An insight into Northern Wollo Monastery Forests: Examining plant species diversity, vegetation structure, and regeneration analysis of these relict ecosystems

Abstract

Monastery forests in the Ethiopian highlands serve as cultural sanctuaries and critical refugia for Afromontane biodiversity. We conducted floristic inventories (n = 90 nested 20 m × 20 m plots) and demographic censuses (2039 woody stems) across five forest fragments (6.7–82.1 ha) to assess α- and β-diversity, evaluate population viability of key canopy species, and analyse the influence of topography and anthropogenic disturbance on community composition. Coverage-based rarefaction for species richness (Hill q = 0) estimated standardized estimate 32 ± 3.7 to 78 ± 5.2 species ha - 1 while Shannon diversity (q = 1) ranged from 3.17 to 3.86 effective species. A Sørensen-based PERMANOVA confirmed significant compositional differentiation among forests (F4,85 = 3.66, P = 0.001), pair-wise turnover values (β_sim = 0.35–0.62, mean ± SE = 0.48 ± 0.05). Canonical correspondence analysis explained 17.6% of constrained variation, with slope (pseudo-F = 5.9, P = 0.004) and grazing intensity (F = 3.8, P = 0.012) and disturbance (F = 3.1, P = 0.018) emerging as the predominant, non collinear predictors of composition. Olea europaea subsp. cuspidata declined in two fragments (λ ≤ 0.91 yr - 1) where seedling: adult ratios were ≤0.15, while Juniperus procera populations (λ = 1.03–1.11 yr - 1) were predicted to remain stable to gradually increase by annual, stage-structured matrix models. We recommend a tiered stewardship strategy that combines livestock exclosures, enrichment planting of regeneration-limited taxa and participatory monitoring of vital rates. This study explains how local management modulates β-diversity across rugged terrain and establishes the first population-viability benchmarks for Ethiopia’s church forests by connecting floristic patterns with demographic processes and topographic context.