Active restoration of post-mining forest benefits the activity density, but not the diversity of spider communities across the seasons in Ghana
Forest restoration often involves monitoring programmes to determine whether biodiversity levels and ecosystem services have changed over time. This study investigated changes in ground-hunting spider communities (families Ctenidae, Lycosidae and Zodariidae) in an actively restored forest, an unrest...
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| Language: | English |
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Pensoft Publishers
2025-01-01
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| Series: | African Invertebrates |
| Online Access: | https://africaninvertebrates.pensoft.net/article/138662/download/pdf/ |
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| author | Harriet Kinga Frederick Gyasi Damptey Danilo Harms Rudy Jocqué Arnaud Henrard Klaus Birkhofer |
| author_facet | Harriet Kinga Frederick Gyasi Damptey Danilo Harms Rudy Jocqué Arnaud Henrard Klaus Birkhofer |
| author_sort | Harriet Kinga |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Forest restoration often involves monitoring programmes to determine whether biodiversity levels and ecosystem services have changed over time. This study investigated changes in ground-hunting spider communities (families Ctenidae, Lycosidae and Zodariidae) in an actively restored forest, an unrestored gravel mine, and two alternative land-use types (agroforestry system and an arable field) to assess whether a two-decade post-mine restoration programme has been successful in restoring biodiversity to levels of a reference natural forest. The overall activity density of ground-hunting spiders (based on both juveniles and adult specimens) was highest in the natural and the restored forest in the dry season and lowest in the arable field and agroforestry system in the wet season. The inverse Simpson index was highest at the gravel site in the wet season, followed by natural forest in both seasons and lower values in the restored forest. The community composition of spiders differed significantly between land-use types (open versus forest habitats) and the interaction between land use and season also differed significantly. The species Pardosa injucunda and Trochosa gentilis dominated the communities in the restored forest, but Africactenus monitor dominated the natural forest and Hogna gratiosa dominated communities in the gravel site. Surprisingly, active forest restoration promoted the activity density of ground-hunting spiders displaced by mining activities to levels even higher than in the reference natural forest after two decades. However, the community composition of the restored forest was more similar to the agroforestry system than to the natural forest. These results highlight the benefits of restoring former mining sites but also show the trade-offs in terms of restoration goals, as natural forest biodiversity of spiders was not achieved after 20 years. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-d8d1f451a24c410184a8097e414fb918 |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 2305-2562 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-01-01 |
| publisher | Pensoft Publishers |
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| series | African Invertebrates |
| spelling | doaj-art-d8d1f451a24c410184a8097e414fb9182025-01-12T08:30:48ZengPensoft PublishersAfrican Invertebrates2305-25622025-01-0166111810.3897/afrinvertebr.66.138662138662Active restoration of post-mining forest benefits the activity density, but not the diversity of spider communities across the seasons in GhanaHarriet Kinga0Frederick Gyasi Damptey1Danilo Harms2Rudy Jocqué3Arnaud Henrard4Klaus Birkhofer5Brandenburg University of Technology Cottbus-Senftenberg (BTU)Forest Aid GhanaMuseum of Nature Hamburg – Zoology, Leibniz Institute for the Analysis of Biodiversity Change (LIBRoyal Museum of Central AfricaRoyal Museum of Central AfricaBrandenburg University of Technology Cottbus-Senftenberg (BTU)Forest restoration often involves monitoring programmes to determine whether biodiversity levels and ecosystem services have changed over time. This study investigated changes in ground-hunting spider communities (families Ctenidae, Lycosidae and Zodariidae) in an actively restored forest, an unrestored gravel mine, and two alternative land-use types (agroforestry system and an arable field) to assess whether a two-decade post-mine restoration programme has been successful in restoring biodiversity to levels of a reference natural forest. The overall activity density of ground-hunting spiders (based on both juveniles and adult specimens) was highest in the natural and the restored forest in the dry season and lowest in the arable field and agroforestry system in the wet season. The inverse Simpson index was highest at the gravel site in the wet season, followed by natural forest in both seasons and lower values in the restored forest. The community composition of spiders differed significantly between land-use types (open versus forest habitats) and the interaction between land use and season also differed significantly. The species Pardosa injucunda and Trochosa gentilis dominated the communities in the restored forest, but Africactenus monitor dominated the natural forest and Hogna gratiosa dominated communities in the gravel site. Surprisingly, active forest restoration promoted the activity density of ground-hunting spiders displaced by mining activities to levels even higher than in the reference natural forest after two decades. However, the community composition of the restored forest was more similar to the agroforestry system than to the natural forest. These results highlight the benefits of restoring former mining sites but also show the trade-offs in terms of restoration goals, as natural forest biodiversity of spiders was not achieved after 20 years.https://africaninvertebrates.pensoft.net/article/138662/download/pdf/ |
| spellingShingle | Harriet Kinga Frederick Gyasi Damptey Danilo Harms Rudy Jocqué Arnaud Henrard Klaus Birkhofer Active restoration of post-mining forest benefits the activity density, but not the diversity of spider communities across the seasons in Ghana African Invertebrates |
| title | Active restoration of post-mining forest benefits the activity density, but not the diversity of spider communities across the seasons in Ghana |
| title_full | Active restoration of post-mining forest benefits the activity density, but not the diversity of spider communities across the seasons in Ghana |
| title_fullStr | Active restoration of post-mining forest benefits the activity density, but not the diversity of spider communities across the seasons in Ghana |
| title_full_unstemmed | Active restoration of post-mining forest benefits the activity density, but not the diversity of spider communities across the seasons in Ghana |
| title_short | Active restoration of post-mining forest benefits the activity density, but not the diversity of spider communities across the seasons in Ghana |
| title_sort | active restoration of post mining forest benefits the activity density but not the diversity of spider communities across the seasons in ghana |
| url | https://africaninvertebrates.pensoft.net/article/138662/download/pdf/ |
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