Biodiversity of Ghana

The wildlife of Ghana is composed of its biodiversity of flora and fauna.

Biodiversity

Fungi

Ghana is home to a significant number of

Gibberella intricans; Gibberella stilboides; and Macrophomina phaseolina.^[1] The true total number of fungal species occurring in Ghana is in the thousands and given the generally accepted estimate that only about 7 percent of all fungi worldwide have so far been discovered and that the amount of available information is still very small.^[1]

fungi species and flows into the Gulf of Guinea on the Atlantic Ocean. Lake Volta has three main tributaries: the Black Volta; the White Volta and the Red Volta

.

Flora

The

tropical rain forest, it is the wet evergreen forest type in the southwestern Ashanti-Kwahu Plain that exhibits the highest level of endemism and species richness in Ghana.^[3]

Flora species diversity and

Conservation Area in the southwestern Ashanti-Kwahu erea terrestrial plain of Ghana, in where the climatic diversity is greater.^[3] There are also Encephalartos barteri, and gymnosperm indigenous to Ghana; others growing in various Ghanaian ecological zones are introduced species for purposes including aesthetics and economic.^[3] The third taxonomic group; pteridophytes, is well represented in Ghana with 124 known species.^[3]

Flora of Ghana

Mangifera

Adonidia merrillii

Opuntia cochenillifera

Murraya paniculata

Fauna

Yellow-casqued wattled hornbill

Ghana has a vast array of fauna and they are of great significance, as some of Ghana's fauna have attained conservation status because of the current rate of decline in their number and distribution.^[4] The fauna of the Ghanaian terrestrial ecosystem, comprise a diverse array of species including several of conservation concern.^[4] Ghanaian records show that there is as many as 221 species of amphibians and reptiles, 724 species of birds, 225 mammalian species inhabiting Ghana; with 93 recorded to be inhabiting the Ghanaian savanna ecological zone.^[4] As with floral diversity, prime locations for faunal diversity is located in the Ghanaian high forest uplands; accounting for 83% of the total number of butterfly species recorded in Ghana, where canopy stratification and micro-climatic differentiation have provided habitats and niches for specific faunal organisms.^[4]

marine turtles and three species of crocodiles.^[4] Bird species of conservation concern include seven threatened species, including four species endemic to the Upper Guinea forest block and seven near-threatened species.^[4]

Keystone species such as

birds of prey (eagles) are well represented in Ghana.^[4] Of the 728 birds species confirmed to be occurring in Ghana; 408 are non-passerines and 320 passerines, of which 498 are known or thought to be resident and 176 are regular seasonal bird migrants, including 100 from the Palearctic realm.^[4] Of the total number of species occurring; 180 restricted to the Guinea-Congo forests biome and 37 restricted to the Sudan-Guinea savanna biome have been recorded in Ghana.^[4] Eleven of the 15 endemic bird species within the Upper Guinea forest occur in Ghana.^[5] Six of the total species are considered threatened and 12 are near-threatened.^[5]

Ghana is an important country for dozens of

common chimpanzee (Pan troglodytes) and western red colobus (Piliocolobus badius), the big cats lion (Panthera leo) and leopard (Panthera pardus), African bush elephant (Loxodonta africana), and water-birds, being located on the boundary of the east Atlantic Ocean Flyway and Mediterranean Flyway. There are also several rare terrestrial birds, such as the white-necked rockfowl (Picathartes gymnocephalus).^[6]

Fauna of Ghana

Pan troglodytes