A Health Assessment of the Acacia Xanthophloea Woodlands Around Lake Naivasha, Kenya
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Western University Scholarship@Western Digitized Theses Digitized Special Collections 2011 A HEALTH ASSESSMENT OF THE ACACIA XANTHOPHLOEA WOODLANDS AROUND LAKE NAIVASHA, KENYA Rachel C. White Follow this and additional works at: https://ir.lib.uwo.ca/digitizedtheses Recommended Citation White, Rachel C., "A HEALTH ASSESSMENT OF THE ACACIA XANTHOPHLOEA WOODLANDS AROUND LAKE NAIVASHA, KENYA" (2011). Digitized Theses. 3232. https://ir.lib.uwo.ca/digitizedtheses/3232 This Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by the Digitized Special Collections at Scholarship@Western. It has been accepted for inclusion in Digitized Theses by an authorized administrator of Scholarship@Western. For more information, please contact [email protected]. A HEALTH ASSESSMENT OF THE ACACIA XANTHOPHLOEA WOODLANDS AROUND LAKE NAIVASHA, KENYA (Spine title: Health assessment of Acacia woodlands at Lake Naivasha) (Thesis format: Monograph) by Rachel C. White Graduate Program in Biology 2 A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science The School of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies The University of Western Ontario London, Ontario, Canada © Rachel C White 2011 Abstract The objectives of this study were to assess the health of the Acacia xanthophloea woodlands that surround Lake Naivasha, Kenya, and examine how woodland health is correlated with adjacent land use. Field surveys were conducted in 26 woodlands around Lake Naivasha in 2010. Analysis of the size distribution of acacia trees showed that woodlands grow in even-aged stands. Recruits were abundant in areas of low canopy cover and high wildlife impacts, and absent in sites with high soil electrical conductivity. Heavy browsing stunted the growth of small trees and was positively correlated with acacia thorn length. Small and mid-sized trees were subject to bark stripping by giraffes. Ant diversity and ground cover related positively with human disturbance. Land use change, heavy browsing by wild animals, high soil conductivity and invasion by non native species were negatively correlated with the health of acacia woodlands and may threaten their long-term survival. Key words: Acacia xanthophloea, Lake Naivasha, woodland health, size distribution, browsing, thorn length, human disturbance iii Dedication To Jane, Patti, Megan, Mom and Dad, Dimitre, Laura and Piqsiq for their support when this mountain seemed too steep to climb. Acknowledgements First off, I’d like to thank my supervisors Dr. Jane Bowles and Dr. Charles Trick for their ongoing support. I am grateful for all the wisdom and advice from my advisory committee members Dr. Hugh Henry, Dr. Jack Bend and Dr. Irena Creed. I’d like to thank Chelsea Hicks, Melissa Raffoul, Patricia White, Stephen Muchai and Oscar Donde for their extremely hard work in the field. Research support and guidance also came from Dr. Chris Smart, Helen Thornton and Zoe Muller. The landowners at Lake Naivasha couldn’t have been more welcoming and accommodating. I’d like to acknowledge Vincent Kinyua, Samuel Mwashimba, Nick Makau, Sarah Enniskillen, Tony and Sarah Seth-Smith, Oliver Barton, Sarah Higgins and Ruth Vaughan, James Ndegwa, Guy and Julie Erskine, Linda Gaymer, Sibylla Martin, and others for their interest, cooperation and helpfulness. v Table of Contents CERTIFICATE OF EXAMINATION............................................................................ii Abstract................................................................................................................................ iii Dedication............................................................................................................................ iv Acknowledgements........................................................................................................... v List of Figures.....................................................................................................................vii List of Tables.......................................................................................................................ix List of Appendices...............................................................................................................x List of Abbreviations...........................................................................................................xi INTRODUCTION............................................................................................................ 1 MATERIALS AND METHODS................................................................................... 11 Field methods....................................................................................................... 11 Preparation of data...................................................................................................17 Data analysis............................................................................................................21 RESULTS......................................................................................................................... 24 Land use...................................................................................................................24 Acacia survey.......................................................................................................... 26 Herbivory.................................................................................................................33 Habitat structure and complexity............................................................................35 Soil analysis.............................................................................................................41 Ants.......................................................................................................................... 43 DISCUSSION................................................................................................................... 45 CONCLUSIONS................................................................................................................60 REFERENCES................................................................................................................... 62 APPENDICES.................................................................................................................... 72 CURRICULUM VITAE....................................................................................................89 vi List of Figures Page Figure 1 A conceptual model depicting the relationships between factors ...9 that may contribute to acacia woodland health at Lake Naivasha. Figure 2 Satellite image from February 2008 showing the location of ...13 twenty-six study sites around Lake Naivasha, Kenya. Figure 3 Means and standard errors of the distance (in meters) to the nearest ...24 greenhouse for sites near to settlements, resorts, conservation areas and rangelands. Figure 4 Comparisons of acacia variables, habitat parameters (diversity of ...25 ground cover (IT) and electrical conductivity of soil (pS cm'1), human and wildlife disturbance indices among land use types. Figure 5 Dendrogram of the results of a cluster analysis on tree size classes ...27 using Ward’s clustering and Euclidean distances for standardized variables. Figure 6 The relative frequency of stems (%) in each size class for Group 1 ...28 (4 sites, 782 stems), Group 2 (11, 506) and Group 3 (11, 268), from the Ward’s clustering. Figure 7 Comparisons of acacia, habitat and landform parameters (mean ...29 and standard errors) between size class groups. Figure 8 The log-transformed number of recruits (small trees under 3 cm in ...31 diameter) compared with (a) percent canopy cover and (b) ground layer composition and wildlife impacts (c). Figure 9 The frequency of trees (n = 1051) for each size class in 26 ...32 woodlands fringing the shoreline of Lake Naivasha. Figure 10 Relationship between mean thorn length (mm) and wildlife impact ...33 index at 15 sites. Figure 11 Mean health of acacia trees (percent live crown) by site with ...34 standard errors plotted against wildlife impact index. Figure 12 Mean percent live crown of acacia stems in different size classes ...35 for sites where giraffes were present and absent. Figure 13 Scatter plots of percent ground cover and diversity of ground cover .. .37 against wildlife (a,c) and human (b,d) impact indices. Figure 14 Graphs of wildlife (a) and human (b) impacts plotted against ...39 composition of understory flora (Principal Component 1). Figure 15 Scatter plots of electrical conductivity of soil (pS cm'1) against (a) ...41 log regeneration, (b) basal area of acacias (m h a '), (c) total cover of Achyranthes aspera and (d) habitat composition (Principal Component 1). Figure 16 Mean percent sand in soil compared with (a) site distance from the .. .42 lake, and (b) the slope of the shoreline. Figure 17 Relationships between (a) human and (b) wildlife impact indices ...44 and ant abundance and diversity. Figure 18 Giraffe browsing an Acacia xanthophloea tree at Lake Naivasha, ...49 Kenya. List of Tables Table 1 List of the twenty-six study sites around Lake Naivasha. ...12 Table 2 The representation of each land use type within a group. ...27 Table 3 The results of simple linear regression analyses comparing human ...36 and wildlife disturbance indices to habitat parameters of acacia woodlands. Table 4 A list of vascular taxa that occurred in more than two sites. ...40 Table 5 The results of linear regressions testing the relationships between ...43 ant abundance