FLORA AND VEGETATION OF NACHOLA, SAMBURU DISTRICT, NORTHERN KENYA: A STUDY OF VEGETATION IN AN ARID LAND

Abstract

Although patchy vegetation of open grassland and closed woodland or forest is often reconstructed as a habitat of early hominids, there are few studies of modern vegetation of this type. Vegetational and floral study in Nachola, northern Kenya aimed to remedy this lack. It appeared to have 160 species, which accords well with treated physiognomical classifications of semi arid open vegetations in northern Kenya. There are two contrasting types of vegetation i.e. riverine forest and grassland. Riverine forest comprises two dominant species and several tree species. Grassland has less biomass and despite its name, grass is rare. Instead, dwarf shrubs of Labiatae dominate the surface of the land. Riverine forest in Nachola has two major species, both producing fruits edible to frugivorous mammals, Ficus sycomorus and Acacia tortilis ssp. spirocarpa. Fruit production is suggested to be greater in F. sycomorus. Possibility of early hominid habitats should be discussed based on such an analysis of modern equivalents.