Composition, Structure and Status of Woody Plants Along Dilla Zuria Rivers, Southern Ethiopia

Abstract

Abstract
Dilla zuria vegetation is located in Southern Ethiopia where agroforestry is highly exercised. The objective of the present study was to generate reliable information of floristic composition, diversity, structure and status of woody plant species in Dilla Zuria vegetation. The reliable data was collected from 50 plots each of 400 m2 using systematic sampling method. The plant species were identified by comparing with the voucher specimens preserved at National Herbarium, Ethiopia (ETH).The vegetation characteristics of height and DBH of species were recorded and also vegetation classification into communities was made by using R-package software windows version 2.15.0. Shannon–Wiener diversity indices were used to determine evenness, species diversity among communities. A total of 76 woody plant species belonging to 68 genera and 39 families were identified. Most of the species identified were trees (56.35%), followed by shrubs (35.54%) and lianas (8.11%). The top two most dominant families were Euphorbiaceae (13.2%) and Fabaceae (10.5%) that represented families in terms of species number. Based on the vegetation analysis, three plant community types were identified; namely; Lantana camara-Bersama abyssinica community type, Coffea arabica– Diospyros abyssinica community type and Maytenus arbutifolia– Bridelia atroviridis Community Types. The results of this study revealed that small sized trees and shrubs dominate the vegetation and this in turn indicate that currently the vegetation is in the stage of secondary regeneration and hence urgent conservation measures needs to be in place. This study also revealed poor regeneration status for some species and therefore, there arise a need for conservation priority for such poorly regenerated species.
Keywords: Dilla, structure, diversity, species richness, regeneration status

Cite this Article
Garedew B. Composition, Structure And Status of Woody Plants along Dilla Zuria rivers, Southern Ethiopia. Research & Reviews: Journal of Botany. 2015; 4(3): 1–15p.