Native Woody Plants Diversity and Density under Eucalyptus camaldulensis Plantation, in Gibie Valley, South Western Ethiopia

Shiferaw Alem, Jindrich Pavlis

Faculty of Forestry and Wood Technology, Mendel University, Brno, Czech Republic.

DOI: 10.4236/ojf.2012.24029                

Abstract

The aim of the study was to assess the impact of E. camaldulensis plantation established in a semi-arid area on native woody plants diversity and density. Nested quadrant plot design, having an area of 15 m × 15 m used to collect data. Totally, 37 species at the plantation and 30 species at the native woodland, belonging to 24 families, identified. Species diversity (H′) was 1.57 at the plantation and 2.09 at the woodland forest. As for density of understory woody plants (height ≥ 1 m) the plantation forest harbored 6, 604 stems/ha while the native woodland had 7, 347 stems/ha. Seedling density (height < 1 m) at the native woodland and at the plantation there were 11,436 stems/ha and 8,865 stems/ha, respectively. The similarity of woody species composition between the woodland forest and the plantation was low. However, in terms of autochthonous tree seed bank availability, authentic hypothesis seems to prove that if clear-cut patches replanted by introduced species that do not exceed 5 ha, they still significantly favour original forest regeneration and composition in a semi-arid area and surprisingly favors the regeneration of Dodonaea angustifolia and other native species important for soil conservation, timber, bee forage and medicinal use.

Keywords

Eucalyptus camaldulensis; Plantation; Diversity; Natural Regeneration; Semi-Arid; Woodland

Conflicts of Interest

The authors declare no conflicts of interest.

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