Abstract:
Effect of environmental factors on the patterns of plant community formation and species
distribution in the afro-alpine vegetation was conducted at Simien Mountains National
Park, Northwest Ethiopia. Data were collected from stratified mountains by using
systematic sampling in each stratum from October to November 2015. Vegetation and soil
were sampled from 30 plots with the size of 20m X 20m and five 1m X 1m subplots, one at
each corner and one at the center. Specimens were collected and identified at field and also
confirmed at National Herbarium, Addis Ababa University. The analysis of soil samples
were done at the Amhara Design and Supervision Work Enterprise soil test laboratory.
Cluster and canonical correspondence analysis (R program version 3.1.3) were employed to
identify plant community types and effects of environmental variable s that shaped the
patterns of community formation. Three plant community types were recognized in the
study area. In the study area, altitude was the most important environmental variable
followed by pH that influenced plant community formation and species distribution.
Elevation was positively correlated with pH in the higher elevation and negatively
correlated in the lower areas.
Keywords: Canonical correspondence analysis, environmental factors, vegetation
relationship, ordination, plant community, soil analysis.
