Habitat Suitability Modelling and Conservation Implications for Threatened Tanzania’s Puku Antelope, Kobus vardonii in Kilombero Valley, Tanzania

29 May 2014 Kilombero Valley, Tanzania, Africa Habitats | Mammals

Alfred Chitiki

The overall objective of this project is to map habitat suitability of puku, by linking species distribution to environmental factors (climate, topography, vegetation, and land-cover) and exploring the most significant factors for its decline.

Nursery bed preparation.

Nursery bed preparation.

The decline in puku population in Kilombero Valley has been linked to human activities closer to the floodplain throughout the Kilombero Valley. Increase in the human population and improvements to the transport infrastructure in the valley have led to settlement expansion and an associated increase in pressure on the environment. The miombo woodland is threatened by conversion to farmland and fuel wood extraction. Although evidence of puku decline do exists and that anthropogenic factors have shown to be the main cause, studies linking the distribution of puku as related to environmental conditions are scarce. Of these, none has integrated the environmental (i.e. climate, topography, vegetation, and land-cover) factors to the distribution of puku antelope. Understanding such patterns is useful in exploring population fluctuations as related to environmental factors and in determining habitat preferences. With climate change effects increasingly becoming integral parts in land management plans, the results from this project will bring some insights on climate change issues important for the management of the Kilombero Valley.

This project will be carried out with the main objective of mapping habitat suitability of puku antelope, Kobus vardonii in the Kilombero Valley by linking species distribution to environmental factors (climate, topography, vegetation, and land-cover). Specifically the project will

(i) conduct an ecological survey so as to update the population status and distribution of K. vardonii in Kilombero Valley

(ii) predict suitable habitat distribution for K. vardonii using occurrence records to inform conservation planning and guide conservation actions for this species in the valley

(iii) identify the environmental factors associated with K. vardonii habitat distribution (iv) identify critical areas of immediate conservation actions and suggest specific conservation priorities that will help to ensure the continued survival of this threatened species

(v) promote tree planting practices in local communities around Kilombero Valley. Field survey will be conducted along permanent transects. Data on the previous records e.g. Kilombero Valley Wildlife Project and Frontier Tanzania Savanna Research Programme will also be used in addition to field survey. The habitat suitability of puku antelope will be modelled with MAXENT version 3.3.3k using known presence localities.

To reduce pressure on miombo ecosystem, the proposed project will promote raising of tree

seedlings and managing forests in private woodlots, tree farms and agro-forestry practices. Local communities will be trained on tree nursery techniques (raising tree seedlings), establishment of woodlots and agroforestry practices.

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