Project leader: Vladimir Gusarov
Collaborators:
Brita Stedje, Professor, Natural History Museum, University of Oslo
Charlotte Sletten Bjorå, Associate Professor, Natural History Museum, University of Oslo
Nikolay Yunakov, Visiting Researcher, Natural History Museum, University of Oslo
Geir Einar Ellefsen Søli, Associate Professor, Natural History Museum, University of Oslo
Bruno Nyundo, Lecturer, University of Dar es Salaam, Tanzania
Flora Magige, Lecturer, University of Dar es Salaam, Tanzania
Mkabwa Manoko, Lecturer, University of Dar es Salaam, Tanzania
Henry Joseph Ndangalasi, Lecturer, University of Dar es Salaam, Tanzania
Ramadhani B. M. Senzota, Associate Professor, University of Dar es Salaam, Tanzania
Igor Belousov, Visiting Researcher, Natural History Museum, University of Oslo, and Senior Research Fellow, Russian Institute of Plant Protection, Pushkin, St Petersburg, Russia
Funded by:
Norad (Norwegian Agency for Development Cooperation), PITRO III, 2009-2012 (project number 10039)
Description of Project:
The newly established collaborative project involving two UDSM departments and the Natural History Museum (NHM), UiO, will identify the main biodiversity distribution patterns in the least known part of the Eastern Arc Mountains (biodiversity hotspot) to estimate the implications for conservation and provide recommendations to nature managers and local authorities. The project will support the new Master program in Biodiversity Conservation (UDSM) and will offer Master students opportunities for their thesis projects. More specifically, the project will evaluate the influence of forest fragmentation, disturbance and altitude on biodiversity distribution. The attitude of local people towards conservation and the related indigenous knowledge will be examined. A thorough dissemination and outreach strategy is included.
The project includes the following goals:
- To analyze biodiversity distribution along altitudinal and disturbance gradients
- To assess the influence of forest fragment size and degree of isolation on biodiversity
- To produce complete species inventories in selected target taxa
- To revise taxonomy of selected taxa and publish descriptions of previously unknown species
- To test the hypothesis that there is a fine scale local endemism within each of the two Pare regions.
- To evaluate the attitude of local people towards conservation of biodiversity and the related indigenous knowledge
- To provide usable recommendations on conservation issues to local authorities and nature managers
- To carry out several outreach actions involving local population, school students, local authorities and other stakeholders
The African Eastern Arc Mountains: biodiversity distribution and conservation priorities. Click here to access the PDF document.
Poster: Beetles of the North Pare Mountains. Click here to access the JPG file.
Poster: Beetles of the South Pare Mountains. Click here to access the JPG file.
