Assessment of Distribution of Bamboo in South Kordofan State Sudan

Abstract

Bamboo is a valuable forest resource. Its main distribution area is the southern tropical regions of the world, especially in South East Asia. Its occurrence in Africa is small compared to Asia and South Central America. However, in recent years, an upsurge in bamboo research and utilization has got momentum and an international attention was given to the research and utilization of bamboo. In Sudan, bamboo has been in use for many purposes and it is mainly distributed in South Kordofan, Blue Nile, Kassla, Southern Darfur and Southern Sudan. The extent of its distribution has never been assessed and consequently, no management system exists for bamboo. This study attempted to assess this resource through a survey and an inventory, which was carried in eight different bamboo forests (sites) in South Kordofan State. Systematic sampling procedure was used. Two base lines perpendicular to the contour were maintained in each inventoried site; sample plots of 20× 100 m were laid down along each line at 50 m distance, and replicated three times. The total area of the eight forest sites amounts approximately 42109 ha. Results showed that the density of bamboo clumps ranged from 110 to 1100 clumps / ha. However, the average number of clumps for all studied sites of South Kordofan was estimated at around 27 million clumps. Moreover, there were many variations in number of clumps, culm height, culm diameter, clump circumference and number of culms at the different studied sites. In addition, they showed significant variability between them in the number of clumps per unit area. However, the number of culms ranged from 22 to 220 per sample. The biggest number of culms was recorded by Kokaya forest site (220) and the least number was recorded by Omjamana forest site (22). Abwfada forest site ranked second with (161) but it is significantly smaller than Kokaya forest site, which showed no significant difference with Amsharmot forest site (134). Further more, Caw forest site (84) and Etogola forest site that recorded (61) showed no significant difference between them. Further more Bonjae forest site (97) and caw forest site (84) together with Etogola forest site showed no significant differences between them. In addition, a count and listing of all forest tree species associated with bamboo in the sample plots were carried out.