Mammals’ Population Abundance and Distribution Post Oil and Gas Exploration in Murchison Falls National Park, Uganda
Keywords:
Oil and Gas Exploration, Mammals, Population, Distribution, Uganda
Abstract
The international oil companies completed the exploration phase and are now headed to exploitation of the oil resources. Oil developments present challenges in wildlife conservation and management especially to territorial mammals. These challenges may include animal avoidance, animal displacement and increase in mortality rate due to road kills. This is due to oil pad construction, running machinery and increased human footprint in the animals’ habitats. We aimed to determine if the exploration phase which was completed five years ago had an effect on the population, abundance and distribution of different key mammal species such as Oribi, Uganda Kob, Cape Buffalo, Jackson's Hartebeest, African Elephant, Warthog, and Rothschild Giraffe. Indirect and direct mammal counts were conducted by walking a 2 km transect while recording physical mammals, footprints, fecal pallets, wallowing grounds, animal trails and kobleks. The study used four transects for each oil pad site and control area for the periods of wet and dry seasons. Data was log transformed and treated under t statistical tests to compare the mean population per distance in oil pads and control areas using SPSS version 20. The collected data per distance interval were treated under chi-square tests to determine the significance levels of mammal’s distribution. The results showed no significant difference between oil pads and control areas (t= 0.920, d. f = 27, p = 0.365). We also recorded a no significant difference in the mammal’s distribution (c2 = 7.81, d.f = 3, p > 0.05). We also recorded presence of mammals in the former oil pad habitats. The study observed exploration infrastructure such as placards, boreholes and access roads still exist in the former oil pad sites. Overall, we concluded that the animals have returned to the former oil pads in big numbers. However, the study could not justify the absence of giraffes in the study sites.
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Buckland, S. T., Anderson, D. R., Burnham, K. P., Laake, J. L., Borchers, D. L., and Thomas, L. (2004). Advanced distance sampling (Vol. 2). Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Copeland, H. E., Doherty, K. E., Naugle, D. E., Pocewicz, A., and Kiesecker, J. M. (2009). Mapping oil and gas development potential in the US Intermountain West and estimating impacts to species. PloS one, 4(10).
Dingle, H., and Drake, V. A. (2007). What is migration? Bioscience, 57(2), 113-121.
Dzialak, M. R., Webb, S. L., Harju, S. M., Winstead, J. B., Wondzell, J. J., Mudd, J. P., and Hayden-Wing, L. D. (2011). The spatial pattern of demographic performance as a component of sustainable landscape management and planning. Landscape Ecology, 26(6), 775-790.
Forman, R. T. T., D. Sperling, J. A. Bissonette, A.P. Clevenger, C. D. Cutshall, V. H. Dale, L. Fahrig, R. France, C. R. Goldman, K. Heanue, J. A. Jones, F. J. Swanson, T. Turrentine and
T.C. Winter. (2003). Road ecology: Science and Solutions. Island Press, Washington,
Frynas, J. G., and Paulo, M. (2007). A new scramble for African oil? Historical, political, and business perspectives. African affairs, 106(423), 229-251.
Fuda, R. K., Ryan, S. J., Cohen, J. B., Hartter, J., and Frair, J. L. (2018). Assessing the impacts of oil exploration and restoration on mammals in Murchison Falls Conservation Area, Uganda. African journal of ecology, 56(4), 804-817.
Happold, D. C. D., and Happold, D. C. D. (2013). Mammals of Africa. Volume III: Rodents, hares and rabbits.
Harju, S. M., Dzialak, M. R., Taylor, R. C., Hayden‐Wing, L. D., and Winstead, J. B. (2010). Thresholds and time lags in effects of energy development on greater sage‐grouse populations. The Journal of Wildlife Management, 74(3), 437-448.
Hartley, D., J. Koivula, M., R. Spence, J., Pelletier, R., and E. Ball, G. (2007). Effects of urbanization on ground beetle assemblages (Coleoptera, Carabidae) of grassland habitats in western Canada. Ecography, 30(5), 673-684.
Holodny, E. (2015). The 13 fastest-growing economies in the world. Business Insider UK.
Janneh, A., and Ping, J. (2012). Africa as a pole of global growth. Economic Commission for Africa and African Union Commission: Addis Ababa.
Johnson, L. (2007). Assessing the impacts of energy developments and developing appropriate mitigation in the Uganda portion of the Albertine Rift. Wildlife Conservation Society and Uganda Wildlife Authority, Kampala, Uganda.
Kark, S., Tulloch, A., Gordon, A., Mazor, T., Bunnefeld, N., and Levin, N. (2015). Cross-boundary collaboration: key to the conservation puzzle. Current Opinion in Environmental Sustainability, 12, 12-24.
Lamprey, R. (2000). Aerial Wildlife Surveys in Murchison Falls National Park and Queen Elizabeth National Park, 1999-2000. Report to Uganda Wildlife Authority. Protected Area Assessment Programme.
Leblond, M., Frair, J., Fortin, D., Dussault, C., Ouellet, J. P., and Courtois, R. (2011). Assessing the influence of resource covariates at multiple spatial scales: an application to forest-dwelling caribou faced with intensive human activity. Landscape Ecology, 26(10), 1433-1446.
Lendrum, P. E., Anderson Jr, C. R., Long, R. A., Kie, J. G., and Bowyer, R. T. (2012). Habitat selection by mule deer during migration: effects of landscape structure and natural‐gas development. Ecosphere, 3(9), 1-19.
Levy, J. K., and Gopalakrishnan, C. (2010). Promoting ecological sustainability and community resilience in the US Gulf Coast after the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill. Journal of Natural Resources Policy Research, 2(3), 297-315.
Mariano J.B and La Rovere E L. (1999) Environmental impacts of the oil industry. Petroleum Engineering Downstream.
Marques, F. F., and Buckland, S. T. (2003). Incorporating covariates into standard line transect analyses. Biometrics, 59(4), 924-935.
National Academy of Sciences (2003): Impacts to Wildlife.
Olupot, W., Parry, L., Gunnes, M., and Plumptre, A. (2010). Conservation Research in Uganda’s Savannas: A Review of Park History, Applied Research, And Application of Research to Park Management. Nova Science Publishers, Inc.
Osei, B., and Mubiru, A. M. (2010). Chinese trade and investment activities in Africa. African Development Bank’s Policy Brief, 1(4), 1-12.
PEPD (2014), Petroleum discoveries in the Albertine Graben. Ugandan Petroleum Exploration and Production Department
Peterson, C. H., Rice, S. D., Short, J. W., Esler, D., Bodkin, J. L., Ballachey, B. E., and Irons, D. B. (2003). Long-term ecosystem response to the Exxon Valdez oil spill. Science, 302(5653), 2082-2086.
Plumptre, A. J., Ayebare, S., Mugabe, H., Kirunda, B., Kityo, R., Waswa, S., and Mulondo, P. (2015). Biodiversity surveys of Murchison Falls Protected Area. Wildlife Conservation Society, Kampala, Uganda, 26.
Plumptre, A. J., Davenport, T. R., Behangana, M., Kityo, R., Eilu, G., Ssegawa, P., and Peterhans, J. K. (2007). The biodiversity of the Albertine Rift. Biological conservation, 134(2), 178-194.
Plumptre, A.J., Behangana, M., Davenport, T.R.B., Kahindo, C., Kityo, R., Ndomba, E., Nkuutu, D., Owiunji, I., Ssegawa, P., and Eilu, G. (2003). The Biodiversity of the Albertine Rift. Albertine Rift. Biological Conservation, Technical Reports No.3.
Plumptre, A.J., Prinsloo, S., Ayebare, S. and Nangendo, G. (2016). Documentation of existing and potential oil/geothermal projects, mapping their likely adverse negative effects on the biodiversity conservation and community livelihoods in the Greater Virunga Landscape. Unpublished report to Greater Virunga Transboundary Collaboration.
Prinsloo, S., Mulondo, P., Mugiru, G., and Plumptre, A. J. (2011). Measuring responses of wildlife to oil operations in Murchison Falls National Park. Wildlife Conservation Society and Uganda Wildlife Authority.
Sawyer, H., Nielson, R. M., Lindzey, F., and McDonald, L. L. (2006). Winter habitat selection of mule deer before and during development of a natural gas field. The Journal of Wildlife Management, 70(2), 396-403.
Southwood, S. R. (1996). The Croonian lecture, 1995 natural communities: Structure and dynamics. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series B: Biological Sciences, 351(1344), 1113-1129.
Trombulak, S. C., and Frissell, C. A. (2000). Review of ecological effects of roads on terrestrial and aquatic communities. Conservation biology, 14(1), 18-30.
Uganda Wildlife Authority. (2001). Murchison Falls National Park, Bugungu Wildlife Reserve, Karuma Wildlife Reserve. General Management Plan (July 2001-June 2011).
Unsworth, J. W., Pac, D. F., White, G. C., and Bartmann, R. M. (1999). Mule deer survival in Colorado, Idaho, and Montana. The Journal of Wildlife Management, 315-326.
Vistnes, I., and Nellemann, C. (2008). The matter of spatial and temporal scales: a review of reindeer and caribou response to human activity. Polar Biology, 31(4), 399-407.
Wiens, J. A. (1989).: Spatial scaling in ecology. Functional Ecology 3, 385-397.
Williams, S. E. (1997). Patterns of mammalian species richness in the Australian tropical rainforests: are extinctions during historical contractions of the rainforest the primary determinants of current regional patterns in biodiversity? Wildlife Research, 24(5), 513-530.
Williams, S. E., Marsh, H., and Winter, J. (2002). Spatial scale, species diversity, and habitat structure: small mammals in Australian tropical rain forest. Ecology, 83(5), 1317-1329.
Published
2022-11-08
How to Cite
Akisiimire, H., Tinzaara, W., Tumwebaze, K., & Twesigye, C. (2022, November 8). Mammals’ Population Abundance and Distribution Post Oil and Gas Exploration in Murchison Falls National Park, Uganda. African Journal of Education,Science and Technology, 7(2), Pg 21-31. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.2022/ajest.v7i2.791
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