Biodiversity has been identified as key solution to improving food security and sustainability in the areas of food and agriculture. The global food crisis in 2008 has brought about the demand to increase food production that will feed the populations of the world which leads to utilization of other food sources other than agricultural food produce. Non-timber forest products (NTFPS) are biological materials from the ecosystem which range from plants, parts of plants, fungi, animals and animal products that are consumed either as food, condiments, spices or medicine. NTFPS have been identified to play an important role in providing primary health and nutritional needs for people living in rural areas. Their roles in ensuring food security is beyond basic consumption but is also a means of financial empowerment to people who trade in the resources and hence ability to purchase quality, safe and nutritious food at all times which is the main aim of food security.Keywords: Biodiversity, food security, non-timber food products
An investigation on the structural characteristics of the riparian forest in Omo Biosphere Reserve was carried out. The structure was analyzed through diameter class distribution, basal area and breast height. Riparian forest showed a major characteristic in the physiognomy of forests along major river, streams and Upland vegetation and the Core, Buffer and Transition zones that is highly variable in the diameter class distribution (reserve J type), Mean basal area per hectare for major river is 294,089.30 cm2/ ha, Stream 613.027 cm2/ha, and Upland 205,648 cm3/ha. Mean basal area for core is 507,399.50 cm2/ha, buffer had 340,699 cm2/ha and transition 264,656 cm2/ha. While mean volume per hectare for core is 7955.2 m3/ha, buffer 7260 m3/ha and Transition 6254.4 m3/ha. Maximum dbh of 246 cm was obtained in the core species. Many stands of riparian forests are facing various levels of structural and floristic simplification, which include fundamental transformations in vegetation physiognomy from dense stands to riparian scrub or bare land. Keyword: Riparian forests, structure, diameter, basal area, species dominance, Omo
The fire experimental plot of a total landed area of 0.174 ha was divided into three equal parts designated Plot A, Plot B and Plot C, corresponding to the early burnt, the late burnt and the control plot, respectively. Out of the 15 species of trees identified, six species belong to Fabaceae- Mimosoideae family and other families represented are Combretaceae, Meliaceae, Lamiaceae, Rubiaceae, Anacardiaceae, Urtiaceae and Sapotaceae. Gmelina arborea was the most abundant species and it was found in plot A, B and C. The diversity indices enumerated were Dominance index, Simpson index, Shannon index or diversity index and evenness index. Plot C had the highest abundance (species count), followed by Plot A and Plot B. While Plot B depicted a high dominance, dominance was low in Plot A and lowest in Plot C. This means that a particular species was dominating Plot B, which was Gmelina arborea. This Gmelina arborea also dominated Plot A but to a lesser extent compared to Plot B. Plot C was richer in species than Plot A and Plot B. The Shannon index was low across the three plots, but considerably highest in Plot C. Evenness index was moderate at Plot C, implying that there was an even distribution of tree species in Plot C, while evenness was low at Plot A and Plot B. Comparing the present data with the older data, it is clear that the fire experimental plot has undergone deforestation over the years, which requires urgent attention and reforestation. Key words: cluster, dendogram, deforestation, burning, richness
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