Forest Conversion Soil Degradation Farmers Perception Nexus

Forest conversion - soil degradation - farmers’ perception nexus: Implications for sustainable land use in the southwest of Ethiopia. Resettlements in the forest regions instigate considerable impacts on the natural resource base. This study presents a comparative assessment of the biophysical processes of resource degradation and the farmers’ awareness in a cereal-based farming system of the settlers and an indigenous coffee-based farming system. The study analyzes the extent of forest conversion and soil degradation in the two farming systems. Furthermore, the farmers’ response and coping mechanisms are assessed. The need for providing land management technologies to farmers to use their resources sustainably is emphasized and a review of the resettlement policy is underlined.

The sustainable management of forest resources became an indispensable prerequisite for any policy addressing the actual and future challenges of globabl development. Forests and other tree resources are essential for the provision of ecosystem services and contribute largely to future food security, livelihoods and ecosystem stability. Forests and any other trees outside the forest play a relevant role all three great UN conventions (on Climate Change, on Biodiversity, and on Combatting Desertification). The policy processes to implement the measures in these conventions on sub-national, national, regional and international level are extremely complex. This complexity comes, among other factors, from a blend of different sectoral and national interests, from a large number of scientifically not yet entirely resolved issues and a wide range of different biophysical, social, cultural and political conditions all over the world.

This book is a printed edition of the Special Issue Causes and Consequences of Species Diversity in Forest Ecosystems that was published in Forests

Plant biomass represents a sink for atmospheric carbon dioxide, which is one of the most important greenhouse gases and which is assumed to contribute more than half of the global warming. Establishing tree plantations or perennial crops on degraded land is an effective way to reduce atmospheric carbon by building up terrestrial carbon stocks, not only in the living biomass, but also in the soil. By converting Imperata cylindrica grassland into tree plantations (Acacia mangium or oil palm), aboveground biomass carbon can be increased about 20-fold and below ground biomass carbon up to 8-fold, while soil carbon can almost be doubled.

Coffea arabica, one of the economically most important crops worldwide, occurs naturally in the undergrowth of montane rainforests of Ethiopia. The study provides the first detailed ecophysiological investigations of wild coffee populations. It demonstrates the inter- and intra-regional variability in phenotypic and hydrological characteristics of wild coffee. The results reveal very different strategies of wild coffee seedlings for coping with drought stress. The ecophysiological diversity shows the importance of Ethiopian wild coffee populations as gene pools for future breeding programs, and underlines the need for an in-situ conservation strategy. The study includes recommendations for coffee forest management and the use of wild arabica coffee in Ethiopia.

Solanum quitoense (Lulo) from the northern Andes is a fruit with an attractive taste. It has a high export potential but its production is hampered by insufficient pollination. Studies on the reproductive system of Lulo revealed that, due to their poricidal anthers, the flowers need pollinators for self- and cross-pollination. Pollination by native bumblebees significantly increases fruit set and quality. Experiments show that colonies of Bombus atratus can be reared in captivity and used in Lulo fields for providing increased pollination services. Modeling based on data on colony development reveal larva/workers ratio and the supply of pollen as main parameters for improving the rearing method.