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- Title
ANALYSIS OF CLIMATE CHANGE SIGNATURES ON MICRO-CATCHMENTS AS A MEANS OF UNDERSTANDING DRYING UP OF WETLANDS: THE CASE OF MUTUBUKI WETLAND IN GUTU DISTRICT OF ZIMBABWE.
- Authors
CHIKODZL, D.; MUTOWO, G
- Abstract
Wetlands are one of the most vulnerable ecosystems to climate change, over use and degradation. The research was aimed at investigating the impacts of climate variability on wetlands. Specifically, this paper was aimed at determining whether trends in the patterns of rainfall and temperature can be used to explain the drying up of Mutubuki wetland in Gutu District of Zimbabwe. Research methodology adopted involved analysis of time series rainfall and temperature data from the nearby Alheit Mission, as well as rainfall data from Buhera and Chivhu weather stations located within the catchment of the wetland. Mann-Kendall trend test was used to determine whether temperature and rainfall patterns show a significant trend between 1952 and 2006. Results showed that there is a significant increase in mean maximum temperatures at Alheit station (p= 0.024, α = 0.05), while mean annual rainfall amounts were shown to be declining though not statistically significant (Alheit, p=0.250, α = 0.05; Chivhu p=0.903, α = 0.05 and Buhera, p=0.661, α = 0.05). It was observed that the significant increases in daily maximum air temperatures in an era of declining precipitation and land use changes are major factors in the drying up of Mutubuki wetland.
- Subjects
ZIMBABWE; CLIMATE change research; WETLAND management; WETLAND biodiversity; ECOLOGICAL succession; AQUATIC resources
- Publication
Ethiopian Journal of Environmental Studies & Management, 2014, Vol 7, Issue 2, p821
- ISSN
1998-0507
- Publication type
Article
- DOI
10.4314/ejesm.v7i2.2S