Traditional plant knowledge and uses of medicinal wild plants were investigated among the Marakwet community in Kenya. Data were collected through interviews with seven traditional healers and 157 questionnaires for local community members. Traditional names of the plants by traditional healers and local community members were prepared as a checklist. Loss of traditional medicinal names of plants was ascertained with up to 60% overlapping in their nomenclature. The traditional medicinal plants treated 41 diseases within the region, of which local community members understood common ones for treating stomachache (94.8%), diarrhea (70.7%), chest problems (65.5%), and typhoid (63.8%). It was also clear that there was low knowledge index of medicinal plants by the local community members (23.6%) based on knowledge of traditional healers. Clearly, medicinal plants for treatment of malaria, diabetes, tetanus, and pneumonia were recognized by over 40% of the local community members, while plants treating arteriosclerosis, meningitis, arthritis, trachoma, smallpox, rheumatic fever, and gout were known by less than 10% of the respondents. Among plants, the use of roots for treatment was known by over 67% of the local community members compared to fruits, bark, bulb, and flowers (<10%). This low traditional medicinal knowledge in a community relies on the traditional medicinal plants, calling for an urgent need to document the information and perpetuate this knowledge from one generation to another. This can be achieved by collecting the information and developing a database of medicinal plants for future research and potential development of new drugs.

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Summary Approximately 850 bp of the mitochondrial control region was used to assess the genetic diversity, population structure and demographic expansion of the endangered cyprinid Barbus altianalis, a species known to be potamodramous in the Lake Victoria drainage system. The 196 samples taken from the four main rivers draining the Lake Victoria catchment (Nzoia, Yala, Nyando and Sondu–Miriu) yielded 49 mitochondrial DNA haplotypes; 83.7% thereof were private haplotypes restricted to particular rivers. The overall mean haplotype diversity was high (0.93663 ± 0.008) and ranged between 0.566 (Sondu – Miriu) and 0.944 (Nzoia). The overall mean nucleotide diversity was low (0.01322 ± 0.00141), ranging from 0.0342 (Sondu – Miriu) to 0.0267 (Nzoia). Population differentiation tests revealed strong and highly significant (P ≤ 0.001) segregation of populations in the four river basins. FST values among the four river‐based populations ranged from 0.05202 to 0.44352. The samples formed two main haplotype networks based on a 95% parsimony criterion, each exhibiting a strong signature of past population expansion. The smaller network was restricted to the River Nzoia, whereas the larger network contained representatives from all four rivers; within this the central haplotypes were found in more than one river, whereas the peripheral haplotypes tended to be river‐specific. The degree of population differentiation and the number of river‐specific haplotypes are too high to be explained by recent anthropogenic impacts alone and suggest that the species has probably existed in the Lake Victoria catchment as two populations: the now ‘extinct’ migratory population and the extant river restricted non‐migratory populations.

Background:Sustainable utilization and conservation of indigenous plants requires information on the Indigenous Ecological Knowledge (IEK). This study assessed IEK on plant species identification, use and management of indigenous non-medicinal plants among the Marakwet Community in Embobut Basin in Kenya, which has a wealth of such knowledge.Methods: Plant inventories for this study were done through interviews with seven elders from the Marakwet Community who are considered to have immense IEK. The same knowledge was also evaluated among 116 local community members using checklist-based questionnaires.Results: There were 48 indigenous plant species inventoried by elders, where 4 plants (8.3%) had up to 3 indigenous names for the same plant while nine plant species (18.75%) had two names for the same plant among elders. The number of plant species that had a single and consensus name among the elders were 66.67%%. The average identification index of the species among the local was only 47.7%. Up to 58.3% of the local community members identified at least over 50% of the plant species, while 41.7% were able to identify below 50%.Conclusions: This study demonstrates loss of IEK in the Marakwets Community of Kenya. The results of the study could be used to develop culture specific sustainable utilization and conservation strategies to preserve indigenous plants of cultural value to the rural communities. This may form the first strategy in co-management of plant resources for sustainable ethnobotanical and environmental management.

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Spatial and temporal zooplankton variations were studied for 1 year in tropical alkaline-saline Lake Nakuru to determine how they partition in the habitat, relative to environmental variables. Monthly samples were collected at 10 sampling sites, with subsurface tows, using 33.5-lm mesh plankton nets. Physicochemical parameters displayed clear seasonal variations associated with precipitation patterns. Nine species, belonging to two main zooplankton taxonomic groups (ciliates; rotifers), were identified in the samples. Brachionus dimidiatus dominated the samples, accounting for 80% of the total zooplankton abundance. Kruskall-Wallis tests indicated significant (P < 0.05) temporal and spatial variations among all taxonomic groups. Different zooplankton species displayed a clear succession throughout the year. The total abundance of the rotifers and ciliates peaked at sampling sites near inlets during the long rainy seasons, while those in the inshore sites displayed variable succession patterns. Spatiotemporal structure of the zooplankton assemblages, and its correlation with environmental variables, indicated each species displayed distinct niche-based partitioning. The ciliates niche was associated with increasing soluble reactive phosphorus, total phosphorus and nitrite-nitrogen (NO 2 -N) concentrations. Niche partitioning in rotifers was associated with nitrate-nitrogen (NO 3 -N), conductivity and pH. These results indicate physical niche separation, even in a small, relatively homogenous lake among species of rotifers and ciliates, providing information from which future changes in their abundance and spatial distributions can be predicted, given continuous water quality changes.

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Rotifers dominate zooplankton biomass of many aquatic environments. However, their link to food web biomass has rarely been elucidated in alkaline-saline lakes. Variations in C content, C:N ratio and stable isotope composition (d 13 C, d 15 N) of dominant rotifer species were studied from January to December 2008 in alkaline-saline Lake Nakuru to provide insights into their bioenergetics. We established that Brachionus dimidiatus dominated in terms of abundance (80,000-100,000 9 10 3 ind m -3 ) and C-biomass. Also B. dimidiatus constituted about 60-75% of the rotifer biomass in the samples. All the rotifer species exhibited significant (P \ 0.05) seasonal differences in biomass, C and C:N ratios. Rotifers had lower mean d 13 C than course particulate organic matter, fine particulate organic matter and fish, but higher than mean d 13 C in the dominant phytoplankton species. In all species, d 13 C and d 15 N increased markedly during the rainy season reflecting the feeding onset on allochthonous food sources. The isotopic increase correlated with an increase in their C:N. Our results demonstrate that rotifers respond quickly to any increase in primary production and can cope with changes in its nature and timing.