Exclosure land management for restoration of herbaceous species in degraded communal grazing lands in Southern Tigray

Figures & data

Figure 1. Location map of the southern zone of Tigray and its districts

Figure 2. The functional group (A), desirability (B) and life forms (C) of herbaceous species in the two land-use systems (HPG= high palatable grasses, LPG= less palatable grasses, HPL= high palatable legumes, LPL= less palatable legumes, PG= Perennial grass, AG= annual grass, PL= Perennial legume, AL= annual legume)

Table 1. Mean values of vegetation characteristics in exclosures and adjacent grazing lands (AE=Area Exclosure, CGL= Communal Grazing land)

Land-use type	Number of quadrats	Number of individuals	Shannon diversity	Species richness	Species Evenness
AE	124	60.95	1.24	4.98	0.79
CGL	73	44.46	0.98	3.14	0.74
P-value		0.001	<0.001	<0.001	0.09

Table 2. Aboveground herbaceous biomass (tons/ha) in AE and CGL of the study area (AE=Area Exclosure, CGL= Communal Grazing land)

Land-use type	Number of quadrats	Grass		Legumes		Forbs	Overall
		Annual	Perennial	Annual	Perennial
AE	124	10.24	20.30	3.39	6.76	5.26	9.19
CGL	73	5.06	10.02	1.69	3.37	7.06	5.44
p-value		<0.001	<0.001	<0.001	<0.001	0.001	<0.001

Table 3. Dry matter yield (tons/ha) (Mean) of herbaceous species in AE and CGL of the study area (AE=Area Exclosure, CGL= Communal Grazing land)

Parameter	AE	CGL	p-value
Grass	4.03	2.20	<0.001
Legumes	1.55	0.73	<0.001
Forbs	1.51	2.03	0.001
Total biomass	2.36	1.66	<0.001