Impact of anthropogenic disturbance on tree species diversity, vegetation structure and carbon storage potential in an upland evergreen forest of Ghana, West Africa

Bentsi-Enchill, Felicity; Damptey, Frederick Gyasi; Pappoe, Alexander Nii Moi; Ekumah, Bernard; Akotoye, Hugh Komla

doi:10.1016/j.tfp.2022.100238

Cited by 17 publications

(18 citation statements)

References 65 publications

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“…The species diversity, richness and their regeneration were found greatly affected by both biotic (human being) and non-biotic factors (Eshaghi Rad et al, 2018;Takafumi & Hiura, 2009;Zhu et al, 2007). The number of plants species was found greater in case of less disturbed stands as compared to the high disturbed stands, i.e., as the degree of disturbance decreased, the species richness was found to increase as in other researches (Bentsi-Enchill et al, 2022;Eshaghi Rad et al, 2018;Wilson & Gerry, 2000). This increasing species diversity from less disturbed to severely disturbed regions suggested the greater influence of anthropogenic activities on species composition and diversity (Bhuyan et al, 2003;Esther et al, 2014;Majumdar & Datta, 2015;Mishra et al, 2004).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 59%

Tree Species Diversity and Regenerating Potential along Disturbance Gradient in Chandragiri Hill, Kathmandu, Central Nepal

Dani

Baniya

2022

J. Inst. Sci. Tech.

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Tress species regeneration is greatly influenced by climatic, topographic, and anthropogenic activities. Present study was designed to examine the tree species diversity and their regeneration patterns along the anthropogenic disturbance gradient in the temperate forest of Chandragiri Hill, Central Nepal. Data were obtained from 90 sample plots ranging between 1560 to 2290 m asl after randomly sampling along three disturbance classes classified based on canopy coverage and degrees of disturbance activities in 2021. Circumference at breast height (1.37 m height above the ground) of each tree individual was measured and classified into tree, sapling, and seedling. A total of 47 tree species belonging to 42 genera and 26 families were obtained by this study. The highest species richness for seedlings and saplings was obtained in severely disturbed areas and tree species richness in the moderately disturbed area. The tree stands density varied between 350 to 1017 individuals ha-1 with the total basal area between 12.7 to 72.78 m2 ha-1 with the least value in a highly disturbed area and highest in the least disturbed area. The seedling and sapling densities were found increased from lower to more disturbed forests indicating that the forest fragmentation negatively affected the regeneration. The highest values of the Shannon Weiner index, Pielou Index, and the lowest value of the Simpson index were observed at moderate disturbance areas. About 36 to 60% of species were found regenerating in the less disturbed and moderately disturbed forests and no regeneration in severely disturbed areas. Elevation, canopy cover, landslide, and slopes were found to be the most influential variables in forest regeneration as significantly represented by CCA1. The present study has found a moderate level of disturbance to become beneficial for better regeneration of tree species. So, the reduction of excessive disturbance from local people would be a better option for the adequate regeneration of tree species.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 59%

Tree Species Diversity and Regenerating Potential along Disturbance Gradient in Chandragiri Hill, Kathmandu, Central Nepal

Dani

Baniya

2022

J. Inst. Sci. Tech.

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“…Divergent distribution patterns of species and community composition of mountain ecosystems are influenced by dramatic changes in environmental conditions over short altitudinal distance [33,49,55,56]. Nevertheless, human exploitation may be imposing constraints that result in environmental modification [57] causing a shift in species range [58] and thus influencing species composition [59]. Our study found that tree species and community patterns are determined by climate, topography, soil and disturbance pressures that exhibit heterogeneity over the sub-montane forest of East Usambara.…”

Section: Tree Species Community Structurementioning

confidence: 83%

Tree species composition along environmental and disturbance gradients in tropical sub-montane forests, Tanzania

2023

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Understanding the environmental and disturbance determinants of tree species dominance and community composition in an ecosystem, is important for informing management and conservation decisions, through maintaining or improving the existing forest composition and structure. This study was carried out to quantify the relationship between forest tree composition structure and environmental and disturbance gradients, in a tropical sub-montane forest of Eastern Usambara. Vegetation, environmental, and anthropogenic disturbance data for 58 plots across Amani and Nilo nature forest reserves were obtained. Agglomerative hierarchical cluster analysis and canonical correspondence analysis (CCA) were used to identify plant communities and analyze the influence of environmental variables and anthropogenic disturbances on tree species and community composition respectively. Four communities were identified and CCA results showed that the variation was significantly related to elevation, pH, Annual mean temperature, temperature seasonality, phosphorus nutrients and pressures from adjacent villages and roads. Likewise, environmental factors (climate, soil and topography) explained the most variation (14.5%) of tree and community composition in relation to disturbance pressure (2.5%). The large and significant variation in tree species and community patterns explained by environmental factors suggests a need for site-specific assessment of environmental properties for biodiversity conservation plans. Similarly, the intensification of human activities and associated impacts on natural environment should be minimized to maintain forest species composition patterns and communities. The findings are useful in guiding in policy interventions that focus on minimizing human disturbances in the forests and could aid in preserving and restoring the functional organization and tree species composition of the sub-tropical montane forests.

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“…Based on the delineation results, measurements were then taken to produce an inventory of the carbon stock, which represents the current state of the forest (Hoover 2008). Furthermore, the cluster sampling method was used to determine the stand density level and then continued with stratified random sampling (Sugiyono 2020;Bentsi-Enchill et al 2022) for random selection of the population with a proportional placement. The number of samples taken at high, medium and low densities was determined based on the representativeness of the area.…”

Section: Inventory Of Eucalyptus Urophyllamentioning

confidence: 99%

Carbon storage potential of Eucalyptus urophylla at several density levels and forest management types in dry land ecosystems

et al. 2022

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Abstract. Marimpan LS, Purwanto RH, Wardhana W, Sumardi. 2022. Carbon storage potential of Eucalyptus urophylla at several density levels and forest management types in dry land ecosystems. Biodiversitas 23: 2830-2837. Tropical forests can store high amounts of carbon because they have suitable environmental factors. Furthermore, they are different from others that grow in dry areas, which tend to experience limited rainfall. Ampupu (Eucalyptus urophylla) is an endemic tree in East Nusa Tenggara, which is continuously damaged. This is caused by various anthropogenic activities, which increase along with the population around the forest. Therefore, this study aims to estimate the carbon content stored in natural forest areas of E. urophylla at different density levels and land use types. Field inventory was carried out in the study location using the stratified sampling method, after which the density levels were divided into three groups, viz. high, medium, and low. Sampling was then carried out in 3 different land-use areas, including production, protection, and conservation forests. Furthermore, a total of 90 plots were used, where each land-use type consists of 30 plots with a size of 25 m × 40 m. The results showed that the carbon content at the low, medium and high-density levels were 108.20, 185.24, and 291.33 MgCha-1, respectively. Values of 211.91, 214.69, and 221.14 MgCha-1 were also obtained from the production, protection, and conservation forests, respectively. Based on the results, the natural forests of E. urophylla have a significant effect on carbon sequestration in East Nusa Tenggara.

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Impact of anthropogenic disturbance on tree species diversity, vegetation structure and carbon storage potential in an upland evergreen forest of Ghana, West Africa

Cited by 17 publications

References 65 publications

Tree Species Diversity and Regenerating Potential along Disturbance Gradient in Chandragiri Hill, Kathmandu, Central Nepal

Tree Species Diversity and Regenerating Potential along Disturbance Gradient in Chandragiri Hill, Kathmandu, Central Nepal

Tree species composition along environmental and disturbance gradients in tropical sub-montane forests, Tanzania

Carbon storage potential of Eucalyptus urophylla at several density levels and forest management types in dry land ecosystems

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