Landscape monitoring of semi-arid rangelands in the Kenyan Rift Valley

A sampling system was devised and used from 1992 to 1996 in annual grassland and open woodland of the south-west Kenyan Rift Valley. The monitoring was designed to detect vegetation changes consequent on the attempted removal of the tsetse vectors of trypanosomiasis in cattle during a simultaneous trapping programme. The sampled sites covered most vegetation-landscape types, and have led to a better understanding of processes within some. Although fluctuations in pastoralist use and occupancy have been observed, no change in vegetation can be attributed to increased grazing or browsing. Although there is high climatic variability some vegetation types seemed stable over the period studied, and some trends appear to be predictable.