Elevational distribution of montane Afrotropical butterflies is influenced by seasonality and habitat structure.

Determinants of elevational distribution of butterfly species richness and abundance in the tropics are poorly understood. Here we assess the combined effects, both additive and interactive, of seasonality and habitat structure on the elevational distribution of butterflies in the Uluguru Mountains, Tanzania. We sampled butterflies along a 1100 m elevational gradient that extended from 1540 to 2639 m using a time-constrained fixed-area method during the short to long rains and long to short rains transitions, and in habitat structure classified as closed or open.

Assessing multi-decadal land-cover - land-use change in two wildlife protected areas in Tanzania using Landsat imagery.

Landscape change in and around protected areas is of concern worldwide given the potential impacts of such change on biodiversity. Given such impacts, we sought to understand the extent of changes in different land-cover types at two protected areas, Tarangire and Katavi National Parks in Tanzania, over the past 27 years. Using Maximum Likelihood classification procedures we derived eight land-cover classes from Landsat TM and ETM+ images, including: woody savannah, savannah, grassland, open and closed shrubland, swamp and water, and bare land.