Masresha Fetene

Addis Ababa University | AAU · Department of Plant Biology and Biodiversity Management

Faidherbia albida is one of the scattered trees commonly intercropped with most cereals in Ethiopia due to its positive impacts. The tree is pruned for various purposes including for fencing and fuel-wood. In this study, the impact of pruning on water relations of F. albida and on understorey wheat productivity was investigated. The on-farm study w...

Faidherbia albida is one of the scattered trees commonly intercropped with most cereals in Ethiopia due to its positive impacts. The tree is pruned for various purposes including for fencing and fuelwood. In this study, the impact of pruning on water relations of F. albida and on understorey wheat productivity was investigated. The on-farm study wa...

Sorghum production is constrained by terminal drought stress in semi‐arid areas of north‐eastern Ethiopia. Data from field experiments conducted in the region for two consecutive years (2015 – 2016) were used to investigate the effect of potassium (K) and NPSBZn‐blended fertilizer (BF) inputs on the drought response of sorghum through analysis of g...

The phenotypic analysis of root system growth is important to inform efforts to enhance plant resource acquisition from soils. However, root phenotyping still remains challenging due to soil opacity, requiring systems that facilitate root system visibility and image acquisition. Previously reported systems require costly or bespoke materials not av...

Fine roots biomass of Erica trimera was investigated at three altitudinal levels, i.e. 3000, 3300, and 3500 masl across three depth classes (0-10, 10-20, and 20-40 cm) for each of the four seasons of Bale Mountains by using sequential soil coring. Soil chemical characteristics and moisture were analyzed for all of the three altitudinal levels and d...

Fine roots biomass of Erica trimera was investigated at three altitudinal levels, i.e. 3000, 3300, and 3500 masl across three depth classes (0-10, 10-20, and 20-40 cm) for each of the four seasons of Bale Mountains by using sequential soil coring. Soil chemical characteristics and moisture were analyzed for all of the three altitudinal levels and d...

The analysis of root system growth, root phenotyping, is important to inform efforts to enhance plant resource acquisition from soils. However, root phenotyping remains challenging due to soil opacity and requires systems that optimize root visibility and image acquisition. Previously reported systems require costly and bespoke materials not availa...

Yemata G, Desta B, Fetene M. 2019. In vitro antibacterial activity of traditionally used medicinal plants against Xanthomonas campestris pv. musacearum in Ethiopia. Biodiversitas 20: 555-561. In Ethiopia, traditional medicinal plants have long been used to treat human and livestock ailments. Nevertheless, studies about the use of these plant extrac...

Drought is the most drastic abiotic stress that limits crop production in sub-Sahara Africa. Sorghum (Sorghum bicolor (L.) Moench) is among the most climate resilient cereals of the future due to its tolerance to drought and heat. Thus, identification of tolerant genotypes and plant characteristics that contribute to drought adaptation is timely. T...

Abstract Combining morphological and molecular data to identify genetic variation and marker–trait association is one of the most important prerequisites for genomics-assisted selection in crop improvement. To this end, a total of 138 finger millet (Eleusine coracana subsp. coracana) accessions including five improved varieties were evaluated to a...

Enset (Ensete ventricosum (Welw.) Cheesman is a multi-purpose crop widely cultivated in the south and southwestern Ethiopia. It supports the livelihood of approximately 20 million people. However, the cultivation of the crop is impeded by enset bacterial wilt disease caused by Xanthomonas campestris pv musacearum (Xcm). The objective of the study w...

The use of multiple data sets, such as morphological, biochemical and molecular in combination with appropriate statistical analysis tools are essential in identifying inter and intra-species variation to develop improved cultivars. To this end, a total of 150 finger millet accessions, of which 105 were collected from Ethiopia, 39 introduced from e...

The non-renewability and greenhouse gas emission nature of crude oil led to the use of renewable plant-based biofuels as alternative energy. Sweet sorghum offers one of the best plant-based bioethanol production from its sugary stalk. Identification and mapping of quantitative trait loci associated with sugar-related traits in sorghum is a crucial...

This experiment was carried out to evaluate the growth, physiological and yield traits of stay-green (Stg) QTL introgression sorghum lines, which were developed by the Ethiopian Institute of Agricultural Research in collaboration with ICRISAT between 2006 and 2008, under induced post-flowering drought stress. It involved a total of 12 genotypes inc...

Indexed and abstracted by CABI AJOL Ethiop. J. Biol. Sci. 17(Suppl.): 25-36, 2018 ABSTRACT: Enset is a multipurpose crop that supports the livelihood of 20 million people. Enset starch is also used for paper, textile, adhesive industries and pharmaceuticals in tablet formulation as a binder and disintegrant. However research and extension on the cr...

Sorghum is among the most important cereal crops produced globally due to drought tolerance nature and multiple uses. Ethiopia is endowed with high genetic diversity for sorghum and the main sources of several genes that are responsible for biotic and abiotic stress tolerance. Despite these potentials, sorghum productivity in the country remains ve...

Enset bacterial wilt caused by Xanthomonas campestris pv. musacearum (Xcm) is a destructive disease of Ensete ventricosum (Welw.) Cheesman) in Ethiopia. The antibacterial activities of methanol leaf extracts of Achyranthes aspera, Agarista salicifolia, Datura stramonium, Melia azedarach, Pycnostachys abyssinica and Vernonia amygdalina were evaluate...

Three low chill apple cultivars grafted on MM-106 semi dwarf rootstock were evaluated for fruit yield and quality attributes. The trial was carried out in a five years old orchard in central highlands of Ethiopia at Debrebirhan. Trees were treated as crop loads with 0 (unthinned) to 2, 3 and 4 fruits per spur to evaluate the influence of crop load...

The potential role of Agarista salicifolia leaf extract to trigger induced resistance,biochemical changes in Ensete ventricosum and the subsequent suppression of Enset bacterial wilt (EBW) was evaluated under field condition. Resistant (Genticha) and susceptible (Midasho) Enset clones were grown in the field and treated with A. Salicifolia extract...

The name Addis-01 was given to the finger millet (Eleusine coracana sub spp. coracana) variety with the pedigree of Acc-203544, which was developed by Addis Ababa University in collaboration with Bako Agricultural Research Center between 2011 and 2015. The Addis-01 and the other pipeline finger millet genotypes were evaluated against two standard c...

Drought is a major limiting factor for crop expansion. Currently efforts are focused on improving crop genotypes for drought-prone areas. Considering this, a field experiment was conducted in the Shewa robit (a drought-prone area), Amhara Regional State, Ethiopia to evaluate the various growth attributes, physiological, biochemical and agronomic pe...

Drought and unfavorable temperatures are the major climatic limitations for coffee production in Ethiopia. These limitations are expected to become increasingly important in several coffee growing areas and are the main factors responsible for the fluctuations in coffee yield. Because of population pressure for arable lands in most of coffee growin...

Sorghum (Sorghum bicolor (L) Moench) is a staple food crop predominantly cultivated in dry areas where other crops can survive least and food insecurity is widespread. During 2013 main rainy season, a field experiment was conducted at Kobo; a drought prone area in Ethiopia. The study was aimed to evaluate the agronomic performance of three stay gre...

Background and justification: Lack of stable high yielding cultivars is one of the major bottlenecks for production and productivity of finger millets in Ethiopia. Identification of adaptable, stable and high yielding genotypes under varying environmental conditions prior to release as a cultivar is the first and foremost steps for plant breedingr...

We investigated the seasonal gas exchange patterns of three different functional types of tropical afromontane trees, namely Podocarpus falcatus (Thunb.) Mirb. (evergreen gymnosperm), Prunus africana (Hook. f.) Kalkm. (broad-leaf evergreen), and Croton macrostachyus Hochst. ex Del. (broad-leaf deciduous) which grow side-by-side in the Munessa fores...

Magnaporthe oryzae, a fungal pathogen that attacks more than 50 gramineous species, causes severe yield losses particularly on rice and finger millet. A study was conducted at Bako Agricultural Research Center in Ethiopia during the 2012 cropping season to evaluate the pathogenicity of four different finger millet blast isolates on 12 cultivated fi...

With the aim of identifying improved propagation techniques that can be applied in a larger scale plantation, six types of vegetative propagation materials obtained from three A. alpina landraces (TIFRO, WELELE and WONDE) were evaluated for their performance under field condition in the Choke Mountain, northwestern Ethiopia. The three techniques na...

Eleusine is a small grass genus with three basic chromosome numbers (x=8, 9 and 10) and comprises of eight species including E. coracana subsp. coracana, (finger millet), which is an important subsistence crop in Africa and India. Research on these species could assist the development of high yielding and multiple stress tolerant variety(s) of the...

Carbohydrates fixed by photosynthesis are stored in plant organs in the form of starch or sugars. Starch and sugars sum to the total non-structural carbohydrate pool (TNC) and may serve as intermediate pools between assimilation and utilization. We examined the impact of tapping on TNC concentrations in stem-wood, bark and root tissues of the frank...

The potential role of exotic tree plantations in facilitating successional processes on degraded areas was evaluated in southern Ethiopia by comparing seedling characteristics, transpiration and photosynthetic performance of Podocarpus falcatus seedlings in Eucalyptus plantation, Pinus plantation, adjacent natural forest and clear-felled plantation...

Three landforms were evaluated for their effect on stand structure, growth and yield of Arundinaria alpina K. Schum in the Choke Mountain, northwest Ethiopia. Parameters on stand characteristics and soil properties were assessed. The landforms were (1) 5-15% level to sloping land, (2) 40-60% straight slope (ridge) and (3) 40-60% concave slope (vall...

With the objective of determining the effects of silvicultural management on regeneration and growth of mismanaged Arundinaria alpina stands, an experiment was conducted in the Choke Mountain, northwest Ethiopia. Eight soil and plant management techniques that comprise soil loosening, selective thinning and removal of old stumps were splited on two...

Foliage dynamics of three functional tree types representing major components of the tropical montane evergreen forest in southern part of Central Ethiopia were compared. The species were Podocarpus falcatus (evergreen gymnosperm), Prunus africana (evergreen broadleaf), and Croton macrostachyus (facultative deciduous). The hypothesis examined is th...

Fire has long been a principal tool for manipulating ecosystems, notably for pastoralist cultures, but in modern times, fire use has often been a source of conflicts with state bureaucracies. Despite this, traditional fire management practices have rarely been examined from a perspective of fire behavior and fire effects, which hampers dialogue on...

Severe drought and large-scale ecosystem degradation are the two major threats exacerbating livelihood vulnerability of the pastoral and agropastoral communities in Borana Zone, southern Ethiopia. Strategic integration and sustainable management of the vast gum and resin bearing dry forests offer significant socioeconomic and ecological opportuniti...

The gradual change in climatic conditions, particularly rainfall distribution in tropical and sub tropical regions of the world necessitate looking for productivity enhancement of stress tolerant crops such as finger millet as one option. Assessing genetic variation is a crucial for varietal development and genetic resource conservation. To this re...

This paper reports on a field study conducted in Kilie catchment, East Shoa Zone, Ethiopia to assess the rate of soil erosion by employing a soil loss prediction model (Universal Soil Loss Equation) integrated with in remote sensing and geographical information systems (RS/GIS), environment and gully measurement techniques. The final soil erosion r...

Under drought conditions, arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) fungi alter water relationships of plants and improve their resistance to drought. In a factorial greenhouse experiment, we tested the effects of the AM symbiosis and precipitation regime on the performance (growth, gas exchange, nutrient status and mycorrhizal responsiveness) of Boswellia papyr...

Under drought conditions, arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) fungi alter water relationships of plants and improve their resistance to drought. In a factorial greenhouse experiment, we tested the effects of the AM symbiosis and precipitation regime on the performance (growth, gas exchange, nutrient status and mycorrhizal responsiveness) of Boswellia papyr...

ABSTRACT: Barley is the most important crop in the highlands of Ethiopia at altitudes above 2600 m, where its productivity is limited by cold stress. We studied 25 Ethiopian barley landraces in order to identify cold tolerant types and to describe characteristics and acclimation potentials of these landraces to cold stress. Barley plants were grown...

Plantations of exotic trees on areas where tropical forest has been clear-felled have been reported to facilitate regrowth of indigenous tree species. This so-called nurse- or shelter tree effect was investigated in a montane semihumid site in southern Ethiopia where plantations of Pinus patula and Eucalyptus saligna grow in close vicinity to the n...

A conceptual model was tested for explaining environmental and physiological effects on leaf gas exchange in the deciduous dry tropical woodland tree Boswellia papyrifera (Del.) Hochst. For this species we aimed at (i) understanding diurnal patterns in leaf gas exchange, (ii) exploring cause-effect relationships among external environment, internal...

Variability of soil CO2 efflux strongly depends on soil temperature, soil moisture and plant phenology. Separating the effects of these factors is critical to understand the belowground carbon dynamics of forest ecosystem. In Ethiopia with its unreliable seasonal rainfall, variability of soil CO2 efflux may be particularly associated with seasonal...

Drylands of Borana Zone, southern Ethiopia, are endowed with different woody species that produce commercial gums and resins, which support the Livelihoods of pastoral and agro-pastoral communities. The objectives of this study were to: (i) assess the role of gum and resin production and marketing in the livelihoods of the pastoral and agro-pastora...

A study on the rhizome morphology, growth and biomass of four Arundinaria alpina landraces was made in the Choke Mountain, northwestern Ethiopia. Three 10 m x 10 m sample plots were randomly selected from each landrace from a church forest of age >50 years. A total of 72 plants, six plants from each plot, were used to characterize the morphology an...

The phenology of seven indigenous tree species was investigated in a dry Afromontane forest of Ethiopia over two years. About 210 mature trees were monitored for leaf fall, leaf flush, flowering and fruiting. The different phenophase events were correlated with climate variables and circular statistics was employed to test for seasonality. Leaf fal...

Ethiopia is losing a significant cover of natural forest every day owing to deforestation, yet surprisingly little field-based information exists on the ecological requirements and silvicultural strategies for the majority of the native species, which could be translated into plans for conservation and restoration. Munessa Dry afromontane forest is...

Mammalian herbivores have the potential to alter the competitive relations of woody species, if consumption is unevenly distributed between species. At elevations above 3,500m in the southern Ethiopian highlands, vegetation is dominated by Erica arborea and E. trimera. Both species can potentially grow into short trees, but are burnt on a rotation...

In addressing land degradation, a number of watershed rehabilitation programs have been carried out in Ethiopia. This study aims to financially quantify watershed rehabilitation in a way that incorporates major costs and returns. We also construct scenarios to portray cost-benefit information about the future. The data were obtained from a physical...

Although several proxies have been proposed to trace the course of environmental and climatological fluctuations, precise paleoclimate records from the tropics, notably from Africa are still sorely lacking today. Stable carbon isotopes (δ13C) in tree rings are an attractive record of climate. In this study, the patterns and climatic signals of δ13C...

The composition and density of soil seed banks was studied at Harenna Forest after a major fire in the year 2000. Soil samples were collected from burned and unburned portions of the forest using quadrants 15 × 15 cm and 9 cm deep, laid along line transects. Forest recovery was also monitored on burned sites using permanent plots of 0.1 ha. One hun...

Background: Constraints on tree regeneration have been described from several temperate treeline sites, however data from tropical mountains are few.Aim: We test the hypothesis that high altitude treelines are caused by constraints on tree regeneration. We report the results of recent studies on climatic variables and on the reproduction of Erica s...

Carbodioxide uptake, oxygen evolution and chlorophyll fluorescence of leaves of Lobelia Lobelia rhynchopetalum Hemsl., a giant rosette plant of the tropical alpine regions of Ethiopia, were studied under field conditions at 4000 m above sea level. Our objective was to investigate the photosynthetic adaptation to the combination of wide fluctuation...

Quantification of the role of fine roots in the biological cycle of nutrients necessitates understanding root distribution, estimating root biomass, turnover rate and nutrient concentrations, and the dynamics of these parameters in perennial systems. Temporal dynamics, vertical distribution, annual production and turnover, and nitrogen use of fine...

Enset [Ensete ventricosum (Welw.) Cheesman] is an important root crop serving as a carbohydrate rich food source in Ethiopia. Perennial crops, like enset, are often exposed to recurrent dry periods which could greatly affect their growth, physiology and yield. The effect of induced drought/irrigation on the proximate composition and carbohydrate co...

Enset (Ensete ventricosum) plants grown in the middle and low altitudes are experiencing different degrees and length of summer drought every year. Information is lacking on plant responses to drought stress, underlying mechanisms of response and effect of drought on the growth and yield of enset. The effect of induced drought/irrigation on growth...

Enset ( Ensete ventricosum ) plants grown in the middle and low altitudes are experiencing different degrees and length of summer drought every year. Information is lacking on plant responses to drought stress, underlying mechanisms of response and effect of drought on the growth and yield of enset. The effect of induced drought/irrigation on growt...

Fast-growing exotic trees are widely planted in the tropics to counteract deforestation; however, their patterns of water use could be detrimental to overall ecosystem productivity through their impact on ecosystem water budget. In a comparative field study on seasonal soil-plant water dynamics of two exotic species (Cupressus lusitanica Mill. and...

The open savanna woodlands in Ethiopia, distributed over very large areas of the Rift valley in southern and eastern parts of the country, have suffered from deforestation due to excessive tree cutting and overgrazing. Previous reforestation programs attempting to counteract the effects of deforestation have failed mainly due to lack of knowledge o...

The objective of the study was to compare the water relations of two indigenous [Podocarpus falcatus (Thunb.) Endl., Croton macrostachys Hochst. ex. Del.] and two exotic tree species (Eucalyptus globulus Labille., Cupressus lusitanica Miller) growing in the same location in the montane Munessa State Forest, southern Ethiopia. Stem flow was measured...