Tiwonge I. Mzumara

The red-billed quelea (Quelea quelea), a nomadic granivorous bird, poses a significant threat to the livelihoods of small grain farmers in southern African countries (Cheke and Sidatt 2019), includ...

Understanding the geographic distribution of mammal species is essential for informed conservation planning, maintaining local ecosystem stability, and addressing research gaps, particularly in data-deficient regions. This study investigated the distribution and richness of 20 mammal species within Nyerere National Park (NNP), a large and understudied protected area in Southern Tanzania. We applied species distribution models (SDMs) using presence data collected through ground surveys between 2022 and 2024, combined with environmental variables derived from remote sensing, including land surface temperature, vegetation indices, soil moisture, elevation, and proximity to water sources and human infrastructure. Models were constructed using the Maximum Entropy (MaxEnt) algorithm, and performance was evaluated using the Area Under the Curve (AUC) metric, yielding high accuracy ranging from 0.81 to 0.97. Temperature (32.3%) and vegetation indices (23.4%) emerged as the most influential predictors of species distributions, followed by elevation (21.7%) and proximity to water (14.5%). Species richness, estimated using a stacked SDM approach, was highest in the northern and riparian zones of the park, identifying potential biodiversity hotspots. This study presents the first fine-scale SDMs for mammal species in Nyerere National Park, offering a valuable ecological baseline to support conservation planning and promote sustainable ecotourism development in Tanzania’s southern protected areas.

The aim of this study was to describe and compare the dietary composition of lion (Panthera leo), cheetah (Acinonyx jubatus) and spotted hyaena (Crocuta crocuta) populations in Liwonde National Park, Malawi. Using scat analyses and direct observations, our results indicate a high degree of dietary overlap (O_ab > 0.70), indicative of intraguild competition, and all carnivores exhibited a dietary preference for kudu (Tragelaphus strepsiceros). At present, coexistence is potentially facilitated by low carnivore densities and spatiotemporal responses. We recommend that carnivore diets and niche partitioning strategies continue to be investigated as carnivore populations increase.

Edible orchids are increasingly threatened by unsustainable use in their natural habitats. Several studies highlight the need for propagation to counter this threat. However, a critical gap persists in understanding the environmental conditions that support these species in Malawi. This study aimed to identify potential habitats suitable for propagating edible orchids, focusing on Disa engleriana, to enhance ex-situ conservation efforts. Present and future environmental data were sourced from WorldClim. Species occurrence data was obtained during field surveys and existing dataset. Using MaxEnt, continuous habitat suitability for D. engleriana was modeled based on presence-only occurrence data, Bioclim variables, and elevation. The integration of ArcGIS allowed for a detailed analysis, reclassifying the continuous suitability map into suitable and unsuitable habitats. The results of the study show the most suitable habitats align with the boundaries of protected areas, emphasizing their critical importance in conservation planning. Majority of orchid harvesters live near these protected areas, therefore, engaging them in propagation trials becomes a strategic step toward conservation. The study found that suitable habitats for D. engleriana are typically at altitudes between 1500 and 1600 meters, with temperatures not exceeding 15°C during the wettest months. In addition, the results also revealed the negative impact of climate change on habitat suitability, projecting a decrease in suitable areas over the next 50 years. This study addresses a significant knowledge gap and provides valuable insights to guide conservation strategies for D. engleriana.

Biodiversity remains relatively unknown and understudied in many parts of the developing world with significant information gaps, in stark contrast to many areas in the developed world, where knowledge about biodiversity can approach encyclopedic. Access to resources, such as funding, data, information, expertise, and biological collections (often collected by colonial‐era scientists from across the developing world), is often quite limited for developing‐world scientists. The life of a biodiversity scientist in the developing world is therefore one of manifold dilemmas and challenges, as well as numerous opportunities. Although collaborations exist between developing‐world scientists and developed‐world scientists, too many of those collaborations are not deep or permanent, and developing‐world scientists are too often relegated to a subordinate role. The focus in this contribution is on providing suggestions for how to open and build access to resources for developing‐world scientists. Everyone benefits if developing‐world and developed‐world scientists work together collaboratively to pose interesting and novel questions, generate new data, update existing data, carry out analyses, and arrive at interesting insights and interpretations. In this way, the biodiversity science community can replace “parachute” science with “global science.”

Summary: The near-threatened Lilian’s Lovebird Agapornis lilianae is a small parrot endemic to the Zambezi basin in south-east Africa. The species has a fragmented distribution predominantly within mopane woodlands and is widely referred to as a mopane specialist. The harvesting of mopane trees for charcoal production and timber are having widespread impacts on this woodland habitat, raising concerns over its capacity to support biodiversity. This study aimed to understand the key drivers determining the occurrence of Lilian’s Lovebird in the mopane woodlands of Zambia, focusing particularly on aspects of woodland structure, including the size and density of trees. We used a MaxEnt species distribution model based on historical species occurrence data, to inform selection of 116 survey plots in the Luangwa, Luano and Zambezi valleys. Each plot was sampled for Lilian’s Lovebirds and woodland structure described. Occurrence of Lilian’s Lovebird was found to be positively associated with the size of mopane trees (both height and diameter at breast height) suggesting that large ‘cathedral’ mopane trees provide a key resource for the species and that conservation efforts should focus on the protection of sites containing large trees. No Lilian’s Lovebirds were recorded in areas where they previously occurred to the west of Lower Zambezi National Park, and there was an absence of ‘cathedral’ mopane habitat in this area.

Lilian's Lovebird Agapornis lilianae is a small, near-threatened parrot resident in mopane Colophospermum mopane woodlands. We investigated its diet and foraging behaviour in Liwonde National Park, Malawi. We expected that Lilian's Lovebirds would show little specialisation for a particular food source but generally feed on available seeds, fruits, flowers and other items as observed in other lovebirds. Lilian's Lovebirds fed on 30 different plant species. Lilian's Lovebirds were observed feeding in six habitat types in Liwonde National Park and adjacent areas during the wet season, and four in the dry season. In the wet season lovebirds (23% of observations) foraged in grassy wetland (dambo) areas the most, whilst in the dry season they foraged in grasslands with tree cover (18%) the most. In mopane woodland, foraging flock sizes differed significantly between the wet (mean = 19.8 ± 1.0 lovebirds) and dry season (mean = 33.6 ± 2.3 lovebirds). Grass seeds were lovebirds’ main food source from December to ... Ecologie d’alimentation de l’inséparable de Lilian Agapornis lilianae dans le parc national de Liwonde, MalawiL’inséparable de Lilian, Agapornis lilianae, est un petit psittacidé quasi menacé vivant dans les forêts de Mopane Colophospermum mopane. Nous avons étudié son régime et son comportement alimentaire dans le parc national de Liwonde, au Malawi. Nous nous attendions à ce que les Inséparables de Lilian montrent peu de spécialisa- tion pour une source de nourriture particulière, mais se nourrissent généralement des graines disponibles, des fruits, des fleurs et d’autres composantes, comme cela a été observé chez d’autres espèces d’inséparables. Les Inséparables de Lilian se nourrissaient de 30 espèces végétales différentes. Ils ont été observés en train de se nourrir dans six types d’habitats au niveau du le parc national de Liwonde et dans les zones adjacentes pendant la saison des pluies, et quatre pendant la saison sèche. Durant la saison des pluies, les inséparables (23% des observations) se nourr...