TITLE:
Environmental Impacts of Invasive Alien Plant Species on the Biodiversity of the Nyika National Park, Rumphi District, Malawi
AUTHORS:
Robert D. Kacheche, Maureen Kapute Mzuza
KEYWORDS:
Invasive Alien Species, Biodiversity, Habitat, Native Species, Nyika National Park
JOURNAL NAME:
American Journal of Plant Sciences,
Vol.12 No.10,
October
18,
2021
ABSTRACT: Invasive alien plant species have threatened the
integrity of ecosystems and threatened biological integrity throughout the
world. In the Nyika National Park, a number of alien invasive plant species
have been reported. These invasive alien plants are reported to be very
difficult that have caused adverse ecological, economic and social impact. The
main objective of this study is to assess the environmental impact of plant
invasive alien species in Nyika National Park in order to ascertain means of
addressing the possible effects on the biodiversity. This study adopted an
exploratory stance in order to answer the
hypotheses where purposive and simple random sampling was used. Purposive sampling was only used to the staff of
Nyika while simple random sampling was used to collect data from
households surrounding Nyika National Park. The results revealed that invasive
alien plant species have some ecological impacts of on the biodiversity of the
Nyika National Park like change in physical habitats such as loss of native
habitats, alteration of ground water regime, drying of rivers, loss of native species
and alteration of biomass. The study would therefore be important to policy
makers in guiding and development of
policies and guidelines governing eradication of invasive alien plant
species. The Department of National Parks and Wildlife (DNPW) can form
partnership with various stakeholders with a clearly stated intention of
developing a relationship, based on collaboration to enhance the control of
invading alien plant species and the best management practices.