Recent Submissions

  • A Survey of Hydrological Systems in the Great Virunga Landscape: Water resources assessment and use in and around Mgahinga Gorilla National Park and Echuya Central Forest Reserve, S.W Uganda 

    Bitariho, Robert; Babaasa, Dennis; Kasangaki, Aventino; Twinamatsiko, Medard; Ayebare, Sam; Mabirizi, Daniel (2015)
    The Greater Virunga Landscape (GVL) is an interconnected chain of eleven protected areas that straddle the borders of Uganda, Rwanda and Democratic Republic of Congo. The landscape is famous for its mountain gorillas ...
  • The Impact of Tourism and Research Activity on Ape Health 

    Sugnaseelan, Sumita; Ancrenaz, Marc; Bitariho, Robert (Cambridge University Press, 2024)
    Apes have fascinated humans since antiquity: several ancient myths and legends mention their existence (Russon, 2004). Over time, scientists, philosophers and others have made comparisons between humans and apes in efforts ...
  • Dominance and rarity in tree communities across the globe: Patterns, predictors and threats 

    Hordijk, Iris; Bialic-Murphy, Lalasia; Lauber, Thomas; Routh, Devin; Poorter, Lourens; Rivers, Malin C.; Steege, Hans ter; Liang, Jingjing; Bastian, Meredith L.; Birigazzi, Luca; Birnbaum, Philippe; Bitariho, Robert; Boeckx, Pascal; Bongers, Frans; Bouriaud, Olivier; Brancalion, Pedro H. S.; Brand, Susanne; Maynard, Daniel S.; . Crowther, Thomas W (Global Ecology and Biogeography, 2024-06-23)
    Aim: Ecological and anthropogenic factors shift the abundances of dominant and rare tree species within local forest communities, thus affecting species composition and ecosystem functioning. To inform forest and conservation ...
  • Evidence of thermophilization in Afromontane forests 

    Cuni-Sanchez, Aida; Martin, Emanuel H.; Uzabaho, Eustrate; Ngute, Alain S. K.; Bitariho, Robert; Kayijamahe, Charles; Marshal, Andrew R.; Mohamed, Nassoro A.; Mseja, Gideon A.; Nkwasibwe, Aventino; Rovero, Francesco; Sheil, Douglas; Tinkasimire, Rogers; Tumugabirwe, Lawrence; Feeley, Kenneth J.; Sullivan, Martin J. P. (Nature communications, 2024-07-10)
    Thermophilization is the directional change in species community composition towards greater relative abundances of species associated with warmer environments. This process is well-documented in temperate and Neotropical ...
  • Predictive mapping of tree species assemblages in an African montane rainforest 

    Babaasa, Dennis; Finn, John T.; Schweik, Charles M.; Fuller, Todd K.; Sheil, Douglas (Biotropica, 2024)
    Conservation of mountain ecosystems can benefit from knowledge of habitats and their distribution patterns. This benefit is particularly true for diverse ecosystems with high conservation values such as the “Afromontane” ...
  • Evolutionary history and environmental variability structure contemporary tropical vertebrate communities 

    Hsieh, Chia; Gorczynski, Daniel; Bitariho, Robert; Espinosa, Santiago; Johnson, Steig; Lima, Marcela Guimarães Moreira; Rovero, Francesco; Salvador, Julia; Santos, Fernanda; Sheil, Douglas; Beaudrot, Lydia (Global Ecol Biogeogr, 2024)
    Linear regression models, we test three non- mutually exclusive hypotheses by comparing the relative importance of colonization time, palaeo-environmental changes in temperature and land cover since 3.3 Mya, contemporary ...
  • Tropical field stations yield high conservation return on investment 

    Eppley, Timothy M.; Reuter, Kim E.; Sefczek, Timothy M.; Tinsman, Jen; Santini, Luca; Hoeks, Selwyn; Bitariho, Robert; Andriantsaralaza, Seheno; Shanee, Sam; DiFiore, Anthony (Conservation Letters, 2024)
    Conservation funding is currently limited; cost-effective conservation solutions are essential. We suggest that the thousands of field stations worldwide can play key roles at the frontline of biodiversity conservation and ...
  • Consistent patterns of common species across tropical tree communities 

    Cooper, Declan L. M.; Lewis, Simon L.; Sullivan, Martin J. P.; Prado, Paulo I.; Steege, Hans ter; Bitariho, Robert; Barbier, Nicolas; Slik, Ferry (Nature, 2024-01-10)
    Trees structure the Earth’s most biodiverse ecosystem, tropical forests. The vast number of tree species presents a formidable challenge to understanding these forests, including their response to environmental change, as ...
  • The politics of mourning in conservation conflicts: The (un) grievability of life and less-than-human geographies 

    Akampurira, Emmanuel; Marijnen, Esther (Political Geography, 2024)
    Accounts of conservation conflicts often reveal that people living around protected areas feel like their lives are less valued than animals’ lives —they are confined to ‘less-than-human geographies’. Recent literature on ...
  • Integrated global assessment of the natural forest carbon potential 

    Mo, Lidong; Zohner, Constantin M.; Reich, Peter B.; Liang, Jingjing; De Miguel, Sergio; Nabuurs, Gert-Jan; Renner, Susanne S.; Hoogen, Johan van den; Bitariho, Robert; Boeckx, Pascal; Bongers, Frans; Bouriaud, Olivier (Nature, 2023-11-13)
    Forests are a substantial terrestrial carbon sink, but anthropogenic changes in land use and climate have considerably reduced the scale of this system1. Remote-sensing estimates to quantify carbon losses from global ...
  • Native diversity buffers against severity of non-native tree invasions 

    Delavaux, Camille S.; Crowther, Thomas W.; Zohner, Constantin M.; Robmann, Niamh M.; Lauber, Thomas; Bitariho, Robert; Hoogen, Johan van den (Nature, 2023)
  • Combining camera trap surveys and IUCN range maps to improve knowledge of species distributions 

    Chen, Cheng; Granados, Alys; Brodie, Jedediah F.; Kays, Roland; Davies, T. Jonathan; Liu, Runzhe; Fisher, Jason T.; Ahumada, Jorge; McShea, William; Sheil, Douglas; Mohd-Azlan, Jayasilan; Agwanda, Bernard; Andrianarisoa, Mahandry H.; Appleton, Robyn D.; Bitariho, Robert; Espinosa, Santiago; Grigione, Melissa M.; Helgen, Kristofer M.; Hubbard, Andy; Hurtado, Cindy M. (Conservation Biology, 2023)
    Reliable maps of species distributions are fundamental for biodiversity research and conservation. The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List range maps are widely recognized as authoritative ...
  • Sex ratios, damage and distribution of Myrianthus holstii Engl.: a dioecious afromontane forest tree 

    Kissa, David Ocama; Ssali, Fredrick; Sheil, Douglas (Journal of Tropical Ecology, 2023)
    Male and female dioecious tropical trees are subjected to distinct demands that may influence their ecology. An example is Myrianthus holstii Engl. that produces persistent fruit eaten by elephants and other large mammals ...
  • Is Fair Benefit Sharing a Reality or A Fallacy? Implications for Effective Collaborative Forest Management at Echuya Central Forest Reserve, S. W. Uganda 

    Bugabo, Stephen Gumisiriza; Bitariho, Robert; Twinamatsiko, Medard (East African Journal of Forestry and Agroforestry, 2023)
    It is generally accepted that equitable benefits sharing from protected areas (PAs) is a probable technique for both sustainable management and PA conservation. Evidence however, suggests that this might not be entirely ...
  • Seasonality in the equatorial tropics: Flower, fruit, and leaf phenology of montane trees in the highlands of Southwest Uganda 

    Ssali, Fredrick; Sheil, Douglas (Biotropica, 2023)
    Phenology influences many forest functions and can inform forest conservation and management, yet representative phenological data for most common tropical forest tree species remain sparse or absent. Between June 2011 and ...
  • The global biogeography of tree leaf form and habit 

    Ma, Haozhi; Crowther, Thomas W.; Mo, Lidong; Maynard, Daniel S.; Renner, Susanne S.; Hoogen, Johan van den; Zou, Yibiao; Liang, Jingjing; Bitariho, Robert; de-Miguel, Sergio; Nabuurs, Gert-Jan; et al (Nature Plants, 2023-10-23)
    Understanding what controls global leaf type variation in trees is crucial for comprehending their role in terrestrial ecosystems, including carbon, water and nutrient dynamics. Yet our understanding of the factors influencing ...
  • Conservation in a Region of Political Instability: Bwindi Impenetrable Forest, Uganda 

    Hamilton, A.; Cunningham, A.; Byarugaba, D.; Kayanja, F. (Conservation Biology, 2000)
    Bwindi Impenetrable is the most important forest in Uganda for conservation of biodiversity. It contains over half the world’s mountain gorillas. It is surrounded by densely populated agricultural land and lies within a ...
  • Understanding Conservation Conflicts in Uganda: A Political Ecology of Memory Approach 

    Akampurira, Emmanuel (Conservation and Society, 2023)
    Political ecologists have linked conservation conflicts in post-independence Africa to the continuities and legacies of colonial policies that displaced and dispossessed people to create ‘wild places’. This paper introduces ...
  • Human density modulates spatial associations among tropical forest terrestrial mammal species 

    Gorczynski, Daniel; Hsieh, Chia; Ahumada, Jorge; Akampurira, Emmanuel; Andrianarisoa, Mahandry Hugues; Espinosa, Santiago; Johnson, Steig; Kayijamahe, Charles; Lima, Marcela Guimarães Moreira; Mugerwa, Badru; Rovero, Francesco; Salvador, Julia; Santos, Fernanda; Sheil, Douglas; Uzabaho, Eustrate; Beaudrot, Lydia (Global Change Biology, 2022)
    The spatial aggregation of species pairs often increases with the ecological similarity of the species involved. However, the way in which environmental conditions and anthropogenic activity affect the relationship between ...
  • Native diversity buffers against severity of non-native tree invasions 

    Delavaux, Camille S.; Crowther, Thomas W.; Zohner, Constantin M.; Robmann, Niamh M.; Lauber, Thomas; Hoogen, Johan van den; Kuebbing, Sara; Liang, Jingjing; de-Miguel, Sergio; Bitariho, Robert; Nabuurs, Gert-Jan; Reich, Peter B. (Nature, 2023)
    Determining the drivers of non-native plant invasions is critical for managing native ecosystems and limiting the spread of invasive species1,2. Tree invasions in particular have been relatively overlooked, even though ...

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