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Assessment of Riparian Vegetation Alongside of Huluka River: West Shawa Zone, Central Ethiopia

Received: 10 April 2022     Accepted: 19 May 2022     Published: 31 May 2022
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Abstract

Riparian vegetation which is an essential part of riverine ecosystems are highly disturbed and degraded over the world including in Ethiopia. The present study aims to examine the status woody species vegetation alongside of Huluka River. Total of 25 quadrant transects with 100 X 50m were laid out at every 1km distance perpendicular to the flow of the river. At the corners of all transects 10 × 10 m plots was used for the sampling of trees and plot size of 5 × 2 m that nested in the 10 × 10 m plot were used for sampling of shrubs and saplings. In each sample plot all tree species with height (≥2.5 m) and DBH (≥2.5 cm) were measured by using Suunto clinometers and calliper respectively, and all individual shrubs and sapling species were counted. Diversity indices such as Shannon diversity index (H'), evenness index (E), species richness (R), and Simpson diversity index (D) were calculated. A total of 25 trees species belonging to 21 families and 22 shrub species belonging to 19 families were recorded. 99% were indigenous, while the remaining was exotic species. Acacia abyssinica, Juniperus procera and Olea africana from tree species, and Carissa edulis and Maytenus arbutifolia from shrub were the most dominant species. Species diversity ranged between 0.43 and 2.47, whereas evenness ranged between 0.46 and 1.06. Species diversity and richness show increasing pattern from upstream of the river system (Dendi district) to the downstream of the river system (Ambo district), but it depends on the contiguous land uses i.e. riparian vegetation bordered with natural forests higher species richness and diversity, whereas those bordered with grazing land has lower species richness and diversity. The riparian vegetation along the river is highly converting to agricultural and grazing lands, and this results degradation of the vegetation.

Published in American Journal of Bioscience and Bioengineering (Volume 10, Issue 3)
DOI 10.11648/j.bio.20221003.11
Page(s) 43-47
Creative Commons

This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, provided the original work is properly cited.

Copyright

Copyright © The Author(s), 2022. Published by Science Publishing Group

Keywords

Hulluka, Riperian, Vegetation, Riverside Vegetation

References
[1] Gashaw T, Terefe H, Soromessa T, Ahmed S, Megersa T. Riparian areas rehabilitation and restoration: An overview. Point J Agric Biotechnol Res. 2015; 1 (2): 055–063.
[2] Gemeda, O. D., Ashagre, H. and Zuberi, M. I., 2016. The current state of riparian vegetation: The Dabbis River of Ambo Woreda, West Shoa Zone, Oromia Regional State, Ethiopia. Journal of Biodiversity and Environmental Sciences, 8 (3), pp. 153-167.
[3] Goebel, P. C., B. J. Palik & K. S. Pregitzer. 2003. Plant diversity contributions of riparian areas in watersheds of the Northern Lake States, USA. Ecological Applications 13: 1595-1609.
[4] Gopal, B., U. Goel, M. Chauhan, R. Bansal & S. C. Khuman. 2002. Regulation of Human Activities along Rivers and Lakes. Background Document for the proposed notification on River Regulation Zone Prepared for National River Conservation Directorate, Ministry of Environment and Forest, Government of India.
[5] Hitoshi S, Toshikazu T (2008) Ecology of Riparian Forests in Japan: Disturbance, Life History and Regeneration.
[6] Leibowitz SG (2003) isolated wetlands and their functions: an ecological perspective. Wetland 23: 517–31.
[7] Lougheed V, Mcintosh M, Parker CA, et al. (2008) Wetland degradation leads to homogenization of the biota at local and landscape scales. Freshw Biol 53: 2402–13.
[8] Maingi JK, Marsh SF (2006) Composition, structure, and regeneration patterns in a gallery forest along the Tana River near Bura, Kenya. For Ecol Manag 236: 211–28.
[9] Malason GP (1993) Riparian Landscapes. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
[10] Meragiaw, M., Asfaw, Z. and Argaw, M., 2016. The status of ethnobotanical knowledge of medicinal plants and the impacts of resettlement in Delanta, northwestern Wello, northern Ethiopia. Evidence-Based Complementary and Alternative Medicine, 2016.
[11] Meragiaw, M., Woldu, Z., Martinsen, V. and Singh, B. R., 2018. Woody species composition and diversity of riparian vegetation along the Walga River, Southwestern Ethiopia. PloS one, 13 (10), p. e0204733.
[12] Njue N, Koech E, Hitimana J, Sirmah P. Influence of land use activities on riparian vegetation, soil and water quality: An indicator of biodiversity loss, South West Mau Forest, Kenya. Open Journal of Forestry. 2016; 6: 373–385.
[13] Richardson DM, Holmes PM, Esler KJ, Galatowitsch SM, Stromberg JC, Kirkman SP, et al. Riparian vegetation: degradation, alien plant invasions, and restoration prospects. Divers Distrib. 2007; 13: 126–139.
[14] Smakhtin, V. U. & M. Anputhas. 2006. An Assessment of Environmental Flow Requirements of Indian River Basins. IWMI Research Report N 107, Colombo, Sri Lanka.
[15] Sultana, A., M. S. Hussain & D. K. Rathore. 2014. Diversity of tree vegetation of Rajasthan, India. Tropical Ecology 55: 403-410.
[16] Tucker ST, Wayne CL (1990) Differences in riparian vegetation structure between grazed areas and exclosures. J Range Manag 43: 295–99.
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    Tesfaye Humnessa. (2022). Assessment of Riparian Vegetation Alongside of Huluka River: West Shawa Zone, Central Ethiopia. American Journal of Bioscience and Bioengineering, 10(3), 43-47. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.bio.20221003.11

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    Tesfaye Humnessa. Assessment of Riparian Vegetation Alongside of Huluka River: West Shawa Zone, Central Ethiopia. Am. J. BioSci. Bioeng. 2022, 10(3), 43-47. doi: 10.11648/j.bio.20221003.11

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    AMA Style

    Tesfaye Humnessa. Assessment of Riparian Vegetation Alongside of Huluka River: West Shawa Zone, Central Ethiopia. Am J BioSci Bioeng. 2022;10(3):43-47. doi: 10.11648/j.bio.20221003.11

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  • @article{10.11648/j.bio.20221003.11,
      author = {Tesfaye Humnessa},
      title = {Assessment of Riparian Vegetation Alongside of Huluka River: West Shawa Zone, Central Ethiopia},
      journal = {American Journal of Bioscience and Bioengineering},
      volume = {10},
      number = {3},
      pages = {43-47},
      doi = {10.11648/j.bio.20221003.11},
      url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.bio.20221003.11},
      eprint = {https://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/pdf/10.11648.j.bio.20221003.11},
      abstract = {Riparian vegetation which is an essential part of riverine ecosystems are highly disturbed and degraded over the world including in Ethiopia. The present study aims to examine the status woody species vegetation alongside of Huluka River. Total of 25 quadrant transects with 100 X 50m were laid out at every 1km distance perpendicular to the flow of the river. At the corners of all transects 10 × 10 m plots was used for the sampling of trees and plot size of 5 × 2 m that nested in the 10 × 10 m plot were used for sampling of shrubs and saplings. In each sample plot all tree species with height (≥2.5 m) and DBH (≥2.5 cm) were measured by using Suunto clinometers and calliper respectively, and all individual shrubs and sapling species were counted. Diversity indices such as Shannon diversity index (H'), evenness index (E), species richness (R), and Simpson diversity index (D) were calculated. A total of 25 trees species belonging to 21 families and 22 shrub species belonging to 19 families were recorded. 99% were indigenous, while the remaining was exotic species. Acacia abyssinica, Juniperus procera and Olea africana from tree species, and Carissa edulis and Maytenus arbutifolia from shrub were the most dominant species. Species diversity ranged between 0.43 and 2.47, whereas evenness ranged between 0.46 and 1.06. Species diversity and richness show increasing pattern from upstream of the river system (Dendi district) to the downstream of the river system (Ambo district), but it depends on the contiguous land uses i.e. riparian vegetation bordered with natural forests higher species richness and diversity, whereas those bordered with grazing land has lower species richness and diversity. The riparian vegetation along the river is highly converting to agricultural and grazing lands, and this results degradation of the vegetation.},
     year = {2022}
    }
    

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  • TY  - JOUR
    T1  - Assessment of Riparian Vegetation Alongside of Huluka River: West Shawa Zone, Central Ethiopia
    AU  - Tesfaye Humnessa
    Y1  - 2022/05/31
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    DO  - 10.11648/j.bio.20221003.11
    T2  - American Journal of Bioscience and Bioengineering
    JF  - American Journal of Bioscience and Bioengineering
    JO  - American Journal of Bioscience and Bioengineering
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    PB  - Science Publishing Group
    SN  - 2328-5893
    UR  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.bio.20221003.11
    AB  - Riparian vegetation which is an essential part of riverine ecosystems are highly disturbed and degraded over the world including in Ethiopia. The present study aims to examine the status woody species vegetation alongside of Huluka River. Total of 25 quadrant transects with 100 X 50m were laid out at every 1km distance perpendicular to the flow of the river. At the corners of all transects 10 × 10 m plots was used for the sampling of trees and plot size of 5 × 2 m that nested in the 10 × 10 m plot were used for sampling of shrubs and saplings. In each sample plot all tree species with height (≥2.5 m) and DBH (≥2.5 cm) were measured by using Suunto clinometers and calliper respectively, and all individual shrubs and sapling species were counted. Diversity indices such as Shannon diversity index (H'), evenness index (E), species richness (R), and Simpson diversity index (D) were calculated. A total of 25 trees species belonging to 21 families and 22 shrub species belonging to 19 families were recorded. 99% were indigenous, while the remaining was exotic species. Acacia abyssinica, Juniperus procera and Olea africana from tree species, and Carissa edulis and Maytenus arbutifolia from shrub were the most dominant species. Species diversity ranged between 0.43 and 2.47, whereas evenness ranged between 0.46 and 1.06. Species diversity and richness show increasing pattern from upstream of the river system (Dendi district) to the downstream of the river system (Ambo district), but it depends on the contiguous land uses i.e. riparian vegetation bordered with natural forests higher species richness and diversity, whereas those bordered with grazing land has lower species richness and diversity. The riparian vegetation along the river is highly converting to agricultural and grazing lands, and this results degradation of the vegetation.
    VL  - 10
    IS  - 3
    ER  - 

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Author Information
  • Plantation and Agroforestry, Ethiopia Environment and Forest Research Institute, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia

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