project description
Small mammal communities in the Busanga Swamps (Zambia) in relation to fire and utilization.
My research project is premised on the conservation of biological diversity. Like most African states, the main approach taken in Zambia to conserve biological diversity is the setting aside of large tracts of land called protected areas (PA). In these PA, human impacts are minimized and various conservation actions are implemented in order to protect and preserve biodiversity. Despite this, biodiversity in these PA is still under threat mainly from illegal harvests and repeated bushfires. Repeated bush fires are believed to be exacerbated by illegal activities and also by changes in climatic conditions. Very little is known about species response to repeated bush fires and more so, for the less conspicuous species such as small mammals that are largely under studied, yet assume cardinal roles in ecosystem functionality.
Thus, we begin by providing a description of the distribution and characteristic of small mammals (insectivora and rodentua) across the major habitats in Kafue National Park and then determine the differential impacts of recurrent bushfires on small mammal communities. We further investigate the mechanisms that support the coexistence of so many species in these habitats.
Our research project is anchored on the subtasks of Task 189 of the Southern Africa Science Service Centre for Climate Change and Adaptive Land Management. These subtasks aim to establish inventories of biodiversity in the Busanga Swamps and to detail the influence of physical factors on their composition.