Luoga, Emmanuel Joachim2025-05-212025-05-212000https://www.suaire.sua.ac.tz/handle/123456789/6738ThesisThis interdisciplinary study makes comparisons between patterns of woody resource abundance (stocks) under contrasting management regimes and describes the effects of human disturbance on plant diversity and population dynamics of miombo woodlands. Socio-economic data were collected from two sampled villages surrounding the Kitulanghalo Forest Reserve in eastern Tanzania, about 150 km west of Dar-es-Salaam. Biophysical data were collected from sixty-four modified- Whittaker nested plots in the reserve and surrounding public lands. Use was also made of the data from permanent sample plots and aerial photographs & landsat images. The ethnobotanical and utilisation survey indicated that major uses of woody species were for charcoal production (the main commercial activity in the area), firewood, medicine and poles. Commercial production of charcoal results in local wood consumption of 6.01 nf capita'1 year'1 compared to subsistence firewood consumption of only 1.5 m3 capita'1 year'1. Shifting cultivation is practiced by 68% of the population. The present level and pattern of harvesting are changing the structure and composition of the vegetation, especially in public lands and are not sustainable. However, the heavy wood utilisation in public lands has minimal effect on floristic composition as indicated by a high Sorensen’s similarity of 87.7% between the reserve and public lands. Multivariate analysis indicated that the linear combinations of physiographic variables (most of which are associated with human disturbance) significantly influence the pattern of tree harvesting, and species composition at the community level. The decrease in plant density through harvesting or self-thinning (natural mortality) in public lands is accompanied by enhanced wood productivity, hence growth rates were higher in public lands compared to the reserve. Ninety percent of harvested woody species in public lands resprouted hence management under coppice rotation as a silvicultural system is recommended. Common property regimes and local institutional capacities are weak and need to be strengthened before local people are given the full responsibility of managing the public lands and assisting in policing the forest reserve. This calls for government institutions to provide and motivate for an enabling environment in order to ensure equity and sustainable development of natural resources.enKitulanghalo Forest ReserveMiombo woodlands-Eastern TanzaniaWood productsMiombo woodlandsThesis