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Biogeography of the Shimba Hills ecosystem herpetofauna in Kenya

The Shimba Hills ecosystem along the south coast of Kenya is a key East African biodiversity hotspot. Historically, it is biogeographically assignable to the East African coastal biome. We examined the current Shimba Hills herpetofauna and their zoogeographical affinities to the coastal forests and...

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Autores principales: Malonza, Patrick K., Mulwa, David M., Nyamache, Joash O., Jones, Georgina
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: Science Press 2018
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5885391/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/29515091
http://dx.doi.org/10.24272/j.issn.2095-8137.2017.048
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author Malonza, Patrick K.
Mulwa, David M.
Nyamache, Joash O.
Jones, Georgina
author_facet Malonza, Patrick K.
Mulwa, David M.
Nyamache, Joash O.
Jones, Georgina
author_sort Malonza, Patrick K.
collection PubMed
description The Shimba Hills ecosystem along the south coast of Kenya is a key East African biodiversity hotspot. Historically, it is biogeographically assignable to the East African coastal biome. We examined the current Shimba Hills herpetofauna and their zoogeographical affinities to the coastal forests and nearby Eastern Arc Mountains biodiversity hotspots. The key studied sites included the Shimba Hills National Reserve, forest reserves, Kaya forests, and adjacent private land. Data on herpetofaunal richness were obtained from recent field surveys, literature, and specimens held at the National Museums of Kenya, Herpetology Section Collection, Nairobi. The Makadara, Mwele, and Longo-Mwagandi forests within the Shimba Hills National Reserve hosted the highest number of unique and rare species. Generally, the forest reserves and Kaya forests were important refuges for forest-associated species. On private land, Mukurumudzi Dam riparian areas were the best amphibian habitat and were host to three IUCN (Red List) Endangered-EN amphibian species, namely, Boulengerula changamwensis, Hyperolius rubrovermiculatus, and Afrixalus sylvaticus, as well as one snake species Elapsoidea nigra. Using herpetofauna as zoogeographic indicators, the Shimba Hills were determined to be at a crossroads between the coastal forests (13 endemic species) and the Eastern Arc Mountains (seven endemic species). Most of the Eastern Arc Mountains endemic species were from recent records, and thus more are likely to be found in the future. This ‘hybrid’ species richness pattern is attributable to the hilly topography of the Shimba Hills and their proximity to the Indian Ocean. This has contributed to the Shimba Hills being the richest herpetofauna area in Kenya, with a total of 89 and 38 reptile and amphibian species, respectively. Because of its unique zoogeography, the Shimba Hills ecosystem is undoubtedly a key biodiversity area for conservation investment.
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spelling pubmed-58853912018-04-12 Biogeography of the Shimba Hills ecosystem herpetofauna in Kenya Malonza, Patrick K. Mulwa, David M. Nyamache, Joash O. Jones, Georgina Zool Res Report The Shimba Hills ecosystem along the south coast of Kenya is a key East African biodiversity hotspot. Historically, it is biogeographically assignable to the East African coastal biome. We examined the current Shimba Hills herpetofauna and their zoogeographical affinities to the coastal forests and nearby Eastern Arc Mountains biodiversity hotspots. The key studied sites included the Shimba Hills National Reserve, forest reserves, Kaya forests, and adjacent private land. Data on herpetofaunal richness were obtained from recent field surveys, literature, and specimens held at the National Museums of Kenya, Herpetology Section Collection, Nairobi. The Makadara, Mwele, and Longo-Mwagandi forests within the Shimba Hills National Reserve hosted the highest number of unique and rare species. Generally, the forest reserves and Kaya forests were important refuges for forest-associated species. On private land, Mukurumudzi Dam riparian areas were the best amphibian habitat and were host to three IUCN (Red List) Endangered-EN amphibian species, namely, Boulengerula changamwensis, Hyperolius rubrovermiculatus, and Afrixalus sylvaticus, as well as one snake species Elapsoidea nigra. Using herpetofauna as zoogeographic indicators, the Shimba Hills were determined to be at a crossroads between the coastal forests (13 endemic species) and the Eastern Arc Mountains (seven endemic species). Most of the Eastern Arc Mountains endemic species were from recent records, and thus more are likely to be found in the future. This ‘hybrid’ species richness pattern is attributable to the hilly topography of the Shimba Hills and their proximity to the Indian Ocean. This has contributed to the Shimba Hills being the richest herpetofauna area in Kenya, with a total of 89 and 38 reptile and amphibian species, respectively. Because of its unique zoogeography, the Shimba Hills ecosystem is undoubtedly a key biodiversity area for conservation investment. Science Press 2018-03-07 2018-03-18 /pmc/articles/PMC5885391/ /pubmed/29515091 http://dx.doi.org/10.24272/j.issn.2095-8137.2017.048 Text en © 2018. Editorial Office of Zoological Research, Kunming Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/ This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.
spellingShingle Report
Malonza, Patrick K.
Mulwa, David M.
Nyamache, Joash O.
Jones, Georgina
Biogeography of the Shimba Hills ecosystem herpetofauna in Kenya
title Biogeography of the Shimba Hills ecosystem herpetofauna in Kenya
title_full Biogeography of the Shimba Hills ecosystem herpetofauna in Kenya
title_fullStr Biogeography of the Shimba Hills ecosystem herpetofauna in Kenya
title_full_unstemmed Biogeography of the Shimba Hills ecosystem herpetofauna in Kenya
title_short Biogeography of the Shimba Hills ecosystem herpetofauna in Kenya
title_sort biogeography of the shimba hills ecosystem herpetofauna in kenya
topic Report
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5885391/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/29515091
http://dx.doi.org/10.24272/j.issn.2095-8137.2017.048
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