Comparative Study of Woody Species Composition, Diversity, Structure and Regeneration Status in Traditionally Managed Coffee Agro-forestry System Adjacent to Natural Forest in Gimbo District, Southwest Ethiopia

Abstract

Abstract Diversity of woody species in natural forests has been threatened by unwise use of forest resources globally. This study was conducted to assess the woody species diversity, structure and regeneration status in the traditionally managed coffee agro-forestry system adjacent to natural forest. The study used vegetation inventory, focus group discussion and key informant interview. Vegetation data were collected from 60(sixty) sample plots (30 from natural forest and 30 from traditionally managed coffee agro-forestry). A sample plot of 20 mx20 m was used for tree and five sub plots in the main plot were used to collect seedling/sapling and shrubs. The result revealed that a total of 75 (53 from natural forest and 22 from coffee agro-forestry system) woody species belonging to 33 were found in the study area. Rubiaceae, Rutaceae and Euphorbiaceae were the dominant families in natural forest while Euphorbiaceae, Rubiaceae, Araliaceae, Moraceae and Boraginaceae are dominant families in coffee ago-forestry system. Sorensen’s coefficient of similarity (SS) (42.76%) indicated similarity of species composition between natural forests and traditionally managed coffee agro-forestry was low. Diversity indices revealed that evenness, Shannon’s and Simpson diversity in natural forest were significantly higher than (p < 0.001) in traditionally managed coffee agro-forestry system. The result also shows that the traditionally managed coffee agro-forestry system has negatively influenced the composition, diversity, and structure and regeneration status of woody species in the study area. Thus, appropriate shade tree management need to be implemented to simultaneously improve the productivity of coffee and conserve woody species diversity in traditionally managed coffee agro-forestry system.