Abundance of Lantana Camara in West Bugwe Central Forest Reserve, Busia District

Abstract

This research study was carried out in West Bugwe Central Forest Reserve which is found in Eastern Uganda and this reserve is 21 km from Busia town. This study aimed to assess the abundance of Lantana camara within West Bugwe Central Forest Reserve and using random sampling method, 64 plots each measuring 10 ×10 meters were established and sampled to conduct the study. The primary objective of this research was to quantify the presence of Lantana camara and evaluate it's potential impacts on the reserve ecosystems. My findings revealed a significant difference in the abundance of L. camara in the two sampled regions of the forest reserve but with the abundance of L. camara being higher in the disturbed forest region. Furthermore, there was a statistically significant association between the percentage cover of L. camara found in the disturbed forest region and that found in the undisturbed forest region of the reserve. The higher abundance in the disturbed forest region could have been probably because of the high light penetrations that spiked Lantana camara spread in the disturbed sections. Hence, urgent need to create and implement a management plan to curb further spread in future. Further studies on how Lantana camara biomass can be anaerobically digested to produce biogas used for cooking and electricity generation will be of paramount importance. Also, oil extraction from Lantana camara seeds to produce biodiesel which is eco-friendly can be adopted. Restoration projects using indigenous trees is needed as I thoroughly observed that Lantana camara was absent under the indigenous tree canopies hence a control means.