Impacts of land use on water and nutrient cycling in the South-West Mau, Kenya: Project description and preliminary data

With the current rise in interest and awareness of conserving forests as a source of clean water and other water-related ecosystem services, there is an increasing need to understand the effect of land use on water and nutrient cycling. While quite a number of such studies are available, the focus is often limited to the effect of land use on water yield, and less is known about the hydrological processes behind it and water quality. There is a lack of long-term field studies, especially in Africa. Furthermore, a fairly limited amount is known about tropical montane forests, an ecosystem providing many people with water, also in Kenya. This project aims to study the effect of land use on water and nutrient cycling in the South-West Mau, a region that has been affected significantly by land use change in the past decades. It is an important water source and the headwater area of the Sondu river.

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