Lorian Swamp

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Elephants crossing the Ewaso Ng'iro river at Samburu Park, Kenya, 100 miles west of Lorian Swamp. Elephants crossing the Ewaso Ng'iro river at Samburu Park, Kenya.jpg
Elephants crossing the Ewaso Ng'iro river at Samburu Park, Kenya, 100 miles west of Lorian Swamp.

The Lorian Swamp is an area of wetlands on the Ewaso Ngiro river in Wajir South, North Eastern Province, Kenya.

Wetland A land area that is permanently or seasonally saturated with water

A wetland is a distinct ecosystem that is inundated by water, either permanently or seasonally, where oxygen-free processes prevail. The primary factor that distinguishes wetlands from other land forms or water bodies is the characteristic vegetation of aquatic plants, adapted to the unique hydric soil. Wetlands play a number of functions, including water purification, water storage, processing of carbon and other nutrients, stabilization of shorelines, and support of plants and animals. Wetlands are also considered the most biologically diverse of all ecosystems, serving as home to a wide range of plant and animal life. Whether any individual wetland performs these functions, and the degree to which it performs them, depends on characteristics of that wetland and the lands and waters near it. Methods for rapidly assessing these functions, wetland ecological health, and general wetland condition have been developed in many regions and have contributed to wetland conservation partly by raising public awareness of the functions and the ecosystem services some wetlands provide.

North Eastern Province (Kenya) Former province in Kenya

The North Eastern Province is one of the former provinces in Kenya. It has a land area of 127,358.5 km2, with its capital at Garissa. Previously known as the Northern Frontier District (NFD), the territory was carved out of the Jubaland region of present-day southern Somalia during the colonial period. It is and has historically been exclusively inhabited by ethnic Somalis.

Kenya republic in East Africa

Kenya, officially the Republic of Kenya, is a country in Africa with 47 semiautonomous counties governed by elected governors. At 580,367 square kilometres (224,081 sq mi), Kenya is the world's 48th largest country by total area. With a population of more than 52.2 million people, Kenya is the 27th most populous country. Kenya's capital and largest city is Nairobi while its oldest city and first capital is the coastal city of Mombasa. Kisumu City is the third largest city and a critical inland port at Lake Victoria. Other important urban centres include Nakuru and Eldoret.

The swampy zone is 196 kilometres (122 mi) long and has a greatest width of 25 kilometres (16 mi), covering an area of 231,000 hectares (570,000 acres). Apart from the Ewaso Ngiro river, the swamp is also fed by wadis from the southwest and the northeast. [1] The swamp is less than 300 metres (980 ft) above sea level. [2]

The swamp lies in an arid zone. [3] Local annual rainfall averages between 180 and 250 mm, but varies widely from year to year. It may be much higher in wet years and much lower in dry years, so the area of the swamp varies considerably. [1] Potential evaporation rates in the swamp are as much as 2,600 mm per year. [4] The swamp may almost completely dry up in drought periods. The area of permanent swamp has shrunk from 150 square kilometres (58 sq mi) in 1913 to around 39 square kilometres (15 sq mi) in 1962 and 8 square kilometres (3.1 sq mi) in 1990. [2]

Little is known about the swamp, due to the hostile terrain and insecurity in the area. [3] It is not protected. The swamp is infested with malarial mosquitos and with vectors of the organisms that cause bilharzia. It is home to crocodiles and is visited by many of the large savannah mammals. [1] Because of the dangers, cattle are not grazed far into the swamp, but they do make extensive use of the shallow waters, particularly in the dry season. [5]

Crocodile Subfamily of large reptilian carnivores

Crocodiles or true crocodiles are large semiaquatic reptiles that live throughout the tropics in Africa, Asia, the Americas and Australia. Crocodylinae, all of whose members are considered true crocodiles, is classified as a biological subfamily. A broader sense of the term crocodile, Crocodylidae that includes Tomistoma, is not used in this article. The term crocodile here applies to only the species within the subfamily of Crocodylinae. The term is sometimes used even more loosely to include all extant members of the order Crocodilia, which includes the alligators and caimans, the gharial and false gharial, and all other living and fossil Crocodylomorpha.

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Tropical peat is a type of histosol that found in tropical latitude, including South East Asia, Africa, and Central and South America. Tropical peat mostly consists of dead organic matter from trees instead of spaghnum which are commonly found in temperate peat. This soil usually contain high organic matter content, exceeding 75% with dry low bulk density around 0.2 mg/m3 (0.0 gr/cu ft).

Ewaso Ngiro river in Tanzania

Ewaso Ny'iro is a river in Kenya which rises on the west side of Mount Kenya and flows north then east and finally south-east, passing through Somalia where it joins the Jubba River. The upper basin of the Ewaso Ng'iro River is 15,200-square-kilometre (5,900 sq mi). The river has a continuous water supply due to the glaciers on Mount Kenya. Ewaso Ng'iro feeds into Lake Ol Bolossat, the only lake in Nyandarua county and the larger Central Kenya. Ewaso Ng'iro crosses seven arid to semi-arid landscapes. It is characterized by vastly different physiographic features and species and has become a fundamental component to the survival of the wildlife, as well as the expansion of human population and socio-economic developments. Water, the limited land resource provided by the Ewaso Ng’iro watershed is unevenly distributed throughout the higher and lower regions of the catchment due to the large percentage necessary to maintain agricultural practices and climatic changes.

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References

  1. 1 2 3 Hughes & Hughes 1992, pp. 181.
  2. 1 2 Crafter, Njuguna & Howard 1992, pp. 21.
  3. 1 2 Crafter, Njuguna & Howard 1992, pp. 25.
  4. ↑ Crafter, Njuguna & Howard 1992, pp. 18.
  5. ↑ Anderson & Grove 1990, pp. 300.

Sources

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Coordinates: 0°38′46″N39°36′14″E / 0.64611°N 39.60389°E / 0.64611; 39.60389

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