A comparison of vegetation cover between maasai mara university and ewaso ngiro river

Abstract

The research aims to look into the cover of those indigenous trees and shrubs in-between the river and the campus as well as their change and replacement by invasive species. The research will highly focus on the indigenous shrubs and trees mainly because they face the threat of extinction majorly because: They occur naturally, freely and are present almost everywhere, also they are the main source of fuel as the subject of study produces High quality firewood and charcoal. Furthermore they have a very high maturity and within one season they are ready for harvesting. The increased population in the Maasai Mara university main campus has created a need for expansion of accommodation facilities. This has necessitated the need for more housing facilities. Also there is a triggered demand for greenhouse farming as well as wheat farming hence a lot of land has been cleared to pave way for those agricultural developments. Indigenous species are known to play fundamental roles in ecosystem especially the ones located along the river line. Some of the reasons attributed to their significant roles are reasons such as; they are able to establish so quickly after an ecosystem damage such as deforestation and fire damages. They are also vital in alteration of the range where they grow so rapidly to inhibit growth of grasses and subsequent displacement of grazers.