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Arthropod diversity of cocoa farms under two management systems in the Eastern and Central regions of Ghana

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Abstract

Diversity of insect communities can be used as bioindicators for change in the environment especially in farms under different management systems. In line with that, we conducted a research on insect species associated with cocoa under organic and conventional management systems in the Eastern and Central regions of Ghana. Insect collection was done using Hand height visual count, Canopy, and “Knock down”, pitfall, coloured bowl and fruit-baited traps. A total of 13,742 individual insects belonging to 138 species from 63 families and 12 orders were recorded in the study. Insect abundance and diversity were generally higher in organic farms compared to conventional farms with Oecophylla longinoda as the most dominant species in both management systems and especially more dominant in organic cocoa farms. Our study revealed that most of the insect species recorded were known cocoa pests although there was high abundance of beneficial insects too. Some of the pest species were Planococoides njalensis, Salhbergella singularis, Helopeltis spp and Pseudococus spp, while some of the beneficial insects recorded were Pheidole spp, Tegenaria spp, Camponotus spp, Crematogaster spp. We can conclude that cocoa farms are potential habitats for insect biodiversity conservation. We recommend that management and/or agronomic practices used in cocoa farms should be geared towards protecting beneficial organisms for instance pollinators and natural enemies by effectively suppressing insect pest populations while enhancing good seed production.

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Acknowledgements

This study was funded by the Carnegie Cooperation through the University of Ghana (UG-CCNY ‘Next Generation of Academics Project’). We appreciate the support from Mr. Henry Davies for assisting with insect identification and the invaluable contributions of our anonymous reviewers.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. African Regional Postgraduate Programme in Insect Science, University of Ghana, P.O Box LG 59, Legon, Accra, Ghana

    Geoffrey Akesse-Ransford

  2. Department of Animal Biology and Conservation Science, University of Ghana, P.O. Box LG 67, Legon, Accra, Ghana

    Ebenezer Oduro Owusu, Rosina Kyerematen & Samuel Adu-Acheampong

  3. Agronomy Department, University for Development Studies, P.O. Box TL 1882, Nyankpala, Tamale, Ghana

    Samuel Adu-Acheampong

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  1. Geoffrey Akesse-Ransford
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  2. Ebenezer Oduro Owusu
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  3. Rosina Kyerematen
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  4. Samuel Adu-Acheampong
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Correspondence to Samuel Adu-Acheampong.

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Akesse-Ransford, G., Owusu, E.O., Kyerematen, R. et al. Arthropod diversity of cocoa farms under two management systems in the Eastern and Central regions of Ghana. Agroforest Syst 95, 791–803 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10457-020-00568-5

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