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

This study investigates land cover and land use changes in the BMNP, by examining temporal
changes in vegetation type with a known increase in population density. This study used a combination
of remote sensing and GIS. Specifically, we aim to describe land cover of the park at three points in
time (1973, 2000 and 2005) and determine a time series of land cover changes in the study area within
this 32 year period. We predicted that with an increase in human pressure we would find an accelerated
increase in land cover change occurring throughout the period (Dompka 1996). As is typical of land
conversion due to anthropogenic pressure and the increase in settlement and agricultural expansion
in the park, we predicted that there would be a reduction in forest areas and an increase in grassland/
shrubland habitats over the years. We further predicted that associated with the land cover loss would
be an overall increase in habitat fragmentation throughout the study area.
Method and Materials
Study area
The BMNP (39°28’ to 39°57’ longitude and 6°29’ to 7°10’ latitude) was established in 1970 by the
Ethiopian Wildlife Conservation Organization (EWCO) and is approximately 2200 km2 . The park is
located in the south west Ethiopian highlands in the Bale and West Arsi zones of Oromiya regional
state (Fig. 1). The elevation ranges from 1400 m a.s.l. to 4377 m a.s.l. and includes the largest extent
of Afroalpine (> 3000 m a.s.l.) on the continent (Fig. 2). This remarkable elevation gradient within
the park results in huge variation in temperature and rainfall, with higher temperatures but lower
rainfall occurring at lower altitudes and vice versa in higher altitudes.
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Figure 1 (left). Map showing location of the study area (hatched) and woredas in Bale Zone (solid
lines).
Figure 2 (right). Map showing elevation ranges occurring in the study area.
<strong>Walia</strong>-<strong>Special</strong> <strong>Edition</strong> on the Bale Mountains 120
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