Browsing by Author "Barasa, B."

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    The Effect of Land Use on Carbon Stocks and Implications for Climate Variability on the Slopes of Mount Elgon, Eastern Uganda
    (International Journal of Regional Development, 2017) Mugagga, F.; Nagasha, B.; Barasa, B.; Buyinza, M.
    We investigated the impact of land use change on carbon stocks and its implications to climate variability in Mountain environments. Remotely sensed biophysical data was used to determine the extent of land use change over the last two decades. Land uses were stratified thus; forest under restoration, woodlots/plantations, agricultural land, regenerating forest and intact forest. Carbon in above and below ground biomass was measured using the allometric equations, whilst soil samples were analyzed for total carbon by the dry combustion method. The differences in carbon stocks in various land uses were analyzed using Analysis of variance (ANOVA). Top soil layers (0-10cm) were found to store more carbon than the deeper ones. Furthermore, intact forest stored more soil organic carbon (> 45t/ha) compared to other land uses with the least in land under agriculture (about 1.5 t/ha). The decimation of land uses with high carbon stocks was noted to reduce the potential of Mt. Elgon as a carbon sink. This therefore calls for the scaling out and up of forest restoration programmes in and around mountain environments, whose success will depend on the active participation of all stakeholders including, Uganda Wildlife Authority (UWA), local communities, politicians and leaders.
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    Magnitude and transition potential of land-use/ cover changes in the trans-boundary river Sio catchment using remote sensing and GIS
    (Annals of GIS, 2011) Barasa, B.; Majaliwa, J.G.M.; Lwasa, S.; Obando, J.; Bamutaze, Y.
    The multiplicity of land-use/cover changes in reducing the areas covered by vegetation is of growing concern in Uganda today. Consequently, the study intended to determine the magnitude and transition potential of land-use/cover changes in a trans-boundary river Sio catchment. The magnitude of land-use/cover changes was determined by an application of unsupervised image classification on the ortho-rectified Landsat TM/ETM images of 1986 and 2000 using ILWIS 3.3 software; whereas an ArcGIS 9.2-based Land Change Modeler was used for both change analysis and transition potential modeling. The results showed that in the period of 1986 to 2000, wetlands and bushlands largely reduced by 21% and 5%, respectively, whereas small-scale farming and grasslands increased by 14% and 12%, respectively. The multilayer perceptron attained an accuracy of 97.03%, which is a higher percentage for the possible occurrences of land-use/cover changes in Sio catchment. The major drivers of land-use/cover changes are land ownership and household size. The study therefore recommends that the awareness of land-use/cover changes is extremely important for the Sio catchment’s planning and management of the natural resources.
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    Projected water resource dynamics in the sub-humid Upper Nile Water Management Zone of Uganda, East Africa
    (African Journal of Rural Development, 2018) Egeru, A.; Barasa, B.; Gabiri, G.; Openjuru, G.L.
    Projected scenarios in land, population, resource use, land use/cover, climate and urbanization over the Nile Basin reveal an acceleration and dynamical transitions in nearto- medium term. These changes have a bearing on water resource dynamics including the acceleration of the long-held yet hitherto managed conflicts over the Nile waters. This paper presents a projection of water resource dynamics in the River Nile using the Upper Nile Water Management Zone (UNWMZ) of Uganda as a reference site. Results showed variability in sub-catchment discharge into the Upper Water Management Zone. By 2040, the catchment’s water resources base will decrease by 12.6% whilst gross and net demand will increase. The projected decrease in the water discharge in the catchment can be attributed to the anticipated increase in temperatures, a decrease in rainfall and expected increase in human population in the sub-region. It is recommended that routine monitoring of catchment discharge is enhanced and intensified. Further, exploration into the technical and scientific mechanisms that will facilitate effective adaptation to increased water demand in the catchment should be undertaken in response to the projected increase in gross and net water demand in the catchment.