Miro Jacob

• Doctor of Philosophy
• Senior Researcher at Climate Lab

Despite many years of establishment of exclosures in the semi-arid environments of north Ethiopia for rehabilitation of degraded areas, its effectiveness is constrained by water deficit. There is lack of empirical data on the response of vegetation to additional water (spate irrigation) application. This study was aimed to evaluate the effects of s...

The important ecosystem services of the high altitude tropical afro-alpine Erica arborea L. forests are under increasing environmental and human pressure. The Erica treeline ecotone in the Ethiopian highlands forms a temperature-responsive vegetation boundary that is potentially affected by climate change. The cambium of 10 Erica arborea trees in L...

Focus: matching agricultural water demand and supply is a growing policy challenge in drylands. We investigated the water balance components in Raya (3507 km 2) and Ashenge (80.5 km 2) grabens. The rainfall depth, river discharge, abstraction, climate and soil data (2015-2017) were used to address the research question. New hydrological insights: t...

The Tigray region has won the UN-backed Future Policy Gold Award in 2017 by demonstrating that “the more people, the less erosion” can be a reality. Behind this success story stands a long-term policy with large-scale investments in soil and water conservation, exclosures and reforestation. Exclosures are areas where trees and vegetation can natura...

The Boswellia papyrifera tree, a source of aromatic frankincense resins, grows in the northern, north-western and north-eastern lowlands of Ethiopia near the Giba, Blue Nile and Tekezze Rivers. Other varieties of frankincense gum resins, found in the Ogaden and Borana regions of Ethiopia, are tapped from B. rivae, B. ogadensis, B. neglecta and B. m...

In order promote geosites and research findings on human-environment interactions in Ethiopia's tropical mountains, we prepared a geoguide about the Dogu'a Tembien district in Tigray, Ethiopia, a mountain district with a varied geography and spectacular landscapes. Since we are a large team conducting research in that district and local people tell...

This book is based on over 150 papers about the Dogu’a Tembien district in Ethiopia. To reach a broader public of people interested in geosites and human-environment interactions, the authors here add a geoguide about this mountain district in Ethiopia(13°30’ N, 39°10’ E; upto 2850 m high) which shows a varied lithology. A large team has carried o...

The Ethiopian highlands have a complex climate pattern due to its distinct physiography, which causes a large horizontal and lateral variability in climate conditions. In the northern Dogu’a Tembien district, seasonality of rainfall is high (70 to 80 % in July-August), but temperature, though not too hot, shows a typical tropical pattern with contr...

This book shows that northern Ethiopia has been suffering from severe land degradation for centuries and became strongly impoverished, but also that many efforts are done to reverse the situation. In this context, generations of students and research assistants have investigated the environment of Dogu’a Tembien, mainly in research projects funded...

In this chapter, we present an overview of historical aerial photographs and maps of Ethiopia, illustrating it with examples from Dogu’a Tembien. Availability and quality of currently existing maps are also discussed, as well as the use of landscape photographs for analysis of environmental changes.

The importance of Dogu’a Tembien for geotourism and its mountainous character warrant the elaboration of a geo-trekking map at a scale of 1:50,000. This map will contribute to (a) a better understanding of the spatial relations between lithology, topography, geomorphology, land use, natural vegetation and human activities, (b) location of phenomena...

The Simien Mountains house several endangered and endemic wildlife species and provide important ecosystem services. Despite its regional environmental importance, the Simien Mountains are listed as World Heritage in Danger since 1997. This raised the need for an evaluation of landscape changes from before the establishment of the Simien Mountain N...

Magnitudes of land cover changes nowadays can be assessed properly, but their driving forces are subject to many discussions. Next to the accepted role of human influence, the impact of natural climate variability is often neglected. In this paper, the impact of rainfall variability on land cover changes (LCC) is investigated for the western escarp...

3) VIVES Hogeschool, Brugge, Belgium High mountain forests, such as the afro-alpine Erica arborea L. forests in Ethiopia, are very important for the livelihood of local communities, in relation to their impacts on the water balance of mountain ecosystems and surrounding agricultural areas. On volcanoes, the dominance of volcanic tuffs on the slopes...

High altitude forests are very important for local livelihood in the vulnerable environment of the densely populated tropical highlands. Humans need the ecosystem services of the forest and directly impact the forest through livestock herding, fire and wood harvesting. Nevertheless, temperature sensitive treelines in the tropics are scarcely invest...

Geomorphological investigations and detailed mapping of past and present (peri)glacial landforms is required in order to understand the impact of climatic anomalies [1]. The Ethiopian Highlands show an important variety in climate, and therefore, in the occurrence of glacial and periglacial landforms. However, only a few mountain areas have been st...

Human induced land use and land cover (LUC) changes threaten the ecosystem services of the vulnerable tropical afro-alpine vegetation. Several LUC change studies are available for the Ethiopian highlands, but relatively little is known about LUC change in the afro-alpine zones. In this study, LUC changes between 1964 and 2012 were mapped for the af...

The high soil erosion rates in the Ethiopian highlands find their causes in the combination of erosive rains, steep slopes due to the rapid tectonic uplift during the Pliocene and Pleistocene, and human impact by deforestation, overgrazing, agricultural systems where the open field dominates, impoverishment of the farmers, and stagnation of agricul...

QuestionsWhat are the potential drivers of tree line change in the tropical African highlands? Are the temperature-sensitive tree lines in these highlands shifting as a result of climate change?SignificanceThe high-altitude forests provide important ecosystem services for the vulnerable environment of the tropical highlands. Climate change is expec...

High-altitude forests are very important for local livelihood in the vulnerable environment of the densely populated tropical highlands. Humans need the ecosystem services of the forest and directly impact the forest through livestock herding, fire, and wood harvesting. Nevertheless , temperature-sensitive tree lines in the tropics are scarcely inv...

The highlands of Ethiopia show a great variety in present and past climate. The environments differ in altitude, latitude and local conditions. This has an influence on vegetation and geomorphologic processes. Present knowledge of past glacial and periglacial landforms concentrates around the highest mountain ranges of Ethiopia, the Semien Mountain...

Seasonal and interannual variation in rainfall can cause massive economic loss for farmers and pastoralists, not only because of deficient total rainfall amounts but also because of long dry spells within the rainy season. The semi-arid to sub-humid mountain climate of the North Ethiopian Highlands is especially vulnerable to rainfall anomalies. In...

Small‐scale aerial photographs and high‐resolution satellite images, available for Ethiopia since the second half of the twentieth century as for most countries, allow only the length of gullies to be determined. Understanding the development of gully volumes therefore requires that empirical relations between gully volume (V) and length (L) are es...

In the Northern Ethiopian Highlands, ca. 33% of the land is cropland, which is mainly cultivated by smallholders who based on indigenous knowledge plan their cropping system on the basis of spatio-temporal variability in rainfall. To understand the relationships between rainfall variability and cropping systems, a field campaign was undertaken in t...

In drought years, millions of Ethiopians are dependent on assistance, not only because of deficient total rainfall amounts but also because of long dry spells within the rain season. The semi-arid to subhumid mountain climate of the North Ethiopian Highlands is especially vulnerable to rainfall anomalies. In this research spatio-temporal rainfall p...

Understanding historical and present-day gully development is essential when addressing the causes and consequences of land degradation. For Northern Ethiopia, several reports exist on the severity of gully erosion, yet few studies quantified gully development. In this paper, gully network and volume development were quantified over the period 1963...