The second phase is the final phase for this project and runs with reduced personal capacity. Therefore the main aims of the second phase are to facilitate the results obtained in the first phase and to establish capacities to allow an ongoing application of these results in scientific and applied research. The knowledge about afro-tropical dragonflies (Odonata) is unequalled amongst other invertebrate groups and many vertebrate groups. The systematic base is more or less solved, the identification is straight forward, they are diurnal and easily observed in the field and the knowledge on their ecology is comparatively good. Therefore dragonflies prove to be an optimal organism for a wide array of research topics and perfect tools for conservation planning. The work we are planning to do over the next three years is briefly outlined below (for more information and publications check www.uni-marburg.de/geographie/HPGeo/frames/fr_personal.htm).

Identification key and systematic revisions (ongoing project from phase 1)
An identification manual for the dragonflies of Eastern Africa covering about 500 species from 15 countries is currently prepared (published in 2005). A number of systematic revisions have been and still are published as a sound baseline data-set for the dragonflies of this region. A field guide is planned to get a wider public interested in dragonflies and thus establish knowledge and capacities for applied studies (e.g. dragonflies as indicator species, wetland health).

GIS based distribution maps
In co-operation with E02 a mapping project for the dragonflies of Eastern Africa will combine field work and remote sensing in a GIS approach.

Population genetics
Studies on population genetics and speciation processes are carried out on African dragonflies in cooperation with the TU Hannover (ongoing project from phase 1) and the Museum Alexander Koenig, Bonn (KAAD funded PhD student planned).

Project phase 1

• During the first project phase, we (V. Clausnitzer, K.-D.B. Dijkstra, J.J. Kisakye)
• completely revised the taxonomy of the dragonflies of Eastern Africa
• surveyed widely various habitats in Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania, resulting in numerous localized species checklists
• studied in detail the ecology and biogeography of selected species of conservation concern
• studied conservation aspects of dragonfly communities
• studied and discussed the effect of forest fragmentation and destruction on the community, species and genetic level
• carried out an assessment of the dragonflies of Eastern Africa with the IUCN/SSC (305 species from 4 countries were recently included in the "Global Biodiversity Assessment Database" of the IUCN/SSC)