Kanisios Mukwashi - Academia.edu (original) (raw)

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Papers by Kanisios Mukwashi

The extent of elephant damage on shrub and mature Baikiaea plurijuga was investigated around arti... more The extent of elephant damage on shrub and mature Baikiaea plurijuga was investigated around artificial and natural watering points in the Main Camp area of Hwange National Park. Damage was scored on a percentage basis for B. plurijuga and other associate species. Level of damage was determined by height of plant and nature of damage. Structural changes to B. plurijuga were also investigated between artificial and natural watering points at varying elephant occupancy gradients from a watering point. Elephant damage on B. plurijuga recruits (1-3m) around artificial watering point was 26.5%, 10% and 9.75% in high, moderate and low zones of elephant occupancy respectively. Elephant damage to mature B. plurijuga (>3m) around artificial watering points amounted to 18%, 14% and 8% in high, moderate and low zones of elephant occupancy. Elephant damage to overall woody vegetation in B. plurijuga dominated woodlands around artificial watering points was 23%, 15% and 11% in high, moderate ...

The objectives of this study were to investigate bird richness and habitat conditions in the tour... more The objectives of this study were to investigate bird richness and habitat conditions in the tourist areas of Chizarira National Park (CNP), Zimbabwe. CNP, an Important Bird Area (IBA) contains globally threatened and biome-restricted birds species. Road surveys through various habitats showed that species richness (S) in the study area was 88 bird species. Of the thirteen biome-restricted birds that are found in the area, three were observed during the survey. These were Racket-tailed Roller (Coracias spatulata), White-bellied Sunbird (Nectarinia talatalas) and Meves’s Starling (Lamprotornis mevesii). Taita Falcon (Falco fasciimucha) habitats could not be surveyed due to weather conditions. Habitat conditions in the tourist areas were assessed using the Global Monitoring Framework method. The overall state of the bird habitats was “near favorable”. Park managers should consider bird species richness and habitat conditions when planning to improve the health of tourist areas in CNP and to boost avi-tourism.

The book describes the influence of the African elephant (Loxodonta Africana Blumenbach) on Baiki... more The book describes the influence of the African elephant (Loxodonta Africana Blumenbach) on Baikiaea plurijuga dominated woody vegetation around natural and artificial watering points in the northern part of Hwange National Park (HNP), Zimbabwe. The interaction of plants and animals in savannah ecosystem can bring changes to the environment. The elephants in HNP interact with woody vegetation around natural and artificial watering points causing structural changes to the vegetation with distance from the water sources. The distribution of elephants in the dry season in HNP is mainly influenced by surface water availability. Natural watering points in the park contain water during the wet season but are usually dry during the dry season. Elephants therefore aggregate in huge numbers around pumped artificial watering points which contain water throughout the year. Artificial watering points are often sacrificed/damaged by elephants more than natural watering points especially within ≤ 1 km radius from the water points. The elephant induced vegetation damage with distance from watering points has implications on the management of game water supply and elephant population in HNP.

The extent of African elephant (Loxodonta africana) induced damage on shrub and mature Baikiaea p... more The extent of African elephant (Loxodonta africana) induced damage on shrub and mature Baikiaea plurijuga trees was investigated around artificial and natural watering points in northern Hwange National Park, Zimbabwe. Damage was assessed in three zones of elephant occupancy during the dry season i.e. high elephant occupancy zone (≤ 1 km from water points), moderate elephant occupancy zone (> 1-2 km from water points) and low elephant occupancy zone (> 2 km from water points). A total of 48 plots along baseline transects were sampled among four artificial watering points and four natural watering points at increasing distance from the watering points. Damage to recruits, mature B. plurijuga and overall woody vegetation decreased with distance from artificial watering points. In addition, damage to mature B. plurijuga and overall woody vegetation decreased with distance from natural watering points, whereas damage to recruits did not change with distance from water points. Our results show that artificial watering points are associated with higher damage to B. plurijuga recruits and overall woody vegetation within ≤ 1 km radius from water points compared to natural watering points. Other changes associated with increasing distance from artificial watering points were increase in canopy cover and decrease in woody species diversity. In the natural watering points, we recorded an increase in canopy cover, mean basal area of B. plurijuga shrubs and height B. plurijuga shrubs, and a decrease in species diversity with distance from watering points. Overall, woody species diversity was higher around natural watering points than around artificial watering points. Our findings suggest that browsing by large herbivores near watering points leads to the degradation of vegetation.