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The Holocene
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Forest clearance and regrowth in northern Ethiopia during the last 3000 years

Iain Darbyshire

Institute of Geography and Earth Sciences, University of Wales Aberystwyth, Aberystwyth SY23 3DB, UK hfl{at}aber.ac.uk

Henry Lamb

Institute of Geography and Earth Sciences, University of Wales Aberystwyth, Aberystwyth SY23 3DB, UK

Mohammed Umer

Department of Geology and Geophysics, University of Addis Ababa, PO Box 1176, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia

Pollen and charcoal analysis of sediment cores from two lakes in the highlands of northern Ethiopia provide evidence that the vegetation has changed in response to human impact during the last 3000 years. The natural, pre-disturbance vegetation of the area was Podocarpus-Juniperus forest. At about 500 bc, following Semitic immigration to northern Ethiopia, the forests were cleared and replaced by a secondary vegetation of Dodonaea scrub and grassland that persisted for 1800 years. Grasslands were dominant from about ad 1200 to 1400, probably as a result of further intensification of grazing, perhaps exacerbated by drought. Juniperus forest, with Olea and Celtis, then expanded from ad 1400 to 1700, possibly because of drought-induceddepopu lation followed by increased rainfall. Deforestation and soil erosion has again intensified during the last three centuries. Since forest regrowth was possible after 1800 years of human impact, northern Ethiopia should again be capable of supporting forest under appropriate land management.

Key Words: Pollen • vegetation history • forest clearance • forest regrowth • lake sediments • human impact • Ethiopia • Africa • late Holocene

The Holocene, Vol. 13, No. 4, 537-546 (2003)
DOI: 10.1191/0959683603hl644rp
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