Plant Species Richness and Diversity in Beda-Buna Coffee Forest, Jimma Zone, Oromia Regional State, Southwest Ethiopia

Abstract

Traditional coffee management system in Ethiopia has contributed to the conservation of canopy trees and fragmented forest patches in the Jimma Highlands. This study was conducted on Beda-Buna coffee forest in Jimma Zone, southwest Ethiopia. The objective of this study was to determine plant species richness, woody species diversity and abundance. Thirty-one sampling plots of 20×20m were placed systematically along two transects. Overall, 80 species of vascular plants belonging to 72 genera and 43 families were identified and recorded. The forest is characterized by high basal area, low adult tree densities and poor seedling and sapling densities. The presence of coffee has contributed to the persistence of this forest patch and the ownership type also contributed to the high density of some plant species. To make this coffee forest sustainable, care should be taken for seedlings and saplings of the tree species when clearing the ground cover for better yield of coffee. Leaving some strips of land between consecutive coffee plots would help
the conservation of lianas and other tree species which would otherwise be at risk of local extinction.

Keywords: Beda-Buna; Jimma highlands; Kersa district; Semi forest coffee; Species richness