6 research outputs found
Potential Impacts of Climate Change on Wildlife Protected Areas; A Case Study of Maasai Mara National Game Reserve, Kenya
No full textUnpredictable temperature and precipitation patterns brought on by climate change are becoming more widely acknowledged as one of the major variables influencing wildlife populations in protected areas like parks and reserves. The wildlife populations that sustain the thriving tourism business may decline as a result of these temperature and rainfall variations brought on by extreme flooding and drought occurrences. Protected areas form the bedrock of the tourism industry in Kenya, keeping in mind the tourism industry is characterized as heavily ‘nature-based in Kenya’. Based on chaos-complexity theory, this study investigated the effects of rainfall and temperature variations on wildlife population dynamics in Maasai Mara National Game Reserve (MMNGR). MMNGR is a top premier wildlife park in Kenya, recording major visits. The study adopted an explanatory research design. Rainfall and temperature data was obtained from 15 rain gauges located in MMNGR operated by World Wide Fund (WWF) and Friends for Conservation. Wildlife population data was collected from the Directorate of Resource Surveys and Remote Sensing (DRSRS). Changes in vegetation cover were determined from satellite imagery using the normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) method. This method was used to measure changes in vegetation cover that are likely to have been influenced by rainfall and temperature trends. The NDVI images from the years 1975 to 2018 were processed to obtain specific NDVI values per land cover category. NDVI values detected any changes in vegetation cover. The mean monthly rainfall and air temperature in Maasai National Game Reserve for the last 54 years were analyzed. Time series was applied to analyze rainfall and temperature data. Findings indicate that rainfall and temperature variations positively contribute to influencing the decline in wildlife populations, as there could be other factors too. The study findings suggest that high amounts of vegetation cover, as indicated by NDVI maps, prompt high survival rates for wildlife and increased populations and vice versa. This study therefore proposes that extremely high and low rainfall totals and temperature trends are likely to increase wildlife mortality, hence reducing wildlife survival rates and consequently population. The implications will have a direct influence on the tourism industry as visitors are highly likely to shift their visits to other tourism destinations with abundant wildlife populations
Potential Use and Challenges of Constructed Wetlands for Wastewater Treatment and Conservation in Game Lodges and Resorts in Kenya
No full textConstructed wetlands are cost-effective wastewater treatment alternatives that receive worldwide acceptance. For the Kenyan hospitality industry, in particular, constructed wetlands (CWs) provide opportunities for wastewater reuse and recovery of resources, as well as improvements in local environmental conditions. Hospitality establishments produce large volumes of wastewater that is sometimes discharged to the environment without being treated. This is not only harmful to communities living downstream of these rivers but also to the flora and fauna which are the main attraction for most who visit these lodges. This study used qualitative methods to collect and analyze published official government documents, peer-reviewed research articles, and professional reports including leading international and Kenyan case studies to explore how constructed wetlands can be effectively used in game lodges and resorts situated in arid and remote areas of Kenya. The study investigated wastewater management systems adopted by remote game lodges and resorts in Kenya and the potential role, as well as the challenges to adopting constructed wetland (CW) technology. The results indicated that hotels, game lodges, and resorts both internationally and locally are adopting different types of CWs including surface and subsurface flow as alternative nature-oriented wastewater management systems. The study identified opportunities in the use of CWs as a wastewater management and conservation strategy. The results suggest that there are potential challenges which include inadequate expertise and technical support; low volume of discharge during off-seasons; limited space or land; and the attitude of hospitality managers towards constructed wetlands. Based on these preliminary findings, one may conclude that game lodges, ecolodges, and resorts in remote areas are prime candidates for constructed wetland establishment. The study makes specific recommendations with implications for policy and practice to promote sustainable hospitality operations and environmental conservation. It is suggested that future studies test the efficacy and efficiency of CW technology as wastewater management systems in the Kenyan wilderness areas including national parks, game reserves, and forests
Visibility and Citation Impact
No full textThe number of publications is the first criteria for assessing a researcher output. However, the main measurement for author productivity is the number of citations, and citations are typically related to the paper's visibility. In this paper, the relationship between article visibility and the number of citations is investigated. A case study of two researchers who are using publication marketing tools confirmed that the article visibility will greatly improve the citation impact. Some strategies to make the publications available to a larger audience have been presented at the end of this paper
Vitalistic information systems in the South African public health system : a transactional analysis perspective
No full textIncludes bibliographical references
Equality of Google Scholar with Web of Science Citations: Case of Malaysian Engineering Highly Cited Papers
No full textThis study uses citation analysis from two citation tracking databases, Google Scholar (GS) and ISI Web of Science, in order to test the correlation between them and examine the effect of the number of paper versions on citations. The data were retrieved from the Essential Science Indicators and Google Scholar for 101 highly cited papers from Malaysia in the field of engineering. An equation for estimating the citation in ISI based on Google scholar is offered. The results show a significant and positive relationship between both citation in Google Scholar and ISI Web of Science with the number of versions. This relationship is higher between versions and ISI citations (r = 0.395, p<0.01) than between versions and Google Scholar citations (r = 0.315, p<0.01). Free access to data provided by Google Scholar and the correlation to get ISI citation which is costly, allow more transparency in tenure reviews, funding agency and other science policy, to count citations and analyze scholars’ performance more precisely.Ale Ebrahim, N., Salehi, H., Embi, M. A., Danaee, M., Mohammadjafari, M., Zavvari, A., . . . Shahbazi-Moghadam, M. (2014). Equality of Google Scholar with Web of Science Citations: Case of Malaysian Engineering Highly Cited Papers. Modern Applied Science, 8(5), 63-69. doi: 10.5539/mas.v8n5p6
Characterization of blast resistance in a diverse rice panel from sub-Saharan Africa
No full textThere is a recent unparalleled increase in demand for rice in sub-Saharan Africa, yet its production is affected by blast disease. Characterization of blast resistance in adapted African rice cultivars can provide important information to guide growers and rice breeders. We used molecular markers for known blast resistance genes ( Pi genes; n = 21) to group African rice genotypes ( n = 240) into similarity clusters. We then used greenhouse-based assays to challenge representative rice genotypes ( n = 56) with African isolates ( n = 8) of Magnaporthe oryzae which varied in virulence and genetic lineage. The markers grouped rice cultivars into five blast resistance clusters (BRC) which differed in foliar disease severity. Using stepwise regression, we found that the Pi genes associated with reduced blast severity were Pi50 and Pi65, whereas Pik-p, Piz-t, and Pik were associated with increased susceptibility. All rice genotypes in the most resistant cluster, BRC 4, possessed Pi50 and Pi65, the only genes that were significantly associated with reduced foliar blast severity. Cultivar IRAT109, which contains Piz-t, was resistant against seven African M. oryzae isolates, whereas ARICA 17 was susceptible to eight isolates. The popular Basmati 217 and Basmati 370 were among the most susceptible genotypes. These findings indicate that most tested genes were not effective against African blast pathogen collections. Pyramiding genes in the Pi2/9 multifamily blast resistance cluster on chromosome 6 and Pi65 on chromosome 11 could confer broad-spectrum resistance capabilities. To gain further insights into genomic regions associated with blast resistance, gene mapping could be conducted with resident blast pathogen collections.[Formula: see text] Copyright © 2023 The Author(s). This is an open access article distributed under the CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 International license
