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

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The Status of the Ericaceous Vegetation on the Southern Slope of the Bale Mountains Yoseph Assefa 1* , Karsten Wesche 2 and Masresha Fetene 3 *Email: yoseph1assefa@yahoo.com Abstract The Bale mountain range hosts several endemic species of flora and fauna, some of which are threatened with extinction. The southern slopes of this mountain range are known for the distinct altitudinal zonation of the Afromontane forests, and the most extensive Ericaceous vegetation on the continent. This study on the distribution and structure of Ericaceous vegetation was conducted on the southern slopes of the Bale Mountains, at the Harenna escarpment. The Ericaceous vegetation north of Rira village was sampled systematically along an altitudinal gradient between 3000 m and 4200 m. Thirteen community types were identified that are distributed in the lower, central, and upper subzone of the Ericaceous vegetation. Some of the communities occur in all subzones, while others are restricted to one and/or two subzones. Erica trimera is the only species that was distributed over the entire altitudinal range, while Erica arborea was absent from the lower subzone. E. trimera showed a gradual transition in height and life-form along the altitudinal gradient. This might be related with increase in environmental stress at higher altitude. Schefflera volkensii is restricted to the lower subzones. Hypericum revolutum, Myrsine melanophloeos and Discopodium penninervium are restricted to the lower and central subzone of the Ericaceous vegetation. An analysis of the population structure of woody species revealed that only Myrsine melanophloes showed a healthy distribution (inverted “J“ shape distribution). The other species exhibit abnormal size class distributions that may indicate a problem in reproduction and/or recruitment. The Ericaceous belt of the Bale Mountains is seriously affected by progressively increasing impact of human activities. Cattle and horses exert heavy pressure on the vegetation, especially at the lower altitudes. The Ericaceous shrubs are cut for fuel wood and are frequently burnt by the local people for various reasons. This has led to a reduced biodiversity in the region with possible consequences for other ecological services including water retention capacity. Supplementary fuel from forest plantations is urgently required to reduce pressure on the natural forest. Alternative income-generating activities need to be introduced to reduce the pressure on the natural vegetation. Background and Introduction In tropical climates, diurnal variations of temperatures are much more pronounced than the seasonal changes. Hedberg (1951) characterized the Afroalpine environment as “summer everyday and winter every night“, referring to the pronounced diurnal changes with frosts at night time, while differences <strong>Walia</strong>-<strong>Special</strong> <strong>Edition</strong> on the Bale Mountains 158
among seasons are usually only a few °C. While thermal seasons are thus weakly pronounced, wet season are often clear because most tropical mountains lie outside the permanently moist tropics (Smith 1980; Rundel 1994). Soil temperatures of 5.9 - 7.3°C are often described to coincide with the treeline position (Rundel 1994; Miehe and Miehe 1994); this goes back to an earlier proposal of a threshold at 7°C mean soil temperature (Walter and Medina 1969). There is a wide range of divergent opinions on the interactions between plant life form and microclimate. Koerner (1999, 2003) argues that the tree life-form is disadvantageous on high mountains because the vertical stature results in close coupling to the ambient climate and thus in more severe stress in the free air than near the ground. However, ecophysiological research on the giant rosette plant Lobelia rhynchopetalum, which builds tree-like life-forms in the Bale Mountains, showed that plants escape the pronounced diurnal fluctuations and the harsh environmental stress near the ground by having an arborescent habit (Masresha Fetene et al. 1998). A similar observation has been made on Mt. Elgon (Wesche 2002), and this has also been noted by O. Hedberg decades ago: “When camping in the alpine belt an explorer soon discovers that it pays better to put a sheep skin below the sleeping bag than on top of it – the cold comes from the surface of the ground” (p. 23, Hedberg 1964). Centuries of human land use have fundamentally altered tropical-alpine landscapes particularly in Africa (Miehe 2000). The lower Afroalpine belt has been severely affected by fires (Hedberg 1964), which are responsible for the patchy vegetation structure (Wesche et al. 2000). Fires are mostly man-made, and caused a depression of the actual treeline in most mountain ranges (Miehe and Miehe 1994; Wesche et al. 2000). Regions above 3000 m a.s.l. including the treeline ecotone in eastern Africa are characterized by Ericaceous vegetation (Miehe and Miehe 1994), which comprises a number of taxa with small sclerophyllous leaves. The most prominent family is the Ericaceae, which is distributed throughout the world. The sub-family Ericoideae is restricted to Africa, the Mediterranean and northern Europe (Beentje 1994); Erica itself is a macrogenus with a largely artificial taxonomy. The Bale Mountains have the most extensive Ericaceous vegetation in east Africa and the largest Afroalpine environment of all (Hedberg 1986; Miehe and Miehe 1994). The mountains host a unique mixture of various biogeographical elements. Important endemic mammals in the area include the giant mole rat (Tachyoryctes macrocephalus), but also the endangered Ethiopian wolf (Canis simensis), which has its most important habitat there (Sillero-Zubiri et al. 1995). The flora is still not completely known, but there are a number of endemic and / or endangered species (Hedberg 1975; Miehe and Miehe 1994). Although the Ericaceous vegetation of the Bale Mountains is claimed to be relatively intact (Miehe and Miehe 1994) and more spatially extensive than in other regions of eastern Africa, it is frequently cleared by local communities to create new pastures and arable land. The growing concern for the destruction of mountain ecosystems in general, and the importance of this particular mountain region as a refuge for the endemic fauna and flora (Brown 1973), calls for rapid action in conservation and management. This in turn requires baseline data on the ecology of the prominent <strong>Walia</strong>-<strong>Special</strong> <strong>Edition</strong> on the Bale Mountains 159
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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
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encounters between neighbouring wol
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No new packs were formed between 19
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Cooperative Breeding Role of helper
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Mean feeding rate (contributions/ho
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successful dispersal are very low,
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References Ashenafi, Z.T. 2001. Com
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Solomon, N. G., and French, J.A. Ed
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Figure 1. The Bale monkey (Cercopit
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Survey method - Dec 06-Jan 07 Line
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Table 3. Estimates of population de
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Monitoring and management prioritie
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Amphibians and Reptiles Recorded fr
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Lizards Agamidae Acanthocercus atri
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to just two montane sites in Harenn
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used for comparison. The study reve
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Mapping High-Altitude Vegetation in
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of the alpine vegetation have been
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Observers located each point by GPS
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Figure 1. Afroalpine vegetation in
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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 and 126: Miehe, G. and Miehe, S. 1994. Erica
Page 127 and 128: and managing natural resources and
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: MOA 2000. Ethiopian Forest Status R
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
Page 177 and 178: Fetene, M., Gashaw, M., Nauke, P. a
Page 179 and 180: Bale Mountain Lakes: Ecosystems Und
Page 181 and 182: occurrence above 4000 m. Rainfall i
Page 183 and 184: Table 1. List of the sampled waterb
Page 185 and 186: total nitrogen, chlorophyll a, cond
Page 187 and 188: Eggermont H., Russell, J.M.. Schett
Page 189 and 190: Direct Consumptive Use Value of Eco
Page 191 and 192: As more literature seeks to explore
Page 193 and 194: Table 1. Ecosystem goods and servic
Page 195 and 196: Figure 1. Map of the Bale Mountains
Page 197 and 198: 2(a) Crop Production HH Crop Value
Page 199 and 200: 3(a) Mean Household Annual Direct C
Page 201 and 202: accruing to households. Although no
Page 203 and 204: Acknowledgements This study was mad
Page 205 and 206: Livestock Grazing in Bale Mountains
Page 207 and 208: evidence that low levels of grazing
Page 209 and 210: wildlife, especially the mountain n
Page 211 and 212: and control sites (areas where live
Page 213 and 214: several of the Bale ecosystem compo
Page 215 and 216: 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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