South Ethiopian Research Articles

The Construction and Thermal Insulation of Ethiopian Bush-crow (Zavattariornis stresemanni) nests: A preliminary study

The Ethiopian Bush-crow is an endemic Ethiopian bird species which has a very small and climatically distinct range that is cooler, dryer and more seasonal than the surrounding areas. Bush-crows build large domed nests made of thorny twigs with comparatively thick walls and a soil-lined bottom. In our preliminary study, we studied the thermal properties of a bush-crow nest with the aid of IR thermography. Our results show that there was no heat emission in the early morning and that nest surface temperatures clearly corresponded to the temperature changes during the day. Therefore we hypothesise that the nest construction provides substantial thermal insulation during the night time and presumably also delays temperature increase in the internal nesting chamber during the day time. We suggest that the bush-crow's specific nest construction may have contributed to its persistence under the climatically unique south Ethiopian conditions.

Potential consequences of climate warming for tropical plant species in high mountains of southern Ethiopia

AbstractAim Species in the tropics respond to global warming by altitudinal distribution shifts. Consequences for biodiversity may be severe, resulting in lowland attrition, range‐shift gaps, range contractions and extinction risks. We aim to identify plant groups (growth forms, families, endemic status) with higher than average risks.Location South Ethiopian highlands.Methods Based on observational data from mainly unexplored and remote mountain regions, we applied a published model to project the consequences of an upward shift of thermal site conditions on the altitudinal distribution of 475 plant species. Annual average temperature increases of up to 5 °C were evaluated. Differences between groups of species were analysed by a permutation procedure and Generalized Linear Models.Results Because of a limited regional species pool, even mild warming is projected to create strong potential risks concerning lowland attrition, i.e. the net loss of species richness because of upward range shifts in the absence of new species arriving. Likewise, many species are expected to face range‐shift gaps, i.e. the absence of an overlap between future and current altitudinal ranges already under mild warming scenarios. Altitudinal contractions and mountain‐top extinctions will potentially become important when warming exceeds 3.5 °C. Mean area per species is projected to decline by 55% for the A2 emissions scenario (+4.2 °C until 2100) because of the physical shape of the mountains. Higher than average vulnerability is expected for endemic species as well as for herbs and ferns. Plant families that are especially threatened are identified.Main conclusions Lowland biotic attrition and range‐shift gaps as predicted by a simple model driven by shifts of isotherms will result in novel challenges for preserving mountain biodiversity in the inner tropics. Whereas contractions of occupied area are expected to threaten endemic and already endangered species in particular, we suggest that conservation priorities can be identified based on simple prognostic models even without precise regional warming scenarios.

The present conservation status of Juniperus forests in the South Ethiopian Endemic Bird Area

AbstractField survey data and Landsat satellite imagery were used to evaluate the conservation status of two Juniperus forests (Mankubsa and Arero) in the south Ethiopian Endemic Bird Area. Forest cover and dense woodland decreased in both areas between 1986 and 2002, but rates of habitat change and human impact were greater at Mankubsa than at Arero. We suggest that at Mankubsa increased grazing pressure, agricultural expansion, commercial fuelwood and timber exploitation are threatening forest persistence, while most of the degradation at Arero is because of the grazing of domestic animals. Conservation efforts should focus on creating tree plantations and improving forest resource use efficiency at Mankubsa, while at Arero better results could be obtained by improving pasture quality in the habitats surrounding the forest.

The World-Wide Magnitude of Orthoptera as Pests

A quantitative assessment of pest status in Orthoptera s.str. is currently difficult. While estimates of crop-damage are sometimes available and relatively easy to obtain, this is rarely translated into crop-loss nor is reduction in productivity of domestic animals as a result of damage to rangelands. Crop damage rarely has a simple relationship to crop-loss. Obtaining a direct measure of harvest weight is complicated by harvest methods. Effect of prolonged attack over a number of years must be taken into account. The varying market value of the crop lost will alter the status of a pest locally. Most published annual data does not take these subtleties into account. Published government harvest loss data may be exaggerated either upwards (perhaps to get aerial spraying into an area to kill cattle ticks) or downwards (to achieve forecast government productivity targets). Most Orthopteran pests attack as associations of two or more species, each of which oscillates in numbers independently. Monitoring studies rarely continue for periods long enough to understand what drives these changes. Exceptions are to be found in the mid-west of the U.S.A. (Anderson 1970, Hewitt, and Onsager, 1982), central Asia, and eastern Australia. Long-term changes in farming practice, e.g. replacement of millet by sorghum in the Sahel, may be indirect clues that Orthoptera pest damage is having an effect. Intercrops and poor weeding may favor greater attack by acridids. Qualitatively centers of Orthopteran pest activity can be chosen. These include North America, Central America, the southern Caribbean, central and northeast South America, sahelian Africa, Ethiopian highlands, southwestern and southern Africa, eastern Europe, central Asia, northern Africa, India, East Pakistan and Afghanistan, parts of the Arabian peninsula, China, Philippines, and Australia. Severe damage is often evident where there has been displacement of farming communities during recent wars and agriculture has been abandoned. Ecological disequilibrium is more frequent where marginal lands have been occupied recently, e.g. Kenya, or arid lands irrigated (as in Libya) or overgrazing incurred (as in Central Asia) accompanied by drought. Some vegetational changes seem to be natural,

Bayso revisited: some preliminary linguistic observations—I

It was Harold Fleming who first drew the attention of linguists to the Bayso language. Reports concerning the existence of such a people on Gidicho Island in Lake Abaya go back to the beginning of the century and descriptions of various cultural and economic aspects of the life of the Bayso and other inhabitants of Gidicho appeared subsequently; but concerning the language nothing was available until the publication of Fleming's germinal article in 1964. The latter followed a brief period of work on the island with a Bayso speaker. The 216-item vocabulary list and brief indications of the grammar have nevertheless proved tantalizingly suggestive to everyone working on questions of genetic relationships within Cushitic. Alongside the Bayso material the article also presented the first data on the Rendille language of north-east Kenya. Fleming's conclusions that Bayso, Rendille, Boni, and Somali constitute a Macro-Somali group were seen as linguistic support for H. S. Lewis's hypothesis of a south Ethiopian (rather than a northern Horn of Africa) origin for the Somali. Since the initial presentation of these proposals, linguistic research into the Dasenech (Galab), Elmolo, and to a limited extent Arbore, languages has led German linguists to propose an extension of Fleming's Macro-Somali to include these languages. Until very recently the limited nature of the data available on many of the relevant languages had tended to detract from the strength of arguments about their internal relationships. Heine's reports of his recent researches on Rendille, Elmolo, and Boni, as well as his work on the diachrony of the ‘Sam languages’ have done much to advance our knowledge. To date, however, the material available on Bayso has remained restricted to what was presented by Fleming in 1964. The primary purpose of the present paper is to set out the results of research conducted for a period of 17 days during September 1976.

THE HIGH MOUNTAIN FLORA OF THE GALAMA MOUNTAIN IN ARUSSI PROVINCE, ETHIOPIA

SUMMARY An annoted list of determinations is given for 125 taxa of vascular plants from the upper parts of the Galama Mountain in the Arussi Province of Ethiopia, collected mainly in the ericaceous belt between 3700 and 3850 m altitude. Brief descriptions are given of the main plant communities occurring in the localities investigated. Two new taxa are described (Cotula abyssinica var. sessilis Hedb. and Senecio cbillaloensis Cuf.) and one new hybrid is reported (Alchemilla haumanii × pedata). Six other taxa are reported for the first time from Ethiopia and nine more are reported as new for the southern half of the country. Finally the phytogeographical position of the South Ethiopian mountain flora is briefly discussed.

Some Human Factors Problems and Possibilities in Developing Ethiopia

Both negative and positive cultural factors affect innovative efforts in developing countries. In the case of Ethiopia, negative factors include a low esteem for craftsmanship. Even where modern education is making inroads on some negative factors, as in the towns, feudalistic attitudes toward labor and the preference for unskilled labor on the assumption that it is more economical, act to continue functionally inefficient attitudes. In contrast, positive factors exist in traditions of mutual aid, now spreading from South Ethiopian cultures northward. An excellent model for mutual aid may be found in the practices of the migrant weavers' association of the Gurage and some neighboring tribes. Ethiopia provides an interesting area for the study of human factors in developing countries since it has not passed through a colonial period. Various stages of development can be traced comparatively free of outside influences.