Assessing the mammalian diversity and abundance in Sickle bush’s invasion of Queen Elizabeth National Park in Uganda

The invasive sickle bush (Dichrostachys cinerea), if not effectively managed, poses serious economic and environmental to most ecosystem functions and biodiversity in Sub-Saharan Africa. Little known about its impact on mammalian diversity and abundance in the invaded national parks in Uganda. Therefore, the objective of this study was to assess the diversity and abundance of mammals in D. cinerea affected areas of Queen Elizabeth National Park in Uganda. A cross-sectional study design that involved both qualitative and quantitative assessments was used with study sites selected through ground truthing information from the on-field rangers and records from Research and Monitoring Department of the protected area. Scan observations and total counts during the 2 km by 200 transect walks were undertaken to collect physical information useful for species diversity and abundance computation. Non-invaded areas in the Park were also scouted as controls for comparison. Results showed that the diversity of mammals differed significantly between the invaded and non-invaded habitats. Despite having a high Simpson’s Diversity Index (SDI) of 0.7163, the sickle bush invaded habitat had a lower number of individual mammalian species than the non-invaded sites. Buffaloes accounted for the largest number of groups and individuals of large sized mammals in both strata, while the Uganda kob was highly concentrated in the non-invaded habitat. Key words: Dichrostachys cinerea, ecosystem functions, Queen Elizabeth National Park, Uganda