ASSESSMENT OF SOIL SEED BA~K COMPOSITION IN BEZA WIT FOREST AT ABA Y MILLENIUM PARK, BAHIR DAR, ETHIOPIA

TINSAE, ASSEFA

dc.contributor.author	TINSAE, ASSEFA
dc.date.accessioned	2019-11-12T09:43:55Z
dc.date.available	2019-11-12T09:43:55Z
dc.date.issued	2019-11-12
dc.identifier.uri	http://hdl.handle.net/123456789/10000
dc.description.abstract	Soil seed bank investigation was done at Bezawit forest patch, Abay Millenium Park. The objective of the study was to estimate th(i soil seed bank composition of the area. A total of 21 quadrants, out of which seven were used for comparison, was established along line transects to study the vegetation and soil seed bank compositiop of the area. Fifteen species were identified from direct seed counting of which only two species Calpurnia aurea and Pittosporum viridifolium were able to germinate. A total of eight species were recorded from germination trial of which only three species, Calpurnia aurea, Pittosporum viridifolium and Pteroloblum stellautm, were found in the above ground vegetation. The other germinated seeds were found only in the soil seed bank and were herbs and two undetermined species. The Shannon-Wiener index generally showed low values for both the seeds obtained from direct seed count (0-1.39959) and for germinated seeds (0.23379 - 1.26687) in the four soil layers. The total species diversity of the area as determined by seed bank count and seed germination methods was 1.9 and 0.85 respectively while its value for standing vegetation (for the two sampling transects was 2. 71-3 .16). The total standing vegetation species diversity of the area was 3.2. The species richness, diversity and density decreased with increasing soil depth. The species with the highest viable seed density were Bidens pilosa. Similarity between standing vegetation and soil seed bank was generally low (0.313). The variability in species distribution among the soil profiles was statistically different for few of the germinated seeds. It can , be concluded that, Bezawit forest possesses small number and lower diversity of buried seeds, 'indicating that the study area is at risk of natural regeneration, while the number and diversity of the standing vegetation of the area is high. Based on the results it is recommend that continued open grazing system and human intervention that affects the natural regeneration capacity of different species to be reduced, Artificial seedling plantation of native species to be done and Further investigation on soil seed bank to be done for other forest patches of Abay Millennium Park . ... ABSTRAC	en_US
dc.language.iso	en	en_US
dc.subject	Biology	en_US
dc.title	ASSESSMENT OF SOIL SEED BA~K COMPOSITION IN BEZA WIT FOREST AT ABA Y MILLENIUM PARK, BAHIR DAR, ETHIOPIA	en_US
dc.type	Thesis	en_US