Vegetation density and altitude determine the supply of dry Afromontane forest ecosystem services: Evidence from Ethiopia

Mapping forest ecosystem services (ES) and identifying both natural and anthropogenic factors influencing their supply and distribution is a key step for sustainable and climate-smart forest management planning. This is particularly important for dry and mountain forests which are among the most threatened and neglected ecosystems globally. These forests are facing increasing demands for different land uses and ES with rising conflicts with each other. This study identifies, quantifies, and maps the spatial distribution of one supporting, three regulating, and four provisioning forest ES. Furthermore, a set of potential natural and anthropogenic factors influencing ES distribution in Desa'a forest, a dry Afromontane Forest in Tigray, Ethiopia, was assessed. The supply of some of the assessed ES depended on vegetation density, while the supply of others depended on woody species diversity, which resulted in a clustering of ES in two different geographical areas. Both natural and anthropogenic factors were important for explaining variations in the spatial distribution of ES, of which altitude and vegetation density were the most influential factors. Our findings can contribute to the development of sustainable forest management strategies for dry and mountain forests by providing knowledge on the spatial supply of ES. The ES maps can be used as a basis for developing dedicated zoning plans which could improve forest management.