Walia Special Edition on the Bale Mountains (2011) - Zoologische ...

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The Changing Face of the Bale Mountains National Park over 32 years: A Study of Land Cover Change Eyob Teshome, Deborah Randall and Anouska Kinahan* Frankfurt Zoological Society, Bale Mountains Conservation Project, PO Box 165, Robe, Ethiopia *Email: anouskakinahan@fzs.org Abstract The Bale Mountains National Park provides a number of important ecological and hydrological services locally, regionally, and globally. However, the park and its services are under immense pressure as a result of a rapidly increasing human population settling within and around its boundaries. It is well documented that human pressures can alter and transform land cover. Using GIS and remote sensing, this study examines and describes the changes in land cover throughout the park over a 32 year period, during which human population pressure is known to have increased over time. We analyzed satellite images from the years 1973, 2000 and 2005 in a Digital Image Processing system to produce a time series of land cover maps and used GIS to advance the analysis and to trace land cover and landscape dynamics during the study period. It was found that montane forest, which comprises more than 40% of the total area, was lost at an average annual rate of 3.74 km2 during the study period. Nearly 120 km2 of montane forest was lost during this period. Conversely, glades, clearings within montane forest, steadily increased in area at an average annual rate of 1.14 km2 . Such dynamics were also observed in the Afroalpine where pasture lands are expanding very rapidly at a rate of 28 km2 per year, particularly between 2000 and 2005, at a cost of Erica, montane forest and woodland which in turn are shrinking at a rate of 13 km2 , 15 km2 and 1.77 km2 every year through out this period. Moreover, this study also found that the numbers of patches in all the land cover classes were increasing while average patch size decreased. This study shows that forest and woodlands are being transformed into grasslands across the study area as well as nearly all land cover classes undergoing fragmentation. We suggest that such landscape transformations are as a result of increased human pressure in the park which appears to be accelerated in more recent times. Introduction Studying changes in land cover, such as cropland, forest, wetland, pasture, and land use, such as grazing, agriculture, urban development, logging, and mining is a central element to understanding local and global environmental changes and their driving forces (Meyer 1995). Understanding such dynamics can aid policy makers to give due attention and optimize their resource allocation either on the driver side through prevention or impact side through mitigation. Change detection is “…the process of identifying differences in the state of an object or phenomenon by observing it at different times” (Singh 1989). It is an important process in monitoring <strong>Walia</strong>-<strong>Special</strong> <strong>Edition</strong> on the Bale Mountains 118
and managing natural resources and urban development because it provides quantitative analysis of the spatial distribution of the population of interest (Chen 2002). Information about change is necessary for updating land cover maps and the management of natural resources which can be obtained by visiting sites on the ground and or extracting it from remotely sensed data (xiaomei and Rong qing 1999). In addition to studying land cover change, examining land cover distribution particularly in reference to fragmentation where habitats are transformed into smaller patches (Wilcove et al. 1986), context can be extremely useful in helping us identify the underlying forces driving such changes (Nagendra et al. 2004). Land cover change results from two important causes; natural and anthropogenic. Although natural events such as flood, fire, and drought may modify land cover globally, the principal cause of alteration of land cover is human use, agriculture, over-grazing, forest harvesting and urbanization (Meyer 2005, Vitosek et al. 1997). Currently, human induced modifications of land cover are advancing at a very high rate and greatly affect most of the earth’s surface (FAO 1983). Such changes can lead to, among other things, loss of biodiversity (Skole et al. 1994), soil erosion, fluctuation in wetlands (Detenbeck 1993) and reduction in carbon storage (Kates et al. 1990). Therefore it is important to not only understand land cover changes but also the factors driving these changes and, subsequently, the consequences of such changes (Ehrlich 1998). Conventional methods, which rely on field studies for monitoring land cover change, are labor intensive, time consuming and carried out relatively infrequently. Resulting land cover maps soon become outdated; particularly in a rapidly changing environment, making it difficult to monitor changes with such methods of surveying (Olorunfemi 1983). In recent years, satellite remote sensing techniques have been developed, which have proved to be of immense value for preparing accurate land use and land cover maps and monitoring changes at regular intervals of time (Harries and Ventura 1995). For example, in inaccessible regions, this technique is perhaps the only method of obtaining the required data in a cost and time efficient manner. The use of remote sensing then allows long term monitoring of land cover and land use which is an important first step to understanding the processes that cause such changes and, thus, developing conservation strategies to address them. The Bale Mountains National Park (BMNP) is the most important conservation area in Ethiopia. The international, national and regional values of the park are immense. The level at which this is true can be split into two broad categories: the extent to which human communities, both local and distant, are dependent on ecological processes within the Bale massif (Tadesse et al. this edition), and the importance of the area for biodiversity conservation (Asefa this edition). However, there has been an increase in human habitation within and outside the park over the last thirty years, which has accelerated particularly in the past 10 years. Population estimates in 2000 revealed 1,217,864 people living in the Bale Zone (EthioGIS 1999). From the observations we have made, it was noted that the people are making a living from farming, grazing and illegal logging, to name a few (see also Watson et al. this edition). Such activities increasingly place the natural resources and wildlife under immense pressure (OARDB 2007). <strong>Walia</strong>-<strong>Special</strong> <strong>Edition</strong> on the Bale Mountains 119
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Walia Spec
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This Special <stro
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Foreword The Bale Mountains are uni
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FACTORS AFFECTING FIRE ExTENT AND F
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Introduction This Special</
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Mammals of the Bale Mountains Natio
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History and Physical Features of th
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Name of Order Name of Family No of
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wolf is a rare canid endemic to the
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Hillman. J. C. 1993. Ethiopia: Comp
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Scientific name Common name Sources
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Structuring of the Birds of the Bal
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interactions? 2) Would such classif
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feeding habit and the related bill
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Table 1. Component loadings of fora
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Assemblage 1 Assemblage 2 Assemblag
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of a community there must be a prem
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Hillman, J.C. 1986. The Bale Mounta
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1995a; Sillero-Zubiri et al. 2004,
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Monitoring Activities the Bale Moun
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Table 1. Packs monitored in the Bal
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long-term study areas. However, tot
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Creel, S., Spong, G., Sands, J.L.,
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Observations on the Status of the M
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The Bale Mountains Figure 1. The kn
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of the park’s interior, where hum
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The Ahmar (Chercher) Mountains The
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Casuarina equisetiflium lia, Hageni
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Threats Predictably, the main threa
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populations within hunting blocks a
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Population Estimates and Diet of St
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To identify the types and proportio
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Table 3. Coverage of plant species
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for eating grass species. During th
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Ecology and Reproductive Strategy o
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overall diet (36% of total prey occ
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Table 1. Ethiopian wolf density (in
Page 75 and 76: encounters between neighbouring wol
Page 77 and 78: No new packs were formed between 19
Page 79 and 80: Cooperative Breeding Role of helper
Page 81 and 82: Mean feeding rate (contributions/ho
Page 83 and 84: successful dispersal are very low,
Page 85 and 86: References Ashenafi, Z.T. 2001. Com
Page 87 and 88: Solomon, N. G., and French, J.A. Ed
Page 89 and 90: Figure 1. The Bale monkey (Cercopit
Page 91 and 92: Survey method - Dec 06-Jan 07 Line
Page 93 and 94: Table 3. Estimates of population de
Page 95 and 96: Monitoring and management prioritie
Page 97 and 98: Amphibians and Reptiles Recorded fr
Page 99 and 100: Lizards Agamidae Acanthocercus atri
Page 101 and 102: to just two montane sites in Harenn
Page 103 and 104: used for comparison. The study reve
Page 105 and 106: Mapping High-Altitude Vegetation in
Page 107 and 108: of the alpine vegetation have been
Page 109 and 110: Observers located each point by GPS
Page 111 and 112: Figure 1. Afroalpine vegetation in
Page 113 and 114: other, and class N from O, because
Page 115 and 116: J. mima mounds and grazed mineral s
Page 117 and 118: Node Clusters Species in 1st cluste
Page 119 and 120: A. Arboreal heather/lake -E 64.6 +W
Page 121 and 122: A. Arboreal heather/lake 82 ± 176
Page 123 and 124: elevations of 4100-4200 m a.s.l. in
Page 125: Miehe, G. and Miehe, S. 1994. Erica
Page 129 and 130: The Bale Mountains National Park is
Page 131 and 132: The ground-truthing points made up
Page 133 and 134: Table 2. Table showing the area for
Page 135 and 136: Table 5. Description of patchiness
Page 137 and 138: Acknowledgments This study was fund
Page 139 and 140: Characteristics and Origins of Glad
Page 141 and 142: Figure 1. Map with the approximate
Page 143 and 144: Table 1. Main characteristics of th
Page 145 and 146: Table 2. Soil Properties at two dep
Page 147 and 148: Total aboveground biomass ranged fr
Page 149 and 150: There might be some evidence for th
Page 151 and 152: Appendix 1. Attributes for soil pro
Page 153 and 154: Ogate (altitude 1753 m) Water Site
Page 155 and 156: the loss of natural forests due to
Page 157 and 158: Results Fire extent and frequency A
Page 159 and 160: Soil type Over 50% of the total num
Page 161 and 162: Distance to settlements The frequen
Page 163 and 164: than expected given there available
Page 165 and 166: MOA 2000. Ethiopian Forest Status R
Page 167 and 168: among seasons are usually only a fe
Page 169 and 170: In contrast to the northern highlan
Page 171 and 172: Table 1. The distribution, species
Page 173 and 174: it was absent from the central subz
Page 175 and 176: Figure 2. Population structure of t
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Fetene, M., Gashaw, M., Nauke, P. a
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Bale Mountain Lakes: Ecosystems Und
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occurrence above 4000 m. Rainfall i
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Table 1. List of the sampled waterb
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total nitrogen, chlorophyll a, cond
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Eggermont H., Russell, J.M.. Schett
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Direct Consumptive Use Value of Eco
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As more literature seeks to explore
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Table 1. Ecosystem goods and servic
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Figure 1. Map of the Bale Mountains
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2(a) Crop Production HH Crop Value
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3(a) Mean Household Annual Direct C
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accruing to households. Although no
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Acknowledgements This study was mad
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Livestock Grazing in Bale Mountains
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evidence that low levels of grazing
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wildlife, especially the mountain n
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and control sites (areas where live
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several of the Bale ecosystem compo
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Paine, R. T. and Vadas, R. L. 1969.
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their hives. Hive and tree types we
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HOROqqA (Bersama abyssinica, Melian
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Value Chain Analysis for Bamboo Ori
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data recorded by the Development Ag
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Amongst the interviewees, 80% of pe
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Producers As reported previously, b
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The above figure shows the various
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(6) BERSMP and all other stakeholde
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The Distribution, Properties and Us
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preliminary data. From the prelimin
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Figure 1. Map of the southern part
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Addeye All the 11 horas in Addeye a
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Tabalas are used for healing purpos
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Cultural value and history The use
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(Barrett-Lennard 2003). Finally, pr
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Appendix ph Colour Salinity (mS) Ta
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Villages using the hora Animals vis
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General Management Planning for the
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BMNP Management History Since its i
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effectively and efficiently impleme
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Problems and Issues A problems and
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understood threats were also identi
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Park Operations Programme This prog
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according to its core vision and pr
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People in National Parks - Joint Na
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pastoralists, as part of pastoral s
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of wild animals (Stephens et al. 20
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have experience in the implementati
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2004) or conservation and livelihoo
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• The redefinition of protected a
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Risk of Disease Transmission Betwee
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aspects of these factors, including
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ecorded as “point vegetation” f
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Table 1: Composition of 326 ungulat
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Table 3. Distance from road at whic
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Transmission risk Clearly, disease
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Dunn, A.M. 1968. The wild ruminant
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however continues to rise and in 19
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Tourism in the Bale Mountains Natio
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the past 5 years tourism activities
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assist with implementation of the t
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An increase in tourism investment i
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at a loss of approximately ETB 10,0
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Can Carbon Contribute to Conservati
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emains. The more recently coined RE
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Benefits The implementation of such
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or meet the minimum costs necessary
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Table 1. Financial forecast for 20
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across Africa. Biological Conservat
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sets, extract relevant bits of info
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What to Monitor? The question of wh
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scale as a balance where one side r
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through existing databases not only
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The moral of these stories are that
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anger based monitoring system is a
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spatial and temporal extent of the
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IUCN Red Listed Species Description
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Appendix 2: Metadata form A digital
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and climate data, AVHRR NDVI data,
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http://www.mentorsoftwareinc.com Me
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Individual Arrest Form Index No. Lo
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If for Commercial Market: □ in yo
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• Improve research work on wildli
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• Development Partners (donors) a
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Sustainable Development of the Prot
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I. Personal details Ethiopian Wildl
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Publication Financially Supported b
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