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Abstract: Background and aims – Ficus species exhibit a variety of morphological habits (tree, hemi-epiphyte, shrub, climber, creeping shrub and rheophytic shrub) but their description, and especially the difference between tree and hemi-epiphyte, has led to confusion in previous works. In this paper the terms tree, freestanding strangler, hemi-epiphyte, trunk and pseudo-trunk are defined, discussed and illustrated. The aim in this study was to build on these definitions and document how many tree and hemi-epiphytic Ficus species occur at one site in northern Congo; investigate how many hemi-epiphytic species reach the free-standing strangler habit at that site and provide data on host tree species for the hemi-epiphytic Ficus. Results – In the Goualougo Triangle in the southern part of the Nouabalé-Ndoki National Park (Republic of Congo), 285 Ficus individuals belonging to 19 species were studied, one of which was a tree while the remaining 18 were hemi-epiphytes of which only six reached the free-standing strangler habit. The host species on which the Ficus grew were also recorded; 244 individuals of 69 species were found, one of which, Petersianthus macrocarpus, was the most common support for hemi-epiphytic Ficus species. Two Ficus species, F. elasticoides and F. burretiana, were also found as hosts for other species of Ficus species. A field method for determining whether an adult specimen was a free standing hemi-epiphyte or a tree was tested and proved reliable; this is to knock the trunk to see if it sounds hollow or not. Conclusion – The differences observed between Ficus species in tree and free-standing stranglers, the stages they can reach in the hemi-epiphytic habit and the different host species, indicate that the Ficus species play very different roles in the ecosystem. It is likely that the species will vary in response to climate or land-use changes that are happening in tropical forests. © 2015 Botanic Garden Meise and Royal Botanical Society of Belgium.
Source title: Plant Ecology and Evolution
DOI: 10.5091/plecevo.2015.1024
Link: https://www.scopus.com/inward/record.uri?eid=2-s2.0-84948783519&doi=10.5091%2fplecevo.2015.1024&partnerID=40&md5=bb82870f00fd078e4c97db6a0d8ec7b0
Correspondence Address: Harris, D.J.; Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh, 20A Inverleith Row, United Kingdom; email: d.harris@rbge.org.uk
Language of Original Document: English
Access Type: Article
Country: ; Republic of Congo ;
Protected area: Nouabalé-Ndoki
Main topic: Biodiversity
Subtopic: Plants ; Biology / Ecology

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Abstract: Hantaviruses are members of the Bunyaviridae family carried by small mammals and causing human hemorrhagic fevers worldwide. In Western Africa, where a variety of hemorrhagic fever viruses occurs, indigenous hantaviruses have been molecularly found in animal reservoirs such as rodents, shrews, and bats since 2006. To investigate the human contact to hantaviruses carried by these hosts and to assess the public health relevance of hantaviruses for humans living in the tropical rainforest regions of Western and Central Africa, we performed a cross-sectional seroprevalence study in the region of Taï National Park in Côte d'Ivoire and the Bandundu region near the Salonga National Park in the Democratic Republic (DR) of Congo. Serum samples were initially screened with enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays using nucleoproteins of several hantaviruses as diagnostic antigens. Positive results were confirmed by Western blotting and immunofluorescence testing. Seroprevalence rates of 3.9% (27/687) and 2.4% (7/295), respectively, were found in the investigated regions in Côte d'Ivoire and the DR Congo. In Côte d'Ivoire, this value was significantly higher than the seroprevalence rates previously reported from the neighboring country Guinea as well as from South Africa. Our study indicates an exposure of humans to hantaviruses in West and Central African tropical rainforest areas. In order to pinpoint the possible existence and frequency of clinical disease caused by hantaviruses in this region of the world, systematic investigations of patients with fever and renal or respiratory symptoms are required. © 2015 Witkowski, Leendertz, Auste, Akoua-Koffi, Schubert, Klempa, Muyembe-Tamfum, Karhemere, Leendertz and Krüger.
Source title: Frontiers in Microbiology
DOI: 10.3389/fmicb.2015.00518
Link: https://www.scopus.com/inward/record.uri?eid=2-s2.0-84931260889&doi=10.3389%2ffmicb.2015.00518&partnerID=40&md5=bcdcba2c2ae1b7cf8fd32a4a2a4c657b
Correspondence Address: Witkowski, P.T.; Institute of Virology, Helmut-Ruska-Haus, Charité Medical School, Charitéplatz 1, Germany
Language of Original Document: English
Access Type: Article
Country: ; Democratic Republic of Congo ;
Protected area: Salonga
Main topic: Health
Subtopic: Human & animal health

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Abstract: Questions: Soil properties have been shown to partially explain tree species distribution in tropical forests. Locally, species turnover across space can result not only from edaphic heterogeneities but also from limited seed dispersal. To characterize the contribution of each process, contact areas between contrasted soil types offer ideal settings. In the present study, we aimed to test species and species assemblage responses to a sharp edaphic discontinuity in a tropical forest tree community. Location: Yoko forest reserve (6975 ha), Democratic Republic of the Congo. Methods: We set up four 500-600-m long parallel transects crossing two contrasted edaphic habitats, one lying on clayey soil and the other on sandy soil. The canopy and subcanopy trees were identified and geo-referenced along the transects over a width of 50 m and 5 m, respectively, and soil samples were collected every 50 m to characterize each habitat. Results: Correspondence analyses indicated a clear differentiation of tree communities between sandy and clayey soils. Using a torus-translation method combined with Chi-squared non-parametric tests, we observed that ca. 40% and 18% of the species represented by at least 12 individuals displayed significant density differences according to habitat in the canopy and subcanopy, respectively, although very few species displayed significant differences in their relative abundance. Nevertheless, whole community tests of differentiation (in species relative abundances) between soil types were significant in both strata, even after removing individual species or families displaying a significant habitat preference. Conclusion: While only a minority of species displayed a clear habitat preference, we still observed a community-wide impact of the edaphic discontinuity on species assemblages at a local scale. Our results provide further evidence for the major contribution of environmental heterogeneity in maintaining biodiversity in tropical forests. © 2014 International Association for Vegetation Science.
Source title: Journal of Vegetation Science
DOI: 10.1111/jvs.12209
Link: https://www.scopus.com/inward/record.uri?eid=2-s2.0-84919581073&doi=10.1111%2fjvs.12209&partnerID=40&md5=4f191154612b112f72c780aaff7d1162
Correspondence Address: Vleminckx, J.; Service d'Évolution Biologique et Écologie, Faculté des Sciences, Université Libre de Bruxelles, CP160/12, 50 av. F. D. Roosevelt, Belgium
Language of Original Document: English
Access Type: Article
Country: ; Democratic Republic of Congo ;
Protected area: Yoko
Main topic: Biodiversity ; Environment
Subtopic: Plants ; Diversity ; Biology / Ecology ; Geology / Pedology

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Abstract: An agent-based model (ABM) representing snare trapping of blue duikers (Cephalophus monticola) was co-designed and used with local populations to raise their awareness about the sustainability of bushmeat hunting activities in the region of the Korup National Park (South-West Cameroon). Village meetings based on interactive simulations with a stylized scale model were structured in three successive steps. During the first step, an abstract representation of a village surrounded by a portion of forest was co-designed by directly manipulating the computer interface displaying a spatial grid. Then, knowledge about the live-cycle traits and the behavior of blue duikers was shared through the demonstration of the individual-based population dynamics module of the ABM. The objective of the second step, introducing the hunting module of the ABM, was to elicit snare trapping practices through interactive simulation and to calibrate the hunting module by setting a value for the probability of a blue duiker to be caught by a snare trap. In a third step, a more realistic version of the ABM was introduced. The seven villages included in the process were located in the GIS-based spatial representation, and the number of 'Hunter' agents for each village in the ABM was set according to the results of a survey. The demonstration of this realistic version triggered discussion about possible management scenarios, whose results obtained with the finalized version of the ABM will be discussed during next round of village meetings.We present the pros and cons of the method consisting in using at an early stage of theprocess interactive simulations with stylized scale models to specify empirically-based agent-based models. © 2015 JASSS.
Source title: JASSS
DOI: 10.18564/jasss.2550
Link: https://www.scopus.com/inward/record.uri?eid=2-s2.0-84925012892&doi=10.18564%2fjasss.2550&partnerID=40&md5=3e75443af7408a0d8d895784111e38dc
Correspondence Address: Le Page, C.; Cirad - UPR GREEN, Campus international de Baillarguet, TAC-47 / F, France; email: christophe.le_page@cirad.fr
Language of Original Document: English
Access Type: Article
Country: ; Cameroon ;
Protected area: Korup
Main topic: Humans ; Biodiversity
Subtopic: Hunting / Poaching ; Perceptions / Behaviors ; Periphery / Management ; Anthropology / Ethnoscience ; Animals ; Vertebrates ; Mammals ; Ungulates ; Biology / Ecology

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Abstract: Background: Trypanosoma’s vectors distribution is poorly investigated in Gabon, where Trypanosomiasis historical foci exist. Thus, an active detection of Trypanosoma sp transmission needs to be assessed. Objectives: The present study aims to identify potential vectors of Trypanosoma sp and to evaluate the infection rate of the Tsetse fly in an area of Gabon. Methods: An entomological survey was conducted in the National Park of Ivindo in May 2012 using Vavoua traps. All captured insects were identified. Tsetse were dissected and organs were microscopically observed to detect the presence of Trypanosoma sp. Results: 247 biting flies known as vectors of Trypanosomiasis were caught including 189 tsetse flies, 32 Tabanid and 26 Stomoxys. Tsetse flies had the highest bulk densities per trap per day (ADT = 3 tsetse / trap / day), while the lowest density was found among Stomoxys (ADT= 0.41 Stomoxys / trap / day). The infection rate of flies was 6.3%. Infectious organs were midguts and to a lesser extent salivary glands and proboscis. Conclusion: The presence of Tsetse infected by Trypanosoma highlights an existing risk of trypanosomiasis infection in the National Park of Ivindo. © 2015, Makerere University, Medical School. All rights reserved.
Source title: African Health Sciences
DOI: 10.4314/ahs.v15i3.9
Link: https://www.scopus.com/inward/record.uri?eid=2-s2.0-84941343859&doi=10.4314%2fahs.v15i3.9&partnerID=40&md5=b4e2a7fa4be48d00ff29d256db1dbaae
Correspondence Address: Bouyou-Akotet, M.K.; Department of Parasitology-Mycology, Université des Sciences de la SantéGabon; email: mariellebouyou@gmail.com
Language of Original Document: English
Access Type: Article
Country: ; Gabon ;
Protected area: Ivindo
Main topic: Health
Subtopic: Human & animal health

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Abstract: Prevalence of drug-resistant bacteria in wildlife can reveal the actual level of anthropological burden on the wildlife. In this study, we isolated two multiple drug-resistant strains, GG6-2 and GG6-1-1, from 27 fresh feces of wild western lowland gorillas in Moukalaba-Doudou National Park, Gabon. Isolates were identified as Achromobacter xylosoxidans and Providencia sp., respectively. Minimum inhibitory concentrations of the following 12 drugs—ampicillin (ABPC), cefazolin (CEZ), cefotaxime (CTX), streptomycin (SM), gentamicin (GM), kanamycin (KM), tetracycline (TC), nalidixic acid (NA), ciprofloxacin (CPFX), colistin (CL), chloramphenicol (CP) and trimethoprim (TMP)—were determined. Isolate GG6-2 was resistant to all antimicrobials tested and highly resistant to CTX, SM, TC, NA and TMP. Isolate GG6-1-1 was resistant to ABPC, CEZ, TC, CL, CP and TMP. © 2015 The Japanese Society of Veterinary Science.
Source title: Journal of Veterinary Medical Science
DOI: 10.1292/jvms.14-0604
Link: https://www.scopus.com/inward/record.uri?eid=2-s2.0-84930425155&doi=10.1292%2fjvms.14-0604&partnerID=40&md5=808ab10ff09e5ece3c80f0f2439cef08
Correspondence Address: Ushida, K.; Graduate School of Life and Environmental Sciences, Kyoto Prefectural UniversityJapan; email: k_ushida@kpu.ac.jp
Language of Original Document: English
Access Type: Note
Country: ; Gabon ;
Protected area: Moukalaba-Doudou
Main topic: Health
Subtopic: Animal health

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Abstract: A number of recent studies have suggested that large carnivores are rapidly disappearing in West Africa, including in protected areas (PAs). The extent of this extinction process, however, is poorly known. Here, we quantify the extinction of three large carnivore species (Panthera leo (lion), Acinonyx jubatus (cheetah) and Lycaon pictus (wild dog)) in 41 West and Central African PAs by comparing historical and current data of occurrence. We found that lions have gone (near-) extinct in 23 out of the 38 PAs (63%) where they historically occurred and that extinction is significantly more pronounced in West (15 extinctions out of 18 historical occurrence, 64%) than in Central Africa (8/20, 40%). Cheetahs have disappeared from 11 out of 15 PAs (73% of site extinction). Wild dogs persist in only one PA in West Africa and two in Central Africa out of a total of 31 historical occurrences (90% of site extinction). For all three species combined, the number of extinctions in PAs in West Africa (33 out of 39 historical occurrences, i.e. 85% of site extinction) is significantly higher than in Central African PAs (29/45, i.e. 64%). Carnivore populations persist outside PAs in that latter region. Our study shows that PAs with remaining lion populations are significantly larger than those with extinct populations. However, we found that the human population density around PAs is not a good predictor of lion extinction. We suggest that the presence of mobile pastoralists may better explain the extinction pattern of large predators, and we recommend developing indicators of the pastoralism pressure to test that hypothesis. © David Brugière, Bertrand Chardonnet and Paul Scholte.
Source title: Tropical Conservation Science
DOI: 10.1177/194008291500800215
Link: https://www.scopus.com/inward/record.uri?eid=2-s2.0-84933521524&doi=10.1177%2f194008291500800215&partnerID=40&md5=94df1752b6a8d2d9860b2519b62e75f6
Correspondence Address: Brugière, D.; BRL Ingenierie, Biodiversity department, 1105 Avenue P. Mendes-France, France; email: dmc_brugiere@yahoo.fr
Language of Original Document: English
Access Type: Article
Country: ; Central Africa ;
Protected area: Many
Main topic: Biodiversity
Subtopic: Animals ; Vertebrates ; Mammals ; Carnivores ; Survey / Monitoring ; Abundance

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Abstract: Many pristine humid tropical forests show simultaneously high nitrogen (N) richness and sustained loss of bioavailable N forms. To better understand this apparent upregulation of the N cycle in tropical forests, process-based understanding of soil N transformations, in geographically diverse locations, remains paramount. Field-based evidence is limited and entirely lacking for humid tropical forests on the African continent. This study aimed at filling both knowledge gaps by monitoring N losses and by conducting an in situ 15N labeling experiment in the Nyungwe tropical montane forest in Rwanda. Here we show that this tropical forest shows high nitrate (NO3-) leaching losses, confirming findings from other parts of the world. Gross N transformation rates point to an open soil N cycle with mineralized N nitrified rather than retained via immobilization; gross immobilization of NH4+ and NO3- combined accounted for 37% of gross mineralization, and plant N uptake is dominated by ammonium (NH4+). This study provided new process understanding of soil N cycling in humid tropical forests and added geographically independent evidence that humid tropical forests are characterized by soil N dynamics and N inputs sustaining bioavailable N loss. ©2015. American Geophysical Union. All Rights Reserved.
Source title: Global Biogeochemical Cycles
DOI: 10.1002/2015GB005144
Link: https://www.scopus.com/inward/record.uri?eid=2-s2.0-84946567694&doi=10.1002%2f2015GB005144&partnerID=40&md5=27ac6f61c51cdaa1279d0008a6091137
Correspondence Address: Rütting, T.; Department of Earth Sciences, University of GothenburgSweden; email: tobias.rutting@gu.se
Language of Original Document: English
Access Type: Article
Country: ; Rwanda ;
Protected area: Nyungwe
Main topic: Environment
Subtopic: Geology / Pedology

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Abstract: We compiled all credible repeated lion surveys and present time series data for 47 lion (Panthera leo) populations. We used a Bayesian state space model to estimate growth rate-? for each population and summed these into three regional sets to provide conservation-relevant estimates of trends since 1990. We found a striking geographical pattern: African lion populations are declining everywhere, except in four southern countries (Botswana, Namibia, South Africa, and Zimbabwe). Population models indicate a 67% chance that lions in West and Central Africa decline by onehalf, while estimating a 37% chance that lions in East Africa also decline by one-half over two decades. We recommend separate regional assessments of the lion in the World Conservation Union (IUCN) Red List of Threatened Species: already recognized as critically endangered in West Africa, our analysis supports listing as regionally endangered in Central and East Africa and least concern in southern Africa. Almost all lion populations that historically exceeded ?500 individuals are declining, but lion conservation is successful in southern Africa, in part because of the proliferation of reintroduced lions in small, fenced, intensively managed, and funded reserves. If management budgets for wild lands cannot keep pace with mounting levels of threat, the species may rely increasingly on these southern African areas and may no longer be a flagship species of the once vast natural ecosystems across the rest of the continent.
Source title: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America
DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1500664112
Link: https://www.scopus.com/inward/record.uri?eid=2-s2.0-84948706976&doi=10.1073%2fpnas.1500664112&partnerID=40&md5=15a6254586a9a345d73908db160d7b50
Correspondence Address: Bauer, H.; Wildlife Conservation Research Unit, Zoology, University of Oxford, Recanati-Kaplan CentreUnited Kingdom; email: hans.bauer@zoo.ox.ac.uk
Language of Original Document: English
Access Type: Article
Country: ; Cameroon ;
Protected area: Bénoué ; Waza
Main topic: Biodiversity
Subtopic: Animals ; Vertebrates ; Mammals ; Carnivores ; Survey / Monitoring ; Abundance

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Abstract: Monitoring of animal populations is essential for conservation management. Various techniques are available to assess spatiotemporal patterns of species distribution and abundance. Nest surveys are often used for monitoring great apes. Quickly developing technologies, including unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) can be used to complement these ground-based surveys, especially for covering large areas rapidly. Aerial surveys have been used successfully to detect the nests of orang-utans. It is unknown if such an approach is practical for African apes, which usually build their nests at lower heights, where they might be obscured by forest canopy. In this 2-month study, UAV-derived aerial imagery was used for two distinct purposes: testing the detectability of chimpanzee nests and identifying fruiting trees used by chimpanzees in Loango National Park (Gabon). Chimpanzee nest data were collected through two approaches: we located nests on the ground and then tried to detect them in UAV photos and vice versa. Ground surveys were conducted using line transects, reconnaissance trails, and opportunistic sampling during which we detected 116 individual nests in 28 nest groups. In complementary UAV images we detected 48% of the individual nests (68% of nest groups) in open coastal forests and 8% of individual nests (33% of nest groups) in closed canopy inland forests. The key factor for nest detectability in UAV imagery was canopy openness. Data on fruiting trees were collected from five line transects. In 122 UAV images 14 species of trees (N=433) were identified, alongside 37 tree species (N=205) in complementary ground surveys. Relative abundance of common tree species correlated between ground and UAV surveys. We conclude that UAVs have great potential as a rapid assessment tool for detecting chimpanzee presence in forest with open canopy and assessing fruit tree availability. UAVs may have limited applicability for nest detection in closed canopy forest. Am. J. Primatol. 77:1122-1134, 2015. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
Source title: American Journal of Primatology
DOI: 10.1002/ajp.22446
Link: https://www.scopus.com/inward/record.uri?eid=2-s2.0-84942155287&doi=10.1002%2fajp.22446&partnerID=40&md5=83e6a7e523b568496eb161350432c1f3
Correspondence Address: van Andel, A.C.; IUCN National Committee of The NetherlandsNetherlands
Language of Original Document: English
Access Type: Article
Country: ; Gabon ;
Protected area: Loango
Main topic: Biodiversity
Subtopic: Animals ; Vertebrates ; Mammals ; Primates ; Survey / Monitoring ; Plants

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Abstract: For ethnobotanists, aspects such as the influence of a plant's accessibility on its frequency of use, consensus among traditional therapists over the relationships between plants and diseases and the degree of fidelity to a plant for a given category of ailments are essential to assess a medicinal tradition, but difficult to interpret. We explored these aspects through a study based on semi-structured interviews with 88 traditional therapists from the Batwa, Havu, Shi and Tembo communities near the montane forests of the Kahuzi-Biega National Park, in South Kivu Province in eastern DRC. Our survey showed that 77 plant species are used to treat pathologies grouped into 18 categories of ailments, the most frequent being digestive disorders and infections. Leaves and bark are the parts most frequently used, usually in recipes involving a single plant and mainly prepared as aqueous solutions. Although there is a positive correlation between the accessibility of plants and the frequency of their use (H = 17.64; p < 0.001), some less accessible forest plants have very high use frequencies. Consensus between traditional therapists is high overall, especially for musculo-skeletal disorders (= 0.83) and infections (= 0.80). Although the degree of fidelity to a plant for a given category of ailments is low overall, it is always high for at least one plant in all categories. Our results, although exploratory, suggest that certain medicinal traditions are well rooted in the region's local communities. This assumes a good local knowledge of medicinal plants, intergenerational transmission of that knowledge and a degree of cooperation between traditional therapists. Further studies are needed to assess these different aspects with greater precision.
Source title: Bois et Forets des Tropiques
DOI: 10.19182/bft2015.326.a31282
Link: https://www.scopus.com/inward/record.uri?eid=2-s2.0-84958760150&doi=10.19182%2fbft2015.326.a31282&partnerID=40&md5=adae573dd240a282af49fe90da130992
Correspondence Address:
Language of Original Document: French
Access Type: Article
Country: ; Democratic Republic of Congo ;
Protected area: Kahuzi-Biega
Main topic: Health ; Humans ; Biodiversity
Subtopic: Human health ; Anthropology / Ethnoscience ; Non-timber forest products ; Perceptions / Behaviors ; Plants ; Diversity

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Abstract: The African elephant consists of forest and savanna subspecies. Both subspecies are highly endangered due to severe poaching and habitat loss, and knowledge of their population structure is vital to their conservation. Previous studies have demonstrated marked genetic and morphological differences between forest and savanna elephants, and despite extensive sampling, genetic evidence of hybridization between them has been restricted largely to a few hybrids in the Garamba region of northeastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). Here, we present new genetic data on hybridization from previously unsampled areas of Africa. Novel statistical methods applied to these data identify 46 hybrid samples - many more than have been previously identified - only two of which are from the Garamba region. The remaining 44 are from three other geographically distinct locations: a major hybrid zone along the border of the DRC and Uganda, a second potential hybrid zone in Central African Republic and a smaller fraction of hybrids in the Pendjari-Arli complex of West Africa. Most of the hybrids show evidence of interbreeding over more than one generation, demonstrating that hybrids are fertile. Mitochondrial and Y chromosome data demonstrate that the hybridization is bidirectional, involving males and females from both subspecies. We hypothesize that the hybrid zones may have been facilitated by poaching and habitat modification. The localized geography and rarity of hybrid zones, their possible facilitation from human pressures, and the high divergence and genetic distinctness of forest and savanna elephants throughout their ranges, are consistent with calls for separate species classification. © 2015 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.
Source title: Molecular Ecology
DOI: 10.1111/mec.13472
Link: https://www.scopus.com/inward/record.uri?eid=2-s2.0-84955374660&doi=10.1111%2fmec.13472&partnerID=40&md5=d6d58b16657f9eb87f41eef533b0f9da
Correspondence Address: Wasser, S.K.; Center for Conservation Biology, Department of Biology, University of Washington, Box 351800, United States; email: wassers@u.washington.edu
Language of Original Document: English
Access Type: Article
Country: ; Democratic Republic of Congo ; Central African Republic ; Rwanda ;
Protected area: Garamba ; Virunga ; Bamingui-Bangoran ; Volcans
Main topic: Biodiversity
Subtopic: Animals ; Vertebrates ; Mammals ; Ungulates ; Elephants ; Genetics

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Abstract: We report the identification of a nymphal nostril tick (Amblyomma sp.) from a national park visitor in Gabon and subsequent molecular detection and characterization of tickborne bacteria. Our findings provide evidence of a potentially new Rickettsia sp. circulating in Africa and indicate that tick bites may pose a risk to persons visiting parks in the region. © Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). All rights reserved.
Source title: Emerging Infectious Diseases
DOI: 10.3201/eid2102.141048
Link: https://www.scopus.com/inward/record.uri?eid=2-s2.0-84921820184&doi=10.3201%2feid2102.141048&partnerID=40&md5=b87c773e35a145e425738f4787307a8d
Correspondence Address: Portillo, A.; Departamento de Enfermedades Infecciosas, Hospital San Pedro-CIBIR, Edificio CIBIR, C/Piqueras 98-3a planta, Spain
Language of Original Document: English
Access Type: Article
Country: ; Gabon ;
Protected area: Lopé
Main topic: Health
Subtopic: Human health

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Abstract: Animals; Vertebrates have dietary strategies that aid in the suppression or control of disease and wounds. In Kahuzi-Biega National Park, only a few plant species have been observed regularly to be consumed by apes and constitute their basic staple food. Some plants have active constituents that may play an important role in diseases treatment. Phytochemical screening was conducted on 9 plant species most common in the diets of Kahuzi apes. The presence of important bioactive chemical components, including saponins, terpenoids, steroids, alkaloids, flavonoids, phenols, quinons and glycosids, well known for their role in disease treatment, were isolated. Bromatological analyses of selected fruits most preferred by both apes were also conducted and some fruits were found to be rich in, important nutritional components such as lipids, proteins and carbohydrates. Intestinal parasites of these apes were also investigated. A total of 19 different parasite species were identified fresh apes fecal samples collected in their home range. The prevalence rates of Coccidies were 94 and 93.4 % in Gorilla and chimpanzees fecal samples, respectively in the most prevalent parasites in both sympatric ape species. Protozoa and Nematoda parasite groups were the most observed. This study suggests that fruits preferentially eaten by gorillas and chimpanzees inhabiting Kahuzi-Biega National park contain essential chemical constituents that may be effective in parasite disease control maintenance and nutrition purpose. © 2015, International Journal of Pharmacognosy and Phytochemical Research. All rights reserved.
Source title: International Journal of Pharmacognosy and Phytochemical Research
DOI:
Link: https://www.scopus.com/inward/record.uri?eid=2-s2.0-84927518012&partnerID=40&md5=b36f46dabde322740d2a43373781da4c
Correspondence Address: Bagalwa, M.; Laboratoire de Malacologie, Département de Biologie, Centre de Recherche en Sciences NaturellesCongo
Language of Original Document: English
Access Type: Article
Country: ; Democratic Republic of Congo ;
Protected area: Kahuzi-Biega
Main topic: Health ; Biodiversity
Subtopic: Animal health ; Animals ; Vertebrates ; Mammals ; Primates ; Biology / Ecology ; Plants

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Abstract: Most armed conflicts in recent history occurred in biodiversity hotspots. Yet, studies examining impacts of warfare on forests yield contradictory results. This study provides a theoretical framework articulating different hypothetical relationships between conflict and forest transitions. Landsat TM and ETM+ data were analyzed to examine forest transitions in Rwanda during conflict and post conflict periods. Net trends showed little difference between periods, with a rate of 1.6% annual gain during conflict years, and 2.5% following the conflict. Closer inspection revealed spatially concentrated forest loss during conflict years; 96% occurred in protected areas with the most loss in Gishwati Forest Reserve at a rate of -6.1%. Trends were explored with spatially explicit conflict data that distinguished armed conflict activity from conflict induced settlements. Impacts of conflict on forests in Rwanda appear to be influenced by natural resource use near settlements. Massive migrations of people into settlements during the conflict, who had previously been scattered across the landscape, resulted in a redistribution of pressures. Reduced pressure elsewhere supports this inference. Results underscore the vulnerability of protected areas and the spatial dynamics of forest resource dependence during conflicts. This work demonstrates the value of distinguishing conflict activities to assess their varied environmental effects. © 2015 The Author.
Source title: Global Ecology and Conservation
DOI: 10.1016/j.gecco.2015.01.013
Link: https://www.scopus.com/inward/record.uri?eid=2-s2.0-84923039885&doi=10.1016%2fj.gecco.2015.01.013&partnerID=40&md5=a7d994c3713088c46c201eccc5c26b87
Correspondence Address: Ordway, E.M.; Department of Environmental Earth System Science, Stanford UniversityUnited States
Language of Original Document: English
Access Type: Article
Country: ; Rwanda ;
Protected area: Volcans ; Gishwati-Mukura ; Gishwati-Mukura
Main topic: Humans ; Environment
Subtopic: Armed conflicts ; Conservation initiatives ; Demography ; Governance / Policy ; Land use / cover ; Deforestation

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Abstract: Linking conservation and development activities requires local institutional change that can deliver global conservation as well as local socioeconomic benefits. Participatory approaches are considered a key element to this end, although recent research demonstrates that they may reinforce existing inequitable governance systems. This article examines microinstitutional formations and development interventions in the Mount Cameroon National Park. The study found that blending new governance approaches with traditional institutions at Mount Cameroon National Park led to diminished participation of the project and a failure to listen to and deliver meaningful development opportunities to Bavenga villagers. The article concludes that while local participation and governance institutions constitute laudable additions to Integrated Conservation and Development Projects, the implications of reproducing traditional authority structures must be carefully considered, and locally grounded development opportunities need to be better embedded into these projects. © The Author(s) 2014 Reprints and permissions: sagepub.co.uk/journalsPermissions.nav.
Source title: Journal of Environment and Development
DOI: 10.1177/1070496514551985
Link: https://www.scopus.com/inward/record.uri?eid=2-s2.0-84922622984&doi=10.1177%2f1070496514551985&partnerID=40&md5=5b1030f3c43053009ba84e583a00699a
Correspondence Address: Tafon, R.Ro¨ntgenva¨gen 5, Lgh 1224, Sweden
Language of Original Document: English
Access Type: Article
Country: ; Cameroon ;
Protected area: Mont Cameroun
Main topic: Humans
Subtopic: Governance / Policy ; Periphery / Management ; Conservation initiatives ; Income-generating activities ; Perceptions / Behaviors ; Anthropology / Ethnoscience

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Abstract: Assessment and management of volcanic risk are important scientific, economic, and political issues, especially in densely populated areas threatened by volcanoes. The Virunga volcanic province in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, with over 1 million inhabitants, has to cope permanently with the threat posed by the active Nyamulagira and Nyiragongo volcanoes. During the past century, Nyamulagira erupted at intervals of 1-4 years - mostly in the form of lava flows - at least 30 times. Its summit and flank eruptions lasted for periods of a few days up to more than 2 years, and produced lava flows sometimes reaching distances of over 20 km from the volcano. Though most of the lava flows did not reach urban areas, only impacting the forests of the endangered Virunga National Park, some of them related to distal flank eruptions affected villages and roads. In order to identify a useful tool for lava flow hazard assessment at Goma Volcano Observatory (GVO), we tested VORIS 2.0.1 (Felpeto et al., 2007), a freely available software (http://www.gvb-csic.es) based on a probabilistic model that considers topography as the main parameter controlling the lava flow propagation. We tested different parameters and digital elevation models (DEM) - SRTM1, SRTM3, and ASTER GDEM - to evaluate the sensitivity of the models to changes in input parameters of VORIS 2.0.1. Simulations were tested against the known lava flows and topography from the 2010 Nyamulagira eruption. The results obtained show that VORIS 2.0.1 is a quick, easy-to-use tool for simulating lava-flow eruptions and replicates to a high degree of accuracy the eruptions tested when input parameters are appropriately chosen. In practice, these results will be used by GVO to calibrate VORIS for lava flow path forecasting during new eruptions, hence contributing to a better volcanic crisis management. © 2015 Author(s).
Source title: Natural Hazards and Earth System Sciences
DOI: 10.5194/nhess-15-2391-2015
Link: https://www.scopus.com/inward/record.uri?eid=2-s2.0-84945955728&doi=10.5194%2fnhess-15-2391-2015&partnerID=40&md5=5c5e6f8b5dde46d94a9b7227491749ec
Correspondence Address: Syavulisembo, A.M.; Goma Volcanological ObservatoryCongo
Language of Original Document: English
Access Type: Article
Country: ; Democratic Republic of Congo ;
Protected area: Virunga
Main topic: Environment
Subtopic: Geology / Pedology ; Volcanism

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Abstract: A preliminary checklist of butterflies collected in the Caldera de Lubá is presented. Of the 70 species cited, 14 represent the first records from Bioko (Graphium ucalegon ucalegon, Nepheronia argia argia, Pentila fidonioides, Cymothoe althea, Cymothoe capella, Cymothoe consanguis, Lachnoptera anticlia, Amauris vashti, Bicyclus golo, Bicyclus neustetteri, Coeliades forestan, Ceratrichia phocion camerona, Celaenorrhinus plagiatus and Semalea pulvina). From the results obtained after applying different diversity indices (richness, dominance, evenness) and accumulation functions, we can infer that the Rhopalocera of the Gran Caldera de Lubá constitute an extraordinarily diverse community of great evenness, lacking generally highly threatened taxa or species with a localized occurrence on Bioko and, collectively, the fauna is characterized by a highly even and stable structure. The results obtained can provide the tools to develop conservation measures in the future, as well as to strengthen the creation of Scientific Reserves used as genetic resources warehouse.
Source title: African Entomology
DOI: 10.4001/003.023.0221
Link: https://www.scopus.com/inward/record.uri?eid=2-s2.0-84942613879&doi=10.4001%2f003.023.0221&partnerID=40&md5=4ec5ec5ff983aa1091cb1aecaad4cf9a
Correspondence Address: Martín, I.; Department of System and Natural Resources, Forestry and Natural Environment Engineers, Polytechnic University of MadridSpain
Language of Original Document: English
Access Type: Article
Country: ; Equatorial Guinea ;
Protected area: Caldera de Luba
Main topic: Biodiversity
Subtopic: Animals ; Invertebrates ; Survey / Monitoring ; Diversity

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Abstract: Pyrethrum has been in production in Rwanda since 1936 when some 7,000 growers were given 14,000 ha of suitable growing land around the Virunga National Park. In 1972, a extraction plant was built in Musanze and the industry operated successfully under the government controlled company OPYRWA. The 1994 genocide was a real disaster for the local growers and the industry. After 1994, the government supported the re-birth of the pyrethrum industry and after some difficulties the industry is now successfully managed by the private company HORIZON SOPYRWA.
Source title: Acta Horticulturae
DOI: 10.17660/ActaHortic.2015.1073.3
Link: https://www.scopus.com/inward/record.uri?eid=2-s2.0-84928309862&doi=10.17660%2fActaHortic.2015.1073.3&partnerID=40&md5=c3079a19e81cb79f756687fa5ffff9f7
Correspondence Address:
Language of Original Document: English
Access Type: Review
Country: ; Rwanda ;
Protected area: Virunga
Main topic: Humans
Subtopic: Income-generating activities ; Agriculture

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Abstract: The indotyphlid caecilian amphibian Idiocranium russeli Parker, 1936 is the only nominal species in its genus. Apart from two additional, largely overlooked locality records that we consider to be of an undescribed species, I. russeli is known with certainty from only a single collection of c.50 specimens from a single locality in 1933. We report new material from fieldwork in 2012 carried out in the vicinity of the type locality. Digging surveys at 34 sites for a total of >2000 person minutes found 50 I. russeli at 15 of these sites, extending the known range of the species by more than 40 km south and from an elevation of c.670 m to 104–820 m. The species probably occurs in nearby Nigeria and in some protected areas, is tolerant of some human disturbance, and is likely to move from Data Deficient to Least Concern on the IUCN Red List. Males have relatively longer and wider heads than females. Total length measured for preserved specimens is less than for freshly anaesthetized specimens, by up to 14.1%. Previously, preserved I. russeli were reported as having a maximum length of 114 mm, but the new sample includes specimens with total lengths of 145 mm in preservation and 167 mm when fresh. The sex of the smallest independent specimens (total length 62 mm in preservation) could be determined from examination of the gonads, hatchlings are c.30 mm, and I. russeli is confirmed as one of the smallest known caecilian species. © 2014, © 2014 Taylor & Francis.
Source title: Journal of Natural History
DOI: 10.1080/00222933.2014.939733
Link: https://www.scopus.com/inward/record.uri?eid=2-s2.0-84926170273&doi=10.1080%2f00222933.2014.939733&partnerID=40&md5=c50e275c2dd8b96717eb12bf0840ebf5
Correspondence Address: Gower, D.J.; Department of Life Sciences, The Natural History MuseumUnited Kingdom
Language of Original Document: English
Access Type: Article
Country: ; Cameroon ;
Protected area: Bayang-Mbo ; Korup ; Korup ; Takamanda
Main topic: Biodiversity
Subtopic: Animals ; Vertebrates ; Amphibians ; Survey / Monitoring ; Biology / Ecology