Woody Species Composition, Diversity and Structure of Kumuli Dry Evergreen Afromontane Forest in Yem District, Southern Ethiopia

Abstract

This study was conducted in Kumuli forest to investigate woody species diversity and structure of the forest. Woody vegetation data were taken from 32 (20 m x 20 m) systematically laid quadrats in three transects. Shannon-Wiener diversity and evenness index was applied to quantify species diversity and richness. MS excel spreadsheet was used for the data analysis. About 133 woody plant species representing 107 genera and 53 families were recorded in this study. Shrubs have the highest proportion (44.3%) followed by trees (26.3%), trees/shrubs (19%), woody climbers (6%) and lianas (3%). Asteraceae was the dominant family comprising 10% of the total woody species followed by Fabaceae (6%) and Celastraceae, Rosaceae and Rubiaceae (each 5%). The density of the woody species was 7791 stems ha-1. The total basal area of the forest was found to be 30.16 m2 ha-1. The trends in dbh structure showed an inverted J-type with highest densities falling in the lower dbh classes indicating good structure. Most tree species had low IVIs that is attributed to density-dependent and density-independent factors. Height structure analysis also showed a similar pattern with highest densities falling in lower classes, except that less density was observed in the 1st height class. Acanthus eminens, Myrsine africana, Olea capensis, Podocarpus falcatus and Syzigium guineense were species which showed good reproduction and good recruitment while Prunus africana showed both bad reproduction and bad recruitment.

Keywords: woody species, dbh classes, Importance Value Index, Olea capensis, Myrsine africana