The effect of land use on the recruitment and population structure of the important food and fodder plant, Dobera glabra (Forssk.) Poir., in northern Afar, Ethiopia

Intense use of woody plants in a semiarid environment of Northern Ethiopia: Effects on species composition, richness and diversity

“…Forest ecosystems have been frequently altered through logging (Haugo et al, 2010;Lemenih and Bongers, 2011) and land use change (Tsegaye et al, 2010), affecting plant species composition and diversity (Burrascano et al, 2008). Directly or indirectly, human livelihoods depend on forests and forest products and harvesting of plants for domestic and commercial uses, such as energy supply and construction materials, are common in human-dominated forest ecosystems.…”

Seed predation and moisture limit germination of recalcitrant Dobera glabra (Salvadoraceae) seeds in the Afar rangelands, Ethiopia

“…The most common vegetation types include scattered bushland dominated by Acacia species with poor or no herbaceous cover (Tsegaye et al, 2010b). Details are given by Tsegaye et al (2010a).…”

“…D. glabra grows in dry areas where annual rainfall ranges from 100 to 600 mm. Details are given by Tsegaye et al (2010a). The fruit is greenish turning purple when mature, and with 1e2 seeds (BekeleTesemma et al, 1993).…”

“…D. glabra can easily be recognized in dry-season and in times of drought because of the evergreen leaves while many other plants shed leaves and remain dry in the Afar rangelands. The abundance and population status of D. glabra in the study area is given by Tsegaye et al (2010a). D. glabra is among the highly valuable woody species that provides browse for animals, edible fruits and seeds, shade, firewood, timber and medicine for humans (Tsegaye et al, 2007).…”

“…Poir., which is under threat due to lack of recruitment for unknown reasons. Although the importance of D. glabra is highly appreciated by the local people for its multipurpose use including edible fruit pulp and seeds, recruitment failure has been a great concern (Tsegaye et al, 2009(Tsegaye et al, , 2010a. The fruit ripens during the late dry-season (i.e., from May to June) and the seed is considered a typical famine-food in Afar (Tsegaye et al, 2007).…”