SPECIES COMPOSITION and POLLINATOR EFFICIENCY of Ocimum Kilimandscharicum FLOWER VISITORS ALONG KAKAMEGA FOREST ECOSYSTEM
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SPECIES COMPOSITION AND POLLINATOR EFFICIENCY OF Ocimum Kilimandscharicum FLOWER VISITORS ALONG KAKAMEGA FOREST ECOSYSTEM BY HELLEN MANDELA KUTWA A Research Thesis Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Award of the Degree of Masters of Science in Environmental Biology, School of Biological and Physical Sciences MOI UNIVERSITY ELDORET 2017 2 ECLARATION 3 DEDICATION I dedicate this work to my parents who have supported me throughout, Dr Amos Kutwa and Mrs. Phillisters Kutwa. To my siblings Alice, Erastus and Fred I hope this serves as a source of inspiration and reassurance that hard work and persistence pays out. My grandparents Alice, Hellen and Silvanas for their prayers and encouragement. 4 ACKNOWLEDGEMENT I am grateful to Professor Mugatsia Tsingalia for having accepted to be my University supervisor and providing me with high quality assistance and guidance. You have been a source of motivation from the beginning and I truly appreciate your patience especially when I had no sense of direction and you guided me and molded me into a better researcher. I am thankful as you have always been that academic lighthouse for me. I also recognize the Moi University fraternity especially School of Biological and Physical science for seeing potential in me and accepting my postgraduate application. I am also greatly indebted to Professor Mary Gikungu. You have always been encouraging from the beginning setting a fine example for me as a strong independent woman. You helped instill in me the importance of being resilient and humble no matter what you have achieved. You encouraged me even when I was about to give up, taking your time to go through my drafts and giving critical and up building comments. I will be forever indebted. I also recognize the technical and financial support given by International Centre for Insect Physiology and Ecology (ICIPE). I am thankful to Dr. Wilber Lwande for approving my facilitation by ICIPE and provision of necessary equipment needed to carry out the research work. Caroline Muriuki, Nixon Onyimbo, James Ligare and Joseph Gitauwho are ICIPE staff members also played major roles during my data collection. 5 Not to forget Cecilia Chebwayi and Anthony Pinto my field assistants. Eric Busuru and Willah Nabukhangwa I appreciate you as well. TABLE OF CONTENTS DECLARATION....................................................................................................................ii DEDICATION.......................................................................................................................iii ACKNOWLEDGEMENT.....................................................................................................iv TABLE OF CONTENTS........................................................................................................v LIST OF TABLES...............................................................................................................viii LIST OF FIGURES...............................................................................................................ix LIST OF PLATES...................................................................................................................x LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS................................................................................................xi ABSTRACT.........................................................................................................................xii CHAPTER ONE...................................................................................................................1 INTRODUCTION.................................................................................................................1 1.1 Background Information........................................................................................1 1.2 Statement of Problem...........................................................................................3 1.3 General Objective................................................................................................4 1.3.1 Specific Objectives.......................................................................................4 1.4. Hypothesis........................................................................................................ 5 1.5 Justification....................................................................................................... 5 CHAPTER TWO..................................................................................................................7 LITERATURE REVIEW.....................................................................................................7 2.0 Introduction....................................................................................................... 7 2.1 Diversity and Abundance of Ocimum flower visitors.....................................................7 2.2 Effects of Weather Parameters on Flower Visitors.......................................................11 2.3 Efficient Flower Visitors......................................................................................12 CHAPTER THREE............................................................................................................15 METHODOLOGY.............................................................................................................15 6 3.0 Introduction..................................................................................................... 15 3.1 Study Area....................................................................................................... 15 3.2 Transect Establishment........................................................................................16 3.3 Determination of Diversity and Abundance of Flower Visitors.......................................19 3.4 Effects of Weather Parameters on Diversity and Abundance..........................................20 3.5 Determination of the most Efficient Flower Visitor of the Ocimumkilimandscharicum.........20 3.6 Data Analysis...................................................................................................22 3.6.1 On Diversity and Abundance of Flower Visitors.................................................22 3.6.2 Effect of Precipitation and Temperature of Flower Visitor Composition....................23 3.6.3 Most Efficient Flower Visitor........................................................................23 CHAPTER FOUR...............................................................................................................24 RESULTS.............................................................................................................................24 4.0 Introduction..................................................................................................... 24 4.2 Diversity and Abundance of Ocimumkilimandscharicum Flower Visitors..........................25 4.2.1: Effect of Distance from the Forest Edge on Flower Visitor Diversity and Abundance...28 4.3 Effects of Weather Parameters on Ocimumkilimandscharicum Flower Visitors’ Diversity and Abundance......................................................................................................31 4.4 Identification of the Most Efficient Pollinator by Seed Set Analysis................................31 4.4.1: Frequency Distribution of Individual Flower Visitor Family/Species in Selected Sites .................................................................................................................... 34 CHAPTER FIVE................................................................................................................35 DISCUSSION, CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATION......................................35 5.0 Introduction..................................................................................................... 35 5.1 Discussion....................................................................................................... 35 5.1.1 Flower Visitor Composition and the Effect of Distance.........................................35 5.1.2 Effects of Weather Parameters.......................................................................37 5.1.3 The Most Efficient Flower Visitor...................................................................38 5.2 Conclusion...................................................................................................... 39 5.3 Recommendation...............................................................................................39 REFERENCES....................................................................................................................41 7 APPENDICES.....................................................................................................................50 Appendix 1: Site Name, GPS Coordinates Altitude and Surrounding Environment of Selected Sites........................................................................................................................50 Appendix 3: Table Representing the Color Tag and Number of Seeds for SITE MORRIS ...............................................................................................................................................54 Appendix 4: Table Representing the Color Tag and Number of Seeds for SITE VERO.....56 Appendix 5: Table Representing the Color Tag and Number of Seeds for SITE POLLINATOR GARDEN....................................................................................................59 Appendix