State of the Art in Ethiopian Church Forests and Restoration Options

Acknowledgments
Contents
Editors and Contributors
1 Ethiopian Church Forests and Restoration Options—An Introduction
	1.1 Background
	1.2 Overview of Chapters
	1.3 Conclusions
	References
Part I General Overview of Ethiopian Church Forests
2 Understanding Land Use/Land Cover Dynamics in and Surrounding the Ethiopian Church Forests
	2.1 Introduction
	2.2 Materials and Methods
	2.3 General Overview of the Reviewed Articles
	2.4 Approaches of Change Studies in and Surrounding ECFs
	2.5 Changes of LULCs in and Surrounding the ECFs
	2.6 Drivers of Change
	2.7 Conclusions
	References
3 Land Use Land Cover Changes and Forest Fragmentation on the Surrounding of Selected Church Forests in Ethiopia
	3.1 Introduction
	3.2 Methodology
		3.2.1 Description of the Study Area
		3.2.2 Remote Sensing Data Collection and Classification
		3.2.3 Patch Dynamics Analysis
	3.3 Results and Discussions
		3.3.1 Classification Accuracies
		3.3.2 State of Land Use Land Cover Changes at Spatial Scale of Within 3 km Buffer Zone of Church Forests
		3.3.3 State of Land Use Land Cover Changes at Spatial Scale of Church Forest Boundary
		3.3.4 The State of Patch Dynamics at a Class Level
	3.4 Conclusion and Recommendations
	References
4 Sacred Texts and Environmental Ethics: Lessons in Sustainability from Ethiopia
	Abstract
	4.1 Introduction
	4.2 Diversity and Resilience
	4.3 The Sacred Forests
	4.4 Degraded Forests
	4.5 Sacred Text and Sacred Trees
	4.6 Closing Words
	References
Part II Present Role and Future Challenges of Ethiopian Church Forests
5 Soil Carbon Stocks and Dynamics of Church Forests in Northern Ethiopian
	5.1 Introduction
	5.2 Materials and Methods
		5.2.1 Research Sites
		5.2.2 Soil Sampling
		5.2.3 Bulk Density Determination
		5.2.4 Total C and N Stock Determination
		5.2.5 Strontium, Calcium and Barium Elemental Analysis
		5.2.6 Litterfall Collection and Fine Root Biomass Determination
		5.2.7 Determination of Suberin and Cutin Markers Using Base Hydrolysis
		5.2.8 Data Analysis
	5.3 Results
		5.3.1 Soil Carbon and Nitrogen Stocks
		5.3.2 Vertical Distributions of C and N
		5.3.3 Strontium:Calcium and Barium:Calcium Ratios
		5.3.4 Annual C and N Flux into the Soil Via Fine Roots and Leaves
		5.3.5 Composition and Distribution of Root and Leaf Biomarkers
	5.4 Discussion
		5.4.1 Effect of Land Use Change on Soil Organic Carbon Stock
		5.4.2 Potentials of Soil Carbon Gain Due to Afforestation
		5.4.3 Effect of Land Use Change on Carbon Input from Above- and Below-Ground Biomass
	5.5 Conclusion
	References
6 Estimation and Mapping of Asabot Monastery Dry Afromontane Forest Carbon Stock Under Diverse Land-Use Scenarios
	6.1 Introduction
	6.2 Material and Methods
		6.2.1 Descriptions of the Study Area
		6.2.2 Land Use Land Cover Assessment
		6.2.3 Future LULC Scenarios
		6.2.4 Carbon Stock Estimation
	6.3 Results
		6.3.1 Land Use Land Cover Change in Asebot Afromontane Forest
		6.3.2 Simulation of Land Use Land Cover Patterns Under Different Scenarios
		6.3.3 Carbon Stock
	6.4 Discussion
	6.5 Conclusions
	References
7 Aboveground and Belowground Carbon Pools for Some Selected Native and Introduced Tree Species of Abune Teklehayimanot Church Forest, Welayita Sodo, Southern Ethiopia
	7.1 Introduction
	7.2 Material and Methods
		7.2.1 Description of the Study Area
		7.2.2 Reconnaissance Survey
		7.2.3 Sampling Design
		7.2.4 Data preparation
	7.3 Results
		7.3.1 Aboveground Carbon, Basal Area and Number of Stems
		7.3.2 Aboveground Biomass and Belowground Carbon Biomass
		7.3.3 Do Total Ecosystem Carbon Affected by Species and Forest Patch of the Church Forest?
	7.4 Discussion
	7.5 Conclusions
	References
Part III Structure and Diversity of Ethiopian Church Forests
8 Floristic Composition, Diversity, Population Structure and Regeneration Status of Woody Species in Four Church Forests in Ethiopia
	8.1 Introduction
	8.2 Materials and Methods
		8.2.1 Description of the Study Area
		8.2.2 Method of Vegetation Data Collection
		8.2.3 Data Analyses
	8.3 Results
		8.3.1 Floristic Composition, Diversity and Density of Woody Species
		8.3.2 Regeneration Status of Woody Plants
		8.3.3 Population Structure of Woody Species
		8.3.4 Importance Value Index (IVI)
	8.4 Discussion
	8.5 Conclusions and Recommendations
	References
9 Diversity, Regeneration Status, and Socio-Economic Importance of Tara Gedam, Abebaye and Fach Forests, South Gondar, Northwestern Ethiopia
	9.1 Introduction
	9.2 Materials and Methods
		9.2.1 Description of the Study Areas
		9.2.2 Methods
		9.2.3 Data Analysis
	9.3 Results and Discussion
		9.3.1 Floristic Composition
		9.3.2 Similarity in Species Composition Between the Forests
		9.3.3 Diversity and Evenness of Woody Species
		9.3.4 Importance Value Index (IVI) of Woody Species
		9.3.5 Regeneration Status of Woody Species
		9.3.6 Socio-Economic Importance of the Forests
		9.3.7 Conservation and Management of the Forests
		9.3.8 Threats to the Forests
	9.4 Conclusions and Recommendations
	References
10 Woody Vegetation Composition and Structure of Church Forests in Southeast of Lake Tana, Northwest Ethiopia
	10.1 Introduction
	10.2 Materials and Methods
		10.2.1 Description of the Study Area
		10.2.2 Sampling and Data Collection Methods
		10.2.3 Data Analyses
	10.3 Results
		10.3.1 Species Richness, Evenness, and Diversity
		10.3.2 Stand Structure of the Church Forests
		10.3.3 Species Richness and Stand Structure of Exotic Species
		10.3.4 Species Richness of Seedlings
	10.4 Discussion
		10.4.1 Species Richness, Evenness, and Diversity
		10.4.2 Demographic Structure of Woody Species in Church Forests
		10.4.3 Stand Structure of Exotic Species
		10.4.4 The Regeneration Status of Church Forests in Southeast of Lake Tana
	10.5 Conclusions
	Appendix 1: Species Name, Family, and the Relative Frequency of Occurrence in 24 Church Forests Southeast of Lake Tana, Ethiopia
	References
11 Woody Species Composition, Diversity, Structure and Uses of Selected Church Forests in Central Ethiopia
	11.1 Introduction
	11.2 Materials and Methods
		11.2.1 The Study Areas
		11.2.2 Woody Species Inventory
		11.2.3 Uses of Woody Species
		11.2.4 Data Analysis
		11.2.5 Diversity Indices
	11.3 Results
		11.3.1 Woody Species Richness and Floristic Composition
		11.3.2 Woody Species Comparison and Structure in the Church Forests
		11.3.3 Woody Species Abundance and Diversity in the Church Forests
		11.3.4 Uses of Woody Species
		11.3.5 Threat and Pressure on the Forests
	11.4 Discussions
		11.4.1 Woody Species Richness and Diversity
		11.4.2 Uses of Woody Species
		11.4.3 Threatened Species in the Study Area
	11.5 Conclusion and Recommendations
	Appendix
	References
Part IV Restoration Options to the Surrounding Landscapes of Ethiopian Church Forests
12 Church Forests as Sources for Forest Reproductive Material of Native Species and Their Possible Role as Starting Points for the Restoration of Degraded Areas in Ethiopia
	12.1 Introduction
	12.2 Purpose and Objectives of Restoration in Ethiopia
	12.3 Church Forests and the Bottleneck on the Way to Successful Restoration
	12.4 Producing High Quality Seedlings in Nurseries Supported by Church Forests
	12.5 Church Forests and the Way Ahead—Perspectives and Challenges
	12.6 Challenges for Policy, Stakeholders, and Implementation of Best Practices of Church Forests
	12.7 Tree-Based Landscape Restoration and Its Socio-economic Relevance in Ethiopia
	12.8 Perspective on Church Forests
	References
13 Ecological Status and Plan for Connectivity of Fragmented Forests as a Means of Degraded Land Restoration in South Gonder, Ethiopia
	13.1 Introduction
	13.2 Materials and Methods
		13.2.1 Study Area
		13.2.2 Methodology
	13.3 Results
		13.3.1 Status of Ecological Connectivity
		13.3.2 Plan for Potential Ecological Connectivity
		13.3.3 Ecological Status of the Study Area After the Proposed Ecological Connectivity Plans
	13.4 Discussion
		13.4.1 The 2015 Status of Land Use/Land Cover in the Study Area
		13.4.2 Plan for Potential Ecological Connectivity
	13.5 Conclusions
	13.6 Recommendation
	References
14 Identifying Priority Areas for Conservation in Mojo River Watershed of Ethiopia Using GIS-Based Erosion Risk Evaluation
	14.1 Introduction
	14.2 Materials and Methods
		14.2.1 Study Area
		14.2.2 Data and Preprocessing
		14.2.3 Methods of Data Integration and Analysis
	14.3 Results and Discussion
		14.3.1 Potential Soil Loss Based on RUSLE
		14.3.2 Erosion Risk in the Watershed Based on MCE
	14.4 Conclusions
	References
15 Ethiopian Church Forests as Monitoring Towers in Reconstructing Climate Change and Its Impacts and to Make Evidence-Based Climate-Smart Restoration Efforts
	15.1 Introduction
	15.2 Ethiopian Church Forests as Climate and Environmental Monitoring Towers
		15.2.1 Dendrochronological Opportunities and Challenges of Church Forest
		15.2.2 Response of Church Forest to Regional Climate Variability
		15.2.3 The Reconstruction of Multi-century Hydroclimate Data and Extreme Climate Events
		15.2.4 Indications of Regional Climate Teleconnections Inferred from Tree-Rings
	15.3 Tree-Ring Information for Landscape Restoration and Forest Conservation
		15.3.1 Forest Disturbance and Carbon Dynamics Inferred from Tree-Rings
		15.3.2 Tree Life Histories Derived from Long-Term Growth Patterns
	15.4 Conclusions and Recommendations
	References
16 Rehabilitation Sites Prioritization on Base of Multisource Remote Sensing Time Series, Erosion Risk, and Woody Biomass Modeling
	16.1 Introduction
	16.2 Materials and Methods
		16.2.1 Study Site
		16.2.2 Data Sources
		16.2.3 Methods
	16.3 Results
		16.3.1 LULC Change Analysis
		16.3.2 Fuelwood Supply and Demand Analysis
		16.3.3 Erosion Risk
		16.3.4 Rehabilitation Areas
	16.4 Discussion
	16.5 Conclusions
	References
17 Towards Ethiopian Church Forests and Restoration Options—Synthesis and Conclusions
	17.1 Overview of Synthesis
		17.1.1 Contributions
		17.1.2 Overview of the Challenges
		17.1.3 Possible Solutions
	17.2 Conclusions
Index