Browsing by Author "Demsis, Tamru"

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    The Forest Patches of Gurage Mountains: Floristic Composition, Ecology and Anthropogenic Influences
    (Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, 2013) Demsis, Tamru; Demissew, Sebsebe(Profasser)
    Degradafion a/vegetation cover;s cOl/sidered as olle o/Ihe mOSI seriOIlS ellvironmellfal problems/acing Elhiopia and 'he world aI large. Studies revealed fliaf fhe vegc/a1ion resources of Ethiopia are disappearing much jasler lhon the efforts made 10 document Ihe informa/ioll and prOjXJse miligat;on programs. Hence, Ihe presen' sllIdy was conceived 10 investigate jlorislic composition, pal/ems of plam diSlribUlion. cl1vironmel1laf variables ,hal aCCOllnl for these palfems and 10 explore faclors 'hOf lead 10 foss offorest cover in Ihe Gurage MoulI/ains. Stralified pre/eremial sampling was used 10 col/ectjlorislic dtlfa. Plol size of 40 x 40 m was IIsed for vegclalion sampling. The altitude of each main plol was recorded /Ising Gal'lnill GPs. Soil samples were taken qt com ers oflhe 20 x 20 m subplols and composile samples were made. IntensilY of anll1ropogenic disluroonce in each plol wru estimated by considering Ihe following IXlrametel's: number of trees and shrubs c ut, [001 trails. seedlings Irampled as well as grazing/browsing inlensily. Focus group il1lerviell' was used 10 idelllify [actors that account for loss of vegetatioll cover in the study area. Data from cemral statistical agency of Ethiopia were used to supplementlhe data from the interview. Cluster analysis was used to idell/ify plalll community types ill the . study area. Canonical correspondence analysis was to investigate the I'elalion between environmental variablej' alld Ihe plant communities. 111 addition. ANOVA was IIsed to examine the relationship bel1l'een the plant communities and enviromllellfal variables. Generalized linear modeling was used 10 relate species ric/mess pal/ems q(llie Gurage Moulltains to the measured explwwlnry variables. A lolal of JJ9 plant species belonging to 89 families were encountered in the study area. Abollt 10 % of the plants were endemic 10 i:.ihiopia. Canonical correspondence analysis revealed lhat altitude, slope, disturbance, soil c/ay, sand and pH, had significant relmiol1 with Ille plam communities. Analysis of variance verified that a/litllde, slope. disturbance, soil pH. clay and sand cOlllem of Ihe soil were sigllijicamly relaled to the plam communities. Generalized linear modeling showed Ihat dislllrballce, aitilllcie, pH and slope were Ihe mOj'l importalll factors influencing the plant species richness paflern of Ihe Gurage Moul/tains. £rpallsiOll of agricultural land, population pressure, wood extractiOIl, institutional weaknesses and grazing were the main drivers fa/' forest loss and degradOlion ill the study area. Overall. the forest patches sllfdied are characterized by highflorislic diversity and house a good lIumber of endemic plal1ls. Immediate cOlls~rvalio" inten'entiOIl is recommellded for the recovely and sustainable lise of 'he remnant forest fX1tches.