Author:

Keywords:

northern ethiopia, exclosure, enclosure, southern ethiopia, woody vegetation, area closure, protected area, boswellia-papyrifera, land rehabilitation, bush encroachment, ecology, fallow age, forest restoration, land-use, Ethiopia, management, restoration, Science & Technology, Life Sciences & Biomedicine, Ecology, Environmental Sciences, Environmental Sciences & Ecology, WOODY VEGETATION, BOSWELLIA-PAPYRIFERA, BUSH ENCROACHMENT, FALLOW AGE, LAND-USE, MANAGEMENT, RESTORATION, TIGRAY, ESTABLISHMENT, CONSERVATION, 04 Earth Sciences, 05 Environmental Sciences, 06 Biological Sciences, 31 Biological sciences, 37 Earth sciences, 41 Environmental sciences

Abstract:

Rehabilitation of degraded land in arid and semiarid environments often involves excluding livestock from degraded sites, creating what are usually, but not consistently, called exclosures. Their main objective is to allow native vegetation to regenerate as a means of providing fodder and woody biomass, to reduce soil erosion and to increase rain water infiltration. We are concerned that some of the alternative names for this practice that are reported in the international literature, including closed area, area closure and enclosure, may lead to confusion and misunderstanding, especially when these are used as synonyms. Here we aim to illustrate the difference between exclosures and enclosures using recent ecological and environmental literature and provide guidance for their proper use.