Adaptation of Different Bamboo Species in Central Zone of Tigray, Northern Ethiopia

Abstract

Bamboo is the plant species under the family Poaceae, subfamily Bambusoideae. Bamboo is one of the species with greatest diversity in the world comprising about 1,642 species under 121 genera. However, only two species of bamboo are native to Ethiopia. Therefore, this study is designed to evaluate the performance of 9 introduced bamboo species namely: Dendrocalamus asper, Dendrocalamus fuminensis, Dendrocalamus diananensis, Dendrocalamus membranaceus (CV.grandis), Dendrocalamus barbatus, Dendrocalamus laosensis, Bambusa long internode, Bambusa polymorpha, and Bambusa lapidea in Tahtay-maichew district, central Tigray. The design of the experiment is Randomized Complete Block Design (RCBD) with three replications. The total size of the experimental field is 1,680 m2 and the spacing between each blocks and plots is 3 m and 2 m, respectively. There are 10 plots having an area of 30 m2 for each replication. A total of 180 bamboo seedlings were planted in the experiment. The collected data was analyzed using One-way ANOVA. The overall statistical difference in the survival capability of the species was not significant (P = 0.47) and 100% survival capability was observed by all species. The root collar diameter of the different bamboo species shows significant variation (P = 0.003). The highest root collar diameter (1.12±0.06 cm) was observed in the species D. membrenaceus. The highest diameter at stump height (0.87±0.03 cm) was observed by the species B. long internode, followed by D. membrenaceus (0.73±0.04 cm). The highest culm height was observed in the species Bambusa long internode (128±5.9 cm), followed by D. membrenaceus (102±6.8 cm), and the least culm height (49.7±8.8 cm) was observed in O .abyssinica, followed by B. lapidea (77.9±7.4 cm). In general, all nine species showed a very good adaptability to the site and should be included as part of the natural resource development and utilization process.