Woody plant composition, diversity and conservation status of a protected area in the transition zone of Ghana

Botanical assessment was conducted in the Boabeng-Fiema Monkey Sanctuary (BFMS), aimed at assessing the woody plant composition, diversity and structure, of vegetation types and conservation importance of the reserve. Ten (20m×50m) plots were established in forest, transition and savanna stands of BFMS. Overall, 66 species representing 55 genera and 26 families were recorded. Floristic attributes showed lower number of species, families, genera and stem density in savanna (24, 14, 21 and 97, respectively) compared to transition (37, 21, 35, 596) and forest (42, 20, 37, 149). The most dominant families were Fabaceae, Moraceae, Rubiaceae and Malvaceae whilst trees were the most predominant growth form accounting for 66% of species recorded. Trees were more diverse in forest (1.32) and savanna (1.10) while shrubs were more diverse in transition (1.14). Non-metric multidimensional scaling ordination showed distribution of distinct tree and shrub species across stands. Anogeisus leiocarpus and Detarium senegalensis were predominant in the savanna vegetation with Importance Value Indices (IVI) of 93.1 and 34.9, respectively, while in the transition zone, A. leiocarpus and the shrub, Uvaria chamae, were the most dominant with IVI of 71.1 and 38.9, respectively. Dominant species in the forest were Bombax buonopozense and Lecaniodiscus cupanioides with IVI of 42.5 and 25.1, respectively. The transition zone had a Genetic Heat Index (GHI) of 254.3, followed by the forest and savanna zones with values of 140.0 and 97.6, respectively. Our results indicated the BFMS harbours several valuable plant species, suggesting its potential as in-situ conservation as well as tourist, research and education site.