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

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Successi<strong>on</strong>al trends<br />

Changes in <strong>the</strong> stand structure of <strong>the</strong> vegetati<strong>on</strong> caused by frequent fires are more apparent al<strong>on</strong>g<br />

<strong>the</strong> northwestern slopes of <strong>the</strong> <strong>Bale</strong> <strong>Mountains</strong> due to <strong>the</strong>ir proximity to towns (Masresha Fetene<br />

et al. 2005), but <strong>the</strong>re are also clear trends <strong>on</strong> <strong>the</strong> sou<strong>the</strong>rn slopes. Frequent fires and heavy grazing<br />

pressure have apparently induced transiti<strong>on</strong>s in <strong>the</strong> plant community compositi<strong>on</strong>: <strong>the</strong> usual sequence<br />

is from <strong>the</strong> Erica trimera-Helichrysum citrispinum community to <strong>the</strong> Euphorbia dumalis-Kniphofia<br />

foliosa community (Masresha Fetene et al. 2005) This successi<strong>on</strong>al series may be unique to <strong>the</strong> <strong>Bale</strong><br />

<strong>Mountains</strong> because comparably intense land use is not known for o<strong>the</strong>r Afroalpine regi<strong>on</strong>s of East<br />

Africa.<br />

Abundance of Ericaceous species<br />

In terms of frequency, seven (out of eight) tree/shrub species showed a clear variati<strong>on</strong> in abundance<br />

with altitude (see Table 2). The eighth species, Pittosporum viridiflorum, was recorded in <strong>on</strong>e plot<br />

<strong>on</strong>ly. Trends for Erica trimera and Hypericum revolutum resembled each o<strong>the</strong>r, except that H.<br />

revolutum was absent in <strong>the</strong> upper part of <strong>the</strong> Ericaceous belt.<br />

100%<br />

80%<br />

60%<br />

40%<br />

20%<br />

0%<br />

DP EA ET HA HR RM SV<br />

Upper part of<br />

Ericaceous<br />

vegetati<strong>on</strong><br />

Central part of<br />

Ericaceous<br />

vegetati<strong>on</strong><br />

Lower part of<br />

Ericaceous<br />

vegetati<strong>on</strong><br />

Figure 1. Frequency of <strong>the</strong> seven treeline species D. penninervium (DP), Erica arborea (EA), E.<br />

trimera (ET), H. abyssinica (HA), H. revolutum (HR) S. volkensii and R. melanophloes (RM) at<br />

upper, central, and lower part of <strong>the</strong> Ericaceous vegetati<strong>on</strong>.<br />

At <strong>the</strong> lower Ericaceous subz<strong>on</strong>e <strong>the</strong> frequency of E. trimera was lower than <strong>the</strong> o<strong>the</strong>r<br />

upper m<strong>on</strong>tane species because of <strong>the</strong> competitive strength of <strong>the</strong> o<strong>the</strong>r m<strong>on</strong>tane woodland species<br />

(Miehe and Miehe 1994). However, <strong>the</strong> hea<strong>the</strong>r is an important comp<strong>on</strong>ent of all three subz<strong>on</strong>es<br />

of <strong>the</strong> Ericaceous belt and no o<strong>the</strong>r species including E. arborea showed such a wide altitudinal<br />

distributi<strong>on</strong>. Erica arborea occurred in all three subz<strong>on</strong>es, but was not found lower than 3200 m,<br />

while M. melanophloeos. Hypericum revolutum and D. penninervium were c<strong>on</strong>stituents of both <strong>the</strong><br />

lower and central subz<strong>on</strong>e but not of <strong>the</strong> upper subz<strong>on</strong>e. Schefflera volkensii is restricted to <strong>the</strong> lower<br />

part of <strong>the</strong> Ericaceous belt.<br />

The average percent cover of E. trimera at <strong>the</strong> upper, lower and central subz<strong>on</strong>es of <strong>the</strong><br />

Ericaceous belt was 50, 55, and 45%, respectively. Hagenia abyssinica shows a bimodal distributi<strong>on</strong><br />

with an average cover-abundance of 30 and 20% in <strong>the</strong> lower and upper subz<strong>on</strong>es, respectively; but<br />

<str<strong>on</strong>g>Walia</str<strong>on</strong>g>-<str<strong>on</strong>g>Special</str<strong>on</strong>g> <str<strong>on</strong>g>Editi<strong>on</strong></str<strong>on</strong>g> <strong>on</strong> <strong>the</strong> <strong>Bale</strong> <strong>Mountains</strong> 164

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