The bii4africa dataset of faunal and floral population intactness estimates across Africa’s major land uses

Sub-Saharan Africa is under-represented in global biodiversity datasets, particularly regarding the impact of land use on species’ population abundances. Drawing on recent advances in expert elicitation to ensure data consistency, 200 experts were convened using a modified-Delphi process to estimate ‘intactness scores’: the remaining proportion of an ‘intact’ reference population of a species group in a particular land use, on a scale from 0 (no remaining individuals) to 1 (same abundance as the reference) and, in rare cases, to 2 (populations that thrive in human-modified landscapes). The resulting bii4africa dataset contains intactness scores representing terrestrial vertebrates (tetrapods: ±5,400 amphibians, reptiles, birds, mammals) and vascular plants (±45,000 forbs, graminoids, trees, shrubs) in sub-Saharan Africa across the region’s major land uses (urban, cropland, rangeland, plantation, protected, etc.) and intensities (e.g., large-scale vs smallholder cropland). This dataset was co-produced as part of the Biodiversity Intactness Index for Africa Project. Additional uses include assessing ecosystem condition; rectifying geographic/ taxonomic biases in global biodiversity indicators and maps; and informing the Red List of Ecosystems

Systematics and biogeography of the genus Mastomys (Rodentia: Muridae) occurring in Namibia and adjacent countries

Das Ziel dieser Studie war, die Anzahl der Mastomys-Arten und ihrer geographischen Verbreitung in Namibia und Teilen von Botswana und Angola zu bestimmen. Der methodische Ansatz umfasst Schädel-Morphometrie, Karyotypisierung und Cytochrom-b-Gen-Sequenzierung. Traditionellen Morphometrie-Studie lieferten keine klaren morphologischen, wohingegen die geometrische Morphometrie-Analyse erfolgreicher war. Hier zeigten die Ergebnisse bei drei Spezies deutliche dorsale und ventrale Unterschiede in der Schädelform. Die Resultate der zytogenetischen und molekularen Methoden ergaben drei Formen von Mastomys mit unterschiedlichen Karyotypen und mtDNA. Diese wurden M. coucha (2n = 36, aFN = 60/60), M. natalensis (2n = 32, aFN = 57/58) und M. shortridgei (2n = 36, aFN = 51/52) zugeordnet. Die mtDNA Divergenz zwischen der Art M. coucha und M. shortridgei war relativ gering (1.3%), außerdem legte die „Moleküluhr“ (molecular clock) nahe, dass M. shortridgei ein aktueller Ableger von M. coucha (0.71 Mya) ist. Man nimmt an, dass der Paläo-Makgadikgadi See, im heutigen Botswana einen Großteil des östlichen Kalahari-Beckens bedeckte. Es könnte sein, dass Ausläufer früherer Populationen von M. shortridgei in Kontakt mit dem Paläo-Makgadikgadi See kammen und während des End-Pleistozäns bis zum frühen Holozän durch das Schrumpfen des Sees isoliert wurden. Im Laufe der Zeit haben sich die frühen Populationen von M. shortridgei an die lokalen sumpfigen Umweltbedingungen angepasst. M. coucha und M. natalensis haben eine klar begrenzte geografischen Verteilung in Namibia, dies scheint durch Niederschlag beeinflusst zu sein: M. coucha tritt vor allem in den niederschlagsarmen Gebieten von Zentral-Namibia auf, M. natalensis dagegen in den niederschlagsreichen Gebieten im nördlich-zentralen und nordöstlichen Namibia und erstreckt sich bis nach Angola und in das nördliche Botswana hinein. Die M. shortridgei-Proben wurden nur in den Okavango-Sümpfen gefunden.Study aims to summarise the patterns of morphological, cytogenetic and genetic variation of genus Mastomys across the south-west arid region of southern Africa. The methodological approach included skull morphometrics, karyotyping and cytochrome-b gene sequencing. Traditional morphometrics study did not yield clear morphological differences between the three species. Geometric morphometrics analysis was more successful with clear differences, in the shape of the skulls based on landmarks from both the dorsal and ventral views. Results obtained with cytogenetical and molecular methods revealed three forms of Mastomys with different karyotypes and mtDNA clades. These were assigned to M. coucha (2n = 36, aFN = 60/60), M. natalensis (2n = 32, aFN = 57/58) and M. shortridgei (2n = 36, aFN = 51/52). The mtDNA divergence between the species M. coucha and M. shortridgei was relatively low (1.3%), additionally the molecular clock estimated M. shortridgei to be a recent off-shoot of M. coucha (0.71 Mya). It is estimated that the lake Palaeo-Makgadikgadi, in present day Botswana, covered much of the eastern Kalahari basin. It could be that the peripheral ancestral population of M. shortridgei came in contact with the lake Palaeo-Makgadikgadi and was isolated with the shrinking lake Palaeo-Makgadikgadi during the End-Pleistocene to Early Holocene. Over time ancestral populations of M. shortridgei became adapted to the local swampy environmental conditions. M. coucha and M. natalensis have distinct geographical distribution influenced by precipitation. M. coucha mainly occurs in the low rainfall areas of central Namibia, whereas M. natalensis occurs in higher rainfall areas of north-central and north-eastern Namibia, extending into Angola and northern Botswana. The M. shortridgei specimens were only trapped along the Okavango River swamps in northern Botswana and south-eastern Angola

The bii4africa dataset of faunal and floral population intactness estimates across Africa’s major land uses

International audienceSub-Saharan Africa is under-represented in global biodiversity datasets, particularly regarding the impact of land use on species' population abundances. Drawing on recent advances in expert elicitation to ensure data consistency, 200 experts were convened using a modified-Delphi process to estimate 'intactness scores': the remaining proportion of an 'intact' reference population of a species group in a particular land use, on a scale from 0 (no remaining individuals) to 1 (same abundance as the reference) and, in rare cases, to 2 (populations that thrive in human-modified landscapes). The resulting bii4africa dataset contains intactness scores representing terrestrial vertebrates (tetrapods: ±5,400 amphibians, reptiles, birds, mammals) and vascular plants (±45,000 forbs, graminoids, trees, shrubs) in sub-Saharan Africa across the region's major land uses (urban, cropland, rangeland, plantation, protected, etc.) and intensities (e.g., large-scale vs smallholder cropland). This dataset was co-produced as part of the Biodiversity Intactness Index for Africa Project. Additional uses include assessing ecosystem condition; rectifying geographic/ taxonomic biases in global biodiversity indicators and maps; and informing the Red List of Ecosystems

bi4africa dataset - open source

The bii4africa dataset is presented in a multi-spreadsheet .ods file. The raw data spreadsheet (‘Scores_Raw’) includes 31,313 individual expert estimates of the impact of a sub-Saharan African land use on a species response group of terrestrial vertebrates or vascular plants. Estimates are reported as intactness scores - the remaining proportion of an ‘intact’ reference (pre-industrial or contemporary wilderness area) population of a species response group in a land use, on a scale from 0 (no individuals remain) through 0.5 (half the individuals remain), to 1 (same as the reference population) and, in limited cases, to 2 (two or more times the reference population). For species that thrive in human-modified landscapes, scores could be greater than 1 but not exceeding 2 to avoid extremely large scores biasing aggregation exercises. Expert comments are included alongside respective estimates

bii4africa dataset

The bii4africa dataset is presented in a multi-spreadsheet .xlsx file. The raw data spreadsheet (‘Scores_Raw’) includes 31,313 individual expert estimates of the impact of a sub-Saharan African land use on a species response group of terrestrial vertebrates or vascular plants. Estimates are reported as intactness scores - the remaining proportion of an ‘intact’ reference (pre-industrial or contemporary wilderness area) population of a species response group in a land use, on a scale from 0 (no individuals remain) through 0.5 (half the individuals remain), to 1 (same as the reference population) and, in limited cases, to 2 (two or more times the reference population). For species that thrive in human-modified landscapes, scores could be greater than 1 but not exceeding 2 to avoid extremely large scores biasing aggregation exercises. Expert comments are included alongside respective estimates