Tree Community Composition and Dispersal Syndrome Vary with Human Disturbance in Sacred Church Forests in Ethiopia

Abstract

Research Highlights: Variations in species composition across church forests in northern Ethiopia were driven more by variations in human disturbance and community forest management than forest size. The degree of human disturbance acted as an environmental filter that selected for weedy, exotic, and wind-dispersed species regardless of forest size. Background and Objectives: Forest fragmentation can profoundly influence the long-term persistence of forests on the landscape. Habitat fragmentation can increase edge effects and limit dispersal between forest patches. In the South Gondar Administrative Zone in northern Ethiopia, many of the remaining forests are small sacred church forests governed by the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahido Church. Materials and Methods: We examined the drivers of woody plant species composition across 46 church forests in this region, including the influence of elevation, forest size, distance between forests, human disturbance, the presence of a wall, and the importance of local/individual community forest management at the Woreda level. We also examined how dispersal syndromes are influenced by increasing distance between forests and the extent of human disturbance within forests. Results: We found that elevational zone, distance between forests, the degree of human disturbance and Woreda had the greatest effect on species composition. Forest size and the presence of a wall were not significant drivers of species composition in these forests. Conclusions: We propose connecting forests through corridors or scattered trees to increase dispersal between forests, and greater on-the-ground protection efforts to restrict people and cattle from leaving the main trails within sacred forests.

Sacred forest biodiversity conservation: A meta‐analysis

“…Moreover, subsistence hunting may negatively impact animal diversity in some sacred forests (Lynch et al 2018). Nevertheless, recent studies indicate that ecosystem services such as pollination and dispersal (Ricketts, 2004; Ismail et al, 2017) are retained in sacred forests (Bossart and Antwi, 2016, Woods et al, 2020). These results highlight the importance of non‐plant taxa in sacred forests and emphasize the importance of monitoring non‐plant biodiversity that maintains the ecological function of forests.…”

Developing a palmyra palm sacred grove wellness tourism circuit in Tamil Nadu, India involving active stakeholders’ participation

“…Sacred Groves are generally undisturbed by human interaction. IUCN red list species are closely related with Sacred groves species (Woods et al, 2020).…”

Protected Areas in Forest Conservation: Challenges and Opportunities

“…Common management activities aimed at reducing high deforestation rates in large PAs and connecting these areas through restored forest corridors at the landscape level were proposed as a main priority in the study by Gizachew et al [9] in Tanzania. Connectivity of forests with corridors was also proposed to promote long-term persistence of sacred church forests in northern Ethiopia by increasing species dispersal rates and reducing human disturbance within forests [20]. Restoration of the structure and composition of remaining forest habitats and reforestation were proposed to be adopted in the Mississippi Alluvial Valley, as a small percentage of the forest patch area was currently protected [21].…”