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Composition and Floral Resources of Bees and Butterflies in Kaya Muhaka Forest and Surrounding Farmlands, Kwale County, Kenya

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Composition and Floral Resources of Bees and Butterflies in Kaya Muhaka Forest and Surrounding Farmlands, Kwale County, Kenya Composition and Floral Resources of Bees and Butterflies in Kaya Muhaka Forest and Surrounding Farmlands, Kwale County, Kenya By David Odhiambo Chiawo (B.Ed. Science) Reg. No. I56/5001/2003 Department of Zoological Sciences Thesis submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the award of the degree of Master of Science (Animal Ecology) in the School of Pure and Applied Sciences of Kenyatta University November 2011 ii DECLARATION Candidate This is my original work and has not been presented for the award of a degree in any University or any other award. David Odhiambo Chiawo Signature........................................Date......................................... Supervisors We confirm that the candidate carried out this work under our supervision. Prof. Callistus K.P.O. Ogol Department of Zoological Sciences Kenyatta University Signature........................................Date......................................... Dr. Mary W. Gikungu Centre for Bee Biology and Pollination Ecology Zoology Department National Museums of Kenya Signature........................................Date......................................... Dr. Esther N. Kioko Zoology Department National Museums of Kenya Signature........................................Date.......................................... iii DEDICATION I dedicate this work to my wife Verrah and daughter Mitchelle. iv ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I acknowledge the National Museums of Kenya (NMK) and the National Council for Science and Technology (NCST) for the financial support of this study. I am grateful to Dr. Mary W. Gikungu, Centre for Bee Biology and Pollination Ecology, Zoology Department, NMK for facilitating this support. I acknowledge her for supervision and guidance throughout the study period. I owe much thanks to Prof. Callistus K.P.O. Ogol, Department of Zoological Sciences, Kenyatta University for supervising this work and his leading role in facilitating the academic requirements of this study at Kenyatta University. I also owe the success of this work to Dr. Esther N. Kioko of Zoology Department, NMK for supervision and guidance throughout the study period. I thank the supervisors for their timely responses and being ready to discuss with me the work at frequent intervals. I thank NMK management for hosting me at Centre for Bee Biology and Pollination (CBBP) during the study period. The CBBP supported my work with taxonomic skills, field materials and equipment; it also provided working space and resources that were useful for the bee identification. I do thank Mr. Joseph Mugambi of Invertebrate Zoology laboratory, NMK for assisting me during the identification of butterfly samples. I owe thanks to Jane Macharia of Bee centre, NMK for organising my samples at the centre and making available the requirements during the study. I acknowledge the support of Kaya elders and Kaya Muhaka community. They allowed me to access the forest and farms freely. I acknowledge the support of Abdalla Omari a residence of the local community for field assistance. I also thank Teachers Service Commission for granting me study leave during the period and Kenyatta University for accepting the study. I thank Dr. Itambo Malombe, Botany department for organising with the staff of herbarium, NMK to assist me infloral resources identification. I also thank the CFCU staff at Ukunda for logistical assistance. I acknowledge the support of my family during the period. Above all, I thank God for the opportunity, strength, and protection throughout the study period. v TABLE OF CONTENTS DECLARATION...................................................................................................................... ii DEDICATION........................................................................................................................ iii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ................................................................................................... iv TABLE OF CONTENTS ........................................................................................................ v LIST OF TABLES ............................................................................................................... viii LIST OF FIGURES ................................................................................................................ ix LIST OF PLATES .................................................................................................................. xi LIST OF APPENDICES ....................................................................................................... xii ABBREVIATIONS AND ACRONYMS ............................................................................ xiii ABSTRACT ........................................................................................................................... xiv CHAPTER ONE ...................................................................................................................... 1 INTRODUCTION.................................................................................................................... 1 1.1 Background .......................................................................................................................... 1 1.2 Statement of the problem ..................................................................................................... 2 1.3 Research questions ............................................................................................................... 4 1.4 Null hypotheses .................................................................................................................... 4 1.5 Objectives ............................................................................................................................ 4 1.5.1 General objective .............................................................................................................. 4 1.5.2 Specific objectives ............................................................................................................ 4 1.6 Justification of the study ...................................................................................................... 5 CHAPTER TWO ..................................................................................................................... 6 LITERATURE REVIEW ....................................................................................................... 6 2.1 Vulnerability of bee population to habitat change ............................................................... 6 2.2 Bee response to land use and habitat disturbance ................................................................ 6 vi 2.3 Butterfly response to land use and habitat disturbance ........................................................ 7 2.4 Ecological and economic significance of insect pollinators ................................................ 7 2.5 Pollination crisis and conservation concern ......................................................................... 9 2.6 Conservation value of remnant indigenous Kaya forests .................................................. 10 2.7 Butterfly taxa and habitat preference ................................................................................. 11 2.8 Edge effects and tropical forest invertebrates .................................................................... 12 2.9 Linking butterflies and bees to plant resources.................................................................. 13 CHAPTER THREE ............................................................................................................... 15 MATERIALS AND METHODS .......................................................................................... 15 3.1 Study area........................................................................................................................... 15 3.1.1 Biodiversity of the coastal forests ................................................................................... 16 3.1.2 Farmlands ........................................................................................................................ 16 3.2 Study design ....................................................................................................................... 16 3.2.1 Establishment of transects and sampling points ............................................................. 17 3.2.2 Data collection ................................................................................................................ 21 3.3 Data management and analysis .......................................................................................... 21 CHAPTER FOUR .................................................................................................................. 23 RESULTS ............................................................................................................................... 23 4.1 Bee species richness and abundance .................................................................................. 23 4.1.1 Effect of increasing distance from forest core on bee species richness .......................... 27 4.1.2 Effect of increasing distance from forest core on bee abundance .................................. 27 4.2 Cluster analysis of bee composition based on Bray-Curtis ecological distance ................ 28 4.3 Butterfly species richness .................................................................................................. 29 4.3.1 Effect
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