Abstract/Overview Worldwide, Buffer zone regimes (BZRs) have been established as designated areas to protect tropical forests from human activities. In Kenya, Nyayo Tea Zone (NTZ) was established around all gazetted forests as BZR. In areas where soil was not ideal for tea, Exotic Tree Plantations (ETP) was established though some parts Open Edge (OE) still exist. However, there are minimal studies on how the BZRs (OE, ETP, and NTZ) area influences tree species; health; richness; abundance a...
Abstract/Overview Forest fragmentation occurs when large continuous forests are perforated by small holes or broken up into edges and smaller patches to form a non-perforated matrix of open spaces. Global researches have shown that primary attributes of the remnant forest fragment that may influence patterns of species richness include: fragment area, fragment isolation, fragment edge to interior ratio, and the fragment shape complexity. In Sub Saharan Africa, for example, high human populat...
Abstract Recent research on participatory forest management (PFM) in the global south has highlighted the existence of a widespread “implementation gap” between the ambitious intent enshrined in legislation and the often partial, disappointing rollout of devolved forest governance on the ground. Here, through an ethnographic case study of forest officers (FOs) in Kenya, we draw on a framework of critical institutionalism to examine how key meso-level actors, or “interface bureaucrats,�...
Abstract Effects from past climate, natural disturbances and human activities are significantly impacting negatively on current day processes in tropical indigenous trees forests. Most of the indigenous trees mostly hard woods have been logged by human activities. Warburgia ugandensis is a tree that is highly valued for its medicinal properties, timber, poles and fuel wood. Consequently, its population and distribution has been on the decline due to environmental and anthropogenic impacts. T...
Abstract An experiment in the Blue Mountains of Jamaica investigated the consequences of three land-use treatments applied following forest clearance on soil fertility and resulting crop growth over a five year period. The treatments were: maintained weed-free without cultivation (bare); cultivated with herbaceous crops (agriculture); and cultivated with herbaceous crops and intercropped with Calliandra calothyrsus contour hedges (agroforestry) and compared with an uncleared secondary forest...
Abstract/Overview Background: Natural forest succession often affects soil physical and chemical properties. Selected physical and chemical soil properties were studied in an old-growth forest across a forest successional series in Dinghushan Nature Reserve, Southern China. Methodology/Principal Findings: The aim was to assess the effects of forest succession change on soil properties. Soil samples (0–20 cm depth) were collected from three forest types at different succession stages, na...
Abstract/Overview Forests play a critical role in providing essential goods and services to forest adjacent communities. There is, however, insufficient information on how land uses affect the availability and use of forest products and services by forest adjacent communities. This study analysed the impacts of land use changes on the livelihoods of Mt Elgon forests adjacent communities. Land use changes were assessed for the period 1977-2019 segmented into four time periods corresponding...
Abstract/Overview The study was conducted in Eastern Mau is one of the East Mau forest is an important watershed within the Mau Forest Complex, feeding major rivers and streams that make up the hydrological systems of Lake Victoria and inland Lakes of Nakuru, Baringo and Natron to document the bee flora and their respecetive reward value to compliment the participatory forest conservation approaches incorporating the Ogieks who are predominant forest dwellers, and known for bee keeping sk...
Abstract/Overview CO2 fluxes were measured continuously for twelve months (2003) using eddy covariance technique at canopy layer in a dominant subtropical forest in South China. Our results showed that daytime maximum CO2 fluxes of the whole ecosystem varied from −15 to −20 µmol m−2 s −1 5 . The peaks of CO2 fluxes appeared earlier than the peaks of solar radiation. Contribution of CO2 fluxes in a subtropical forest in the dry season was 53% of the annual total from the whole for...
Abstract/Overview Sap flux density (SFD) measurements were used, in combination with morphological characteristics of trees and forest structure, to calculate whole-tree transpiration, stand transpiration (St) and mean canopy stomatal conductance (Gs). Analysis based on the relationships between the morphological characteristics of trees and whole tree water use, and on the responses of SFD and Gs to short wave radiation (RR), vapor pressure deficit (VPD) and soil water content (SWC) duri...
Abstract/Overview Forests are some of the key natural assets that provide a wide range of goods and services to forest adjacent communities. However, there is inadequate information on the factors that influence community members’ level of dependence on forest resources. This study examined and analyzed factors that influence dependence of households on non-timber forest products from South Nandi forest, Kenya. 431 household heads from 9 villages were interviewed using proportional rand...
Abstract/Overview Experiments were conducted between 2003 and 2008 to examine how N additions influence soil organic C (SOC) and its fractions in forests at different succession stages in the subtropical China. The succession stages included pine forest, pine and broadleaf mixed forest, and old‐growth monsoon evergreen broadleaf forest. Three levels of N (NH4NO3)‐addition treatments comprising control, low‐N (50 kg N ha–1 y–1), and medium‐N (100 kg N ha–1 y–1) were est...
Abstract/Overview Edible caterpillars have nutritional and economic value, thus providing food security at the household level during their harvesting seasons. Despite the significant value of these insects, they are harvested seasonally, and there is little or no documented research about the edible caterpillar species and their phenotypic characteristics, their host plants, and the effects of ecosystem utilization on the insects. This study explored the phenotypic characteristics of edi...
Abstract Somalia is one of the most drought prone countries in Africa. Drought is the country’s costliest natural disaster. The impact of drought events on the economy, on people`s livelihoods and on lives has grown. Drought events usually develop gradually unnoticed, causing tremendous effects on both agriculture and environment. This study evaluated the spatio-temporal variations of drought occurrences in Somalia and its implication on forest cover. In this study, precipitation and tempe...
Abstract first_pagesettingsOrder Article Reprints Open AccessArticle Woody Species Composition, Stand Structure and Regeneration Status of Londiani Forest in Kenya by Evalyne Kosgey Chepkoech 1,*,Humphrey Agevi 1,2ORCID,Henry Lung’ayia 1 andHarrison Mugatsia Tsingalia 1 1 Department of Biological Sciences, Masinde Muliro University of Science and Technology (MMUST), Kakamega P.O. Box 190-50100, Kenya 2 Institute of Indigenous Knowledge, Cultural Studies and Climate Change, Masinde Muliro U...