Forest and woodland vegetation in the highlands of Dogu’a Tembien

Much of the available land in Dogu’a Tembien is under cultivation or is used as grazing land. Open woodland of small shrub and tree species has regenerated during the past decades in exclosures (see Chapter 18), but semi-natural forest vegetation remains largely restricted to small, isolated patches. These patches are most often church yards and other sacred sites. In this chapter, the historical forest vegetation of the Ethiopian highlands and how this vegetation changed are briefly described, an overview of the different Afromontane forest types of the Ethiopian highlands is given and the present vegetation of church forests in the dry Afromontane forest zone is described. Against this broad ecological background of the dry Afromontane forests, the forest and woodland vegetation of Dogu’a Tembien is discussed.

ISBN:978-3-030-04954-6

Publication year:2019

Accessibility:Open