2023 Early Hearing Detection & Intervention Conference

March 5-7, 2023 • Cincinnati, OH

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6/08/2017 | 2:00 PM - 2:15 PM | EXAMINING THE ROLE OF ETHIOPIAN ORTHODOX CHURCH FORESTS IN PRESERVING STREAM ECOSYSTEM FUNCTION AND WATER QUALITY | 306A

EXAMINING THE ROLE OF ETHIOPIAN ORTHODOX CHURCH FORESTS IN PRESERVING STREAM ECOSYSTEM FUNCTION AND WATER QUALITY

Livestock grazing, expansion of agriculture, and firewood demand have resulted in severe forest loss in Northern Ethiopia. Today, only 2% of Ethiopia’s original forest cover remains. There are over 10,000 church forests, circles of dense forest surrounding church buildings, in the Amhara Region of Ethiopia. To date, much of the ecological understanding of church forests has focused on tree and insect biodiversity. Here, we present data on stream water quality and nutrient spiraling parameters. We visited 3 church forests ecosystems during summer 2016 and sampled stream reaches upstream, within, and downstream of church forests. In general, ammonium and phosphorus (SRP) concentrations declined with increasing catchment forest, and church forest streams were active sites up nutrient uptake. Total suspended solids also declined in forested stream reaches. One church forest stream was used for washing during our sampling event, resulting in high SRP concentrations and long SRP uptake lengths. As community gathering sites, forests may promote localized stream uses that diminish water quality, but they also serve as a buffer against agricultural fertilizers widely used in the region.

C10 Biogeochemistry
C16 Restoration Ecology
C27 Landuse and Non-Point source Impacts

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Presenters/Authors

Denise Bruesewitz (), Colby College, dabruese@colby.edu;