Browsing by Author "Yacob, Lusamila"

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The ecological characterization of Kongwa weed (Astripomoea hyoscyamoides) in Kongwa district
(Rangeland Society of Tanzania (RST), 2023) Yacob, Lusamila; Selemani, Ismail S.; Sangeda, Anthony Z.
Kongwa weed (Astripomoea hyoscyamoides) is a noxious weed that is known to reduce the productivity of both livestock and crops in the semi-arid areas of central Tanzania. Despite the known negative effects of the weed, its ecological characteristics is less documented. The current study characterized the ecological features of the weed in relation to land use and soil properties. The study used range inventory approach to assess influence of land use types and soil textural classes on abundance and growth of kongwa weed. Results revealed that Kongwa weed was significantly higher in grazing land compared to other land uses which was attributed to the effect of heavy grazing. The low species diversity and evenness in the grazing land was also associated to the dominance of Kongwa weed. On the other hand, low abundance of weed in bush land was attributed to limited light intensity as result of increased woody canopy. It was found that Kongwa weed preferred acidic soils (with the pH of 5.35 recorded from grazing land) that are compacted (with bulk density of 1.57g/100m3) and composed of low organic matter/carbon (0.93% recorded from grazing land). Nevertheless, low growth rate of weed in clay soil could probably due the notable high bulky density that lower infiltration rate. The study recommended further research to investigate effect of grazing management and fertilization on growth and dominance of Kongwa weed under different soil types.