Ecology and Development Series No. 10, 2003 - ZEF

Floristic analysis of the undisturbed forestAdditionally, the mean difference in environmental variables among thecommunity types was tested using one-way ANOVA and Duncan’s multiple range tests.The relationships between the environmental variables themselves and their relationshipwith the most characteristic species of each group or community type were also tested usingPearson’s correlation coefficient. The environmental variables used in these analyses arealtitude, slope, silt, clay, soil moisture content, soil pH, CEC, C-N ratio and distance fromGeba river. Methods for collecting the environmental data are described in chapter 3.2.1.4.3 Results4.3.1 Floristic compositionA total of 220 species of flowering plants, a conifer and ferns representing 73 families wererecorded from the study area (For the list of all plant species from the area and thevouchers, see Appendices 1 and 10 respectively). Out of these, there were 71 tree, 28 shrub,27 climber and 94 herbaceous plant species. The only conifer recorded in the area isPodocarpus falcatus; it was, however, not recorded in the sample plots. Likewise, manyspecies are rare in their occurrence and hence, only 160 species, representing 50 families,were recorded in the study plots. Of these, 102 species were woody plants (trees, shrubsand climbers). Quantitative data were collected for trees, shrubs and climbers species andanalyzed (Table 4.1,). The results and subsequent discussions in this study are restricted tothese 102 woody species, unless otherwise mentioned.Among the woody plants, trees are the dominant growth form, represented by 59species (57.8%), followed by shrubs (24 species, 23.5%) and climbers (19 species, 18.6%)(Table 4.1). All species recorded in the study plots are native. Most tree species have awidespread distribution (Table 4.1, Appendices 1 and 2). There are also many tree specieswith a restricted distribution range as either endemic or near-endemic (with somepopulations occurring in other floristic regions) to the Afromontane forest region (Table 4.1and Appendix 1).The summary of abundances, frequencies and basal areas of all plant species usedin quantitative analysis, including distribution types of tree species is presented in Table4.1. A few species of trees, shrubs and climbers dominate the forest vegetation. About 50%41