Influence of environmental variables on plankton community composition in permanent and temporal pans in and around Hwange National Park, Zimbabwe

Insect pollinators are important means for a stable ecosystem. The habitat types play a crucial role in the community composition, abundance, diversity, and species richness of the pollinators. The present study in Shivapuri–Nagarjun National Park explored the species richness and abundances of insect pollinators in four different habitats and different environmental variables in determining the community composition of the pollinators. Data were collected from 1500 m–2700 m using pan traps and hand sweeping methods. Non–metric multidimensional scaling (NMDS) and redundancy analysis (RDA) were conducted to show the association between insect pollinators and environmental variables. The results firmly demonstrated that species richness and abundances were higher in open trails compared to other habitats. The distribution of the pollinator species was more uniform in the open trail followed by the grassland. Similarly, a strong positive correlation between flower resources and pollinator’s abundance was found. In conclusion, the open trail harbor rich insect pollinators in lower elevation. The community structure of the pollinators was strongly influenced by the presence of flowers in the trails.

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Collection of Environmental Variables and Bacterial Community Compositions in Marian Cove, Antarctica, during Summer 2018

Data ◽

10.3390/data6030027 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 6 (3) ◽

pp. 27

Author(s):

Hyo-Ryeon Kim ◽

Jae-Hyun Lim ◽

Ju-Hyoung Kim ◽

Il-Nam Kim

Keyword(s):

Bacterial Community ◽

Community Composition ◽

Marine Bacteria ◽

Environmental Variables ◽

Environmental Changes ◽

Bacterial Community Composition ◽

Composition Data ◽

Decomposition Of Organic Matter ◽

Class Level ◽

Earth’S Climate

Marine bacteria, which are known as key drivers for marine biogeochemical cycles and Earth’s climate system, are mainly responsible for the decomposition of organic matter and production of climate-relevant gases (i.e., CO₂, N₂O, and CH₄). However, research is still required to fully understand the correlation between environmental variables and bacteria community composition. Marine bacteria living in the Marian Cove, where the inflow of freshwater has been rapidly increasing due to substantial glacial retreat, must be undergoing significant environmental changes. During the summer of 2018, we conducted a hydrographic survey to collect environmental variables and bacterial community composition data at three different layers (i.e., the seawater surface, middle, and bottom layers) from 15 stations. Of all the bacterial data, 17 different phylum level bacteria and 21 different class level bacteria were found and Proteobacteria occupy 50.3% at phylum level following Bacteroidetes. Gammaproteobacteria and Alphaproteobacteria, which belong to Proteobacteria, are the highest proportion at the class level. Gammaproteobacteria showed the highest relative abundance in all three seawater layers. The collection of environmental variables and bacterial composition data contributes to improving our understanding of the significant relationships between marine Antarctic regions and marine bacteria that lives in the Antarctic.

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Structure, Diversity, and Environmental Determinants of High-Latitude Threatened Conifer Forests

Forests ◽

10.3390/f12060775 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 12 (6) ◽

pp. 775

Author(s):

Carlos Esse ◽

Francisco Correa-Araneda ◽

Cristian Acuña ◽

Rodrigo Santander-Massa ◽

Patricio De Los Ríos-Escalante ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Water Table ◽

Environmental Variables ◽

National Park ◽

High Water ◽

Forest Communities ◽

Competitive Effect ◽

Forest Patches ◽

Last Glaciation ◽

The World ◽

Local Topography

Pilgerodendron uviferum (D. Don) Florin is an endemic, threatened conifer that grows in South America. In the sub-Antarctic territory, one of the most isolated places in the world, some forest patches remain untouched since the last glaciation. In this study, we analyze the tree structure and tree diversity and characterize the environmental conditions where P. uviferum-dominated stands develop within the Magellanic islands in Kawésqar National Park, Chile. An environmental matrix using the databases WorldClim and SoilGrids and local topography variables was used to identify the main environmental variables that explain the P. uviferum-dominated stands. PCA was used to reduce the environmental variables, and PERMANOVA and nMDS were used to evaluate differences among forest communities. The results show that two forest communities are present within the Magellanic islands. Both forest communities share the fact that they can persist over time due to the high water table that limits the competitive effect from other tree species less tolerant to high soil water table and organic matter. Our results contribute to knowledge of the species’ environmental preference and design conservation programs.

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Home range and space use by African elephants ( Loxodonta africana ) in Hwange National Park, Zimbabwe

African Journal of Ecology ◽

10.1111/aje.12890 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Liberty Mlambo ◽

Munyaradzi Davis Shekede ◽

Elhadi Adam ◽

John Odindi ◽

Amon Murwira

Keyword(s):

Home Range ◽

National Park ◽

Space Use ◽

Loxodonta Africana ◽

African Elephants ◽

Hwange National Park

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Spatial relationship between elephant and sodium concentration of water disappears as density increases in Hwange National Park, Zimbabwe

Journal of Tropical Ecology ◽

10.1017/s0266467407004531 ◽

2007 ◽

Vol 23 (6) ◽

pp. 725-728 ◽

Cited By ~ 8

Author(s):

Simon Chamaillé-Jammes ◽

Hervé Fritz ◽

Ricardo M. Holdo

Keyword(s):

National Park ◽

Spatial Relationship ◽

Sodium Concentration ◽

African Elephants ◽

Mineral Concentration ◽

Savanna Vegetation ◽

Selection Processes ◽

Elephant Population ◽

Hwange National Park ◽

Nutrient Selection

African elephants Loxodonta africana (Blumenbach) may profoundly affect vegetation and associated animal bio-diversity in savannas (Conybeare 2004, Skarpe et al. 2004). Understanding the patterns of habitat use by elephants is crucial to predict their impacts on ecosystems (Ben-Shahar 1993, Nelleman et al. 2002), particularly now that many populations are recovering from past culling events or poaching outbreaks (Blanc et al. 2007). Surface water is one of the major constraints on elephant distribution (Chamaillé-Jammes et al. 2007, Stokke & du Toit 2002), and accordingly, elephant impacts are higher in the vicinity of water (Ben-Shahar 1993, de Beer et al. 2006). However, waterhole selection by elephant remains poorly understood. Weir (1972) showed in Hwange National Park (hereafter Hwange NP), Zimbabwe, that elephant numbers at waterholes over 24 h increased with the sodium concentration of water on nutrient-poor Kalahari sands. His work has become widely cited in elephant studies as it remains the only one, to the best of our knowledge, to have studied elephant use of waterholes in relation to the mineral concentration of water. Weir's work, however, took place when elephant densities in Hwange NP were low, likely below 0.5 elephants km−2 as estimated by aerial censuses (Williamson 1975). Since then, the elephant population has increased dramatically, particularly since the halt to culling operations in 1986 (Chamaillé-Jammes 2006, Cumming 1981). The present elephant density is much higher, estimated to be over 2 elephants km−2 (Chamaillé-Jammes et al. 2007, in press), and is one of the highest in the world (Blanc et al. 2007). Increased density may modify ecological constraints and affect the hierarchy of habitat selection processes (Morris 2003), and the extent to which water-nutrient selection still constrains elephant distribution at high population density – when their impact on savanna vegetation is the highest – remains unknown.

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Temporal movement of free-swimming fishes and their response to environmental variables in some of the rivers of Kruger National Park, South Africa

Environmental Biology of Fishes ◽

10.1007/s10641-021-01178-5 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Matthew J. Burnett ◽

Gordon C. O’Brien ◽

Bayanda Sonamzi ◽

Victor Wepener ◽

Colleen T. Downs

Keyword(s):

South Africa ◽

Environmental Variables ◽

National Park ◽

Kruger National Park ◽

Free Swimming

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Environmental factors including management practices as correlates of weed community composition in spring seeded crops

Canadian Journal of Botany ◽

10.1139/b92-240 ◽

1992 ◽

Vol 70 (10) ◽

pp. 1931-1939 ◽

Cited By ~ 58

Author(s):

M. R. T. Dale ◽

A. G. Thomas ◽

E. A. John

Keyword(s):

Community Composition ◽

Correspondence Analysis ◽

Canonical Correspondence Analysis ◽

Environmental Variables ◽

Management Practices ◽

Geographic Region ◽

Climatic Conditions ◽

Weed Species ◽

Weed Communities ◽

Seed Crops

The relationship between the weed communities and environmental variables such as soil, crop, and management was investigated in two provinces of Canada. The frequencies of weed species were recorded in cereal and oilseed fields in Saskatchewan (2244 fields over 4 years) and Manitoba (864 fields over 3 years), Canada. Information on some of the physical characteristics of the fields and on the management practices imposed on them was also collected, in part by questionnaire. The two kinds of data were ordinated together using canonical correspondence analysis to assess the relationships between the species and the environmental variables. In the Saskatchewan data, there was a clear and consistent separation of the species into groups along an axis correlated with soil zone and the associated climatic gradient. In the Manitoba data, the same groups of species did not separate as clearly or as consistently, although geographic region was a major determinant of the weed communities. The greater variability may be due to the fact that the gradient of soil types is much more restricted in Manitoba and not as closely correlated with climatic conditions. In both provinces, culture practices were less important as correlates of the weed community composition than soil type or, to a certain extent, the previous crop. Key words: canonical correspondence analysis, cereal crops, oil seed crops.

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Nature-based tourism operators’ perceptions and adaptation to climate change in Hwange National Park, Zimbabwe

Bulletin of Geography. Socio-economic Series ◽

10.2478/bog-2018-0034 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 42 (42) ◽

pp. 115-127 ◽

Cited By ~ 7

Author(s):

William Mushawemhuka ◽

Jayne M. Rogerson ◽

Jarkko Saarinen

Keyword(s):

Climate Change ◽

Southern Africa ◽

National Park ◽

Empirical Studies ◽

Tourism Industry ◽

Adaptation To Climate Change ◽

Economic Role ◽

Change Perceptions ◽

Hwange National Park ◽

Adaptation Practices

Abstract Climate and weather are important resources for tourism. In particular, nature-based tourism activities and operations are largely dependent on and affected by environmental conditions and changes. Due to the significant socio-economic role of the nature-based tourism and the tourism industry, in general, in the region of southern Africa it is important to understand the dynamics between the industry and climate change. A key aspect of this understanding are perceptions and adaptation preparedness of tourism operators towards the estimated impact of climate change. There is a dearth of empirical studies on climate change perceptions and adaptation in nature-based tourism operations across southern Africa and specifically from Zimbabwe. This research gap is addressed in this article which provides an exploratory analysis of the nature of climate change adaptation practices occurring in southern Africa using evidence from Hwange National Park, Zimbabwe.

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Biodiversity of bulbous and tuberous geophytes from the El Kala National Park (North-Eastern Algeria): checklist, vulnerability and conservation

Anales de Biología ◽

10.6018/analesbio.41.05 ◽

2019 ◽

pp. 25-38

Author(s):

Besma Dechir ◽

Atef Chouikh ◽

Tarek Hamel ◽

Nawel Nadia Azizi ◽

Nawel Ganaoui ◽

...

Keyword(s):

New Species ◽

Environmental Variables ◽

National Park ◽

Multivariate Analyses ◽

North Eastern ◽

Floristic Analysis ◽

The Subject ◽

Eastern Algeria ◽

A New Species

Treinta estaciones en el Parque Nacional El Kala (Noreste de Argelia) fueron objeto de un inventario florístico que se centró en el estudio de la ecología de geófitos bulbosos y tuberosos. La flora se caracteriza por una alta proporción de taxones raros y/o endémicos, entre ellos, 6 especies son endemismos algero-tunecinos pertenecientes a la familia Orchidaceae. En este trabajo, se da a conocer la presencia de una nueva especie para la flora argelina, Ophrys fusca subsp. lupercalis. Los análisis multivariantes revelaron, ciertas variables ambientales que determinan la distribución de los geófitos. Los lugares de interés son particularmente sensibles a las amenazas, particularmente las de origen antrópico. Thirty stations at the El Kala National Park (North Eastern Algeria) were the subject of a floristic focused on the study of the ecology of bulbous and tuberous geophytes. The floristic analysis was used to draw up a checklist of 67 species belonging to 36 genera and 14 families, among of which 19 species a high proportion of rare and/or endemic taxa; among them six signed taxa are endemic to algerian-tunisian mainly represented by family of Orchidaceae. In this work, we recorded the presence of a new species for the Algerian flora which is Ophrys fusca subsp. lupercalis. Multivariate analyses revealed certain environmental variables determining the distribution of geophytes. The visited sites show an alarming vulnerability and subject to threats, particularly anthropogenic ones.

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