Built-up area expansion in the Wa Municipality of Ghana: implications for vegetation cover loss and fragmentation. Issue 3 (3rd July 2022)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Oduro Appiah, Joseph; Kpienbaareh, Daniel; Adomako, Janet Afua Abrafi
• Is Part Of: African geographical review. Volume 41:Issue 3(2022)
• Page Start: 364
• Page End: 384
• Publication Date: 2022-07-03
• Subjects: Land use change -- built-up area -- vegetation fragmentation -- landscape metrics -- GIS-based conditional analysis -- human-environment interactions; Africa -- Geography -- Periodicals; Africa -- Description and travel -- Periodicals; 916.005
• DOI: 10.1080/19376812.2021.1919532
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 1937-6812

Abstract

ABSTRACT: This study draws on the patch-mosaic model and uses geospatial and statistical methods to assess vegetation fragmentation specifically from built-up area expansion between 1990 and 2018 in the Wa Municipality of Ghana. The study finds that 0.19% and 0.33% annual expansion in the built-up area from 1990-2006 and 2006-2018 contributed to annual vegetation patch size variability (coefficient of variation in the patch size) of 1.82% and 120.97% from 1990-2006 and 2006-2018, respectively. Our results suggest that a higher rate of increase in built-up area would likely create larger quantities of intermixed vegetation and built-up patches.