Mark Otieno

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Verified

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• PhD
• Senior Lecturer at University of Embu

Land use change threatens global biodiversity and compromises ecosystem functions, including pollination and food production. Reduced taxonomic α‐diversity is often reported under land use change, yet the impacts could be different at larger spatial scales (i.e., γ‐diversity), either due to reduced β‐diversity amplifying diversity loss or increased...

Land use change threatens global biodiversity and compromises ecosystem functions, including pollination and food production. Reduced taxonomic α-diversity is often reported under land use change, yet the impacts could be different at larger spatial scales (i.e., γ-diversity), either due to reduced β-diversity amplifying diversity loss or increased...

Land use change threatens global biodiversity and compromises ecosystem functions, including pollination and food production. Reduced taxonomic α-diversity is often reported under land use change, yet the impacts could be different at larger spatial scales (i.e., γ-diversity), either due to reduced β-diversity amplifying diversity loss or increased...

The foundation of sustainable agriculture rests on integrating ecological principles into farming systems. This includes conserving biodiversity through practices like crop rotations, intercropping, agroforestry, and habitat preservation, which sustain key ecosystem services. Sustainable methods emphasize soil health via practices like cover croppi...

Agroecology focuses on high water-use efficiency in agriculture, aiming to maximize productivity while minimizing consumption. Key strategies include enhancing soil health through organic matter addition, cover cropping, and reduced tillage to improve moisture retention. Crop selection and diversification help optimize water utilization by choosing...

Traditional farming practices have long championed agrobiodiversity, emphasizing the cultivation of diverse crops and locally adapted animals to enhance ecosystem resilience and food security. These methods, deeply rooted in agroecology, maintain soil fertility and support biodiversity through techniques like crop rotation, intercropping, and the c...

Sustainable agriculture relies on maintaining farm health, optimizing crop and animal well-being, and ensuring food quality while minimizing environmental impact. Key strategies include enhancing soil health to prevent diseases and improve productivity, achieved through practices like crop rotations and reduced chemical inputs. Agroecology, crucial...

Agroecology represents an essential approach for climate change mitigation, integrating ecological principles within agricultural systems to promote sustainability. Key strategies include sustainable soil management, which enhances carbon sequestration through practices like cover cropping, conservation agriculture, and organic amendments. Addition...

Climate change poses a significant threat to agriculture in sub-Saharan Africa, with rising temperatures, altered rainfall patterns, and increased extreme weather events impacting crop and livestock productivity. These changes lead to reduced yields, increased pest vulnerabilities, and challenges in water availability, further jeopardizing food sec...

Biodiversity and ecosystem services are essential components of agroecology, aiming to promote sustainable food production through the conservation of diverse plant and animal species. Traditional farming practices emphasize agrobiodiversity, incorporating various crop varieties and livestock breeds adapted to local conditions, which enhances resil...

The future of fossil fuels in sub-Saharan Africa is influenced by global energy transitions, regional demand, and climate change challenges. As the world shifts towards renewable energy to reduce emissions, sub-Saharan Africa must balance its energy needs, especially with rapid urbanization driving consumption. Traditionally reliant on fossil fuels...

Sub-Saharan Africa’s exceptional biodiversity spans ecosystems like rainforests and savannahs, supporting varied species. Integrating biodiversity conservation into agriculture is crucial for sustainability and environmental care. Agroecology, recognizing the link between farming and biodiversity, encourages practices like agroforestry and maintain...

Agroecological practices address challenges related to climate change, food security, and sustainability through climate-smart agriculture (CSA). CSA integrates techniques like diversified cropping systems, improved soil management, and water-efficient irrigation to enhance productivity and resilience while mitigating greenhouse gas emissions. Supp...

Sub-Saharan Africa features diverse agroecological regions that significantly shape agricultural practices and crop suitability. These regions include tropical rainforests, savannas, and highlands, each supporting various crops and livestock methods suited to local environmental conditions. While tropical rainforests enableand adaptive strategies a...

Agroecology integrates post-harvest handling technologies to maintain food quality, reduce losses, and promote sustainability in agriculture. Effective post-harvest management enhances food security by minimizing spoilage, preserving nutritional value, and ensuring accessibility. In sub-Saharan Africa, challenges like inadequate infrastructure and...

Ecological intensification has been embraced with great interest by the academic sector but is still rarely taken up by farmers because monitoring the state of different ecological functions is not straightforward. Modelling tools can represent a more accessible alternative of measuring ecological functions, which could help promote their use among...

Recent studies link increased ozone (O3) and carbon dioxide (CO2) levels to alteration of plant performance and plant-herbivore interactions, but their interactive effects on plant-pollinator interactions are little understood. Extra floral nectaries (EFNs) are essential organs used by some plants for stimulating defense against herbivory and for t...

Recent studies link increased levels of ozone and carbon dioxide to plant performance and plant-herbivore interactions, but the interactive effects on plant-pollinator interactions and ecosystem services have rarely been studied. Here we experimentally tested whether elevated levels of these two gases alter plant growth, flower visitation, and yiel...

Tuta absoluta is one of the devastating insect pests of tomato in Kirinyaga County, Kenya. This pest can reduce yield and quality of tomato by 80-100% both in field and greenhouse conditions. Synthetic insecticides are the primary management strategy utilized by farmers to combat the insect pest. The aggressive nature of the pest, short generation...

Seventy five percent of the world's food crops benefit from insect pollination. Hence, there has been increased interest in how global change drivers impact this critical ecosystem service. Because standardized data on crop pollination are rarely available, we are limited in our capacity to understand the variation in pollination benefits to crop y...

Conservation is predominantly an exercise in trying to change human behaviour – whether that of consumers whose choices drive unsustainable resource use, of land managers clearing natural habitats, or of policymakers failing to deliver on environmental commitments. Yet conservation research and practice have made only limited use of recent advances...

Human activities are degrading ecosystems worldwide, posing existential threats for biodiversity and humankind. Slowing and reversing this degradation will require profound and widespread changes to human behaviour. Behavioural scientists are therefore well placed to contribute intellectual leadership in this area. This Perspective aims to stimulat...

Background: The African violets are endangered plant species restricted mainly to the Eastern Arc Mountains biodiversity hotspots in Kenya and Tanzania. These plants grow well in shaded environments with high humidity. Given their restricted geographical range and published evidence of dependance on insect vectors to facilitate sexual reproduction,...

Background The African violets are endangered plant species restricted mainly to the Eastern Arc Mountains biodiversity hotspots in Kenya and Tanzania. These plants grow well in shaded environments with high humidity. Given their restricted geographical range and published evidence of dependance on insect vectors to facilitate sexual reproduction,...

Legumes are important crops for food security, consumed by millions of people especially in Africa where they are an essential protein source and provide key vitamins and minerals. Most legumes depend on insect pollination and natural pest regulation for sufficient yields, however, there is emerging evidence that yield gaps caused by lack of pollin...

Legumes are important crops for food security, consumed by millions of people especially in Africa where they are an essential protein source and provide key vitamins and minerals. Most legumes depend on insect pollination and natural pest regulation for sufficient yields, however, there is emerging evidence that yield gaps caused by lack of pollin...

Combination of pest management strategies that minimize pesticide use and conserve natural enemies is important for a sustainable environment. Overreliance on synthetic insecticides in the management of Tuta absoluta has led to pesticide resistance leading to difficulties in managing the pest. In this regard, alternative measures need to be put in...

Honey bees (Apis mellifera L.) are key pollinators of agricultural crops. However, approximately 30% of managed colonies die each winter in the United States. There has been great interest in breeding for 'locally adapted stocks' which survive winter conditions in a particular region. Here, we evaluate the impact of geographic origin of stock on co...

Honey bees (Apis mellifera L.) are key pollinators of agricultural crops. However, approximately 30% of managed colonies die each winter in the United States. There has been great interest in breeding for 'locally adapted stocks' which survive winter conditions in a particular region. Here, we evaluate the impact of geographic origin of stock on co...

Pest invasion is one of the limiting factors affecting food production. Tomato leaf miner (Tuta absoluta) (Meyrick 1917) (Lepidoptera: Gelechiidae), is an invasive insect pest of tomato. However, In Kenya, there is limited information on the level of invasion of the pest in tomato producing areas in the country. We assessed the level of invasion of...

Agricultural intensification is a leading cause of global biodiversity loss, which can reduce the provisioning of ecosystem services in managed ecosystems. Organic farming and plant diversification are farm management schemes that may mitigate potential ecological harm by increasing species richness and boosting related ecosystem services to agroec...

Agricultural intensification is a leading cause of global biodiversity loss, which can reduce the provisioning of ecosystem services in managed ecosystems. Organic farming and plant diversification are farm management schemes that may mitigate potential ecological harm by increasing species richness and boosting related ecosystem services to agroec...

Explosive pollen release is documented in many plant families, including the Fabaceae. Desmodium setigerum E. Mey (Fabaceae) is a perennial herb with single trip explosive pollen release found in eastern Africa, and the unique ability to reverse floral colour change if insufficient pollination has occurred. However, little else is known about the p...

Landscapes of farms and adjacent areas are known to influence abundance of various arthropods such as pollinators in commercial agricultural ecosystems. In this context, we examined the effect of heterogeneous landscapes surrounding and including commercial apple orchards on pollinator visitation and foraging distance during bloom period from 2011...

Bees are important pollinators of numerous crops, and monitoring their abundance and diversity in commercial agricultural ecosystems is of increasing importance due to pollinator declines. In season-long field studies conducted in Pennsylvania during 2011-2013, we evaluated five different bee monitoring passive traps - three pan traps (blue, yellow...

Understanding the relationships between trait diversity, species diversity and ecosystem functioning is essential for sustainable management. For functions comprising two trophic levels, trait matching between interacting partners should also drive functioning. However, the predictive ability of trait diversity and matching is unclear for most func...

Pollinators face many challenges within agricultural systems due to landscape changes and intensification which can affect resource availability that can impact pollination services. This paper examines pigeon pea pollination and considers how landscape context and agricultural intensification in terms of pesticide use affects the abundance of bees...

Bees are important pollinators of numerous crops, and monitoring their abundance and diversity in commercial agricultural ecosystems is of increasing importance due to pollinator declines. In season-long field studies conducted in Pennsylvania during 2011-2013, we evaluated five different bee monitoring passive traps –three pan traps (blue, yellow,...

We examined the effect of heterogeneous landscapes surrounding commercial apple orchards on pollinator visitation by exploring the following two questions: 1) How does proximity to natural woodland affect pollinator foraging distances into an orchard? 2) How does the surrounding landscape context affect visitation rates to apple flowers? Our study,...

In the Report “Wild Pollinators Enhance Fruit Set of Crops Regardless of Honey Bee Abundance,” it is possible that some pollinator species were misidentified in lowland coffee, Uganda, one of the 41 studies included in the synthesis. This potential misidentification does not invalidate the analyses, conclusions, or the wider implications of the stu...

Bees provide essential pollination services that are potentially affected both by local farm management and the surrounding landscape. To better understand these different factors, we modelled the relative effects of landscape composition (nesting and floral resources within foraging distances), landscape configuration (patch shape, interpatch conn...

Honeybees Can't Do It Alone The majority of food crops require pollination to set fruit with the honeybee providing a pollination workhorse, with both feral and managed populations an integral component of crop management (see the Perspective by Tylianakis , published online 28 February). Garibaldi et al. (p. 1608 , published online 28 February) no...

Arthropods that have a direct impact on crop production (i.e. pests, natural enemies and pollinators) can be influenced by both local farm management and the context within which the fields occur in the wider landscape. However, the contributions and spatial scales at which these drivers operate and interact are not fully understood, particularly i...

Insect pollinators provide a critical ecosystem service by pollinating many wild flowers and crops. It is therefore essential to be able to effectively survey and monitor pollinator communities across a range of habitats, and in particular, sample the often stratified parts of the habitats where insects are found. To date, a wide array of sampling...

Insect pollinators provide a critical ecosystem service by pollinating many wild flowers and crops. It is therefore essential to be able to effectively survey and monitor pollinator communities across a range of habitats, and in particular, sample the often stratified parts of the habitats where insects are found. To date, a wide array of sampling...