Kogyae
Strict Nature Reserve, the only one in Ghana, was established to promote
scientific research, particularly on how nature revitalizes itself after major
disasters, and also to check the southward drift of the savannah grassland. This
study presents the first comprehensive inventory of species composition and
diversity of insects of the Reserve. Insects were surveyed between September
2011 and June 2012 to capture the end of the rainy season, the dry season and
the peak of the wet season. Samples were taken from two sites within the
Reserve, Dagomba and Oku using various sampling techniques including pitfall
traps, malaise traps and sweep nets. Insect communities were characterized in
terms of, 1) species richness estimators, 2) species richness, 3)
Shannon-Weiner Index of Diversity, 4) Pielou’s evenness and 5) Bray-Curtis
similarity. A total of 8147 individuals representing 135 families from 21
orders were recorded. This included 107 species of butterflies from 9 families
and 20 species of dragonflies from 3 families. Oku recorded the highest species
numbers (S = 63) and richness (d = 12.16) with a high evenness of
species (J = 0.9377) during the peak
of the wet season; and the lowest species numbers (S = 58) and Margalef’s index of (d = 10.14) in January. The highest Shannon diversity index of (H = 3.927) was recorded at Dagomba in
January.
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