Asfaw Zemede (Professor)Demissew Sebsebe (Professor)Alemneh Derebe2020-10-272023-11-092020-10-272023-11-092019-09-09http://etd.aau.edu.et/handle/123456789/22956A study of vascular plant species diversity and ethnobotany was conducted in Yilmana Densa and Quarit districts of West Gojjam Zone, Amhara Region, Ethiopia. The purpose of the study was to record, document and analyze vascular plant species and to describe their diversity and interaction with the local people. Five patches of forests were taken and a total of 104 quadrats each measuring 20 m × 20 m were laid down at every 50 m intervals along five transect lines. For herbaceous species a 2 m x 2 m subquadrat were laid down. For ethnobotanical study, a total of 395 (267 males and 128 females) informants were selected from 19 sampled rural Kebeles of two districts (7 from Quarit and 12 from Yilmana Densa).These Kebeles and key informants were selected purposively. The data collection tools were semi-structured interviews, focus group discussions, observation and market surveys. Two types of data analysis methods were conducted. The first was vegetation data analysis including community analysis, structural analysis, computing important indices and analysis of plant similarity, regeneration and species-area relationship. The second analysis method was ethnobotanical analysis and it included informant consensus, fidelity level, frequency index, cultural significance index, use diversity, direct matrix and preference ranking, descriptive and inferential statistics analyses. Vegetation data were analyzed via hierarchical cluster analysis using R version 3.5.1 software. SPSS version 20 and Microsoft excel spread sheet 2007 were used for the analysis of descriptive and inferential statistics. Following the analysis, 300 species were recorded and reported from the districts. Twenty four species were endemic while 10 species were exotic. Most of the species (249 species) were reserved in the five forest patches. The species of the patches were included in 81 families. Out of which, Asteraceae was represented with highest species (35 species) followed by Fabaceae (29 species). Majority of the species were herbs. Four community types namely Croton macrostachyus - Maytenus gracilipes community, Calpurnia aurea - Osyris quadripartita - Rosa abyssinica - Pterolobium stellatum community, Maesa lanceolata - Dodonea angustifolia - Otostegia integrifolia community and Acacia negrii-Rhus glutinosa- Clutia lanceolata community were identified. Community 1 and 4 had highest number of endemic, medicinal and wild edible species. The total individuals of woody species (DBH > 2.5 cm) were 15087. Dodonea angustifolia was recorded with highest individuals (5682). The total density was also about 3627 ha-1 whereas the total basal area was 29.8 m2 ha-1. Some representative woody species were recorded with 3 distribution patterns namely Inverted ‘J’ shaped, ‘Bell’ shaped and Upward ‘F’. Though most woody species were recorded with low frequencies, Croton macrostachyus was the most frequent species. The total plant diversity (H') of the two districts was 3.765. A total of 491.4 seedlings ha-1, 735.95ha-1 saplings and 2044.3ha-1 mature individuals were recorded from the patches. There was a significant mean percentage difference among these groups (P<0.05). Most species of the patches were reported to be used for environment protection and medicinal purposes. The majority of medicinal plant species of the two districts were claimed for the treatment of human diseases. Fabaceae was the first family in species number among the recorded human medicinal plant families. Sixty one disease types were reported to be treated by medicinal plants. Blood pressure and asthma were the most commonly reported human diseases. Leaves were the primary sources of remedy for diseases. Most remedy was prepared by boiling and it was administered orally. Miscellaneous, central nervous system and digestive system diseases were recorded with highest informant agreements. Dodonea angustifolia, Dovyalis abyssinica, Hagenia abyssinica, Nigella sativa and Urtica simensis were also recorded with highest healing potential for malaria, tapeworm, cough, stomach ulcer respectively. Phytolacca dodecandra had highest frequency value while Verbascum sinaiticum was the most preferred species for treatment of blood pressure. Trigonella foenum-graecum was recorded with highest use value while Carissa spinarum and Croton macrostachyus were also recorded with highest cultural values. There was a significant traditional medicinal plant knowledge difference (p<0.05) among informant groups. A total of 30 ethnoveterinary medicinal plant species were also reported to be used to treat 15 reported veterinary diseases. The plant species were under 30 genera and 22 families while most ethnoveterinary diseases belong to dermatological disease category. Leaves were the primary source of remedy and most of it was prepared from freshly harvest parts. Digestive tract diseases were treated by majority of these species. Stephania abyssinica and Cucumis ficifolius showed highest fidelity level value for gastro-intestinal disease category and high healing potential under the respiratory disease category respectively. Phytolacca dodecandra was the most preferred one for the treatment of abdominal bloating. A total of 32 wild edible plant species were also reported in the districts and fruits were the primary source of wild food. The majority of the species were herbs whereas Ficus sur and Mimusops kummel were the most preferred and marketable species. Generally, the two districts with almost similar agroclimatic zones were the sources of vast number of medicinal, wild edible and other useful plant species even if the majority were under several threats. Thus, there should be well designed and immediate conservation activities by giving priority for multipurpose wild, medicinal and other useful plants of the forest patches.enConservationEthnoveterinary Medicinal PlantsMedicinal PlantsPlant CommunityRegenerationThreatsUse DiversityVegetation StructureWild Edible PlantsThesis