Environmental Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
of intense harvesting for domestic energy needs, conversion into agricultural fields,
and, more importantly, unrestrained burning through wild fires in the dry season.
Where there is protection of savanna woodland, as in Kouroussa-Moussaya in
Guinea, and Binguri and Jaagbo in Ghana, an increase in the richness of species,
regenerating saplings, and number of pole-size individuals of different species is
observed.
On the whole, therefore, the size-class structure of the savanna woodland in
Guinea appears to be more stable and typical of a natural “forest” or savanna
woodland than the corresponding areas studied in Ghana. The differences
observed above may be due to differential performance of the same species under
different abiotic and other ecological conditions.
In Ghana, absence of pole-size individuals coupled with continuous harvest of
woody species in the plots in Asantekwa, Bognayili, and Dugu-Song will have
great implications for recruitment into the structure of the forest in future, in
terms of availability of these woody species, if alternative measures of manage-
ment are not developed and implemented.
Conclusion
The floral compositions of the savanna woodland in the Republics of Ghana and
Guinea are similar. The entire sample areas lie in the forest-savanna transition
zone of West Africa and cover virtually the same latitude. There is no significant
difference in the abundance diversities of the species identified in the plots stud-
ied in the two countries. However, the frequency distribution pattern of species
shows slightly different forms due to differences in management and protection
practices of these woodlands.
The girth-and-height size class differences of species observed may also be due
to differential performance of the same species under different abiotic, anthro-
pogenic, and other ecological conditions. For example, in Ghana, absence of
pole-size individuals in the plots in Asantekwa, Bongnayili, and Dugu-Song, cou-
pled with continuous harvesting of woody species, has affected cohort recruit-
ment for the establishment of any meaningful forest structure (Swaine and Hall,
1986). On the contrary, in Guinea a vast area of the savanna woodland is under
protection as a forest reserve. Therefore, the cohort classes of woody species in
sample plots at Kouroussa-Moussaya are closely related and thus have a contin-
uous canopy compared to Ghana.
The high population with its attendant high demands for fuelwood and char-
coal as a domestic energy source may be contributing to the denudation of the
savanna woodland in Ghana. Whereas settlement and household fencing using
large stem cuttings is a common practice in Guinea, this practice does not feature
prominently in the settlements of the study area of the savanna woodland in
