Increasing tree cover and managing trees better on farms in Ethiopia supports livelihoods and the environment but most tree-planting schemes promote only a few species. This research aimed to understand farmers’ tree planting priorities in Oromia, Ethiopia and address challenges involved in meeting them. Tree species and planting niches were elicited through focus group discussions. Participatory trials compared 17 tree species across seven on-farm planting niches and seedling survival and growth patterns were evaluated. Farmers suggested a high diversity of tree species suitable for each niche with fruit species mainly selected for homesteads. The diversity of desired tree species is much higher than that typically available in nurseries or promoted by tree planting projects. Meeting planting demands was difficult because the existing seedling supply does not support diversity. Evaluation of tree survival showed striking differences among species, farms, agroecologies and planting niches. There was high variation in seedling survival amongst the tree species planted on 1893 farm/planting niche locations, indicating impact of local level risk factors attributable to management, biotic and abiotic causes. Growth differences of the six shared species common to both agroecologies across different niches, showed that the effects of species and niche were significant on growth. A farmer-led approach to increasing tree cover that couples understanding of species and planting niche preferences with appropriate seedling supply and management is proposed as a means to increase the diversity of trees in farmed landscapes.

中文翻译：

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以农民为主导的增加埃塞俄比亚田地和耕地树木多样性的方法

在埃塞俄比亚，增加树木覆盖和更好地管理农场的树木支持生计和环境，但大多数植树计划仅促进少数物种。这项研究旨在了解埃塞俄比亚奥罗米亚农民的植树优先事项，并解决应对这些挑战所涉及的挑战。通过焦点小组讨论引出树种和种植生态位。参与式试验比较了七个农场种植生态位的 17 种树种，并评估了幼苗的存活和生长模式。农民建议适合每个生态位的高度多样性的树种，主要选择用于宅基地的水果品种。所需树种的多样性远高于苗圃中通常可用的或由植树项目促进的树种。满足种植需求很困难，因为现有的幼苗供应不支持多样性。树木生存评估显示物种、农场、农业生态和种植生态位之间存在显着差异。在 1893 个农场/种植生态位上种植的树种中，幼苗存活率存在很大差异，这表明管理、生物和非生物原因造成的当地风险因素的影响。两种生态农业共有的六种共享物种在不同生态位上的生长差异表明物种和生态位对生长的影响显着。提出了一种以农民为主导的增加树木覆盖率的方法，将物种的理解和种植生态位偏好与适当的幼苗供应和管理结合起来，作为增加养殖景观中树木多样性的一种手段。