Abstract:
Agroforestry principles and practices have long been recognized and applied in tropical
countries, temperate countries have lagged behind in this regard. The desire for more
environmentally responsible agricultural practices and systems has provided an ideal context for
developing and implementing agroforestry in temperate regions. Agroforestry is a system in
which trees and different crops are grown together in the same area for net economic returns to
farmers. Interactions between trees and other components of agriculture may be important at a
range of scales: in fields (where trees and crops are grown together), on farms (where trees may
provide fodder for livestock, fuel, food, shelter, or income from products, including timber) and
landscapes (where agricultural and forest land uses combine in determining the provision of
ecosystem services). Agroforestry has been identified as a potential greenhouse gas mitigation
and afforestation approach under the Kyoto Protocol. The main objective of this study is to
investigate Woody Species Diversity and Aboveground live Carbon Storage in Different Land
uses of Yem Special district, Southwest Ethiopia. This study was conducted from January – June,
2020. A transect line has been established across different land use types (homegarden,
pastureland and cropland). Stem count of woody species in three land use types was recorded.
The circumference of each stem with diameter at breast height (DBH) ≥ 5cm, height ≥ 1.3 m
were recorded from the 39 total sample plots. Woody species diversity was calculated using
Shannon-Wiener diversity index and woody species in pastureland was highly diversified (3.37).
The similarity of woody species composition among the three land use types was calculated by
using Sorenson’s similarity index. As a result cropland and pasture land showed the highest
similarity when compared to the others. Aboveground live biomass of each tree was calculated
by using the revised nondestructive allometric equation AGB = 0.0673(ρD2H) 0.976
. As a result
Cropland stored the highest amount AGC (11.52 t/ha). As a whole 20.11 t/ha of AGC was stored
in the three land use types. Depending on the result of this study I recommend for further
investigation on other components to fully understand the contribution of agroforestry systems in
biodiversity conservation and carbon storage.
