Search

Long-term ecological studies are important for understanding wild populations’ dynamics and processes and the actual factors that can determine their decline. Here, we report the results of a 28-years-long (1992–2019) monitoring of three distinct populations of a tortoise, Testudo hermanni, in Central Italy, with an emphasis on their population abundance trends and on the eventual variation in their habitat use across years and among the study areas. Samplings were conducted by Visual Encounter Survey (VES) methodology, and using a suite of statistical analyses including correlations and Generalized Linear Models analyses. Our data showed a statistically significant decline in tortoise sightings through time, and concurrently also a variation in habitat use by tortoises. In all the three study areas, we observed a significant increase of tortoise sighting frequency in the habitat type characterized by high (>taller than 200 cm) shrubby and wooded vegetation. Since our analyses revealed no significant change in the habitat type availability by year in each study area, we suggest that T. hermanni was increasingly selecting closed vegetation spots throughout the years. We hypothesize that this observed trend of shift in habitat selection could be due to lowering their body temperatures to prevent overheating. So, the selection of more covered spots would be a thermal ecology adaptive consequence of the ongoing global warming.

Despite many scientific articles were devoted to study aspects of community ecology of ungulates in African savannahs , only very few studies focused on communities from Western Africa . In this paper , we analyse the interspecific interactions of savannah ungulates in the Nazinga Game Ranch (Burkina Faso) in relation to rainfall patterns and potential competitor density, using long-term (1985-2008) line-transect data. We estimated the population sizes of all species by using distance sampling . There was no effect of the year on the population sizes of all the species , but , when 5-year-period groups were analyzed, there were significant fluctuations over time intervals for at least some of the species. Generalized Linear Models on the interspecific relationships (either positive or negative) between pairs of species would suggest that interannual population size fluctuations of the various ungulates were likely attributable to fluctuations in poaching intensity, the influences of rainfall regimes (for at least three browser species ), and negative density dependence., Effets de la densité des compétiteurs et du régime des pluies sur la dynamique de population à long terme d’une communauté d’herbivores dans une savane ouest-africaine En dépit de beaucoup d ’ articles scientifiques consacrés à l’écologie des communautés des ongulés dans les savanes africaine, seules quelques études se sont focalisées sur l’Afrique de l’Ouest. Dans cet article, sur la base de line-transects sur le long terme (1985-2008 ), nous analysons les interactions entre les espèces d’ongulés de savane dans le Ranch de Gibier de Nazinga (Burkina Faso) en relation avec les pluies et la densité de leurs compétiteurs potentiels. Nous avons estimé la taille des populations de toutes les espèces par comptage à distance. Il n’est pas apparu d’effet année sur la taille des populations pour toutes les espèces mais, en analysant par groupes de cinq années, des fluctuations significatives ont été décelées au moins pour certaines espèces. Des modèles linéaires généralisés sur les relations interspécifiques (tant positives que négatives) entre paires d’espèces suggèrent que les fluctuations interannuelles de la taille des populations des divers ongulés seraient vraisemblablement imputables aux variations de l’intensité du braconnage, à l’influence du régime des pluies (pour au moins trois espèces brouteuses) et à une densitédépendance négative., Hema Emmanuel M.,Ouedraogo Boukare,Belemsogbo Urbain,Di Vittorio Massimiliano,Dendi Daniele,Guenda Wendengoudi,Petrozzi Fabio,Luiselli Luca. Effects of competitor density and rainfall regime on the long-term population dynamics of an herbivore community in a western African Savannah . In: Revue d'Écologie (La Terre et La Vie), tome 73, n°4, 2018. pp. 492-503.

Human-elephant conflict represents a noteworthy issue in many developing countries, but very little is known concerning its dynamics in West African countries. In this paper, we analyse the ecological correlates of Elephant (Loxodonta africana) raiding at ten villages situated in the surroundings of Nazinga Game Ranch, southern Burkina Faso, during the years 2002 and 2006. In both years, the correlates of elephant raiding were consistent : elephants attacked preferentially three southern villages, whereas seven northern villages were practically ignored despite no significant difference in the distance from the ranch between these groups of villages. In addition, elephants focused especially on yam plantations or yam-cassava mixed plantations, and, in at least one year, they even actively avoided other crops (sorghum, corn, millet and cotton). Elephants also targeted preferentially smaller than larger plantations, whereas human population size in each village did not influence the probability of their raids (as the three southern targeted villages were not smaller in terms of population size than the non-or rarely-targeted villages). Group size of raiding elephants was larger in 2006 than in 2002. The ecological and conservation implications of these patterns are discussed in this paper. _________________________________________________, Incursion ou non ? Étude des corrélations écologiques du conflit Homme-Éléphant dans le Ranch de Gibier de Nazinga (Burkina Faso) Le phénomène de conflit Homme-Éléphant constitue une préoccupation majeure dans de nombreux pays en voie de développement. Cependant, on ne dispose que de peu d’informations sur sa dynamique dans les pays de l’Afrique de l’Ouest. Dans cet article, nous analysons les corrélations écologiques de la conservation de l’Éléphant (Loxodonta africana) dans dix villages riverains du Ranch de Gibier de Nazinga, au sud du Burkina Faso, au cours des années 2002 et 2006. Pour chacune des deux années, les corrélats de dégât d’éléphants étaient consistants : les éléphants ont attaqué préférentiellement trois villages du sud, tandis que sept villages du nord ont été pratiquement ignorés bien qu’aucune différence significative n’existait entre les distances de ces groupes de villages par rapport au Ranch. De plus, les éléphants ont surtout ciblé les plantations d’igname ou les plantations mixtes d’igname et de manioc; et pendant au moins un an, ils ont activement évité d’autres cultures (sorgho, maïs, mil et coton). Ils ont également ciblé les petites plantations. La taille de la population humaine dans chaque village n’a pas influencé la probabilité des dégâts (les trois villages-cibles du sud n’étaient pas plus petits en termes de taille de la population que les villages qui n’ont pas ou rarement été ciblés). La taille des groupes d’éléphants qui causaient les dégâts a été plus importante en 2006 qu’en 2002 . Les implications écologiques et en matière de conservation de ces patterns sont discutées dans cet article., Hema Emmanuel M.,Sirima Djiama,Niagabarè Banzourou,Nama Néti,Petrozzi Fabio,Di Vittorio Massimiliano,Guenda Wendengoudi,Luiselli Luca. Raiding or not raiding ? A study of the ecological correlates of human-elephant conflict at Nazinga Game Ranch (Burkina Faso). In: Revue d'Écologie (La Terre et La Vie), tome 73, n°1, 2018. pp. 3-11.

In West Africa, the lion is currently characterised by small populations that are fragmented and often isolated from one another, with virtually no ecological connection. In addition, lion populations are generally declining. In recent reports, in Ghana the lion has been declared functionally extinct, if not completely eradicated, and recent surveys have made conclusions as to the probable extinction of lions in Mole National Park (MNP) in Ghana’s Northern Territory. The aim of this report is to highlight the lion’s continued presence in MNP, an area that must continue to be considered for species conservation, and therefore studied carefully. In April 2011, a young male lion was filmed using camera traps, and a roar was clearly audible. The choice of where to place the camera traps (n = 20) was based on a habitat suitability model developed using lion records collected over 41 years. Additional records support our data, which demonstrate that MNP could possibly still be considered as an area designated for lion conservation in West Africa, even considering the significant findings based on molecular biology that prove that lions in West and Central Africa are clearly differentiated from other African lions.Key words: Panthera leo, threatened, Mole National Park, West Africa.

Varanus exanthematicus (Bosc, 1792) Lacerta exanthematicus Bosc, 1792: 25. MATERIAL EXAMINED. — 7 specimens: Togo. Bassar, ZMB 16041; Binanparba, RMCA 73.009.R.0188-0189; Bismarkburg (actually Yégué in Adélé), ZMB 11254; Moba (actually Dapaong), ZMB 24920; Mango, ZMB 16040; Sokodé, ZMB 16275. HABITATS AND DISTRIBUTION. — This is a widespread species in the Guinea and Sudanese savannahs. It was recorded by Matschie (1893) and Tornier (1901) for Bismarkburg, Bassar, Mango, Sokodé and Yendi (actually in Ghana). It was also generally reported to occur in Togo by Bayless (2002). It is heavily exported for the international pet trade: for instance, according to the CITES division of the DFC, 20350 live specimens were exported between 2001 and 2005 (see also Affre et al. 2005)., Published as part of Segniagbeto, Gabriel Hoinsoude, Trape, Jean-François, Afiademanyo, Komlan M., Rödel, Mark-Oliver, Ohler, Annemarie, Dubois, Alain, David, Patrick, Meirte, Danny, Glitho, Isabelle Adolé, Petrozzi, Fabio & Luiselli, Luca, 2015, Checklist of the lizards of Togo (West Africa), with comments on systematics, distribution, ecology, and conservation, pp. 381-402 in Zoosystema 37 (2) on page 396, DOI: 10.5252/z2015n2a7, http://zenodo.org/record/4577806, {"references":["BOSC L. 1792. - Lacerta exanthematica. Actes de la Societe d'Histoire naturelle de Paris 1: 25, pl. V.","TORNIER G. 1901. - Die Crocodile, Schildkroten und Eidechsen in Togo. Archiv fur Naturgeschichte (Beiheft) 1901: 65 - 88.","BAYLESS M. K. 2002. - Monitor lizards: a pan-African check-list of their zoogeography (Sauria: Varanidae: Polydaedalus). Journal of Biogeography 29: 1643 - 1700.","AFFRE A., INEICH I. & RINGUET S. 2005. - West-Africa, Madagascar, Central- and South-America: main origins of the CITES-listed lizard pet market in France. Herpetological Review 36 (2): 133 - 137."]}

Gastropholis echinata (Cope, 1862) Lacerta (Zootoca) echinata Cope, 1862: 189. MATERIAL EXAMINED. — 2 specimens: Liberia. No precise locality, ZMB 38683. Ghana. Koforidua ZMB 45223. DISTRIBUTION. — We never recorded this species during our surveys. Its overall distribution, ranging from Liberia to RDC (Matschie 1893; Chirio & LeBreton 2007), as well as a specimen from Koforidua, Ghana (ZMB 45223), a locality close to the border of Togo, suggests that it should be present in Togo. In Ivory Coast this arboreal forest species is also known to occur in plantations (Rödel 1996)., Published as part of Segniagbeto, Gabriel Hoinsoude, Trape, Jean-François, Afiademanyo, Komlan M., Rödel, Mark-Oliver, Ohler, Annemarie, Dubois, Alain, David, Patrick, Meirte, Danny, Glitho, Isabelle Adolé, Petrozzi, Fabio & Luiselli, Luca, 2015, Checklist of the lizards of Togo (West Africa), with comments on systematics, distribution, ecology, and conservation, pp. 381-402 in Zoosystema 37 (2) on page 389, DOI: 10.5252/z2015n2a7, http://zenodo.org/record/4577806, {"references":["COPE E. D. 1862. - On Lacerta echinata and Tiliqua dura. Proceedings of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia 14: 189 - 191.","CHIRIO L. & LEBRETON M. 2007. - Atlas des Reptiles du Cameroun. Museum national d'Histoire naturelle, Paris; IRD, Paris, 688 p. (Patrimoines naturels; 67)."]}

Genus Lepidothyris Cope, 1892 Lepidothyris fernandi (Burton, 1836) (Fig. 4) Tiliqua fernandi Burton, 1836: 62. MATERIAL EXAMINED. — 14 specimens: Togo. Badou, MNHN 2006.2243, ZMB 77925-77929; Notsé, MNHN 2006.2242; Badou, ZMB 77925-77929. Bénin. No precise locality, MNHN 1986.768-769. HABITATS, NATURAL HISTORY AND DISTRIBUTION. — Lepidothyris fernandi is essentially a forest species, although in Nigeria it may also be found in plantations at the border of the main forest (Akani et al. 2009). This species is usually active in the evening, and most of the specimens spend the whole day inside their burrows (Akani et al. 2009). Isopoda and Coleoptera dominated in the dietary samples of Nigerian specimens, but also other lizards were frequently eaten (at least in swamp forest habitat during the wet season; Eniang et al. 2014b). This species is here recorded for the first time from Togo, although many individuals (for instance, up to 1540 specimens between 2001 and 2005) are regularly exported every year for the pet trade. The genus attribution of this species follows Wagner et al. (2009)., Published as part of Segniagbeto, Gabriel Hoinsoude, Trape, Jean-François, Afiademanyo, Komlan M., Rödel, Mark-Oliver, Ohler, Annemarie, Dubois, Alain, David, Patrick, Meirte, Danny, Glitho, Isabelle Adolé, Petrozzi, Fabio & Luiselli, Luca, 2015, Checklist of the lizards of Togo (West Africa), with comments on systematics, distribution, ecology, and conservation, pp. 381-402 in Zoosystema 37 (2) on page 387, DOI: 10.5252/z2015n2a7, http://zenodo.org/record/4577806, {"references":["BURTON E. 1836. - A saurian reptile of the family Scincidae and of the genus Tiliqua, Gray. Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London 1836: 62.","AKANI G. C., LUISELLI L., OGBEIBU A. E., UWAEGBU M. & EBERE N. 2009. - Activity patterns and habitat selection in a population of the African fire skink (Lygosoma fernandi) from the Niger Delta, Nigeria. Herpetological Journal 19: 207 - 211.","ENIANG E. A., AMADI N., PETROZZI F., VIGNOLI L., AKANI G. C. & LUISELLI L. 2014 b. - Inter-seasonal and inter-habitat variations in the diet of the African fire skink, Lygosoma fernandi, from southern Nigeria. Amphibia-Reptilia 35: 371 - 375.","WAGNER P., BOHME W., PAUWELS O. S. G. & SCHMITZ A. 2009. - A review of the African red-flanked skinks of the Lygosoma fernandi (Burton, 1836) species group (Squamata: Scincidae) and the role of climate change in their speciation. Zootaxa 2050: 1 - 30."]}