| dc.description.abstract | C. campestris is a parasitic vine growing rapidly entwining and parasitizing on its host
plants by inserting haustoria into the host plants’ stem and leaves. This study focused on
the occurrence and impact of Cuscuta campestris on the diversity of host trees and shrubs
in Homa-Bay County, Kenya. The overall objective was to investigate the occurrence and
impact of Cuscuta campestris yunker, invasion on species diversity of trees and shrubs
with specific objectives of the study as;1) To establish the occurrence and distribution of
C. campestris invasion on trees and shrubs. 2)To determine the species diversity and
characteristics of trees and shrubs parasitized by C. campestris. 3) To determine the effect
of C. campestris on chlorophyll content and leaf biomass of infected host plants. The
study was conducted in three Sub-counties, Rachuonyo North, Homa Bay town and Suba
North Sub-counties. Descriptive Survey and Quasi Experimental Research Design were
used. Purposive sampling technique was employed in selecting the study sites. Data was
collected through laboratory analysis, structured interviews, questionnaires and field
observations. Chlorophyll content was measured for both infected and uninfected plants
using spectrophotometer while leaf biomass was measured for both dry and fresh weight
of infected and uninfected samples. Data for climatic condition was obtained from
National Meteorological Department - Homa Bay County Branch to show the variation
in the occurrence and distribution of C. campestris on host plants with annual rainfall and
temperature variability. Quantitative data was descriptively and inferentially analyzed in
form of one-way ANOVA -SPSS-20. The study established that occurrence and
distribution was more intense in shrubs, T. peruviana and E. tirucalli species than in host
trees. Mean chlorophyll amounts were observed to decline from the uninfected to infected
with chlorophyll a declining from 3.97 to 1.59 mg/g, b from 2.65 to 1.18 mg/g and total
chlorophyll from 6.62 to 2.76 mg/g. Leaf biomass significantly decreased in infected host
plants with mean fresh weight of 17.61g in infected significantly different, F (1, 4) =
235.74, p< .05, from the mean fresh weight of 24.23g in the uninfected while the mean
dry weight of 5.55g in infected was significantly different, F (1, 4) = 159.72, p< .05, from
mean dry weight of 7.87g in uninfected shrubs. The results demonstrated that C.
campestris is detrimental to plant biodiversity. The study conclusions were, occurrence
and distribution of C. campestris is less dependent on climatic variability but heavily
dependent on host-plant, C. campestris has rich hostplant species diversity with wide
range of characteristics from varied habitats and that Cuscuta has significantly affected
leaf chlorophyll content and leaf biomass of infected host plants thus impose significant
destruction on plant growth and loss of biodiversity. The study recommends substitution
of preferred host plants with hardly infected plants, sensitizing of residents on the impacts
for the need to design appropriate sustainable management protocol and legislation to
classify the weed as noxious plant in Kenya. Further research to focus on determining the
nutrient composition in preferred host plants to enable further understanding for effective
management. | en_US |
