Prevalence of Seed-dispersers in a Semi-deciduous Forest of Ghana

Seed dispersal is a necessary process for plant reproduction. The research seeks to give an overview of mammals and birds that exist and utilize a plantation in the semi-deciduous forest. The questions asked in this regard are: (1) which native mammalian fauna and or birds utilize the plantation area (2) what ecological roles do the mammals/bird play (3) Do different bird species inhabit the various vegetation types within the plantation. The study was carried out on a private plantation (7°3’ N and 1°34’ W) 42 km north of Kumasi, the Ashanti region, Ghana. An indirect questionnaire method was used to estimate the distribution of mammalian species that are good seed dispersers. Interviews were conducted with a total of 9 hunters in two near-by villages bordering the plantation area. The point count method was used for the bird survey, because it was easy to gather large amounts of data within a short period of time. A total of 45 counting stations were located in the plantation for the point count survey. Based on the evaluation of the questionnaire, eleven of the mammals were found in or around the plantation. A total of 32 bird species were sighted in the general bird survey and the point count sampling. The similarity of bird species in the remnant natural forest compared to the agroforestry area was 0.21, while that for the remnant natural forest compared to the actual plantation area was 0.18 using the Jaccards index. However the Shannon diversity index for birds calculated for the remnant natural forest was 1.682 while that of the actual plantation area and agroforestry areas are 1.693 and 2.074 respectively. It was concluded that seed-dispersal mammals and birds occurred on the plantation.