Baseline floristics and above-ground biomass in permanent sample plots across miombo woodlands in different land tenure systems in Hwedza, Zimbabwe
Paper Details
Baseline floristics and above-ground biomass in permanent sample plots across miombo woodlands in different land tenure systems in Hwedza, Zimbabwe
Abstract
This study aims to present baseline data on species diversity, forest structure and above-ground biomass (AGB) in different land tenure systems in miombo woodlands of Hwedza District, in Zimbabwe. One-hectare permanent sample plots were established in Communal Area, Small-Scale Commercial Farms (SSCF), Old Resettlement Area, New Resettlement Area and Protected area (Imire Game Park) Tree measurements were taken at the standard 1.3 m diameter at breast height for individual trees with diameters ≥5 cm. A total of 2 215 stems representing 87 species from 37 families, were assessed. Species composition differed with disturbance intensity across land tenure systems. The sub-family, Fabaceae-Detarioideae was the most abundant with Brachystegia spiciformis emerging as the dominant species across all land tenure systems. The SSCF recorded the highest species richness (40 species) and plant density (0.0693 plants-m²), while Communal Area had the lowest species richness (13 species) and plant density (0.0063 plants-m²), indicating significant anthropogenic pressure. Species diversity was highest in New Resettlement Area (Shannon index = 2.92) whilst the lowest diversity was recorded at Imire Game Park (Shannon index = 1.41). Stem diameter distribution showed an inverse J-shaped pattern, with Old Resettlement Area displaying strong regeneration. The Imire Game Park had the highest number of larger sized trees. Biomass was highest in Imire Game Park (28.2 ha-1) and SSCF (21.7 ha-1) and lowest in Communal area (0.26 t/ha). The study revealed the effects of land tenure on diversity, structure and biomass of miombo woodlands which stands as a strong baseline for future studies in these woodlands for better sustainable land management.
Bulusu M, Martius C, Clendenning J. 2021. Carbon stocks in miombo woodlands: Evidence from over 50 years. Forests 12(7), 862. https://doi.org/10.3390/f12070862
Buramuge VA, Ribeiro NS, Olsson L, Bandeira RR, Lisboa SN. 2023. Tree species composition and diversity in fire-affected areas of miombo woodlands, Central Mozambique. Fire 6(1), 26. https://doi.org/10.3390/fire6010026
Chipika JT, Kowero G. 2000. Deforestation of woodlands in communal areas of Zimbabwe: Is it due to agricultural policies? Agriculture, Ecosystems & Environment 79(2), 175–185. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0167-8809(99)00156-5
Dewees PA, Campbell BM, Katerere Y, Sitoe A, Cunningham AB, Angelsen A, Wunder S. 2011. Managing the miombo woodlands of Southern Africa: Policies, incentives and options for the rural poor. Journal of Natural Resources Policy Research 3(1), 57–73.https://doi.org/10.1080/19390450903350846
Food and Nutrition Council. 2022. Hwedza district, food and nutrition security profile. World Food Program. https://www.fnc.org.zw/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/HWEDZA-District-Profile.pdf
Frost P. 1996. The ecology of miombo woodlands. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/201997666_The_ecology_of_miombo_woodlands
Godlee JL, Gonçalves FM, Tchamba JJ, Chisingui AV, Muledi JI, Shutcha MN, Ryan CM, Brade TK, Dexter KG. 2020. Diversity and structure of an arid woodland in Southwest Angola, with comparison to the wider miombo ecoregion. Diversity 12(4), 140. https://doi.org/10.3390/d12040140
Gonçalves FMP, Revermann R, Cachissapa MJ, Gomes AL, Aidar MPM. 2018. Species diversity, population structure and regeneration of woody species in fallows and mature stands of tropical woodlands of southeast Angola. Journal of Forestry Research 29(6), 1569–1579. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11676-018-0593-x
Gonçalves FMP, Revermann R, Gomes AL, Aidar MPM, Finckh M, Juergens N. 2017. Tree species diversity and composition of miombo woodlands in South-Central Angola: A chronosequence of forest recovery after shifting cultivation. International Journal of Forestry Research 2017(1), 6202093. https://doi.org/10.1155/2017/6202093
Gondwe MFK, Geldenhuys CJ, Chirwa PWC, Assédé ESP, Syampungani S, Cho MA. 2021. Tree species composition and diversity in miombo woodlands between co-managed and government-managed regimes, Malawi. African Journal of Ecology 59(1), 225–240. https://doi.org/10.1111/aje.12799
Gotore T, Ndagurwa HGT, Kativu S, Gautier D, Gazull L. 2021. Woody plant assemblage and the structure of miombo woodland along a disturbance gradient in Hurungwe, Zambezi Valley, Zimbabwe. Journal of Forestry Research 32(5), 1867–1877. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11676-020-01242-3
Jew EKK, Dougill AJ, Sallu SM, O’Connell J, Benton TG. 2016. Miombo woodland under threat: Consequences for tree diversity and carbon storage. Forest Ecology and Management 361, 144–153. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.foreco.2015.11.011
Jombo S, Adam E, Odindi J. 2017. Quantification of landscape transformation due to the fast-track land reform programme (FTLRP) in Zimbabwe using remotely sensed data. Land Use Policy 68, 287–294. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.landusepol.2017.07.023
Kalaba FK, Quinn CH, Dougill AJ, Vinya R. 2013. Floristic composition, species diversity and carbon storage in charcoal and agriculture fallows and management implications in miombo woodlands of Zambia. Forest Ecology and Management 304, 99–109. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.foreco.2013.04.024
Kuyah S, Sileshi GW, Njoloma J, Mng’omba S, Neufeldt H. 2014. Estimating aboveground tree biomass in three different miombo woodlands and associated land use systems in Malawi. Biomass and Bioenergy 66, 214–222. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biombioe.2014.02.005
Lupala ZJ, Lusambo LP, Ngaga YM. 2014. Management, growth, and carbon storage in miombo woodlands of Tanzania. International Journal of Forestry Research 2014(1), 629317. https://doi.org/10.1155/2014/629317
Macheka MT. 2021. Environmental management and practices in Zimbabwe’s Chivi district: A political ecology analysis. Cogent Social Sciences 7(1), 2000569. https://doi.org/10.1080/23311886.2021.2000569
Makumborenga MT, Zimudzi C, Blaser J. 2022. Effects of firewood extraction on miombo woodlands in Zimbabwe: The case of Hwedza communal area. Heliyon 8(12), e11945. https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.4309771
Manatsa D, Mushore TD, Gwitira I, Wuta M, Chemura A, Shekede MD, Mungandani R, Sakala LC, Ali L, Masukwedza GI, Mupuro JM, Muzira NM. 2020. Revision of Zimbabwe’s agro-ecological zones. [Unpublished/Institutional Report].
Muboko N, Mushonga MR, Chibuwe N, Mashapa C, Gandiwa E. 2013. Woody vegetation structure and composition in Mapembe Nature Reserve, eastern Zimbabwe. Journal of Applied Sciences and Environmental Management 17(4), 475–485.
Muchetu RG. 2019. Family farms and the markets: Examining the level of market-oriented production 15 years after the Zimbabwe fast track land reform programme. Review of African Political Economy 46(160), 33–49. https://doi.org/10.1080/03056244.2019.1609919
Muringa TP, Zvaita GT. 2022. Land resettlement in post-colonial Zimbabwe: A look into the government land resettlement approaches. Journal of Inclusive Cities and Built Environment 2(4), 53–66. https://doi.org/10.54030/2788-564X/2022/sp1v1a5
Nyoka B, Tembani M, Madhibha T, Mushongahande M, Gondo P, Machena C, Chingarande Y, Kusena K, Kativu S, Mujuru L, Mafuratidze R, Mudhefi A. 2011. The state of forest genetic resources in Zimbabwe 2002–2011 (Report on the State of World’s Forest Genetic Resources). Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources Management. https://www.fao.org/4/i3825e/i3825e78.pdf
Orwa C, Kindt R, Jamnadass R, Antony S. 2009. Agroforestree database: A tree reference and selection guide version 4.0. World Agroforestry Centre.
Pritchard R, Grundy IM, van der Horst D, Ryan CM. 2019. Environmental incomes sustained as provisioning ecosystem service availability declines along a woodland resource gradient in Zimbabwe. World Development 122, 325–338. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.worlddev.2019.05.008
Pritchard R, Ryan CM, Grundy I, van der Horst D. 2018. Human appropriation of net primary productivity and rural livelihoods: Findings from six villages in Zimbabwe. Ecological Economics 146, 115–124. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecolecon.2017.10.003
Ribeiro NS, Silva de Miranda PL, Timberlake J. 2020. Biogeography and ecology of miombo woodlands. In: Ribeiro NS, Katerere Y, Chirwa PW, Grundy IM (eds.). Miombo woodlands in a changing environment: Securing the resilience and sustainability of people and woodlands. Springer International Publishing, pp. 9–53. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-50104-4_2
Ryan CM, Williams M, Grace J. 2011. Above- and belowground carbon stocks in a miombo woodland landscape of Mozambique. Biotropica 43(4), 423–432. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1744-7429.2010.00713.x
Scoones I, Mavedzenge B, Murimbarimba F. 2018. Medium-scale commercial farms in Africa: The experience of the ‘native purchase areas’ in Zimbabwe. Journal of the International African Institute 88(3), 597–619. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0001972018000244
Shelukindo HB, Semu E, Msanya BM, Singh BR, Munishi PKT. 2014. Soil organic carbon stocks in the dominant soils of the miombo woodland ecosystem of Kitonga Forest Reserve, Iringa, Tanzania. International Journal of Agricultural Policy and Research 2(4), 167–177.
Shirima DD, Munishi PKT, Lewis SL, Burgess ND, Marshall AR, Balmford A, Swetnam RD, Zahabu EM. 2011. Carbon storage, structure and composition of miombo woodlands in Tanzania’s Eastern Arc Mountains. African Journal of Ecology 49(3), 332–342. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-2028.2011.01269.x
Stewart K, Bowers SJ, Shayanewako N, Pritchard R, Kinsey BH, Zimudzi C, Ryan CM. 2025. Three decades of woodland cover change in Hwedza, Zimbabwe reveals similar trajectories of woodland loss in communal and resettlement areas. Journal of Land Use Science 20(1), 21–44. https://doi.org/10.1080/1747423X.2025.2476943
Tatsvarei S, Mushunje A, Matsvai S, Ngarava S. 2018. Farmer perceptions in Mashonaland East Province on Zimbabwe’s agricultural land rental policy. Land Use Policy 75, 468–477. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.landusepol.2018.04.015
Tom T. 2025. The right to be rural: Farm community development and social services in Zimbabwe’s resettlement areas. Community Development 56(4), 503–524. https://doi.org/10.1080/15575330.2024.2403003
Walker SM, Desanker PV. 2004. The impact of land use on soil carbon in miombo woodlands of Malawi. Forest Ecology and Management 203(1), 345–360. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.foreco.2004.08.004
Wheeler CE, Mitchard ETA, Nalasco Reyes HE, Iñiguez Herrera G, Marquez Rubio JI, Carstairs H, Williams M. 2021. A new field protocol for monitoring forest degradation. Frontiers in Forests and Global Change 4, 655280. https://doi.org/10.3389/ffgc.2021.655280
Yannick US, Mpanda Mukenza M, Kikuni Tchowa J, Kabamb Kanyimb D, Malaisse F, Bogaert J. 2024. Hierarchical analysis of miombo woodland spatial dynamics in Lualaba Province (Democratic Republic of the Congo), 1990–2024: Integrating remote sensing and landscape ecology techniques. Remote Sensing 16(20), 3903. https://doi.org/10.3390/rs16203903
Zhang F, Zhan J, Zhang Q, Yao L, Liu W. 2017. Impacts of land use/cover change on terrestrial carbon stocks in Uganda. Physics and Chemistry of the Earth, Parts A/B/C 101, 195–203. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pce.2017.03.005
Zhang F, Zhan J, Zhang Q, Yao L, Liu W. 2017. Impacts of land use/cover change on terrestrial carbon stocks in Uganda. Physics and Chemistry of the Earth, Parts A/B/C 101, 195–203. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pce.2017.03.005
Zinyowera NI, Ndagurwa HGT, Muvengwi J. 2021. Changes in miombo woody assemblage along a disturbance gradient in a smallholder tobacco production communal land, northeast Zimbabwe. Forest Ecology and Management 502, 119718. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.foreco.2021.119718
Edwin Nyamugadza, Sara Feresu, Billy Mukamuri, Casey Ryan, Clemence Zimudzi, 2025. Baseline floristics and above-ground biomass in permanent sample plots across miombo woodlands in different land tenure systems in Hwedza, Zimbabwe. J. Biodiv. Environ. Sci., 27(4), 65-79.
Copyright © 2025 by the Authors. This article is an open access article and distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 (CC BY 4.0) license.