Ethiopia harbours the Eastern Afromontane and Horn of Africa hotspots of biodiversity.The general objective of this study was to investigate the floristic composition and diversity of species, the structure and the regeneration status of the Hurubu natural forest. Three parallel transects was systematically laid across the forest with an interval of 200m in north to southt direction. Thirty sample quadrats of 20 m × 20 m was placed along transects at an interval of 100 m for mature trees and shrubs, while for the purpose of seedling and sapling inventory, four sub-quadrates of 1 m × 1 m was laid at each corner of the main quadrat. A total of 32 woody species representing 25 families was recorded consisting of trees and shrubs. The lower storey consisted of all woody plant species except Ekebergia capensis tree species. The middle storey consisted about 14.41% of the tree species while the upper storey involved only 2.35% of the total individual trees in the forest. The total basal area of woody plants in Hurubu forest was 90 m2 per ha. The three most important woody species with the highest IVI were Juniperus procera, Osyris quadripartite, & Myrsine Africana in decreasing order. The general regeneration status of the tree species of the study site was satisfactory at the community level showing a ‘fair’ regeneration status. Therefore, special conservation actions should be implemented for the poorly and not regenerating woody species of the forest.

A woody plant functional trait that directly affects its fitness and environment is decisive to ensure the success of an Agroforestry practice. Hence, recognizing the woody plant functional traits is very important to boost and sustain the productivity of the system when different plants are sharing common resources, like in Agroforestry system. Therefore, the objective of this paper was to understand how woody plant functional traits contribute to sustainable soil management in Agroforestry system and to give the way forward in the case of Ethiopia. The contribution of woody plant species in improving soil fertility and controlling soil erosion is attributed by litter accumulation rate and the season, decomposability and nutrient content of the litter, root physical and chemical trait, and spread canopy structure functional trait. However, spread canopy structure functional trait is used in coffee based Agroforestry system, while with management in Parkland Agro forestry System. Woody species of Agroforestry system added a significant amount of soil TN, OC, Av.P, K, Na, Ca, and Mg nutrients to the soil. Woody plant species of Agroforestry system and their functional traits are very important to ensure sustainable soil management. Thus, further investigation of the woody plant functional traits especially the compatibility of trees with cops is needed to fully utilize the potential of woody species for sustainable soil management practice.