School Of Natural Sciences

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Start date: 2020End date: 2023

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    Sensitivity of Indigenous Plant Species Diversity to Climate Change in a Semi- Arid Environment:
    (Great Zimbabwe University, 2023) Madzikatidze Wellington
    The research examined the sensitivity of indigenous plant species diversity to climate change in a semi-arid environment over 36 years (1984–2020) in Chegutu district of Mashonaland West Province in Zimbabwe. This research was premised on the pragmatic research model and implemented the mixed-methods research design. Precipitation and temperature-related variables were first analysed to ascertain the climate system changes. Indigenous plant species diversity data were collected from 180 sampling plots identified using the nonaligned sampling framework. Correlations between observed indigenous plant species data along with the Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) were determined, resulting in the use of NDVI as a proxy indicator for indigenous plant species diversity. Thus, NDVI was used in the determination of modifications in indigenous plant species over time. The indigenous plant species diversity data were regressed with climate variables data over the study period to establish the cause-effect relationships. Questionnaire surveys, interviews and direct field observations were used to understand further the climate-indigenous plant species dynamics from the perspective of local people in the area over the study period. Significant (p<0.05; α=0.05) trends in climatic variables were observed over the period under study, signifying a changing climate in the district. Significant correlations between different bioclimatic elements (precipitation and temperature) and the Shannon index of diversity were also observed, indicating the sensitivity of plant species to climatic variables. The study concludes that the changing climate partly influences the trends and dynamics of indigenous plant species in Chegutu District. Thus, indigenous plant species are considerably sensitive to climate change. There is need to equip organizations responsible for managing ecosystems for effective monitoring of the impacts of climatic changes on indigenous plant species, given the importance of indigenous plants to humanity. Capacitating organizations responsible for managing ecosystems would go a long way in preventing the likely invasions, migrations, and extinctions of key indigenous plant species within and from local ecosystems.