The mammals of Angola

Scientific investigations on the mammals of Angola started over 150 years ago, but information remains scarce and scattered, with only one recent published account. Here we provide a synthesis of the mammals of Angola based on a thorough survey of primary and grey literature, as well as recent unpublished records. We present a short history of mammal research, and provide brief information on each species known to occur in the country. Particular attention is given to endemic and near endemic species. We also provide a zoogeographic outline and information on the conservation of Angolan mammals. We found confirmed records for 291 native species, most of which from the orders Rodentia (85), Chiroptera (73), Carnivora (39), and Cetartiodactyla (33). There is a large number of endemic and near endemic species, most of which are rodents or bats. The large diversity of species is favoured by the wide range of habitats with contrasting environmental conditions, while endemism tends to be associated with unique physiographic settings such as the Angolan Escarpment. The mammal fauna of Angola includes 2 Critically Endangered, 2 Endangered, 11 Vulnerable, and 14 Near-Threatened species at the global scale. There are also 12 data deficient species, most of which are endemics or near endemics to the countryinfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Averting biodiversity collapse in tropical forest protected areas

The rapid disruption of tropical forests probably imperils global biodiversity more than any other contemporary phenomenon¹⁻³. With deforestation advancing quickly, protected areas are increasingly becoming final refuges for threatened species and natural ecosystem processes. However, many protected areas in the tropics are themselves vulnerable to human encroachment and other environmental stresses⁴⁻⁹. As pressures mount, it is vital to know whether existing reserves can sustain their biodiversity. A critical constraint in addressing this question has been that data describing a broad array of biodiversity groups have been unavailable for a sufficiently large and representative sample of reserves. Here we present a uniquely comprehensive data set on changes over the past 20 to 30 years in 31 functional groups of species and 21 potential drivers of environmental change, for 60 protected areas stratified across the world’s major tropical regions. Our analysis reveals great variation in reserve ‘health’: about half of all reserves have been effective or performed passably, but the rest are experiencing an erosion of biodiversity that is often alarmingly widespread taxonomically and functionally. Habitat disruption, hunting and forest-product exploitation were the strongest predictors of declining reserve health. Crucially, environmental changes immediately outside reserves seemed nearly as important as those inside in determining their ecological fate, with changes inside reserves strongly mirroring those occurring around them. These findings suggest that tropical protected areas are often intimately linked ecologically to their surrounding habitats, and that a failure to stem broad-scale loss and degradation of such habitats could sharply increase the likelihood of serious biodiversity declines.Keywords: Ecology, Environmental scienc

Forest elephant group composition, frugivory and coastal use in the Réserve de Faune du Petit Loango, Gabon

Results of a 16-month study of forest elephant (Loxodonta africana cyclotis Matschie) group size and composition, coastal use and frugivory are presented from the Réserve de Faune du Petit Loango, Gabon (now the Parc National de Loango). Mean forest elephant group size was 2.2 (n = 140) including solitary animals, and 3.1 excluding solitaries. Elephants consumed fruits of at least 49 species, and of the 220 elephant dungpiles examined, 185 (84.1%) contained seeds and 203 (92.3%) contained the remains of fruits (seeds and/or pulp). The mean number of seed species per dungpile (±SD) was 2.01 ± 1.49, and the mean number of fruit species was 2.28 ± 1.43. Elephants used the coastal habitat more during warmer months, and during the afternoon than the morning. It is hypothesized that coastal habitat use is related to sodium intake through consumption of salt-coated vegetation

Habitat preferences of the secretive forest buffalo (Syncerus caffer nanus) in Central Africa

The forest buffalo Syncerus caffer nanus is one of the three subspecies of African buffalo inhabiting the rainforests of Western and Central Africa. Because of its secretive behaviour and main habitat (dense rainforests), there is little quantitative information on the habitat preferences of this buffalo. We present here the first data on the frequencies of this species along a habitat gradient ranging from clearings and rivers to forests, as well as the characteristics of the buffalo's resting places. We recorded information from a buffalo herd during the period January 2002-January 2004 in the Bai-Hokou area (Dzanga-Ndoki National Park, Central African Republic). Resting places were firstly compared with available habitat (i.e. resting vs. random sites) and, successively, comparisons were made between diurnal versus nocturnal and wet versus dry season resting places. Forest buffalos were found to be highly dependent on clearings, as well as on the more open forest stands, characterized by large trees and open canopy. Such preferences could be due to the tendency of the buffalos to rest all together; open patches are likely to facilitate social interactions between the members of the herd