| Abstrakt: |
Plant community types and botanical composition of herbaceous and woody plants in the Borana lowlands were investigated by multivariate methods (TWINSPAN and DCA) based on 125 plots of size 20 m × 20 m sampled from three districts across different functional land use units. By TWINSPAN, eight plant communities were identified: (i) Acacia drepanolobium-Pennisetum mezianum, (ii) Bidens hildebrandtii-Chrysopogon aucheri, (iii) Chrysopogon aucheri-Commiphora africana, (iv) Cenchrus ciliaris-Chrysopogon aucheri, (v) Acacia bussei-Pennisetum mezianum, (vi) Commiphora erythraea-Sansevieria ehrenbergii, (vii) Acacia melliphera-Setaria verticillata, and (viii) Heterpogon contortus-Hildebrandtia obcordata. Characteristic species at the different levels of TWINSPAN divisions were identified. The Chrysopogon aucheri-Commiphora africana community had the highest beta (3.37) and gamma (131) diversity, whereas the Heterpogon contortus-Hldebrandtia obcordata community had the smallest beta (0.35) and gamma (23) diversity. The frequency of plant communities was positively and strongly correlated with beta and gamma diversity. |
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