Analysis of floristic composition and plant community types in Kenech Natural Forest, Kaffa Zone, Ethiopia

Abstract

This study was carried out in Kenech Natural Forest, Chena District Kaffa Zone, Southwest Ethiopia, to assess the vegetation composition and classify the forest vegetation into plant community types. A systematic sampling method was employed to collect vegetation data. To collect the vegetation data forty (40) sample plots of 20 m X 20 m (400 m2) were laid for trees and shrubs and within each major plots; five subplots of size 1 m x 1 m at every 100 m along three parallel transect lines were established for herbaceous, three parallel transect lines starting from the bottom of the forest to the top of the ridge. In this study, cover/abundance values were used for cluster analysis and the Shannon Wiener diversity index was used to compute species diversity and evenness. The classification of the vegetation was performed using SPSS software for windows, version 21.0. The result of the study revealed that there are 108 species of vascular plants grouped into 89 genera and 33 families. Out of the documented and identified species in the study area, 7 species were endemic. With respect to the habit of species identified, trees had the highest composition with 32.4%, followed by shrubs 30.6% and herbs 25%.The most dominant family is Asteraceae with 10 species, followed by Euphorbiaceae, Acanthaceae and Poaceae, each represented by 8 species. The result of agglomerative hierarchical cluster analysis revealed three types of plant community types such as Hibiscus ovalifolius – Duranta repens-Myrsine africana, Cynodon dactylon-Euclea divinorum and Ekebergia capensis–Carduus schimperis. The results of this study indicated that Kenech Forest had high species diversity compared to some forests with the same ecological region. Future research on soil seed bank, effects of landscape change on floristic composition.