Woody plant assemblages in isolated forest patches in a semiarid agricultural matrix

• Published in: Biodiversity and conservation Vol. 22; no. 11; pp. 2519 - 2535
• Main Authors: Berhane, Asmelash, Totland, Ørjan, Moe, Stein R.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Dordrecht Springer Netherlands 01.10.2013; Springer; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: Agriculture; Agronomy. Soil science and plant productions; Animal, plant and microbial ecology; Applied ecology; Arid zones; Biodiversity; Biological and medical sciences; Biomedical and Life Sciences; Climate Change/Climate Change Impacts; Conservation Biology/Ecology; Conservation, protection and management of environment and wildlife; Dry forests; Ecology; Flowers & plants; Forestry; Forests; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; General agroecology; General agroecology. Agricultural and farming systems. Agricultural development. Rural area planning. Landscaping; General agronomy. Plant production; General aspects; General forest ecology; Generalities. Agricultural and farming systems. Agricultural development; Generalities. Production, biomass. Quality of wood and forest products. General forest ecology; Grazing; Life Sciences; Matrix; Olea europaea; Original Paper; Plant species; Rare species; Seedlings; Species composition; Woody plants; East Africa; Sub-Saharan Africa; Ethiopia; Africa; Isolation; Remnant forest patches; Ethiopia forest; Fragmentation; Growth stage; Forests; Tropical zone; Woody plant; Remnant vegetation; Patchy distribution; Semi arid zone; Agriculture; Developmental stage; Community
• DOI: 10.1007/s10531-013-0534-0
• ISSN: 0960-3115

Spatial and temporal isolation and environmental variability are important factors explaining variation in plant species composition. The effect of fragmentation and disturbance on woody plant species composition was studied using data from 32 remnant church forest patches in northern Ethiopia. The church forests are remnants of dry Afromontane forest, embedded in a matrix of intensively used crop and grazing lands. We used canonical correspondence analysis and partial canonical correspondence analysis to analyze the effects of fragmented and isolated forest-patch identity, environmental and spatial variables on woody plant species composition in different growth stages. The dominance of late successional species was higher at the adult growth stage than seedlings and saplings growth stages. In the adult stages, late successional species like Olea europaea subsp . cuspidate had high frequency of occurrence. Forest patch identity was more important in explaining woody plant assemblages than environmental and spatial variables. For all growth stages combined, environmental variables explained more of the explained total fraction of variation in species composition than spatial variables. Topographic variables best explained variations in species composition for saplings, adults and all growth stages combined, whereas the management regime was most important for seedlings species composition. Our results show that in a matrix of cultivated and grazing land, fragmented and isolated forest patches differ in woody plant species assemblages. Some species are widely distributed and occurred in many patches while other occurred only in one or a few forest patches. Thus, our results indicate that remnant forest patches are important for preserving rare plant species and therefore management practices should focus on minimizing disturbance to the church forests and if possible increase church forest patch size.