ANPN Science Brief

English Amphibian chytridiomycosis is an infectious disease caused by the fungus Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis (Bd), and is widely believed to be the cause of catastrophic worldwide declines in amphibian populations. In Gabon, the fungus has been identified in two National Parks (Monts de Cristal and Ivindo; Bell et al., 2011), but not in other areas studied (Lope, Lastourville and Lebamba; Daversa et al., 2011; Gamba and Libreville; Gratwicke et al., 2011), and with no evidence of associated disease or mortality, so its epidemiology and impacts on native amphibians is not yet fully understood. Two new studies out this month shed light on the origin of the disease and its global spread. The first, published in PNAS , is a phylogenetic study that suggests the recent pandemic strain is much older than previously research had suggested and evolved thousands of years ago, predating the recent global epidemic (Rosenblum et al., 2013). The researchers suggest the disease is most l...

Many taxa, especially invertebrates, remain biogeographically highly understudied and even baseline assessments are missing in many areas. A new study attempts to examine patterns of species diversity and inventory completeness for the hawkmoths of Africa.

English A new genus of rare African vespertilionid bat has been described from South Sudan (Reeder et al.,2013). Niumbaha sp replaces Glauconycteris superba on the basis of cranial and external morphological comparisons. In the same study, museum specimens were re-examined and a new country record for Gabon, Glauconycteris curryae was recorded. Another species of Glauconycteris, G. argentata was recently recorded for the first time in Gabon (Peereboom et al., 2012). References   Reeder DM, Helgen KM, Vodzak ME, Lunde DP, Ejotre I (2013) A new genus for a rare African vespertilionid bat: insights from South Sudan. Zookeys (285): 89-115. Peereboom D, van Lieshout S, Jeffery KJ, Bergmans W (2012) First record and echolocation call of Glauconycteris argentata (Dobson, 1875) from Gabon. African Bat Conservation News 27: 3–5.

Forest encroachment into savannah systems is a phenomenon being observed across Gabon and Central Africa. While it is not clear what environmental factors are driving this vegetation change in Gabon, factors such as fire, grazing and CO2 concentrations have been used elsewhere as explanations. A new study published online in Nature Climate Change shows that increases in precipitation intensity, but not total precipitation, increased aboveground woody plant growth and decreased aboveground grass growth in a savannah system in Kruger NP, South Africa, by driving soil water deeper into the soil, enabling woody plants to increase their rooting depths. Woody plant encroachment may continue in the future should precipitation intensity increase. Kulmatiski A, Beard KH (2013) Woody plant encroachment facilitated by increased precipitation intensity. Nature Climate Change advance online publication.

A new study published in this month’s Ecology letters compares the effectiveness of two approaches to protecting African lion populations; physical separation of animals in fenced reserves compared to unfenced protected areas.

A new study on the ecology of Red-Capped Mangabeys ( Cercocebus torquatus ) is available for download online. Catherine Cooke from The Ohio State University habituated a group of about 70 mangabeys in Sette Cama, Gabon, in 2008-2009, and studied feeding ecology, ranging patterns and positional behaviour, comparing to closely related species such as mandrills and grey-cheeked mangabeys. Her thesis is available online at this address: http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view.cgi?acc_num=osu1354500922