Weather data
A large number of automatic weather stations has been implemented in the frame of the BIOTA AFRICA project by the Namibian National Botanical Research Institute (NBRI) and the Group "Biodiversity, Evolution and Ecology" (BEE) of the University of Hamburg. The website offers hourly updates of data and graphs of a large number of weather parameters.


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Data on Kakamega-BDOs

 Download PDF document        Last update: 2009-11-09   Done by: Mathias Templin     Copy dataset as template

Dataset metadata
DescriptionHabitat fragmentation and degradation are important drivers of biodiversity loss, but little is known about their combined effects on the diversity of plant and animal taxa and on ecosystem processes like decomposition, pollination, predation, seed dispersal, and seedling establishment. Here, we present a dataset from Kakamega Forest (Kenya) including various animal and plant taxa and related ecological processes. In 2001, biodiversity observatories (BDOs) of 1 km² had been established in 11 forest sites, five in the main forest and six in adjacent fragments, by the BIOTA East Africa Project. Between 2001 and 2009, biodiversity and process data have been collected in standardized designs along regular transects in the BDOs. The data presented here have recently been integrated into a multi-taxa and process analysis to gain insight into the effects of habitat fragmentation and degradation on biodiversity and ecosystem processes.
Purpose Overview of biodiversity and process data
Main theme(s) Ecosystem
Subtheme(s)
  1. Ant
  2. bee
  3. biomass
  4. bird
  5. decomposition
  6. disturbance
  7. diversity
  8. forest
  9. fragmentation
  10. insect
  11. lichen
  12. mammal
  13. pollination
  14. predation
  15. rodent
  16. seed dispersal
  17. seedling establishment
  18. vegetation structure
Biome(s) Tropical rainforest
Country(ies) Kenya
Administration unit(s)
  1. Shinyalu Division
  2. Kakamega District
  3. Western Province
Locality(ies) Kakamega Forest
BIOTA Observatory(ies) Kakamega Forest
Period(s) See documentation file
Sampling method(s) See documentation file
Responsible person(s) See documentation file
Regional networks(s) BIOTA East Africa
Related subprojects / workpackages / topics
  1. WP1
  2. WP2
  3. WP3
  4. WP4
  5. WP5
Copyright holder Dr. Matthias Schleuning; Prof. Dr. Katrin Böhning-Gaese
Restrictions of dissemination Category 2: BIOTA Africa only
Start time of protection 01/10/2009
Duration of protection 3 years
Rationale / notes Most data are unpublished; data will be available after publication.



Data
Format MS-Excel
File name(s) / size(s) Kakamega_Data1
Software requirements None
Documentation  
    Format MS-Word
    File name(s) Kakamega_documentation1
    Status Complete
    Notes
    Related publications
  1. Althof, A. J.: Human impact on flora and vegetation of Kakamega Forest, Kenya: structure, distribution and disturbance of plant communities in an East African rainforest. Ph.D. dissertation, University of Koblenz-Landau, 2005.
  2. Bleher, B., Uster, D., Bergsdorf, T.: Assessment of threat status and management effectiveness in Kakamega forest, Kenya. Biodiversity and Conservation 15, 1159-1177, 2006.
  3. Farwig, N., Böhning-Gaese, K., Bleher, B.: Enhanced seed dispersal of Prunus africana in fragmented and disturbed forests? Oecologia 147, 238-252, 2006.
  4. Farwig, N., Sajita, N., Schaab, G., Böhning-Gaese, K.: Human impact diminishes seedling species richness in Kakamega Forest, Kenya. Basic and Applied Ecology 9, 383-391, 2008.
  5. Farwig, N., Bleher, B., von der Gönna, S., Böhning-Gaese, K.: Does forest fragmentation and selective logging affect seed predators and seed predation rates of Prunus africana (Rosaceae)? Biotropica 40, 218-224, 2008.
  6. Lung, T.: Landbedeckungsänderungen im Gebiet “Kakamega Forest und assoziierte Waldgebiete” (Westkenia) – Multispek-trale Klassifikation von Landsat-Satellitenbilddaten und Auswertung mittels Methoden im Raster-GIS. Karlsruher Geowissenschaftliche Schriften, ser. A, vol. 15 (ed.: Schaab, G.), Fachhochschule Karlsruhe, Karlsruhe, Germany, 2004.
  7. Peters, M. K.
  8. Likare, S.
  9. Kraemer, M.: Effects of habitat fragmentation and degradation on flocks of African ant-following birds. Ecological Applications 18, 847-858, 2008.
  10. Peters, M. K., Okalo, B.: Severe declines of ant-following birds in African rainforest fragments are facilitated by a subtle change in army ant communities. Biological Conservation 142, 2050-2058, 2009.
  11. Yeshitela, K.: Effects of anthropogenic disturbance on the diversity of foliicolous lichens in tropical rainforests of East Africa: Godere (Ethiopia), Budongo (Uganda) and Kakamega (Kenya). Ph.D. dissertation, University of Koblenz-Landau, Germany, 2008.



Contact person
Schleuning, Dr. Matthias 
Johannes-Gutenberg University Mainz 
Martin-Luther-Universität Halle; Institue of biology, geobotany, and botanical garden 
06099 Halle
Germany 
Phone: +49 (0) 345 55 26212 
Fax: +49 (0) 345 55 27228 
matthias.schleuning@botanik.uni-halle.de

Position: Former subproject coordinator (E11)