✦ LIBER ✦
Effect of fire on plant communities and soils in the humid tropical savannah of Gambela, Ethiopia
✍ Scribed by M. Woube
- Publisher
- John Wiley and Sons
- Year
- 1998
- Tongue
- English
- Weight
- 310 KB
- Volume
- 9
- Category
- Article
- ISSN
- 1085-3278
No coin nor oath required. For personal study only.
✦ Synopsis
Ethiopian pastoralists and farmers use ®re for regrowth of young green shoots and food crops, respectively. As a result, useful plants and wild animals are also aected. The intensity, frequency and magnitude of ®res in the Gambela region (Baro-Akobo river basin) have been aggravated by the recent resettlement scheme and mechanized farming. Fires have (i) changed the physiognomy of plants; (ii) reduced the number of indispensable plant species; (iii) pushed wild animals to neighbouring areas; and (iv) brought soil erosion. If the present ®re occurrences continue, this region of rich biodiversity will become deserti®ed.