Abstract
The study was conducted at Ades Dry Afromontane Forest at 407 km Southeast of Addis Ababa to assess the diversity and composition of woody plant species. The sampling design was based on a US Forest Service model for the indigenous forests. A total of 60 circular plots each with an area of 0.017 ha were arranged in groups of four where a central plot is surrounded by three plots that are each at 36.6m from the central plot. In each plot, all woody plants that were ≥10cm in DBH were sampled for floristic diversity. Biodiversity analyses were accomplished using the Shannon-Weaver’s Index (H’) to assess the tree species diversity and Shannon Equitability (H’E) was calculated to assess the evenness values of species while the Importance Value Index (IVI) of each woody species was analyzed to see the Importance of individual tree and shrub species at the site. A total of 65 trees and shrub species belonging to 38 families had been recorded in this study. Rosaceae was a family with the highest number of species comprising about 9.23 % of the total number of species. The <i>H’</i> ranged between 0.004 to 0. 362 with the overall <i>H’</i> of 2.82. The H’E values ranged between 0.001 to 0.087 with a mean value of 0.01. A mean H’E value of 0.01 indicates that the relative homogeneity of woody plant species of the sampled plots was 1% of the maximum possible even population. The evenness values are not enough to justify uniformity in composition of tree species. The mean IVI value ranged between 0.36 to 49.06 with mean IVI value of 6.0. In this study only 15% of the recorded species were found with IVI values > 10 and the rest of 85% have IVI values < 10. The variation in survival mechanisms of species made some species to be dominant and most species to be lower in number in a given ecosystem. Tree species with high IVI were also found to have higher <i>H’</i> of diversity. The spatial distribution and dominance of species can be affected both by the properties of the species themselves and the environmental factors. The diversity of woody species observed in the Ades dry afromontane is encouraging since, among other reasons, it is useful for conservation strategy.
Highlights
Dense and Extensive forest resources were once covered the highland area of Ethiopia [13]
A total of 65 tree and shrub species belonging to 38 families (Table 1) were identified, out of these trees constituted 67.7% while shrubs were 32.3%
Podocarpus falcatus with the highest Shannon index of diversity in this study showed the highest Importance Value Index (IVI)
Summary
Dense and Extensive forest resources were once covered the highland area of Ethiopia [13]. Today these extensive forest resources of the country are under threats of deforestation and forest degradation. The Ades dry afromontane forest, which is characterized by a variety of tree species have lost its cover due to agricultural land expansion and illegal logging activities. This degradation has affected the plant species composition and presented threats for some of the tree species
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