The Effects of Disturbance on Woody Species Composition, Structure and Regeneration Status in the Ura Natural Forest, Guangua district, Awi Zone, Ethiopia

The Effects of Disturbance on Woody Species Composition, Structure and Regeneration Status in the Ura Natural Forest, Guangua district, Awi Zone, Ethiopia | Research Square window.SnipcartSettings = { analytics: { enabled: false } }; (function() { var accessVector = localStorage.getItem('access_vector') || ''; window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; if (accessVector) { window.dataLayer.push({ user: { profile: { profileInfo: { snid: accessVector } } } }); } })(); (function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src='https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-K279D39R'); Browse Preprints In Review Journals COVID-19 Preprints AJE Video Bytes Research Tools Research Promotion AJE Professional Editing AJE Rubriq About Preprint Platform In Review Editorial Policies Our Team Advisory Board Help Center Sign In Submit a Preprint Cite Share Download PDF Research Article The Effects of Disturbance on Woody Species Composition, Structure and Regeneration Status in the Ura Natural Forest, Guangua district, Awi Zone, Ethiopia Achamyeleh Anteneh, Dagim Fikir, Dessie Assefa This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-4258401/v3 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Posted Version 3 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Show more versions Abstract Ethiopia Province has diverse forest resources. However, it has decreased over time, leaving the country’s forest with only remnant patches. Therefore, the present study was conducted to examine the species composition, structure and regeneration status of woody plant species along disturbance gradients. To collect the data, the forests were first stratified into low disturbed (LD), moderately disturbed (MD) and heavily disturbed (HD) groups based on information from reconnaissance site visits and consultations with key informants. The three transect lines were laid systematically 200 m apart, and rectangular plots 10 m*20 m (200 m 2 ) in length were laid at 50 m intervals along each transect, for a total of 27 plots. The DBH and height of all woody individuals with ≥ 5 cm and ≥ 2 m were measured. Seedling and sapling data were recorded in four subplots of 2 m*5 m (10 m 2 ) in the opposite corner of the main plot. Woody species density, richness, evenness, diversity, frequency and IVI were determined for each disturbance class, and one-way ANOVA and mean comparison tests were used to examine significant differences among disturbance classes. A total of 37 woody species and 27 families were recorded. Based on structural analysis, only Croton macrostachyus exhibited an inverted J shape. It is concluded that woody species composition was affected by human disturbance. Therefore, a concentrated form of forest conservation should be established to protect against excessive human disturbance. Forestry Botany Conservation Biology Disturbance Importance value index Population structure Regeneration Woody species diversity Figures Figure 1 Figure 2 Figure 3 Figure 4 Figure 5 Figure 6 Figure 7 Figure 8 Figure 9 Full Text Additional Declarations The authors declare no competing interests. Cite Share Download PDF Status: Posted Version 3 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Show more versions Research Square lets you share your work early, gain feedback from the community, and start making changes to your manuscript prior to peer review in a journal. As a division of Research Square Company, we’re committed to making research communication faster, fairer, and more useful. We do this by developing innovative software and high quality services for the global research community. Our growing team is made up of researchers and industry professionals working together to solve the most critical problems facing scientific publishing. Also discoverable on Platform About Our Team In Review Editorial Policies Advisory Board Help Center Resources Author Services Accessibility API Access RSS feed Manage Cookie Preferences © Research Square 2026 | ISSN 2693-5015 (online) Privacy Policy Terms of Service Do Not Sell My Personal Information {"props":{"pageProps":{"initialData":{"identity":"rs-4258401","acceptedTermsAndConditions":true,"allowDirectSubmit":true,"archivedVersions":[],"articleType":"Research Article","associatedPublications":[],"authors":[{"id":292862304,"identity":"be792f56-08bd-4653-b303-a282e697a0bf","order_by":0,"name":"Achamyeleh 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However, it has decreased over time, leaving the country\u0026rsquo;s forest with only remnant patches. Therefore, the present study was conducted to examine the species composition, structure and regeneration status of woody plant species along disturbance gradients. To collect the data, the forests were first stratified into low disturbed (LD), moderately disturbed (MD) and heavily disturbed (HD) groups based on information from reconnaissance site visits and consultations with key informants. The three transect lines were laid systematically 200 m apart, and rectangular plots 10 m*20 m (200 m\u003csup\u003e2\u003c/sup\u003e) in length were laid at 50 m intervals along each transect, for a total of 27 plots. The DBH and height of all woody individuals with \u0026ge;\u0026thinsp;5 cm and \u0026ge;\u0026thinsp;2 m were measured. Seedling and sapling data were recorded in four subplots of 2 m*5 m (10 m\u003csup\u003e2\u003c/sup\u003e) in the opposite corner of the main plot. 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