This study was conducted in the Afram Headwaters, Tain Tributaries Block II and Worobong South Forest Reserves. Satellite record of fire incidence for the country over 11 years (1997 to 2007) was modelled via binary logistic regression analysis, and correlations between fire incidence and the correlates of fire used to explain the observed trends. Fire incidence was found to be correlated with multiple variables which probably covary. Rainfall, vegetation type and geology showed the strongest correlations with fire incidence. Recurrent fire has impacted negatively on forest structure, ground cover biomass and species composition in two forest reserves, but more marked in the wetter Worobong South Forest Reserve than the drier Tain II Forest Reserve. Basal area has reduced from 40 m<sup>2</sup>ha<sup>-1</sup> in least-degraded to <1 m<sup>2</sup>ha<sup>-1</sup> in heavily-degraded stand in Worobong South Forest Reserve, along with tree density, whereas canopy openness has increased from 6% in least-degraded to 83% in heavily-degraded forest. In Tain II Forest Reserve, however, the heavily-degraded forest has lost close to 50% of its maximum value in terms of basal area, tree density and canopy cover, all in approximately 20 years. Early-burning, with maximum seedling height growth rates of 130 cm yr<sup>-1</sup> and 40 cm yr<sup>-1</sup> for Worobong South and Tain II Forest Reserves respectively, might help control the fires, and restore forest canopy in about 10 to 20 years if regularly maintained, but must be accompanied by green firebreaks. Complete protection from fire (during convalescence), on the other hand, would take between five and 15 years to restore forest canopy, but at huge resource cost. Implications for sustainable forest management are discussed.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:bl.uk/oai:ethos.bl.uk:499699 |
| Date | January 2008 |
| Creators | Owusu-Afriyie, Kennedy |
| Publisher | University of Aberdeen |
| Source Sets | Ethos UK |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Electronic Thesis or Dissertation |
| Source | http://digitool.abdn.ac.uk:80/webclient/DeliveryManager?pid=26030 |
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