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THE ECOLOGY, CARBON STOCK, BEE FORAGE DIVERSITY IN A MOIST AFROMONTANE FOREST OF GESHA AND SAYILEM DISTRICTS IN KAFFA ZONE, SOUTH WEST ETHIOPIA BY Admassu Addi Merti Addis Ababa University Addis Ababa, Ethiopia April 2018 ECOLOGY, CARBON STOCK POTENTIAL BEE FORAGEDIVERSITY AND HONEY CHARACTERISTICS IN MOIST AFROMONTANE FOREST OF GESHA AND SAYILEMDISTRICTS IN KAFFA ZONE, SOUTH WEST ETHIOPIA Admassu Addi Merti A Dissertation Submitted to The Department of Plant Biology and Biodiversity Management Presented in Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy (Plant Biology and Biodiversity Management) Addis Ababa University Addis Ababa, Ethiopia April 2018 ADDIS ABABA UNIVERSITY GRADUATE PROGRAM Declaration This is to certify that the Dissertation prepared by Admassu Addi Merti, entitled: Ecology, carbon stock, bee forage diversity and honey characteristics of the moist afromontane forest in Gesha and Sayilem districts of Kaffa Zone, Southwest Ethiopia and submitted in fulfillment of the requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy (Botanical Sciences) complies with the regulations of the University and meets the accepted standards with respect to originality and quality Signed by Examining Board: Name Signature Date 1. (Examiner) ________________ ___________________ 2. (Examiner) _________________ ___________________ 3. (Advisor) __________________ ___________________ 4. (Advisor) __________________ ___________________ 5. (Chairman) _________________ ___________________ ABSTRACT Ecology, carbon stock, Bee forage diversity and honey characteristics of the Moist Afromontane Forest in Gesha and Sayilem districts in Kaffa Zone, Southwest Ethiopia Admassu Addi Merti, PhD dissertation Addis Ababa University, 2018 The study was conducted at Gesha and Sayilem districts of the Kaffa Zone, with the objective of documenting the floristic compositions, determining the carbon stock and bee forage diversityof the area.Stratified random sampling technique was followed to establish plot sizes of 25 X 25m. A total of 90 plots were used to collect vegetation and carbon data.The plant community classification was performed using R-software packages.Species diversity and evenness were evaluated using the Shannon diversity and evenness indices respectively.The study revealed that the study area composed of 300 species that belong to 239 genera in 96 families. Asteraceae was the most abundant family followed by Fabaceae, Acanthaceae, Poaceae, Rubiaceae and Euphorbiaceae. Five plant community types were identified and these were Ilex mitis-Syzygium guineense,Pouteria adolfi-friederici-Schefflera abyssinica, Millettia ferruginea-Sapium ellipticum, Arundinaria alpina and Schefflera volkensii-Masea-lanceolata community types.Among the community types,Pouteria adolfi-friedericii–Syzygium guineense community was the most diverse and whereas Arundinaria alpina community was the least diverse community. CCA of vegetaion data indicated that altitude, disturbance,slope, phosphorus and EC were the environmental factors that significantly influence of the plant communities.The structures of woody plant species of the forest showed five general population patterns (inverted J-shape, Gauss type, U-shaped, J-shape and irregular patterns and unknown pattern). The mean total carbon stock density of Gesha-Sayilem forest was found to be 362.04tons of carbon per hectareout ofwhich168.05,32.8, 1.27, 23.8 and 136.8 ton ha-1 were stored in the above ground,below ground,litter, deadwood and in soil organic carbon respectively. The analysis of allometric equation for different woody species indicated that the developed model comprising of DBH and wood density are the reliable model for estimating the above ground biomass for the study species.The assessment of bee forage based on field observation, pollen analysis and key informant interview indicatedthat 79 bee forages were identified of which Schefflera abyssinica,Croton macrostchyus and Vernonia amaygdalina are the the major source of monofloral honey in the area.The high dependency of local communities on the forest resources are affecting the plant biodivresrity and honey production. Thus conservation of the forest through introduction of sustainable forest management interventions including REDD+) seems an appropriate action. Key words: Allometry Biomass, Gesha forest, plant diversity, plant community, pollen, Sayilem forest Dedication This dissertation is dedicated to the People of Kaffa who maintained the rich biodiversity of the forest for generations, despite the growing demand of forest resources for utilization and to improvee their socioeconomic condition and the late Professor Ensermu Kelbessa, a member of the Department of Plant Biology and Biodiversity Management of Addis Ababa University who passed away after a short illness. I always remember him with love and appreciation for his scientific contributions in the area of plant taxonomy and biodiversity conservation. iv Acknowledgments I would like to thank the late Professor Ensermu Kelbessa for his kind supervision and accepting me for the PhD program and assisting with plant specimen identification and confirmation. I would like to express my deepest appreciation and thanks to my supervisors Prof Sebsebe Demissew and Dr Teshome Soromessa for their deserved guidance, follow up, providing of valuable comments and proof reading of the thesis.My special thanks go to Prof. Zemede Asfaw for his continuous and unlimited assistance in commenting on the structure of the thesis and editing the thesis. I would also like to acknowledge my Department,Plant Biology and Biodiversity Management, Particularly Dr. Bikila Warkineh, Dr. Tamirat Bekele, Prof. Zerihun Woldu, Dr Ermias Leulkal, Dr. Tigist Wondimu, Melaku Mondafrash, Shewanesh Lemma, Woge Abebe and W/ro Yirgalem H/Selassie, for their continuous moral support, sharing their valuable knowledge and facilitation of the program for field data collection.I would like to thank Mr. Samson Workeye and Mesfin Sahile for their unlimited support on the basic concepts, methods and applications of GIS. I would like to thank my institute, Oromia Agricultural Research Institute (OARI), and Biovision Ethiopia for some financial assistance. I am particularly indebted to Mr. Kibebew Wakijra, the former Director of Holeta Bee Research and Mr. Taye Negera, the Director of Holeta Bee Research, who have provided me with all the support as a friend. Mr Gemechis Legesse, Tura Berke, Dr Abera Belay, Dr Debissa Lamessa and Dr Tesfaye Bekele are highly acknowledged for their kind help throughout my study. I also thank the Ethiopian Nutrition and Public Health Research Institute for nutritional analysis of the pollen samples and Ethiopian Agricultural Research Institute for the soil analysis. My special thanks also go to the Kaffa peoplea and the administrative staffs in the study area v at the various levels (Kebele, District, Zone and Region) are also highly acknowledged for providing all necessary support during the data collection. Last, but not least, I am indebted to my beloved family, my wife W/ro Abaynesh Nigussie and my children Ezana Admassu, Abreham Admassu, Mana Admassu and Samuel Admassu for their continuous love support and encouragement. vi Table of Contents DEDICATION .................................................................................................................. IV TABLE OF CONTENTS ................................................................................................. VII CHAPTER ONE ................................................................................................................. 1 1. INTRODUCTION .......................................................................................................... 1 1.1BACKGROUND ............................................................................................................. 1 1.3 RESEARCH QUESTIONS, HYPOTHESES AND OBJECTIVES .............................................. 7 1.3.1 Research questions ............................................................................................. 7 1.3.2 Research hypotheses ........................................................................................... 7 1.3.3 Research objectives ............................................................................................ 7 2. REVIEW OF LITERATURE ......................................................................................... 9 2.1 FLORISTIC DIVERSITY AND VEGETATION TYPES .......................................................... 9 2.1.1Vegetation history and Forest Resources of Ethiopia ......................................... 9 2.1.2 The vegetation of southwest Ethiopia ............................................................... 11 2.1.3 Threats to the forest of Ethiopia ....................................................................... 13 2.2 PLANT COMMUNITIES AND COMMUNITY THEORIES .................................................. 14 2.2.3 Species diversity, evenness and richness .......................................................... 16 2.5 CLIMATE CHANGE .................................................................................................... 22 2.5.1 The role of forests in climate change............................................................... 23 2.5.2 Carbon sequestration of the forest ................................................................... 23 2.5.4 Estimating the above-ground biomass (AGB) .................................................

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