Effect Of Ipomoea Hildebrandtii And I. Kituiensis On Loss Of Native Herbages Of Maasai Steppe Rangelands In Simanjiro District

ABSTRACT

Sustainability of many rangelands including Simanjiro Maasai steppe rangelands is

limited in part by invasive plant species. A study was conducted among two selected

village rangelands (Terrat and Sukuro) of the Simanjiro district aimed to (1)

determine the effect of Ipomoea hildebrandtii and I. kituiensis on herbage species

composition, richness, and basal cover; and (2) determine the effect of Ipomoea

hildebrandtii and I. kituiensis on herbage biomass productivity. Other objectives

were to (3) assess the distribution of Ipomoea hildebrandtii and I. kituiensis across

grassland and woodland habitats, and (4) evaluate the available mitigation measures

among the Maasai pastoralists on the effects of Ipomoea hildebrandtii and I.

kituiensis on their rangelands. A total of 10 plots of 70 m2 each with 9 quadrats of 1

m2 each in the invaded and non-invaded grazing-lands coupled with point sampling

technique. Purposeful sampling involved 10 key informants’ interviewees; 24

participants for focus group discussions. Simple random sampling involved 30

hamlets representatives for questionnaire surveys. Data on herbage species

composition, richness, basal cover, biomass productivity; distribution of invasive

Ipomoea spp; and mitigation measures for effects of invasive Ipomoea spp. were

analysed using STATA, Microsoft Excel and SPSS, respectively. Non-invaded

grazing-lands had a higher basal cover (54.71%±1.95% for grasses, 45.29%±1.95%

for forb) than invaded grazing-lands (29.38%±1.34% for grasses, 24.70%±1.20% for

forb), (P0.05). Non-invaded grazing-lands had higher biomass

productivity (0.289±0.03 t DM/ha) than invaded grazing-lands (0.202±0.02 t

DM/ha), (P