Studies on the Altitudinal Zonation of Forests and Alpine Plants in the Central Bale Mountains, Ethiopia

Uhlig, S. K.; Uhlig, K.

doi:10.2307/3673574

Cited by 16 publications

(17 citation statements)

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“…The petrography is dominated by alkali basalt and tuffs, with occasional rhyolites (Uhlig and Uhlig 1991). The mountains were locally glaciated, which shaped their recent geomorphology (Osmaston et al 2005).…”

Section: Geology and Geomorphologymentioning

confidence: 98%

“…Ecological studies of the Bale Mountain's focused on documenting the biodiversity, fauna, and flora of the area (e.g., Bonnefille 1983;Gebregziabher 1988Gebregziabher , 1991Woldu et al 1989;Messerli et al 1990;Uhlig 1990;Uhlig and Uhlig 1991;Friis 1992;Miehe and Miehe 1994;Mohamed-Saleem and Woldu 2002;Darbyshire et al 2003;Umer et al 2007). Some studies focused on issues of exploitation, degradation, and management (e.g., Getahun 1984;Messerli et al 1990;Grepperud 1996;Taddese 2001;Amente 2005).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 98%

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Vegetation dynamics, and land use and land cover change in the Bale Mountains, Ethiopia

Kidane

Stahlmann

Beierkuhnlein

2012

Environ Monit Assess

138

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Shifts in biological communities are occurring at rapid rates as human activities induced global climate change increases. Understanding the effects of the change on biodiversity is important to reduce loss of biodiversity and mass extinction, and to insure the long-term persistence of natural resources and natures' services. Especially in remote landscapes of developing countries, precise knowledge about on-going processes is scarce. Here we apply satellite imagery to assess spatio-temporal land use and land cover change (LULCC) in the Bale Mountains for a period of four decades. This study aims to identify the main drivers of change in vegetation patterns and to discuss the implications of LULCC on spatial arrangements and trajectories of floral communities. Remote sensing data acquired from Landsat MSS, Landsat ETM + and SPOT for four time steps (1973, 1987, 2000, and 2008) were analyzed using 11 LULC units defined based on the dominant plant taxa and cover types of the habitat. Change detection matrices revealed that over the last 40 years, the area has changed from a quite natural to a more cultural landscape. Within a representative subset of the study area (7,957.5 km(-2)), agricultural fields have increased from 1.71% to 9.34% of the total study area since 1973. Natural habitats such as upper montane forest, afroalpine grasslands, afromontane dwarf shrubs and herbaceous formations, and water bodies also increased. Conversely, afromontane grasslands have decreased in size by more than half (going from 19.3% to 8.77%). Closed Erica forest also shrank from 15.0% to 12.37%, and isolated Erica shrubs have decreased from 6.86% to 5.55%, and afroalpine dwarf shrubs and herbaceous formations reduced from 5.2% to 1.56%. Despite fluctuations the afromontane rainforest (Harenna forest), located south of the Bale Mountains, has remained relatively stable. In conclusion this study documents a rapid and ecosystem-specific change of this biodiversity hotspot due to intensified human activities (e.g., deforestation, agriculture, infrastructure expansion). Specifically, the ecotone between the afromontane and the afroalpine area represent a "hotspot of biodiversity loss" today. Taking into consideration the projections of regional climate warming and modified precipitation regimes, LULCC can be expected to become even more intensive in the near future. This is likely to impose unprecedented pressures on the largely endemic biota of the area.

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Section: Geology and Geomorphologymentioning

confidence: 98%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 98%

Vegetation dynamics, and land use and land cover change in the Bale Mountains, Ethiopia

Kidane

Stahlmann

Beierkuhnlein

2012

Environ Monit Assess

138

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“…Ethiopia is located in East Africa and often described as the 'roof of Africa' because of its rugged mountain topography, which has the largest expanse of Afro-alpine habitats on the continent (Gamachu 1988;Uhlig and Uhlig 1991). Over 50% of Africa's land mass above 2000 m and over 80% of the land mass above 3000 m is found in Ethiopia (McClanahan and Young 1996).…”

Section: Study Areamentioning

confidence: 99%

Predicting habitat suitability for the endemic mountain nyala (Tragelaphus buxtoni) in Ethiopia

Evangelista

Norman

Berhanu³

et al. 2008

Wildl. Res.

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The use of statistical models to predict species distributions and suitable habitat has become an essential tool for wildlife management and conservation planning. Models have been especially useful with rare and endangered wildlife species. One such species is the mountain nyala (Tragelaphus buxtoni), a spiral-horned antelope endemic to the Ethiopian highlands. The full range of the species has never been adequately defined and recent discoveries of new populations suggest that others may exist undetected. To identify potential mountain nyala occurrences, we used classification tree analysis to predict suitable habitat using 76 climatic, topographical and vegetative variables. Three model evaluation methods showed a strong performance of the final model with an overall accuracy of 90%, Cohen's maximised κ of 0.80 and area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUC) value of 0.89. Minimum temperature and maximum precipitation generally had the greatest predictive contributions to suitable mountain nyala habitat. The predicted habitat covered an area of 39378 km 2 , with the majority occurring in remote forests on the southern escarpment of the Bale Mountains. Other areas within the predicted range may be too impacted by human and livestock populations to support mountain nyala; however, the model will be useful in directing future surveys for new populations while offering clues to the species historical range.

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“…For example, during his Andean expedition, Alexander von Humboldt noticed that temperatures decreased as elevation increased, and, concomitantly, plant species changed (von Humboldt & Bonpland, 1807). From these observations, the hypothesis of altitudinal zonation was developed and remains a topic of investigation to this day (Snowden, 1933;Johns, 1985;Ohsawa et al, 1985;Druitt et al, 1990;Frahm & Gradstein, 1991;Uhlig & Uhlig, 1991;Pendry & Proctor, 1996;Kessler, 2000;Sklenář, 2006). Similarly, Alwyn Gentry is perhaps best known for his long-standing hypotheses regarding the origin and maintenance of Neotropical floristic diversity, especially how it relates to biogeography and landscape change through time (Gentry, 1982a(Gentry, , 1982b(Gentry, , 1988(Gentry, , 1992.…”

Section: Contributions Of Historical Collections To Our Modern Undersmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Central Role of Taxonomy in the Study of Neotropical Biodiversity

Lagomarsino

Frost

2020

annals

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The Neotropics are the most species-rich area of the planet. Understanding the origin and maintenance of this diversity is an important goal of ecology and evolutionary biology. Success in this endeavor relies heavily on the past work of taxonomists who have collected specimens and produced the floras and monographs that constitute the foundation for the study of plant diversity. To illustrate this, we visualize collecting efforts through time and identify the importance of past taxonomic and collection efforts in generating the bulk of specimen data that broad-scale analyses rely on today. To demonstrate the importance of taxonomy for the study of Neotropical biodiversity, we showcase selected plant groups in which in-depth taxonomic understanding has facilitated exciting evolutionary and ecological research and highlight the teams of scientists who have built on the legacy of Alwyn Gentry, one of the most prolific taxonomists of the late 20th century. We also discuss challenges faced by taxonomists, including perceived subjectivity, difficulty in measuring impact, and the need to become more interdisciplinary. We end with potential solutions going forward, including integration of taxonomists in interdisciplinary research, advocacy for continued collection efforts, increased funding for alpha taxonomic research that is performed with increasingly replicable methodology, and explicit decolonization efforts to increase inclusivity and equity in the field of taxonomy. Acknowledging the central role of taxonomy and taxonomists is essential to accurately and completely describe Neotropical biodiversity patterns in an age of unprecedented extinction risk and conservation need.

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Studies on the Altitudinal Zonation of Forests and Alpine Plants in the Central Bale Mountains, Ethiopia

Cited by 16 publications

References 0 publications

Vegetation dynamics, and land use and land cover change in the Bale Mountains, Ethiopia

Vegetation dynamics, and land use and land cover change in the Bale Mountains, Ethiopia

Predicting habitat suitability for the endemic mountain nyala (Tragelaphus buxtoni) in Ethiopia

The Central Role of Taxonomy in the Study of Neotropical Biodiversity

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