Structure and composition of the woody plant communities of Majete Wildlife Reserve, Malawi

Background: The role of protected areas as sanctuaries for indigenous vegetation in Malawi, particularly miombo woodlands, will become increasingly important in the face of global change and rising human populations. Accurate knowledge of the extent and composition of woody components of plant communities will therefore play a vital part in informing conservation and management initiatives.Objectives: The aims of this study were to (1) classify, describe and map thewoody plant communities of the Majete Wildlife Reserve (MWR) using a combination of remote sensing and on-the-ground surveys, and (2) to compile an inventory of the tree and shrub species present in MWR.Methods: A combination of remote sensing and on-the-ground surveys was used to classify, describe and map the woody plant communities of MWR. Additionally, an inventory of the tree and shrub species in each delineated woody plant community was made.Results: Five distinct woody plant communities, two of which were subdivided into three sub-communities each, were recognised in MWR, and a total of 118 woody plant species within 31 families were identified. A description of the location, structure and species composition of each community is provided. Miombo was the most widespread community (covering 35.9% of the area), while the lower-altitude shrublands and woodlands were the richest floristically.Conclusion: This information is intended to provide a basis for improved management planning and policy development, including fire management, the placement of infrastructure, and the re-introduction of extirpated mammal species, as well as providing a baseline against which to monitor change. Additionally, this study provided an example of how the combination of remote sensing and ground surveys can provide a rapid and relatively inexpensive method for classifying the woody components of communities at a relatively fine scale over large areas, which may become particularly relevant for developing countries and regions that undergo rapid and constant change.

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Vegetative Propagation of Woody Ornamentals Through Forcing of Epicormic Shoots

HortScience ◽

10.21273/hortsci.33.3.503c ◽

1998 ◽

Vol 33 (3) ◽

pp. 503c-503

Author(s):

Paul H. Henry ◽

John E. Preece

Keyword(s):

Plant Material ◽

Woody Plant ◽

Clonal Plant ◽

Light Regime ◽

Moisture Regime ◽

Stem Cuttings ◽

Shrub Species ◽

Woody Ornamentals ◽

Ornamental Tree ◽

Environmental Light

A propagation method is being developed that allows softwood shoots to be generated from stem sections of dormant woody plant species. These shoots, forced in the greenhouse during the winter, are subsequently collected and processed as softwood stem cuttings to produce clonal plant material. Many species in the nursery industry can only be propagated using softwood cuttings, and this technique allows propagation of these species to be initiated several months earlier than what is typically possible. Current studies involve expanded screening of ornamental tree and shrub species to determine if commercial production using this technique is feasible. Results demonstrate that many species may be propagated using this method, but that some species are more prolific than others with respect to number of softwood shoots produced. Additional studies are currently in progress to determine the environmental (light regime, moisture regime) and cultural (type of media) conditions that are optimal when producing clonal plant material via this technique.

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A reconstruction of the recent fire regimes of Majete Wildlife Reserve, Malawi, using remote sensing

Fire Ecology ◽

10.1186/s42408-020-00090-0 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 17 (1) ◽

Author(s):

Willem A. Nieman ◽

Brian W. van Wilgen ◽

Alison J. Leslie

Keyword(s):

Remote Sensing ◽

Fire Management ◽

Fire Regime ◽

Fire Regimes ◽

Dry Season ◽

Annual Rainfall ◽

Vegetation Types ◽

Local Evidence ◽

Hot Dry Season ◽

Wildlife Reserve

Abstract Background Fire is an important process that shapes the structure and functioning of African savanna ecosystems, and managers of savanna protected areas use fire to achieve ecosystem goals. Developing appropriate fire management policies should be based on an understanding of the determinants, features, and effects of prevailing fire regimes, but this information is rarely available. In this study, we report on the use of remote sensing to develop a spatially explicit dataset on past fire regimes in Majete Wildlife Reserve, Malawi, between 2001 and 2019. Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) images were used to evaluate the recent fire regime for two distinct vegetation types in Majete Wildlife Reserve, namely savanna and miombo. Additionally, a comparison was made between MODIS and Visible Infrared Imager Radiometer Suite (VIIRS) images by separately evaluating selected aspects of the fire regime between 2012 and 2019. Results Mean fire return intervals were four and six years for miombo and savanna vegetation, respectively, but the distribution of fire return intervals was skewed, with a large proportion of the area burning annually or biennially, and a smaller proportion experiencing much longer fire return intervals. Variation in inter-annual rainfall also resulted in longer fire return intervals during cycles of below-average rainfall. Fires were concentrated in the hot-dry season despite a management intent to restrict burning to the cool-dry season. Mean fire intensities were generally low, but many individual fires had intensities of 14 to 18 times higher than the mean, especially in the hot-dry season. The VIIRS sensors detected many fires that were overlooked by the MODIS sensors, as images were collected at a finer scale. Conclusions Remote sensing has provided a useful basis for reconstructing the recent fire regime of Majete Wildlife Reserve, and has highlighted a current mismatch between intended fire management goals and actual trends. Managers should re-evaluate fire policies based on our findings, setting clearly defined targets for the different vegetation types and introducing flexibility to accommodate natural variation in rainfall cycles. Local evidence of the links between fires and ecological outcomes will require further research to improve fire planning.

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Effects of topoclimatic complexity on the composition of woody plant communities

AoB Plants ◽

10.1093/aobpla/plw049 ◽

2016 ◽

Vol 8 ◽

pp. plw049 ◽

Cited By ~ 7

Author(s):

Meagan F. Oldfather ◽

Matthew N. Britton ◽

Prahlad D. Papper ◽

Michael J. Koontz ◽

Michelle M. Halbur ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Plant Communities ◽

Woody Plant

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Microcystin Exposure Pathways and Human Health

Passive Remote Study of the Aerosol in the Upper Atmosphere of the Earth ◽

10.47363/jeesr/2020(2)130 ◽

2020 ◽

pp. 1-5

Author(s):

Rajesh Melaram ◽

Keyword(s):

Public Health ◽

Policy Development ◽

Mitigation Strategies ◽

World Health ◽

Health Concern ◽

Human Populations ◽

Algal Toxins ◽

Potential Health ◽

Exposure Pathways ◽

Green Algal

Microcystins (MCs) are blue-green algal toxins produced by freshwater cyanobacteria. Their environmentally relevant concentrations throughout global surface waters have tampered with human populations’ drinking and recreational supplies. MCs have gained immense public health attention due to their potential health effects. Microcystin-LR (MC-LR) is the most toxic variant of the MCs. Investigations on MC-LR toxicity and detection in water signify a growing potential environmental health concern worldwide. The World Health Organization established a provisional drinking water guidance value of 1 μg/L and a provisional recreational exposure guidance value of 10 μg/L for MC-LR. This review surveys human MC exposure pathways and integrates epidemiological studies to support MCs’ critical exposure pathways. A discussion on monitoring and mitigation strategies provides a guide for policy development in adopting MCs’ regulatory levels to protect public health.

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Habitat use and conservation threats to Wild Water Buffalo Bubalus arnee (Mammalia: Artiodactyla: Bovidae) in Koshi Tappu Wildlife Reserve, Nepal

Journal of Threatened Taxa ◽

10.11609/jott.7584.13.12.19714-19724 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 13 (12) ◽

pp. 19714-19724

Author(s):

Reeta Khulal ◽

Bijaya Neupane ◽

Bijaya Dhami ◽

Siddhartha Regmi ◽

Ganesh Prasad Tiwari ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Habitat Use ◽

Water Buffalo ◽

Imperata Cylindrica ◽

Grass Species ◽

Mimosa Pudica ◽

Shrub Species ◽

Acacia Catechu ◽

Conservation Threats ◽

Wildlife Reserve ◽

Herb Species

Wild Water Buffalo (WWB) Bubalus arnee is an endangered species and a protected animal in Nepal. The remaining WWB population is located in Koshi Tappu Wildlife Reserve (KTWR), and it appears to have low viability under prevailing conditions. We assessed the habitat use and conservation threats to wild water buffalo in KTWR. For habitat analysis the quadrant method was used. Eighty-four quadrants of 25 m2 for trees, 168 quadrants of 10m2 for shrubs and 336 quadrants of 1 m2 for herbs were laid out in the study area. Ivlev’s electivity index (IV) was calculated to assess the use of different habitat components. The important Value Index (IVI) was used for vegetation assessment. A relative threat ranking method was used to assess conservation threats for wild buffalo and their habitats. Wild buffalo mostly preferred habitats with distance to water resources less than 500 m (IV= 0.4), less than 25 % crown coverage (IV= 0.39) and more than 75 % ground coverage (IV= 0.42). The trees species Phyllanthus emblica, Acacia catechu, shrub species Mimosa pudica and the herb species Brachiaria distachya, Vetiveria zizanioides, Imperata cylindrica, and Saccharum spontaneum were preferred by WWB in the study area. Among the different plant categories, we found that Acacia catechu was the most preferred tree species (IVI= 156.95), Mimosa pudica the most preferred shrub species (IVI= 58.68), and Imperata cylindrica the most preferred herb species (IVI= 64.73). Major conservation threats perceived by local stakeholders for wild buffaloes were overgrazing by cattle and genetic swamping through crossbreeding with domestic buffalo. Therefore, conservation of grass species through control of grazing, and prevention of cross breeding are measures supported by this study. Additionally, site-specific conservation strategies should be adopted, based on identified threats in the study area.

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Functional relationship between woody plants and insect communities in response to Bursaphelenchus xylophilus infestation in the Three Gorges Reservoir region

10.22541/au.161063734.48117379/v1 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Zhuang Wang ◽

Lijuan Zhao ◽

Jiaqi Liu ◽

Yajie Yang ◽

Juan Shi ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Plant Communities ◽

Tree Species ◽

Woody Plants ◽

Functional Relationship ◽

Woody Plant ◽

Principal Component ◽

Bursaphelenchus Xylophilus ◽

Insect Community ◽

Insect Communities ◽

Masson Pine

To study the effect of the invasion of Bursaphelenchus xylophilus on the functional relationship between woody plants and insect communities, the populations of tree species and insect communities were investigative in the Masson pine forests with different infestation durations of B. xylophilus. In this study, the number of Pinus massoniana began to decrease sharply, whereas the total number of other tree species in the arboreal layer increased gradually with the infestation duration of B. xylophilus. The principal component analysis ordination biplot shows that there was a significant change in the spatial distribution of woody plant species in different Masson pine forest stands. Additionally, a total of 7,188 insect specimens was obtained. The insect population showed an upward trend in stand types with the increase of pine wilt disease infection periods, which demonstrated that the insect community had been significantly affected by the invasion of B. xylophilus. The structure of insect functional groups changed from herbivorous (He) > omnivorous (Om) > predatory (Pr) > parasitic (Pa) > detritivorous (De) in the control stand to He > Pa > Om, De > Pr after B. xylophilus infestation in the forests. The results showed that the populations of He, Pa, and De increased after the invasion of B. xylophilus, but the populations of Pr decreased. Moreover, the redundancy analysis ordination bi-plots reflected the complicated functional relationship between woody plant communities and insects after the invasion of B. xylophilus. The present study provides insights into the changes in the community structure of woody plants and insects, as well as the functional relationship between woody plant communities and insect communities after invasion of B. xylophilus.

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