Distribution, density and impact of invasive plants in Lake Nakuru National Park, Kenya
2010
Ng'weno, Caroline C. | Mwasi, Shem M. | Kairu, Jim K.
Invasive plants have invaded swathes of grasslands in Lake Nakuru National Park thus necessitating the Park management to institute measures to control them. Despite this, information on the status and impact of invasive plants in these grasslands is lacking. Six grassland types were identified and assigned random numbers. Five study sites were then randomly selected from each grassland type. The Point‐Centre Quarter method was used to determine the distribution and density of seven major invasive plants, whilst their impact was assessed by comparing biomass and crude protein content of important forage grasses in invaded and noninvaded grasslands. Results show that the distribution of invasive plants did not differ among the grasslands (F₅, ₃₀ = 1.47, P = 0.229) but their densities differed among the plants (F₆, ₃₀ = 20.99, P < 0.001). The mean biomass in invaded and noninvaded grasslands (22 g m⁻² versus 37.2 g m⁻²) was significantly different (t‐test, P < 0.05), while crude protein content of grasses in invaded (7.73, % DM) and noninvaded (9.3, % DM) patches was not significantly different (t‐test; P > 0.05). Our results suggest that invasive plants lower grass production and hence might reduce food availability to grazers.
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