Scholarly Journal of Biological Science Vol. 4(5), pp.40-46, December 2015 Available online http:// www.scholarly-journals.com/SJBS

ISSN 2315-6147 © 2015 Scholarly-Journals

Full Length Research Paper

Implication of Invasive Plant Typha domingensis on Biodiversity: An Ecological Study of the

Hadejia-Nguru Wetlands, Nigeria

Ringim, A.S.1, Sabo, B.B.2 and Harry, H.3

1Department of Biological Sciences, Federal University Dutse, Nigeria

2Jigawa Research Institute, Kazaure, Nigeria

3Hadejia-Nguru

Wetlands Conservation Project/NCF, Nguru, Yobe, Nigeria

Accepted 21 December, 2015

In this study, we examined the effects of T. domingensis in the Hadejia- Nguru Wetlands with regards to biodiversity, socio-economic impact on the indigenous community livelihood; fishing, farming, grazing, and the aesthetic beauty of the wetlands ecosystem. Secondary literature, verbal interview, questionnaire, and direct field observation were used to assess the various impact of T. domingensis. Result from the study show that T. domingensis have a detrimental effect on the indigenous community livelihood through river blockage which reduced flooding into farm/irrigation lands, navigation channel important for fishing activities, and have colonized many areas necessary for grazing. The invaded plant has also been responsible for the indirect crop loss as it harbor large flocks of Red-billed Quelea responsible for large crop damage especially rice, millet, and wheat. Thereby increasing the level of poverty among the local communities. However, though there had been many efforts to reduce the heavy infestation of T. domingensis using mechanical and chemical methods, but to no avail as the situation further worsen. Therefore, we call for a holistic approach among the member states of the Hadejia-Nguru Wetlands, Federal Government, Non-Governmental Organizations operating within the basin, and all concerned citizens to help managed and control T. domingensis by utilisation to prevent further infestation within the wetlands. Key words: Hadejia-Nguru Wetlands, Biodiversity, Invasive Species, Typha domingensis.

INTRODUCTION The impacts of invasive species on ecosystem services have attracted worldwide attention especially in wetlands that are distributed all over the world except Antarctica and represent about 4-6% of the earth’s surface or 7-9 million km

2 (Charles and Dukes, 2007; John, 2011;

Blench, 2013). Wetlands provide valuable ecosystem services, thus, ranked among the earth's most productive ecosystems (Ramsar, 1997). The Millennium Ecosystem Assessment (2005) framework places these services into four categories. Provisioning services are products obtained from ecosystems, and include food (crops, livestock, fisheries, etc.) freshwater, fibre (timber, cotton, *Corresponding author e-mail: asringim@yahoo.com.

silk, etc.), fuel, genetic resources, biochemicals/pharmaceuticals/natural medicines, and ornamental resources. Regulating services are obtained from the regulation of ecosystem processes, and include air quality regulation, climate regulation, water regulation (timing and extent of flooding, runoff, etc.), water purification, waste treatment, disease regulation, natural pest control, pollination, erosion control, and coastal storm protection. Cultural services are non-material benefits, and include aesthetic values, recreation/tourism, spiritual/religious values, educational/scientific values, cultural heritage values, inspiration, and sense of place. Supporting services are overarching, indirect, and occur on large temporal scales, but are necessary for the maintenance of other services. They include photosynthesis, primary production, nutrient cycling,

Ringim et al. 41 water cycling, soil formation and maintenance of fertility, as well as atmospheric composition. This framework includes both goods, which have direct market values, and services that in turn maintain the production of goods and biodiversity, and directly or indirectly benefit humans (Charles and Dukes, 2007). However, wetlands are susceptible to biological invasion as a result of natural and human induced influence which make many species to invade new regions at an unprecedented rate, exerting strong impacts on ecosystems and human welfare (Van Kleunen et al., 2010). For this reason, species invasiveness has become an important research topic in conservation biology, invasion biology and ecology (Van Kleunen et al., 2010). Disturbances such as wildfire, nutrient enrichment, overgrazing, land use changes, added fertilization, and use of agricultural chemicals enhance the growth of invasive plants. Other human activities that encourage establishment of invasive species in the wetlands include changes in hydrology e.g. freshwater diversion, constructing pond, reservoir, and lakes (Westbrooks, 1998; Boa, 2013). These alter resource availability, creating condition suitable for plant invasion that may have a profound effects on native plant community composition with direct and/or indirect influence on local fauna (Hager, 2004).

Therefore, bioinvasion are so frequent nowadays in every continent and island that continue to alter and degrade natural wetlands habitats (Hager, 2004; van der Velde et al., 2006). They have been considered second major threat to biodiversity following habitat destruction (Elizabeth and Scott, 2000). Wetland invasive species share common traits such as rapid dispersal and regeneration, ability to form

dense monoculture stand,

and usually have an ability to regenerate profusely from direct seeds, stems or roots (John, 2003; Jelte and James, 2006; Daniel et al., 2012). Furthermore, other unwanted effect associated with invasive species is financial implication involve in their eradication and monitoring. On continental scale, the United Nation Environmental Programme (UNEP) estimates that alien invasive species cost the global economy an annual $1.4 trillion (Obiri, 2011). In Nigeria, the annual costs estimate for invasive species is about $50 million (Kasulo, 2000). In East Africa, the World Bank/GIF Lake Victoria Environmental Management Project allocated $6-10 million to control Water hyacinth (Eichornia crassipes) per annum (Kasulo, 2000).. BIOGEOGRAPHY OF SOUTHERN CATTAIL (Typha domingensis) T. domingensis was first discovered by Christian Henrik Persoon in his Synopsis plantarum (1807), from specimens found in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic (Vincent and Spencer, 2013). T. domingensis are defined as aquatic macrophytes often regarded as weed due to

their ability to form dense monospecific stands which reduce the biodiversity of wetlands and clog water channel (Miklovic, 2000). T. domingensis are cosmopolitan in distribution reaching a height of up to 2.5- 4 meters, produce greater number of leaves between 5 to 15mm when dry, stems are 3- 4 mm thick and shoots are 1-2 cm thick when flowering, and can produce 20, 000 to 700, 000 seeds per inflorescence (Miklovic, 2000). Colonization of wetlands by T. domingensis is being identified as a growing problem worldwide that become a serious threat to wetlands biodiversity (Ramsar, 2000). Many studies indicate that anthropogenic disturbances such as agricultural activities, changes in wetlands hydrology, eutrophication, and shallow water depths 24-95 cm usually favor the dominance of T. domingensis in wetlands (Lynn, 2005; Gareth et al., 2012; Blench, 2013). As a result, cattail expansions have been used as in indicator of environmental change and ecological integrity of wetlands (Lynn, 2005). Consequently, considered a significant threat to native plant species. T. domingensis is native to Nigeria, locally known as "Kachala" by the indigenous communities of the Hadejia- Nguru Wetlands (hereafter HNWs) has spread rapidly and developed an invasive form that is now a major source of major economic and ecological losses MATERIALS AND METHODS Site description The HNWs is an area in the southern edge of the Sahel savanna in north-eastern Nigeria comprising of permanent lakes and seasonally flooded pools connected by a network of channels. The wetlands complex is formed by the Hadejia-Jama'are Rivers which drained into Lake Chad. The wetlands covered an area of about 3, 500 km

2 (Birdlife international, 2015). The wetlands

supports at least 250 species of flowering plants, over 136 types of aquatic flora and fauna, more than 103 species of fishes and 378 species of birds (Oduntan et al., 2010; Ringim et al.. 2015). About 1.5 million people depend on the wetland ecosystem for their livelihood in the form of agriculture, grazing resources, non timber forest products, fuel wood and fishing. The wetlands serve as a major source of fish, supplying approximately 6% of Nigeria’s inland fish catch with a market value nearly US$300, 000 per annum (Birdlife international, 2010).

The study was carried out between September- November, 2015. Secondary literatures, verbal interview, and direct field observation were used to access the various impact of T. domingensis on community livelihood, biodiversity and the aesthetic feature of the HNWs. Five hundred (500) respondents were issued with questionnaire, fifty (50) questionnaires were distributed in each of the ten (10) villages including Adiani, Dabar

Scholarly J. Biol. Sci. 42

Figure 1: Map of Hadejia-Nguru Wetlands.

Magini, Galumceme, Margado, Hadin, Kabak, Kadira, Kirikasamma, Likori, and Madaci. RESULT AND DISCUSSIONS Impacts on Biodiversity 1. Plant community: Invasive species may alter community structure through exploitation competition (indirect interactions such as resource use), and interference competition (direct interactions such as allelopathy in plants, as well as plant succession (Charles and Dukes, 2007). According to Abubakar (2012), aquatic macrophytes such as T. domingensis present in dense biomass have the ability to influence plant structure and distribution. Extensive litter deposition by T. domingensis also buried mineralized substrates necessary for many native plant to germinate (Hager, 2004; Lynn, 2005). This may strongly affects plant community composition by inhibiting their establishment that may lead to habitat homogenization (Charles and Dukes, 2007). Consequently, this may decline the abundance of economically valuable species, in particular those used for food, fodder and/or medicinal plants and loss of local genetic resources; genetic diversity (Lynn, 2005). More so, primary production may increase or decrease if plant invader leads to a shift in the major vegetation type of a

wetlands area. However, most invasive plants increase net primary productivity as is in the case with giant reed (Arundo donax), and other Typha spp. such as Phragmites in marshes (Ehrenfeld, 2003). 2. Waterbirds community: The HNWs being a Ramsar site is nationally and internationally renowned for its ornithological importance as it support large population of both resident and migratory species from Palearctic and Afro-tropical regions. However, over the years, T. domingensis caused microhabitats reducing critical habitats for feeding, nesting and roosting habitat for birds, as well as hampers the smooth flow of water which flood and degrade wetlands used by many waterbirds species (Sulaiman et al., 2014). As mentioned by Birdlife international (2010), at one time the area covered by T. domingensis increased from 550 ha to over 200 km

2 in

five years. This have a great effect on the structure of birds community (Verma et al., 2004, Reginald et al., 2007), because factors such as vegetation structure, wetlands size, and substrate play an important role in influencing birds diversity and abundance in wetlands (Donald, 1989). Therefore, dense biomass of T. domingensis may reduce birds diversity and density, more especially waterfowl which prefer open water to swim and feed. Waterbirds diversity and density has been thought to decreased in Nguru Lake and Marma Channel due to dense biomass of T. domingensis. But also, decrease in migratory species in the wetlands have

Ringim et al. 43

Figure 2: (a) T. domingensis along the riverbank of Nguru Lake (Ramsar site), (b) Wetlands size reduction cause by T.

domingensis.

also been attributed to decrease in the wetlands size (verbal interview). 3. Invertebrates community: Impacts of biological invasions can be found on all levels of the ecological organization, that is; individuals, populations, species, communities and ecosystems. Specifically, dramatic change can occur when introduced species function as keystone species or ecosystem engineers, thus affecting the functional diversity and food web structure of communities and ecosystems (van der Velde et al., 2006). Dense stand of T. domingensis has shown to reduced upwelling of nutrients making them less available to phytoplankton in the photic zone, as well as reduction in zooplankton feeding rates as vegetation become dense (Abubakar, 2012). For instance, aquatic plants such as water hyacinth (Eichornia crassipes) that form floating mats can decrease macroinvertebrate abundance by blocking light transmission and decreasing photosynthesis by phytoplankton and other plants, leading to anoxic conditions (Masifwa et al., 2001). Moreover, copious deposit of litter produced by T. domingensis affects water quality, increased turbidity that affect phytoplankton community through their inability to photosynthesis which in turn affect zooplanktons diversity and abundance (Abubakar, 2012). SOCIO-ECONOMIC IMPACTS 4. Impacts on farming and grazing activities: Impacts of invasive species on ecosystem services related to agriculture, industry, and human health are substantial. These impacts affect the delivery of food, freshwater, and fiber, as well as water purification, pollination, natural pest control, disease regulation, soil fertility, nutrient and water cycling (Charles and Dukes, 2007). In the HNWs, about 1.5 million people depend on the wetlands as their

primary source of livelihood (Ringim et al., 2015). Therefore, reduction in its biodiversity may have a detrimental effect on the communities well-being through farming and fishing. In addition, loss of aesthetic, cultural and/or spiritual value of the wetlands. For instance, dense cattails harbor large roosting aggregations of Black-faced dioch bird (quelea quelea) which has now become a menace to farmers through large crops damage (Blench, 2013; verbal interview). For instance, in Margado village, farmers spend more than 12 hours a day chasing away quelea birds with drum like apparatus, or netting the whole rice field to avoid damage by Quelea birds (see figure 4). However, this will not be a long lasting solution for the long term management against Q. quelea as the process is expensive which most of the local farmers cannot afford, time consuming and painstaking. Furthermore, channel blockage by T. domingensis has caused over flooding in Dabar Magini resulting in the displacement of over 300 inhabitants in 2004 (verbal interview). More so, T. domingensis has take over grazing and farmlands which are extremely important for irrigational activities which result into very low production and water regulation (Charles and Dukes, 2007; Ringim et al., 2015). For example, Salt cedar (Tamarix spp.) form thickets along riparian corridors enhanced sediment capture and channel narrowing which has decreased the water holding capacity of many waterways in the southwestern United States, leading to more frequent and extensive flooding and associated flood control costs (Charles and Dukes, 2007). Moreover, T. domingensis have shown to cause reduced or complete loss of cultivation in many study areas. For example, in Guri, many farmers report that before the emergence of T. domingensis, they could harvest 200 bags of rice in a 10 hectares farmland, but hardly they harvest 50 bags in the same piece of land nowadays. Similarly, in Hadin village,.

Scholarly J. Biol. Sci. 44

Figure 3: (a) Farmer with drum like tool chasing away Quelea birds in rice field at Margado, (b) Rice field covered with net against damage by Quelea in Galumceme

Figure 4: Fishing activity in Marma channel (Ramsar site).

some respondents complain that, during 2007 season they recorded less than a quarter of the expected harvest as the result of crop damage by quelea birds 5. Impact on fishing activities: According to the field data, large biomass of T. domingensis has been responsible for the decline in fish catch, diversity, as well as size and abundance presumably due to the fact that T. domingensis vegetation provide a hiding ground for many fish species, with African arowana (Heterotis niloticus, Cuvier, 1829) being a typical example. Channel blockage caused by T. domingensis have cause reduced flooding in many parts of the wetlands that lead to decrease in fish abundance (Ringim et al., 2015). Similarly, the Jigawa

Enhancement of Wetlands Livelihoods (JEWEL) project (2004) reported that the average income of fish catch per fishermen has reduced from about $5 per day to less than $3 per day. Fishermen in the entire sampled village reveal that, though fish catch has reduced, but, the size of the fishes is bigger when compared with the size before the emergence of T. domingensis 6. Other impacts. Invaders not only cause economic and ecological nuisance, but also cause substantial losses to recreation and tourism, particularly ecotourism. Aquatic macrophytes such as T. domingensis that form dense layers or beds along the shore are a notorious nuisance for boating, swimming, and diving activities. Examples

Ringim et al. 45 are found worldwide in both fresh and salt water, and include other cattail spp: Caulerpa taxifolia, Hydrilla verticillata, and Sargassum muticum (Charles and Dukes, 2007). Furthermore, educational values are certainly lost whenever species become extinct either as a result of invasion or natural, particularly in areas with high endemism such as the Galapagos Islands, that is considered a natural laboratory for evolutionary studies with several endemic species considered extinct as a result of bioinvasion of Lantana camara (Charles and Dukes, 2007). CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS

The HNWs is significantly important in terms of fishing and agricultural products, particularly rice and vegetables, and support substantial population of local communities that depends on the wetlands ecosystem for their entire livelihood. The wetlands is essential in the form of grazing pasture for Fulani herdsmen, irrigation activities as well as home to thousands of waterbird community. The value of the wetlands fish resource are far beyond its boundary, thus, one of the most important wetlands in Nigeria. Sadly, the wetlands ecology is under threat from bioinvasion of T. domingensis which proliferate over the wetlands ecosystem and is now affecting biodiversity, socioeconomic well-being and the general wetlands ecosystem values.

The invasive plant has colonized many large farm and grazing lands, and river channel making life miserable for the inhabitants through interference with their utilization of water and land resources. This led to migration of the inhabitants from one area to another causing conflict over resource use, and increased poverty. Thus, its continuous rapid expansion put greater threat to their future well-being. Therefore, this paper serve to communicate and to advocate a holistic approach to control T. domingensis by utilisation in the HNWs which has been practiced in many parts of the world as used in animal feed (fish, poultry, etc.), organic fertilizer, industrial raw materials, biogas, etc. (Pott and Pott, 2002), or in making weaving materials like basket, mats, canoe sails, twine, and as clothing for cloaks, robes, and hats (Joanna et al. 2007). Its control and management will maintain the socio-economic well-being of the HNWs communities, as well as ecological value of the wetlands renowned as Ramsar site of international importance.

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