Plant Species Composition, Diversity, Regeneration Status and Structural Analysis and Ethno-botanical Survey of Kulbo forest Maji District, Southwest Ethiopia

Abstract

Humans and environment must coexist while respecting one another's requirements for the forest to play a vital role in natural preservation and sustainable development. The purpose of the study was to analyze the ethno-botanical survey conducted in the Kulbo forest, Maji district, SWE, and to establish the composition, variety, regeneration status, and structural characteristics of plant species. 70 (400 m2) sample plots were used to gather the vegetation data. Plots and transect lines were separated by 200 and 400 meters, respectively. DBH of woody species with a height >2 m and a diameter >2.5 cm was measured and reported. Shannon diversity, Simpson's diversity index, and evenness indexes were used to calculate floral diversity and evenness. The Jaccards coefficient of similarity index was used to calculate the similarities between different plant groups. Hierarchical cluster analysis was also computed to determine plant community using PC-ORD v.5. Qualitative and quantitative data were also collected for ethnobotanical survey and each data were analyzed by using Microsoft excel and SPSS. There were 104 woody species in all, spanning 48 families. The leading family was Rubiaceae, followed by Euphorbiaceae, Asteraceae, and Fabaceae. Average values for the Kulbo forest's Shannon-Wiener diversity index (H′) and evenness were 2.83 and 0.84, respectively. The presence or absence values of each species were used to identify four different types of plant communities. 1595.23 ha-1 of woody species had DBHs greater than 2.5 cm. The DBH and height class distributions show that the forest has significant potential for regeneration. Dracaena afromontana was the species that was most frequently seen. There were 954ha-1, 4021ha-1, and 6010ha-1 of different tree and shrub species as adults, saplings, and seedlings, respectively. The ethno-botany survey result shows that the most prominent sources of indigenous knowledge in the study area are Parents (62.3%) followed by herbalists (11.6%), Religious book (8%), Relatives and friends (3.65) and others (10.9%). From the collected 97 species in the study area (74.77% were used to treat human ailments, while (17.76%) were used to treat livestock ailments. The family Solanaceae was highest number (7.48 %), followed by Lamiaceae (5.61 %), Euphorbiaceae (4.67 %). Out of the 97 species, (68.22%) had a wild origin while (31.78%) were collected from home garden. However, the selective cutting of particular woody species for diverse purposes constitutes the biggest threat to the forest. Agricultural expansion and deforestation were found to be the main threats for the medicinal plants. As a result of this study, it is advised that forest management regimes be developed and implemented in the region in order to encourage healthy regeneration of the species, manage mature trees to decrease anthropogenic activities, and conserve species while making sustainable use of the forest resources.