Ecological determinants in plant community structure across dry afromontane forest patches of Northwestern Ethiopia
Abstract Ethiopia is a mountainous country with great geographic diversity. The diversified topographic features in Ethiopia made the country have a rich biodiversity forest cover in tropical Africa. This made Ethiopia have the largest floral diversity in tropical Africa. This floral diversity is ri...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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BMC
2023-12-01
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| Series: | BMC Ecology and Evolution |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1186/s12862-023-02176-0 |
| _version_ | 1797398233184468992 |
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| author | Metsehet Yinebeb Ermias Lulekal Tamrat Bekele |
| author_facet | Metsehet Yinebeb Ermias Lulekal Tamrat Bekele |
| author_sort | Metsehet Yinebeb |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Abstract Ethiopia is a mountainous country with great geographic diversity. The diversified topographic features in Ethiopia made the country have a rich biodiversity forest cover in tropical Africa. This made Ethiopia have the largest floral diversity in tropical Africa. This floral diversity is rich in endemic elements. About 6,027 vascular plant species (including subspecies) with about 10.7% endemism have been documented. Plant community types are primarily influenced by topographic factors, as well as disturbance and environmental factors. The objective of this study is to demonstrate that 1: The forest patches in the study area exhibit distinct plant community types. 2: The composition and structure of these plant communities are influenced by various environmental variables. To achieve this, a total of 76 plots were used to collect vegetation and environmental data. The collected data were then analyzed using the R software, employing agglomerative hierarchical cluster analysis and redundancy analysis (RDA) to identify plant communities and assess the relationship between these communities and environmental variables. R software was used to identify plant communities and analyze the relationship between plant community types and environmental variables using agglomerative hierarchical cluster analysis and redundancy analysis (RDA). Four plant community types were identified. The RDA results highlighted the significant impact (p < 0.005) of altitude, aspect, slope, grazing, and human interference on species distribution and the formation of plant communities. The RDA results highlighted the significant impact (p < 0.005) of altitude, aspect, slope, grazing, and human interference on species distribution and the formation of plant communities. The findings indicate that the variation in plant communities is closely associated with topographic factors such as altitude, slope, aspect, as well as disturbance factors like grazing, and human interference, with altitude being the most influential factor. Based on these findings, it is recommended that conservation plans take into consideration the effects of grazing and human interference in order to address the challenges faced in conserving forest patches in the future. Additionally, further research efforts should focus on mitigating disturbance factors and understanding the environmental variables that affect forest patches to enhance their conservation. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-09T01:22:43Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-a1ca5621c8b14613b65ced00344bfb8c |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2730-7182 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-09T01:22:43Z |
| publishDate | 2023-12-01 |
| publisher | BMC |
| record_format | Article |
| series | BMC Ecology and Evolution |
| spelling | doaj.art-a1ca5621c8b14613b65ced00344bfb8c2023-12-10T12:04:40ZengBMCBMC Ecology and Evolution2730-71822023-12-0123111310.1186/s12862-023-02176-0Ecological determinants in plant community structure across dry afromontane forest patches of Northwestern EthiopiaMetsehet Yinebeb0Ermias Lulekal1Tamrat Bekele2Plant Biology and Biodiversity Management, College of Natural Sciences, Addis Ababa UniversityPlant Biology and Biodiversity Management, College of Natural Sciences, Addis Ababa UniversityPlant Biology and Biodiversity Management, College of Natural Sciences, Addis Ababa UniversityAbstract Ethiopia is a mountainous country with great geographic diversity. The diversified topographic features in Ethiopia made the country have a rich biodiversity forest cover in tropical Africa. This made Ethiopia have the largest floral diversity in tropical Africa. This floral diversity is rich in endemic elements. About 6,027 vascular plant species (including subspecies) with about 10.7% endemism have been documented. Plant community types are primarily influenced by topographic factors, as well as disturbance and environmental factors. The objective of this study is to demonstrate that 1: The forest patches in the study area exhibit distinct plant community types. 2: The composition and structure of these plant communities are influenced by various environmental variables. To achieve this, a total of 76 plots were used to collect vegetation and environmental data. The collected data were then analyzed using the R software, employing agglomerative hierarchical cluster analysis and redundancy analysis (RDA) to identify plant communities and assess the relationship between these communities and environmental variables. R software was used to identify plant communities and analyze the relationship between plant community types and environmental variables using agglomerative hierarchical cluster analysis and redundancy analysis (RDA). Four plant community types were identified. The RDA results highlighted the significant impact (p < 0.005) of altitude, aspect, slope, grazing, and human interference on species distribution and the formation of plant communities. The RDA results highlighted the significant impact (p < 0.005) of altitude, aspect, slope, grazing, and human interference on species distribution and the formation of plant communities. The findings indicate that the variation in plant communities is closely associated with topographic factors such as altitude, slope, aspect, as well as disturbance factors like grazing, and human interference, with altitude being the most influential factor. Based on these findings, it is recommended that conservation plans take into consideration the effects of grazing and human interference in order to address the challenges faced in conserving forest patches in the future. Additionally, further research efforts should focus on mitigating disturbance factors and understanding the environmental variables that affect forest patches to enhance their conservation.https://doi.org/10.1186/s12862-023-02176-0SpeciesEnvironmental factorsPlant communitiesGozaminForest patches |
| spellingShingle | Metsehet Yinebeb Ermias Lulekal Tamrat Bekele Ecological determinants in plant community structure across dry afromontane forest patches of Northwestern Ethiopia BMC Ecology and Evolution Species Environmental factors Plant communities Gozamin Forest patches |
| title | Ecological determinants in plant community structure across dry afromontane forest patches of Northwestern Ethiopia |
| title_full | Ecological determinants in plant community structure across dry afromontane forest patches of Northwestern Ethiopia |
| title_fullStr | Ecological determinants in plant community structure across dry afromontane forest patches of Northwestern Ethiopia |
| title_full_unstemmed | Ecological determinants in plant community structure across dry afromontane forest patches of Northwestern Ethiopia |
| title_short | Ecological determinants in plant community structure across dry afromontane forest patches of Northwestern Ethiopia |
| title_sort | ecological determinants in plant community structure across dry afromontane forest patches of northwestern ethiopia |
| topic | Species Environmental factors Plant communities Gozamin Forest patches |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1186/s12862-023-02176-0 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT metsehetyinebeb ecologicaldeterminantsinplantcommunitystructureacrossdryafromontaneforestpatchesofnorthwesternethiopia AT ermiaslulekal ecologicaldeterminantsinplantcommunitystructureacrossdryafromontaneforestpatchesofnorthwesternethiopia AT tamratbekele ecologicaldeterminantsinplantcommunitystructureacrossdryafromontaneforestpatchesofnorthwesternethiopia |