Ecological and Structural Characteristics of Riparian Forest in Omo Biosphere Reserve

Abstract

An investigation on the structural characteristics of the riparian forest in Omo Biosphere Reserve was carried out. The structure was analyzed  through diameter class distribution, basal area and breast height. Riparian forest showed a major characteristic in the physiognomy of forests along major river, streams and Upland vegetation and the Core, Buffer and Transition zones that is highly variable in the diameter class distribution  (reserve J type), Mean basal area per hectare for major river is 294,089.30 cm²/ ha, Stream 613.027 cm²/ha, and Upland 205,648 cm³/ha. Mean basal area for core is 507,399.50 cm²/ha, buffer had 340,699 cm2/ha and transition 264,656 cm2/ha. While mean volume per hectare for core is 7955.2 m³/ha, buffer 7260 m3/ha and Transition 6254.4 m³/ha. Maximum dbh of 246 cm was obtained in the core species. Many stands of riparian forests are facing various levels of structural and floristic simplification, which include fundamental transformations in vegetation physiognomy from dense stands to riparian scrub or bare land.

Keyword: Riparian forests, structure, diameter, basal area, species dominance, Omo