Tree species composition, structure and regeneration status in Munessa natural forest, Southeastern Ethiopia

Year 2020, Volume: 8 Issue: 1, 21 - 39, 06.03.2020

Annissa Ahmedin , Eyasu Eliasb

https://doi.org/10.31195/ejejfs.622956

Cited By: 4

Abstract

Munessa
forest is one of the undifferentiated afromontane forests in Ethiopia. The forest has threatened by deforestation, free grazing and illegal
logging.  This study aimed to estimate the structure,
composition and diversity of tree species and their regeneration status in
Munessa natural forest.  Vegetation data
were collected from 54 plots of 20
m x 20 m
for trees and 162 subplots of 5
m x 5 m
for seedlings and saplings that were laid along six parallel transect lines.
Vegetation structure, basal area, IVI and species prioritization were analyzed
using spreadsheet programs. Correlation coefficients, vegetation
classification, frequency, Shannon diversity index and Shannon evenness were
analyzed using R software
version 3.2.2 for windows 8. A total of 41 tree species
belonging to 27 families were recorded. Fabaceae was the most dominant family
represented by four species followed by Oleaceae and Rutaceae, each having
three species. The hierarchical cluster analysis revealed four community types,
of which Syzygium guineense - Croton macrostachyus community type,
exhibited the highest species diversity and evenness. The Shannon diversity and
evenness index for the entire study area was 2.6 and 0.39 respectively. The
correlation between elevation and species richness was negative and
insignificant (r
= -0.545, p < 0.05). The densities of seedlings, saplings and mature
trees were 6,934, 1,686 and 481 individuals ha^-1 respectively. This indicated that the regeneration status was
significantly lower compared to other similar sites. The total basal area of the forest was 91.75 m²ha^-1
and its IVI ranged from 0.62 for Calpurnia
aurea to 70.29 for Podocarpus
falcatus. The estimated values of population structure and regeneration
status of the forest indicated that there was a huge disturbance induced by
anthropogenic factor particularly free grazing and tree cutting. Therefore
sustainable forest management strategies need to be implemented for sustainable
utilization of the forest.

Keywords

Basal area, Hierarchical cluster, Importance value index, Regeneration

References

• Reference1: Dr. Gudina Feyisa. Email: [e-mail]
• Reference2: Professor Teshome Soromessa. Email: [e-mail]
• Reference3: Dr Bekele Abebie. Email: [e-mail]