Bee Fauna in and Around Kakum National Park

Combey, Rofela; Kwapong, Peter

doi:10.4172/2161-0983.1000177

Cited by 3 publications

(3 citation statements)

References 10 publications

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“…Although the honey bee ( Apis mellifera ) is usually the main producer, there is a growing market for stingless bee honey in Africa (Kwapong, Aidoo, Combey, & Karikari, ). We found that stingless bees are present in high abundances within amenity lands, and they are already known to have different patterns of adaptation to disturbances than other bee genera (Combey & Kwapong, ). Moreover, traditional beekeeping contributes to bee conservation by reducing destructive honey hunting practices (Dietemann, Pirk, & Crewe, ).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 69%

“…The similarity in bee abundances across the urbanisation gradient might therefore reflect a generally depleted regional species pool, something that is likely the norm rather than the exception in urbanisation studies. The negative effect of rural farmed landscapes on bee abundances in comparison to semi‐natural rural areas has already been documented (Combey & Kwapong, ; Coulibaly et al., ). Further research on pollinator distribution in different West African rural landscapes could improve the understanding of the impact of urban landscapes on pollinator abundances and community composition.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 89%

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Effects of urbanisation and management practices on pollinators in tropical Africa

Guenat

Kunin

Dougill

2018

Journal of Applied Ecology

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1. Urban expansion is an increasing threat to biodiversity, especially in tropical Africa where biodiversity hot spots are being encroached upon by fast-growing cities.Threatened species include bees and other pollinators, which deliver important ecosystem services but are sensitive to land use changes.2. We investigated the impact of urbanisation and vegetation management practices on pollinator abundance, bee diversity, and bee functional traits. We sampled 126 locations in a stratified random design across an urbanisation gradient in two medium-sized cities in the West African Forests biodiversity hot spot, encompassing three management practices (farmed sites; amenity lands, i.e. green spaces managed for aesthetics; informal green spaces), and tested their effect with generalised linear models.3. Urbanisation did not affect bee abundances or diversity but had a negative impact on both wasp and beetle abundances. There was also a management-mediated impact of urbanisation on bee abundances, which decreased with urbanisation on farmed sites but not amenity land or informal green spaces. Management practices alone influenced bee abundances with farms harbouring fewer bees, and amenity lands fewer beetles. 4. Bee genera occurrence and dominance patterns were influenced by both urbanisation and management, with some otherwise common genera rare in urban areas.5. Most functional traits were influenced by management, with fewer polylectic bees, cavity-nesting bees and long-tongued bees in farmed sites. Amenity lands hosted smaller bees and fewer savanna specialists. Some traits were influenced by urbanisation, with more long-tongued bees and cavity-nesting bees found in urban areas.6. Synthesis and applications. Pollinator responses to urbanisation are complex. In our research, we demonstrate how bee, lepidopteran, and non-fruit fly abundances have been maintained across an urbanisation gradient in tropical Africa, but not wasp and beetle abundances. Moreover, bee community composition and the distribution of traits shifted markedly. How green spaces were managed was also critical. We found that farmed sites hosted the lowest bee abundances and

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 69%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 89%

Effects of urbanisation and management practices on pollinators in tropical Africa

Guenat

Kunin

Dougill

2018

Journal of Applied Ecology

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“…According to Crane (1990) 39 , only 16% of the world's flowering plants are a host to bees and of these, 1.6% support pollination by serving as food resources for bees. Other studies have also suggested that nectar quantity and quality by the host plant may be host plant species specific and can also depend on environmental factors [40][41][42] . Thus, the sugar content of some honeys such as those from the Sudan Savannah may be due to high sugar content of host plants and environmental conditions such as the long dry season, typical of Guinea and Sudan savannah ecozones.…”

Section: Assessment Of Solid Sugarsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Physico-chemical properties and microbiological status of admixture and single-hive honey produced in Ghana

Combey¹,

Dordunu²,

Kwame³

et al. 2021

Preprint

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Honey is commonly used as a food sweetener in Ghana and it is one of the most important food products with enormous nutritive benefits. In recent times, the increasing concern about sugar related diseases such as diabetes has led to increased consumption of honey in Ghana. This study assessed the physico-chemical properties and microbiological quality of honey collected from supermarkets and apiaries across six major agro-ecological zones of Ghana. In all, 57 honey samples were analyzed for pH, colour, solid sugars and moisture contents, whereas 46 samples were assessed for their microbiological status. The results showed that honey produced in Ghana had significantly wider variations in pH, moisture (p=0.000), solid sugar (0.000) and RI (0.000) within and across the six agro-ecological zones. Similarly, wider variations of these indices occurred between honey harvested from single hives and the admixtures. The results also showed that most of the honey produced in Ghana are characteristically amber in colour, while fewer samples appear black. Honey from the Northern region had the widest variation in colour, ranging from light amber to black. Most of the honeys studied (66.7% of samples) contained solid sugar contents which is either below the CODEX Alimentarius recommendation of 80 %, while 33.3% of the samples contained levels within the recommended ranges. Moreover, the admixture had higher solid sugar contents than single hive honey. About 66% of the honey studied had moisture content above the 20% recommended by USDA and Codex Alimentarius. In addition, the single hive honeys had higher moisture contents than the admixture honeys. The results also revealed that admixtures possess higher RIs than single hive honey. The honey samples assessed in this study were contaminated with bacteria (Bacillus licheniformis, Bacillus subtilis, Citrobacter amalonaticus, Escherichia coli, Micrococcus luteus, Providencia rettgeri, Staphylococcus aureus and Streptococcus faecalis) and fungi genera Aspergillus, Penicillium, and Mucor. Further, 45% of the total samples were above the USDA acceptable limits of microorganisms considered safe for foods and honey. Moreover, significant levels of bacterial and fungal contamination of honey samples; significantly high means of bacterial counts were observed in honey from both admixture and apiaries than fungi. Interestingly, Clostridium botulinum was isolated from a few samples of honey. Only 7% of the total honey samples from Greater Accra, Western, Volta, Eastern and Northern regions contained Clostridium botulinum and this was the first time this organism is being reported in the country. However, contamination levels were below USDA acceptable limits of 1 x 104 CFU per gram for detected samples. Therefore, the honey studied can be considered safe for consumption. This notwithstanding, the study has demonstrated the need for monitoring the quality of honey produced in the country to ensure the safety of consumers.

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Relationships between flower-visiting insects and forest cover in cocoa-growing landscapes in Ghana

Boakye,

Combey,

White

et al. 2024

Landsc Ecol

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Context Increased cocoa cultivation (Theobroma cacao) has led to the conversion of over 6 million hectares of rainforest to cocoa farmlands in West Africa. Globally, pollinator decline has been driven by land use changes. Though land use change through cocoa expansion may affect insect pollinators and, by extension, pollination services, this has rarely been assessed. Objectives Our study examined the relationships between the proportion of natural forest in the landscape (reduced primarily due to cocoa expansion) and flower-visiting insect abundance, and bee abundance, richness, diversity and community composition. The effect of pan trap type (aerial or ground) was also tested. Methods Eighteen sites were selected along a gradient of an increasing proportion of natural forests in the surrounding landscape (from 9 to 100%). Ground and aerial pan traps were deployed in each site to sample flower-visiting insects. Two sampling sessions were conducted; during the rainy season in 2021 and during the dry season in 2022. Results The abundances of Coleoptera, Hymenoptera and Hemiptera increased with increasing proportion of natural forests in the landscape, while Diptera decreased. Natural forest and trap type did not significantly influence bee abundance, species richness, and Shannon diversity. However, bee community composition differed along the forest gradient, indicating that forests and cocoa farms harbour different bee communities. Ground pan traps captured more insects (61% of 19,927 flower-visiting insects) than aerial pan traps, which was driven by the Diptera as the abundances of the other orders were not significantly related to trap type. Conclusions Preserving natural forest in cocoa-growing landscapes is important to sustain the coexistence of diverse flower-visiting insect communities owing to their differential responses to the proportions of natural forests.

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Bee Fauna in and Around Kakum National Park

Cited by 3 publications

References 10 publications

Effects of urbanisation and management practices on pollinators in tropical Africa

Effects of urbanisation and management practices on pollinators in tropical Africa

Physico-chemical properties and microbiological status of admixture and single-hive honey produced in Ghana

Relationships between flower-visiting insects and forest cover in cocoa-growing landscapes in Ghana

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