Abstract
Piospheres in semi-arid areas are gradients of animal impacts around watering holes. Few studies have examined the impact dynamics of herbaceous and woody species composition and abundance in relation to piospheres in East Africa. In this study, we identified the trend in piosphere development, assessed piosphere use and change indicators, and identified herbaceous and woody plant structure in relation to piospheres in the Karamoja sub-region, Uganda. Results revealed that piosphere development has been reactionary to drought and/or insecurity events and increased rapidly in the last decade. A diversity of herbaceous and woody plants exists around the piospheres. Use and change indicators revealed high trampling and grazing intensity, high presence of erosion signs and low litter cover. Gradient distance had both positive and negative effects on trampling intensity, percent exposure and plant height, respectively. A negative and positive effect of gradient distance was also observed on different herbaceous and woody forage species leading to the identification of both increaser and decreaser species around the piospheres. Therefore, as concentrated use of the piospheres continues unabated, an outward ripple effect leading to loss and/or increase of undesirable herbaceous and woody species will be felt. This will have an impact on the composition and abundance dynamics of desirable forage species in the sub-region.
Highlights
East Africa’s pastoralists occupying semi-arid lands rely on the exploitation of native forage resources to sustain their livestock production
Trends in piosphere development and spatial distribution Spatially, seven concentration zones of water sources were mapped in Karamoja sub-region (Fig. 2) with a total of 1,271 water sources with 58 % of these being boreholes
Trends in piosphere development and spatial distribution Waterhole development in Karamoja took three phases (1924 to 1979, 1980 to 1999, 2000 to 2012) with most of the current water sources constructed in the third phase
Summary
East Africa’s pastoralists occupying semi-arid lands rely on the exploitation of native forage resources to sustain their livestock production. In these areas, water and forage are important resources (Awa et al 2002). In arid and semi-arid ecosystems, where standing surface water is scarce, the introduction of artificial watering sources has significant ecological effects (Brooks et al 2006). This is because these artificial water sources introduce focused grazing and activity patterns around them (Andrew 1988). It has a radiating zone of attenuating animal impact away from a concentrator such
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