of 3600 m2 (60 m x 60 m) were laid out in three land use types (Forest reserve, cropland and rangeland) in four sites (Bawku, Binduri, Garu and Pusiga). All standing trees and shrubs species encountered in the setting plot were recorded including dendrometry parameters. Alpha diversity was measured using Simpson, Shannon-Wiener and Evenness indices whereas similarity in species composition between land use types and sites were measured using Sorenson’s index. The results showed that there were more species in the lower diameter classes (0 to 20 cm) than the higher diameter classes (>20 cm). the greatest value of tree diversity was recorded in forest land in the four sites compared to the other land use types. The highest similarity (53%) in tree species composition was recorded between cropland in Binduri and Garu. the current study revealed that forest land recorded the highest value of tree species richness in each site compared to the other two land use types (cropland and rangeland) in the same site.

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