Land use and land cover changes, and woody vegetation status of the Tsimur Gebriel Monastery in Northern Ethiopia

Ethiopian Orthodox churches are significant habitats for endemic and threatened plant species, yet their vegetation status and the land use systems impacting them, are little known. Therefore, this study assessed the land use and land cover changes (LULCC) within a 3 km buffer area and the woody vegetation status of the Tsimur Gebriel Monastery in the Tigray region, Northern Ethiopia. The United States Geological Survey's multi-dated (1986, 1999, and 2018) Landsat imagery was used for LULCC analysis. A supervised classification technique was employed for image classification using a maximum likelihood algorithm. Systematic sampling techniques were used to collect vegetation data (tree species, height, and DBH), using 20 sample plots (20 × 20 m) distanced 100 m apart. The results highlighted that among the five identified LULCC types in the buffer zone of the monastery, the farmland area has expanded from 56 to 78 % at the expense of shrublands between 1986 and 2018. At the monastery, 19 woody tree species from 13 families were identified, with an evenness of 0.5 and a Shannon diversity index of 2.4. The stem density was 336 stems per hectare, and the forest cover was approximately 65 %. Olea europaea was the dominant tree species, while Juniperus procera showed a lack of regeneration at the monastery. Despite the fair natural regeneration, the monastery exhibited lower species diversity, richness, and evenness. However, the monastery remains an important habitat for rare and threatened tree species and may supply seeds for the restoration of degraded lands. Therefore, establishing exclosures in the buffer zone, strengthening stone walls and enrichment planting of degraded tree species should be implemented to ensure the sustainable conservation of valuable tree species.