@article{article_622956, title={Tree species composition, structure and regeneration status in Munessa natural forest, Southeastern Ethiopia}, journal={Eurasian Journal of Forest Science}, volume={8}, pages={21–39}, year={2020}, DOI={10.31195/ejejfs.622956}, author={Ahmedin, Annissa and Eliasb, Eyasu}, keywords={Basal area, Hierarchical cluster, Importance value index, Regeneration}, abstract={<p> <span style="font-size:12pt;line-height:115%;font-family:’Times New Roman’, serif;"> <span style="font-size:12px;">Munessa
forest is one of the undifferentiated afromontane forests </span> <span style="color:rgb(255,0,0);font-size:12px;"> </span> <span style="font-size:12px;">in Ethiopia. </span> </span> <span style="font-size:12pt;line-height:115%;font-family:’Times New Roman’, serif;"> <span style="font-size:12px;"> The forest has threatened by deforestation, free grazing and illegal
logging. </span> <span style="font-size:12px;">  </span> </span> <span style="font-size:12pt;line-height:115%;font-family:’Times New Roman’, serif;"> <span style="font-size:12px;">This study aimed to estimate the structure,
composition and diversity of tree species and their regeneration status in
Munessa natural forest. </span> <span style="font-size:12px;">  </span> <span style="font-size:12px;">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 </span> </span> <span style="font-size:12pt;line-height:115%;font-family:’Times New Roman’, serif;"> <span style="font-size:12px;">R software
version 3.2.2 for windows 8 </span> <span style="font-size:12px;">. A </span> <span> <span style="font-size:12px;"> 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 </span> <i> <span style="font-size:12px;">Syzygium guineense </span> </i> <span style="font-size:12px;"> - </span> <i> <span style="font-size:12px;">Croton macrostachyus </span> </i> <span style="font-size:12px;"> 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 </span> </span> <span style="font-size:12px;"> </span> </span> <span style="font-size:12px;line-height:115%;font-family:’Times New Roman’, serif;">(r
= -0.545, p < 0.05). </span> <span style="font-size:12px;line-height:115%;font-family:’Times New Roman’, serif;"> </span> <span style="font-size:12pt;line-height:115%;font-family:’Times New Roman’, serif;"> <span style="font-size:12px;">The densities of seedlings, saplings and mature
trees were 6,934, 1,686 and 481 individuals ha </span> <sup> <span style="font-size:12px;">-1 </span> </sup> <span style="font-size:12px;"> respectively. </span> </span> <span style="font-size:12px;line-height:115%;font-family:’Times New Roman’, serif;"> This indicated that the regeneration status was
significantly lower compared to other similar sites. </span> <span style="font-size:12pt;line-height:115%;font-family:’Times New Roman’, serif;"> <span style="font-size:12px;">The total basal area of the forest was 91.75 m </span> <sup> <span style="font-size:12px;">2 </span> </sup> <sup> </sup> <span style="font-size:12px;">ha </span> <sup> <span style="font-size:12px;">-1 </span> </sup> <span style="font-size:12px;">
and its IVI ranged from 0.62 for </span> <i> <span style="font-size:12px;">Calpurnia
aurea </span> </i> <span style="font-size:12px;"> to 70.29 for </span> <i> <span style="font-size:12px;">Podocarpus
falcatus </span> </i> <span style="font-size:12px;">. 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. </span> </span> </p>}, number={1}, publisher={Hüseyin Barış TECİMEN}