August 2014 Vol. 2 No.8

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Mahari A

Giday K

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Original Research Article

Initial growth responses of five multipurpose tree species under moisture stressed environment, Northern Ethiopia: Implications for rehabilitation of degraded areas in the drylands

Abraham Mahari*¹ and Kidane Giday²

¹Department of Natural Resource Management, Adigrat University, Ethiopia
²Department of Land Resource Management and Environmental Protection, Mekelle University, Ethiopia

*Corresponding Author's Email: abmahari@gmail.com

Accepted August 30, 2014

Abstract

This study was conducted in Abergele, a degraded and moisture stressed dryland area. The objective of this study was to evaluate the initial growth response of five tree species namely Leucaena enega, Faidherbia albida, Leucaena leucocephala, Moringa stenopetala, and Acacia enegal with the ultimate goal of selecting best performing species for the restoration of the degraded forest area. Seedlings of these species were planted in the field in June 2010 in a randomized complete block design with three blocks. Data on survival, height and root collar diameter were recorded every three months. High growth response was recorded for A. enegal, M. stenopetala, and L. palida and were significantly (p<0.0039) different. Similarly, the growth response in root collar diameter also reviled that there was highly significant (p<0.001) difference among the species. High mean value of root collar diameter was recorded for M. stenopetala (5.61mm), A. enegal (2.86mm), while it was low in F. albida and L. leucocepala species (1.39mm and 1.69mm, respectively). The survival result also showed F. albida was higher (88.9%) followed by M. stenopetala (70.4%), A. Senegal (66.7%), and L. palida (63%), while survival of L. leucocepala was only 25.9%. Thus, the long dry season, which extended from seven to nine months in the study area, clearly explains the poor survival and growth response in some of the species. Generally, these findings may help forest managers to properly allocate species into the site that grow and adapt well. Further testing of provenances of the best performing species is recommended to select the most adaptable ones for such areas for future forest plantation establishment at wider scale; on which success of forest plantations depend.

Keywords: Dryland areas, Growth response, Multipurpose trees, Restoration, Survival