Deforestation in forest-savannah transition zone of Ghana: Boabeng-Fiema monkey sanctuary

Amankwah, Afua Amponsah; Quaye‐Ballard, Jonathan Arthur; Koomson, Bennetta; Amankwah, R.K.; Awotwi, Alfred; Kankam, Bright O.; Opuni-Frimpong, Nana Yeboaa; Baah, Douglas Siaw; Adu‐Bredu, Stephen

doi:10.1016/j.gecco.2020.e01440

Cited by 18 publications

(10 citation statements)

References 20 publications

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“…The existing threats in the area run counter the success of increasing populations of the monkeys, thus questioning the longterm conservation of the monkeys in the fragments at the BFMS (Kankam et al 2010). Habitat disturbance (e.g., bushfire, farming activities, cutting of fuelwood, burning of charcoal in the fragments, and settlement expansion) has occurred and still occurs in the small fragments and the patches in between the fragments (Amankwah et al 2021;Kankam 2010;Yeboah 2020). The colobus habitat is consistently becoming smaller due to the high level of anthropogenic disturbance (Amankwah et al 2021;Kankam & Sicotte 2013;Kankam et al 2010).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Growing population of the critically endangered white-thighed colobus monkey (Colobus vellerosus) from forest fragments in Ghana

Kankam,

Antwi-Bosiako,

Addae-Wireko

et al. 2023

J. Trop. Ecol.

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The population of critically endangered white-thighed colobus monkeys (Colobus vellerosus) at Boabeng-Fiema Monkey Sanctuary (BFMS) is possibly the only growing population of this species in West Africa. We assessed the current population status of C. vellerosus in BFMS and the surrounding fragments in Ghana. We undertook a complete count of the population in 2020, and this data was combined with previously conducted complete counts from 1990 to 2014. Results show that the total population growth rate of colobus monkeys at BFMS and the surrounding forest fragments was 353.9% between the 1990 and 2020 censuses (at a rate of 11.8% annually). In the BFMS alone, the total population growth rate was 252.3% between 1990 and 2020 (i.e., at a rate of 8.4% annually). The total population growth rate in the surrounding forest fragments was 97.0% between the first census year of 1997 and the 2020 census (i.e., at a rate of 4.2% annually). The mean group size in the BFMS was 16.7 individuals (SD = 4.0; range = 9–25), while that of the surrounding forest fragments was 14.4 individuals (SD = 4.6; range = 9–23). The overall mean group size was 16.1 individuals (SD = 4.3; range = 9–25). An approximate ratio of one adult male to three adult females (1:3.4) and one adult female to one immature (1:1.2) is an indication that the population of C. vellerosus still has the potential to increase further when new suitable forest fragments are explored in the future. C. vellerosus has the potential to increase further in population in small, suitable fragments if habitat destruction and settlement expansion are managed with primate conservation intentions.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Growing population of the critically endangered white-thighed colobus monkey (Colobus vellerosus) from forest fragments in Ghana

Kankam,

Antwi-Bosiako,

Addae-Wireko

et al. 2023

J. Trop. Ecol.

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“…1). The villages, which have a combined population of 3,754 people (39), were chosen as a site for this study as this region has undergone recent and on-going anthropogenically-induced landscape change characterized by deforestation with a patchwork of protected mixed deciduous forest fragments interspersed among villages, orchards, and agricultural elds (33). The protected forest is a managed sanctuary providing habitat for two revered non-human primate species (black and white colobus (Colobus vellerosus) and Lowe's mona monkey (Cercopithecus campbelli).…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Rural communities in Ghana are potentially vulnerable to pathogen spillover at the peridomestic and agricultural interfaces. Approximately 46% of the Ghanaian population is engaged in agriculture (31), and crop production along with human settlement have been identi ed as major drivers of deforestation and land use change in Ghana (32,33). The migration to rural agriculturally rich areas in Ghana has intensi ed in recent decades largely in response to worsening poverty (34).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The migration to rural agriculturally rich areas in Ghana has intensi ed in recent decades largely in response to worsening poverty (34). Along with migrant farmers, comes increased anthropogenic pressures to support livelihoods, such as land clearing, mixed farming, and hunting (33,34). With this encroachment, there is increased contact with people and domestic animals, as wild animals migrate out of degraded environments into areas with human activity.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Surveillance for potentially zoonotic viruses in rodent and bat populations and behavioral risk in an agricultural settlement in Ghana

Suu‐Ire

Obodai

Bel‐Nono

et al. 2022

Preprint

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Background In Ghana, the conversion of land to agriculture, especially across the vegetative belt has resulted in fragmented forest landscapes with increased interactions among humans, domestic animals, and wildlife. Methods We investigated viruses in bats and rodents, key reservoir hosts for zoonotic viral pathogens, in a small agricultural community in the vegetation belt of Ghana. We also administered questionnaires among the local community members to learn more about people’s awareness and perceptions of zoonotic disease risks and the environmental factors and types of activities in which they engage that might influence pathogen transmission from wildlife. Results Our study detected the RNA from paramyxoviruses and coronaviruses in rodents and bats, including sequences from novel viruses with unknown zoonotic potential. Samples collected from Epomophorus gambianus bats were significantly more likely to be positive for coronavirus RNA during the rainy season, when higher numbers of young susceptible individuals are present in the population. Almost all community members who responded to the questionnaire reported contact with wildlife, especially bats, rodents, and non-human primates in and around their homes and in the agricultural fields. Over half of the respondents were not aware or did not perceive any zoonotic disease risks associated with close contact with animals, such as harvesting and processing animals for food. To address gaps in awareness and mitigation strategies for pathogen transmission risks, we organized community education campaigns using risk reduction and outreach tools focused around living safely with bats and rodents. Conclusions These findings expand our knowledge of the viruses circulating in bats and rodents in Ghana and of the beliefs, perceptions, and practices that put community members at risk of zoonotic virus spillover through direct and indirect contact with bats and rodents. This study also highlights the importance of community engagement in research and interventions focused on mitigating risk and living safely with wildlife.

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“…The forest is also an important carbon sink system, reducing the concentration of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere [3,4]. Although forests have brought huge benefits, the problem of deforestation still exists, and the global forest area is declining [5][6][7]. Therefore, afforestation has been used as an effective strategy to alleviate global warming, especially in mountainous and hilly areas with little economic value.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Tree Recognition on the Plantation Using UAV Images with Ultrahigh Spatial Resolution in a Complex Environment

et al. 2021

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The survival rate of seedlings is a decisive factor of afforestation assessment. Generally, ground checking is more accurate than any other methods. However, the survival rate of seedlings can be higher in the growing season, and this can be estimated in a larger area at a relatively lower cost by extracting the tree crown from the unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) images, which provides an opportunity for monitoring afforestation in an extensive area. At present, studies on extracting individual tree crowns under the complex ground vegetation conditions are limited. Based on the afforestation images obtained by airborne consumer-grade cameras in central China, this study proposes a method of extracting and fusing multiple radii morphological features to obtain the potential crown. A random forest (RF) was used to identify the regions extracted from the images, and then the recognized crown regions were fused selectively according to the distance. A low-cost individual crown recognition framework was constructed for rapid checking of planted trees. The method was tested in two afforestation areas of 5950 m2 and 5840 m2, with a population of 2418 trees (Koelreuteria) in total. Due to the complex terrain of the sample plot, high weed coverage, the crown width of trees, and spacing of saplings vary greatly, which increases both the difficulty and complexity of crown extraction. Nevertheless, recall and F-score of the proposed method reached 93.29%, 91.22%, and 92.24% precisions, respectively, and 2212 trees were correctly recognized and located. The results show that the proposed method is robust to the change of brightness and to splitting up of a multi-directional tree crown, and is an automatic solution for afforestation verification.

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Deforestation in forest-savannah transition zone of Ghana: Boabeng-Fiema monkey sanctuary

Cited by 18 publications

References 20 publications

Growing population of the critically endangered white-thighed colobus monkey (Colobus vellerosus) from forest fragments in Ghana

Growing population of the critically endangered white-thighed colobus monkey (Colobus vellerosus) from forest fragments in Ghana

Surveillance for potentially zoonotic viruses in rodent and bat populations and behavioral risk in an agricultural settlement in Ghana

Tree Recognition on the Plantation Using UAV Images with Ultrahigh Spatial Resolution in a Complex Environment

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