Browsing School of Environment and Natural Resources by Author "Mbaka, John Gichimu"
Now showing items 1-13 of 13
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Benthic Macro-invertebrate Diversity and Biomass Distribution in Relation to Canopy Cover and Organic Matter in River Njoro, Kenya
Mbaka, John Gichimu; Mathooko, Jude M; M'Erimba, Charles Mwithali (Egerton University, 2013)Field experiments to quantify benthic macroinvertebrate density, diversity and biomass and benthic organic matter (BOM) content in the River Njoro, Kenya, were conducted between January 2009 and April 2009 at four sites ... -
A critical review of the effect of water storage reservoirs on organic matter decomposition in rivers
Mbaka, John Gichimu; Mwaniki, Mercy Wanjiru (NRC Research Press, 2016)Organic matter decomposition is vital in sustaining river food webs. However, little is known about the effect of water storage reservoirs on organic matter decomposition in rivers. In this paper, we reviewed and analyzed ... -
Does the exclusion of meiofauna affect the estimation of biotic indices using stream invertebrates?
Mbaka, John Gichimu; M’Erimba, Charles M; Karanja, Henry T; Mathooko, Jude M; Mwaniki, Mercy W (Taylor & Francis, 2016)Biomonitoring of rivers is usually undertaken using information based on macroinvertebrate assemblages. However, exclusion of meiofauna (i.e. invertebrates less than 0.5 mm in size) when sorting benthic invertebrates can ... -
Effect of drift sampler exposure time and net mesh size on invertebrate drift density in the Njoro River, Kenya
Mureithi, Priscilla W; Mbaka, John Gichimu; M’Erimba, Charles M; Mathooko, Jude M (Taylor & Francis, 2018)Although invertebrate drift is an important ecological process in lotic ecosystems, very little is known about it in Kenyan rivers. The primary aim of this study was to investigate the effect of driftnet mesh size and ... -
Effect of Sieve Mesh Size on the Estimation of Benthic Invertebrate Abundance and Composition in the Honi River, Kenya
Mbaka, John Gichimu; M'Erimba, Charles Mwithali; Thiongo, Henry Karanja; Mathooko, Jude Mutuku (Nature Kenya/East African Natural History Society, 2014)Characterisation of benthic invertebrate communities, taxonomic abundance and composition provides information that is used during river bioassessment. However, the mesh size of the sieves used during processing of ... -
Effect of Small Impoundments on Leaf Litter Decomposition in Streams
Mbaka, John Gichimu; Schäfer, Ralf Bernhard (John Wiley & Sons, Ltd, 2015)Leaf litter decomposition is an important process providing energy to freshwater biota. Flow regulation and dams can strongly alter freshwater ecosystems, but little is known about the effect of small impoundments on leaf ... -
A global review of the downstream effects of small impoundments on stream habitat conditions and macroinvertebrates
Mbaka, John Gichimu; Mwaniki, Mercy Wanjiru (NRC Research Press, 2015)The downstream ecological effects of large impoundments have previously been reviewed; however, little is known about the downstream ecological effects of small man-made impoundments. In this review, we examine 94 papers ... -
Invertebrate drift densities in the Njoro and Kamweti Rivers in the Kenyan highlands that differ in the level of anthropogenic disturbances
M’Erimba, Charles M; Mbaka, John Gichimu; Mureithi, Priscilla W; Ouma, Ken O (Taylor & Francis, 2018)Invertebrate drift is one of several fundamental ecological processes in streams. However, little is known about the dynamics of invertebrate drift in Kenyan streams. In this study, we assessed invertebrate drift in two ... -
Methane-Derived Carbon in the Benthic Food Web in Stream Impoundments
Mbaka, John Gichimu; Mbaka, John Gichimu; Somlai, Celia; Ko¨pfer, Denis; Maeck, Andreas; Lorke, Andreas; Scha¨fer, Ralf B. (Public Library of Science, 2014)Methane gas (CH4) has been identified as an important alternative source of carbon and energy in some freshwater food webs. CH4 is oxidized by methane oxidizing bacteria (MOB), and subsequently utilized by chironomid ... -
Monitoring water and habitat quality in six rivers draining the Mt. Kenya and Aberdare Catchments using Macroinvertebrates and Qualitative Habitat Scoring
Mmerimba, Charles M; Mathooko, Jude M; Karanja, H.T; Mbaka, John Gichimu (2014)The study was conducted in June and September 2011 in six rivers that drain Mt. Kenya and the Aberdare catchments, i.e. Honi, Naro Moru, Liki, Sirimon, Mariara and Karigu. The main objective was to determine the ecological ... -
Relationship between socio-economic factors and water quality status of Chania River, Kenya
Robert, Geofrey Kasyoka; Mbaka, John Gichimu (Journal of Materials and Environmental Science, 2021-07-20)Human related activities harm water quality. However, there is limited information on the impact of socio-economic activities on water quality in River Chania. This study focused on the determination of the effect of ... -
Sensitivity of Colletotrichum gloeosporioides Isolates from Diseased Avocado Fruits to Selected Fungicides in Kenya
Kimaru, Stanley Kirugo; Monda, E.; Cheruiyot, R. C.; Mbaka, John Gichimu; Alakonya, A. (Hindawi, 2018)Colletotrichumgloeosporioidesisaseriouspostharvestpathogenofavocadofruitsworldwide.Kenyalacksanyregisteredfungicides for the management of the disease. Nevertheless, farmers commonly use commercially available fungicides ... -
Small Hydro-power Plants in Kenya: A Re view of Status, Challenges and Future Prospect
Mbaka, John Gichimu; Mwaniki, Mercy W. (Materials and Energy Research Center (MERC) & Iranian Association of Chemical Engineers (IAChE), 2016)Small Hydro-power Plants (SHP) are important sources of electricity in many countries. However, little is known about SHP in Kenya. This paper reviews the status, challenges in implementation of SHP and prospects for future ...