Status of non-cocoa tree species in cocoa multistrata systems of southern

Abstract

Investigations to assess the status of non-cocoa tree species in the cocoa systems of southern Cameroon were carried out in four contrasting locations, distinguished by ecology, population density and land use intensity. One set of inventory was done in each of the 20 selected cocoa farms with an average surface area of 1.4 ha in every location. The inventory was carried out over 25% of each farmland following a gradient
directed transect method. Within each cocoa farm, only indigenous tree species and shrubs with the capacity of being transformed into tree species were considered. Our findings showed that there was in total 165 different non-cocoa tree species in the 80 cocoa fields observed. The number of shared species between locations was relatively high (54% to 74%). Frequency distribution of the number of species classified by the number of
farms where they were found showed that most species were fairly rare. Tree species richness varied widely between cocoa farms within locations. These findings suggest the need for the various stakeholders of the sector to take appropriate actions to protect endangered species of ecological and economical importance in order to enhance the sustainability of these systems.

Keywords: Species diversity, cocoa systems, land use, sustainability.

International Journal of Biological and Chemical Sciences Vol. 2 (2) 2008: pp. 207-215