Annual Growth Ring Patterns in Brachystegia Spiciformis Reveal Influence of Precipitation on Tree Growth1
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Vascular Plant Survey of Vwaza Marsh Wildlife Reserve, Malawi
YIKA-VWAZA TRUST RESEARCH STUDY REPORT N (2017/18) Vascular Plant Survey of Vwaza Marsh Wildlife Reserve, Malawi By Sopani Sichinga ([email protected]) September , 2019 ABSTRACT In 2018 – 19, a survey on vascular plants was conducted in Vwaza Marsh Wildlife Reserve. The reserve is located in the north-western Malawi, covering an area of about 986 km2. Based on this survey, a total of 461 species from 76 families were recorded (i.e. 454 Angiosperms and 7 Pteridophyta). Of the total species recorded, 19 are exotics (of which 4 are reported to be invasive) while 1 species is considered threatened. The most dominant families were Fabaceae (80 species representing 17. 4%), Poaceae (53 species representing 11.5%), Rubiaceae (27 species representing 5.9 %), and Euphorbiaceae (24 species representing 5.2%). The annotated checklist includes scientific names, habit, habitat types and IUCN Red List status and is presented in section 5. i ACKNOLEDGEMENTS First and foremost, let me thank the Nyika–Vwaza Trust (UK) for funding this work. Without their financial support, this work would have not been materialized. The Department of National Parks and Wildlife (DNPW) Malawi through its Regional Office (N) is also thanked for the logistical support and accommodation throughout the entire study. Special thanks are due to my supervisor - Mr. George Zwide Nxumayo for his invaluable guidance. Mr. Thom McShane should also be thanked in a special way for sharing me some information, and sending me some documents about Vwaza which have contributed a lot to the success of this work. I extend my sincere thanks to the Vwaza Research Unit team for their assistance, especially during the field work. -
The Avifauna of Two Woodlands in Southeast Tanzania
Scopus 25: 2336, December 2005 The avifauna of two woodlands in southeast Tanzania Anders P. Tøttrup, Flemming P. Jensen and Kim D. Christensen In Tanzania Brachystegia or miombo woodland occupies about two-thirds of the country including the central plateau to the north and the south eastern plateau (Lind & Morrison 1974). Along the coast more luxuriant woodlands are found in what White (1983) terms the Zanzibar-Inhambane regional mosaic floristic region. This highly complex vegetation comprises unique types of forest, thicket, woodland, bushland and grassland, interspersed with areas presently under cultivation and fallow (Hawthorne 1993). The coastal woodlands are usually deciduous or semi-deciduous but contain some evergreen species and often merge with coastal thickets, scrub forest and coastal forest (Hawthorne 1993, Vollesen 1994). The avifauna of miombo woodlands has been described for Zambia (e.g. Benson & Irwin 1966) and Zimbabwe (e.g. Vernon 1968, 1984, 1985), while little has been published on the birds of the coastal woodlands. An exception is Stjernstedt (1970) who reported on the birds in lush and dense Brachystegia microphylla vegetation in a sea of miombo in southeast Tanzania. Here we report our observations of birds in two woodlands in coastal southeast Tanzania, one of which harboured miombo trees. We present information on the number of species encountered during the fieldwork, and compare the avifauna of the two sites. We discuss possible causes for the differences observed and provide new information on habitat preferences for some of the species we recorded at these sites. Study sites Field work was carried out in two coastal woodlands in the Lindi Region, southeast Tanzania in September and October 2001. -
Red Data List Special Edition
Newsletter of the Southern African Botanical Diversity Network Volume 6 No. 3 ISSN 1027-4286 November 2001 Invasive Alien Plants Part 2 Southern Mozambique Expedition Living Plant Collections: Lowveld, Mozambique, Namibia REDSABONET NewsDATA Vol. 6 No. 3 November LIST 2001 SPECIAL EDITION153 c o n t e n t s Red Data List Features Special 157 Profile: Ezekeil Kwembeya ON OUR COVER: 158 Profile: Anthony Mapaura Ferraria schaeferi, a vulnerable 162 Red Data Lists in Southern Namibian near-endemic. 159 Tribute to Paseka Mafa (Photo: G. Owen-Smith) Africa: Past, Present, and Future 190 Proceedings of the GTI Cover Stories 169 Plant Red Data Books and Africa Regional Workshop the National Botanical 195 Herbarium Managers’ 162 Red Data List Special Institute Course 192 Invasive Alien Plants in 170 Mozambique RDL 199 11th SSC Workshop Southern Africa 209 Further Notes on South 196 Announcing the Southern 173 Gauteng Red Data Plant Africa’s Brachystegia Mozambique Expedition Policy spiciformis 202 Living Plant Collections: 175 Swaziland Flora Protection 212 African Botanic Gardens Mozambique Bill Congress for 2002 204 Living Plant Collections: 176 Lesotho’s State of 214 Index Herbariorum Update Namibia Environment Report 206 Living Plant Collections: 178 Marine Fishes: Are IUCN Lowveld, South Africa Red List Criteria Adequate? Book Reviews 179 Evaluating Data Deficient Taxa Against IUCN 223 Flowering Plants of the Criterion B Kalahari Dunes 180 Charcoal Production in 224 Water Plants of Namibia Malawi 225 Trees and Shrubs of the 183 Threatened -
Fine-Scale Habitats Influence Tree Species Assemblage in a Miombo
Journal of Plant Ecology Fine-scale habitats influence VOLUME 10, NUMBER 6, PAGES 958–969 tree species assemblage in a DECEMBER 2017 doi: 10.1093/jpe/rtw104 miombo forest Advance Access publication Downloaded from https://academic.oup.com/jpe/article-abstract/10/6/958/2411579 by Universite Libre de Bruxelles user on 01 March 2019 22 September 2016 1,† 2, ,† available online at Jonathan Ilunga Muledi , David Bauman * , academic.oup.com/jpe Thomas Drouet2, Jason Vleminckx3, Arnaud Jacobs2, Jean Lejoly4, Pierre Meerts2 and Mylor Ngoy Shutcha1 1 Ecologie, Restauration Ecologique et Paysage, Faculté des Sciences Agronomiques, Université de Lubumbashi, Route Kasapa BP 1825, The Democratic Republic of the Congo 2 Laboratoire d’Écologie Végétale et Biogéochimie (EvB), CP244, Faculté des Sciences, Université Libre de Bruxelles, 50 av. F.D. Roosevelt, Brussels 1050, Belgium 3 Service d’Évolution Biologique et Écologie, CP160/12, Faculté des Sciences, Université Libre de Bruxelles, 50 av. F.D. Roosevelt, Brussels 1050, Belgium 4 Herbarium de l’Université Libre de Bruxelles (BRLU), Faculté des Sciences, Université Libre de Bruxelles, CP265, 50 av. F.D. Roosevelt, Brussels 1050, Belgium *Correspondence address. Laboratoire d’Écologie Végétale et Biogéochimie (EvB), CP244, Faculté des Sciences, Université Libre de Bruxelles, 50 av. F.D. Roosevelt, 1050 Brussels, Belgium. Tel: +32 26509166; E-mail: david. [email protected] †These authors contributed equally to this work. Abstract Aims a strong east–west edaphic gradient driven by soil texture; most Relationships between local habitat heterogeneity and tree commu- chemical soil parameters followed this pattern. Five habitats were nities in miombo woodlands have been very little studied. -
Vegetation Survey of Mount Gorongosa
VEGETATION SURVEY OF MOUNT GORONGOSA Tom Müller, Anthony Mapaura, Bart Wursten, Christopher Chapano, Petra Ballings & Robin Wild 2008 (published 2012) Occasional Publications in Biodiversity No. 23 VEGETATION SURVEY OF MOUNT GORONGOSA Tom Müller, Anthony Mapaura, Bart Wursten, Christopher Chapano, Petra Ballings & Robin Wild 2008 (published 2012) Occasional Publications in Biodiversity No. 23 Biodiversity Foundation for Africa P.O. Box FM730, Famona, Bulawayo, Zimbabwe Vegetation Survey of Mt Gorongosa, page 2 SUMMARY Mount Gorongosa is a large inselberg almost 700 sq. km in extent in central Mozambique. With a vertical relief of between 900 and 1400 m above the surrounding plain, the highest point is at 1863 m. The mountain consists of a Lower Zone (mainly below 1100 m altitude) containing settlements and over which the natural vegetation cover has been strongly modified by people, and an Upper Zone in which much of the natural vegetation is still well preserved. Both zones are very important to the hydrology of surrounding areas. Immediately adjacent to the mountain lies Gorongosa National Park, one of Mozambique's main conservation areas. A key issue in recent years has been whether and how to incorporate the upper parts of Mount Gorongosa above 700 m altitude into the existing National Park, which is primarily lowland. [These areas were eventually incorporated into the National Park in 2010.] In recent years the unique biodiversity and scenic beauty of Mount Gorongosa have come under severe threat from the destruction of natural vegetation. This is particularly acute as regards moist evergreen forest, the loss of which has accelerated to alarming proportions. -
Miombo Ecoregion Vision Report
MIOMBO ECOREGION VISION REPORT Jonathan Timberlake & Emmanuel Chidumayo December 2001 (published 2011) Occasional Publications in Biodiversity No. 20 WWF - SARPO MIOMBO ECOREGION VISION REPORT 2001 (revised August 2011) by Jonathan Timberlake & Emmanuel Chidumayo Occasional Publications in Biodiversity No. 20 Biodiversity Foundation for Africa P.O. Box FM730, Famona, Bulawayo, Zimbabwe PREFACE The Miombo Ecoregion Vision Report was commissioned in 2001 by the Southern Africa Regional Programme Office of the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF SARPO). It represented the culmination of an ecoregion reconnaissance process led by Bruce Byers (see Byers 2001a, 2001b), followed by an ecoregion-scale mapping process of taxa and areas of interest or importance for various ecological and bio-physical parameters. The report was then used as a basis for more detailed discussions during a series of national workshops held across the region in the early part of 2002. The main purpose of the reconnaissance and visioning process was to initially outline the bio-physical extent and properties of the so-called Miombo Ecoregion (in practice, a collection of smaller previously described ecoregions), to identify the main areas of potential conservation interest and to identify appropriate activities and areas for conservation action. The outline and some features of the Miombo Ecoregion (later termed the Miombo– Mopane Ecoregion by Conservation International, or the Miombo–Mopane Woodlands and Grasslands) are often mentioned (e.g. Burgess et al. 2004). However, apart from two booklets (WWF SARPO 2001, 2003), few details or justifications are publically available, although a modified outline can be found in Frost, Timberlake & Chidumayo (2002). Over the years numerous requests have been made to use and refer to the original document and maps, which had only very restricted distribution. -
Management of Wetlands for Biodiversity - Stefano Cannicci and Caterina Contini
BIODIVERSITY CONSERVATION AND HABITAT MANAGEMENT – Vol. I – Management of Wetlands for Biodiversity - Stefano Cannicci and Caterina Contini MANAGEMENT OF WETLANDS FOR BIODIVERSITY Stefano Cannicci and Caterina Contini Università degli Studi di Firenze, Italy Keywords: ecosystem management, mangroves, organic pollution, overuse of groundwater, Ramsar convention, sustainable management, wetland biodiversity, wetland ecological functions, wetland productivity, wise-use concept Contents 1. A Brief History of Cultural Heritage and Sustainable Management of Wetlands 2. Wetlands: Definition and Classification 3. Ecological Functions of Wetlands 3.1. Mangroves: An Example of a Multifunctional Wetland 4. Productivity and Biodiversity of Wetlands 4.1. Productivity 4.2. Reservoirs of Biodiversity 4.2.1. An Integrated Biodiversity Reservoir: The Arabuko-Sokoke–Mida Creek Wetlands System in Kenya 4.3. Economic Value of Wetland Biodiversity 5. Management of Wetlands 5.1. Threats to Wetland Biodiversity 5.1.1. Organic Pollution from Fertilizers: Norfolk and Suffolk Broads, United Kingdom 5.1.2. Interruption of Water Flow: Djoudj National Bird Park, Senegal 5.1.3. Overuse of Groundwater: Azraq Oasis, Jordan 5.1.4. Traditional Wise Use: the Sundarbans, Bangladesh/India 5.2. Future Management Strategies Acknowledgements Glossary Bibliography Biographical Sketches Summary UNESCO – EOLSS Wetlands have been the cradle of human culture, but their ecological functions are still of extreme importance, as testified by the adoption of the Ramsar Convention on Wetlands -
Brachystegia Spiciformis Benth
Brachystegia spiciformis Benth. Fabaceae - Caesalpinioideae msasa LOCAL NAMES Bemba (muputu,kampela); English (zebrawood,bean-pod tree); Lozi (mutuya,muputi); Lunda (mupuchi); Ndebele (igonda,igonde); Nyanja (mputi); Shona (msasa,musasa); Swahili (mrihi,mriti,mtundu,myombo); Tongan (musewe); Trade name (msasa) BOTANIC DESCRIPTION Brachystegia spiciformis is a tree 8-25 m (max. 28) high with a flat crown. Bark is dark brown or pale grey and smooth when young, later becoming rough, dark grey, deeply fissured vertically, horizontally cracked, slowly flaking in thick, irregular scales. Branches are heavy, thrusting upwards and outwards, often twisting and curving, giving the tree beautiful shape and balance. Gum is deep red. Leaves are pendulous, dark green, oblong-elliptic, 2.5-8 x 1-4.5 cm, shiny above, smooth or slightly hairy below, common, hairy midrib with a swelling at the base; apex tapering, finally rounded, notched and tipped with a fine hairlike bristle; base markedly asymmetric, narrowed or round; margin entire; each leaf bearing 2-7 but usually 4 pairs of opposite or nearly opposite leaflets, the terminal pair being the largest (2.5-9 cm long) and the bottom the smallest; petiolules very short, petiole up to 2.5 cm long, very finely hairy. Stipule threadlike, falling very early. Flowers are small, greenish, produced in short, dense, thickset terminal spikes, 3-6 cm long, sweetly scented, simple or with 1 or 2 branches; with white filaments and red anthers. Pods are usually hidden in the foliage, thinly woody, flat, green, yellow, red-brown to yellowish-green, turning grey or brown and smooth when mature, up to 16 cm long, base narrow, broadening towards the apex, tips strongly beaked splitting explosively to release the seeds. -
SABONET Report No 18
ii Quick Guide This book is divided into two sections: the first part provides descriptions of some common trees and shrubs of Botswana, and the second is the complete checklist. The scientific names of the families, genera, and species are arranged alphabetically. Vernacular names are also arranged alphabetically, starting with Setswana and followed by English. Setswana names are separated by a semi-colon from English names. A glossary at the end of the book defines botanical terms used in the text. Species that are listed in the Red Data List for Botswana are indicated by an ® preceding the name. The letters N, SW, and SE indicate the distribution of the species within Botswana according to the Flora zambesiaca geographical regions. Flora zambesiaca regions used in the checklist. Administrative District FZ geographical region Central District SE & N Chobe District N Ghanzi District SW Kgalagadi District SW Kgatleng District SE Kweneng District SW & SE Ngamiland District N North East District N South East District SE Southern District SW & SE N CHOBE DISTRICT NGAMILAND DISTRICT ZIMBABWE NAMIBIA NORTH EAST DISTRICT CENTRAL DISTRICT GHANZI DISTRICT KWENENG DISTRICT KGATLENG KGALAGADI DISTRICT DISTRICT SOUTHERN SOUTH EAST DISTRICT DISTRICT SOUTH AFRICA 0 Kilometres 400 i ii Trees of Botswana: names and distribution Moffat P. Setshogo & Fanie Venter iii Recommended citation format SETSHOGO, M.P. & VENTER, F. 2003. Trees of Botswana: names and distribution. Southern African Botanical Diversity Network Report No. 18. Pretoria. Produced by University of Botswana Herbarium Private Bag UB00704 Gaborone Tel: (267) 355 2602 Fax: (267) 318 5097 E-mail: [email protected] Published by Southern African Botanical Diversity Network (SABONET), c/o National Botanical Institute, Private Bag X101, 0001 Pretoria and University of Botswana Herbarium, Private Bag UB00704, Gaborone. -
The Plastomes of Two Species in the Endoparasite Genus Pilostyles (Apodanthaceae) Each Retain Just Five Or Six Possibly Functional Genes
GBE The Plastomes of Two Species in the Endoparasite Genus Pilostyles (Apodanthaceae) Each Retain Just Five or Six Possibly Functional Genes Sidonie Bellot1,* and Susanne S. Renner1 1Department of Biology, Ludwig Maximilian University, Munich, Germany *Corresponding author: E-mail: [email protected]. Accepted: December 6, 2015 Data deposition: The plastomes of Pilostyles aethiopica and Pilostyles hamiltonii have been deposited at GenBank under the accessions KT981955 and KT981956. Abstract Downloaded from The 23 species of mycoheterotrophic or exoparasitic land plants (from 15 genera and 6 families) studied so far all retain a minimal set of 17 of the normally 116 plastome genes. Only Rafflesia lagascae, an endoparasite concealed in its host except when flowering, has been reported as perhaps lacking a plastome, although it still possesses plastid-like compartments. We analyzed two other endo- parasites, the African Apodanthaceae Pilostyles aethiopica and the Australian Pilostyles hamiltonii, both living inside Fabaceae. http://gbe.oxfordjournals.org/ Illumina and 454 data and Sanger resequencing yielded circularized plastomes of 11,348 and 15,167 bp length, with both species containing five possibly functional genes (accD, rps3, rps4, rrn16, rrn23) and two/three pseudogenes (rpoC2 in P. aethiopica and rpl2 and rps12 in both species; rps12 may be functional in P. hamiltonii). Previously known smallest land plant plastomes contain 27–29 genes, making these Apodanthaceae plastomes the most reduced in size and gene content. A similar extent of divergence might have caused the plastome of Rafflesia to escape detection. The higher plastome degeneration in both these families of endoparasites, Rafflesiaceae and Apodanthaceae, of similar high age, compared with exoparasites points to a difference of plastome function between those two modes of parasitic life. -
The Miombo Ecoregion
The Dynamic of the Conservation Estate (DyCe) Summary Report: The Miombo Ecoregion Prepared by UNEP-WCMC and the University of Edinburgh for the Luc Hoffmann Institute Authors: Vansteelant, N., Lewis, E., Eassom, A., Shannon-Farpón, Y., Ryan C.M, Pritchard R., McNicol I., Lehmann C., Fisher J. and Burgess, N. Contents Summary ....................................................................................................................................2 The Luc Hoffmann Institute and the Dynamics of the Conservation Estate project .................3 The Miombo ecoregion ..............................................................................................................3 The Social-Ecological System ...................................................................................................6 The Social System......................................................................................................................7 The Ecological System ..............................................................................................................9 Forest Cover .............................................................................................................................12 Vegetation types.......................................................................................................................13 Biodiversity values...................................................................................................................15 Challenges for conservation .....................................................................................................16 -
Afrotherian Conservation Number 14 (2018)
From the editors: Firstly, we thank all contributors for submitting material for issue number 14 of the newsletter. Most but not all the material came in at the 'last minute' and we would appeal again for material to be forthcoming well before the deadline of July/August 2019 for issue number 15. Thank you! For this issue we have a good mix of material and we especially appreciate the field notes. We feel it would be good if contributors could provide photos/images of themselves at work in the field or laboratory. It is always good to relate a face with a contribution. Hopefully there will be a response from contributors. C. & M. Stuart, Waxenberg, Austria September 2018 (www.stuartonnature.com) In This Issue - Number 14 - September 2018 Editorial 1 Features Will aardvarks go thirsty under climate change? 3 Male rock hyraxes (Procavia capensis): Singing tactics and the dynamics of 10 counter-singing events Two—or three, or maybe even four—new species of mole tenrec on 15 Madagascar, and the importance of continued scientific collecting for conservation Exploitation des bois précieux à Masoala, Madagascar : quel impact sur les 20 tenrecs ? (English abstract) Using myological data to study afrothere evolutionary relationships 33 Notes on sengis (Macroscelididae) in the Ancuabe district of Quirimbas 38 National Park, Mozambique Observations on an Unusual “Arrhythmic” Gait in Sengis 44 Notes from the Field The Nimba Otter-Shrew is Uplisted to Vulnerable on the IUCN Red List of 48 Threatened Species A Traditional Method of Hunting Dusky Sengis in Southern Malawi 51 Afrotheria News Message from the Chairs 56 An imminent updated (2017) taxonomy for golden moles 57 Review of Wilson, D.E.