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

A comparative study between sampling methods for soil litter arthropods in conserved tree plots and banana crop plantations in Rwanda

The aim of this study was to compare trapping efficiency between Berlese-Tullgren funnels, pitfall traps and hand sorting sampling methods for soil litter arthropods. The study was carried out at the Arboretum of Ruhande and Rubona agricultural research station, in southern Rwanda. Biological indices indicated that pitfall traps collect a wide range of soil litter arthropod diversity, and chi-square test indicated the dependence between Berlese-Tullgren funnels and pitfall traps, and between pitfall traps and hand sorting. Z-test and univariate comparison indicated differences in means between tested sampling methods. The analysis of variance revealed that pitfall traps are less time consuming and the principal component analysis indicated that Formicidae is likely to be collected by pitfall traps and Berlese-Tullgren funnels, while Julidae, Porcellionidae and Geophilidae are likely to be collected by hand sorting. Research concluded that pitfall traps are more efficient than other studied sampling methods, but further studies should be conducted in other ecological zones, and different land uses in order to generate general information of these findings

Application of conservation biology research to management

We conducted a survey of all primary authors of Contributed Papers and Research Notes in Conservation Biology from 1987 to 1998 to assess the perceived effectiveness of published management recommendations. No systematic survey has previously assessed the degree to which authors believe that resource managers are using the growing body of research published in Conservation Biology. In March 1999, we sent surveys to 667 authors of 790 published papers, asking whether their papers included management recommendations, whether such recommendations have been used in practice, and why they believed they have or have not been used. We received completed surveys from 198 authors of 223 papers. The percentage of papers that included management recommendations increased from 1987 to 1991, then stabilized at about 75%. Author perception of the use of management recommendations generally increased over the 5 years from 1994 to 1998. Initiatives of federal, state, and local agencies were the most often-cited cause of successful implementation of management recommendations, accounting for over half of all such cases. Our survey suggests that authors in Conservation Biology have increased the use of explicit management recommendations in their papers and that authors believe their recommendations are being used to an increasing degree

Use of soil and litter arthropods as biological indicators of soil quality in forest plantations and agricultural lands: A Review

This article reviewed published papers on the use of soil and litter arthropods as biological indicators of soil quality since the 1970s. Our review shows that soil and litter arthropods are litter transformers and ecosystem engineers. They contribute to the availability of organic matter. Their diversity, abundance, biomass, and density are suitable measures for the assessment of natural and/or anthropogenic effects on soil. However, their use is challenged by difficulties in sampling methods and the identification of soil and litter arthropod diversity up to species level, and few research projects combine both abiotic and biotic factors. We recommend further research to investigate the most suitable methods for sampling soil and litter arthropods, and create a classification of dominant groups up to species level which, along with the use of integrative methodologies, will be valuable steps towards a generalized and accepted method for the assessment of soil qualityUse of soil litter arthropods as biological indicators of soil qualit

scripts -- Fruiting phenology patterns, Nyungwe National Park, Rwanda

R scripts for analysis of fruiting phenology patterns in Nyungwe National Park, Rwanda, 1996-2019.</p

data

Data files (.csv) used in study of fruiting phenology patterns in Nyungwe National Park, Rwanda from 1996-2019. Datasets include climate variables (rain, irradiance, minimum and maximum temperatures, and ENSO index), fruiting phenology data, and GIS locations of study sites. Data are organized for use in statistical analyses using the R computational language.Instructions for use in R Project:We strongly suggest the creation of an R Project file in R Studio to use the scripts and data contained in this repository.Data files should be stored in a folder named "data", in the same directory as the R Project file. This will ensure that R scripts for loading data folders are accessing the correct directory.Script files should be stored in another folder in the same directory as the R Project file (suggested folder name: "scripts").</p

Use of Soil and Litter Ants (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) as Biological Indicators of Soil Quality Under Different Land Uses in Southern Rwanda

The use of soil and litter arthropods as biological indicators is a way to assess environmental changes, where ant species in particular may serve as important indicators of soil quality. This study aimed at relating the abundance of soil and litter ant species to soil parameters under different tree species, both native and exotic, and varieties of coffee and banana plantations. Variations were found in soil physicochemical parameters. A total of 30 species belonging to 14 genera, and four subfamilies, the Formicinae, Dorylinae, Myrmicinae, and Ponerinae were identifed. Higher abundance was found in coffee plantations compared to banana plantations, exotic and native tree species. Species of Camponotus cinctellus and Odontomachus troglodytes occurred in all land uses which is a sign of tolerance to a wide range of soil properties. In addition, these species, together with Myrmicaria SP02, Phrynoponera gabonensis, Camponotus SP06, Myrmicaria opaciventris, Pheidole SP03, Tetramorium simillimum, Pheidole SP01, and Tetramorium laevithorax were not strongly correlated with soil physicochemical parameters. Species of Pheidole SP02 and Camponotus SP05 were restricted to specifc soil physicochemical properties, while species of Tetramorium zonacaciae and Bothroponera talpa discriminated between native tree species, coffee plantations, soil organic carbon, sandy soil texture, and aggregate stability. We concluded that these ant species can differently indicate the soil quality depending on the land use. We recommended further studies in order to generalize these fndingsUse of soil arthropods as biological indicators of soil quqlit