Diversity and regeneration status of woody species in Tara Gedam and Abebaye forests, northwestern Ethiopia

Abstract

A study was conducted in Tara Gedam and Abebaye forests l, northwestern Ethiopia to investigate the diversity, regeneration status, socio-economic importance and the factors causing destruction of the forests. A total of 30 plots, measuring 20 m ×20 m, were established along line transects laid across the forests. Participatory Rural Appraisal (PRA) method was employed to generate the socio-economic data. Primary data were collected by field observation, semi-structured interview with key informants and discussion with relevant stakeholders. A total of 143 woody species belonging to 114 genera and 57 families were recorded, and of all the species 44 (30.8%) were trees, 57 (39.9%) trees/shrubs, 33 (23.1%) shrubs and 9 (6.3%) lianas. The diversity and evenness of woody species in Tara Gedam forest are 2.98 and 0.65, respectively, and in Abebaye forest they are 1.31 and 0.31, respectively. The total density and basal area of woody species in Tara Gedam forest are 3001 individuals⋅ha -1 and 115.36 m 2 ⋅ha -1 , respectively, and in Abebaye forest the values are 2850 individuals⋅ha -1 and 49.45 m 2 ⋅ha -1 , respectively. The results on the importance value index (IVI) and DBH class distributions suggest that the species with low IVI value and poor regeneration status need to be prioritized for conservation. In the socio-economic survey, the responses from the key informants indicated The online version is available at Responsible editor: Yu Lei that the forests are the major sources of fuelwood (90%), construction material (80%), timber (75%) and farm implements (55%). The forests are also sources of medicines, animal fodder, bee forage and edible fruits. Tara Gedam monastery, assisted by the local people who have strong religious belief and high respect to the monastery, has played a great role in the maintenance of the sacred forest since a long time. At present, the conservation efforts are made jointly by the monastery and institutions concerned with conservation. The major factors that cause destruction of the forests are livestock grazing, tree cutting for various purposes and farmland expansion. The implications of the results are discussed, and the recommendations are suggested for conservation, management and sustainable utilization of the forest ecosystems.

Stand Structure, Diversity and Regeneration Status of Woody Species in Open and Exclosed Dry Woodland Sites around <i>Molapo</i> Farming Areas of the Okavango Delta, Northeastern Botswana

“…The high diversity of woody plants in Shorobe and Island Safari was probably a result of high species richness and abundance in these study areas. The relatively high diversity at both sites can be attributed to low disturbance, habitat conditions and species characteristics (Zegeye et al, 2006(Zegeye et al, , 2011Tadele et al, 2014). Typically, this could be the case for Island Safari, which has been exclosed since the early 1980s.…”

“…However, evenness values of woody species at the three study sites were more or less similar, implying that individuals of the different species recorded exhibited moderately similar abundance at the three sites. The relatively high diversity and evenness indices indicate the need to conserve the floristic diversity of the study sites and also protect the woody vegetation from human disturbances (Zegeye et al, 2011). Density ha -1…”

“…Based on the assessment of diameter class distributions, the population structure patterns of the woody species recorded from Island Safari, Shorobe and Xobe were categorized into two groups. In the first group, the number of individuals decreased with the increasing diameter class, resulting in an inverted J-shaped population, an indication of stable population structure or healthy regeneration status (Teketay 1997a;Alelign et al, 2007;Tesfaye et al, 2010;Zegeye et al, 2011;Helm & Witkowski, 2012;El-Sheikh, 2013). This pattern was exhibited by about 29%, 20% and 15% of the woody species recorded at Island Safari, Shorobe and Xobe, respectively.…”

“…Species with high IVI values are regarded as more important than those with low IVI values (Zegeye et al, 2011). The IVI values are also used in conservation programmes, where species with low IVI values are prioritized for conservation (Shibru 2002;Shibru and Balcha 2004) and those with high IVI values need monitoring management (Gurmessa et al 2012).…”

Woody Species Composition in Relation to Spatial and Environmental Gradients in Acacia-Commiphora Vegetation Ecosystem of Ethiopia

“…In tropical regions, most of the previous studies were limited to the local scales or case studies and less is understood across scales [13]. For example, in Ethiopia, many of the earlier studies described vegetation structure only at local scale [14][15][16][17][18][19]. Nevertheless, environmental variables such as, altitude and aspect could be important driver of vegetation composition [20].…”