Savanna at Ruma National Park

     endangered Roan Antilope

Ruma National Park (http://www.kws.org/parks/parks_reserves/RUNP.html) is operated by the Kenya Wildlife Service. It is located in Nyanza Province ca. 140 km from Kisumu and southwest of Homa Bay. It features preservation of the Roan Antelope (bottom left in the figure) and black rhinocerus. Well-developed riparian vegetation occurs along the Olambwe River which is seasonal. Larger areas are occupied by Combretum and Acacia savanna.

The Gwasi Hills to the west of the park (background of the bottom left) and the Kanimwia Escarpment to the east set the park in a landscape typical for African savannas. Thus, transect studies from upslope relatively nutrient poor coarse textured soils and woody vegetation communities to fine textured soils in grasslands are of interest in associated research (see IGBP Research Agenda 1994).

Grassland Productivity is being studied in relation to Migration of Animals, to natural system cycling of materials, and to carbon and water balances (Dynamics of Soil Resource Availability). In the context of Global Change, the Ruma and Lambwe Valley sites allow important comparisons with resource use in anthropogenically dominated Social-Ecological-Systems commonly viewed in Kenyan landscapes.

IGBP Research Agenda 1994 African savannas and the global atmosphere. Global Change Report No. 31. IGBP, Stockholm

Additional photos from specific research locations are linked to geographic coordinates in the following link: Ruma Google Earth