DOI: 10.5061/dryad.zcrjdfn74
title: The vegetation composition, structure and regeneration status of Gole Natural Forest, West Arsi Zone, Oromia Regional State, Ethiopia

description: This study was conducted in Gole natural forest (Dodola) West Arsi Zone of
 Oromia Regional State, Ethiopia. The study was intended to investigate the
 vegetation composition, structure, community types and the regeneration
 status. To collect the vegetation data, systematically 62 plots 20 m × 20
 m (400 m2) were established at 100 m interval, starting from the top of
 the mountain. Tree and shrub species were counted and their cover
 abundance value was estimated. The data for herbaceous species were
 collected from five 2 m × 2 m sub-plots laid at the four corners each and
 one at the centre of the main plot. Height and diameter at breast height
 (DBH) of all woody species taller than 1.5 m and thicker than 2 cm were
 measured. R package was applied for cluster analysis. Indicator species
 analysis was performed in R Interpolated species accumulation curves.
 Estimate S 8.2 Software and Microsoft Excel were used to analyze the data.
 Rarefaction was applied to compare the species richness of the plant
 communities in the study area. Sorensen’s similarity coefficient was used
 to detect similarities and dissimilarities among communities. A total of
 114 plant species belonging to 57 families and 94 genera were identified.
 The most dominant families were Asteraceae, followed by Acanthaceae and
 Lamiaceaae. Out of 114 species 17 were endemic to Ethiopia. The study
 showed that high density was seen at lower height and DBH classes. Five
 plant community types were identified. The rarefaction revealed that there
 is difference in species richness among communities. The Sorensen’s
 similarity index showed that, there was a difference in the distribution
 of plant species composition among the five plant communities.
description: Systematically, quadrats of 20 m x 20 m (400
 m<sup>2</sup>) were established. The first plot was
 established randomly starting from the top of the mountain to the lower
 side, and then the remaining plots were established 100 m interval along
 transect lines. A total of 62 quadrats were laid for vegetation data
 collection. Trees and shrubs were collected from the main plots. Five
 subplots of 2 x 2 m one at the center and four at the corner of the main
 (20x20m) plot were laid to collect data of herbaceous plants (Hailemariam
 MB. and Temam TD., 2018). Voucher specimens were collected for all plant
 species and were identified at National Herbarium (ETH). Environmental
 factors (altitude) and geographical coordinates were measured using Garmin
 GPS in the middle of the main plots.  The types of disturbance were
 recorded for each plot. Disturbance could be grazing, number of trees and
 shrubs cut, number of foot trails, and number of seedlings trampled. The
 intensity of anthropogenic disturbance (grazing) in each plot was
 estimated as a sum (cumulative effect) of the following scale: 0 = no
 disturbance, 1 = slightly disturbed, 2 = moderately disturbed, 3 = highly
 disturbed and 4 = destructive. Cover-abundance values were estimated using
 the modified Braun Blanquet scales (Van der Maarel E., 2005).
 Classification
 and ordination methods were used to describe vegetation types and to
 examine the relationship between vegetation types and environmental
 variables. R statistical package (R Development Core Team, 2009), was used
 for cluster and ordination analysis. Indicator species analysis was
 performed to find indicator species characterizing the communities.
 Indicator species analysis was performed in R using package labdsv
 (Roberts DW., 2012). Box plots and One-way analysis of variance (ANOVA)
 were used to assess the relationships between plant communities and
 elevation as well as plant communities with disturbance intensity. Tukey’s
 test was performed to detect significant differences among the different
 means of the environmental parameters of each community types.
 Sorenson's index of similarity (Ss) was computed to assess the
 floristic similarity between communities.