Cherangani Hills Research Articles

Revisiting the palaeoenvironmental and climatic history of the Cherangani Hills using fungal spores

ABSTRACTFungi are highly sensitive to environmental and climatic changes. Palaeoecological reconstructions utilising tropical African fungal spores, however, are rare and patchy. Here, we show that fossil fungal spores preserved in core KAP‐01 from the Cherangani Hills in Kenya tracks critical environmental changes in the African tropics since the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM), largely synchronous with observations in the pollen record from the same site. Consistent with the pollen record, the presence of fungal taxa in the record, albeit meagre, during the LGM point to an intermittent wetter Cherangani that allowed for the presence of the observed taxa and the prevalence of cool, dry conditions during the last deglaciation. The elevated fungal spore activity during the Late Holocene is evidence for warm, moist environmental conditions and broadly consistent with the pollen record. These different fungal spore taxa, which can be employed to track distinct environmental conditions and processes, provide a dimension that can be overlooked if the reconstruction of the palaeoenvironment were to rely solely on pollen. Thus the fungal spore record enables us to affirm the interpretation of the prevalence of warm, moist conditions evident from such as the Holocene pollen record.

Agropastoralists? Late Iron Age and historic forest livelihoods in the Cherangani Hills of north-west Kenya

Abstract

Medicinal Plants and Their Traditional Uses in Local Communities around Cherangani Hills, Western Kenya.

Medicinal plants are vital sources of easily accessible remedy used in the countryside healthcare system. This study aimed to find and make record of plants that are used for medicinal therapy by three communities living in Cherangani Hills. So far no single study has documented medicinal plants as a whole in the area. Ethnobotanical data were obtained through interviewing informants using semi-structured questionnaires and extracting information from journals and books. Descriptive statistical analysis was applied to describe the data. Overall 296 plant species from 80 families and 191 genera were identified. Asteraceae family was the most dominant, representing 10.7% of the total plant species recorded. Roots (35.9%) represented the most commonly used parts of the plant. The commonly used method of preparation was decoction (54.9%). The reported diseases were classified into 14 diverse ailment groups out of the 81 health conditions on their underlying user reports. Rural communities in Cherangani Hills are rich sources of plants with medicinal properties. Therapeutic uses of the compiled plants provide basic information that can aid scientists to conduct additional research dedicated to conservation of species and pharmacological studies of species with the greatest significance.

Dying races, deforestation and drought: the political ecology of social Darwinism in Kenya Colony’s western highlands

In 1929 the administration of Kenya Colony under the governorship of Edward Grigg ordered the formation of a special committee to report on what had become known as ‘the Dorobo question’ across eastern Africa. As conceived by the committee, the Dorobo question was effectively that of how to govern ‘most hunting people’ under British rule in the region – particularly those thought to be ‘pre-tribal and pre-pastoral’ – and who were often inconveniently found to be living within newly demarcated forest reserves. An examination of the committee’s recommendations grants us insight into the ways in which colonial perceptions of incipient ‘environmental’ problems were often insidiously bound up in the social Darwinism of the period. Here, European perceptions of the Dorobo as a supposedly ‘dying race’ of forest-dwellers brings the entanglement of the period’s nascent ‘racial’ and natural sciences squarely into focus. Engaging these phenomena in relation to the case of the Sengwer community in western Kenya’s Cherangani Hills, I suggest that renewed inquiries into such conjoined discourses of race and nature may assist us in further enriching our understanding of the multiple, perpetually contested dimensions of identity formation within (post)colonial East Africa. Not least, the nuances of these dynamics may help us to more fully understand how the afterlives of these diverse racialisations and tribalisations continue to impinge upon the grievances of affected communities in the present, enabling an explicitly postcolonial – rather than, necessarily, a primordialist, instrumentalist or constructivist – perspective on recent articulations of ‘indigenous’ or ‘ethnic minority’ rights in eastern Africa.

Late Quaternary paleoenvironmental changes in tropical eastern Africa revealed by multi–proxy records from the Cherangani Hills, Kenya

There is paucity in the proxy records available for the reconstruction of vegetation and climate histories of tropical eastern Africa, especially north of the equator. Here, we present a new paleoenvironmental record based on a 3.5-m sediment core from the Kapkanyar mire, Cherangani Hills, Kenya. Using analyses of pollen, microscopic charcoal, and loss-on-ignition data, we examine the vegetation and climate history of tropical eastern Africa over the past ∼23 Kyrs. Our findings show that high levels of dry montane forest vegetation and high frequencies of Poaceae and Chenopodiaceae/Amaranthaceae (Cheno/Am) pollen types dominate the LGM period (∼23.5–18 Kyrs). The last deglaciation (∼18–12 Kyrs) is marked by a decrease in Afromontane vegetation such as Ulmaceae, Combretaceae, and Podocarpus and resurgence in Cheno/Am pollen with a minimal representation of Olea pollen. The presence of Combretaceae pollen alongside increased percentages of Cheno/Am pollen indicates that cold and dry climate likely prevailed during the last deglaciation period. The record shows that the eastern African region was generally wet over most of the Holocene, albeit with increased frequency of drought episodes. The first imprints of anthropogenic activities in the record appear between ∼4 and 3.5 Kyrs.

An annotated checklist of vascular plants of Cherangani hills, Western Kenya.

Cherangani hills, located in Western Kenya, comprises of 12 forest blocks, maintaining great plant diversity. However, little attention to plant diversity studies has been paid to it in the past years. Here, we present a checklist of the vascular plants of this region obtained through intensive field investigations and matching of herbarium specimens. In total, 1296 species, including 17 endemic species are documented, belonging to 130 families and 608 genera. This flora represents 18.50%, 43.83% and 54.17% of the Kenyan species, genera and families, respectively. The habit, habitat and voucher specimens, as well as brief notes on the distribution of each taxon recorded are presented in this checklist. It is the first exhaustive inventory of the terrestrial vascular plants in Cherangani hills which is a significant regional centre for plant diversity.

Connecting past and present: the archaeology of the contemporary past in the glades of Embobut

At its most basic, this project aims to explore the recent archaeology and history of Sengwer communities and the Embobut Forest in the Cherangani Hills, Kenya, in order to better understand how they conceptualise their ‘indigeneity’. Such work is especially relevant in Cherangani given recent attempts by Kenya’s national government to move the Sengwer from the forest within the context of the ‘National Resource Management Project’ funded by the World Bank. These evictions resulted in a legal case hinged upon the issues of conservation and ‘indigeneity’, partly due to a change in the World Bank status of the Sengwer from ‘Indigenous People’ to a ‘Vulnerable and Marginalised Group’. This alteration was rejected by the Sengwer not least because the term ‘Indigenous People’ is both a part of a much larger, international dialogue and alludes to a relationship between humans and their landscape in a way that ‘Vulnerable and Marginalised Group’ does not. Thus, the Sengwer have been attempting to re-assert their right to live in Cherangani by drawing upon a range of historical and cultural ideas that demonstrate the importance of the relationship they bear with their landscape. Unfortunately, realising this aim has been hindered by a lack of wider intellectual interest, since no academic studies have hitherto explored the history, archaeology or ethnography of the Sengwer in any detail. As such, I have worked with the Sengwer community in order to conduct a diachronic analysis of how they have constructed their landscape and engaged with their forest environment. In turn, a more rigorous understanding of the temporality and materiality of the Embobut landscape as understood from the ground up helps contextualise what has become a complicated and contested narrative of landscape modification over the past century. Indeed, different perspectives of deforestation and conservation as gleaned from government reports and activist documents illuminates how landscape change is multifaceted, not only being caused by shifting livelihoods of the people residing there, but also the imposition of conservation boundaries by the colonial Forest Department in the early twentieth century. Ultimately, then, my work aims to bring a more materially centred approach to help better comprehend how the Embobut Forest has changed in conjunction with different perceptions, understandings and experiences of the landscape.

Forest Conservation and Utilization in Embobut, Cherangani Hills, Kenya

Embobut forest is a constituent block of the Cherangani hills ecosystem, which entails the five major water towers in Kenya and home to the indigenous hunters and gatherers-the Cherangany/Sengwer community. This study aimed at investigating forest utilization and conservation in Embobut, Cherangani hills in the western part of Kenya. Data was collected using questionnaires, Focus Group Discussions (FGDs) and Key Informant Interviews (KII) and analysis done using Microsoft office excel 2013. A total of 42 respondents living inside and within a radius of 5 Kilometers from the forest were sampled for the study. Research findings indicated that 95.2% of the respondents benefited from the forest with fuel wood being the most harvested forest product (71.4%). Honey (26.2%) and herbal medicine (21.4%) were the second and third most harvested products from the forest. Other benefits and products obtained from the forest included grazing, building poles, wild fruits, and bush meat. Despite the conservation efforts by community members and the Kenya Forest Service (KFS), a number of conservation challenges existed in the study area including illegal grazing, illegal logging, charcoal burning, forest fires and encroachment into the forest. The researcher therefore recommends the Implementation of the Cherangani hills Forest Strategic Management Plan (2015-2040) to address the existing challenges. Integration of the indigenous communities into the political processes especially around land-use issues and forest management will also be critical to ensuring their future well-being while concurrently achieving conservation goals.

E.M. van Zinderen Bakker (1907–2002) and the study of African Quaternary palaeoenvironments

The scientific contributions of E.M. van Zinderen Bakker (1907–2002) included the introduction of pollen analysis to Quaternary studies in South Africa. His palaeoecological theories evolved while performing palynological research in Southern Africa (the Maluti Mountains, Florisbad, Aliwal North, the Namib Desert), East Africa (Kalambo Falls, Mount Kenya, Cherangani Hills) and on the subantarctic islands (Marion and Prince Edward Islands). He was involved in the first radiocarbon dating from South Africa at Florisbad. Due to quantitative palynological studies he abandoned Wayland's (1929) Pluvial Theory that was generally accepted in the 1960s. He correlated observations of climate changes in Africa to data from marine borehole-cores and climatic fluctuations in the Northern Hemisphere. His observations led to the proposal that global temperature fluctuations are the primary cause of palaeoenvironmental changes. His studies culminated in a conceptual paleoecological model for the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM). Initially he based the model on symmetrical contraction of climatic belts about the equator that shifted the mid-latitude westerly wind system northward to increase the area receiving winter rainfall but later adjusted this by proposing a mechanism of westerly wind system intensification. He suggested that at this time grasslands had spread over wider areas in Southern Africa and that the tropical rain forests in the equatorial region fragmented. For interglacial periods he suggested that a southward shift of the Intertropical Convergence Zone (ITCZ) resulted in widespread humidity in the Congo Basin while large areas of the interior of Southern Africa became arid. Some of his ideas, especially his conceptual models of Quaternary vegetation and climate, are still relevant to the explanation of recent discoveries.

Molecular pilot study on peripheral populations of Kenyan greenbul in an afromontane fragmented forest

AbstractWe provide a molecular study on peripheral populations of three closely related species of African forest‐dependent greenbuls: the generalist Eurillas latirostris and the specialists Phyllastrephus cabanisi and Arizelocichla nigriceps. These species co‐occur within their range limits in the Kenyan Afromontane forest, Cherangani Hills. This forest has experienced drastic deforestation, which began about 50 years ago, that is causing habitat fragmentation. The aims of this study, using the analyses of molecular tools, are twofold: (i) to provide evidence that functional traits (i.e., ecological attributes) may shape different genetic structure in peripheral populations and (ii) to identify the possible effects of forest fragmentation. Blood and plucked feathers were sampled from a total of 124 birds analysed using two molecular approaches: (i) sequencing of cytochrome b mtDNA and (ii) genotyping nuclear DNA at eight microsatellite loci. Molecular diversity indices, minimum spanning network and mismatch distribution analysis of mtDNA results indicated that the peripheral populations showed different demographic trends: a highly variable and bimodal pattern in forest specialist P. cabanisi, a less variable and unimodal pattern in forest generalist E. latirostris and in the montane specialist A. nigriceps. Although this is a pilot study on the Cherangani forest fragmentation, the nuclear results may not exclude the hypothesis of reduced connectivity in all forest‐dependent greenbuls.

Invasion of <i>Cestrum aurantiacum</i> Lindl. in Kenya

Many forest ecosystems in Kenya are at risk from the invasion of exotic plant species that pose numerous threats like decreasing biodiversity, deteriorating ecosystem processes and degrading their services. They also affect human, other animal health and various angles of the general economy. Cestrum aurantiacum Lindl. is a species with invasive reputation having been reported with very high biological success rating and has been noted in parts of Kenya in proportions that raise concerns. It has negative effects on other plants and animal species function and diversity. These impacts have been recorded in Kenya and elsewhere in this review, I synthesized data from studies that have examined the taxonomy of Cestrum aurantiacum, how this species become part of the ecosystem in Kenya and its ecological and economic impacts. I sourced relevant articles from the internet using keywords relating to the taxonomy, impacts and reports of invasive species and narrowed to records from different parts of Kenya. In this review, I looked across twenty-seven studies, on Cestrum aurantiacum in Kenya and went ahead to review one hundred and thirteen other articles for expanded discussion. Species data in published articles from different parts of Kenya were used as georefences to model overall species distribution which was noted to lie between Mt Kenya, Mt Elgon-Nandi hills and Cherangani hills. It was clearly established that there are major adverse effects associated with species. First, it can change native ecosystem processes such as nutrient cycle or hydrology and contribute significant role on the decrease of native species. A primary risk of Cestrum aurantiacum is that when this species alters the biodiversity, ecosystems are transformed into new configurations with unpredictable consequences to humans and other wildlife in totality. Despite the few positive applications of cestrum species, these can’t compensate for the enormous detrimental consequences associated with the species. Cestrum aurantiacum was introduced in Kenya as an ornamental plant in 1921 by the government and was distributed in several regions of high potential Kenya due to high level of hybridization within the genera, several variables of the species occur. By examining the level of information regarding the taxonomy and impacts of Cestrum aurantiacum on animal and plant species, this study provides pivotal information at the country level with a view to informing monitoring and conservation efforts, such as alien plant removal and control programmes, and ensuring that endemic terrestrial animal and plant diversity are maintained.

Integrative taxonomy within theHylomyscus denniaecomplex (Rodentia: Muridae) and a new species from Kenya

A new species of African wood mouse (Hylomyscus) is described from the western Kenya region. Previous studies have hypothesized that populations of Hylomyscus from this region may be assignable to either H. vulcanorum or H. cf. anselli. We compared 3 populations of Hylomyscus from western Kenyan montane forests to sister taxa from the Hylomyscus denniae group on the basis of morphology, morphometrics, mitochondrial DNA gene trees, multilocus species trees, and coalescent-based species delimitation to clarify relationships within these clades. Our results were congruent across data sets in support of this new species as sister to H. anselli and reproductively isolated from H. endorobae on the Mau Escarpment of Kenya where the 2 taxa are sympatric and syntopic. Lineages within the H. anselli group differ by 3.2–7.4% in (corrected) cytochrome-b sequences. Phylogeographic analysis of Hylomyscus n. sp. suggests strong population or range expansion, or both, since the last glacial maxima. A dated multilocus species tree places divergence of Hylomyscus n. sp. from H. anselli during the middle Pleistocene and the H. anselli group from the H. denniae group during the late Miocene to early Pliocene. This species is known from protected sites on Mt. Elgon, as well as unprotected sites within the Mau Escarpment and Cherangani Hills where extensive human habitat disturbance warrants conservation attention.

A new species of chameleon (Sauria: Chamaeleonidae) from the highlands of northwest Kenya JAN STIPALA (UK), NICOLA LUTZMÁNN (Germany), PATRICK K. MALONZA (Kenya), LUCA BORGH-ESIO (USA), PAUL WILKINSON (UK), BRENDAN GODLEY (UK), MATTHEW R. EVANS (UK)

A new species of chameleon, Trioceros nyirit sp. nov., is described from the northwest highlands of Kenya. It is morphologically similar to T. hoehnelii and T. narraioca, possessing a short rostral appendage, but differs from them by having a straight or weakly curved parietal crest and forward-pointing rostral projection. A phylogeny based on mitochondrial DNA shows that the proposed new taxon is a distinct clade within the bitaeniatus-group and a sister lineage to T. schubotzi. Its distribution appears to be restricted to the Cherangani Hills and adjacent Mtelo massif to the north. It is associated with afromontane forest edge, afroalpine ericaceous vegetation and also occurs in agricultural landscapes.

The Vanishing De Brazza's Monkey ( Cercopithecus neglectus Schlegel) in Kenya

We conducted a trail survey of De Brazza's monkey (Cercopithecus neglectus) on Mt. Elgon and the Cherangani Hills between October 1994 and February 1995. The objectives were to assess the status and distribution of the species and its habitats and to formulate recommendations on its conservation. We counted a total of 49 monkeys: 3 groups and 6 lone individuals near Kimothon River (Mt. Elgon) and 4 groups and 6 lone individuals at Kapolet Forest Reserve and its environs (Cherangani Hills). The mean group size is 6.6. Wanton habitat destruction was evident in all the forest habitats. The species now inhabits unprotected remnant strips of riverine forest. Furthermore, the Kapolet Forest Reserve offers little or no protection to De Brazza's monkeys or their habitat. Translocation of the monkeys from unprotected areas to a protected habitat is recommended as an urgent conservation measure to save the De Brazza's population in Mt. Elgon and the Cherangani areas of Kenya.

Apatite fission-track analysis of Kenyan basement rocks: constraints on the thermotectonic evolution of the Kenya dome. A reconnaissance study

A total of 43 apatite fission-track ages, together with track length measurements (36 on confined tracks, 7 on projected tracks) are reported from the crystalline basement rocks of Kenya (Pan-African Mozambique Belt and late Archean/ early Proterozoic Nyanza Shield). The ages range from 27 to 319 Ma. Regional relationships between apatite fission-track age and elevation, together with fission-track length information, show that the tectonothermal evolution of the basement in Kenya was not uniform but regionally variable, with a clear relationship to Mesozoic-Recent rifting. Samples from southwest Kenya with ages between 289 and 319 Ma show unimodal confined track length (CTL) frequency distributions with relatively high means (12.75–14.00 μm) and low standard deviations (1.23–1.58 μm). These samples were probably cooled to temperatures of the total stability zone (TSZ) or very close to them around 310 Ma ago. One sample has a significantly lower age of 245 Ma and its CTL distribution is characterized by a lower mean and a higher standard deviation. This suggests partial annealing of fission-tracks during a later thermal event. Samples from the Cherangani Hills were subjected to a thermal event at about 60 Ma B.P., which caused complete annealing in the lowermost parts but only partial annealing in the higher parts of the exposed section. Samples from northwest Kenya have Tertiary ages and broad, partly bimodal CTL distributions, indicating partial annealing during Tertiary reheating, possibly related to Oligocene-Miocene volcanic activity. The basement on the eastern flank of the Kenya Rift shows a pattern of apatite fission-track systematics dominated by a rapid decrease in age away from the Cenozoic Kenya Rift towards Mesozoic-early Tertiary paleorifts (Anza Trough and Lamu Embayment). Fission-track ages near the Kenya Rift vary between 243 and 176 Ma but decrease to minimum values between 110 and 54 Ma adjacent to the palaeorifts. In the same direction, CTL frequency distributions change from mixed or bimodal types with low means (11.78–12.75 μm) and high standard deviations (1.55–2.34 μm) to more or less unimodal types with higher means (13.08–13.95 μm) and lower standard deviations (1.28–1.98 μm). This pattern is interpreted as being the result of partial to complete annealing of fission tracks by thermal events related to Cretaceous-Tertiary rifting in the Anza Trough, and to late Cretaceous intrusive activity along the western margin of the Lamu Embayment. In the Taita Hills (southeast Kenya) an apparent age gradient of about 25 m/Ma may represent a fossil partial annealing zone which was installed after the late Cretaceous event. None of the observed regional apatite age-elevation profiles shows a “break in slope” suggesting that the amount of shoulder uplift during formation of the Kenya Rift was not enough to exhume the pre-uplift total annealing zones.

Agrostis kilimandscharica (Gramineae) and Its Allies in Eastern Africa

While preparing an account of the genus Agrostis for the 'Flora of Ethiopia', I discovered several anomalous specimens from the Ethiopian highlands, either undetermined specifically or referred provisionally to the East African species A. kilimandscharica Mez and the West African species A. mannii (Hook.f.) Stapf. A preliminary investigation of these 2 species showed them to be extremely variable, not only vegetatively (probably at least partially in response to environmental factors), but also in spikelet characteristics, with the specific boundaries far from well defined. In order to determine the correct identity of the Ethiopian collections, it was therefore necessary to undertake a detailed study of variation within this group of Agrostis. A. kilimandscharica and A. mannii are extremely closely related, and are referred to in the 'Flora of Tropical East Africa' as being only 'barely distinct'. A third species, A. producta Pilg. from East Africa, also falls within this group, the three species forming a closely knit species-complex. The group as a whole is characterized by the possession of a loosely tufted habit, linear flat leaves, loose flexuous panicle, and spikelets with a sub-basally awned, hairy lemma. All three species are upland plants, occurring only on mountains over 2000 m. A. mannii is mainly confined to the highlands of West Africa (Cameroon and Fernando Po), but the centre of distribution and variation for this group is the highlands of East Africa. Only A. producta extends southwards beyond the mountains of northern Tanzania, occurring on the high ground of Mbeya and in Malawi. These are grasses of the montane forest belt, and the grass and scrubland above to about 3500 m. A. kilimandscharica is particularly frequent in clearings in bamboo forest and in ericaceous scrubland, and only on Mt Kenya does it penetrate upwards into the lower levels of the alpine moorland belt (above 3500 m). At the lower extreme, A. kilimandscharica also occurs in central Kenya below the present level of the montane forest in the area extending from Mt Kenya and the Aberdares towards the Cherangani Hills and Mt Elgon. However, Hedberg (Biol. J. Linn. Soc. 1: 140 (1969)) has shown that these areas linking the higher ground in Kenya are climatically suited to montane forest, which indeed once covered this area, but has been progressively cleared by man for agriculture. Presumably populations of A. kilimandscharica from these areas have been able to persist in the secondary habitats which have arisen since the montane forest was cleared.

De Brazza's monkeys (Cercopithecus neglectus) in Kenya: Census, distribution, and conservation

The population of De Brazza's monkeys (Cercopithecus neglectus) in Kenya, East Africa, was surveyed from May to September of 1983 to estimate its numbers, distribution, and conservation status. A small number of De Brazza's monkeys are protected within Saiwa National Park; however, the vast majority of the population is endangered because they are restricted to small, isolated pockets of forests amid expanding farmland within the Trans-Nzoia area of western Kenya. A few animals are found on the slopes of Mt. Elgon and on the Cherangani Hills, although these areas offer little protection. The pressures now facing this population are loss of habitat, reproductive isolation, and a decline in numbers as the result of being killed, either as a food source or as agricultural pests. If the current situation continues and no attempt is made to conserve the remaining De Brazza's monkeys, the species faces almost certain extinction in Kenya.

山地ポコットの生態人類学的研究

The Pokot of western Kenya is a tribe of the Kalenjin group belonging to Southern Para-Nilotes, whose territory, lying across the Great Rift Valley, shows wide varieties of natural environment. The author mainly investigated Upland Pokot who inhabit the altitudinal zone of approximately 2000-2500m in the eastern slope of Cherangani Hills (3500m at the highest), from the viewpoint of ecological anthropology for five months in 1978. Lower zone of the slope (ca. 2000-1000m at altitude) constitutes the northern end of Elgeyo Escarpment, eastward of which expands into the plain of dry bush where Pastoral Pokot inhabit. Hill-side Pokot occupy the foot fringe of the escarpment, where they carry on irrigation forming.The habitat of Upland Pokot above the escarpment can be included in the montane forest zone in original flora. Homesteads of families and their fields lie scattered on the slope, and they subsist mainly on agricultural products, however, they also herd livestock on a small scale in their habitat zone except fenced fields. At each small village alongside the road running at the foot of the escarpment, market is held once or twice a week, where the dwellers of Upland, Hill-side and Plain gather with their products, barter them each other, and trade with merchants and wageworkers coming from outside.In this paper, the author describes and analizes the natural environment of Upland Pokot, their ways and means of subsistence, some aspects of social life reflected on the manner of naming and community organization, and mutral relations among them. Further, their relationship will Hill-side and Plain Pokot is analized through the situation of intermarriage and market exchange. Then, it is discussed how the subsistence style of each habitat group is regulated by and adapted to the natural environment, and how social and economic factors, on the other hand, have been related to the divergence of subsistence styles among the Pokot.

On the ecology and distribution of subterranean insectivores in Kenya

The Golden mole, Chrysochloris stuhlmanni fosteri, occurs in the west of Kenya, on Mount Elgon and the Cherangani Hills, while the mole‐shrews, Surdisorex pollulus and 5. norae occur on Mount Kenya and the Aberdare Mountains respectively (Fig. 1). These species were trapped and their stomach contents recorded over two months. Some ecological similarities between C.s. fosteri and Surdisorex are noted, and the factors responsible or their present‐day distribution are suggested.

The Dendrosenecios of the Cherangani Hills

In common with the other mountainous masses of East Africa, the Cherangani Hills in NW. Kenya have endemic pachycaulous species of Senecio. Cotton & Blakelock (1937) reported their discovery and used specimens and notes made by I. R. Dale in the description of two new species: S. dalei Cotton & Blakelock, a dwarf species, and S. cheranganiensis Cotton & Blakelock, a Giant Groundsel. Dale & Greenway (i961: 16o) however, have cast doubt on the specific status of S. dalei, so, in the light of their comments, the following observations and notes were made at the suggestion of Mr. C. Jeffrey of Kew, during the Oxford University Expedition to the Cherangani Hills in the summer of 1969.