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Context Human-dominated landscapes in the tropics need to be managed for biodiversity and the maintenance of ecosystem services (ES). Nevertheless, integrating both biodiversity conservation and ES management remains a challenge. Objectives This study aimed to quantify woody plant species diversity and associated ES in farmland and forests, and investigate the relationship between species and ES diversity. Methods The study was conducted in southwestern Ethiopia. We surveyed woody plants in 181 20 m by 20 m plots in farmland, forest with, and forest without coffee management. We also interviewed 180 randomly selected households about woody plant benefits. We then (a) quantified species and ES diversity; and (b) investigated the relationship between species and ES diversity. Results We recorded 128 woody plant species in total. Most ES were available in all land uses, although they differed in their mean availability. ES composition was significantly different among land uses. ES diversity was positively related with species diversity in all land uses. Conclusions Our findings suggest that all examined land-use types were multifunctional in terms of key ES provided by woody plants and that maintaining high species diversity also benefits ES diversity. Given these findings, we suggest to: (1) strengthen landscape multifunctionality by drawing on the positive relationship between biodiversity and ES diversity; (2) devise conservation policies that encompass entire landscape mosaics and enhance co-benefits of conservation and ES provision across land uses; and (3) conduct further social–ecological studies that use mixed data to elicit socially relevant relationships between biodiversity and ES diversity.

Industrial wastes have been increasingly discharged into water and soil, and causing environmental pollution in Ethiopia. This study examined the occurrence of heavy metal in water, soil, and plants in fields irrigated with industrial wastewater in Sabata town, Ethiopia. The composite samples of soil, water, and vegetables were collected accordingly to determine the concentration of heavy metals (Cu, Pb, Zn, Mn, and Ni) in each system during dry and wet seasons. The concentration of heavy metal was assayed using atomic absorption spectrophotometry. The data were statistically analyzed using one-way ANOVA. The heavy metal concentration was decreased in the order of Pb > Mn > Ni > Cu > Zn, Mn > Ni > Pb > Cu > Zn, and Ni > Pb > Mn > Cu > Zn in the water, soil, and vegetables in the area respectively. The variation of levels of heavy metal in the water, soil, and vegetable might be because of the effect of heavy metal speciation and valence, industry types, vegetable types and tissues, and soil. The bioconcentration factor of heavy metals was higher than that one for copper, signifying the increased probability of health risk for those who are consuming vegetables grown in the area. Thus, the government should take this into account and devise mitigation strategies through the implementation of heavy metal removal systems from contaminated water and soil, waste management strategies of recycling, centralized or decentralized treatment plant, changing of industrial residual into biogas production, and awareness creation for the society.

This study estimates the economic values of wetlands services in the Central Rift Valley of Ethiopia. A choice experiment valuation method was used to quantify monetary value of wetlands. The study used data collected from 405 households complemented with data collected using Participatory Rural Appraisals. Multinomial logit and random parameter logit models were used to analyze the data. The results have demonstrated the economic values of wetlands in the study area. Households ascribe the highest value for biodiversity (marginal willingness to pay value of US $1.26 per percentage of biodiversity conserved), followed by water availability (US $0.87 per ha increase in open water surface area). The statistical inferences, however, showed significant heterogeneity among households in their preference for wetland management alternatives. The probability of choosing improved wetland management is significantly reduced by age of the household head and distance; while, it is increased by education, income and location. The finding also revealed an average and aggregate willingness to pay of US $7.5 and 694,141, respectively, for a change from status quo to high impact improvement scenario. It is, thus, recommended to take rehabilitation and conservation measures to ensure sustainable use and management of wetland resources in the area.

Aim Palms are an iconic, diverse and often abundant component of tropical ecosystems that provide many ecosystem services. Being monocots, tree palms are evolutionarily, morphologically and physiologically distinct from other trees, and these differences have important consequences for ecosystem services (e.g., carbon sequestration and storage) and in terms of responses to climate change. We quantified global patterns of tree palm relative abundance to help improve understanding of tropical forests and reduce uncertainty about these ecosystems under climate change. Location Tropical and subtropical moist forests. Time period Current. Major taxa studied Palms (Arecaceae). Methods We assembled a pantropical dataset of 2,548 forest plots (covering 1,191ha) and quantified tree palm (i.e., ≥10cm diameter at breast height) abundance relative to co‐occurring non‐palm trees. We compared the relative abundance of tree palms across biogeographical realms and tested for associations with palaeoclimate stability, current climate, edaphic conditions and metrics of forest structure. Results On average, the relative abundance of tree palms was more than five times larger between Neotropical locations and other biogeographical realms. Tree palms were absent in most locations outside the Neotropics but present in >80% of Neotropical locations. The relative abundance of tree palms was more strongly associated with local conditions (e.g., higher mean annual precipitation, lower soil fertility, shallower water table and lower plot mean wood density) than metrics of long‐term climate stability. Life‐form diversity also influenced the patterns; palm assemblages outside the Neotropics comprise many non‐tree (e.g., climbing) palms. Finally, we show that tree palms can influence estimates of above‐ground biomass, but the magnitude and direction of the effect require additional work. Conclusions Tree palms are not only quintessentially tropical, but they are also overwhelmingly Neotropical. Future work to understand the contributions of tree palms to biomass estimates and carbon cycling will be particularly crucial in Neotropical forests.

Socioecological systems transformations in Borana rangelands have reduced the resilience of the Borana pastoral system. However, Borana pastoral households have not been passive victims; rather, they have demonstrated significant capabilities to respond to their changing environment through technical and institutional innovations. This paper examined Borana pastoral households’ adaptive responses to deal with contemporary climate and sociopolitical variations and factors determining households’ adaptation patterns. The study is based on household survey data generated from in-depth interview of 186 households drawn from six purposively selected pastoral associations in Yabello district in southern Ethiopia. To analyze the collected data, both descriptive statistics such as mean, frequency, independent-sample t test, and Chi-square test and econometric model were employed. Most of the Borana pastoral households were found to have already embraced diverse non-pastoral activities such as crop farming to sustain their life in the face of mounting internal and external pressures. Nevertheless, they are still less likely to totally abandon pastoral ways of life. The model outputs revealed that the likelihood of pastoral households to use herd mobility as an adaptive response is explained by availability of labor force, size of livestock holdings, and access to climate information. Interestingly, the size of livestock holdings determined the pastoral household’s adaptation patterns, indicating that livestock production still plays major economic and sociocultural roles in Borana pastoral contexts. Based on the findings, it is recommended that pastoral responses such as long-established mobility practice and current herd diversifications should be backed by responsive institutional support services. Finally, the study suggests that current hasty private range enclosures for both crop cultivation and fodder reserves should be reframed and supported by well-structured institutions for sustainable future and equitable resource use rights.

In recent years, the Ethiopian government has implemented participatory forest management (PFM) programs for achieving both forest conservation and livelihood outcomes through active participation of local communities. Understanding the attitudes of local communities is very important for designing effective local community development and sustaining conservation strategies. This paper examines the attitudes of forest users’ towards PFM programs and explores the association between respondents’ characteristics and their attitudes towards PFM programs in the Gebradima forest of southwestern Ethiopia. Primary data were collected through a household survey, key informant interviews and focus group discussions from three PFM rural kebeles (the lowest administrative units in Ethiopia). Descriptive statistics and Chi square tests were used to analyze the data. Results revealed that the majority (79.7%) of the respondents expressed favorable attitudes towards PFM programs. Results also indicated that there were significant associations between gender, age, education, income from the forest and livestock ownership with attitudes towards the PFM programs (p

Aim: Past land use legacy effects—extinction debts and immigration credits—might be particularly pronounced in regions characterized by complex and dynamic landscape change. The aim of this study was to evaluate how current woody plant species distribution, composition and richness related to historical and present land uses. Location: A smallholder farming landscape in south-western Ethiopia. Methods: We surveyed woody plants in 72 randomly selected 1-ha sites in farmland and grouped them into forest specialist, generalist and pioneer species. First, we investigated woody plant composition and distribution using non-metric multidimensional scaling. Second, we modelled species richness in response to historical and current distance from the forest edge. Third, we examined diameter class distributions of trees in recently converted vs. permanent farmland. Results: Historical distance was a primary driver of woody plant composition and distribution. Generalist and pioneer species richness increased with historical distance. Forest specialists, however, did not respond to historical distance. Only few old individuals of forest specialist species remained in both recently converted and permanent farmlands. Main conclusions: Our findings suggest that any possible extinction debt for forest specialist species in farmland at the landscape scale was rapidly paid off, possibly because farmers cleared large remnant trees. In contrast, we found substantial evidence of immigration credits in farmland for generalist and pioneer species. This suggests that long-established farmland may have unrecognized conservation values, although apparently not for forest specialist species. We suggest that conservation policies in south-western Ethiopia should recognize not only forests, but also the complementary value of the agricultural mosaic—similar to the case of European cultural landscapes. A possible future priority could be to better reintegrate forest species in the farmland mosaic.

This study examines the level of forest users’ participation at different stages of a participatory forest management (PFM) program, and identifies factors that influence their level of participati...

This paper analyzes the effects of a five year participatory forest management (PFM) program on livelihood assets of the participants in Gebradima forest, southwest Ethiopia. A cross-sectional surv...

Given the serious limitations of production-oriented frameworks, we offer here a new conceptual framework for how to analyze the nexus of food security and biodiversity conservation. We introduce four archetypes of social-ecological system states corresponding to win–win (e.g., agroecology), win–lose (e.g., intensive agriculture), lose–win (e.g., fortress conservation), and lose–lose (e.g., degraded landscapes) outcomes for food security and biodiversity conservation. Each archetype is shaped by characteristic external drivers, exhibits characteristic internal social-ecological features, and has characteristic feedbacks that maintain it. This framework shifts the emphasis from focusing on production only to considering social-ecological dynamics, and enables comparison among landscapes. Moreover, examining drivers and feedbacks facilitates the analysis of possible transitions between system states (e.g., from a lose–lose outcome to a more preferred outcome).

Ecosystems provide a wide range of services that are important for human-well being. Estimating the multiple services obtained from ecosystems is vital to support decision-making processes at different levels. This study analyzes land use/land cover (LU/LC) dynamics over four decades (i.e., 1973, 1986, 2001, 2015) to assess its impact on ecosystem services. Ecosystem Service Values (ESV) was determined using LU/LC analysis and established global data base. LU/LC analysis showed that forest cover reduced by 54.2% during study period; and settlement, bare land, shrub land and cultivated land increased considerably. The study indicates that due to forest cover change from 1973 to 2015, approximately US$ 3.69 million of ecosystem services values was lost. Among the ecosystem services reduced were: nutrient cycling, provision of raw material and erosion control. The use of LU/LC data along with established global ESV data sets reduce the costs of ground data collection, and help in tracking of past environmental changes and acquisition of quick and reliable results that can be used for decision making processes. We believe that the results obtained can be helpful in designing payment for environmental services and rural development policies.

Context: Cultural landscapes provide essential ecosystem services to local communities, especially in poor rural settings. However, potentially negative impacts of ecosystems—or disservices—remain inadequately understood. Similarly, how benefit–cost outcomes differ within communities is unclear, but potentially important for cultural landscape management. Objectives: Here we investigated whether distinct forest ecosystem service–disservice outcomes emerge within local communities. We aimed to characterize groups of community members according to service–disservice outcomes, and assessed their attitudes towards the forest. Methods: We interviewed 150 rural households in southwestern Ethiopia about locally relevant ecosystem services (provisioning services) and disservices (wildlife impacts). Households were grouped based on their ecosystem service–disservice profiles through hierarchical clustering. We used linear models to assess differences between groups in geographic and socioeconomic characteristics, as well as attitudes toward the forest. Results: We identified three groups with distinct ecosystem service–disservice profiles. Half of the households fell into a “lose–lose” profile (low benefits, high costs), while fewer had “lose–escape” (low benefits, low costs) and “win–lose” (high benefits, high costs) profiles. Location relative to forest and altitude explained differences between the “lose–escape” profile and other households. Socioeconomic factors were also important. “Win–lose” households appeared to be wealthier and had better forest use rights compared to “lose–lose” households. Attitudes towards the forest did not differ between profiles. Conclusions: Our study demonstrates the importance of disaggregating both ecosystem services and disservices, instead of assuming that communities receive benefits and costs homogenously. To manage cultural landscapes sustainably, such heterogeneity must be acknowledged and better understood.

Forests in the highlands of Ethiopia have declined considerably, and the supply of forest-based ecosystem services is eroding. Managing agricultural landscapes as well as enhancing plant biodiversity in agro-ecosystems is and will continue to be one possible strategy to preserve biodiversity, ensure an ecosystem service supply and sustain agricultural productivity. This study investigated the current status and prospects of plant diversity and its determinants in an agricultural landscape dominated by smallholder farmers in Southern Ethiopia. Specifically, the study investigated effects of land use, altitudinal gradient, wealth status and household attributes on plant diversity in agricultural landscapes. A complete count, Y-frame transect sampling method and household interviews were used for the study involving 39 households and 115 sample plots. A total of 166 plant species belonging to 134 genera and 56 families were recorded in all land use types. Of these, 101 were woody plant species (51 trees and 50 shrubs), while 65 were cultivated herbs and grasses. Land use, altitude and household wealth status significantly influenced tree and shrub species richness. Among land uses, home gardens hosted the highest number of tree and shrub species. Upper altitudes and rich households also had the highest tree and shrub species richness compared to others. Plant diversity indices (Shannon, Simpson and Margalef) were affected by altitude, wealth status and land use types. Household location, wealth status, the household attributes of landholding and family size had strong and positive influences on the tree species diversity and woody stem density of households, while educational background and off-farm income were negatively related with household-owned tree stem density. Species preference ranking, seedling demand and importance value index computations indicated the dominance of exotic tree species, which may suggest their economic importance over indigenous tree species. In the long term, this might lead to dominance of exotic tree species in the landscapes, which could cause a potential future threat to the remnant indigenous plant diversity that is currently finding refuge in the agricultural landscapes.

This study examines a participatory forest management program and its impacts on forest conditions in Gebradima Forest, southwest Ethiopia. Vegetation data were collected from both participatory forest management (PFM) and nonparticipatory forest management (non-PFM) forest blocks. A total of 54 plots (27 from each forest block) measuring 20 m × 20 m were employed to collect species composition and structural data. Results indicated that a total of 51 different woody plant species (49 at PFM and 43 at non-PFM blocks), representing 31 families were recorded, with 41 species were shared for both forest sites. Species diversity and evenness were higher in the forest with PFM (H´ = 3.29, E = .85) compared to the forest without PFM (H´ = 2.97, E = .79). The overall mean values of tree/shrub and seedling density per hectare, diameter class (≤ 20 cm) were also significantly (p

Landscape dynamics are common phenomenon in the human‐dominated environments whereby it can be observed that the composition and configuration between landscape elements change over time. This dynamism brings about habitat loss and fragmentation that can greatly alter ecosystem services at patch, class, and landscape levels. We conducted a study to examine composition and configuration of forested landscape in the central highlands of Ethiopia using satellite images of over a period of four decades, and FRAGSTAT raster dataset was used to analyze fragmentation. Our result showed five land use/land cover (LULC) types in the study area. Cultivated land and settlement land increased at the expense of forestland, shrubland, and grassland. Fragmentation analysis showed the number of patches increased for all LULC types, indicating the level of fragmentation and interspersion. Juxtaposition increased for shrubland, grassland, and cultivated lands and decreased for settlement and forestland resulting in the fragmentation and isolation of patches. The study of LULC along with fragmentation at the landscape level can help improve our understanding of the pace at which conversion of landscape elements is happening and the impacts on ecosystem services as studies of LULC are courser in nature and would not show how each land use is reducing in size, proximity and shape among other things that determine ecosystem services. Such type of studies in rural landscapes are very vital to consider appropriate land management policies for the landscape level by taking into account the interaction between each element for sustainable development. We recommend land managers, conservationists, and land owners for observing the roles of each patch in the matrix to maximize the benefits than focusing on a single element.

We assessed the land use/land cover (LULC) dynamics and its associated changes in ecosystem service values for the Toke Kutaye district (ca 72,700 ha) in the central highlands of Ethiopia. Four satellite images of the study area, distributed between 1973 and 2014 were analyzed using Arc GIS software to assess the LULC changes of the area. In addition, we carried out an ecosystem services valuation, based on the identified LULC types and on the ecosystem services values database. Six LULC types were identified in the study area (forest, shrub/bush land, grassland, cultivated land, settlement, and bare land). Forest cover decreased 83% between 1973 and 2014. Settlement and cultivated land increased by 471 and 222%, respectively. The overall ecosystem services value reduced by 68%, and this was mainly due to deforestation. The use of LULC analysis combined to ecosystem services valuation improved our understanding of deforestation trends in the study area. We recommend the integration of LULC analysi...

We assessed the impacts of crop raiding by wild mammals on the livelihoods of smallholding farmers in south-western Ethiopia. Data were generated through participatory field mapping, interviews and focus groups. The results indicated that wild mammals, mainly olive baboonsPapio anubisand bush pigsPotamochoerus larvatus, were raiding most crops cultivated in villages close to forests. In addition to the loss of crops, farmers incurred indirect costs in having to guard and cultivate plots far from their residences, sometimes at the expense of their children's schooling. Raiding also undermined farmers’ willingness to invest in modern agricultural technologies. Various coping strategies, including guarding crops and adapting existing local institutions, were insufficient to reduce raiding and its indirect impacts on household economies to tolerable levels, and were undermined by existing policies and government institutions. It is essential to recognize wild mammal pests as a critical ecosystem disservice to farmers, and to identify ways to mitigate their direct and indirect costs, to facilitate local agricultural development and livelihood security, and integrate wildlife conservation and local development more fully in agriculture–forest mosaic landscapes.

Deforestation and degradation are currently affecting the ecosystem services of forests. Among the ecosystem services affected by deforestation and degradation are the amount of soil organic carbon (SOC) and total nitrogen (TN) stored in forest soils which have greater impacts in global climate change. This study aimed at examining the amount of SOC and TN in the forest fragments which were separated from the continuous tracts of forests of Jibat and Chillimo through fragmentation processes over four decades. We have sampled soils from 15 forest fragments of Chillimo and Jibat in the central highlands of Ethiopia. The soil samples obtained in two separate soil depths (0–30 and 30–60 cm) were bulked, dried, and sieved for analysis. Our results have shown that the two sites (Jibat and Chillimo forest fragments) differed in their SOC and TN contents. While the values for Jibat were found to be 29.89 Mg/ha of SOC and 2.84 Mg/ha for TN, it was 14.06 Mg/ha of SOC and 1.40 Mg/ha for TN for Chillimo. When all forest fragment soil samples were bulked together, Jibat site had twice the value of SOC and TN than Chillimo. When disaggregated on the basis of each fragments, there existed differences in SOC (1.86 Mg/ha and 42.15 Mg/ha) and TN (0.24 Mg/ha and 4.23 Mg/ha) values. Among the forest fragments, fragment four (F4) had the highest Relative Soil Improvement Index (RSII) value of 3826.82% and fragment fifteen (F15) had the lowest RSII value (726.87%) which indicated that the former had a better quality of soil properties than the latter. SOC and TN differed across sampled fragments and sites. Variations in soil properties are the reflections of inherent soil parent material, aboveground vegetation, human interferences, and other physical factors. Such differences could be very important for identifying intervention measures for restoration and enhancing ecosystem services of those fragments.

Moist evergreen forests of southwestern Ethiopia host high levels of biodiversity and have a high economic value due to coffee production. Coffee is a native shrub that is harvested under different management systems; its production can have both beneficial and detrimental effects for biodiversity. We investigated how bird community composition and richness, and abundance of different bird groups responded to different intensities of coffee management and the landscape context. We surveyed birds at 66 points in forest habitat with different intensities of coffee management and at different distances from the forest edge. We explored community composition using detrended correspondence analysis in combination with canonical correspondence analysis and indicator species analysis, and used generalized linear mixed models to investigate the responses of different bird groups to coffee management and landscape context. Our results show that (1) despite considerable bird diversity including some endemics, species turnover in the forest was relatively low; (2) total richness and abundance of birds were not affected by management or landscape context; but (3) the richness of forest and dietary specialists increased with higher forest naturalness, and with increasing distance from the edge and amount of forest cover. These findings show that traditional shade coffee management practices can maintain a diverse suite of forest birds. To conserve forest specialists, retaining undisturbed, remote forest is particularly important, but structurally diverse locations near the forest edge can also harbour a high diversity of specialists.

This study focuses on four textile industries (DH-GEDA, NOYA, ALMHADI, and ALSAR) established between 2005 and 2008 in the peri-urban areas of Dukem and Gelan. The objectives of the study were to generate baseline information regarding the concentration levels of selected pollutants and to analyze their effects on biophysical environments. This study also attempts to explore the level of exposure that humans and livestock have to polluted effluents and the effects thereof. The findings of this study are based on data empirically collected from two sources: laboratory analysis of sample effluents from the four selected textile plants and quantitative as well as qualitative socioeconomic data collection. As part of the latter, a household survey and focus group discussions (FGDs) with elderly and other focal persons were employed in the towns of Dukem and Gelan. The results of the study show that large concentrations of biological oxygen demand (BOD5), chemical oxygen demand (COD), total suspended solids (TSS), and pH were found in all the observed textile industries, at levels beyond the permissible discharge limit set by the national Environmental Protection Authority (EPA). Furthermore, sulfide (S-2), R-phosphate (R-PO43), and Zn were found in large concentrations in DH-GEDA and ALMHADI, while high concentrations were also identified in samples taken from ALSAR and ALMHADI. In spite of the clear-cut legal tools, this study shows that the local environment, people, and their livestock are exposed to highly contaminated effluents. We therefore recommend that the respective federal and regional government bodies should reexamine the compliance to and actual implementation of the existing legal procedures and regulations and respond appropriately. In preparing this work, different organizations and institutions contributed immensely and therefore deserve acknowledgment. I would like to thank WHO for their financial support in collecting field samples, the purchase of chemicals, and various types of equipment required for the laboratory activities. I would also like to thank DAAD and the Post Graduate Program at Addis Ababa University for their financial support during my field stay in order to conduct the household survey.

We thank Seppelt et al. [1] for their thoughts on our paper, and welcome debate regarding how to best move forward in harmonizing food security and biodiversity conservation. We consider it useful to exchange ideas, including in areas where there may be disagreement, recognizing that reflection will help the scientific community to identify constructive ways forward. On the topic of food security and biodiversity conservation, we believe that what is needed, most of all, is qualitative change – we need to think in an entirely different, more holistic, and more visionary way about how to achieve good outcomes for both food security and biodiversity conservation.

This study aimed to understand the major drivers of urban sprawl and its impacts on land use conversion in the peri-urban kebeles of the Dukem town, Central Ethiopia. GIS software was used to create status and location maps of industries out of the GPS data. The results from qualitative data obtained from interviews and focus group discussions showed that more land was used beyond the total size of land allocated initially planned for. Furthermore, urban sprawl has also caused an extensive agricultural land conversion (ALC) that has seriously affected agricultural production. Industrialization, residential expansion and infrastructure development were identified as the leading drivers of ALC that negatively affects the size of cultivated land and food crop production in the hinterlands. In contrast with government policies and community expectations, most converted lands had a very low development status and some of them were underdeveloped and demonstrated leapfrog sprawling.

Tropical species with narrow elevational ranges may be thermally specialized and vulnerable to global warming. Local studies of distributions along elevational gradients reveal small-scale patterns but do not allow generalizations among geographic regions or taxa. We critically assessed data from 249 studies of species elevational distributions in the American, African, and Asia-Pacific tropics. Of these, 150 had sufficient data quality, sampling intensity, elevational range, and freedom from serious habitat disturbance to permit robust across-study comparisons. We found four main patterns: (1) species classified as elevational specialists (upper- or lower-zone specialists) are relatively more frequent in the American than Asia-Pacific tropics, with African tropics being intermediate; (2) elevational specialists are rare on islands, especially oceanic and smaller continental islands, largely due to a paucity of upper-zone specialists; (3) a relatively high proportion of plants and ectothermic vertebrates (amphibians and reptiles) are upper-zone specialists; and (4) relatively few endothermic vertebrates (birds and mammals) are upper-zone specialists. Understanding these broad-scale trends will help identify taxa and geographic regions vulnerable to global warming and highlight future research priorities.