Effect of landuse on floristic composition and diversity of medicinal plants in the Guinea Savanna zone of Ghana

Abstract

The use of medicinal plants is the most accessible primary health care approach in rural communities with limited infrastructure for western medicine. Medicinal plants are therefore an integral component of traditional medicine in Ghana, but wild bushes where medicinal plants regenerate naturally are being converted to alternative landuse. Although most landuse changes are destructive to biodiversity, some indigenous land use systems are known to be environmentally friendly. The present study examined the diversity and abundance of medicinal plants in three landuse types (Protected Area, Fallow land and Farmland) of northern Ghana. Twenty-five quadrates of 30 × 30 m were randomly laid in each landuse and replicated in three communities. Leguminosae, Combretaceae and Rubiaceae occurred as the most dominant medicinal plant families in all landuse but woody plants were significantly abundant in protected areas (p = 0.001). Species richness, Shannon diversity index, alpha and gamma diversities were all higher in the protected areas. Species composition also varied between landuse in beta diversity (p = 0.005, r2 = 0.33). Medicinal plant population have reduced significantly in farmlands, farmers should therefore adopt agroforestry practices to help conserve medicinal plant biodiversity.