8 research outputs found
Use of Sleeve Nets to Improve Survival of the Boisduval Silkworm, Anaphe panda, in the Kakamega Forest of Western Kenya
Prospects for development of a wild silk industry in Africa would be improved if silkworm survival during mass production could be improved. A study on the survival of the Boisduval silkworm, Anaphe panda (Boisduval) (Lepidoptera: Thaumetopoeidae) was conducted with and without protection by net sleeves in two different forest habitats (natural and modified) in the Kakamega forest of western Kenya. Overall, cohort survival was significantly higher (P < 0.001) in the natural than in the modified forest, but larval survival was improved over three-fold by protection with net sleeves in both habitat types. In the modified forest, only 16.8% of unprotected larvae survived to the pupal stage and formed cocoons, whereas 62.3% survived in the same environment when they were protected with net sleeves. In the natural forest, 20.4% of unprotected larvae survived, whereas 67.7% survived in net sleeves. There was also a significant effect of season; cohorts of larvae that eclosed in the wet season had significantly lower survival than those eclosing in the dry season (P = 0.02). Sources of mortality appeared to be natural enemies (parasites, predators and diseases) and climatic factors
Testing Biodegradable Seedling Containers as an Alternative for Polythene Tubes in Tropical Small-Scale Tree Nurseries
MOLECULAR TYPING OF Giardia duodenalis ISOLATES FROM NONHUMAN PRIMATES HOUSED IN A BRAZILIAN ZOO
The cost of livestock lost to lions and other wildlife species in the Amboseli ecosystem, Kenya
High short-term return to sports rate despite an ongoing healing process after acute meniscus repair in young athletes
Supporting conservation with biodiversity research in sub-Saharan Africa’s human-modified landscapes
Protected areas (PAs) cover 12 % of terrestrial sub-Saharan Africa. However,
given the inherent inadequacies of these PAs to cater for all species in conjunction with the
effects of climate change and human pressures on PAs, the future of biodiversity depends
heavily on the 88 % of land that is unprotected. The study of biodiversity patterns and the
processes that maintain them in human-modified landscapes can provide a valuable evidence
base to support science-based policy-making that seeks to make land outside of PAs
as amenable as possible for biodiversity persistence. We discuss the literature on biodiversity
in sub-Saharan Africa’s human-modified landscapes as it relates to four broad
ecosystem categorizations (i.e. rangelands, tropical forest, the Cape Floristic Region, and
the urban and rural built environment) within which we expect similar patterns of biodiversity
persistence in relation to specific human land uses and land management actions.
Available research demonstrates the potential contribution of biodiversity conservation in
human-modified landscapes within all four ecosystem types and goes some way towards
providing general conclusions that could support policy-making. Nonetheless, conservation
success in human-modified landscapes is hampered by constraints requiring further
scientific investment, e.g. deficiencies in the available research, uncertainties regarding
implementation strategies, and difficulties of coexisting with biodiversity. However,
information currently available can and should support efforts at individual, community,
provincial, national, and international levels to support biodiversity conservation in
human-modified landscapes.National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship.Chair in Conservation Ecology at CERU.http://link.springer.com/journal/105312015-08-31hb201