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

(from 4.3% in 1973 to 2.13% in 2005). Woodland, montane forest, Erica forest and Erica shrub all
showed a decrease in total area whereas pasture and glade showed an increase (Table 4). We found
that woodland declined by 51% from 1973 to 2005. However the largest change was recorded
between 1973 and 2000 where 45 % was lost. The second largest loss in total area was recorded for
Erica forest which declined by 21% between 1973 and 2005. Similarly, we found montane forest
area decrease by 12 % from 1973 to 2005. In contrast, glades and pasture showed rapid expansion.
Glades increased by 190 % from 1973 to 2000, a gain of 45 km2, while pasture also increased by
128% (153 km2 ). We further found that the annual rate of change was faster for Montane forest
and pasture in the second period. During this period, rate of land cover loss of the Montane forest
increased from 1.6 to 15 km2 /year whereas the pasture showed an increase in total area from 0.5
to 28 km2 /year. Helichrysum either increased or decreased in area depending on the phase, with an
increase (63.3%) in area between 1973 and 2000 and a decrease (3.85%) between 2000 and 2005.
Nearly 60% of the study area remained unchanged throughout the study period, of which 40% of the
unchanged habitat was montane forest and 7% Erica forest.
Table 4. Change in each land cover class shown as total percentage change and annual area change
over the study period (1973-2005)
Land Cover
Total Area
Change
(Km 2 )
Rate of change
1973 to 2000 2000 to 2005 1973 to 2005
Total Area
Change (%)
Annual
Change
(Km 2 /Year)
Total Area
Change
(Km 2 )
Total Area
Change (%)
Annual
Change
(Km 2 /Year)
Total Area
Change
<strong>Walia</strong>-<strong>Special</strong> <strong>Edition</strong> on the Bale Mountains 126
(Km 2 )
Total Area
Change (%)
Annual
Change
(Km 2 /Year)
EF -26.32 -9.91 -0.97 -30.38 -12.69 -6.08 -56.71 -21.35 -1.77
ESH -29.18 -10.97 -1.08 -30.3 -12.8 -6.06 -59.48 -22.37 -1.86
GLA 21.88 92.36 0.81 23.31 51.15 4.66 45.19 190.76 1.41
HEL 85.27 63.3 3.16 -8.48 -3.85 -1.7 76.79 57 2.4
MF -44.38 -4.45 -1.64 -75.29 -7.91 -15.06 -119.67 -12.01 -3.74
OWL -43.95 -45.06 -1.63 -6 -11.19 -1.2 -49.95 -51.21 -1.56
PAS 13.45 11.19 0.5 140.19 104.93 28.04 153.64 127.87 4.8
SHR-GL-
PAS 23.23 7.03 0.86 -13.05 -3.69 -2.61 10.18 3.08 0.32
Patchiness
In general, the number of patches for all land cover classes increased throughout the study area over
time, with a corresponding decrease in average patch size (Table 5). In contrast however, although
glade showed an increase in number of patches (8,158 to 19,327) and a decrease in average patch
size (0.29 km2 to 0.24 km2 ) in the first period (1997 to 2000) in more recent times (2000 to 2005),
this class showed a decrease in patch number and an increase in average patch size (to 10,127 and to
0.68 km2 respectively). Pasture land also appears to be different to the other classes with a decrease
in the first period (6.77 to 0.68) followed by an increase (to 0.74), in total area in the second period,
irrespective of the continuous increase in number of patches (1,776, 19,745 and 37,218).