ACKNOWLEDGEMENTSI am very grateful to my supervisors Professor Wilhelm Barthlott, director at the BotanicalInstitute, <strong>and</strong> Professor Paul L.G. Vlek, director at <strong>ZEF</strong>, University of Bonn, for acceptingme as student, <strong>and</strong> their continuous guidance during my study. Professor Vlek has alsosupported to secure the necessary funding for my study.I would like to extend my heartfelt appreciation to my mentors Dr. ManfredDenich of <strong>ZEF</strong>, Dr. Thomas Borsch of the Botanical Institute, <strong>and</strong> Dr. Demel Teketay,Director General of EARO, for their close supervision of my research, <strong>and</strong> for visiting meduring the fieldwork in Ethiopia. Constructive comments from Dr. Denich <strong>and</strong> Dr. Borschon the draft dissertation were very helpful to improve it. I am especially thankful to Dr.Demel Teketay, who has continuously supported my work, beginning with inception of theresearch idea, research site selection, <strong>and</strong> a number of field visits during the progress of theresearch.I would like to thank Ms. Margaret Jend for checking the English of this thesis,<strong>and</strong> Dr Günther Maske <strong>and</strong> Ms. Hanna Peters, for their support <strong>and</strong> excellent coordinationat <strong>ZEF</strong>. I very much appreciate the assistance <strong>and</strong> friendship of Tewodros Tsegaye, AdefresWorku, Teshome Eshete, Shiferaw Alem, Yonas Yohannes <strong>and</strong> Dinka Amante during thefieldwork. I also would like to thank Dr. Eyilachew Zewdie for his help in soil sampling,Dr. Soojin Park of <strong>ZEF</strong> <strong>and</strong> Dr. Matthias Braun of Center for Remote Sensing on L<strong>and</strong>Applications (ZFL) for helpful discussions regarding GIS-related analysis, <strong>and</strong> Mr. GirmaTaye of EARO for discussion on sampling design. Prof. Sebsebe Demissew, <strong>and</strong> DrEnsermu Kelbessa of Addis Ababa University allowed me to use the facilities of theNational Herbarium; Dr. Sileshi Nemomsa, Getachew Tesfaye, Feyera Senbeta, DagneDuguma <strong>and</strong> Melaku Wondafrash helped in identification of the plant specimens.I am very grateful for the support <strong>and</strong> friendship of the Ethiopian students <strong>and</strong>Families, especially Dr. Abay Asfaw <strong>and</strong> his family, Dawit Tesfaye <strong>and</strong> his family,Edilegnaw Wale, Kassahun Tesfaye, Mekuria Argaw <strong>and</strong> his family, Samson Kassahun,Tameru Alemu, Tsegaye Yilma <strong>and</strong> his family, for their hospitality <strong>and</strong> good friendshipwhich made me feel home during my stay in Bonn. Many friends, both back home <strong>and</strong>
overseas were encouraging <strong>and</strong> supporting me in different ways, especially Bekele Debele,Dejene Abdissa Merga, Dr. Tilahun Muleta, Fekadu Abrham, Jemal Ibrahim, <strong>and</strong> WorkuBedhane.I am grateful to many of the colleagues at <strong>ZEF</strong>, who come from different parts ofthe world with different cultural backgrounds, for sharing their ideas <strong>and</strong> creating a goodworking atmosphere, just to name few of them: Bart Wickel (the Netherl<strong>and</strong>s), Dr.Crammer Kayuki Kaizzi (Ug<strong>and</strong>a), Daniel Tsegai (Eritrea), Lubica Paparcíková (Slovakia),Luna Bharati (Nepal), Dr. Maria Andrea De Macale (Philippines), Dr. Mercy Gichora(Kenya), Dr. Muhammad Mohsin Hafeez (Pakistan), Dr. Pooja Sawhney (India), Dr.Rahayu Widyastuti (Indonesia), Dr. Rolf Sommer (Germany), Roukayatou Zimmermann(Cameroon), Sanaa Ashour (Palestine) <strong>and</strong> Dr. Zhaohua Li (China).I am very much indebted to my brothers Gedefa Woldemariam <strong>and</strong> ZenebeKebede, <strong>and</strong> their families, especially Tsigie Adugna <strong>and</strong> Geremu Negat, for theirhospitality, moral support <strong>and</strong> kindness at all times. I thank Kefyalew Adugna, LijalemAsrat <strong>and</strong> their families, who supported me in all means they could. Many more friends <strong>and</strong>relatives have supported me in different ways during my study. I am, indeed, thankful fortheir support.This research would not have been possible without my sponsors, the CatholicAcademic Exchange Service (KAAD), the Center for <strong>Development</strong> Research (<strong>ZEF</strong>), theGottlieb Daimler <strong>and</strong> Karl Benz Foundation, <strong>and</strong> the Ethiopian Agricultural ResearchOrganization (EARO). I would like to thank them for their kind assistance both financially<strong>and</strong> in helping with materials <strong>and</strong> logistics. The Illubabor Zone <strong>and</strong> the Yayu Districtdepartment of agriculture <strong>and</strong> the District administration were very collaborative tofacilitate my fieldwork.