Year: 2006
Type: dissertation
Abstract: I hereby declare that I am the sole author of this thesis. This is a true copy of the thesis, including any required final revisions, as accepted by my examiners. I understand that my thesis may be made electronically available to the public. ii The wetlands of the semi-arid savanna ecosystem of Amboseli are the critical dry-season range for a diverse wildlife population, as well as for livestock and humans. Changes in the migratory patterns and increases in the population of the elephants in the ecosystem, as well as a shift in the lifestyle of the growing human population from predominantly nomadic pastoralist society to a sedentary agrarian community, has had far-reaching effects on the ecosystem and the wetlands. In this thesis, the current status of the wetlands and the changes in vegetation over the last four decades were examined using satellite imagery and long-term census data. Studies were also conducted to determine the impact of grazing by elephants and other large mammals on wetland vegetation, and the flooding patterns and extents of some of the wetlands were examined. Long-term aerial count data indicated that the wetlands that are currently protected by the
Source: UWSpace (University of Waterloo)
Author: Sunita Sarkar
Language: English
Subfield: Ecology
Field: Environmental Science
Domain: Physical Sciences
SDGs: Life on land, Climate action
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W2480100105