Avifauna in Relation to Habitat Disturbance in Wildlife Management Areas of the Ruvuma Miombo Ecosystem, Southern Tanzania

Understanding of relative distribution of avifauna provides insights for the conservation and management of wildlife in the community managed areas. This study examined relative diversity, abundance, and distribution of avifauna in selected habitat types across five Wildlife Management Areas of the Ruvuma landscape in miombo vegetation, southern Tanzania. Five habitat types were surveyed during the study: farmland, swamps, riverine forest, dense and open woodland. Transect lines, mist-netting, and point count methods were used to document 156 species of birds in the study sites. Descriptive statistics and Kruskal-Wallis tests were used to compare species richness and diversity across habitat types. We found differences in avifaunal species distribution in the study area whereby farmland had the highest abundance of avifauna species and lowest in the riverine forest. These results suggest that variations of avifauna species abundance, diversity, and distribution could be attributed by human activities across habitat types; due to the reason that habitats with less human encroachment had good species diversity and richness. Therefore, to improve avitourism and avoid local extinction of species, we urge for prompt action to mitigate species loss by creating awareness in the adjacent community through conservation education on the importance of protecting such biodiversity resources

Analysis of pit latrine microbiota reveals depth-related variation in composition, and key parameters and taxa associated with latrine fill-up rate

Funding statement This research received financial support from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation (grant number OPP52641 to the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine). AWW and JP were supported by the Wellcome Trust [grant number 098051]. AWW and the Rowett Institute, University of Aberdeen, receive core funding support from the Scottish Government Rural and Environmental Science and In review Analysis Service (RESAS). UZI is funded by NERC Independent Research Fellowship (NE/L011956/1) and further supported by EPSRC (EP/P029329/1 and EP/V030515/1). CQ is funded through an MRC fellowship (MR/M50161X/1) as part of the MRC Cloud Infrastructure for Microbial Bioinformatics consortium (MR/L015080/1). Acknowledgements In review Pit latrine microbiota associated with depth and fill-up rate. We would like to thank all the field and laboratory teams and to all the pit latrine owners who participated in this study. We also thank Paul Scott, Richard Rance and members of the Wellcome Sanger Institute's sequencing team for generating 16S rRNA gene data.Peer reviewedPublisher PD

Butterfly diversity and its relevance to conservation in North-Eastern Tanzania

EThOS - Electronic Theses Online ServiceGBUnited Kingdo

On the status of Pseudomylothris Neustetter, a supposed endemic butterfly genus from the Uluguru Mountains of Tanzania (Lepidoptera: Pieridae)

Volume: 44Start Page: 85End Page: 9

The type material, taxonomy and conservation of Horniman's Swallowtail, Papilio hornimani (Lepidoptera : Papilionidae)

The taxonomy of the East African swallowtail Papilio hornimani is reviewed, with special reference to the three currently recognized subspecies described from the Usambara Mts (P. h. hornimani), Udzungwa Mts (P. h. mwanihanae) and the Oldeani-Mbulu massif (P. h. mbulu), all located in Tanzania. The primary type material is illustrated, and type localities are established, notably with respect to the original source for P. h. hornimani, collected at Magila, Mlinga Forest area, East Usambara mountains. Populations from the Chyulu Hills (Kenya) and Mts Meru and Kilimanjaro (Tanzania), placed here with P. h. mbulu, appear to represent further potential segregates, or clinal variation. Prospects for conservation of the Mlinga Forest population are briefly discussed

Butterflies (Lepidoptera: Papilionoidea) of Mount Kilimanjaro: family Pieridae, subfamily Pierinae

<div><p>This paper, which presents an annotated checklist of the whites (Pieridae: Pierinae), is the third in a series on the butterfly fauna of Mount Kilimanjaro. Four genera (<i>Colotis</i>, <i>Nepheronia</i>, <i>Belenois</i>, <i>Mylothris</i>), with a total of 10 included species, are known to occur within the main forest zone, from c.1800 to c.2800 m. Of the species, only <i>Mylothris sagala</i> appears restricted to the primary forests. The fauna from the lower slopes, below 1800 m, is far richer, with a total of 11 genera and 40 species listed. An identification key to the genera of Pierinae that occur in Tanzania, together with a key to the adults of all pierine butterflies considered to occur or have occurred on Kilimanjaro, with 310 colour images, are included as online Supplementary Information.</p></div

Butterflies (Lepidoptera: Papilionoidea) of Mount Kilimanjaro: family Pieridae, subfamily Coliadinae

<div><p>This paper forms part of a series on the butterfly fauna of Mount Kilimanjaro. Three genera (<i>Catopsilia</i>, <i>Colias</i> and <i>Eurema</i>) with eight species of Coliadinae are believed to occur within the main forest zone. However, of these, one or two may prove to be no more than variants of a third species, <i>Eurema desjardinsii</i>. A fourth conventionally recognized member of the complex may occur on the lower slopes below 1800 m. The widespread species <i>Eurema hecabe</i> occurs on the lower slopes, but records are sparse, and no records of its close relative <i>Eurema floricola</i>, with which it has often been confused, have been found. The need for original field and laboratory research on the taxonomy of African <i>Eurema</i> species is stressed. Keys to adult Coliadinae found in Tanzania, with colour illustrations, are included as online supplementary material.</p> </div

Sustainable safari practices: Proximity to wildlife, educational intervention, and the quality of experience

This research examines the perceived quality of experience for safari tourists within the Ngorongoro Conservation Area in relation to wildlife viewing proximities and the potential of an educational intervention as a management strategy to mitigate adverse impacts of safari participant crowding. Crowding originates from the safari tourists’ preference to obtain close proximity to large mammals, in this case, lions. Recognizing these preferences and the associated impacts to animal behavior defined in the previous research, we developed and delivered a survey instrument designed to measure the perceived quality of experience of the safari tourist while controlling for the viewing proximity variable. The survey instrument involves participants responding to stock photos selected to represent the safari-tour experience, using a Likert type rating scale. Using a ‘pre-treatment’ and ‘post treatment’ protocol, we measure an educational management intervention that correlates the impact of intervention on safari participants’ perceptions of the quality of safari experience based on proximity to animals. Our findings revealed a statistically significant relationship between an educational intervention conveying the adverse impacts of crowding on lion behavior and safari tourists’ perception of a quality experience in relation of proximity to lions

On the status of Papilio sjoestedti Aurivillius, 1908, the "Kilimanjaro swallowtail" (Lepidoptera : Papilionidae)

The status of four nominal taxa of Afrotropical Papilionidae, Papilio fulleborni Karsch, 1900, Papilio fulleborni rydoni Kielland, 1987, Papilio sjostedti Aurivillius, 1908, and Papilio sjostedti var. atavus Le Cerf, 1912, is discussed. Formal taxonomic information is given in an appendix. Basedon evidence from the male and female wing patterns and male genitalia, and from their geographical distributions, it is concluded that they are best considered to represent the two species originally established. Thus Papilio sjoestedti is bitypic, including the nominotypical subspecies and P. s. atavus. Papilio fuelleborni is more problematic; the two nominal taxa may represent polymorphic forms of the same taxon, but in the absence of conclusive evidence, we maintain the status quo and treat them as subspecies: P. f. fuelleborni and P. f. rydoni. Princeps fuelleborni neocesa Kemal and Kocak, 2005, is formally synonymized with Papilio sjoestedti atavus Le Cerf as an unnecessary replacement name. The validity of the spelling Papilio sjoestedti is discussed and affirmed

Butterflies (Lepidoptera: Papilionoidea) of Mount Kilimanjaro: Nymphalidae subfamilies Libytheinae, Danainae, Satyrinae and Charaxinae

<p>This paper, which presents an annotated checklist of the ‘lower Nymphalidae’ (Libytheinae, Danainae, Satyrinae, Charaxinae), is the fourth in a series on the butterfly fauna of Mount Kilimanjaro. Four genera of lower Nymphalidae (<i>Danaus, Amauris, Bicyclus, Charaxes</i>), with a total of 11 included species, are known or believed to occur within the main forest zone, from c. 1800 to 2800 m. Of these, only three species of <i>Charaxes</i> (<i>Charaxes</i> <i>berkeleyi, Charaxes ansorgei, Charaxes xiphares</i>) may be restricted locally to this primary forest. The lower slopes fauna, below 1800 m, is considerably richer, with a total of 11 genera and 41 species listed (8 species of which extend into the forest zone). Possible additional species, dubious earlier records, problems with African subspecies of <i>Danaus chrysippus</i>, a need for more work on certain Satyrinae, and classification of the genus <i>Charaxes</i> are discussed. An identification key to the subfamilies of Nymphalidae, and the 19 genera of Libytheinae, Danainae, Satyrinae, Charaxinae that occur in Tanzania, together with a key to the adults of all the species of these four subfamilies considered to occur or have occurred on Kilimanjaro, with 206 colour images, are included as online Supplementary Information.</p