Contribution to the study of thunderstorms in the Congo Basin: Analysis of periods with intense activity

2022 ◽  
pp. 106013
Author(s):  
Jean Kigotsi Kasereka ◽  
Serge Soula ◽  
Albert Kazadi Mukenga Bantu ◽  
André Zana Ndotoni
2013 ◽  
Author(s):  
F. Salvi ◽  
F. Tsikalas ◽  
F. Lottaroli ◽  
A. Cappelletti ◽  
G.M. Cella ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  

Author(s):  
Hiroyuki Takemoto ◽  
Yoshi Kawamoto ◽  
Takeshi Furuichi

The Congo River functions as a strong geographical barrier for many terrestrial mammals in the Congo Basin, separating forest habitat into right and left banks of the river. However, there has been little discussion on the biogeography of the Congo Basin because the history of the river has been obscured. Based on the recent information of the sea-floor sediments near the mouth of the river and the geophysical survey on the continent, this chapter proposes a plausible hypothesis on the Congo River formation and presents a consequent hypothesis on the divergence of bonobos (Pan paniscus) from other Pan populations. The present hypothesis is also helpful for understanding the distribution of other primates and other mammals in the basin. Furthermore, this hypothesis suggests that all hominid clades, including human, chimpanzee and gorilla, except bonobo, evolved in the area north or east of the Congo River. La rivière du Congo a la fonction d’une barrière géographique forte pour plusieurs mammifères dans le bassin du Congo, séparant l’habitat forêt dans les banques gauches et droites de la rivière. Cependant, il y a eu peu de discussions sur la biogégraphie du bassin du Congo, parce que l’histoire de la rivière a été voilée. Récemment, quelque données importantes qui peuvent avoir des liens avec la formation de la rivière du Congo ont été acquise, surtout par la recherche des sédiments du fond marin près de la bouche de la rivière et par l’enquête géographique du continent. À partir de cette nouvelle information, nous avons proposé une hypothèse plausible sur la formation de la rivière du Congo. Nous avons aussi présenté une hypothèse conséquente sur la divergence des bonobos (Pan paniscus) des autres populations Pan (voire Takemoto et al., 2015 pour la publication originale de cette étude). L’hypothèse présente nous aide aussi à comprendre la distribution des autre primates et des autres mammifères dans le bassin. De plus, cette hypothèse suggère que tous les hominidés clades, humains inclus, chimpanzés et gorilla à l’exception du bonobo, ont évolué dans la régions du nord ou de l’est de la rivière du Congo.


2016 ◽  
Vol 13 (11) ◽  
pp. 3343-3357 ◽  
Author(s):  
Zun Yin ◽  
Stefan C. Dekker ◽  
Bart J. J. M. van den Hurk ◽  
Henk A. Dijkstra

Abstract. Observed bimodal distributions of woody cover in western Africa provide evidence that alternative ecosystem states may exist under the same precipitation regimes. In this study, we show that bimodality can also be observed in mean annual shortwave radiation and above-ground biomass, which might closely relate to woody cover due to vegetation–climate interactions. Thus we expect that use of radiation and above-ground biomass enables us to distinguish the two modes of woody cover. However, through conditional histogram analysis, we find that the bimodality of woody cover still can exist under conditions of low mean annual shortwave radiation and low above-ground biomass. It suggests that this specific condition might play a key role in critical transitions between the two modes, while under other conditions no bimodality was found. Based on a land cover map in which anthropogenic land use was removed, six climatic indicators that represent water, energy, climate seasonality and water–radiation coupling are analysed to investigate the coexistence of these indicators with specific land cover types. From this analysis we find that the mean annual precipitation is not sufficient to predict potential land cover change. Indicators of climate seasonality are strongly related to the observed land cover type. However, these indicators cannot predict a stable forest state under the observed climatic conditions, in contrast to observed forest states. A new indicator (the normalized difference of precipitation) successfully expresses the stability of the precipitation regime and can improve the prediction accuracy of forest states. Next we evaluate land cover predictions based on different combinations of climatic indicators. Regions with high potential of land cover transitions are revealed. The results suggest that the tropical forest in the Congo basin may be unstable and shows the possibility of decreasing significantly. An increase in the area covered by savanna and grass is possible, which coincides with the observed regreening of the Sahara.


Insects ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (4) ◽  
pp. 273
Author(s):  
Ghislain T. Tepa-Yotto ◽  
Henri E. Z. Tonnang ◽  
Georg Goergen ◽  
Sevgan Subramanian ◽  
Emily Kimathi ◽  
...  

The present study is the first modeling effort at a global scale to predict habitat suitability of fall armyworm (FAW), Spodoptera frugiperda and its key parasitoids, namely Chelonus insularis, Cotesia marginiventris,Eiphosoma laphygmae,Telenomus remus and Trichogramma pretiosum, to be considered for biological control. An adjusted procedure of a machine-learning algorithm, the maximum entropy (Maxent), was applied for the modeling experiments. Model predictions showed particularly high establishment potential of the five hymenopteran parasitoids in areas that are heavily affected by FAW (like the coastal belt of West Africa from Côte d’Ivoire (Ivory Coast) to Nigeria, the Congo basin to Eastern Africa, Eastern, Southern and Southeastern Asia and some portions of Eastern Australia) and those of potential invasion risks (western & southern Europe). These habitats can be priority sites for scaling FAW biocontrol efforts. In the context of global warming and the event of accidental FAW introduction, warmer parts of Europe are at high risk. The effect of winter on the survival and life cycle of the pest in Europe and other temperate regions of the world are discussed in this paper. Overall, the models provide pioneering information to guide decision making for biological-based medium and long-term management of FAW across the globe.


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