Department of Biological sciences

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Browsing Department of Biological sciences by Subject "Anthropogenic activities"

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    Bacterial diversity in relation to anthropogenic activities: a case study of Kibale national park wetlands, Uganda
    (Kyambogo University (Unpublished work), 2024-11) Munguleni, Vincent
    Bacterial diversity refers to the vast variety of bacteria in an ecosystem which function in maintaining wetland ecosystem health through nutrient recycling for the trophic status and building symbiotic relationships with other organisms. This system is being threatened in many wetlands of Uganda as a result of an increase in anthropogenic activities such as agriculture and urbanization. The study aimed to examine bacterial diversity in relation to the anthropogenic activities in Kibale National Park (KNP) wetlands. A cross-sectional design was used in data collection. Land Use and Land Cover (LULC) changes were determined in ArcMap 10.8 through unsupervised classification of high-resolution images of twenty years for 2003, 2013 and 2023. The level of wetland degradation was determined using the Anthropogenic Activity Index (AAI) score. Temperature, dissolved oxygen, electrical conductivity and pH were measured with an electrical meter. Meanwhile, composition of bacteria from 50 water samples was determined using Environmental Deoxyribonucleic Acid (eDNA) technologies and metabarcoding. The forest cover of KNP reduced from 78% to 42% in the 20 years while farmland, grassland and built-up all significantly increased. Generally, there was a significant difference in physicochemical properties and AAI between inforest and outforest wetlands of similar types. Outforest wetland were more degraded then inforest wetlands. The dominant bacterial phyla in all wetlands were Proteobacteria and Actinobacteriota where the former dominated inforest wetlands and the later dominated outforest wetlands. Bacterial diversity significantly varied between inforest and outforest wetlands of the same type except for swamps where they were similar. As a result of differences in environmental conditions, bacteria composition was richer in intact wetlands than in degraded wetlands of similar types. Conditions in degraded wetlands abundantly harboured harmful species such as Arcobacter cryaerophilus and those known to thrive in polluted waters like Thiothrix nivea. Reduction in forest cover led to increased anthropogenic activities around the wetlands which altered their physicochemical properties that then negatively influenced their bacterial diversity. The wetlands of KNP should therefore be restored and protected through science backed interventions and policies for improved ecosystem health. This would benefit both the community by providing clean-safe water and improved sanitation as well as saving the biodiversity in these wetlands from damage.
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    Effects of anthropogenic activities on small-scale fishery of Albert Nile, pakwach district
    (Kyambogo University [unpublished work], 2023-10) Kwiyocwiny, Emmanuel
    Worldwide, fisheries have declined, Albert Nile total fish catch declined drastically from 5200-2790 (46%) between 2012-2021. Increasing population leads to overfishing and unsustainable land use. Unsustainable land use results into unfavorable climate. Crop failure due to unfavorable climate drive people to over fishing. Unsustainable land use equally negatively effects water quality required for fishery productivity. The study assessed; socio-economic status, land use, land cover change in the catchment, water quality and fishing pressure in small-scale fisheries of Albert Nile. A cross sectional survey design was used to assess socio-economic activities and fishing pressure. Study area was clustered to guarantee homogeneity. A total of 10 Landing sites (20%) were obtained by simple random sampling from each cluster. Disproportionate allocation was used to obtain 223 boats for sampling. 354 fishers responded to socio-economic survey questionnaires and interviews. Catch assessment survey was used to generate data on fishing pressure. Fishing boats systematically sampled, Geographical Information System techniques and tools such as Arc GIS was used to capture and analyse data on land use, land cover change. Documentary review was used to assess water quality. Findings indicated fishing as the most dominant socioeconomic activity. Many youths are dropping out of school to engage in fishing such that 60% of fishers are youth full-primary drop-out. House hold size averaged 10 person/household with 60% of fishers un able to afford 3 meals daily. The study equally revealed that wetland and wood land decreased by 37.7% and 23.5% respectively from 1995-2020. The decline in wetland and wood land has been attributed to increasing demand for agricultural land, over grassing and increased demand for charcoal and wood fuel. According to the findings, Albert Nile water was in a good state with water quality index ranging from (86.5-78.0), however, the concentration of Phosphorus (0.144±0.091mg/l) and total Nitrogen (2.26±0.44mg/l) reflected hypereutrophic status in 2020. The general increase in values for physical parameters and nutrient species over the study period is a sign of deteriorating water quality likely to hamper stock replenishment in the long run. The fishery is overexploited with 80% of fishers engaged in illegal practices characterized by intensified fishing averaging 5 days weekly and 6 hours daily. Meanwhile, Catch Per Unit Effort was as low as 7.0±4.1 kg/boat/day. Fish diversity index was high (H’= 2.31±0.09, E= 0.83±0.03 and D=0.13±0.02), though 80% of the species were categorized as pelagic or immature hence of low economic value. Hydrocinus forskali and Haplochromines species were very rare in the catch or not observed in the catch respectively. It was concluded that limited livelihood options will continue to push fishers into over fishing. unsustainable land use, land cover change will continue to drive people to mount more pressure on the fishery. The changing water quality parameters points to deteriorating water quality required for fishery productivity. Fishing pressure resulting from increased input is overwhelming with potential to disrupt stock replenishment. It was recommended that; socio-economic status of fishers be regularly analysed and used as input for participatory management; land use that is unsustainable be halted; all poverty alleviating programmes to target the fishers so as to reduce pressure on the fishery.