Abstract
Plant species diversity, composition and dominance are important entities in understanding vegetation types. The wood plant species include; trees, shrubs, and woody climbers (lianas/vines). The study was conducted at Mahungu Green Belt Forest Reserve (MGBFR) in 2015 to investigate the woody plant species diversity, composition, and dominance. Systematic random sampling was applied whereby a total of 36 plots of 2500 m2 were set in the seven (7) transects at an interval of 400 m. Woody plant species were identified for their botanical nomenclature, determined for their abundance. GPS was applied to locate plots, aligning transects and recording coordinates for plot site and map production. 100 m tape was used to set the plots. H' and ID were applied for species diversity and dominance. A total of 129 wood plant species were identified belonging to 38 families and 89 genera. The H' ranged from 0.1831 ± 0.0021, with an overall total of 4.271 while ID ranged from 0.004657 ± 0.000015 with a total of 0.02079 an implication of high wood plant diversity, as the higher the H', and the lower the ID the higher the diversity. MGBFR consists of high woody plant species diversity. Further study should be done to assess all plant forms of MGBFR, education provision to community, establishment of ecotourism industry to sustain the forest reserve.
Highlights
The floristic composition and diversity of a certain area depends on the time and the habitat types in which data were collected (Evangelista et al, 2016)
This study aimed to investigate the woody plant species diversity, composition and dominance of Mahungu Green Belt Forest Reserve (MGBFR) in Dodoma Municipality
A total of 129 woody plant species were identified at MGBFR belonging to shrubs, lianas and trees, belonging to overall 38 families and 89 genera (Table 1)
Summary
The floristic composition and diversity of a certain area depends on the time and the habitat types in which data were collected (Evangelista et al, 2016). The woody plant species including shrubs, lianas and trees that provide construction materials, energy source, carbon dioxide sinks, protection of erosion, windbreak, rainfall regulation, and food and many other useful goods and services (Bein et al, 1996; Naughton, 2007; Malmer & Nyberg, 2008; Mugasha et al, 2010). Trees are woody plants that are the largest and most prominent of all plant forms of the world plants usually with a single stem called a trunk and when more than a single stem they are differentiated from other woody plant forms by their height and diameter which is always the largest of all other woody plants forms. Shrubs are the woody plant species that are lower in size than the typical trees, usually less than 6 m tall, they bear slender and multi-stems. Biological diversity often has immediate significance to traditional societies whose people live close to the land and water (Primack, 2002)
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