A study on the response of two mangrove species (a vjcennia marina and rhizophora mu cron at a) to domestic sewage and flooding

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Date
2008
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
University of Dar es Salaam
Abstract
Domestic sewage is one of the leading sources of marine pollution in Dar es salaam where sewage from the city is often discharged into the ocean either directly or via mangrove forest that abound along the coast. Very little is known about the use of mangrove wetlands for domestic sewage treatment in Tanzania therefore this study was designed to evaluate the growth response of two most prevalent mangrove species A.marina and R.mucronata to domestic sewage. A pot experiment using sediment from Kunduchi bay, Daresalaam as potting media was conducted for four months at Botany Department nursery, UDSM. Five sewage concentrations namely, 0 (sea water), 25, 50, 75 and 100% were tested under 3 inundation period of 12 hours, 24 hours and 1 week interrupted by 48 hours resting period between each inundation. The experiment was laid out in a split split plot design with 3 replications and 5 plants per treatment plot. Data were collected on plant height, number of leaves and number of nodes which were analyzed using two computer statistical packages, INSTAT (1999) and GENSTAT (2007). The Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) showed that, the two mangrove species responded positively but differently to increasing sewage concentration. Significant difference in height was observed, whereby the maximum height was 31.73 ± 12.14 cm in 100% sewage and the minimum height was 5.85 ± 1.73 cm in 0% sewage for A. marina. Respective data for R. mucronata were 6.15 ± 1.36cm in 100%, and 1.825cm ± 0.63 in 0%. From the results, it was concluded that mangrove seedling growth cannot be affected by flooding with domestic sewage and therefore it was recommended that, mangrove wetlands can be used for domestic sewage treatments
Description
Available in print form, East Africana Collection, Dr. Wilbert Chagula Library, Class mark (THS EAF QK495.R46M852)
Keywords
Mangrove plants, Avicennia Marina, Rhizophora Mucronata, Sewage, Flooding, Domestic sewage
Citation
Mwakalinga, M (2008), A study on the response of two mangrove species (a vjcennia marina and rhizophora mu cron at a) to domestic sewage and flooding, Master dissertation, University of Dar es Salaam. Dar es Salaam