Woody Species Composition, Tree diversity and Regeneration Status of Londiani Forest, Kenya

Tropical forests provide habitats for diverse flora and fauna. In addition, they are essential in regulating the climate while at the same time millions of people depend on them for their livelihoods. As seen by rising political commitment and worldwide promises to reduce rates of deforestation and boost restoration of degraded forest ecosystems, forests are becoming more widely acknowledged for their role as a nature-based solution to many sustainable development concerns. Understanding tropical forest dynamics and their conservation have so become more important. This study analyzed, the forest stand structure, tree species composition, abundance and diversity and the regeneration status of Londiani Forest. Londiani Forest is divided into three blocks, namely Kedowa, Chebewor and Londiani and from each of these blocks belt transects 25 m wide and 1 km long were established 100 m from the edge of the forest to reduce edge effects. At every 200 m along the transect, 25 m × 25 m quadrats were set up in which, an inventory of all tree species was done. For tree species that could not be identified in the field, the local name was provided by para-taxonomists who participated in the data collection and the species name was later identified with the help of a taxonomist or a manual of woody tree species of Londiani Forest. The diameter at breast height (DBH) was measured at 1.3 m from the ground using a diameter tape. Tree height was measured using a Suunto angular clinometer. A nested quadrat 5 m x 5 m quadrat within the 25 m x 25 m quadrat was used to sample saplings while a 1 m x 1 m quadrat was used for sampling seedlings. Regeneration status was assessed using the number of seedlings and saplings. Stumps of trees cut were counted including identifying tree species from which the tree stump was derived. Data from the quadrats were entered into Microsoft Excel. Total stem density, species density, basal area, species basal area, relative density and species diversity were determined. A total of 1,308 individual trees belonging to 34 different species from 24 families were recorded. Kedowa had the highest (27) species richness followed by Chebewor (19) then Londiani (14). There was a statistically significant difference in species richness among the three forest blocks (p<0.05). There were no statistically significant differences in the mean DBH (F=0.560; p=0.729) and height class distribution (F= 0.821, p=.558) among the three forest blocks. There was a statistically significant difference in stem density (F=12.22; p=0.005) and woody species diversity (F=0.32; p=0.001) within the three forests blocks. There was no statistically significant difference in the basal area distribution within the three forest blocks p>0.005. The similarity index ranged from 0.34 to 0.47. In all the forest blocks, there was evidence of seedlings and saplings indicating that there was regeneration. Results clearly show that while the Londiani Forest shows variation in characteristics, there is clear evidence that it is regenerating.