RESEARCH PROPOSAL
The Impact of Prosopis Juliflora on Local Desert Plants
This paper discusses in detail the research proposal on the impact of P. juliflora (mesquite tree) on local desert plants. In particular, the research will focus on the allelopathic influence of mesquite trees. In this research proposal, the background, context and theme of the study are presented; the objectives of the study and the research statements are formulated. Here, vital concepts, questions and assumptions are stated. Finally, the scope and limitation of the study, methodology to be used and the significance of the research are discussed.
Introduction
Mesquite pods are among the earliest known foods of prehistoric man in the new world (Duke, 1983). Pods are made into gruels, which are sometimes fermented to make a mesquite wine. The leaves can be used for forage. The wood is used for parquet floors, furniture, and turnery items, fencepost, pilings, as a substrate for producing single-cell protein, but most of all for fuel. Toasted seeds are added to coffee. The bark is rich in tannin, which is used for roofing. The gum forms an adhesive mucilage, used as an emulsifying agent. Gum is used in confectionary and mending pottery. Roots contain 6–7% tannin, which might discourage Rhizobia.
Mesquite juice is cathartic, cyanogenetic, discutient, emetic, stomachic, and vulnerary; it is a folk remedy for catarrh, colds, diarrhea, dysentery, excrescences, eyes, flu, headcold, hoarseness, inflammation, itch, measles, pinkeye, stomachache, sore throat, and wounds (Duke & Wain, 1981).
Mesquite flower contains (Per 100 g): 21.0 g protein, 3.2 g fat, 65.8 g total carbohydrate, 15.5 g fiber, 10.0 g ash, 1,310 mg Ca, and 400 mg P. The leaves contain 19.0 g protein, 2.9 g fat, 69.6 g total carbohydrate, total carbohydrate, 21.6 g fiber, 8.5 g ash, 2,080 mg Ca, and 220 g P. Fruits contain 13.9 g protein, 3.0 g fat, 78.3 g total carbohydrate, 27.7 g fiber, and 4.8 g ash. Seeds contain (ZMB) 65.2 g protein, 7.8 g fat, 21.8 g total carbohydrate, 2.8 g fiber, and 5.2 g ash. (FAO, 1981).
Another analysis of the fruit shows 14.35% water (hygroscopic), 1.64% oil, 16.36% starch, 30.25% glucose, 0.85% nitrogenous material, 5.81% tannin-like material, 3.5% mineral salts, and 27.24% cellulose. Mesquite gum readily hydrolyses with dilute sulfuric acid to yield L-arabinose and D-galactose and 4-o-methyl-D-glucuronic acid at 4:2:1. Owing to the high content of arabinose, the gum is an excellent source of sugar. Roots contain 6.7% tannin, bark 3–8.4%, and dry wood 0.9%. The alkaloids 5-hydroxytryptamine and tryptamine are reported from this species (Simpson, 1977).
P. juliflora have been introduced to Oman for shade, decorative, food for domestic animals and pasture. Vigorous growth, prolific seed production and effective seed dispersal enables P. juliflora to strongly compete with, and to some extent, eliminate native vegetation. P. juliflora may also change the fuel load in plant communities. The changed structure and fire regimes of the habitat is likely to adversely impact on both native vertebrate and invertebrate fauna.
P. juliflora was introduced to Salalah in Oman in the mid-seventies. In 20 years, P. juliflora has spread just from a few trees and now occurs throughout the 1 million ha. Mesquite was spread by ruminants which ingest seeds and excrete them in manure. Manure is a common source of fertilizer for agriculture. With high content of hard seed, passage through the digestive system of ruminants acts to scarify seed. Mesquite was found to be well adapted to environment with high moisture such as drainage lines, irrigation canals, bridge inlets and outlets and irrigated farm lands.
Mesquite causes many serious problems. It competes with native plants, eventually killing them; large quantities of pods are consumed and excreted in manure as only the pods are palatable to livestock and not the leaves; very high pods production occurs e.g. 3.34 kg per tree ensuring rapid spread, with seedling germination at very high densities forming thickets; and the seeds can be transported long distances by goat and sheep, and by water to favorable sites some distance away.
The primary purpose of achievement of Directorate General of Nature Reserves at Ministry of Regional Municipalities, Environment and Water Resources is to protect not only the local wildlife and its components from human activities but also from other organisms including animals and plants. After habitat loss, invasive or exotic species are considered the greatest threat to the preservation of natural resources. Additionally, more than one million acres of Oman land are infested by exotic invasive plant species. Large numbers of exotic plants such as the Prosopis juliflora (mesquite) invade native plants; they compete with, and displace many native species.
With this, the researcher finds the necessity to study the harmful impact of mesquite trees on other plants. In this study, P. juliflora’s allelopathic effects on other plants’ rate of germination and growth in terms of root, shoot and seedling will be determined.
Allelopathy in trees and forests is an important health care issue (Coder, 1999). Allelopathy is the chemical modification of the site by an individual to enhance interference effectiveness. Allelopathy also involves the ecological communications between species which can positively or negatively influence growth, behavior, reproduction, and survival of associated species.
According to El Fadl (1997), in his investigation of the potential allelopathic effect of P. juliflora on agricultural crop seed germination and seedling growth, aqueous leaf extracts of the tree contain substances that inhibit sorghum, pearl millet and sesame seed germination and retard seedling development when applied at concentrations greater than 5%. However, the crop biomass production increased with increasing amounts of P. juliflora litter in the soil. Based on El fadl’s (1997) study, it is unlikely that P. juliflora produces harmful levels of potentially allelopathic substances, and hence it is suggested that this tree can be successfully intercropped in agroforestry systems.
The study showed that the use of P. juliflora in agroforestry has a great potential for rural people in a region very vulnerable to drought and famine. Risk minimisation should not be viewed only through increasing the agricultural crop productivity; even more importantly, the pod production is of paramount importance especially during times of scarcity of fodder and food El Fadl (1997).
The study will consider the many benefits of mesquite trees on the ecology. However, it will be necessary to present its other side.
This research will be divided into five chapters. In Chapter 1, the nature of the problem, background of the study, research objectives and methodologies will be presented. Chapter 2 will review previous studies on P. juliflora. The third chapter will discuss the methodologies that will be utilized. The fourth chapter will present the result of the experiment. Finally, Chapter 5 will provide significant conclusions and insightful recommendations.
Research Statement
General Purpose of the StudyGenerally, the purpose of the research is to conduct an experimental study on determining the effects of mesquite on local desert trees. The research will also conduct a gene-mapping of mesquite and determine the allelopathic effect of mesquite trees on local desert plants.
Research Questions
To support the aforementioned fundamental purpose, the research will specifically attempt to answer the following questions:
1. In general, what are the effects of mesquite trees on local wild life?
2. Specifically, what are the effects of mesquite trees on local desert trees?
3. In what way do mesquite trees affect local desert trees?
4. What are the measures done by Omani authorities in addressing the mesquite problem?
Overall Research AimThe project primarily aims to explore the nature of mesquite trees and to present their benefits as well their harm on the ecology.
Objectives
To carry out the overall aim, the following aims will be realized:
1. Assessment and evaluation of the benefits and harms of mesquite trees on the environment.
2. Review of related literature on P. juliflora and its allelopathic influence on local desert trees and gene-mapping.
3. Conducting a laboratory experiment to determine the allelopathic effects of mesquite trees on desert trees.
4. Generation of significant conclusions and insightful recommendations
Overview of Methodology
There are three kinds of research methods, correlational, descriptive and experimental (Walliman and Baiche, 2001). The correlational research refers to studies in which the purpose is to discover relationships between variables through the use of correlational statistics (r). The square of a correlation coefficient yields the explained variance (r-squared). The descriptive research method uses observation and surveys. In this method, it is possible that the study would be cheap and quick. Finally, the experimental method is the only method that can be used to establish cause-and-effect relationships. (Creswell, 1994) In this method, the subjects are split into two or more groups. One group, called the experimental group gets the treatment that the researcher believes will cause something to happen (this treatment is formally called the independent variable). The experimental and control groups are compared on some variable that is presumed to reflect the effects of the treatment, or outcome. This is formally referred to as the dependent variable.
The primary source of data will come from the laboratory experiment that will be conducted by the researcher. The secondary sources of data will come from published articles from science journals, books and related studies on allelopathic influences of P. juliflora and gene-mapping. For this research design, the researcher will gather data, collate published studies from different local and foreign universities and articles from science journals; and make an analysis of the result of the experiment and collected documentary and verbal material. Afterwards, the researcher will summarize all the information, make a conclusion based on the null hypotheses posited and provide insightful recommendations on addressing the mesquite tree problem.
In assessing and evaluating the overall benefits and harm of mesquite trees on Omani environment, the researcher will personally seek pertinent data from the Ministry of Regional Municipalities, Environment and Water Resources. Afterwards, in reviewing the literature, the researcher will gather all relevant literature from libraries and the Internet, organize them according to topic, identify the headings and subheadings, and synthesize the literature. Then, the researcher will identify issues and problems to be addressed in the research.
For this study, a laboratory experiment will be conducted. The process will include the test of mesquite tree water extracts on some desert plants in terms of rate and germination percentage and growth rate of root, shoot, and seedling of some desert plants. The researcher will design the experiment processes with the help of the advisor. Finally, with the help of a statistician, the researcher will make the statistical analysis.
After gathering the results, a preliminary analysis of the results of the experiment will be conducted. Then the advisor will check the preliminary analysis. Afterwards, the researcher will conduct detailed analysis of the results.
Objectives for the Experiment
1- To study the effects of water extracts on the rate and germination percentage of some desert plants.
2- To study the effects of water extracts on the root growth of some desert plants.
3- To study the effects of water extracts on the shoot growth of some desert plants.
4- To study the effects of water extracts on the seedling growth of some desert plants.
Protocol: (Experiment 1)
Extract preparation
Extract bioassay
Scope and Limitation
This study will only cover the allelopathic impact of P. juliflora on desert plants in Oman. The outcome of this study will be limited only to the data gathered from previous studies on mesquite trees and from the primary data gathered from the result of the laboratory experiment that will be conducted by the researcher. As the research was completed in a relatively short period of time other factors and variables are not considered. This might have an impact on the results of the study.
Significance of the Study
This study will be a significant endeavor in promoting awareness on the harmful side of mesquite trees. This study will be helpful to environmentalists for this will present significant findings on the impact of mesquite trees on local desert trees. Moreover, this study will be an important contribution to a body of research concerning allelopathic influences in plants.
References Coder, K. B. (1999) Allelopathy in trees and forests:
A selected bibliography. Daniel B. Warnell School of Forest Resources,
The University of Georgia. Available at [www.forestry.uga.edu]. Accessed [15/10/03].
Creswell, J.W. (1994) Research design. Qualitative and quantitative approaches. Thousand Oaks, California: Sage.
Duke, J. A. (1983) Handbook of Energy Crops. Unpublished
El Fadl, M. A. (1997). Management of Prosopis juliflora for use in agroforestry systems in the Sudan. University of Helsinki Tropical Forestry Reports 16, 107.
FAO (1980) Genetic resources of tree species in arid and semi-arid areas. Rome.
Simpson, B. B., ed. (1977) Mesquite, its biology in two desert scrub ecosystems. Dowden, Hutchinson & Ross, Inc. Stroudsburg, PA.
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