Sokoine University of Agriculture (SUA) is a public university in Morogoro, Tanzania, specializing in agriculture. The university is named after the country's second prime minister Edward Sokoine.
Abstract Habitat loss and land-use changes in tropical forests have significantly altered the structure and composition of natural ecosystems, contributing to a decline in biodiversity. By integrating diverse approaches that assess both species diversity and functional traits, a more comprehensive understanding of the ecological impacts of habitat transformation can be achieved. In this study, we aimed to assess how habitat structure and resource seasonality influence the abundance, richness, and composition of fruit-feeding butterflies across different forest amounts and productivity periods in Madagascar’s dry forests. We collected data on fruit-feeding butterflies and habitat variables (including density of tree-shrub, herbaceous cover, litter, and Enhanced vegetation index (EVI)) across nine 6 × 6 km landscapes with varying levels of forest cover. The data were grouped over three productivity periods (low, medium, and high) between 2023 and 2024. We recorded 5,997 individuals of 16 species across nine landscapes with varying levels of forest amount. Species occurrence was positively correlated with high productivity periods and extensive forest amounts, while species richness was higher during medium productivity. The variation in the space–time availability of resources has the most important variables: Enhanced vegetation index (EVI) and density of trees and shrubs. So, the communities have their dynamics related to productivity and habitat structure at different scales, vegetation and ecological processes are evidenced mainly in landscapes of low and high forest cover, strongly associated with the seasonality of the reserve. The species of butterflies to changes in the environment in different ways, being possible to observe the most accentuated effects in specific characteristics, where the productivity and structural complexity of microhabitats allow the alternation of species/functional groups throughout the year and landscapes.
Abstract The effectiveness of conservation areas often depends on the extent to which local people support their implementation. We used mixed methods to assess and contextualize people’s conservation attitudes in a village surrounded by a wildlife corridor and three distinct types of conservation areas in the Tarangire ecosystem of northern Tanzania: a national park, a wildlife management area (WMA), and a multiple-use ranch. Our study employed questionnaire surveys (n = 89) and in-depth interviews (n = 20) to illuminate people’s views. We analyzed the survey data using ordinal logistic regressions to assess demographic factors influencing attitudes and used a grounded theory qualitative approach to analyze the interview data. Across all four areas men held significantly more negative attitudes than women. Participants with formal education were generally more positive towards the national park and respondents with larger farms and livestock holdings held more negative attitudes towards the ranch. Ethnicity was a significant predictor of attitudes towards the WMA. Qualitatively, we found that village residents were primarily concerned with the impacts of conservation on their livelihoods: areas associated with seasonal livestock grazing were favourably received, while those seen to undermine tenure security and increase human-wildlife interactions on village land were viewed in a negative light. While acknowledging the importance of conservation governance and institutional dynamics, we conclude that direct effects on people’s livelihoods and material well-being are perhaps the most important policy-actionable factors affecting people’s attitudes towards conservation areas in this social-political-ecological context.
Faecal bile acids (BAs) are increasingly used in archaeological studies to detect domesticated species and reconstruct herding practices. However, it is unclear how environmental factors influence BA profiles and how much these profiles vary across regions. This uncertainty raises questions about their reliability for species-specific identifications across diverse settings. To address this, we analysed faecal BA profiles from free-grazing sheep (Ovis aries) across a wide range of climatic and elevational zones in Iceland, Germany, Tanzania, Iran, Mongolia, and Tibet. To test whether closely related species living under similar environmental conditions can be distinguished based on their BA profiles, we also analysed goats (Capra aegagrus ssp. hircus) from Tanzania and blue sheep (Pseudois nayaur) from Tibet, each compared to their respective co-occurring domestic sheep. We find significant regional differences in sheep primary, secondary, and oxo-BA profiles, with BA abundances influenced by altitude and precipitation. For instance, cholic acid varies with precipitation, while deoxycholic acid and lithocholic acid are significantly influenced by elevation. Oxo-BAs consistently account for 50–80
ABSTRACT Cage aquaculture in Lake Victoria has expanded rapidly, yet disease outbreaks remain a major constraint to productivity and farmer livelihoods. This study assesses the economic impact of bacterial disease outbreaks on cage fish farms in Tanzania's Lake Victoria Basin, focusing on Mwanza, Simiyu and Mara regions. Using a multi‐stage cluster sampling method, 84 cage fish farmers were surveyed across six districts. Our findings reveal that bacterial diseases, particularly fin and tail rot, were most prevalent, with medium‐level outbreaks (affecting 11%–30% of fish) reported in over half of the farms. The average mortality rate was 15.92%, resulting in significant economic losses ranging from $1800 to $19,093 per production cycle. Poor biosecurity, handling practices and water quality were key contributors to disease spread. Profitability indicators such as gross margin, net income and profit ratio declined sharply with increasing mortality. Farms with lower mortality rates achieved better financial outcomes, while those with higher mortality faced reduced output and rising costs. The study highlights the urgent need for improved disease management, biosecurity training and support services to enhance the sustainability and profitability of cage fish farming in the region.
The rising demand for timber, alongside declining natural forests, has driven rapid growth of plantation forestry, especially smallholder woodlots in sub-Saharan Africa. Despite their increasing importance for livelihoods, ecosystem services, and climate change mitigation, detailed information on their extent and composition remains scarce. Remote sensing, particularly the integration of radar and optical data, offers a scalable solution for monitoring such heterogeneous landscapes. This study evaluated the potential of Sentinel-1 Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR), Sentinel-2 multispectral data, and their combination for classifying smallholder plantation tree species in the Southern Highlands of Tanzania using Random Forest (RF) and Support Vector Machine (SVM) algorithms. Sentinel-2 achieved slightly higher accuracy compared to Sentinel 1, achieving overall accuracies of 90.3
