Impacts of livestock grazing on a savanna grassland in Kenya
John KIOKO1, John Warui KIRINGE1, Simon Ole SENO2
1 The School for Field Studies, Center for Wildlife Management Studies, Nairobi 27743 – 00506, Kenya;
2 School of Natural Resources Management, Narok University College, Narok 861–20500, Kenya
Impacts of livestock grazing on a savanna grassland in Kenya
John KIOKO1, John Warui KIRINGE1, Simon Ole SENO2
1 The School for Field Studies, Center for Wildlife Management Studies, Nairobi 27743 – 00506, Kenya;
2 School of Natural Resources Management, Narok University College, Narok 861–20500, Kenya
摘要 The dynamics of most rangelands in Kenya remain to be poorly understood. This paper provides baseline information on the response of a semiarid rangeland under different livestock grazing regimes on land inhabited by the Massai people in the east side of Amboseli National Park in Kenya. The data were collected from grasslands designated into four types: (1) grassland from previous Massai settlements that had been abandoned for over twenty years; (2) grassland excluded from livestock grazing for eight years; (3) a dry season grazing area; and (4) a continuous grazing area where grazing occurred throughout all seasons. Collected data included grass species composition, grass height, inter-tuft distance, standing grass biomass and soil characteristics. The results indicated that continuous grazing area in semiarid rangelands exhibited loss of vegetation with negative, long-term effects on grass functional qualities and forage production, whereas grassland that used traditional Maasai grazing methods showed efficiency and desirable effects on the rangelands. The results also showed that abandoned homestead sites, though degraded, were important nutrient reservoirs.
Abstract: The dynamics of most rangelands in Kenya remain to be poorly understood. This paper provides baseline information on the response of a semiarid rangeland under different livestock grazing regimes on land inhabited by the Massai people in the east side of Amboseli National Park in Kenya. The data were collected from grasslands designated into four types: (1) grassland from previous Massai settlements that had been abandoned for over twenty years; (2) grassland excluded from livestock grazing for eight years; (3) a dry season grazing area; and (4) a continuous grazing area where grazing occurred throughout all seasons. Collected data included grass species composition, grass height, inter-tuft distance, standing grass biomass and soil characteristics. The results indicated that continuous grazing area in semiarid rangelands exhibited loss of vegetation with negative, long-term effects on grass functional qualities and forage production, whereas grassland that used traditional Maasai grazing methods showed efficiency and desirable effects on the rangelands. The results also showed that abandoned homestead sites, though degraded, were important nutrient reservoirs.
The United States Fish and Wildlife Service and Cleveland MetroPark Zoo.
通讯作者:
John KIOKO
E-mail: jkioko@fieldstudies.org
引用本文:
John KIOKO, John Warui KIRINGE, Simon Ole SENO. Impacts of livestock grazing on a savanna grassland in Kenya[J]. 干旱区科学, 2012, 4(1): 29-35.
John KIOKO, John Warui KIRINGE, Simon Ole SENO. Impacts of livestock grazing on a savanna grassland in Kenya. Journal of Arid Land, 2012, 4(1): 29-35.
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