No abstract

This is a temperate-boreal northern hemisphere species, in tropical regions known only from the East African mountains, and extending down to South Africa (Blockeel et al., 2006c). In East Africa it was first reported [as Neckera complanata (Hedw.) Huebener var. maxima Dixon] from Kenya (Mt Kenya, at 3000 m) by Dixon (1918), and it also occurs in the Taita Hills (Mbololo, at 1650 m) in the SE part of the country (Bytebier & Chuah-Petiot, 2002). It was reported from Tanzania (Mt Meru, at 2375 m) by Blockeel et al. (2003). The South African collections came from much lower altitudes (400 and 450 m). The African specimens reported by Bytebier & Chuah-Petiot (2002), Blockeel et al. (2003, 2006c) were all epiphytic. The present Ugandan specimens were collected on rocks. Altitude (4100 m) is given on only one of the two specimens, but as both were collected the same day, the other one probably comes from an approximately similar altitude. They do not represent Dixon's (1918) var. maxima, as the shoots are less than 5 cm long; in var. maxima they were up to 15 cm long. The leaves in the Ugandan specimens are slightly narrower than is typical for the species, but otherwise the specimens agree well with the rather variable A. complanata.

A survey to determine the causes of mortality of guinea fowl and the technical and sanitary constraints of the traditional breeding of guinea fowl was carried out among 106 poultry farmers from the Savannah Region in North Togo. The survey also made it possible to identify the breeding constraints and the endogenous practices of rearing of the guinea fowl. The results obtained from the investigations are: (i) the high rate (69.81%) of illiterates is not conducive to the definition or control of plans for prophylaxis and rationing. (ii) Breeders are unaware of disease-resistant strains of guinea fowl. (iii) Guinea fowl breeding starts with traditional methods, with 33.96% of the breeders who leave the guinea fowl in the wilderness and 13.21% who breed them in conflagration pell-mell. (iv) The formulations of food rations in order to satisfy the nutritional requirements of guinea fowl are virtually non-existent. The sources of proteins sometimes supplemented are only termites. However, food imbalance leads to growth lags. (v) Prophylaxis plans are not followed by breeders. Fifty two percent (52%) of the breeders self-medicate and other breeders (9.43%) do not treat. Several plants are used alone or in combination to control poultry diseases. (vi) biosecurity measures are non-existent in the farms (48.11% of the farmers give the dead guinea fowl to the children for consumption and 66% of the breeders throw the dead guinea fowl in the wild). (vii) The major constraints identified in this investigation are the remoteness of the veterinary supply centers, the lack of access to quality veterinary services, the low rate of training of farmers, the inadequate support of pastoralists livestock equipment; (viii) the problem of predators (93.40%) and the problem of access to effective veterinary products (79.25%) were noted.

No abstract

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change has predicted that sub-tropical regions are more vulnerable to climate change’s negative effects (CC). Additionally, to CC, land use and land cover (LULC) changes and dam construction, often neglected, play an important role in the spatial and temporal distribution of water balance components (WBC) for agricultural production and socio-ecological equilibrium. This study aimed to analyze and compare the changes in LULC and WBC for the period before Nangbéto dam construction (1964–1986) and the period after its construction (1988–2010) in the Mono River Basin (MRB). To this end, the study used mainly WBC extracted from the validated Soil and Water Assessment Tool and LULC data of 1975–2000 in the MRB to explore their temporal distributions and the link in their changes. The results showed that mean actual monthly evapotranspiration, percolation, water yield, surface runoff, groundwater, and lateral flow represent 51%, 17.5%, 15.9%, 9.4%; 5.7% and 0.4%, respectively, of total water balance between 1964 and 1986. The same components represented 51%, 9.1%, 20.4%, 6.3%, 10.6% and 2.6%, respectively, between 1988 and 2010. The contribution of these WBC in the mean-annual (1964–1986) period was for actual evapotranspiration (31.3%), water yield (25.9%), percolation (17.7%), groundwater (14.71%), surface runoff (9.94%) and lateral flow (0.40%). Meanwhile, between 1988 and 2010, the contribution of actual evapotranspiration, water yield, percolation, groundwater, surface runoff and lateral flow is 49.8%,19.9%, 11.2%, 10.3%, 6.1%, and 2.5%, respectively. The results showed that the peaks of the actual evapotranspiration, surface runoff, percolation and water yield appeared in September, corresponding to a month after the maximum rainfall in August. However, our more detailed analysis showed that a significant decrease in forest and savanna and an increase in croplands led to a decrease in actual evapotranspiration and lateral flow over the second simulation period compared to the first period of simulation over the MRB scale. These findings showed that sustainable management and conservation of natural vegetation are crucial for integrated water resource management and conservation in MRB.