Drivers of land use change and carbon mapping in the savannah area of Ghana

Koranteng, Addo; Adu-Poku, Isaac; Zawiła-Niedźwiecki, Tomasz

doi:10.1515/ffp-2017-0031

Cited by 5 publications

(6 citation statements)

References 11 publications

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“…Grassland ecosystems (i.e., Guinea, Sudan, and Coastal Savannah) which occupy about two thirds of the land area of Ghana [8] are the second most important habitats in Ghana after the high forests-hence their degradation or loss is very significant. However, they are being degraded and lost to anthropogenic activities including, conversion to farmlands using slash and burn clearing practices, expansion of settlements, fuelwood harvesting, bush burning, and overgrazing [9,66,67]. In this study we found that about 51.1% of grassland areas across the country were lost (Figure 5).…”

Section: Changes In Grassland Covermentioning

confidence: 73%

Land Cover Changes in Ghana over the Past 24 Years

et al. 2021

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Changes in land cover (LC) can lead to environmental challenges, but few studies have investigated LC changes at a country wide scale in Ghana. Tracking LC changes at such a scale overtime is relevant for devising solutions to emerging issues. This study examined LC changes in Ghana for the past almost two and half decades covering 1995–2019 to highlight significant changes and opportunities for sustainable development. The study used land cover data for six selected years (1995, 2000, 2005, 2010, 2015, and 2019) obtained from the European Space Agency. The data was analyzed using R, ArcGIS Pro and Microsoft Excel 365 ProPlus. The original data was reclassified into eight LC categories, namely: agriculture, bare area, built-up, forest, grassland, other vegetation, waterbody, and wetland. On average, the results revealed 0.7%, 131.7%, 23.3%, 46.9%, and 11.2% increases for agriculture, built-up, forest, waterbody, and wetland, respectively, across the nation. However, losses were observed for bare area (92.8%), grassland (51.1%), and other vegetation (41%) LCs overall. Notably, agricultural land use increased up to 2015 and decreased subsequently but this did not affect production of the major staple foods. These findings reveal the importance of LC monitoring and the need for strategic efforts to address the causes of undesirable change.

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Section: Changes In Grassland Covermentioning

confidence: 73%

Land Cover Changes in Ghana over the Past 24 Years

et al. 2021

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“…Sullivan et al., 2017). Only studies in Ghana used locally developed biomass equations (Aabeyir et al., 2016; Koranteng et al., 2017). The choice of biomass equation is a crucial step in AGB estimates (Panzou et al., 2016).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…With regard to one vegetation type (either forests or savannahs), significantly different estimates have been reported from different locations. For instance, Savannah‐woodland had 5.9 Mg dry biomass/ha in central Burkina Faso, 132.0 Mg dry biomass/ha in southern Ghana but over 170.2 Mg dry biomass/ha in central Ghana (Koranteng, Adu‐Poku, & Zawila‐Niedzwiecki, 2017; Moore et al., 2018; Qasim et al., 2016).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Above‐ground biomass and vegetation attributes in the forest‐savannah mosaic of Togo, West Africa

et al. 2020

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Despite the increasing interest in the role of African savannah and woodlands on the global carbon cycle, little is known about the above-ground biomass (AGB) and the factors affecting it in these ecosystems in West Africa. We estimated AGB in different vegetation types of a forest-savannah mosaic in Togo, and we investigated the relationship between AGB, structural and diversity attributes. We also assessed the effects of using the ≥5 or ≥10 cm diameter threshold on AGB estimates. We sampled tree diameter, height and species of all trees ≥5 cm diameter following standardised protocols in 160 plots of 50 × 20 m (50 × 10 m for riparian). Above-ground biomass (AGB) (all trees ≥5 cm diameter) ranged from 6.2 Mg/ha in shrub savannah to 292 Mg/ha in riparian forest and showed significant differences between vegetation types. Differences in AGB were related to structural attributes, with little influence of diversity attributes. The effects of minimum tree diameter size (5 or 10 cm) on AGB estimates were negligible. At a landscape level, closed-canopy and open forests stored important quantities of carbon. We highlight the importance of the forest-savannah mosaic as a large carbon pool, which could be released if converted to another land cover type.

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“…In recent years, different scholars have applied useful techniques to study LUCC across Ghana. They primarily focused on changes in and around reserves/catchment areas (Gockowski and Sonwa 2011 ; Alo and Pontius 2008 ), spatial determinants of classes, and dynamisms in future modeling (Addae and Oppelt 2019 ; Koranteng et al 2017a , b ), along with establishing links between demographic changes and land-use systems (Moller-Jensen and Knudsen 2008 ). Other researchers have conducted meta-analysis or review studies on land-use systems and water sedimentation (Boakye et al 2018 ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Validating local drivers influencing land use cover change in Southwestern Ghana: a mixed-method approach

Sarfo

Otchwemah²,

Darko

et al. 2022

Environ Earth Sci

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Addressing undesirable changes associated with the driving forces of land use cover change are critical to sustainable land management, and the future modeling of land use systems in developing countries. The study accentuates local drivers of land use cover change in Southwestern Ghana using a mixed-method approach. The approach aided in identifying key land-use drivers, using different research strategies for comparisons through confidence level analysis and Analytic Hierarchy Process. We used expert interviews, existing literature and geostatistical tools to ascertain the driving forces triggering such unprecedented changes. Landsat imagery 5 MSS, 4 and 5 TM, 7 ETM + and 8 OLI/TIRS were acquired from the United States Geological Survey’s website. Land-use analysis revealed a decline in forests (− 82.41%) and areas covered by waterbodies (− 27.39%). A fundamental drift in built-up (+ 1288.36%) and farmlands/shrubs (+ 369.81%) areas were also observed. The contribution rate of change analysis revealed built-environment and increasing population contributed the most to surface temperature and land-use change. A steady increase in surface temperature can be attributed to the undesirable changes associated with land-use systems over the past 50 years. Socio-economic development in Southwestern Ghana is fuelling interest in studies related to land use cover change. Biophysical, cultural and technological factors are considered key drivers despite the “medium-to-very low confidence” in results generated. They could potentially impact climate-sensitive sectors that significantly modify land-use systems from the pessimists’ and optimists’ perspectives. Standpoints established through this study will enrich basic datasets for further studies at the continental level. Supplementary Information The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s12665-022-10481-y.

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Drivers of land use change and carbon mapping in the savannah area of Ghana

Cited by 5 publications

References 11 publications

Land Cover Changes in Ghana over the Past 24 Years

Land Cover Changes in Ghana over the Past 24 Years

Above‐ground biomass and vegetation attributes in the forest‐savannah mosaic of Togo, West Africa

Validating local drivers influencing land use cover change in Southwestern Ghana: a mixed-method approach

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