Abstract
We investigated the effect of cocoa farming on biodiversity and ecosystem services under different cocoa management systems. The study was carried out in three cocoa producing districts in southwestern Ghana using Y-frame sampling scheme. Five 25 m × 25 m size plots were demarcated at 100 m intervals along in the cocoa farms and the natural forest reserves. Fifteen plots were demarcated in the cocoa farms per community giving a total of 90 plots. Significant decrease in tree species diversity and soil microfungi diversity were recorded in the intensive cocoa farmland compared traditional cocoa and natural forest. Soil invertebrate species diversity was high in traditional cocoa farms than in natural forest. Shaded litter fall production declined in the different cocoa management systems. Total nitrogen content and phosphorus were high in intensive cocoa farms and low in the natural forest. Soil organic carbon was high in the natural forest and low in the intensive cocoa farms. Total litter mass was high in the traditional cocoa farms and low in natural forests. The magnitude of carbon stocks decrease in the cocoa farms compared to the natural forest. For a successful cocoa production, shaded cocoa agroforest system must be encouraged in order to ensure biodiversity conservation, ecosystem services and a sustainable management of cocoa farmlands to check global climate change. Key words: Agricultural intensification, biodiversity conservation, ecosystem services, deforestation.
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Claims 10
Claim · model-written summary
Intensive cocoa farmland had significantly lower tree species diversity than traditional cocoa farms and natural forest.
- Taxon
- cocoa
Theobroma cacaot0 - Outcome
- tree species diversitye0
- Direction
- decreasee0
- Comparator
- traditional cocoa and natural foreste0
- Setting
- intensive cocoa farmlande0
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“Significant decrease in tree species diversity and soil microfungi diversity were recorded in the intensive cocoa farmland compared traditional cocoa and natural forest.”
t0“cocoa”
Claim · model-written summary
Intensive cocoa farmland had significantly lower soil microfungi diversity than traditional cocoa farms and natural forest.
- Taxon
- cocoaTheobroma cacaot0
- Outcome
- soil microfungi diversitye0
- Direction
- decreasee0
- Comparator
- traditional cocoa and natural foreste0
- Setting
- intensive cocoa farmlande0
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“Significant decrease in tree species diversity and soil microfungi diversity were recorded in the intensive cocoa farmland compared traditional cocoa and natural forest.”
t0“cocoa”
Claim · model-written summary
Soil invertebrate diversity was higher in traditional cocoa farms than natural forest.
- Taxon
- cocoaTheobroma cacaot0
- Outcome
- Soil invertebrate species diversitye0
- Direction
- highe0
- Comparator
- natural foreste0
- Setting
- traditional cocoa farmse0
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“Soil invertebrate species diversity was high in traditional cocoa farms than in natural forest.”
t0“cocoa”
Claim · model-written summary
Shaded litter fall production declined across cocoa management systems.
- Taxon
- cocoaTheobroma cacaoe0
- Outcome
- Shaded litter fall productione0
- Direction
- declinede0
- Setting
- different cocoa management systemse0
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“Shaded litter fall production declined in the different cocoa management systems.”
Claim · model-written summary
Total soil nitrogen was high in intensive cocoa farms and low in natural forest.
- Taxon
- cocoaTheobroma cacaot0
- Outcome
- Total nitrogen contente0
- Direction
- highe0
- Comparator
- natural foreste0
- Setting
- intensive cocoa farmse0
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“Total nitrogen content and phosphorus were high in intensive cocoa farms and low in the natural forest.”
t0“cocoa”
Claim · model-written summary
Soil phosphorus was high in intensive cocoa farms and low in natural forest.
- Taxon
- cocoaTheobroma cacaot0
- Outcome
- phosphoruse0
- Direction
- highe0
- Comparator
- natural foreste0
- Setting
- intensive cocoa farmse0
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“Total nitrogen content and phosphorus were high in intensive cocoa farms and low in the natural forest.”
t0“cocoa”
Claim · model-written summary
Soil organic carbon was higher in natural forest than intensive cocoa farms.
- Taxon
- cocoaTheobroma cacaot0
- Outcome
- Soil organic carbone0
- Direction
- highe0
- Comparator
- intensive cocoa farmse0
- Setting
- natural foreste0
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“Soil organic carbon was high in the natural forest and low in the intensive cocoa farms.”
t0“cocoa”
Claim · model-written summary
Total litter mass was higher in traditional cocoa farms than natural forests.
- Taxon
- cocoaTheobroma cacaot0
- Outcome
- Total litter masse0
- Direction
- highe0
- Comparator
- natural forestse0
- Setting
- traditional cocoa farmse0
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“Total litter mass was high in the traditional cocoa farms and low in natural forests.”
t0“cocoa”
Claim · model-written summary
Carbon stocks decreased in cocoa farms relative to natural forest.
- Taxon
- cocoaTheobroma cacaoe0
- Outcome
- carbon stockse0
- Direction
- decreasee0
- Comparator
- natural foreste0
- Setting
- cocoa farmse0
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“The magnitude of carbon stocks decrease in the cocoa farms compared to the natural forest.”
Claim · model-written summary
The authors encourage shaded cocoa agroforests for biodiversity conservation and sustainable cocoa management.
- Taxon
- cocoaTheobroma cacaoe0
- Outcome
- shaded cocoa agroforest systeme0
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“shaded cocoa agroforest system must be encouraged in order to ensure biodiversity conservation, ecosystem services and a sustainable management of cocoa farmlands to check global climate change.”