This paper was produced as a part of our ongoing research endeavors in Singida destined to provide a better understanding of early humans’ cultures, and to promote the conservation of cultural and natural heritages o...This paper was produced as a part of our ongoing research endeavors in Singida destined to provide a better understanding of early humans’ cultures, and to promote the conservation of cultural and natural heritages of the region. The overreaching goals of this research are to holistically reconstruct the archaeology of Singida by studying cultural processes over time and space. Equally important is to promote tourism in the Singida eastern axis and, to salvage the heritage assets of the region from total disappearance as evinced by the activities of modern day civilization, broadly, to shed more light about the past life ways, and the subsistence behaviours of our ancestors. Our recent archaeological reconnaissance conducted in January 2016 in Siuyu ward discovered rock paintings and a rock shelter with archeological potential (Ngaghe rock shelter), containing a large scatter of Later Stone Age (LSA) archaeological artifacts that are crucial to the unravelling of the prehistoric human behaviours in Singida. Preliminary results from our research revealed that Singida region is an ideal place for undertaking research on early human bio-cultural evolution from LSA times to the present. Data from this study will be utilized to re-write the history of Singida region, to make sure that it is sustained for future generations. Despite their rarity, uniqueness, scientific and aesthetic values, these heritage assets are neither protected by village nor regional by-laws. Before deliberate conservation measures are put in place, it is very important to have good records of the areas that are attractive to tourism, and their current state of preservation. These sites were undocumented by the previous researchers, and in certain circumstances are unknown even to the local people of the Siuyu ward. Although the archaeology of Singida east is much “terra incognita”, this article is timely, for promoting archaeo-tourism and raising public awareness on the archaeology of Singida. Additionally, this work provides a stimulus to the authorities to take action by introducing effective conservation measures for the sustainability of these priceless non-renewable resources.展开更多
Background: World?wide grassland birds are in decline due to habitat loss and degradation resulting from inten?sive agricultural practices. Understanding how key grassland habitat attributes determine grassland bird d...Background: World?wide grassland birds are in decline due to habitat loss and degradation resulting from inten?sive agricultural practices. Understanding how key grassland habitat attributes determine grassland bird densities is required to make appropriate conservation decisions. We examine drivers of bird densities in a South African grass?land area that has been managed for biodiversity conservation with reduced grazing pressure.Methods: We estimated the density of the eight most common grassland bird species encountered in our area to evaluate the effects of recent grassland management changes on the avifauna. We collected data on birds and habitat from the austral summers of 2006/2007, 2007/2008 and 2010/2011. We used hierarchical distance sampling methods to estimate density of birds relative to two main habitat variables, i.e., grass cover and height. In addition, we used regression splines within these distance sampling models as a more flexible description of suitable ranges of grass height and cover for each species.Results: For most species, density is related to grass height and cover as expected. The African Quailfinch(Ortygospiza atricollis) and Common Quail(Coturnix coturnix) preferred relatively short and open grass. The Yellow?breasted Pipit(Anthus chloris), African Pipit(Anthus cinnamomeus) and Red?capped Lark(Calandrella cinerea) preferred short and relatively dense grass, while the Wing?snapping Cisticola(Cisticola ayresii) preferred grass of intermediate height and cover. The Cape Longclaw(Macronyx capensis) and Zitting Cisticola(Cisticola juncidis) preferred tall and dense grass. Our results agree with previous studies that grass height combined with grass cover are the most important habitat features that managers should manipulate in order to increase the density of target species. The regression splines show that the effect of these two habitat variables on density is well described by linear relationships for most species.Conclusions: This study supports previous studies suggesting that grazing and fire are important tools for manage?ment to use in order to create a mosaic of grass height and cover that would support high densities of desired spe?cies. We suggest that conservation managers of these grasslands combine fire and grazing as management tools to create suitable habitats for grassland birds in general.展开更多
文摘This paper was produced as a part of our ongoing research endeavors in Singida destined to provide a better understanding of early humans’ cultures, and to promote the conservation of cultural and natural heritages of the region. The overreaching goals of this research are to holistically reconstruct the archaeology of Singida by studying cultural processes over time and space. Equally important is to promote tourism in the Singida eastern axis and, to salvage the heritage assets of the region from total disappearance as evinced by the activities of modern day civilization, broadly, to shed more light about the past life ways, and the subsistence behaviours of our ancestors. Our recent archaeological reconnaissance conducted in January 2016 in Siuyu ward discovered rock paintings and a rock shelter with archeological potential (Ngaghe rock shelter), containing a large scatter of Later Stone Age (LSA) archaeological artifacts that are crucial to the unravelling of the prehistoric human behaviours in Singida. Preliminary results from our research revealed that Singida region is an ideal place for undertaking research on early human bio-cultural evolution from LSA times to the present. Data from this study will be utilized to re-write the history of Singida region, to make sure that it is sustained for future generations. Despite their rarity, uniqueness, scientific and aesthetic values, these heritage assets are neither protected by village nor regional by-laws. Before deliberate conservation measures are put in place, it is very important to have good records of the areas that are attractive to tourism, and their current state of preservation. These sites were undocumented by the previous researchers, and in certain circumstances are unknown even to the local people of the Siuyu ward. Although the archaeology of Singida east is much “terra incognita”, this article is timely, for promoting archaeo-tourism and raising public awareness on the archaeology of Singida. Additionally, this work provides a stimulus to the authorities to take action by introducing effective conservation measures for the sustainability of these priceless non-renewable resources.
基金supported in the position of Bird Life South Africa Ingula Project Manager with funding by Eskom through The Ingula PartnershipFund supported the first author with a vehicle for the duration of the project,while employed by Bird Life South Africasupported by the National Research Foundation of South Africa(Grant 85802)
文摘Background: World?wide grassland birds are in decline due to habitat loss and degradation resulting from inten?sive agricultural practices. Understanding how key grassland habitat attributes determine grassland bird densities is required to make appropriate conservation decisions. We examine drivers of bird densities in a South African grass?land area that has been managed for biodiversity conservation with reduced grazing pressure.Methods: We estimated the density of the eight most common grassland bird species encountered in our area to evaluate the effects of recent grassland management changes on the avifauna. We collected data on birds and habitat from the austral summers of 2006/2007, 2007/2008 and 2010/2011. We used hierarchical distance sampling methods to estimate density of birds relative to two main habitat variables, i.e., grass cover and height. In addition, we used regression splines within these distance sampling models as a more flexible description of suitable ranges of grass height and cover for each species.Results: For most species, density is related to grass height and cover as expected. The African Quailfinch(Ortygospiza atricollis) and Common Quail(Coturnix coturnix) preferred relatively short and open grass. The Yellow?breasted Pipit(Anthus chloris), African Pipit(Anthus cinnamomeus) and Red?capped Lark(Calandrella cinerea) preferred short and relatively dense grass, while the Wing?snapping Cisticola(Cisticola ayresii) preferred grass of intermediate height and cover. The Cape Longclaw(Macronyx capensis) and Zitting Cisticola(Cisticola juncidis) preferred tall and dense grass. Our results agree with previous studies that grass height combined with grass cover are the most important habitat features that managers should manipulate in order to increase the density of target species. The regression splines show that the effect of these two habitat variables on density is well described by linear relationships for most species.Conclusions: This study supports previous studies suggesting that grazing and fire are important tools for manage?ment to use in order to create a mosaic of grass height and cover that would support high densities of desired spe?cies. We suggest that conservation managers of these grasslands combine fire and grazing as management tools to create suitable habitats for grassland birds in general.
