Diversity of on farm naturally regenerated and planted trees in Kisekka sub county Lwengo district, central Uganda.

Abstract

On farm trees are overlooked in research and policymaking where the focus is mostly on trees in the forest. Yet the country has a long history of forest loss due to agricultural expansion, commercial logging and rapid population growth that resulted into decline in tree/forest cover. This builds an idea of adopting on farm tree practice by farmers to avoid over reliance on natural forest resource though, the information about the diversity of on farm planted and naturally regenerated trees don’t show which regeneration type plays a bigger part in tree species composition. Therefore, this study aimed at comparing the diversity and composition of on farm planted and naturally regenerated trees. Samples were collected on the homestead land and the size of plots depended on the size of homestead land. Information about tree species, number and size in terms of DBH were considered most. Species Shannon diversity, species number, abundance and evenness were computed and compared between planted and naturally regenerated ones. Minitab was also used to test for their variation. Non-metric multidimensional scaling ordination was used to visualize the composition and distribution of species in different regeneration types. However, in Uganda have not been satisfactorily addressed. Similarity Percentage test was conducted to estimate overall dissimilarity and similarity between species. A total of 83 tree species were recorded in all 64 homestead gardens sampled. Overall, Species abundance, Shannon diversity and abundance was high in planted on farm trees and lower in naturally regenerated ones. However, evenness was higher in naturally regenerated on farm trees compared to that of planted. Pruning, pollarding, topping and fertilizer application were the common tree management practices employed by farmers on their farms. Extra labor cost and insect biting were the major problems faced by farmers when managing and most farmers carry out those management practices seasonally, on year basis and others were not sure. Results have shown that farmers value the role played by trees on their farms. Therefore, strategies should be laid and implemented to ensure that on farm tree diversity and composition increases through different regeneration types.