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University of Cape Coast Landscape Influence on Bee

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University of Cape Coast Landscape Influence on Bee UNIVERSITY OF CAPE COAST LANDSCAPE INFLUENCE ON BEE ABUNDANCE AND DIVERSITY IN THE FOREST SAVANNAH TRANSITION ZONE OF GHANA AND COMMUNITY KNOWLEDGE OF POLLINATORS AND POLLINATION EDDIEBRIGHT JOSEPH BUADU 2016 UNIVERSITY OF CAPE COAST LANDSCAPE INFLUENCE ON BEE ABUNDANCE AND DIVERSITY IN THE FOREST SAVANNAH TRANSITION ZONE OF GHANA AND COMMUNITY KNOWLEDGE OF POLLINATORS AND POLLINATION BY EDDIEBRIGHT JOSEPH BUADU Thesis submitted to the Department of Entomology and Wildlife of the School of Biological Sciences, University of Cape Coast in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the award of Doctor of Philosophy degree in Entomology JULY 2016 © Eddiebright Joseph Buadu University of Cape Coast DECLARATION Candidate’s Declaration I hereby declare that this thesis is the result of my own original work and that no part of it has been presented for another degree in this university or elsewhere. Candidate’s Signature:............................................................Date:...................... Name: Eddiebright Joseph Buadu Supervisors’ Declaration We hereby declare that the preparation and presentation of the thesis were supervised in accordance with guidelines on supervision of thesis laid down by the University of Cape Coast. Principal Supervisor’s Signature:..............................................Date:........................ Name: Professor Peter Kofi Kwapong Co-supervisor’s Signature:.......................................................Date:………………. Name: Professor (Mrs) Mary Botchey ii ABSTRACT Global declines in pollinator diversity and abundance have been recognized, raising concerns about a pollination crisis of crops and wild plants. In many African countries including Ghana however research and publications on the subject are rare. To this end, a study was carried out from June 2013 to April 2014 to determine the influence of landscape type on bee species abundance and diversity in the Forest Savannah Transition Zone (FSTZ) of Ghana. The research also evaluated farmers’ knowledge and perceptions of the importance of pollinators and pollination. Two sites each of the landscape types; Agricultural land, Natural vegetation and Settlement fringes were sampled from three subzones selected on the basis of the proportion of trees relative to grasses. Overall, 706 bees made up of 3 families, 18 genera and 34 species were collected and identified. Apidae was the most speciose bee family and Megachilidae the least. Xylocopa, Amegilla and Lipotriches were the most common genera whilst Chalicodoma, Thyreus, Celioxys and Lithurgus were represented by single individuals. The results of bee species abundance and diversity were mixed for the various comparisons. Overall, the study indicated that bee species diversity is significantly influenced by landscape type and percentage tree to grass proportions (P ≤ 0.05). No such variation was observed for bee abundance probably due to the dominance of Apis mellifera Linnaeus. There were significantly more bee species in agricultural land and natural vegetation than in settlement fringes. Similarly, there were more bee species in the lower transition zone (area with the highest percent tree cover) than in either the middle or upper transition zone. Though most of the crop farmers interviewed had been farming for more than 10 years, they knew very little about pollinators and pollination, indicating the need to intensify education on the subject. iii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I am most grateful to God Almighty for granting me the grace to complete this three year period of research. I am highly indebted to Professor Peter Kofi Kwapong and Professor (Mrs) Mary Botchey, my Principal and Co-Supervisor respectively. I sincerely thank them for guiding me through this work. Further, a special thank you is expressed to the College of Distance Education (CoDE) Management, UCC for granting me a scholarship to undertake this research work. I would like to acknowledge the tremendous help and good will received from Mr. Albert Kobina Koomson, the former Director and Professor G. K. T. Oduro, the current Provost. I am also grateful to a number of individuals for the diverse roles they played in ensuring the success of this work. Topmost on the list are Professor B. A. Mensah, the Head of Entomology and Wildlife Department, Dr. Rofela Combey, a bee taxonomist and a senior lecturer in the Department without whose help the bees collected could not have been identified, Mrs. Janet Christabel Arthur, a principal administrative assistant who worked on the graphs and photographs in this thesis and Dr. Kwame Aidoo, a bee expert who provided useful suggestions. Others are Frank Gyamfi, a former curator of the Entomology museum, Mr. Edem Hope who helped with the statistical analysis as well as the chiefs and assembly members of the study communities for permitting me to conduct this study in their areas of jurisdiction. I solemnly declare that I share the credit that goes with the production of this work with my wife, Catherine and the children, Friedrich, Joana, Eugenia and Prince for their prayers and moral support. iv DEDICATION To my wife and children v TABLE OF CONTENTS Page DECLARATION ii ABSTRACT iii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS iv DEDICATION v LIST OF TABLES xii LIST OF FIGURES xiii LIST OF ACRONYMS xv CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION 1 Background to the Study 1 Bees 4 Drivers of pollinator decline 6 Statement of the Problem 8 Purpose of the Study 14 Objectives of the Study 14 Hypotheses 14 Significance of the Study 15 Delimitation 16 Limitations 16 Definition of Terms 16 Organization of Study 17 vi CHAPTER TWO: LITERATURE REVIEW 18 Forest Savannah Transition Zones 18 The Concept of Landscape 19 Importance of Pollinators 21 Ecosystems’ Dependence on Pollinators 25 Pollinators and Socio-economic Conditions in Ghana 26 Bee Pollinators 26 Social bees 27 Solitary bees 28 Bee Families 30 Factors Influencing Bee Abundance and Diversity 31 Floral resources 32 Nesting resources 33 Climatic factors 36 Natural and semi-natural habitats 40 Natural history traits 41 Land use factors 45 Pollinator Decline 50 Causes of Pollinator Decline 51 Bee Conservation Measures 55 Hedgerows 55 Field margins 55 Management of roadside habitats 56 vii Management of fallows 56 Management of woodland and forest plantations 57 Management of natural forests 57 Management of grasslands and pasture lands 57 Managing floral resources within agricultural fields 58 Management to provide bee nesting sites within agricultural fields 60 Compensation to farmers 61 Information dissemination 62 Access to water 62 Minimizing direct exposure to risk 63 Knowledge of Pollinator Services 63 CHAPTER THREE: MATERIALS AND METHODS 68 Study Area 68 Sampling Sites and Field Work 69 Bee Sampling Methods 73 Laboratory Work 77 Survey of Crop Farmers in the Study Communities 78 Data Analyses 79 CHAPTER FOUR: RESULTS 82 The Bee Fauna of the FSTZ of Ghana 82 Bee Species Distribution in the FSTZ of Ghana 82 Total Numbers of Bees per Landscape Type and Subzone 85 Species Rarity Within the FSTZ of Ghana 88 viii Variation in Bee Biodiversity Factors Within Subzones 88 Upper FSTZ 89 Middle FSTZ 89 Lower FSTZ 89 Summary of Bees Species Abundance and Diversity Within Subzones 91 Variation in Bee Diversity per Landscape Type Across Subzones 91 Agricultural land 91 Settlement fringes 92 Natural vegetation 92 Summary of Bees Species Abundance and Diversity per Landscape Type Across Subzones 92 General Variation in Bee Species Abundance and Diversity Across Landscape Types 94 General Variation in Bee Species Abundance and Diversity Across Subzones 94 Variation in Bee Abundance and Diversity With Relative Humidity and Temperature Across Subzones 97 Variation in Bee Species Abundance and Diversity Across Sampling Months 97 The Knowledge Level of Local Crop Farmers on Pollinators and Pollination 99 Age and gender distribution of crop farmers 99 ix Educational background of crop farmers 100 Years of crop farming 100 Importance of flowers to crop farmers 101 Training on pollinators and pollination 101 Farmers’ view on the need to protect flower visiting insects 102 Crop farmers’ reasons for protecting insects found on crops 102 Ways of protecting insects found on crops 103 Part of crop and period of day insects were found on crops 103 CHAPTER FIVE: DISCUSSION 108 Introduction 108 Bees Found in the FSTZ of Ghana 108 Variation in Bee Species Abundance and Diversity Within Subzones 112 Upper FSTZ 112 Middle FSTZ 114 Lower FSTZ 114 Variation in Bee Abundance and Diversity per Landscape Type Across Subzones 115 General Variation in Bee Species Abundance and Diversity Across Landscape Types 116 General Variation in Bee Species Abundance and Diversity Across Subzones 120 Variation in Bee Abundance and Diversity With Relative Humidity and Temperature Across Subzones 125 x Variation in Bee Species Abundance and Diversity across Sampling Months 125 The Knowledge Level of local crop Farmers on Pollinators and Pollination 126 CHAPTER SIX: SUMMARY, CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS 128 Summary 128 Conclusions 130 Recommendations 131 REFERENCES 133 APPENDICES 1 Comparison of Biodiversity Factors 173 2 Statistical Output of Biodiversity Factors 176 3 Measurement of Physical Factors 206 4 Ten (10) Dominant Plant Species Identified From 18 Communities in the FSTZ of Ghana 216 5 Questionnaire on Crop Farmers’ Knowledge of Pollinators and Pollination Within the FSTZ of Ghana 224 xi LIST OF TABLES Table Page 1. Subzones, Location and Landscape Types Studied Within the FSTZ of Ghana 73 2. List of Bees Collected
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