Assessing The Diversity Of Insects In A Quarry Operational Area In The Ashanti Region Of Ghana

Abstract

Quarrying activities have negative impacts on invertebrate biodiversity and threaten local species through a variety of factors, such as habitat loss and pollution. Quarrying is a common practice in Ghana, but little is known about its impact on local insect diversity and abundance. In this study, the relationship between quarrying activities and insect communities at an active quarrying site, the Mowire quarry site in the Ashanti region of Ghana, was assessed. Transect counts, aerial netting, pitfalls, FIT, and Charaxes trapping have been employed to assess arthropod assemblages, particularly insects as surrogate arthropod communities. A total of 2,902 individual insects from 56 families and eleven orders were recorded at all transect points of the three zones. The quarry operational area habitat in the East Zone (EZ) supported a high abundance (N = 974) of insects and high species richness (S = 49), corresponding to a large diversity of flowering plants at this site, which is a food source for pollinators and herbivorous insects. The western zone of the quarry's operational area was not conducive to insect assemblage as the lowest abundance, diversity and richness occurred at the transect point (TP) 400 m, consistent with the low abundance of host plants as well as the amounts of dust settling in the western zone after each blast, as dust travels toward the zone. It is recommended that interventions to prevent the loss of biodiversity habitats in and around the quarry site must be focused on policies that ensure and enforce the establishment of a dust control mechanism system in the extractive industry.