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Effects of transformation processes on plant species richness and diversity in homegardens of the Nuba Mountains, Sudan

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Abstract

Traditional homegardens (HGs) are considered to harbor high levels of plant diversity and have been therefore characterized as sustainable agro-ecosystems suitable for on-farm (incl. circa situm) conservation of plant genetic resources. While the functional structure of traditional HGs is poorly understood specifically for semi-arid and arid regions, their plant species richness and diversity is increasingly threatened by recent and fast evolving agricultural transformation processes. This has been particularly claimed for traditional jubraka HG systems of Sudan. Therefore, sixty-one HGs in four villages of the Nuba Mountains, South-Kordofan Province, Sudan, were randomly selected, geographically recorded and plant richness and abundance determined and plant diversity parameters calculated. In addition, socio-economic household data were assessed by interviews and soil samples taken to allow a comprehensive analysis of putative factors affecting HG plant diversity across different villages, levels of commercialization and plant species composition based clusters. A total of 110 species from 35 plant families were grown in the HGs along with 71 ornamentals. Perennial species accounted for 57 % including 12 indigenous fruit tree (IFT) species and six exotic fruit tree species. Mean species richness of useful plant species (excluding ornamentals) per HG was 23 (range 6–46). On average, 41 % of the 23 species per HG were of exotic origin, however, with a large range (21–83 %) among locations. Mean diversity and evenness indices were 1.46 (range 0.49–2.42) and 0.48 (0.15–0.87), respectively. The level of commercialization of HGs only marginally affected species diversity measures although the species richness was significantly higher for commercial than subsistence HGs. Species richness was higher on lower (6.6–7.2) pH soils. IFT richness was highly variable, but non-significantly different across the four locations. Plant species richness and diversity was high in comparison with other HG systems in semi-arid regions. Cluster analysis was found to be a valuable tool to classify HGs and to extract homogeneous HG types with low, intermediate and high richness and diversity. In addition, the share of exotic and ornamental species in HGs indicated a trend towards the loss of traditional farming practices, particularly in areas with good market access. The data did not indicate the hypothesized loss of inter-specific diversity due to commercialization and species richness was numerically even higher for market-oriented HGs compared to subsistence ones.

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Acknowledgments

We thank the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft DFG (German Research Foundation) for funding this research as part of the project ‘Effects of transformation processes in ‘jubraka’ agroforestry systems of the Nuba Mountains, Sudan, on plant diversity and nutrient fluxes’, BU 1308/9-1 & GE 2094/1-1. We would like to highly acknowledge our field assistants Sabri Abdul Karim from Lumon, Moza Suleiman from Sama, Ahmed Al Zet, Mohammad Defallah, Adam Muza and Omar Balandia from Kalogi, and Kochoro from Habila who translated for us, thereby enabling fruitful conversations about local knowledge and HG management in the Nuba Mountains. We are also thankful to all the respondents who allowed access to their properties and shared their experiences with us. Moreover, many thanks to all the families of all villages and the agricultural guesthouse in Habila for their great hospitality and accommodations provided. Finally, we would like to extend our great respect to the local chiefs and authorities of the respective villages for their friendly cooperation and for providing us with necessary working permits.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Organic Plant Production and Agroecosystems Research in the Tropics and Subtropics (OPATS), University of Kassel, Steinstr. 19, 37213, Witzenhausen, Germany

    Martin Wiehle, Sven Goenster & Andreas Buerkert

  2. Sustainable Agricultural Production Systems with Special Focus on Horticulture, Faculty of Life Sciences, Rhine-Waal University of Applied Sciences, Marie-Curie-Straße 1, 47533, Kleve, Germany

    Jens Gebauer

  3. Department of Horticulture, University of Khartoum, P.O. Box 321, Shambat, Khartoum North, Sudan

    Seifeldin Ali Mohamed

  4. Tree Diversity, Domestication and Delivery, World Agroforestry Centre (ICRAF), United Nations Avenue, Gigiri, P.O. Box 30677, Nairobi, 00100, Kenya

    Katja Kehlenbeck

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  1. Martin Wiehle
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Correspondence to Andreas Buerkert.

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Wiehle, M., Goenster, S., Gebauer, J. et al. Effects of transformation processes on plant species richness and diversity in homegardens of the Nuba Mountains, Sudan. Agroforest Syst 88, 539–562 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10457-014-9717-2

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