Journal of Applied Biosciences (J. Appl. Biosci.) [ISSN 1997 - 5902]
Volume 10(2): 507 - 510. Published October 7, 2008.
Factors influencing impala distribution patterns in Nairobi National Park, Kenya
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^Corresponding author e–mail:zzz
ABSTRACT
Objective: To study the factors influencing the distribution of impala in Nairobi National Park, Kenya using remote sensing.
Methodology and results: Using impala as an indicator species, the following parameters were determined: (1) food availability estimated by the Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI); (2) presence of water and (3) disturbance represented by density of roads. Landsat 7-ETM+ satellite imagery for February, 2002; IDRISIâ 32 version 2 software and SPSS 11.0 statistical software were used for analysis. A positive statistical relationship between impala population density and NDVI was observed, indicating that fewer animals occur where there is less vegetation and vice versa. The correlation between impala population density and water distance was negative, indicating that fewer impalas would be expected as the distance from water sources increase. A positive correlation was determined between impala population and road density.
Conclusion and application of findings: The findings show that more impala preferred habitats next to the roads and closer to water sources, while fewer animals would be expected far from water sources where feed resources are also likely to be less. The information can be useful for sustainable management practices such as redistributing animals within the park.
Key words
habitat, impala, Kenya, management, patterns, remote sensing
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