Land use/cover change and perceived watershed status in Eastern Uganda

This study assessed the current status of Awoja in Ngora district of Eastern Uganda. Remote sensing, household survey, In Pac S methodology and focus group discussions were used to acquire data from April to July, 2015. Landsat satellite imageries from 2007 and 2013 were acquired by USGS Earth Explorer to quantify land use/cover changes. Five land use/cover types were identified namely; (1) open water (2) wetland (3) tree cover (4) agriculture and (5) built up area. The findings indicate a fivefold increase in built up area by 154.27Km2 and open water changed by 8.7 Km2 and a reduction in wetland area by -1.0Km2 tree cover by -48.07Km2 and agriculture area by -11.4.0Km2. The survey results indicated deforestation, wetland encroachment, poor attitude and over population as the main reasons for degradation. In Pac S methodology findings showed convergence in the perceived indicator of degraded watershed in terms of water and soil quality; vegetation type and species diversity among the lay people and technocrats. The focus group discussion findings indicated a negative trend in land use/cover change. There is need for a concerted effort to design an appropriate restoration strategy for Awoja.Keywords: Land use/cover, remote sensing, GIS and other method

On-Farm Management of Vitellaria paradoxa

The population of shea butter tree (Vitellaria paradoxa C. F. Gaertn.)—a priority tree with enormous economic and cultural values to the parkland communities in Uganda, is rapidly declining due to rapid human population growth, increasing land fragmentation, and high demand for woodfuel especially charcoal. Reversing this trend will depend on the rural community involvement in the planting, facilitating natural regeneration, and tending of shea trees on farm. As such a survey was conducted in Amuria district, eastern Uganda, to assess local strategies and constraints to on-farm management of shea trees, and document socio-demographic factors influencing the on-farm conservation. About 93% of the households protected naturally regenerated V. paradoxa trees mainly on farms. V. paradoxa was mostly propagated through coppices and seedlings. Although insecure land tenure, insecurity, pests, disease, and shortage of planting materials were reported as major hindrances, farmsize, family size, and gender significantly (P≤0.05) influenced people’s willingness to conserve V. paradoxa. Byelaws and policies on shea conservation need to be properly enforced, and further propagation research is required especially towards shortening the juvenile period of V. paradoxa so that more farmers can start propagating the tree other than relying on its natural regeneration

Parenteral artemisinins are associated with reduced mortality and neurologic deficits and improved long-term behavioral outcomes in children with severe malaria

Background: In 2011, the World Health Organization recommended injectable artesunate as the first-line therapy for severe malaria (SM) due to its superiority in reducing mortality compared to quinine. There are limited data on long-term clinical and neurobehavioral outcomes after artemisinin use for treatment of SM. Methods: From 2008 to 2013, 502 Ugandan children with two common forms of SM, cerebral malaria and severe malarial anemia, were enrolled in a prospective observational study assessing long-term neurobehavioral and cognitive outcomes following SM. Children were evaluated a week after hospital discharge, and 6, 12, and 24 months of follow-up, and returned to hospital for any illness. In this study, we evaluated the impact of artemisinin derivatives on survival, post-discharge hospital readmission or death, and neurocognitive and behavioral outcomes over 2 years of follow-up. Results: 346 children received quinine and 156 received parenteral artemisinin therapy (artemether or artesunate). After adjustment for disease severity, artemisinin derivatives were associated with a 78% reduction in in-hospital mortality (adjusted odds ratio, 0.22; 95% CI, 0.07-0.67). Among cerebral malaria survivors, children treated with artemisinin derivatives also had reduced neurologic deficits at discharge (quinine, 41.7%; artemisinin derivatives, 23.7%, p=0.007). Over a 2-year follow-up, artemisinin derivatives as compared to quinine were associated with better adjusted scores (negative scores better) in internalizing behavior and executive function in children irrespective of the age at severe malaria episode. After adjusting for multiple comparisons, artemisinin derivatives were associated with better adjusted scores in behavior and executive function in children <6 years of age at severe malaria exposure following adjustment for child age, sex, socioeconomic status, enrichment in the home environment, and the incidence of hospitalizations over follow-up. Children receiving artesunate had the greatest reduction in mortality and benefit in behavioral outcomes and had reduced inflammation at 1-month follow-up compared to children treated with quinine. Conclusions: Treatment of severe malaria with artemisinin derivatives, particularly artesunate, results in reduced in-hospital mortality and neurologic deficits in children of all ages, reduced inflammation following recovery, and better long-term behavioral outcomes. These findings suggest artesunate has long-term beneficial effects in children surviving severe malaria

Land Use Change using Geospatial Techniques: The Case of AwojaWatershed in Ngora District in Eastern Uganda

This study used remote sensing and Geo-graphical Information System (GIS) to assess the status of Awoja watersheds in Ngora district of Eastern Uganda. Landsat ETM Images covering the whole of Ngora district and part of Lake Kyoga of two time periods was carried out in the period April to July 2015. This wasacquired using USGS Earth Explorer. The images were processed and enhanced with ERDAS 2014 software to aid information extraction and analysis. Land cover change analysis was performed using ENVI 5.3 software. Supervised classification method with maximum likelihood algorithm was performed to obtain land use/ cover types. Five land use/cover types were identified: open water, wetland, tree cover, agriculture and built up area. The findings indicate a fivefold increase in built up area by 154.27km2 (i.e. 375%) and open water increased by 8.7 km2 (i.e. 55.33%). Wetland, tree cover and agriculture reduced in area by -1.0km2 (i.e. 5.1%), - 48.07 km2 (i.e. 34.46%) and -114.0km2 (i.e. 51.05%), respectively. These changes mainly resulted from deforestation, wetland encroachment, poor attitude and over population. Unless, appropriate watershed restoration strategies are designed through afforestation, law enforcement on culprits, continuous sensitisation of the watershed community on the causes of degradation, the over 1,700,000 individuals whose livelihoods depend on Awojawill continue to suffer the effects of degradation. There is need to advocate for non-consumptive projects as alternative sources of income. Keywords: Remote sensing, GIS, Watersheds

Termites confer resistance to changes in tree composition following reduced browsing in an african savanna

Questions: Ungulates affect plant community structure and composition. Vegetation response to these effects are variable. Wild large herbivore populations are declining globally, but how tree communities respond to this change is not clear. We experimentally examined how tree communities respond to changes in ungulate abundance in a heterogeneous landscape. Location: Lake Mburo National Park, Uganda. Methods: We recorded tree species in nine replicate sites each with four treatment plots: fenced off-mound (excluding ungulates), unfenced off-mound, fenced and unfenced on-mound. Each species was assessed for fruit type, leafing strategy, spines-cence and bark thickness. We compared tree communities on-and off-mound, with and without ungulates using PERMANOVA, and the effects of habitat, fencing and time on stem density and traits using generalized linear mixed effects model. Results: Stem density increased by 88% off-mound and 138% on-mound (p = 0.005) with fencing, between 2006 and 2015. Whether tree communities occurred on-or off-mound determined species composition, but fencing had little effect. Tree traits were not markedly altered by fencing on-mound. Off-mound, fencing was associated with a 38% increase in the proportion of fleshy-fruited tree stems (p < 0.001), 18% decline in armed tree stems (p = 0.035) and a 44% reduction in mean bark thickness (p = 0.001). Conclusion: Our study highlights the important role mounds play in maintaining tree community composition with declining ungulate abundance. While ungulates influence tree communities off-mounds they have little effect on tree composition and traits of mound-borne trees. Thus, Macrotermes mounds support distinct tree communities that are robust to exclusion of ungulates

Data from: Effects of mammalian herbivores and termites on performance of native and exotic plantation tree seedlings

Invasion of exotic species is a global challenge and the potential for adverse effects on local biodiversity is particularly high in protected areas. Protected African savanna areas support globally important biodiversity. At the same time, forest plantations are widespread throughout Africa and exotic tree species frequently invade natural areas. To evaluate the potential invasiveness of plant species, it is pertinent to know to what extent, if at all, consumption by native herbivore assemblages differentially affects exotic and indigenous plants. We studied how two globally widespread exotic trees Eucalyptus grandis and Grevillea robusta and two common indigenous trees Milicia excelsa and Maesopsis eminii responded to natural herbivory by large herbivores and termites. We experimentally exposed 720 tree seedlings to: (i) no large herbivores or termites; (ii) termites only; (iii) large herbivores only; and (iv) both large herbivores and termites. When exposed to large herbivores and termites, the total survival was much higher for the exotics with 45% (E. grandis) and 63% (G. robusta) compared to the indigenous species (both 20%). Exposure to large herbivores affected early seedling survival of natives more than the exotics. Apart from the indigenous M. excelsa, survival did not decrease when seedlings were exposed to termites. Large herbivores retarded seedling growth for all species. The exotic E. grandis was the only species capable of growth when exposed to large herbivores. Exposure to termites had only a small, but significant effect resulting in a 7% size difference in all species. Synthesis and applications. Our results highlight how browsing might, for some tree species, adversely affect native seedling survival and growth more than exotic species in protected African savanna. If exotic species are to be used in plantations, managers should consider planting tree species and varieties that are sensitive to ungulate browsing. This will not compromise economic gain because large herbivores are generally less common in plantations. Consequently, local ungulates could function as biological control agents outside plantations and reduce the potential risk of exotic plants proliferating in protected areas

The ecology of Maesopsis eminii Engl. in tropical Africa

Maesopsis eminii is referred to as one of the most widely distributed African tree species. However, its occurrence in Africa has never been mapped and little is known as to how this species can sustain in different environments. To gain insight into Maesopsis' ecology, we (i) made a synthesis of its functional trait data from the literature, (ii) investigated phenological patterns using data on four M.eminii trees from Yangambi, DR Congo, (iii) assessed an empirical provenance trial from Uganda on 600 Maesopsis trees and (iv) synthesized geo-referenced point location maps of Maesopsis entailing WorldClim precipitation and temperature and FAO soils, rainfall and ecological zones for Africa. We found M.eminii to straddle the equator equidistantly in terms of latitude (10.97 degrees N and 10.98 degrees S) covering five forest types where twenty soil types and variable rainfall regimes support complex plant biodiversity. Maesopsiseminii was, however, largely concentrated in the tropical rainforest ecosystem which contains fertile Orthic Ferralsol soils. More than 97% of the point locations were found where annual precipitation was >1000mm, and 82% occurred where average annual temperature was 22-28 degrees C. Its functional traits, phenology and provenance trial findings explained its occurrence in Africa

Exotic Species Data in Lake Mburo

File contain data from the field experiment

Learning through play in Global Majority countries: reflections from the PEDAL centre on understanding and adapting the concept in four different contexts

Research on play tends to consider its relevance as universal: all children play. Whilst research is increasingly pointing to the benefits of play to children’s development and learning, there is also increasing recognition that this research is predominantly carried out in Western contexts, and that its conclusions may not carry over to other contexts. In this paper, we explore the implications of investigating the concept of learning through play to Global Majority contexts, where both play and the contribution of play to learning may be understood differently, and in some cases may not be appropriate. Play is not equally valued in all cultures and conceptions of learning and education may be different too. Finally, around the world children have varying amounts of time dedicated to free play and schooling, as well as very different educational experiences. Globally, there have been increasing efforts to recognise and deal with some of these tensions. Drawing on research carried out at PEDAL, we highlight examples of how learning through play may be understood and enacted in four Global Majority contexts (Nigeria, Mexico, South Africa and Kenya) and some of the questions that have arisen through our work. We use these examples to reflect on our role as play researchers.LEGO Foundatio

Microsatellites reveal divergence in population genetic diversity, and structure of osyris lanceolata (santalaceae) in Uganda and Kenya

Abstract Background Osyris lanceolata (Hochst. & Steud.) (Santalaceae) is a multipurpose plant highly valued culturally and economically in Africa. However, O. lanceolata populations have rapidly dwindled in East Africa due to overexploitation and this is believed to cause further consequences on the species’ genetic diversity and structure within the region. Information regarding a species’ genetic diversity and structure is necessary for conservation but this is currently lacking for O. lanceolata in Uganda and Kenya. Lack of adequate scientific data hinders conservation efforts hence threatening the species survival and livelihoods. This study investigated patterns in genetic diversity and structure of O. lanceolata in Uganda and Kenya. Ten polymorphic microsatellite loci were used to genotype 210 individuals: 96 from Ugandan and 114 from Kenyan populations. Results All populations were highly polymorphic (80–100% polymorphism). A genetic differentiation was found between Kenyan and Ugandan populations. The highest genetic differentiation was among individuals and the least among populations. The Kenyan populations showed higher genetic diversity than Ugandan populations. The Ugandan populations showed more marker deviations from Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium and inbreeding coefficient. Two populations showed evidence of going through a recent bottleneck. There was significant genetic differentiation and structuring at higher K values into larger clusters and observed admixture between populations. The populations were significantly isolated by altitude as opposed to distance and climatic variables. Main barriers were associated with altitude differences. The data supports the idea of long-distance gene-flow between high altitude populations in both countries. Conclusion The divergence in genetic structure suggests unrecognised taxonomic units within O. lanceolata which are characteristic to lower altitudes and higher altitudes including most Kenyan populations with divergent evolutionary patterns. Geographical barriers and environmental gradients could have influenced this genetic divergence, and such patterns may escalate the species microevolutionary processes into full allopatric speciation. Further investigations into the species’ genetic admixture and emerging taxonomic units are necessary to guide conservation strategies in the region