Land use and land cover changes implications on biodiversity in the Owabi catchment of Atwima Nwabiagya North District, Ghana
This paper examined land use and land cover (LULC) change and implications to biodiversity in the Owabi catchment of Atwima Nwabiagya North District in Ghana from 1991 to 2021 using remote sensing, and geographic information systems (GIS), with participatory methods such as interviews and questionna...
| Main Authors: | , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Elsevier
2023-05-01
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| Series: | Heliyon |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2405844023024453 |
| _version_ | 1797815709351280640 |
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| author | Richard Baidoo Anthony Arko-Adjei Michael Poku-Boansi Jonathan Arthur Quaye-Ballard Dorcas Peggy Somuah |
| author_facet | Richard Baidoo Anthony Arko-Adjei Michael Poku-Boansi Jonathan Arthur Quaye-Ballard Dorcas Peggy Somuah |
| author_sort | Richard Baidoo |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | This paper examined land use and land cover (LULC) change and implications to biodiversity in the Owabi catchment of Atwima Nwabiagya North District in Ghana from 1991 to 2021 using remote sensing, and geographic information systems (GIS), with participatory methods such as interviews and questionnaires with a sample size of 200 participants. The use of supervised classification with maximum likelihood algorithm in QGIS was employed to generate LULC maps of 1991, 2001, 2011, and 2021. Molusce Plugin in QGIS was applied to predict probabilities of LULC changes in 10 years (2021–2031). The results showed that high-density forest has disappeared from 1991 to 2021 while built-up has increased and remained the most dominant LULC from 2011 to 2021. There is a continual decline in the number of plant and animal species in and around the Owabi catchment. This can be attributed to the decline of high-density forests and increased built-up in the study area through human actions. The study identified the influence of human activities as the key forces of LULC change to biodiversity loss. This problem stemmed from the taste for housing and trading activities in the Kumasi Metropolitan Area which has resulted in an increasing demand for settlement because of its closeness to Kumasi and its environs. The study recommends that stringent preventive measures should be developed and enforced by various stakeholders including the Forestry Commission, Ghana Water Company Limited, Environmental Protection Agency, as well as the District/Municipal Assemblies to safeguard the forest from human activities. This recommendation will help these agencies to keep abreast with changes in LULC in the various communities and factors such as changes during the planning of the communities. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-13T08:26:47Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-6808801a37b44754862eee48a0b58c7b |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2405-8440 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-13T08:26:47Z |
| publishDate | 2023-05-01 |
| publisher | Elsevier |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Heliyon |
| spelling | doaj.art-6808801a37b44754862eee48a0b58c7b2023-05-31T04:44:30ZengElsevierHeliyon2405-84402023-05-0195e15238Land use and land cover changes implications on biodiversity in the Owabi catchment of Atwima Nwabiagya North District, GhanaRichard Baidoo0Anthony Arko-Adjei1Michael Poku-Boansi2Jonathan Arthur Quaye-Ballard3Dorcas Peggy Somuah4Department of Geomatic Engineering; Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, Kumasi, Ghana; Corresponding author.Department of Geomatic Engineering; Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, Kumasi, GhanaDepartment of Planning; Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, Kumasi, GhanaDepartment of Geomatic Engineering; Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, Kumasi, GhanaDepartment of Forest Resources Technology, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, Kumasi, GhanaThis paper examined land use and land cover (LULC) change and implications to biodiversity in the Owabi catchment of Atwima Nwabiagya North District in Ghana from 1991 to 2021 using remote sensing, and geographic information systems (GIS), with participatory methods such as interviews and questionnaires with a sample size of 200 participants. The use of supervised classification with maximum likelihood algorithm in QGIS was employed to generate LULC maps of 1991, 2001, 2011, and 2021. Molusce Plugin in QGIS was applied to predict probabilities of LULC changes in 10 years (2021–2031). The results showed that high-density forest has disappeared from 1991 to 2021 while built-up has increased and remained the most dominant LULC from 2011 to 2021. There is a continual decline in the number of plant and animal species in and around the Owabi catchment. This can be attributed to the decline of high-density forests and increased built-up in the study area through human actions. The study identified the influence of human activities as the key forces of LULC change to biodiversity loss. This problem stemmed from the taste for housing and trading activities in the Kumasi Metropolitan Area which has resulted in an increasing demand for settlement because of its closeness to Kumasi and its environs. The study recommends that stringent preventive measures should be developed and enforced by various stakeholders including the Forestry Commission, Ghana Water Company Limited, Environmental Protection Agency, as well as the District/Municipal Assemblies to safeguard the forest from human activities. This recommendation will help these agencies to keep abreast with changes in LULC in the various communities and factors such as changes during the planning of the communities.http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2405844023024453BiodiversityForest degradationLand coverLand useOwabi catchment |
| spellingShingle | Richard Baidoo Anthony Arko-Adjei Michael Poku-Boansi Jonathan Arthur Quaye-Ballard Dorcas Peggy Somuah Land use and land cover changes implications on biodiversity in the Owabi catchment of Atwima Nwabiagya North District, Ghana Heliyon Biodiversity Forest degradation Land cover Land use Owabi catchment |
| title | Land use and land cover changes implications on biodiversity in the Owabi catchment of Atwima Nwabiagya North District, Ghana |
| title_full | Land use and land cover changes implications on biodiversity in the Owabi catchment of Atwima Nwabiagya North District, Ghana |
| title_fullStr | Land use and land cover changes implications on biodiversity in the Owabi catchment of Atwima Nwabiagya North District, Ghana |
| title_full_unstemmed | Land use and land cover changes implications on biodiversity in the Owabi catchment of Atwima Nwabiagya North District, Ghana |
| title_short | Land use and land cover changes implications on biodiversity in the Owabi catchment of Atwima Nwabiagya North District, Ghana |
| title_sort | land use and land cover changes implications on biodiversity in the owabi catchment of atwima nwabiagya north district ghana |
| topic | Biodiversity Forest degradation Land cover Land use Owabi catchment |
| url | http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2405844023024453 |
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