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Cryptic species present a challenge for conservation, as species diversity may remain undetected. In zoological research, DNA barcoding of the mitochondrial cytochrome c oxidase subunit I (COI) has become a useful heuristic tool for aiding species resolution and informing species discovery. Despite concerted efforts to genetically barcode bats and birds, comprehensive assessments have yet to be undertaken across the Afrotropics. We retrieved available DNA barcodes of native breeding Afrotropical bat and bird species. Using Bayesian phylogenetic modelling, we assessed DNA barcode performance at species identification, and sought to detect notable intraspecific clade partitioning hinting at cryptic speciation. Available DNA barcodes represent only 42.3% and 23.6% of the relevant bat and bird species diversity, respectively, with only 18.7% of bat species and 7.2% of bird species having geographically spread records. DNA barcodes afforded greater taxonomic resolution of Afrotropical bird species than of bats (96.8% vs. 84.0%), with bats having a higher proportion of species non-monophyly (25.5% vs. 4.8%). Well-supported (≥ 95% posterior probability) clade partitioning was inferable from twenty-one bat species and fifteen bird species, and a further single under-sampled bat species and fifteen such bird species showed deep (> 2.0%) intraspecific divergences. These phylogenetic signatures allude to cryptic speciation within these volant taxa, and serve to prompt more comprehensive assessments of Afrotropical fauna. These findings also indirectly affirm the importance of paleoclimatic refugia to endemic vertebrate diversity. The current taxonomic status of birds is better supported by this molecular evidence than that of bats. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the developing nations like Nigeria, the science of freshwater biomonitoring is still scanty unlike developed countries. In this study, we explored the significance of using macroinvertebrates for biomonitoring of the Chanchaga River in the Lower Niger-Benue Ecoregion of Nigeria in four stations sampled for 14 months which covered both wet and dry seasons. Physico-chemical variables were analysed following standard procedures while macroinvertebrates were collected using kick sampling technique. Proportionately high values of physico-chemical variables such as nutrients, BOD and conductivity portraying increasing pollution were observed in stations 3 and 4 unlike the less disturbed stations 1 and 2. A total of 12,210 macroinvertebrates comprising of 94 taxa belonging to 11 orders and 54 families were collected during the study period. In the entire study, we recorded a total of 57.53% of macroinvertebrates during the wet season months and 42.47% in the dry season months. The canonical correspondence analysis (CCA) result revealed no marked seasonal variation in the relationship between macroinvertebrates and physico-chemical variables. Pollution tolerant taxa such as Tipula sp., Culex sp., Chironomus sp., Unionidae and Dugesia polychroa were associated with stations 3 and 4 in both wet and dry seasons. Our result from the analysis of similarity (ANOSIM) revealed that station 4 had the highest similarities in terms of macroinvertebrates distribution, while the result of the similarity percentage (SIMPER) indicated 91.73% dissimilarity in macroinvertebrates taxa between stations 1 and 4. This confirmed one of our hypotheses which states that macroinvertebrates will respond differentially to pollution gradients across the stations sampled. We concluded that the present study will serve as vista to biomonitoring of freshwater systems in the Afrotropical region. However, the study did not unveil the functional ecology of the macroinvertebrate assemblage. We therefore recommend that a combination of structural and functional ecology of freshwater systems should be explored in future studies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ant-following birds have been studied extensively in the Neotropics, but much less information is currently available for the Afrotropics. There are published records of 168 African bird species from 37 families foraging in association with driver ants (Dorylus, sub-family Dorylinae). However, of 52 bird species assessed as regular ant-followers, 38 belong to three families, which are disproportionately represented compared to other large Afrotropical bird families: Muscicapidae (18 spp.), Pycnonotidae (13 spp.) and Turdidae (7 spp.). The extent to which these birds are dependent on ants through their annual cycle is not known. African driver ants forage primarily under shaded, humid conditions by day, and may spend a month or longer underground. Conservation assessments of African forest habitats suggest that both driver ants and ant-following birds may be especially sensitive to the loss of forest cover. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The occurrence of the genera and morphospecies of Diapriidae (Insecta, Hymenoptera) in four habitats (stands) of eastern Mozambique, was studied. The genus Miota is recorded from the Afrotropical region for the first time. Overall, diapriids were represented by 52 morphospecies from 10 genera of the subfamilies Belytinae and Diapriinae. The highest occurrence (140 specimens) and the largest taxonomic diversity (42 morphospecies from 9 genera) were found for the diapriids in the native miombo stand (Brachystegia sp.), followed by the eucalypt, Eucalyptus spp., (92 specimens, 24 morphospecies from 8 genera), the loblolly pine, Pinus taeda, (62 specimens, 19 morphospecies from 7 genera), and the wild loquat (Uapaca kirkiana) stands (40 specimens, 14 morphospecies from 7 genera). The most morphospecies-rich genera were Basalys, Coptera and Trichopria (15, 14 and 7 morphospecies respectively), with Coptera being the most specimen-rich in all samples. The same diapriid morphospecies prevailed in all studied habitats. The abundance estimators ACE and Chao1 predicted 61 (60 in Chao1) species for miombo stand, that is nearly 3.0 times richer than the 22 species estimated for wild loquat, 2.1 (2.6) times richer than the 29 (23) species estimated for loblolly pine and 1.5 times richer than the 40 (39) species estimated for eucalypt. The diapriids of the exotic eucalypt and native miombo stands were most similar, and clustered together with diapriids of the exotic loblolly pine stand. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The growing dependence of villagers on local forests (food, wood, etc.) makes the comparative assessment of the perceptions they have of the forest and its wildlife increasingly important for setting conservation priorities. While hunting and habitat loss are important threats to primates' existence worldwide, more attention has been focused on diurnal species, while little is known about their nocturnal counterparts. Strepsirrhini is a group of nocturnal primates with galago and potto as the only representatives on mainland Africa. To assess the perception of locals and their impacts on the conservation of these primates, questionnaires were administered to 79 household heads in four villages located in community forests around Mount Cameroon National Park. Amongst the respondents, over 90% admitted that these animals are eaten in their communities. Nocturnal primates were not only hunted for food, but also used in medicine and rituals and to make drums. However, the habit of eating nocturnal primates seems to be uncommon, as most respondents had not consumed any primate bushmeat in the last 5 years. The knowledge and support of wildlife conservation manifested by the villagers did not reflect the reality on the ground, as forest clearing for agriculture takes place regularly across the villages. Our findings suggest that bushmeat is not the main threat to nocturnal primates in this area, with habitat loss potentially representing a bigger problem for their existence in the near future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The taxonomy of the widespread Afrotropical ambrosia beetle Xyleborus principalis Eichhoff, 1878 is reviewed based on morphological and molecular data. The species is both morphologically and genetically variable but without any structure corresponding to geography, or between genes and morphology. Examination of type material and other specimens collected across Africa and Madagascar documented the existence of a single species. New synonymies are proposed for Xyleborus principalis (=X. alluaudi Schaufuss, 1897, =X. camerunus Hagedorn, 1910, =X. consobrinus Eggers, 1932, =X. discrepans Schedl, 1950, =X. annectens Schedl, 1957, =X. peramploides Schedl, 1957). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Bats are among the most heterothermic mammals, with nearly all species investigated under free-ranging conditions to date exhibiting some degree of daily torpor and/or hibernation. We investigated thermoregulation during late winter by seven Nycteris thebaica in a warm, semi-arid habitat in northern South Africa, using temperature-sensitive transmitters to measure skin temperature (T skin). Unexpectedly, we found no evidence for any expression of daily torpor or hibernation based on a total of 86 days of data from 7 bats (one male and six females), despite air temperatures as low as ∼10°C. Instead, daytime T skin was distributed unimodally with most values in the 33–35°C range, and a minimum T skin of 28.4°C at a roost temperature of 24.6°C. There are several possible reasons why N. thebaica may avoid torpor, including predation in roosts, and the long nightly foraging periods of this species compared to many others. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The willingness of a species to leave a forest fragment is a prerequisite for subsequent dispersal across the intervening non-forested landscape. Species with stringent fidelity to the forest patch will be isolated from populations in other fragments and predisposed to factors that promote extinction of local populations. Here, we document which fruit-feeding, forest-dwelling butterflies occur in the farm bush savannah outside an afrotropical forest reserve in order to gain a first approximation of those potentially dispersing across it. Standard fruit-baited traps hung at 80 m inside the forest, the forest edge and 12 and 50 m into the savannah matrix were used to characterize communities in the different habitats. A total of 1616 specimens were collected from the 19 traps, representing 90 species. Rarefied species richness was generally comparable across habitats. Multivariate ordination analyses, which integrate species composition and relative abundance in addition to richness, uncovered two broad community types, i.e. forest (edge plus 80 m inside) and matrix. Relative fidelity to forest habitat was investigated for the 45 species that were represented by at least five individuals. More than half of the forest-associated species showed relaxed fidelity to forest habitat and were commonly trapped in the matrix. Although forest generalists and dry forest species were expected to be more commonly trapped outside the forest relative to wet or moist forest species, there was no relationship between the relative occurrence of species in matrix versus forest habitat and their habitat association category. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]