Billi, Paolo

Deckers, Jozef

Descheemaeker, Katrien

Frankl, Amaury

Haile, Mitiku

Hurni, Hans

Moeyersons, Jan

Munro, Neil

Nievergelt, Bernhard

Nyssen, Jan

Poesen, Jean

Portner, Brigitte

Ritler, Alfons

Ghent University Academic Bibliography

Geophysical Research AbstractsVol. 16, EGU2014-6473, 2014EGU General Assembly 2014© Author(s) 2014. CC Attribution 3.0 License.The northern Ethiopian highlands are greener than at any time in the last145 yearsJan Nyssen (1), Mitiku Haile (2), Hans Hurni (3), Katrien Descheemaeker (4), Alfons Ritler (3), Brigitte Portner(3), Bernhard Nievergelt (5), Jan Moeyersons (6), Neil Munro (7), Jozef Deckers (8), Jean Poesen (8), AmauryFrankl (1), and Paolo Billi (9)(1) Ghent University, Department of Geography WE12, Gent, Belgium (jan.nyssen@ugent.be), (2) Department of LandResources Management and Environmental Protection, Mekelle University, Ethiopia., (3) Department of Geography,University of Berne, Switzerland, (4) Wageningen University, Wageningen, The Netherlands, (5) Institute of Zoology, ZürichUniversity, Switzerland, (6) Royal Museum for Central Africa, Tervuren, Belgium, (7) Old Abbey Associates, Dirleton, U.K. ,(8) Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, KU Leuven, Belgium, (9) Earth Sciences Institute, University Ferrara,ItalyAs quantitative or spatially distributed studies of environmental change over truly long-term periods of more than100 years are extremely rare, we re-photographed 361 landscapes that appear on historical photographs (1868-1994) within a 40 000 km2 study area in northern Ethiopia. Visible evidence of environmental changes apparentfrom the paired photographs was analysed through expert rating. Woody vegetation, soil and water conservationand land management were in worse condition in the early period as compared with the present; the cover byindigenous trees is a notable exception: it peaked in the 1930s, declined afterwards, to reach a second peak inthe early 21st century. Particularly in areas with greater population density, there is significant increase in woodyvegetation and soil and water conservation structures through the study period. We conclude that, except for anapparent upward movement of the upper tree limit, direct human impact on the environment is overriding possibleeffects of climate change in the north Ethiopian highlands, and that, currently, the northern Ethiopian highlandsare greener than at any time in the last 145 years.

The northern Ethiopian highlands are greener than at any time in the last 145 years

https://biblio.ugent.be/publication/4419401/file/4419407

The northern Ethiopian highlands are greener than at any time in the last 145 years

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Ghent University Academic Bibliography