This study was carried out on the threats of biodiversity conservation and ecotourism activities in Nechsar National Park (NSNP), Arba Minch, Ethiopia. Data was collected from protection staffs and local communities found in and around the boundary of the national park. Open ended and close ended questionnaires, focused group discussion and field observation were used to collect all the necessary information. Protection staffs interview revealed that illegal fishing (100%), fuel wood collection (100%) and charcoal production (92.0%) were among the major problems of biodiversity in the study area. On the other hand, the data obtained from the villagers showed that 58.5 and 37.8% of them were involved in fuel wood collection and livestock grazing, respectively. Poor salary (96.0%), inadequate staffing (88.0%), lack of equipment (96.0%) and poor infrastructure (96.0%) were also among the major management problems that hinder the motivation of the park management staffs. Based on our research results, we could say that there is a rapid growing ecotourism activity in the study area. However, the long term effects of human threats to biodiversity had resulted and can have negative implications on the ecotourism activities and biodiversity of the study areas in the future.

We estimated the abundance of Colobus guereza ssp. guereza in the moist evergreen riparian forest part of Nech Sar National Park, Ethiopia. The survey was conducted using the distance sampling method. Based on a preliminary study, 17 newly cut line transects were randomly aligned across the study area. The survey data were then collected for three consecutive months. Transects were walked once per month for 14-16 days. Abundance estimates were analyzed using the program 'DISTANCE'. The half-normal key function with cosine adjustment fitted our data sets best. Mean group density and mean animal density were 14 animals km-2 and 102 animals km-2, respectively, resulting in a mean estimated abundance of 2,153 animals distributed over thestudy area. The mean estimated group size was 7.24 with an estimated encounter rate of 1.72. Compared to similar studies from tropical forests in Africa, our population density estimates were intermediate between the mean values (100 to 168 animals km-2). We conclude that such intermediate density estimates reflect the fact that guerezas have suffered from human-induced reductions in habitat availability. We also suggest that the natural forest is still in a reasonable condition that likely provides them with sufficient food supply to compensate for such intermediate densities. However, a replication of this study would lead to a more comprehensive abundance estimate. We also recommend studies that would address the activity-time budget and populationdemographics of these monkeys. Nonetheless, our results provide a reference point for future studies in this area, particularly to assess population trends of C. g. guereza.

Phytoplankton succession in open lakes depends on the availability of nutrients, temperature, light intensity and transparency. Phytoplankton communities usually undergo a fairly predictable annual cycle, but some species may grow exponentially forming the blooms. Accordingly, the seasonal diversity and dynamics of phytoplankton and their correlation with environmental factors were investigated in Lake Chamo, from December, 2013 to November, 2014. Samples were taken from four different sites of the lake; each of these sampling sites had their own unique characteristics. Seasonal plankton samples were collected using nylobolt plankton net (No. 25). pH, water temperature, specific conductivity, saturation, total dissolved solids, salinity and dissolved oxygen were measured in the field. The results showed that there is significant difference in the mean value of pH across the different seasons at the first sampling site, season II having significantly higher value than season I and IV. Water temperature also significantly varied among sampling sites and seasons, site 3 in spring 2014 having significantly higher value (30.4 ± 0.21°C) than site 2 during summer 2014 (26.0 ± 0.12°C). Cyanophyta, Chlorophyta and Bacillariophyta accounted 96% of the total phytoplankton abundance during the study period. Pediastrum, Scendesmus and Closterium species were the predominant Chlorophyta, during the rainy seasons. The average Cyanophyta count was positively and non-significantly correlated with water temperature and turbidity of the lake. Overall, the four seasons exhibit different phytoplankton species composition across different sites. The diversity was high during winter season in all sampling sites.