African Journal of Ecology and Ecosystems

African Journal of Ecology and Ecosystems ISSN 9428-167X Vol. 2 (5), pp. 151-158, May, 2015. © International Scholars Journals

Full Length Research Paper

Forest diversity and watercourse vegetation at Eastern base of Abaro Mountain, Wondo Genet, Southern Ethiopia

Worku Wolde*, Asfaw Berhane and Yohannes Zenawi

Ethiopian Institute of Agricultural Research (EIAR), Wondo Genet Agricultural Research Centre, P. O. Box: 198, Shashemene, Ethiopia.

*Corresponding author. E-mail: [email protected]

Accepted 22 April, 2015

Abstract

Biodiversity covers the total range of variation in and variability among systems and organisms, at the regional, landscape, ecosystem and habitat levels, at the various organism levels, down to species, populations and individuals. Ethiopia is a country of diverse plant species forming the line share flora of 6200 species out of the total floral species of 7850 in East Africa. Of these diverse woody plants, about 12% of them are endemic. Irrespective of these truths, there is limited study on the fragmented forests and river courses in Ethiopia while vegetation resources in all areas of the country in general and in fragmented landscapes in particular , especially forests, are declining at alarming rate due to increased population followed by deforestation and land degradation. The main aim of this study was to compare the relative density, diversity and richness of woody plant species in disturbed secondary forest and river course at eastern base of Abaro Mountain at Wondo Genet. Twenty sample plots of size 10 x 10 m from each habitat type were used for vegetation inventory. It was found that the most densely populated species in the river course is Discopodium peninervum (1060 individuals/ha) and that in disturbed secondary forest is Calpurnia urea (780 individuals /ha). The Shannon Wiever Index is 2.7107 and 2.0378 for the disturbed secondary forest and river course vegetation, respectively. The Jacard’s Similarity Index between the two habitat types is 0.491. The analysis showed that the disturbed secondary forest is more diverse than the river course vegetation at the study area.

Key words: Abundance, distribution, disturbance, woody plants, variability, vegetation resources.