Floristic Composition, Structure, and Regeneration Status of Woody Plant Species in Hurubu Natural Forest,North Shewa, Oromia Region, Ethiopia

Abstract Ethiopia harbours the Eastern Afromontane and Horn of Africa hotspots of biodiversity.The general objective of this study was to investigate the floristic composition and diversity of species, the structure and the regeneration status of the Hurubu natural forest. Three parallel transects was systematically laid across the forest with an interval of 200m in north to southt direction. Thirty sample quadrats of 20 m × 20 m was placed along transects at an interval of 100 m for mature trees and shrubs, while for the purpose of seedling and sapling inventory, four sub-quadrates of 1 m × 1 m was laid at each corner of the main quadrat. A total of 32 woody species representing 25 families was recorded consisting of trees and shrubs. The lower storey consisted of all woody plant species except Ekebergia capensis tree species. The middle storey consisted about 14.41% of the tree species while the upper storey involved only 2.35% of the total individual trees in the forest. The total basal area of woody plants in Hurubu forest was 90 m2 per ha. The three most important woody species with the highest IVI were Juniperus procera, Osyris quadripartite, & Myrsine Africana in decreasing order. The general regeneration status of the tree species of the study site was satisfactory at the community level showing a ‘fair’ regeneration status. Therefore, special conservation actions should be implemented for the poorly and not regenerating woody species of the forest.