<i>Prosopis juliflora</i> management and grassland restoration in Baringo County, Kenya: Opportunities for soil carbon sequestration and local livelihoods

Eschen, René; Bekele, Ketema; Mbaabu, Purity Rima; Kilawe, Charles Joseph; Eckert, Sandra

doi:10.1111/1365-2664.13854

Cited by 13 publications

(7 citation statements)

References 37 publications

(69 reference statements)

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“…Through our LULC specific SOC measurements, we found that Prosopis removal and restoration of grasslands is more effective for climate change mitigation compared to Prosopis -cultivation‖ while also avoiding trade-offs with other ecosystem services (Mbaabu et al, 2020). Moreover, a recent study by Eschen et al(Eschen et al, 2021) has revealed that clearing Prosopis and restoring the land to native grassland has additional significant economic benefits to the rural Baringo communities, hence providing more sustainable livelihoods.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 77%

“…891 ha was cleared off Prosopis and restored to farmland over the same period (Mbaabu et al, 2019). Using the estimated costs of manual Prosopis removal from farmlands ( USD 265.61 per ha per annum) (Eschen et al, 2021), this translates to a clearing cost of USD 236,658.51. The net loss of farmland to Prosopis as at 2016 was about 2057 ha, which would require a budget of approx.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Prosopis invasion into grasslands led to loss of 30,067 tonnes of SOC, while restoring the currently Prosopis invaded and degraded grassland have the potential to sequester 257,835 tonnes of SOC over the next 30 years (Table 1). Although Prosopis invasion into previously degraded land also increases SOC, invasion of pristine or restored grasslands leads to loss of SOC (Eschen et al, 2021;Mbaabu et al, 2020). Further, invasion comes at a high cost on the ecosystem and livelihoods because the restoration of grassland-characteristic biodiversity and ecosystem services may be blocked.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Invasion of Savannas by Prosopis Trees in Eastern Africa: Exploring Their Impacts on Lulc Dynamics, Livelihoods and Implications on Soil Organic Carbon Stocks

Mbaabu

Schaffner

Eckert

2021

Int. Arch. Photogramm. Remote Sens. Spatial Inf. Sci.

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Abstract. Trees of the genus Prosopis from the Americas, were introduced in Eastern Africa in the 1970s to mitigate land degradation and its associated disservices. However, over time these trees have spread and invaded valuable grasslands and croplands and consequently led to significant land use and land cover (LULC) changes and livelihood stress. Early detection of invasive species is essential for formulating effective management strategies to prevent further spread into non-invaded lands and for monitoring the outcome of management interventions. We mapped the spatio-temporal evolution and dynamics of Prosopis invasion, its impacts on LULC and livelihoods in Baringo, Kenya by applying a Random Forest classifier on Landsat satellite data over seven-year intervals from 1988 – 2016. We then linked the LULC changes to soil organic carbon (SOC) stocks that we had measured for the different LULCs and also to socio-economic data on annual costs of clearing Prosopis from farmlands. By 2016, Prosopis had invaded 18,792 ha of land, spreading at a rate of 640 ha/yr, while all other land uses and land cover declined, each by over 40% of its original coverage in 1988. Through LULC specific SOC measurements, and relating the changes to annual costs of clearing Prosopis, we found that Prosopis removal and restoration to grassland is more effective for climate change mitigation compared to Prosopis “cultivation” while also avoiding trade-offs with other ecosystem services and livelihoods. Therefore, future management of this species in Kenya and Eastern Africa should be based on a more collaborative and integrated approach.

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Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 77%

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Invasion of Savannas by Prosopis Trees in Eastern Africa: Exploring Their Impacts on Lulc Dynamics, Livelihoods and Implications on Soil Organic Carbon Stocks

Mbaabu

Schaffner

Eckert

2021

Int. Arch. Photogramm. Remote Sens. Spatial Inf. Sci.

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“…These interventions have provided fodder banks, feedlots, and grass seed for sale, generating incomes for households and communities [132]. However, high labor requirements for clearing and uprooting Prosopis stumps, the availability and cost of grass seeds, and a rapid regeneration of Prosopis from the soil seed bank were identified as key challenges in these restored pasture systems [87,120].…”

Section: Specific Requirements For Land Restoration For Crop and Past...mentioning

confidence: 99%

Management Strategies of Prosopis juliflora in Eastern Africa: What Works Where?

Kamiri,

Choge,

Becker

2024

Diversity

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Prosopis juliflora is a shrub/tree originating from the Americas. Since its introduction for fuel wood afforestation into eastern Africa, it has been invading crop- and rangelands with negative effects on the environment and on livelihoods. Understanding the management strategies for Prosopis and matching them with ecological, social-cultural, and economic needs of the eastern African region is a pressing scientific issue. We analyzed management strategies of Prosopis, focusing on determinants and drivers of their choice of applied management strategies as well as their effectiveness. We identified 1917 scientific contributions published between 1970 and 2022. Following a multi-step screening, we reduced the references to 53 relevant (internationally) published papers with a focus on the management of Prosopis in the east African region. Analysis of the literature shows that factors driving invasion dynamics but also land users’ social-economic as well as cultural attributes determine the type of management strategy and shape local control actions. Main strategies comprise (1) physical containment of invasive spread, (2) chemical, mechanical and biological approaches to reduce stand densities, (3) complete eradication, (4) restoration of invaded land, and (5) economic use of Prosopis products. Adopted strategies are based on actual and perceived impacts of invasion, and the adoption and success of individual strategies is highly location specific.

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“…The species express high capability to establish, invade and outcompete native species outside its natural habitat [2]. Following its introduction from America in the 1800s, it has widely spread across arid and semi-arid regions of Africa, [1,3], reducing biodiversity and changing vegetation to unproductive thickets [4]. Prosopis juliflora also negatively affects human and animal health.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Effects of Restoration Techniques on Plant Diversity and Forage Biomass in Areas Invaded by Prosopis juliflora

Jumanne¹,

Moyo²,

Mbwambo³

2021

IJASRE

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Prosopis juliflora, an invasive plant worldwide causes major threats by destructing natural ecosystem and limits provisioning of ecosystem services in the invaded areas. Attempts to manage the species and restore invaded lands have landed countries to adopt and implement different restoration options. This study tested three restoration options namely Diveting, Mulching and Seeding and their combination to assess their effectiveness in enhancing plant diversity and forage biomass. The study cleared invaded lands in Kahe Ward, Northern Tanzania and laid two blocks, each designated to address livestock pasture and conservation challenges. Experimental blocks were laid in a complete randomized design in 10mx10m plots. Data on plant species and forage biomass were collected in each 10mx10m whereby plants were identified with the support of a botanist; their number recorded, and grass samples green and dry weight determined. The Shannon-Wiener Diversity Index was used to estimate diversity of plant species and the average values in each restoration treatment. One way ANOVA showed that, diversity of native plants was higher in control (Mean±SE =1.239±0.937) than diveting (Mean±SE =1.105±0.56) and diveting-mulching (Mean±SE =0.7703±0.55). Forage biomass was higher in control (Mean±SE =65.917±10.083) than in diveting (Mean±SE =52.425±11.15), divetingmulching (Mean±SE =42.067±8.751) and diveting-seeding-mulching (Mean±SE =57.625±10.02) implying that restoration interventions have no positive influence on forage biomass. It is recommended that, clearing the land and leave it without restoration is enough because the restoration options do not have positive influence on plant diversity and forage biomass.

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Prosopis juliflora management and grassland restoration in Baringo County, Kenya: Opportunities for soil carbon sequestration and local livelihoods

Abstract: This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial License, which permits use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited and is not used for commercial purposes.

Cited by 13 publications

References 37 publications

Invasion of Savannas by Prosopis Trees in Eastern Africa: Exploring Their Impacts on Lulc Dynamics, Livelihoods and Implications on Soil Organic Carbon Stocks

Invasion of Savannas by Prosopis Trees in Eastern Africa: Exploring Their Impacts on Lulc Dynamics, Livelihoods and Implications on Soil Organic Carbon Stocks

Management Strategies of Prosopis juliflora in Eastern Africa: What Works Where?

Effects of Restoration Techniques on Plant Diversity and Forage Biomass in Areas Invaded by Prosopis juliflora

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