Abstract
The studies on biodiversity of living organisms as well as the ecosystems which they are part of is essential for the assessment of species composition and setting priorities in conservation matters. The plant diversity assessment at Mount Kenya University Medicinal Botanical Garden was done over a period of three years using both individual observation and line intercept/point centered quadrant methods on five designated zones of the garden. A total of 248 plant species of 60 families were recorded. Most of the plants that were found in this garden were indigenous (90%) and in use categories; the occurring class was the medicinal (44%). Poaceae constituted the highest composition of 31 species (12.5%), followed by Asteraceae with 20 species (8%) and Euphorbiaceae with 15 species (6%). The rocky and exotic vegetation had high plant family diversity and the riverine had the least. It was concluded that the botanical garden was improving in its species composition and continued conservation and sustainable use will be important for the education and research services. Key words: Mount Kenya University, Shannon’s indices, Simpson’s index, point centered quadrant.
Highlights
Biodiversity refers to the variety of life on earth, including plants, animals, and microorganisms, as well as the ecosystems which they are part of
This study was carried out at Mount Kenya University Botanical Garden located along Garissa Road, about 7 km from Thika town, Kiambu county, Kenya
The vegetation of the study area was threatened with environmental degradation from removal of woodland resources, such as firewood, medicinal plants, and building material, as well as agricultural encroachment, damping, and overgrazing
Summary
Biodiversity refers to the variety of life on earth, including plants, animals, and microorganisms, as well as the ecosystems which they are part of. It includes the genetic differences within and between various species (Secretariat of the CBD, 2005). There are about 13 million species, but only about 1.75 million have been. Biodiversity provides about 40% of the global market goods and services (Lusweti, 2011). The Millennium Development Goals number seven and the convention of biodiversity emphasize on the need for environmental sustainability and conservation for meeting life demands on earth (Secretariat of the CBD, 2005)
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