Environmental Challenges (Jan 2024)
Land use change impose variation on woody fodder species composition, and production in the dryland ecosystem of West Guji southern Ethiopia
Abstract
In response to increasing population pressure and climate change impacts, shifting from communal grazing land to enclosure and cropland is widely advocated as an alternative means of living. However, little is known about how the change in land use affect fodder woody vegetation composition, and production in dryland areas. The present study, aimed to investigate the impacts of land use change on woody fodder species composition, and production in the dry land area of western Guji, Southern Ethiopia. We used multi-stage sampling techniques to collect primary data. A total of 54 sample plots were established through systematic random sampling, 18 per land use type (enclosure, communal grazing, and cropland).In total, 61 woody species belonging to 28 families were recorded, with 56 being used as fodder and five (5) not. The mean total species richness were significantly (p < 0.05) higher in the enclosures (19.3 ± 7.11) than in communal grazing (13.3 ± 3.23) and lower in cropland (3.3 ± 1.18). Besides, the Sorensen similarity index for studied land uses ranged from 3 % - to 52 %. The highest Shannon index was recorded from enclosures (3.76) while the least (1.86) from croplands and communal grazing land (3.31) was in between the two. The population structure of woody species revealed a bell shape for communal grazing lands, a reversed J-shape for enclosures, and a J-shape for cropland. The highest woody fodder production was obtained from enclosures (11.58 ± 1.34 kg/plant), followed by communal grazing (7.73 ± 0.67 kg/plant) and cropland (4.24 ± 0.33 kg/plant).In conclusion, a shift from communal grazing to enclosure promotes the woody species composition, while a shift to cropland reduces it. Therefore, it recommended for agro-pastoralists to scale up enclosures as it enhances diversity and grows woody species on cropland, as cropland has the lowest diversity of species.
