Abstract
Forest coffee areas are hotspots areas for conservation of biodiversity due to anthropogenic effect on diversity and abundance of indigenous species. This study was aimed to determine the effect of forest coffee management on woody species diversity and composition. The study was conducted in Dellomena and Harenna Buluk districts where natural forest and forest coffee are found adjacently. Systematic sampling method was used to collect woody species data from 16 transect lines. Eighty (80) sample quadrats of 20 m × 20 m quadrat size for mature trees/shrubs and five 5 m × 5 m subplots within each quadrat for saplings and seedlings were used. Forty-seven species of 29 families and 39 species of 24 families were recorded in natural forest and forest coffee areas respectively. Woody species frequently recorded in most of the sample plots were Celtis africana (100%), Podocarpus falcatus (95%), Strychnos mitis (95%), Diospyros mespili-formis (95%) and Diospyros abyssinica (90%) in the natural forest, and Celtis africana (95%) and Podocarpus falcatus (95%) in the forest coffee. Woody species richness (P = 0.000), Shannon diversity (P = 0.000), Simpson diversity indices (P = 0.02) and dominance (P = 0.02) were sig-nificantly varied between the two forests. This findings revealed significantly higher woody species diversity and richness in natural forest than forest coffee. Negative effects were noticed due to coffee management practices on woody species diversity and composition in forest coffee areas. Hence, reducing the human pressure on forest coffee via awareness raising and training on the effect of coffee management activities and introduction of environmentally friendly forest coffee management techniques are crucial to maintain ecological service and economic benefit of the forest coffee.
Highlights
Worldwide significant number of people have encroached natural forests or protected areas to improve their livelihood
This study was aimed to determine the effect of forest coffee management on woody species diversity and composition
Dwellers mainly managed forest coffee areas to increase productivity of coffee plants through slashing of bushes and herbs, thinning of trees through cutting/debarking of stems and cultivation of the land. They confirmed that lians, herbs, shrubs and trees were cleared from forest coffee areas to reduce the competition of these vegetation with wild coffee plants and to ease management and harvesting of coffee
Summary
Worldwide significant number of people have encroached natural forests or protected areas to improve their livelihood. Global forest resources in the tropical areas have decreased much over the last century (Priess et al, 2007). Tropical forests are among species-rich ecosystems that have been negatively influenced at very high rates (Myers, 2000). Tropical forest ecosystem comprises diverse fauna and flora species. Degradation and deforestation of tropical forests resulted in decline in global biodiversity (Heywood, 1995). Many forest resources in the globe have been over exploited and resulted in difficulties to enhance and conserve native woody species diversity (Brown & Boutin, 2009; Emmanuel, 2011; Nigatu et al, 2017). Gole et al (2002) has reported deforestation rate of 10,000 ha per year in the coffee growing areas in the Southwest Ethiopia. Expansions of coffee cultivation have resulted in biodiversity loss in Ethiopia (Anonymous, 2010)
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