Savanna Land Use and its Effect on Woody Plant Species Diversity in Borana, Southern Ethiopia
Keywords:
Volcanic, Dryland, Ecosystems Plant, Community Saline, Tolerant, HalophytesAbstract
A study on the diversity of woody plant species of Boke salt valley landscape in a semi-arid ecosystem of Borana was conducted. The area is a volcanic crater lake with the lake at the bottom base. Vegetation of such volcanic areas is expected to develop through the process of succession over years. Line transects were laid along four geographical directions (aspects). A total of 22 quadrats (20 m x 20 m) were used for woody vegetation sampling and the height and diameter at breast height (DBH) data were collected for each species. Vegetation data were analyzed using PC-ORD, CANOCO and SPSS software. A total of 24 woody plant species representing 18 genera in 14 families were recorded. The density of woody plants recorded in the present study was 2622 individuals ha-1. The results showed that the woody plant species diversity and evenness indices were 2.1 and 0.661, respectively. Moreover, three plant community types were identified namely: Suaeda monoica, Maerua triphylla-Acalypha fruticosa and Hibiscus aponeurus- Solanum somalensis. However, Boke salt valley landscape is under intensive human exploitation. Hence, participatory natural resource management for the sustainable use of such scarce resources is very crucial.
Downloads
Metrics
References
Angassa, A. (2002). The effects of clearning bushes and shrubs on range condition in Borana, Ethiopia. Tropical Grasslands 36: 69-76.
Angassa, A., Beyene, F. (2003). Current range condition in southern Ethiopia in relation to traditional management strategies: The perception of Borana pastoralists. Tropical Grasslands 37: 53-59.
Angassa, A. and Oba, G. (2008a). Effects of management and time on mechanisms of bush encroachment in southern Ethiopia. African Journal of Ecology 46: 186-196.
Angassa, A. and Oba, G. (2008b.) Herder perceptions on impacts of range enclosures, crop farming, fire ban and bush encroachment on the rangelands of Borana, southern Ethiopia. Human Ecology 36:201- 215.
Angassa, A. and Oba, G. (2010). Effects of grazing pressure, age of enclosures and seasonality on bush cover dynamics and vegetation composition in
southern Ethiopia. Journal of Arid Environments 74: 111 - 120.
Clarkson, B. D. (1990). A review of vegetation development following recent (450 years) volcanic disturbance in North Island, New Zealand. New Zealand Journal of Ecology 14: 59 - 71.
Coppock, D. L. (1993). The Borana Plateau of Southern Ethiopia: Synthesis of Pastoral Research, Development and Change, 1980-1991. ILCA System Study, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
Coppock, D. L. (1994). The Borana plateau of Southern Ethiopia: Synthesis of pastoral research, development and changes 1980–90. International Livestock Center for Africa, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
Dalle, G., Brigitte, L. M. and Johannes, I. (2005a). Plant community and their species diversity in the semi-arid rangelands of Borana lowlands, southern Oromia, Ethiopia. Community Ecology 6: 167-176.
Dalle, G., Brigitte, L. M. and Johannes, I. (2005b). Plant Biodiversity and Ethnobotany of Borana Pastoralists in Southern Oromia, Ethiopia. Journal of Economic Botany 59: 43-65
Edwards, S., Mesfin, T. and Hedberg, I. (Eds.) (1995). Flora of Ethiopia and Eritrea. Vol. 2, part 2. Addis Ababa University, Ethiopia and Uppsala University, Sweden.
Edwards, S., Mesfin, T., Demissew, S. and Hedberg, I. (Eds.) (2000). Flora of Ethiopia and Eritrea. Vol. 2, part 1. Addis Ababa University, Ethiopia and Uppsala University, Sweden.
EFAP. (1994). Ethiopian Forestry Action Program Vol. II-The challenges for development. Transitional Government of Ethiopia, Ministry of Natural Resources Development and Environmental Protection, Addis Abeba.
Hedberg, I., Edwards S. (Eds.) (1989). Flora of Ethiopia and Eritrea. Vol. 3. Addis Ababa and Asmara, Ethiopia and Uppsala, Sweden.
Hedberg, I., Edwards, S. and Nemomissa, S. (Eds.) 2003. Flora of Ethiopia and Eritrea. Vol. 4, part 1. Addis Ababa, Ethiopia and Uppsala, Sweden.
Kelbessa, E., Demissew, S., Woldu, Z., Edwards, S. (1992). Some Threatened Endemic Plants of Ethiopia. In: Edwards, S. and Zemede Asfaw (Eds.). Botany 2000: East and Central Africa. Napreca Monograph Series no. 2. Napreca, Addis ababa, pp. 35-45.
Kent, M. and Coker, P. (1992). Vegetation descrption and analysis: A practical approach. Belhaven press, London. Pp.363.
Limenh, M., Tarekegn, A. and Olsson, M. (2003). Gum and Resin Resources from some Acacia, Boswellia and Commiphora Species and their Economic Contribution in Liben, Southeast Ethiopia. Journal of Arid Environment 55: 465 - 482.
Magurran, A. E. (1988). Ecological diversity and its measurement. Chapman and Hall, London.
Mccune, B. and Mefford, M. J. (1999). Multivariate analysis of ecological data version 4.20, MjM software, Gleneden Beach, Oregon, USA.
Mengistu, A. (2003). Effects of Drought on the Resource Base of Borena Pastoral System in Ethiopia. In: Sustainable Biodiversity Management for Reduced Community Vulnerability to Drought. Proceeding of the 4th RPSUD Workshop (Oyieke et al., eds). Nairobi, Kenya. Pp.143-152.
Mulugeta, L. and Demel T. (2004). Natural gum and resin resources: Opportunity to integrate production with conservation of biodiversity, control of desertification and adapt to climate change in the drylands of Ethiopia. Paper Presented to the First National Workshop on Conservation of Genetic Resources of Non Timber Forest Products (NTFPs) in Ethiopia, 5 - 6 April 2004. Addis Ababa.
Oba, G. (1998). Assessment of Indigenous Range Management of the Booran Pastoralists of Southern Ethiopia. GTZ: Borana Lowland Pastoral Development Programme.
Oba, G., Post, E., Syvertsen, P. O. and Stenseth, N. C. (2000). Bush cover and range condition assessments in relation to landscape and grazing in Southern Ethiopia. Landscape Ecology 15: 535 - 546.
Oba, G., Vetaas, Ole R. and Stenseth, Nils C. (2001). Relationships between biomass and plant species richness in arid-zone grazing lands. Journal of Applied Ecology 38: 836 - 845.
Oromia Bureuobureau of Planning and Economic Development. (2000). Physical and Socio-economic Profiles of 180 Districts of Oromia. Physical Planning Department, Finfinne.
Senbeta, F. (2006). Biodiversity and ecology of Afromontane rainforests with Wild Coffee arabica L. populations in Ethiopia. Doctoral dissertation, Ecology and Development series No. 38, University of Bonn, Germany.
Terefe, B. (2009). Impact of Acacia drepanolobium: an indigenous invasive woody species on gum-resin resources and local livelihood in Borana, southern Ethiopia. MSc Thesis. Hawassa University, WondoGenet College of Agriculture. WondoGenet.
White, F. (1983). The vegetation of Africa. UNESCO, Paris.
Woldu, Z. and Nemomissa, S. (1998). Vegetation change in the central Borana plateau region of southern Ethiopia. Coenoses 13: 137-148.
Woldu, Z. (1999). Forests in the vegetation types of Ethiopia and their status in the geographic context. In: Edawards, S., Abebe Demissie, Taye Bekele and
G. Haase (Eds.). Forest genetic resources conservation: Principles, strategies and actions. Proceeding of the national forest genetic resource conservation strategy development workshop. June 21-22, 1999. Addis Ababa, Ethiopa. Institute of Biodiversity Conservation and Research (IBCR) and Germen Technical Cooperation (GTZ). pp.1-38.
Downloads
Published
How to Cite
License
Copyright (c) 2012 journal of Science, Technology and Arts Research
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.
STAR © 2023 Copyright; All rights reserved
