Vegetation Ecology And Conservation Status Of Evergreen Afromontane Forest Patches In Awi Zone Of Amhara Region Northwestern Ethiopia

The study was undertaken with the general objective of investigating the ecology andrnconservation status of and determining the vegetation type of forest patches of Awi Zone,rnnorthwestern Ethiopia. Vegetation and environmental data were collected from 154 samplingrnplots (20 m × 20 m) in the study area between December 2014 and March 2016 in dry and wetrnseasons. Elevation, climate, soil and land cover raster datasets were downloaded from freelyrnavailable online data sources – DIVA-GIS, Worldclim, SoilGrids and USGS, respectively.rnSpecies frequency, density and structure of the forest patches were analyzed using descriptivernstatistical tools. Floristic diversity and evenness were computed using Shannon diversity andrnEvenness indices, respectively. The similarities between forest patches, between plantrncommunities and the study area and other study areas were computed using Sorenson’srnsimilarity index. The plant community types and vegetation-environment relationships werernanalysed using classification and ordination tools in R package (ver. 3.2), respectively. Therndistribution of a new vegetation type for Ethiopia was modelled in MaxEnt (ver. 3.3.3k). Therntemporal and spatial Land use/cover dynamics of the study area and nearby forest patches werernevaluated using various tools in ArcMap 10.2 and ENVI 5.0. The results of the study revealedrnthat the study area harboured 212 species (122 woody and 90 herbaceous species) belonging torn169 genera and 79 families. The Shannon diversity index and evenness values of the study arearnwere 3.7 and 0.8, respectively. The highest number of species were recorded in Khatasa forest,rnfollowed by Bradi, Askunabo, Ambiki, Kidamaja and Degera forests. Twenty-three species werernendemic to the Flora area. The density, basal area and dominance of woody species in the studyrnarea were 2172.1 stems ha-1, 41.2 m2 ha-1 and 23.1 m2 ha-1, respectively. There were nornsignificant variations of floristic richness and structure among the forest patches. The most dominant tree species were Albizia schimperiana, Prunus africana, A. gummifera, Apodytesrndimidiata, Croton macrostachyus and Ekebergia capensis. High floristic composition similarityrnwas revealed between the forest patches. The forests of the study area had close affinity to otherrnforests in the MAF and DAF. The hierarchical classification resulted in five plant communityrntypes which were shaped by anthropogenic and natural factors. Furthermore, the ordinationrnanalysis showed that eight environmental variables significantly affected floristic composition ofrnplant communities and their distributions. The floristic analysis and vegetation distributionrnmodelling revealed that the study area is part of a new vegetation type – Intermediate evergreenrnAfromontane forest (IAF), which was predicted to occur in Gojam and Gondar FloristicrnRegions. The Land use/cover change analysis showed that the forests of the study area havernundergone significant negative changes in the past four decades. Consequently, 82% of thernprimary forest was converted into other landuse types with alarming rates of forest destruction.rnAs a result, forest patches and a significant number of endemic and other species are threatened.rnTo reverse these changes, among other measures, designing effective land use planning andrnundertaking restoration activities using prioritized species is highly recommended.rnKey words: Awi Zone, Guangua-Illala forest, intermediate forest, Khatasa forest, land cover,rnland use, primary forest, secondary forest.

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