Browsing by Author "Kimaro, Didas N."

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    Climate Change Mitigation and Adaptation in ECA/SADC/COMESA region: Opportunities and Challenges
    (Research gate, 2020) Kimaro, Didas N.; Gichu, Alfred N.; Mogaka, Hezron; Isabirye, Brian E.; Woldearegay, Kifle
    Africa is one of the continents highly vulnerable to climate change due to several reasons: high poverty level, high dependence on rain-fed agriculture, poor management of natural resources, capacity/technology limitations, weak infrastructure, and less efficient governance/institutional set-up. To address climate change, design of appropriate mitigation and adaptation strategy is necessary. This paper assesses the status of climate change mitigation (reducing emissions from deforestation and forest degradation (REDD)) that are in place by the different countries in the ECA/SADC/COMESA regions and the opportunities and challenges for climate mitigation. Results of this study show that although the different countries in the region have designed strategies and tried to implement climate mitigation, climate change remains one of the main problems; it causes a major threat to the region than to any other part of the world. There is, therefore, a need to undertake the following: design of more robust climate change mitigation strategy, capacity building, establishment of climate mitigation platforms, design of efficient climate financing mechanisms, support of research and innovations on climate change mitigation, streamline climate change mitigation in the academia in the region.
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    Factors influencing the distribution and abundance of small rodent pest species in agricultural landscapes in Eastern Uganda
    (Journal of Vertebrate Biology, 2020) Mayamba, Alex; Byamungu, Robert M.; Vanden Broecke, Bram; Leirs, Herwig; Hieronimo, Proches; Nakiyemba, Alice; Isabirye, Moses; Kifumba, David; Kimaro, Didas N.; Mdangi, Mshaka E.; Mulungu, Loth S.
    Small rodents are increasingly gaining importance as agricultural pests, with their distribution and abundance known to vary across landscapes. This study aimed at identifying ecological factors in the landscape that may influence small rodent distribution and abundance across agricultural landscapes in Uganda. This information may be used to inform the development of adaptive control measures for small rodent pests. Small rodent trapping surveys were conducted in three agro-ecosystem landscapes: Butaleja, Mayuge and Bulambuli districts in Eastern Uganda between November 2017 to June 2018 covering both dry and wet seasons. Data on small rodent abundance and richness, vegetation characteristics, land use/cover characteristics, farm management practices and soil characteristics were collected from quadrats. Additionally, Geographic Information System and remote sensing were used to determine vegetation characteristics (Normalized Difference Vegetation Index – NDVI) and land use/cover from satellite images. Our results showed that crop field state (including hygiene, crop type and growth stage) is the most important variable with an overall relative importance of 34.4% prediction value for the abundance of Mastomys natalensis across the landscape studied. In terms of number of species encountered (species richness), results showed field crop status scoring highest with an overall relative importance of 39.8% at predicting small rodent species richness. Second in importance for overall rodent abundance was percentage composition soil silt particles with 15.6% and 18.1% for species richness and abundance respectively. Our findings have important implications for small rodent management, where land use characteristics, especially field crop state, is a critical factor as different conditions tend to affect rodent abundances differently. The study thus recommends that control efforts should be planned to consider field crop state; i.e. field hygiene where fields should be kept free of weeds to eliminate potential rodent breeding/habitation sites thus lowering rates of reproduction and population increase.
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    Species Composition and Community Structure of Small Pest Rodents (Muridae) in Cultivated and Fallow Fields in Maize‐ Growing Areas in Mayuge District, Eastern Uganda
    (Ecology and evolution,, 2019) Mayamba, Alex; Byamungu, Robert M.; Makundi, Rhodes H.; Kimaro, Didas N.; Isabirye, Moses; Massawe, Apia W.; Kifumba, David; Nakiyemba, Alice; Isabirye, Brian E.; Mulungu, Loth S.
    Pest rodents remain key biotic constraints to cereal crops production in the East African region where they occur, especially in seasons of outbreaks. Despite that, Uganda has scant information on rodents as crop pests to guide effective management strategies. A capture–mark–recapture (CMR) technique was employed to study the ecology of small rodents, specifically to establish the species composition and community structure in a maize-based agro ecosystem. Trapping of small rodents was conducted in permanent fallow land and cultivated fields, with each category replicated twice making four study grids. At each field, a 60 × 60 m grid was measured and marked with permanent trapping points spaced at 10 × 10 m, making a total of 49 trapping points/grids. Trapping was conducted monthly at 4-week interval for three consecutive days for two and half years using Sherman live traps. Eleven identified small rodent species and one insectivorous small mammal were recorded with Mastomys natalensis being the most dominant species (over 60.7%). Other species were Mus triton (16.1%), Aethomys hendei (6.7%), Lemniscomys zebra (5.2%), Lophuromys sikapusi (4.8%), Arvicanthis niloticus (0.9%), Gerbilliscus kempi (0.1%), Graphiurus murinus (0.1%), Steatomys parvus (0.1%), Dasymys incomtus (0.1%), and Grammomys dolichurus (0.1%). Spatially, species richness differed significantly (p = 0.0001) between the studied field habitats with significantly higher richness in fallow land compared with cultivated fields. Temporally, total species richness and abundance showed a significant interaction effect over the months, years, and fields of trapping with significantly (p = 0.001) higher abundances during months of wet seasons and in the first and third year of trapping. In terms of community structure, higher species diversity associated more with fallow field habitats but also with certain rare species found only in cultivated fields. Synthesis and applications. Based on these findings, management strategies can be designed to target the key pest species and the most vulnerable habitats thus reducing the impact they can inflict on field crops.