Community perceptions towards the establishment of an urban forest plantation: a case of Dzivaresekwa, Zimbabwe

The health of urban forest communities not only depend on the government and nongovernmental organizations, but also strongly rely on local community stewardship. A study was carried out to assess community perceptions on the establishment of an urban forest plantation among urban residents in Dzivaresekwa, an urban area in Harare. Randomized systematic sampling was used to select 150 households and one resident per household was interviewed using a pretested questionnaire with both closed and open-ended questions. The objectives of the study were to determine how age and gender and employment status variables, were related to the urban residents perceptions towards establishment of a forest plantation in an urban area. Most females (58.3%) viewed the plantation as a threat while most men (51.7%) viewed the plantation as a recreational area. The highest proportion (61.9%) of the middle age group (21-40 years) perceived the plantation as a source of employment. There was a statistically significant relationship (p = 0.040) between gender and the general perception of establishing a forest plantation in the urban area. However, there was no statistically significant relationship (p = 0.203) between age groups and the perception of establishing a forest plantation in the urban area. It is concluded that the community had diverse perceptions on urban community forestry. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.3329/ijarit.v4i1.20973 Int. J. Agril. Res. Innov. & Tech. 4 (1): 16-23, June, 201

Community perceptions towards the establishment of an urban forest plantation: a case of Dzivaresekwa, Zimbabwe

The health of urban forest communities not only depend on the government and nongovernmental organizations, but also strongly rely on local community stewardship. A study was carried out to assess community perceptions on the establishment of an urban forest plantation among urban residents in Dzivaresekwa, an urban area in Harare. Randomized systematic sampling was used to select 150 households and one resident per household was interviewed using a pretested questionnaire with both closed and open-ended questions. The objectives of the study were to determine how age and gender and employment status variables, were related to the urban residents’ perceptions towards establishment of a forest plantation in an urban area. Most females (58.3%) viewed the plantation as a threat while most men (51.7%) viewed the plantation as a recreational area. The highest proportion (61.9%) of the middle age group (21-40 years) perceived the plantation as a source of employment. There was a statistically significant relationship (p = 0.040) between gender and the general perception of establishing a forest plantation in the urban area. However, there was no statistically significant relationship (p = 0.203) between age groups and the perception of establishing a forest plantation in the urban area. It is concluded that the community had diverse perceptions on urban community forestry

Land use and management effects on soil organic matter fractions in Rhodic Ferralsols and Haplic Arenosols in Bindura and Shamva districts of Zimbabwe

Soil organic carbon (SOC) is a major attribute of soil quality that responds to land management activities which is also important in the regulation of global carbon (C) cycling. This study evaluated bulk soil C and nitrogen (N) contents and C and N dynamics in three soil organic matter (SOM) fractions separated by density. The study was based on three tillage systems on farmer managed experiments (conventional tillage (CT), ripping (RP), direct seeding (DS)) and adjacent natural forest (NF) in Haplic Arenosols (sandy) and Rhodic Ferralsols (clayey) of Zimbabwe. Carbon stocks were significantly larger in forests than tillage systems, being significantly lower in sandy soils (15 and 14 Mg C ha- 1) than clayey soils (23 and 21 Mg C ha- 1) at 0–10 and 10–30 cm respectively. Nitrogen content followed the same trend. At the 0–10 cm depth, SOC stocks increased under CT, RP and DS by 0.10, 0.24, 0.36 Mg ha- 1 yr- 1 and 0.76, 0.54, 0.10 Mg ha- 1 yr- 1 on sandy and clayey soils respectively over a four year period while N stocks decreased by 0.55, 0.40, 0.56 Mg ha- 1 and 0.63, 0.65, 0.55 Mg ha- 1 respectively. SOM fractions were dominated by mineral associated heavy fraction (MaHF) which accounted for 86–93% and 94–98% on sandy and clayey soils respectively. Tillage systems on sandy soils had the smallest average free light fraction (fLF) and occluded light fraction (oLF) C stocks (25.3 ± 1.3 g m- 2 and 7.3 ± 1.2 g m- 2) at 0–30 cm when compared with corresponding NF (58.4 ± 4 g m2 and 18.5 ± 1.0 g m- 2). Clayey soils, had the opposite, having all fLF C and N in tillage systems being higher (80.9 ± 12 g C m- 2 and 2.7 ± 0.4 g N m- 2) than NF (57.4 ± 2.0 g C m- 2 and 2.4 ± 0.3 g N m- 2). Results suggest that oLF and MaHF C and N are better protected under DS and RP where they are less vulnerable to mineralisation while fLF contributes more in CT. Thus, DS and RP can be important in maintaining and improving soil quality although their practicability can be hampered by unsupportive institutional frameworks. Under prevailing climatic and management conditions, improvement of residue retention could be a major factor that can distinguish the potential of different management practices for C sequestration. The exploitation of the benefits of RP or DS and the corresponding sustainability of systems need support for surface cover retention which should also be extended to conventional tillag

Vegetation diversity as an indicator of human social diversity and economic inequality in Bindura mining town, Zimbabwe

An assessment of planted vegetation in the residential surbubs of the mining town of Bindura was carried out to determine socio-economic variations of urban dwellers.  The suburbs were categorized into low, medium, pre-independence and post-independence high-density.  Spaces no covered by buildings in all the residential areas were studied at 5% sampling intensity with special attention on origin purpose and frequency of species occurrence.  Data were analysed using Univariate Analysis of Variance using SPSS 10.0 with descriptive statistics and post hoc tests.  Results indicated a significant (p<0.01) preference for exotic species in comparison to indigenous species across the surbubs.  There was a higher preference (<0.01) for ornamental trees in low-density suburbs compared to fruit trees and ornamentals shrubs whereas the high- and medium density suburb residents preferred fruit trees.  The skew in vegetation preference from ornamentals to fruits and fruits to ornamentals in the low density and high-density residential suburbs respectively, explains a significant variation in socio-economic classes of the urban dwellers.  The medium density residential areas mimic the high density trend in most aspects as a result of culture transfer

COMMUNITY PERCEPTIONS TOWARDS THE ESTABLISHMENT OF AN URBAN FOREST PLANTATION: A CASE OF DZIVARESEKWA, ZIMBABWE

The health of urban forest communities not only depend on the government and nongovernmental organizations, but also strongly rely on local community stewardship. A study was carried out to assess community perceptions on the establishment of an urban forest plantation among urban residents in Dzivaresekwa, an urban area in Harare. Randomized systematic sampling was used to select 150 households and one resident per household was interviewed using a pretested questionnaire with both closed and open-ended questions. The objectives of the study were to determine how age and gender and employment status variables, were related to the urban residents’ perceptions towards establishment of a forest plantation in an urban area. Most females (58.3%) viewed the plantation as a threat while most men (51.7%) viewed the plantation as a recreational area. The highest proportion (61.9%) of the middle age group (21-40 years) perceived the plantation as a source of employment. There was a statistically significant relationship (p = 0.040) between gender and the general perception of establishing a forest plantation in the urban area. However, there was no statistically significant relationship (p = 0.203) between age groups and the perception of establishing a forest plantation in the urban area. It is concluded that the community had diverse perceptions on urban community forestry

Complexities of shrub encroachment: are shrubs important for the maintenance of diversity in Themeda-dominated assemblages on coastal headlands in eastern Australia?

Shrub encroachment is an issue worldwide with consequences which may have both positive and negative outcomes for landscape and community health. Themeda- dominated communities on headlands are listed as endangered within New South Wales, Australia with shrub encroachment listed as threat. Coastal headlands are considered harsh environments and positive effects on species diversity patterns may occur due to variables that ameliorate these conditions or through indirect mechanisms. Shrubs are a natural component of coastal headlands in eastern Australian and tall shrub encroachment may have both positive and negative effects on non-shrub communities. I test whether tall shrubs may have a functional role that positively affects species diversity within and between plots and the distribution of species within Themeda- dominated communities on headlands. 352 2 × 2 m plots were placed on 46 headlands along a 530 km stretch of coastline on the North Coast Bioregion, New South Wales, Australia. Within plots vascular plant species were scored on cover and frequency. Species density, diversity, evenness, turnover and gamma diversity were calculated. Variables tested include cumulative tall shrub height from circular transects at 2, 4 and 8 m from plots, slope, aspect, altitude, ground layer height, distance to closest seaward edge and macropod grazing intensity. Rarefaction was performed on a subset of sites that had no shrubs and sites within shrubs within 8 m of plots. The relative interaction intensity (RII) was calculated for all taxa with more than one observation against plots without shrubs and plots with shrubs within 8 m radius. Analyses were performed using Canonical Correspondence Analysis (CCA) and Generalised Additive Modelling (GAM) on species frequency data. A total of 303 native taxa were recorded within plots. The most significant positive effects on species density, evenness and species accumulation included increasing proximity to, and density of tall shrubs. Tall shrubs may allow direct facilitation of less stress tolerant plants to colonise but may have an indirect interaction by reduction in the dominance of Themeda triandra . Other minor significant variables included distance from headland seaward edge, southern and western facing slopes, higher altitudes and a decrease in ground layer height. 178 (80%) of species were found to have a positive RII score associated with the presence of nearby taller shrubs. Tall shrubs may directly facilitate greater species diversity by ameliorating local conditions and indirectly facilitate by reducing the over- dominance of some taxa. In spite of the positive effect of shrubs on diversity eventually tall shrub encroachment may cause replacement of the Themeda- dominated communities with shrubland. Encroaching taller shrubs are therefore shown to be both of benefit to floristic species diversity at all scales within these Themeda- dominated communities on headlands in eastern Australia but also a potential threat. These results highlight the complex nature of community interactions requiring nuanced and potentially novel approaches to management