Ecological Study Of The Vegetation In Choke-koso Ber Mountain Range Northwest Ethiopia

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Ecological Study of the vegetation in Choke-Koso Ber Mountain range was conducted inrnGojjam, Amhara zone, Northwest Ethiopia, to identify and describe floristic composition,rndiversity, community types, community-environment relation, population structure andrnregeneration status. A total of 212 sample plots, each with a size of 20 m x 20 m, werernsystematically laid at 25 m altitudinal intervals along transect lines. In each plot,rngeographical coordination, altitude, aspect, slope and identity of woody species werernrecorded; percentage aerial cover of the species was estimated. Height and circumferencernat breast height (CBH) were measured for each woody species with height 2.5 m andrnCBH 7.85 cm. In five small sub-plots, herb species were recorded, percentage aerialrncover of the species was estimated, seedling and sapling of woody species were countedrnand composite of soil samples were collected. Soil texture was determined using thernBoycouos hydrometric method and USDA Soil Textural Triangle. Soil pH was measuredrnusing pH meter, while electrical conductivity and total dissolved salts of the soil samplesrnwere measured using Conductivity/TDS/Salinity/ Resistivity Meter. Diversity andrnmultivariate analyses were conducted using appropriate packages in R program (Versionrn3.1.2).rn243 plant species, belonging to 177 genera and 71 families, were recorded. Of these, 17rnspecies (7%) were trees, 3 species (1.23%) shrub/tree, 37 species (15.23%) shrubs, 171rnspecies (70.37%) herbs, 12 species (4.94%) climbers and 3 species (1.23%) mosses. Outrnof the total identified species, flowering plants were represented by 228 speciesrn(93.83%), non-flowering by 15 species (6.17%), dicots by 176 species (77.20%) and monocots by 52 species (22.80%). Asteraceae, Poaceae, Fabaceae and Lamiaceae werernthe dominant families. Of the total species, 33 species (13.58%) were endemic plants tornEthiopia. Agglomerative Hierarchical Cluster analysis resulted in three plant communityrntypes of Afroalpine vegetation and five plant community types of Dry EvergreenrnAfromontane vegetation. Analysis of Shannon and Weaver diversity index showed thatrnspecies richness, diversity and evenness varied among the plant communities. Diversityrnand richness tended to decrease with increasing altitude, while species turnover tended tornincrease with increasing altitude. In general, community types with largest number ofrnsample plots, diversified environment, highest altitudinal range and moderate disturbancernwere found to have the highest species diversity, richness and evenness.rnSoil textural classes of the study area were sandy loam, loamy sand, sandy clay loam,rnclay loam and loam. The vegetation and the environmental data were subjected to directrngradient analysis. The output of CCA revealed that the most influential environmentalrnvariables that had effect on the distribution of species and segregation of some plantrncommunity types in both Afroalpine and Dry Evergreen Afromontane vegetation werernSand (%), Disturbances, Aspect and Slope.rnANOVA and Turkey’s pair-wise comparison showed significant different (P < 0.05)rnbetween the community types with respect to mean of Altitude, Silt (%), Clay (%) andrnDisturbance in both Afroalpine and Dry Evergreen Afromontane vegetation. In addition,rnthere was significant difference between the community types of Dry EvergreenrnAfromontane vegetation with regard to mean of Sand (%), pH, EC and Total dissolved Salt (TDS). Pearson’s correlation test for environmental variables of Afroalpine showedrnsignificant positive correlation (P < 0.05) occurred between Sand (%) and pH, Silt (%)rnand Disturbance, and EC and TDS. On the contrary, significant negative correlationrnoccurred between Altitude and Slope, Sand (%) and Slope, Sand (%) and Silt (%), Sandrn(%) and Clay (%), Silt (%) and Clay (%), and TDS and Disturbance. Similarly, therncorrelation test for environmental variables of Dry Evergreen Afromontane vegetationrnshowed significant positive correlation between Altitude and Aspect, Slope and pH, Sandrn(%) and EC, Sand (%) and TDS, and EC and TDS. In contrast, significant negativerncorrelation occurred between Altitude and Disturbance, Sand (%) and silt (%), Sand (%)rnand Clay (%), Silt (%) and EC, Silt (%) and TDS, Clay (%) and EC, and Clay (%) andrnTDS.rnStructure was carried out for the Dry Evergreen Afromontane forest. In general,rnwoody species had high density in the lower DBH and height classes, and the densityrngradually decreased with increasing DBH and height classes. The dominance of smallsizedrnwoody individuals in the lower DBH and height classes indicated the characteristicrnof a good regeneration status. Four patterns of population structure were identified:rnInverted J-shaped, Gaussian-curve, J-shaped and U-shaped. The total basal area of woodyrnspecies was 28.65 m2/ha. The six most important woody species were Maytenusrnarbutifolia, Maesa lanceolata, Acacia abyssinica, Schefflera abyssinica, Prunus africanarnand Pittosporum virdiflorum. These woody species represented 71.96% of the totalrnImportant Vale Index. The remaining 28.04% was contributed by eighteen woodyrnspecies.

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Ecological Study Of The Vegetation In Choke-koso Ber Mountain Range Northwest Ethiopia

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