Floristic composition, structure and regeneration status of woody plants in church forests of Dangila, Northwestern Ethiopia

This study was conducted to determine woody species composition, diversity, structure, and regeneration status of sacred groves in Dangila town, Ethiopia. Five church forests were selected for this study among 14 forests in the district. Forty plots of 20 mx20m were laid along 20 transect lines for vegetation data collection. Additionally, 5 mx5m subplots were laid within the main plot to evaluate the regeneration status of woody plants. Woody plants with DBH ≥ 2.5 cm in each plot were identified and recorded. A total of 73 plant species in 64 genera and 42 families were identified. Among these, 43.06, 12.5, 36.11, and 8.33% were trees, tree/shrubs, shrubs, and climbers, respectively. Family Fabaceae were the most dominant contributing 9 (12.5%) species to the total followed by Euphorbaceae, Acantaceae, Rosaceae, and Moraceae with 7 (9.72%) species, 3 (4.17%) species, 3 (4.17%) species and 3 (4.17%) species, respectively. A total density of 548.13 seedlings ha−1, 841.88 saplings ha−1 and 2180.6 mature individuals ha−1 of woody species were counted in the sample plots. The density of height and DBH classes showed inverted J-shape pattern. The Shannon diversity and evenness of woody plant species in Dangila church forests was 3.5 and 0.82, respectively, which is relatively high. The total basal area of the forest was 98.4 m2/ha. These church forests had fair regeneration potential. Species with low important value index (IVI) and abundance need to be prioritized for conservation. Silvicultural intervention has to be implemented to strengthen the religious and cultural conservation system of the church forests