Comparison of the Floristic Composition and Diversity of Two Wetlands in Ethiopian

Abstract The main purpose of this study was to determine and compare the floristic composition and diversity indices of Washa and Borale Wetlands, located in Central Ethiopian. As revealed in the result, 74 species belonging to 26 families, and 57 genera were identified. Asteraceae and Poaceae were the most dominant families contributing 24.56% and 14.04% to the total genera, and 20.27% and 16.22% to the total species identified, respectively. Of the total, about 92% plant species were herbs, whereas 1% was climber, the least one. The alpha diversity of the Washa and Borale wetlands were 51 and 64, respectively. The average richness of the Washa and Borale wetlands were 12.3 ±0.91, and 15.35 ± 0.89, respectively. Likewise, the Shannon diversity (H’) and evenness (E) of Washa and Borale sites were 2.24 and 0.87, and 2.67 and 0.97 respectively. Accordingly, based on their average values, the diversity, evenness and richness indices were higher in Borale than Washa sites, and showed significance difference between the two wetlands (P < 0.05). Likewise, in both sites, especially in Borale, the majority of the species were native, annual and upland, implying the suitability of the wetlands to these native, but to annual and upland invaders due to the ecological and hydrological modifications of the wetlands, and competitive exclusion of the native aquatic plants by upland annual plants. Generally, many of the wetlands’ species were annual and upland invaders. Hence, in-situ and ex-situ strategic plans are required for restoring the wetlands via giving priority.