Tree dieback affects climate change mitigation potential of a dry afromontane forest in northern Ethiopia

Mokria, Mulugeta; Gebrekirstos, Aster; Aynekulu, Ermias; Bräuning, Achim

doi:10.1016/j.foreco.2015.02.008

Cited by 49 publications

(24 citation statements)

References 61 publications

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“…Bussotti et al (2015) state that due to increasing temperature and drought southern genotypes are likely to replace forest species in Western and Central Europe. Mokria et al (2015) agree that namely climatic changes, in particular heat increase, might have contributed to forest dieback in northern Ethiopia. It's noteworthy that El-Hajj et al (2014) emphasize probable severe consequences of the climatic deviations for the forest ecosystems despite plodding effect and small range of changes.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 76%

Metabolic Responses of Steppe Forest Trees to Altirude-Associated Local Environmental Changes

Lykholat¹,

Khromyk²,

Ivanko³

et al. 2016

AgricultForest

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SUMMARYThe effect of altitude-associated environmental gradient on leaves metabolic features of Quercus robur L. (an oak) and Fraxinus excelsior L. (an ash) was investigated in the natural coastal forest at Bellegarde' International Biosphere Reserve in Steppe zone, Ukraine. Decrease in relative humidity contrary to increase in temperature and lighting under the forest canopy were observed on the river steep bank with altitudinal elevation from lower (52 m a.s.l.) to middle (74 m.), and upper (96 m). Responses of tree leaves photosynthetic and antioxidant systems to the environmental local changes were studied by measuring chlorophyll (Chl) content, as well as catalase and peroxidase activities. Decrease in Chl amount in the ash leaves at middle and upper altitudes (17 and 38% compared with lower), along with increase (8% and 13%, respectively) in the oak leaves was found out. Chl content was determined to correlate with light, temperature, and humidity in both leaves of ash (respectively, r = -0.94, r = -0.92, r = 0.90) and oak (r = 0.95, r = 0.93, r = -0.90). Catalase activity grew with increasing altitude in leaves of ash (2 and 2.2 fold compared to lower altitude) and oak (1.2 and 1.4 fold) as well. Contribution of catalase to the total antioxidant enzymes activity enhanced in leaves of both species with increasing altitude. The results confirmed high sensitivity of steppe forest trees even to slight altitude-associated environmental deviations. Data obtained can be used to assess the adaptive potential of woody species to the climate changes aiming towards greater aridity traits and select tree species for planted forest creation as well.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 76%

Metabolic Responses of Steppe Forest Trees to Altirude-Associated Local Environmental Changes

Lykholat¹,

Khromyk²,

Ivanko³

et al. 2016

AgricultForest

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“…Although the number of site-specific models for sub-Saharan species in particular has been increasing in the last years (e.g., review by Henry et al 2011;Mugasha et al 2013;Mate et al 2014), if possible, more site-specific models should be developed in order to obtain non-biased biomass (fuelwood or timber) or carbon estimates for REDD+ projects. So, estimations of carbon sequestration potential for Ethiopian afro-montane forests (Mokria et al 2015) could improve accuracy using the developed biomass models.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Aboveground biomass equations for sustainable production of fuelwood in a native dry tropical afro-montane forest of Ethiopia

Tesfaye

Bravo‐Oviedo²,

Bravo

et al. 2015

Annals of Forest Science

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Abstract& Key message Biomass equations are presented for five tree species growing in a natural forest in Ethiopia. Fitted models showed more accurate estimations than published generalized models for this dry tropical forest. & Context Biomass equations are needed to correctly quantify harvestable stock and biomass for sustainability efforts in forest management, but this kind of information is scarce in Ethiopia. & Aims This study sought to develop biomass models for five of the most common native tree species in the Chilimo dry afro-montane mixed forest in the central highlands of Ethiopia: Allophyllus abyssinicus, Olea europaea ssp. cuspidata, Olinia rochetiana, Rhus glutinosa, and Scolopia theifolia. Comparison with generalized models was intended to show the greater accuracy of the specific models. & Methods A total of 90 trees from different diameter classes were selected, felled, and divided into different biomass compartments. Biomass equation models were fitted using jointgeneralized least squares regression to ensure the additivity property between the biomass compartments and total biomass. & Results These were the first models developed for these species in African tropical forests. Models were including diameter at breast height and total height as independent variables, obtaining more accurate biomass estimations using these models than from generalized models. & Conclusion Fitted models are reliable for estimating aboveground biomass in the Chilimo forest and for more general application in similar forest types. Model applicability for biomass or carbon estimation is high within forest inventory data contexts.

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“…This further supports our argument that Y8 is robust and can reliably be used to estimate the AGB in restoring degraded landscape and CGL. Moreover, the dominant tree species that are used for model development also occur dominantly in the degraded dry Afromontane forest areas and grazing exclosures in the study region [8,16,32,[50][51][52][53][54][55][56][57], indicating that model Y8 is representative for larger areas of northern Ethiopia. The diameter-alone model (Y1) is the second-best model and explained 78% of the variation in measured AGB, with an associated error of 0.82%.…”

Section: Multi-species Biomass Estimation Models and Their Performancesmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…However, tropical forests have become the second largest atmospheric source of CO 2 due to increased deforestation, large-scale land-use changes, and global climate change induced tree mortality [3][4][5]. Forest degradation is severe in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) [6][7][8] and is amplifying climate change-related risks such as drought and flooding in the region [9,10]. Partly in response to these threats, significant attention has been paid to the consequences of tropical forest degradation on regional and global scales in recent years [11,12].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Mixed-species allometric equations and estimation of aboveground biomass and carbon stocks in restoring degraded landscape in northern Ethiopia

Mokria

Mekuria

Gebrekirstos

et al. 2018

Environ. Res. Lett.

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Accurate biomass estimation is critical to quantify the changes in biomass and carbon stocks following the restoration of degraded landscapes. However, there is lack of site-specific allometric equations for the estimation of aboveground biomass (AGB), which consequently limits our understanding of the contributions of restoration efforts in mitigating climate change. This study was conducted in northwestern Ethiopia to develop a multi-species allometric equation and investigate the spatial and temporal variation of C-stocks following the restoration of degraded landscapes. We harvested and weighed 84 trees from eleven dominant species from six grazing exclosures and adjacent communal grazing land. We observed that AGB correlates significantly with diameter at stump height D 30 (R 2 = 0.78; P < 0.01), and tree height H (R 2 = 0.41, P < 0.05). Our best model, which includes D 30 and H as predictors explained 82% of the variations in AGB. This model produced the lowest bias with narrow ranges of errors across different diameter classes. Estimated C-stock showed a significant positive correlation with stem density (R 2 = 0.80, P < 0.01) and basal area (R 2 = 0.84, P < 0.01). At the watershed level, the mean C-stock was 3.8 (±0.5) Mg C ha −1 . Plot-level C-stocks varied between 0.1 and 13.7 Mg C ha −1 . Estimated C-stocks in three-and seven-year-old exclosures exceeded estimated C-stock in the communal grazing land by 50%. The species that contribute most to C-stocks were Leucaena sp. (28%), Calpurnia aurea (21%), Euclea racemosa (20.9%), and Dodonaea angustifolia (15.8%). The equations developed in this study allow monitoring changes in C-stocks and C-sequestration following the implementation of restoration practices in northern Ethiopia over space and time. The estimated C-stocks can be used as a reference against which future changes in C-stocks can be compared.

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Tree dieback affects climate change mitigation potential of a dry afromontane forest in northern Ethiopia

Cited by 49 publications

References 61 publications

Metabolic Responses of Steppe Forest Trees to Altirude-Associated Local Environmental Changes

Metabolic Responses of Steppe Forest Trees to Altirude-Associated Local Environmental Changes

Aboveground biomass equations for sustainable production of fuelwood in a native dry tropical afro-montane forest of Ethiopia

Mixed-species allometric equations and estimation of aboveground biomass and carbon stocks in restoring degraded landscape in northern Ethiopia

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