Land Use and Land Cover Change, and Woody Vegetation Diversity in Human Driven Landscape of Gilgel Tekeze Catchment, Northern Ethiopia

Table 1

Descriptions of LULC categories for the study area.

Land use land cover	General description
Forest land (both natural and plantation)	Area covered with shrubs forming closed canopies and trees including Asst (Erica arborea) and others, which are relatively tall and dense trees, include scattered remnant Juniperus procera, Ficus vasta, and Ficus sur. Besides, plantations both indigenous and mainly exotic (Eucalyptus globulus and Cupressus lusitanica) trees that are planted in hillsides, mountains, and degraded areas.
Shrub-bush land	Areas with more than 50% shrub canopy (mixed with some trees) and less than 50% herbaceous and grass covers.
Grazing land	Areas with more than 50% covered grasses (mixed with some shrubs) and less than 50% herbaceous and have bare lands usually used for grazing.
Cultivated land	Areas of land ploughed/prepared for growing rain fed crops. This category includes areas currently under crop, fallow, and land under preparation.
Settlements	Area of homestead which is surrounded by some shrubs and boundary planting trees (mainly Eucalyptus globulus).
Bare Land	Area under degraded grass lands and with some areas that are bare ground (rocks).
River bed gravel and rocks (Flood plains)	River beds which include sands, gravel, and bed rocks.