Publications

The evolutionary history of a species is key for understanding the taxonomy and for the design of effective management strategies for species conservation. The knowledge about the phylogenetic position of the lion (Panthera leo) in West/Central Africa is largely based on mitochondrial markers. Previous studies using mtDNA only have shown this region to hold a distinct evolutionary lineage. In addition, anthropogenic factors have led to a strong ...

Aim  In recent decades there has been a marked decline in the numbers of African lions (Panthera leo), especially in West Africa where the species is regionally endangered. Based on the climatological history of western Africa, we hypothesize that West and Central African lions have a unique evolutionary history, which is reflected by their genetic makeup. Location  Sub-Saharan Africa and India, with special focus on West and Central Africa. ...

Context. Catastrophic droughts afflicting the Horn of Africa in recent years highlight the heavy impact of a variable climate on the region’s vulnerable populations and socio-economic systems; and the enormous challenge to develop a sustainable agricultural economy in a future of climate change, growing demographic pressure and naturally scarce water resources. Most worrying is the uncertain impact of climate change on regional freshwater ...

This article presents the first detailed account of a previously unknown Early Iron Age pottery group from the Kongo Central Province in the Democratic Republic of Congo. The ceramic group is named Kitala ware, after the site where it was first discovered, and excavated in 2014 and 2015. Dated between cal AD 230 and 524 at Kitala, the ware is also documented as surface finds from six other sites south of the Congo River. Its chronology partly ...

This paper reviews the 14C dates associated with early iron smelting in Central Africa before 1900 BP. All of the archaeological sites from which these early dates have been obtained are critically examined. For example, each dated sample is checked for its stratigraphic integrity, its degree of association with dated artefacts, and its associated ceramic sequence. The series of U+2018goodU+2019 14C dates obtained from this re-appraisal is then ...

This article reviews evidence from biogeography, palynology, geology, historical linguistics, and archaeology and presents a new synthesis of the paleoclimatic context in which the early Bantu expansion took place. Paleoenvironmental data indicate that a climate crisis affected the Central African forest block during the Holocene, first on its periphery around 4000 BP and later at its core around 2500 BP.We argue here that both phases had an ...

Abstract Unsustainable hunting threatens both biodiversity and local livelihoods. Despite high levels of research effort focused on understanding the dynamics of bushmeat trade and consumption, current research is largely site specific. Without synthesis and quantitative analysis of available case studies, the national and regional characteristics of bushmeat trade and consumption remain largely speculative, impeding efforts to inform national ...

Bulk density (BD) is a key soil property for sustainable land management and C stock assessment. However, data on BD are often missing in various soil survey reports in Central Africa because its measurement is laborious, time consuming at large scales, and may pose expense and facilities challenges, particularly in resource-poor countries. Therefore, there was a need for developing pedotransfer functions (PTFs) to predict BD for soils of ...

The Mesoproterozoic Kibara belt (TUB) and the Karagwe-Ankole Belt (KAB) in Central Africa are characterized by the presence of numerous rare metal mineralized Sn-(Nb-Ta) pegmatites and Sn-W mineralised quartz veins that are related to a S-type granite generation formed at 986 +/- 10 Ma. Cassiterite concentrates have been studied by different petrographic and mineralogical techniques. The concentrates have been collected from the rock and mineral ...