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1 Mekuria, Wolde; Yami, Mastewal. 2013. Changes in woody species composition following establishing exclosures on grazing lands in the lowlands of northern Ethiopia. African Journal of Environmental Science and Technology, 7(1):30-40. [doi: https://doi.org/10.5897/AJEST11.378]
Grazing lands ; Land degradation ; Land use ; Vegetation ; Biomass ; Woody plants ; Species / Northern Ethiopia / Tigray
(Location: IWMI HQ Call no: e-copy only Record No: H045629)
http://www.academicjournals.org/ajest/PDF/pdf%202013/Jan/Mekuria%20and%20Yami.pdf
https://vlibrary.iwmi.org/pdf/H045629.pdf
https://vlibrary.iwmi.org/pdf/H045629.pdf
(0.29 MB) (291.57KB)
Restoring vegetation in low rainfall areas is difficult and urges the need to design an effective and low-cost method of vegetation restoration. This study was undertaken in the lowlands of northern Ethiopia to: (1) investigate how exclosure age affects restoration of degraded native plant species richness, diversity and aboveground standing biomass, and (2) identify soil characteristics, which affect effectiveness of exclosures to restore degraded native vegetation. Replicated (n = 3) 5-, 10- and 15- year-old exclosures were selected and each exclosure was paired with an adjacent grazing land to detect changes in vegetation variables following establishing exclosures on communal grazing lands. All exclosures displayed higher species richness, diversity and aboveground biomass when compared to the adjacent grazing lands. Results on vegetation composition indicate that all exclosures are at early stage of succession. In all exclosures and grazing lands, vegetation variables displayed significant (p < 0.05) correlations with soil variables indicating that consideration of soil fertility will help enhance natural regeneration in exclosures. Our study indicates that the establishment of exclosures on degraded communal grazing lands can be effective in restoring degraded native vegetations, and with time, exclosures may obtain an important role as source of seeds of indigenous woody species.
2 Degefa, H.; Tolera, M.; Kim, D.-G.; Mekuria, Wolde. 2023. Effects of exclosures on woody species composition and carbon stocks: lessons drawn from the Central Rift Valley, Ethiopia. Land Degradation and Development, 34(7):2073-2087. [doi: https://doi.org/10.1002/ldr.4590]
Exclosures ; Carbon stock assessments ; Degraded forest land ; Grazing lands ; Soil organic carbon ; Woody plants ; Ecosystems ; Vegetation ; Total nitrogen ; Watersheds ; Biomass / Ethiopia / Central Rift Valley / Abine Germama-Gallo Hiraphe Watershed / Kolla Nurena Watershed
(Location: IWMI HQ Call no: e-copy only Record No: H051667)
(2.30 MB)
Effects of exclosures on restoring degraded lands may vary with soil type, exclosure age, and conditions before the establishment of exclosures. Yet, studies investigating the effectiveness of exclosures in restoring degraded lands under different environmental conditions are lacking. This study aims at investigating the changes in woody species richness and diversity, and ecosystem carbon stocks after implementing exclosures in the Central Rift Valley, Ethiopia. Vegetation and soil data were gathered from 120 nested plots established in exclosures of eight and 30-years-old and adjacent grazing lands. Results showed that exclosures contained a higher number of economically important woody species compared to their respective adjacent grazing lands. However, the exclosures and respective adjacent grazing lands did not differ significantly in the diversity of tree and shrub species, and both the exclosures and adjacent grazing lands were dominated by few tree and shrub species. The older exclosure (30 years old) displayed significantly (p < 0.01) higher soil organic carbon and soil total nitrogen content and stocks than the adjacent grazing land, whereas the youngest exclosure (8 years old) did not show a significant difference in these variables. The results suggest that a longer time (e.g., =10 years) is needed to detect significant differences in soil organic carbon and total soil nitrogen. However, exclosures could bring considerable changes in woody species density in a relatively shorter period (e.g., =10 years) and support to restore degraded native woody species.
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