Tree species diversity and abundance in coffee farms adjacent to areas of different disturbance histories in Mabira forest system, central Uganda

Coffee production in Uganda is done on small-scale farms containing a very significant tree component. However, there is little information on how tree species abundance, richness and diversity change in coffee farms as distance from forest changes. The main objectives of this study, therefore, were to assess (a) abundance and (b) diversity of tree species in the coffee production systems in proximity to disturbed and undisturbed forest around Mabira forest, one of Uganda’s Robusta coffee-growing areas. Seventy-nine 0.1 ha plots were established in nine villages close to undisturbed and disturbed forest, and over 5 km from the forest. A total of 875 trees belonging to 63 species were recorded. There was significant similarity in species composition among the three study sites (analysis of similarity R = 0.09, p < 0.01; analysis of variance: F3,12 = 0.353, p = 0.79). Non-metric dimensional scaling supported these findings (stress value = 0.224 at k = 2) and showed that tree species composition in the three proximity categories was very similar. These results demonstrate that tree species composition and diversity is similar in coffee farms regardless of their distance from the nearest natural forest and forest exploitation history.

Keywords

Robusta coffee, Tree diversity, Species richness, Coffee farms, Mabira forest

Citation

Samson Gwali, Hillary Agaba, Paul Balitta, David Hafashimana, Joseph Nkandu, Anne Kuria, Fabrice Pinard & Fergus Sinclair (2015) Tree species diversity and abundance in coffee farms adjacent to areas of different disturbance histories in Mabira forest system, central Uganda, International Journal of Biodiversity Science, Ecosystem Services & Management, 11:4, 309-317, DOI: 10.1080/21513732.2015.1050607

URI

https://doi.org/10.1080/21513732.2015.1050607
https://nru.uncst.go.ug/handle/123456789/6696

Collections

Natural Sciences

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