Abstract

Background: The ability of protected areas worldwide to sustain biodiversity is often severely limited due to their vulnerability to persistent and intense disturbance-related drivers, such as agricultural expansion and the exploitation of ecosystem services by humans. Understanding how trees in these protected areas respond to disturbance-related drivers is crucial for determining effective conservation measures that utilize their role in ecosystem functioning. This study examined the primary disturbance-related drivers affecting the tree community assemblages and structural characteristics across five vegetation types (i.e., woodland, shrubland, savannah forest, riparian forest, and boval vegetation) in Mole National Park. Results: A total of 125 plots measuring 10 × 10 m were established in each of the five vegetation types. In total, 1,023 individuals belonging to 44 species and 19 families were sampled. Community assemblages did not differ significantly across the five vegetation types, contradicting the hypothesis of this study. Canonical correspondence analysis results showed that fire regimes, animal trampling, tree felling, and erosion were the major drivers explaining 83.02% (axes I = 46.8% and II = 36.2%) of the variability in tree community assemblages. Four species - Detarium microcarpum (10.56%), Mitragyna inermis (8.01%), Uapaca togoensis (6.8%), and Combretum adenogonium (5.6%) - were the most important taxa contributing to the dissimilarity in the tree community profile. The lower impact of fire regimes, animal trampling, and tree felling contributed to significantly higher diversity, larger stem diameter, and basal area (e.g., Tamirandus indica, 180 cm, 2.54 m2 h–2; Daniellia olivera, 140 cm, 1.54 m2 h–2; and Vitex doniana, 120 cm, 1.13 m2 h–2) in the savannah forest, while severe driver effects led to low diversity and smaller tree DBH of < 10 cm in the boval vegetation. Conclusions: The findings suggest that different vegetation types respond uniquely to various disturbance-related drivers. Therefore, the park’s vegetation types should inform the design of conservation measures.