Ecological Study of Shrubland Vegetation along the Escarpments between Addis Alem and Wolenkomi, West Shewa, Oromoia National Regional State

Abdi, Shentema (2012) Ecological Study of Shrubland Vegetation along the Escarpments between Addis Alem and Wolenkomi, West Shewa, Oromoia National Regional State. Masters thesis, Addis Ababa University.

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Abstract

The study was conducted in Oromia National Regional State, West Shewa Zone, along escarpments between Addis Alem and Wolenkomi towns with objective of investigating ecology of shrubland vegetation of the area. Vegetation data were collected from 50 quadrats which were systematically laid. Quaqrats of 20 m x 20 m (400 m2) were laid for woody species (shrub/trees). For the collection of herbaceous species, subplots of 1 m x 1 m at the four corners and the center of the large quadrat were established. Cover abundance value of all the species was estimated in the field, and then later converted to the Braun-Blanquet 1-9 scale as modified by van der Maarel (1979). One hundred and one plant species were collected and identified there were grouped into 88 genera and 48 families. Hierarchical cluster analysis was employed to analyze community type. Four plant community types: Euphorbia ampliphylla -Halleria lucida, Dovyalis abyssinica- Ficus sur, Caparris tomentosa - Maesa lanceolata and Rubus apetalus - Indigofera spicata were identified. Shannon - Wiener index of species diversity was applied in order to evaluate species diversity and richness. Accordingly, community type 2 is the highest in diversity (3.7 diversity index) while community type 1 is the lowest in diversity (2.88 diversity index). Height and diameter at breast height (DBH) of all woody species taller than 2 m and thicker than 2 cm were measured in the field. The overall density of tree or shrub species which have DBH >2cm was 874 individual/ha. Based on the computation of Importance Value Index, Croton macrostachyus, Carissa spinarum, Olea europaea subsp. cuspidata, Pterolobium stellatum and Acacia abyssinica, were identified to be the dominant woody species of the area.

Item Type: Thesis (Masters)
Uncontrolled Keywords: Addis Alem and Wolenkomi, ecological study, plant community, shrubland vegetation, species richness/diversity
Subjects: G Geography. Anthropology. Recreation > GE Environmental Sciences
Q Science > QH Natural history > QH301 Biology
Q Science > QK Botany
S Agriculture > SD Forestry
Divisions: Africana
Depositing User: Selom Ghislain
Date Deposited: 13 Jun 2018 09:33
Last Modified: 13 Jun 2018 09:33
URI: http://thesisbank.jhia.ac.ke/id/eprint/4195

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