Farmland Expansion Research Articles

Study of Ethnoveterinary Medicinal Plants Used by Pastoralists in Northern Gombe State, Nigeria

Ethnoveterinary is the total of all practices that enable man to prevent his livestock from diseases, alleviate and relieve suffering to bring about healing, and increase the production and productivity of livestock within a minimum cost. Overutilization, overexploitation, deforestation for fuelwood, and farmland expansion expose some of the plants to threaten. The study was carried out in three randomly selected districts in Northern Gombe State, Nigeria. Among all, 80% of the respondents are male among which 56% are 35 years and above. 43 plants were reported used as ethnoveterinary plants in the area (oral interview) among which only 28 were found to be present in the field (field assessment). Guiera senegalensis is the most abundant plant (7.85%) followed by Piliostigma reticulatum (7.23%), Combretum collinum and Detarium microcarpum (3.00% both). Fabaceae is the most abundant family (30.85%) of the identified plants followed by Combretaceae (15.25%). Plant bark is the most common part used in curing and preventing animals from diseases which subject some of the plants (Burkia africana) to nearly endangered states. 28 plant samples were collected, identified, pressed, and laid in Botany Department Herbarium, Gombe State University, among these, 2 plant samples were not successfully identified. It is recommended that regulatory bodies should be empowered to check the uncontrolled deforestation occurring in the area

Effects of Long-Term Land Use and Land Cover Changes on Ecosystem Service Values: An Example from the Central Rift Valley, Ethiopia

Changes in land use and land cover (LULC) are the leading contributors to the decline and loss of ecosystem services in the world. The present study covered the Central Rift Valley lakes basin in Ethiopia, focusing on the valley floor and the East and West escarpments, to analyze changes in LULC and to estimate associated losses in ecosystem service values (ESVs). Covering both upstream and downstream areas in the basin, the study addressed major gaps in existing studies by connecting the sources and sinks of material (e.g., sediment and water) in source-to-lake systems. Additionally, the study facilitated the identification of critical areas for conserving natural resources and reversing the decline of associated ESVs in the Central Rift Valley. A post-classification comparison approach was used to detect LULC changes between 1973 and 2020 using four Landsat images from 1973, 1990, 2005 and 2020. The value transfer valuation method was used to estimate the changes in ESVs due to LULC changes. Among the seven major identified LULC classes, farmlands, settlements, and bare lands showed positive changes, while forestlands, grasslands, shrublands and waterbodies showed negative changes over the last 47 years. The expansion of farmlands, for example, has occurred at the expense of grasslands, forestlands and shrublands. The changes in LULC over a period of 47 years resulted in a total loss of US $62,110.4 × 106 in ESVs. The contributors to the overall loss of ESVs in decreasing order are provisioning services (US $33,795.1 × 106), cultural services (US $28,981.5 × 106) and regulating services (US $652.9 × 106). The results imply that addressing the degradation of land and water resources is crucial to reversing the loss of ecosystem services and achieving the national Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) related to food and water security (SDGs 2 and 6) and life on land (SDG 15).

Anthropogenic effect on wetland biodiversity in Lake Tana Region: A case of Infranz Wetland, Northwestern Ethiopia

This study evaluates the effect of anthropogenic activities on Infranz Wetland biodiversity in Lake Tana area. Plant biodiversity data were collected from quadrants that were established in transect lines and macroinvertebrates were collected using 500 μm mesh size. A survey with 386 households, four focus group discussions and 24 key informant interviews were conducted to capture socioeconomic data. Shannon-Wiener diversity index, species percentage distribution and dominance, regeneration status and ecological importance index were computed to evaluate the plant and macroinvertebrates condition. Descriptive statistics were used to analyze the survey data and qualitative data were analyzed thematically. The results of the biodiversity data showed ecological degradation of the study wetland. Though woody plants had rich (3.08) species diversity, more than 30% of species were represented only by four families which reflects overharvesting of the desired woody plant species. The non-ecological importance of 81.5% floristic plant species and the dominance of few macroinvertabrates such as tolerant taxa, predators and scrapers also implied the existence of habitat degradation. Furthermore, the dominance of emergent macrophytes implied the biodiversity loss of the wetland. Extraction of more than 15 billion cubic meter water for public water supply and khat irrigation, farmland expansion, eucalyptus plantation within the wetland, overgrazing and, overuse of papyrus were the principal factors for the wetland degradation and consequent loss of its biodiversity. Efforts have not been made to regulate the use of wetland resources. Thus, local governments should establish bylaws for sustainable use of the wetland.

Technical efficiency and farmland expansion: Evidence from oil palm smallholders in Indonesia

AbstractThis study asks whether innovation in smallholder production reduces or accelerates land expansion. Even though innovation in agriculture has reduced land expansion globally, rebound effects can occur locally and often at the expense of vital ecosystem functions. In contrast to other studies that investigate rebound effects in response to technological innovation, our study focuses on technical efficiency, the remaining component of total factor productivity. We use a short panel dataset from smallholder oil palm farmers in Sumatra, Indonesia, and develop a two‐stage approach in which we estimate technical efficiency and determine its land expansion effect. Our findings suggest that technical efficiency and in particular land efficiency are low, indicating that 50% of the currently cultivated land could be spared. However, the land‐sparing effect of increasing technical efficiency is at risk of being offset by about half due to a rebound effect. To maximize the conservation potential from increasing smallholder efficiency, policies need to simultaneously incentivize well‐functioning land markets and stricter protection measures for land with high ecological value to mitigate local rebound effects.

Assessment of land use land cover dynamics and its drivers in Bechet Watershed Upper Blue Nile Basin, Ethiopia

Understanding the drivers and magnitude of land use/land cover dynamics is important for land use planning and sustainable natural resource management. To this end, this study assessed the land use land cover dynamics and its drivers in Bechet Watershed between the years 1984–2020. Remote sensing, field observation, focus group discussion, and key informant interview were used as major data collection tools. This study concurrently followed the cross-sectional and longitudinal designs whereas the maximum likelihood technique of the supervised classification was used to classify land use and cover categories. Hence, four land use land cover classes (bareland, farmland, bushland, and forest) were identified during image classification. The analysis result portrayed a dramatic decrement of forest from 6.86% in 1984 to 2.99% in 2020 with a total destruction of 2048.2 ha with in the study periods. In contrast, the change detection result showed a significant increment in the areal coverage of farmland (64.6% in 1984 versus 72.18% in 2020). Based on net change to persistence ratio calculation, farmland was found to be the highest persisting LULC class in the watershed (with 0.043 net persistence), while forest was the lowest persisting land cover (with −2.45 net persistence). In addition, the results of focus group discussions and key informant interviews demonstrated that expansion of farmland and deforestation are the major drivers of LULC dynamics. Therefore, appropriate land use planning and institutional integration are recommended to revert the adverse effects of LULC dynamics and its drivers in the watershed.

Evaluating forest soil quality after deforestation and loss of ecosystem services using network analysis and factor analysis techniques

This study aimed to establish a soil quality index (SQI) using factor analysis (FA) and network analysis (NA) techniques for the assessment of soil quality after deforestation in Northern Iran. In this work, 16 soil properties from forest sites and adjacent cropland sites at two locations in the Hyrcanian forests of Northern Iran were used and analyzed. The minimum data set (MDS) indicators selected through the FA method were potential carbon mineralization (PCM), urease activity (URE), plant-available water and cation exchange capacity, which contributed to the SQI value by 39, 28, 19 and 13%, respectively. Soil quality indicators identified through the NA approach were URE, organic C (OC), PCM and microbial biomass C (MBC), contributing towards the SQI value by 34, 26, 23 and 17%, respectively. The PCM and URE, selected by both techniques, were the most significant indicators of soil quality to detect the deforestation impacts in Northern Iran. The computed SQIs were significantly correlated with OC stocks, validating the SQI models developed by both FA and NA methods. The SQI values computed through NA were more sensitive to deforestation than those computed through FA, suggesting the NA-screened SQI would represent changes in soil functions more adequately than the FA-screened SQI. Croplands were characterized by a lower value of SQI (62–79%), especially in the surface layer, indicating a loss of soil capacity to function well after deforestation for the expansion of farmlands. The current study shows that the SQI model developed by the NA approach would also be a useful, alternative technique for soil quality assessment after conversion of native forest ecosystems to agricultural lands. To conclude, our results confirmed a weighted correlation-based NA of the soil attributes can be used as a simple and robust tool for assessing soil quality following deforestation and loss of ecosystem services.

Images of Tigers in Late Chosŏn Stories: In Relation to the Ecological Crisis of Chosŏn Tigers

Abstract This study examines the images of tigers in late Chosŏn stories as they relate to ecological changes during the late Chosŏn period. As a popular literary topic, tigers have held various and sometimes conflicting roles, ranging from Heaven’s sacred agents to brutal beasts. The increase in human population and the expansion of farmland caused the loss of tigers’ habitats and narrowed their food sources, which eventually increased tiger-human encounters and intensified state-led tiger extermination policies. This study shows that the images of tigers generally shifted from formidable and mysterious beings to controllable, wounded, and even obedient animals over time. The frequent descriptions of tigers killed by women, tigers asking for people’s help, and porridge-eating tigers in late Chosŏn stories reflect people’s modified view of tigers, even though actual tigers remained a threat during that period. A consideration of the ecological factors depicted in tiger stories over time suggests that changes in the societal point of view regarding these animals impact how tigers’ characters were portrayed.

The effect of mechanization on labour employment and cropland expansion in northern Nigeria


 
 
 
 The study investigated the effects of mechanized agriculture on farm labour employment and cropland expansion due to the incursion of tractors into the country. Primary data were collected using specially design pretested schedule by interview method and using panel survey data, to analyze the effects of mechanization on labour employment and cropland expansion in northern Nigeria, respectively. A sample of 240 farmers were taken for the study. Tabular, percent and linear regression analysis were done. The study found that labour employment per cropped hectare showed a declining trend with increase in farm group size under different categories of mechanization. The inverse relationship revealed between labour employment and farm size hold true in case of operation like sowing, intercultural operation and irrigation. Hired labour and family labour both had positive and negative relationship, respectively with farm size in each category of mechanized farm. Findings also show a positive correlation between farm mechanization and cropland expansion during the survey period. Two interaction terms were introduced in the model to assess whether there are differential effects of mechanization on cropland expansion across the three districts. The results show that the effect of mechanization on farmland expansion is significantly higher among farmers in Igabi compared to Zaria. This result may be driven by the differences in access to tractors in the districts with Igabi having the highest access, then followed by Zaria.
 
 
 

Mapping the trends of forest cover change and associated drivers in Mau Forest, Kenya

Mau Forest in the Rift Valley in Kenya is the largest of the five major water towers in the country and also the largest indigenous montane forest in Eastern Africa. As such, the forest is an important natural resource base not only to the local economy but to the East African region at large. In spite of this, the forest has been highly degraded owing to immense anthropogenic pressure from the forest surrounding communities. The aim of this study was to assess the trends in forest cover and the driving forces leading to its change. Landsat TM images of 1984 and 1995, ETM+ of 2008, and OLI/TIRS of 2020 were used to depict the trend in forest cover for the period between 1984 and 2020. Focus Group Discussions (FGD) and in-depth interviews were also used to get the perceptions and experiences of the local people regarding the trend in forest cover and the associated driving forces. The results from the qualitative data were integrated with those of remote sensing for assessment of trend in forest cover. The study findings indicate a decline of 25.2% of forest cover within the Mau Forest complex in a period four years shy of four decades, amounting to approximately 699 km2 of tree cover. This trend was fueled by an increasing demand for agricultural land where farmlands increased by 69.9%, as well as logging-legal or illegal-where grassland area increased by 37.2%. Three major drivers of forest cover change identified by the participants include human settlements, logging and expansion of farmlands. We recommend that forest policymakers and managers involve the local community, as the main stakeholders, in all levels of decision making and management so as to promote sustainable use of forest resources and improved management of the forest.

Coupling Coordination Relationship and Driving Mechanism between Urbanization and Ecosystem Service Value in Large Regions: A Case Study of Urban Agglomeration in Yellow River Basin, China.

Mastering the coupling and coordination relationship and driving mechanism of urbanization and ecosystem service value (ESV) is of great significance to ecological protection and regional sustainable development. In this paper, the coupling coordination model, geographic detector and GWR model are used to analyze the spatio-temporal coupling interaction between urbanization and ESV and the spatial differentiation characteristics of influencing factors from 1995 to 2018. The results of the study are as follows: (1) During the study period, cities in the Yellow River Basin experienced accelerated urban expansion, and the ESV of forests, water and wetlands increased, which offset the reduction in ESV due to the expansion of construction land and farmland and grassland. (2) The degree of coupling and coordination between the two gradually improved, but the overall situation showed a low-level coupling and coordination process. Mild coupling coordination gradually increased, reaching an increase of 38.10%; severe imbalance types tended to disappear, decreasing by 52.38%, and coupling subtypes developed from lagging urbanization to ESV backward types. The high-value areas of the coupling coordination degree are distributed in the high-value areas of ESV in the north of the upper reaches, and the low-value areas are distributed in the cities of Henan and Shandong with high urbanization levels in the downstream and most resource-based cities in the middle reaches. (3) In addition, the spatial intensity of the effect of each dominant factor on the degree of coupling coordination is different. Economic growth, technological development, environmental regulations and the proportion of forest land have positive and belt-shaped alienation characteristics for the coupling and coordination of the two, and infrastructure and temperature show negative driving characteristics. Therefore, the coupling and coordination relationship between ESV and urbanization should be clarified to help future urban planning. On the basis of determining the regional environmental carrying capacity and the adjustment direction of the rational planning of land resources, the impact of urban barriers formed by administrative boundaries and natural geographical conditions on the development of urban agglomerations should be broken to achieve the overall high-quality and coordinated development of the basin.

Land-use and land-cover change in the lowlands of Bale Zone, Ethiopia: its driving factors and impacts of rangeland dynamics in livestock mobility.

Rangeland in Bale lowlands has been seriously degraded due to human-induced problems and natural factors. The study was conducted to analyze LULC change and its deriving factors and evaluate the impacts of rangeland dynamics on livestock mobility in Bale lowlands from 1990-2020. Landsat Thematic Mapper (TM) 1990, Enhanced Thematic Mapper Plus (ETM +) 2000, and Operational Land Imager (OLI) 2014 and 2020 were chosen to derive LULC classes using maximum likelihood image classifier. Besides, a household survey was used to understand the major causes of LULC change, as well as the impacts of rangeland dynamics on livestock mobility. The accuracy reports of classified LULC classes of the study were 88.2% (1990), 89.19% (2000), 93.8% (2014), and 95.2% (2020). The result of the study revealed that there was extreme bush encroachment (545.54%), expansion of settlement (19,166%), and farmland (171.27%) while forest cover has slightly decreased (-8.76%) from 1990 to 2020. On the other hand, shrubland (-72.74%) and grassland (-59.2%) have extremely declined. During the study period, rangeland of Bale lowlands was degraded with annual rate of -0.8%. The study also revealed that expansion of farmland, settlement, communal land, and bush encroachment was the main driving factors for LULC change in Bale lowlands. Bale pastoralists are vulnerable to the death of their livestock, and they need to travel long distances because of rapid rangeland degradation. Therefore, suitable land-use and management policies for pastoral communities should be formulated and implemented so as to permanently mitigate the problem.

Closing Biogeochemical Cycles and Meeting Plant Requirements by Smart Fertilizers and Innovative Organic Amendments

Expansion of farmland with food production as a major service has been largely associated with conversion of natural ecosystems like the Amazon and Savanna into new agricultural land [...]

Automatic detection of burial mounds (kurgans) in the Altai Mountains

The Altai Mountains are one of the most impressive and valuable archaeological areas in the world. Kurgans (burial mounds) of ancient civilizations, which are scattered across the vast Altai area, are an exceptionally valuable source of information for archaeology. These precious archaeological resources, which sometimes have been preserved intact in the permafrost underground for over two millennia, are now under various threats, such as natural disasters, farmland expansion, touristic development, and most notably global warming. A detailed map or inventory of the mounds is essential but is still not available. In this study, we test the deep convolutional neural network (CNN) technique for automatic detection of stone mounds from high-resolution satellite images in four regions in the Altai Mountains. We propose three improvement techniques to increase the performance of off-the-shelf object detection methods that are originally proposed for daily-life objects. Our results demonstrate that it is feasible to apply CNN to detect stone mounds, and the detection results are good enough to capture their spatial distribution. CNN-based object detection can largely narrow down the search area for archaeologists in yet un-surveyed regions, and is therefore useful for preparing field survey campaigns and directing archaeological fieldwork. We also applied the method to an un-surveyed Altai Mountain area and successfully discovered stone mounds that are yet undocumented. Our method can potentially be applied to construct an inventory for all stone mounds present in the whole Altai Mountain region.

Land use land cover change and the resilience of social-ecological systems in a sub-region in South west Cameroon.

The old paradigm of horizontal expansion of agricultural land and built-up areas over highland and lowland ecosystems remains highly prevalent in Cameroon, causing significant changes in LULC and undermining the resilience and sustainability of social-ecological systems. We analysed satellite imagery of 1986 and 2018 to examine the extent and spatial patterns of LULCC in Fako sub-region of Cameroon. In addition, we explored the likelihood of LULCC and magnitude of impact of the drivers and predictors of LULCC in the sub-region by engaging 25 stakeholders in a focus group survey. Other cultivated areas of cropland, built-up, oil palm, and banana plantation covers increased by 21,360ha (10.5%), 3152ha (1.6%), 5721ha (2.8%), and 1823ha (0.9%), while dense forest, rubberand tea plantation covers decreased by - 44,945ha (- 22.1%), - 15,557ha (- 7.7%), and - 110ha (- 0.1%), respectively, from 1986 to 2018. Most of the deforestation and LULCC was caused by expansion of other cultivated areas of cropland by smallholders, contrary to the widely publicised narrative of agro-industrial and built-up areas expansion. The spatial pattern of LULCC showed that expansion of other cultivated areas of cropland and agro-industrial plantations were highest in the north and east zones, respectively, while expansion of built-up areas and decrease in agro-industrial plantation covers were highest in the central, south and western coastal zones of Fako division. The variations in the spatial patterns of LULCC between the sub-divisions are attributed to differences in rates of population growth and urbanisation, topography, size of farming population, proportion of cultivable land, socio-economic opportunities, and strength and resilience of local economy. The presence of the Mount Cameroon (4095m), with high value forests, endemism, and conservation attractiveness restricted increased LULCC with elevation, while LULCC increased with nearness to the sea and national road networks. The likelihood of change from one LULC to oil palm plantation, banana plantation, and other cultivated areas and from rubber plantation, dense forest, lowland grassland to other land uses was 95% and 90%, respectively. Population growth, agricultural and farmland expansion, and infrastructural development were ranked asthe three most important drivers of degradation under the business as usual scenario, while sustainable land management, good governance, and reforestation were ranked as thethree most important predictors of LULCC reduction under the green economy scenario. In general, production and living space functions significantly increased at the expense of ecological land cover. Prioritising and increasing the legal protection of the mountain and coastal land-boundary ecosystems while providing for production and living land areinvaluable for the sustainability of the social-ecological systems in the western highlands of Cameroon.

Land-use changes lead to a decrease in carbon storage in arid region, China

The carbon storage of terrestrial ecosystems is closely related to global climate change. Therefore, assessing the impact of land-use changes on carbon storage is instructive to reduce global carbon emissions. Taking an arid region in northwest China as an example, this paper analyzed the land-use changes in arid region from 1980 to 2015. It used the CA-Markov model to predict the land-use pattern from 2020 to 2050, the carbon storage and sequestration module in Integrated Valuation of Ecosystem Services and Tradeoffs (Invest) mode to assess and predict ecosystem carbon storage over the past 35 years and in the next 30 years and discusses the impact of land-use changes on the carbon storage of terrestrial ecosystems. The results showed that: (1) The high-value areas of carbon storage in arid region were primarily concentrated in grassland, forests and farmland, and the low-value areas of carbon storage were mainly in desert areas. (2) The carbon storage in arid region showed a downward trend. From 1980 to 2015, the carbon reserves of terrestrial ecosystems in arid region decreased by 90.95 Tg, and the net loss of carbon reserves from 2020 to 2050 was 14.72 Tg. Grassland degradation was the main reason for the reduction of carbon storage in arid region. (3) The carbon storage of farmland had increased significantly, but the expansion of farmland dominated by high carbon density grassland, wetland and forest, had reduced the overall carbon storage of the arid region.

The Implication of Land Use Land Cover Change on Biodiversity Conservation: An Overview from Protected Areas in Ethiopia

Conversion of natural habitat to other forms of land use is the main threat to protected areas and biodiversity globally. The continued trend of land use land cover change in protected areas resulted in loss of a large portion of biodiversity, overexploitation by humans, transformation of natural land to human settlement, etc. In Ethiopia, the causes for land use land cover change in many protected areas are farmland expansion, deforestation, unsustainable grazing and settlement expansion, and are leading to loss of biodiversity and negative impacts of ecosystem services. In addition, Ethiopia’s protected areas entertain escalating threats and land cover changes due to human population growth, competing claims from the surrounding communities, incompatible investment, lack of environmental law enforcement, absence of complete plan and timely update for protected areas, etc. These have affected protected areas in the country namely the Bale Mountains National Park, Chocke Mountains, Babile Elephant sanctuary, Abijata Shalla Lakes National Park, Awash National Park and others. The continued land use land cover changes are aggravating ecosystem, soil and water resources degradation in mountainous protected areas while they are leading to biodiversity destruction and loss of forest cover in lowland protected areas. In order to halt and reduce the impact of land cover change on biodiversity conservation, undertaking complete land use planning and continuous monitoring of protected areas was found to be important. Similarly, integrating protected areas into the surrounding landscapes and a broader framework of national plans, promoting income generation means for communities surrounding protected areas, promoting biodiversity conservation directly linked to poverty alleviation, involving local communities and stakeholders in land use planning and sustainable management of protected areas, enhancing sound management in vulnerable mountain protected areas and restoring abandoned lands located in and around protected areas are crucial in the proper land use planning and management of protected areas. In addition, enhancing awareness creation and promoting natural resource information of protected areas and enhancing scientific study on land use land cover change pattern of protected areas are vital to undertake effective land use planning and management of protected areas in Ethiopia.

Characterizing Spatiotemporal Variations of Soil Salinization and Its Relationship with Eco-Hydrological Parameters at the Regional Scale in the Kashi Area of Xinjiang, China from 2000 to 2017

Soil salinization is one of the most serious issues of land degradation, especially in inland drylands, such as the Kashgar region in the Xinjiang province, western China. The investigation of the spatiotemporal variations of soil salinization and its causes is critical for regional ecological restoration and social development. In this study, salinization severity was firstly interpreted in Kashgar region for the years 2000, 2010, and 2017 using multitemporal Landsat images, and the spatiotemporal variations of salinized soil area, salinization severity index, and important index of salinization change were then analyzed using transition matrix method. Finally, the relationship between salinization and eco-hydrological parameters at the regional scale was investigated using correlation analysis and multivariate linear regression. The results show that salinized soil is mainly concentrated in irrigated oasis areas. Although the decrease rate of total salinized soil area is decreasing, the decrease rate of average salinization severity is increasing gradually. There is an increasing trend for the improved area of salinized soil, whereas an opposite trend was observed for the deteriorated area of salinized soil. The conversion from extremely severe salinized soil to the severe ones was the dominant transforming type from 2000 to 2017; meanwhile, the transformation from non-salinized soil to salinized soil for the newly reclaimed farmland was observed, indicating that some necessary irrigation control measures must be taken to avoid further soil salinizing. A significant negative correlation between salinization severity and evapotranspiration, normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) was observed, implying that soil structure change induced by vegetation, associated with high evapotranspiration (ET) and low land surface temperature (LST), played a positive role in alleviating soil salinization in this region. It is concluded that the soil salinization had been alleviated from 2000 to 2017, mainly due to the combined effects of the farmland expansion and the reasonable irrigation system.

Climate change adaptation and cocoa farm rehabilitation behaviour in Ahafo Ano North District of Ashanti region, Ghana

AbstractSustainable cocoa production is the hub of economic development and growth in Ghana. Climate change has been implicated in the dwindling productivity of the Ghanaian cocoa sub-sector, although deforestation for cocoa farmland expansion poses significant long-term risks to ecosystem stability and environmental conservation. This study assessed farmers’ perception of climate change, their adaptation methods and the factors explaining involvement in the renovation/rehabilitation of old cocoa farms. The data were collected from 378 cocoa farmers in Ahafo Ano North District in the Ashanti region. The data were analysed with Principal Component Analysis (PCA), Ordinary Least Square regression, Negative Binomial regression and Two-stage Probit regression. The results showed that the majority of the farmers were older than 50 years and attained primary education. High temperature (64.29%), too stormy rainfall (64.29%) and too much rainfall (61.90%) were largely perceived by cocoa farmers in 2015. The farmers were adapting to climate change through diversification into other crops (70.63%), planting of hybrid varieties (71.69%), commitment to spray cocoa pods regularly (74.87%) and initiation of some changes in the planting and harvesting times (71.96%). The adaptation was significantly influenced (p< 0.05) by cocoa farming experience, number of children under the age of 5 years, perception of extremely high temperature, perception too low rainfall, perception of delay in commencement of rainfall, cultivation of cocoa as the primary crop, perception of delay in rainfall stop and delay in regular farm clearing and rented farm. Cocoa rehabilitation decision was influenced by climate change adaptation indicator, monthly income, perception of extreme temperature and sharecropping. The implications of the results were that promotion of climate change perception would facilitate adaptation, and the form of cocoa farmland ownership as well as climate change adaptation indicator influenced farmers’ involvement in cocoa farm rehabilitation.

An Ethnobotanical Study of Medicinal Plants in Kelala District, South Wollo Zone of Amhara Region, Northeastern Ethiopia.

This research was carried out to record and document the medicinal plants and associated indigenous plant use knowledge of the local people in Kelala District of Amhara Region, Ethiopia. Ethnobotanical data were collected by conducting preprepared semistructured interview items with 60 informants. Focus group discussion and guided field walk were also used. Data were analyzed using basic analytical tools and descriptive statistics. Determination of informant consensus factor, fidelity level, and ranking was performed. A total of 82 medicinal plants distributed in 79 genera and 45 families were collected. Of these plants, 43 species were used to treat human ailments, and 33 species were used to treat livestock ailments and the remaining 6 species were used to treat both human and livestock ailments. The majority of medicinal plants were harvested from the wild environments. The family Solanaceae occupied the first rank with seven species followed by Fabaceae, Asteraceae, Cucurbitaceae, Apiaceae, and Euphorbiaceae with four species each. The most frequently used plant parts were leaves (42.2%) followed by seeds (15.2%), roots (8.1%), and fruits (7.6%). Freshly harvested plant parts (72.68%) were mostly used for remedy preparation compared to dried forms (24.74%) whereas crushing, which accounted for 41.12%, and powdering (24.37%) were the most widely used methods of remedy preparation in the study area. Expansion of farmlands by cutting trees heavily threatens medicinal plants and therefore needs due attention. High ranking medicinal plants are good candidates for further research in drug discovery and development.

Assessment of the effect of water-table depth on riparian vegetation along the middle and lower reaches of the Manasi River, Northwest China

The Manasi riparian zone in northwestern China has become a survival habitat for numerous native plant species and requires urgent protection owning to rapid expansion of farmland. The critical factor affecting the growth of desert riparian vegetation in arid regions is recognized to be groundwater, but in this region the threshold of water-table depth for riparian species has been rarely studied. To determine the association between species and their major growth factors and to ascertain the water-table depth threshold, this study employed field investigation, a logarithm distribution model and canonical correspondence analysis. According to the findings, (1) the water-table depth largely regulates the species distribution; (2) from the results of the logarithm distribution model, the water-table depth appropriate for herbs is 1–1.5 m and for shrubs it is 2–4 m, and a water-table depth of less than 6 m could satisfy the growth requirement of major species; (3) species diversity peaks at the water-table depths of 2–3, 3–5, and 2–4 m for herbs, shrubs and all species, respectively; (4) the frequency of appearance of Phragmites communis (grass herb) and Tamarix chinensis (deciduous shrub) was not as sensitive to depth to water table. To reconstruct a riparian zone, Phragmites communis and Tamarix chinensis could be planted in areas with water-table depth of less than 3 m and 2–5 m, respectively. These results may contribute to suitable policy regarding vegetation restoration.