Impact of Lantana camara Invasion on Herbaceous Species Diversity and Soil Physio-Chemical Properties in Eastern Ethiopia

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ytagesu Getye Kininet ◽  
Dejene Workeneh Sintayehu
2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (5) ◽  
pp. 515 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dargo Kebede Alemie ◽  
Haftay Hailu Gebremedhin

The changes of herbaceous vegetation (composition, diversity, richness, evenness, and biomass production) and soil physico-chemical attributes of Harshin rangelands, eastern Ethiopia were examined under continuously open grazed areas and three ages of enclosures group arranged along chronological sequence into: < 5 years (young), 5-10 years (mid) and > 10 years (old). The herbaceous species composition showed a clear pattern of difference between the enclosure and open access grazed areas with desirable species being more prevalent in the enclosures and the undesirable ones being dominant in the open access grazed areas. The principal component analyses (PCA) of herbaceous species composition were accounted distinct across the open grazing young, mid and old enclosure management types. The diversity, richness and biomass production of herbaceous species were significantly different in the study area. The principal component analysis (PCA) of soil physico-chemical attributes showed distinct separation in relation to open grazing and three age enclosure areas. Overall, we found that the increased biomass production in the old enclosures may threat the herbaceous species diversity by dominating by only few species and hence affected the plants which are susceptible for species inter-competition.


2013 ◽  
Vol 6 (4) ◽  
pp. 536-544 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stephen F. Enloe ◽  
Nancy J. Loewenstein ◽  
David W. Held ◽  
Lori Eckhardt ◽  
Dwight K. Lauer

AbstractCogongrass [Imperata cylindrica (L.) Beauv.] is a warm-season, rhizomatous grass native to southeast Asia that has invaded thousands of hectares in the southeastern United States. Its negative impacts on pine forests have been well documented, and aggressive control is widely recommended. Although repeated herbicide treatments are effective for suppression, integrated strategies of prescribed burning coupled with herbicide treatment and revegetation are lacking in pine systems. In particular, longleaf pine forests, which are typically open, fire-dependent, communities, are highly susceptible to cogongrass, which is a pyrogenic species. To address management goals for cogongrass control and herbaceous restoration in longleaf pine forests better, field studies were conducted in southwestern Alabama from 2010 to 2012. Two longleaf pine forests with near-monotypic stands of cogongrass in the understory were selected for study. Treatments included combinations of winter prescribed fire, spring and fall glyphosate herbicide treatments, and seeding a mix of native, herbaceous species. Data were collected for three growing seasons following study initiation, and included seasonal herbaceous species cover and final cogongrass shoot and rhizome biomass. Species richness and diversity were calculated and analyzed to ascertain treatment effects over the duration of the study. Burning slightly improved cogongrass control with glyphosate, but had no effect on total cover, species richness, or species diversity. Three glyphosate treatments reduced total vegetative cover and nearly eliminated cogongrass cover, shoot, and rhizome biomass. Glyphosate and glyphosate + seeding also increased herbaceous species richness and diversity. However, aboveground productivity in treated plots was significantly lower than productivity in the untreated control, which was almost exclusively cogongrass. These studies indicate that glyphosate and integrated strategies utilizing glyphosate and seeding are very useful for cogongrass management and increasing herbaceous species richness and diversity in longleaf pine.


2019 ◽  
Vol 7 (5) ◽  
pp. 502-518
Author(s):  
Pius Yoram Kavana ◽  
Anthony Z. Sangeda ◽  
Ephraim J. Mtengeti ◽  
Christopher Mahonge ◽  
John Bukombe ◽  
...  

Agro-pastoralism involves the growing of crops and keeping of livestock as a livelihood strategy practiced by communities in rural areas in Africa and is highly dependent on environmental factors including rainfall, soil and vegetation. Agro-pastoral activities, e.g. livestock grazing and land clearing for crop cultivation, impact on environmental condition. This study evaluated the impacts of agro-pastoral activities on herbaceous plant species diversity and abundance in western Serengeti relative to conservation (protected) areas. A vegetation survey was conducted along the grazing gradients of ten 4 km transects from within village lands to protected areas. A total of 123 herbaceous species belonging to 20 families were identified. Higher herbaceous species diversity and richness were found in protected areas than in communal grazing lands. Similarly, the number of perennial herbaceous species was higher in the former than the latter, while occurrence of annuals was higher in the village areas. This observation indicates poor rangeland condition in village communal grazing lands as compared with protected areas. It is obvious that current agro-pastoral activities have contributed to a reduction in herbaceous species diversity in village lands in western Serengeti. However, the array of pasture species, especially desirable perennial species, still present in communal grazing areas, suggests that rejuvenation of these areas is possible. Resting of grazing land is recommended to reverse the trend towards diversity reduction and ensure future availability of feed resources for grazing animals in village lands.


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