Inferring canopy disturbance sources in the Atewa Range Forest Reserve in Ghana through their relationship with topographic and geospatial features

The Atewa Range Forest Reserve (ARFR), a biodiversity hotspot in Ghana, faces threats from farming, small-scale logging, and mining, endangering its biodiversity. While previous studies have focused on large-scale deforestation, this study explores the Sentinel-2 satellite imagery’s capabilities in mapping small-scale canopy disturbances that usually precede permanent forest conversion in tropical forests to fill the gap of the lack of information on the small-scale canopy disturbance dynamics in the ARFR. Spectral Mixture Analysis (SMA) was applied to map canopy gaps, and annual change detection within 100 m × 100 m grids was used to track canopy disturbances. The study assessed how disturbances correlated with elevation, slope, aspect, distance from the forest edge, and proximity to river channels. Results revealed a consistent trend in deforestation and canopy gaps, except in 2024, when gap coverage decreased, signalling a higher rate of forest recovery compared to previous years. Canopy gaps were also found to transition rapidly from ‘low’ to ‘high’ disturbance levels annually. Disturbances mostly showed increasing patterns with proximity to forest edge and river channels while showing increase-then-decrease patterns with elevation and slope. Disturbances were mostly west-facing in relation to aspect. The relationships inferred a likely anthropogenic source of the disturbances in the ARFR and advise increased monitoring of small-scale canopy disturbance activities.