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Does forest restoration using taungya foster tree species diversity? The case of A fram H eadwaters F orest R eserve in G hana
Author(s) -
Boakye Emmanuel A.,
Gils Hein,
Osei Edward M.,
Asare Veronica N. A.
Publication year - 2012
Publication title -
african journal of ecology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.499
H-Index - 54
eISSN - 1365-2028
pISSN - 0141-6707
DOI - 10.1111/j.1365-2028.2012.01329.x
Subject(s) - seedling , species richness , canopy , forestry , diversity (politics) , agroforestry , biology , botany , geography , ecology , sociology , anthropology
The taungya agro‐forestry system is an under‐researched means of forest restoration that may result in high tree diversity. Within a forest reserve in G hana, the forest core and its surrounding T eak‐ and C edrela ‐taungya on logged, cropped and burned land were mapped with ALOS satellite imagery. Native trees, seedlings and saplings were enumerated in 70 random, nested plots, equally divided between forest and taungya. The native tree regeneration was assessed by species richness ( SR ), S hannon‐ W iener I ndex ( SWI ), S hannon E venness I ndex ( SEI ) and species density ( S e D ) for seedlings, saplings and trees separately and combined and subsequently correlated with canopy covers ( CC ) in taungya. As anticipated, the taungya diversity was lower than the forest diversity but higher than reported from nontaungya exotic plantations. In the forest, the diversity of native trees increased from seedlings through saplings to trees. The reverse was found in the taungya. Taungya seedling diversity was not significantly different from the forest, while the sapling and tree diversity were significantly lower. Weak correlations of CC with SR , SWI , SEI and S e D were found. Our results suggest the need for treatment to maintain the tree diversity beyond the seedling stage in the taungya.