Woody Plant Species Composition, Structure, and Regeneration Status of Zemeda Mariam Monastery Forest in Raya Kobo District, North Wollo, Ethiopia

Abdulkadir, Ephrem

dc.contributor.author	Abdulkadir, Ephrem
dc.date.accessioned	2025-05-14T07:18:10Z
dc.date.available	2025-05-14T07:18:10Z
dc.date.issued	2024-09
dc.identifier.uri	http://ir.bdu.edu.et/handle/123456789/16727
dc.description.abstract	In Ethiopia at the moment, there is a growing realization of the severity of resource degradation. Although several factors drive natural forest destruction in Ethiopia, agricultural land expansion triggered by increasing human population is probably the dominant force. This study was conducted in Zemeda Mariam Monastery Forest to assess woody plant species composition, structure and regeneration status. Data were collected systematically along ten transects laid at 200m apart from each other and sixty six quadrats (20m X 20m) were established at every 100m interval along the transects. In each major quadrat, five 1m by 1m and 5m by 5m sub quadrats were established at center and corners for seedlings and saplings assessment, respectively. Totally, 56 woody plant species were recorded in Zemeda Mariam Monastery Forest belonging to 42 families and 54 genera. Most representative families were Anacardiaceae and Euphorbaceae with four species each. From the listed plants in the sample quadrats, 28 were trees, 16 shrubs, and 4 were woody climbers and 8 were tree/shrub life forms, which cover 50%, 29%, 7% and 14%, respectively. The overall diversity and evenness of the forest was 3.06 and 0.91 respectively. From DBH class data analysis, lower DBH classes had higher number of stems that indicates the forest was highly occupied by small sized shrubs. Total density of woody plant species in Zemeda Mariam Monastery Forest was 2665.38 individuals/ha. From population distribution of DBH and height; higher numbers were accounted by lower classes. The highest tree height was recorded by Juniperus procera followed by Allophylus abyssinicus and Ehretia cymosa. The most frequent species were Junipers procera, Calpurnia aurea, Clutia lanceolata; Olea europea, while the lowest frequent species were Cordia africana, and Eucalyptus camaldulensis. The overall basal area of the monastery forest was 66.95 m2/ha. In the study area, species with the highest IVI were Junipers procera (47.5), Olea europrea (35.65), Clutia lanceolata (11.6) and Calpurnia aurea (11.48). Regeneration status of Zemeda Mariam Monastery Forest was fair (matured > sapling > seedling) that indicates that the forest was affected by different anthropogenic activities. The Study on the structure and regeneration of the forest indicated that there are species that require urgent conservation attention. Future research directions and recommendations are forwarded for the sustainable utilization of the forest natural resources.	en_US
dc.language.iso	en_US	en_US
dc.subject	Biology	en_US
dc.title	Woody Plant Species Composition, Structure, and Regeneration Status of Zemeda Mariam Monastery Forest in Raya Kobo District, North Wollo, Ethiopia	en_US
dc.type	Thesis	en_US