This is the first study to determine the population structure of the freshwater crab Potamon algeriense in Oued Zegzel, a mountain stream in the northeast of Morocco. Monthly collections were carried out by hand, from October 2017 to September 2018. A total of 669 individuals, 378 males and 291 females, were captured, measured, marked, and released. Due to their extremely cryptic behavior during egg incubation, few ovigerous females were caught during the entire sampling period. The average size of males (28.98&#x2009;&#xb1;&#x2009;10.78&#x2009;mm CW) is significantly larger than that of the females (28.62&#x2009;&#xb1;&#x2009;8.48&#x2009;mm CW). Significant deviation from 1&#x2009;:&#x2009;1 sex ratio during the study period was recorded, and the size distribution of the sampled population presented an abnormal distribution where specimens over 31 and under 25&#x2009;mm CW were often males, whereas females were represented more in the 26&#x2013;30&#x2009;mm CW range.

Soufiane Fadlaoui

Mohammed Melhaoui

Population Structure of the Freshwater Crab Potamon algeriense (Bott, 1967) Inhabiting Oued Zegzel, (Northeast of Morocco)

Coastal regions of Ghana are primarily engaged in sea and lagoon fishing. Like many lagoons in Ghana, Fosu lagoon is a major source of livelihood for its surrounding communities. However, the lagoon and its associated marsh vegetation is under serious threat from human-induced interference. Due to this, the lagoon is considered as one of the most polluted lagoons in Ghana. Also, studies reveal that a major conservation challenge is the lack of inventory for the lagoon&#x2019;s associated vegetation. Hence, the research was to map and assess the lagoon&#x2019;s habitat and identify threats to the lagoon. In achieving the research objectives, remote sensing and GIS technique were used to effectively map the lagoon and the catchment area. The result indicated that the Fosu lagoon is characterized by a massive decline in lagoon size and the vegetation cover. Thus, the standing water has declined by 50.2 acres from 1970 to 2017 to physical development and weeds. Also, it was evident in the result that the lagoon&#x2019;s vegetation is now fragmented into six various vegetation types and the weeds in the lagoon make approximately one-third of the lagoon&#x2019;s vegetation cover. Also, adding to the threat of the lagoon were high levels of plastic waste and metal pollution. Hence, if current trend continues, the possibility of further degradation is very high. The main impact of this research was to provide evidence to the gradual disappearance of the Fosu lagoon.

Bernard Essel

Justice Kwame Gyesi

Richmond Kofi Addo

Wisdom Galley

Gideon MacCarthy

The Tale of a Disappearing Lagoon: A Habitat Mapping and Ecological Assessment of Fosu Lagoon, Ghana

Few studies have explored how human land uses influence and support persistence of forest biodiversity in central Kenya. In the case of the Mount Kenya ecosystem, farmlands and plantation forests are significant land-use types. Using point counts, we assessed bird communities in natural forests, plantation forests, and farmlands in the Nanyuki Forest Block, Western Mount Kenya. Bird point counts were undertaken during two sampling periods (wet and dry season). Compared to farmlands and plantation forest, natural forest had the highest overall avian species richness and relative species richness of all except one forest-dependent foraging guild (granivores) and nonforest species, which occurred frequently only on farmlands. Plantation forest had the lowest relative richness of all avian habitat and foraging guilds. Conversely, specialist forest-dependent species mainly occurred in the structurally complex remnant natural forest. Our study underscores the importance of remnant natural forests for the persistence and conservation of forest biodiversity and risks posed by replacing them with plantation forests and farmlands.

Samuel N. Mahiga

Paul Webala

Mugo J. Mware

Paul K. Ndang&#x2019;ang&#x2019;a

Influence of Land-Use Type on Forest Bird Community Composition in Mount Kenya Forest

The Far-Eastern Himalaya Landscape (FHL), a shared transboundary landscape between China, India, and Myanmar, is one of the most intact and biologically rich landscapes in the Eastern Himalaya. Yet, the state of biodiversity and its significance are comparatively poorly known to conservationists and policy makers due to low priority in research, inaccessibility, and remoteness. We collated and reviewed 1032 articles relating to biodiversity of the FHL to understand research trends, identify knowledge gaps, and suggest priority research areas for future biodiversity conservation and management in the landscape. Our review showed that the Myanmar part of the landscape is the most studied, followed by the Indian and Chinese parts. The trend of publications in the landscape showed that the earliest publication on biodiversity in the FHL dates back to 1833, while the years from 2001 to 2017 account for almost 80&#x25; of the total publications. Most studies focused on species (73.6&#x25;), followed by ecosystems (25&#x25;) and genetics (1.4&#x25;). Mammals were the most studied taxa (22.6&#x25;), with a greater focus on charismatic megafauna, followed by arthropods (15.6&#x25;), angiosperms (14.8&#x25;), insects (13.4&#x25;), and birds (10.8&#x25;). There were very few publications on lower invertebrates and lower kingdoms, Monera, Protista, Fungi, and Viruses. At the ecosystem level, most studies focused on forests (58.5&#x25;) followed by freshwater (32&#x25;), agroecosystems (9&#x25;), and alpine/tundra ecosystem (0.5&#x25;); there were only 14 studies at genetic level. In the FHL, new species have been discovered and rediscovered starting from the early 1930s until 2017. The majority of newly discovered species in the last 18 years are arthropods. The paper reviews past research areas, identifies gaps for future research and intervention, and recommends transboundary collaboration to address these gaps for conservation and sustainable development of the FHL landscape.

Deepa Basnet

Pratikshya Kandel

Nakul Chettri

Yongping Yang

Mahendra Singh Lodhi

Naing Zaw Htun

Kabir Uddin

Eklabya Sharma

Biodiversity Research Trends and Gaps from the Confluence of Three Global Biodiversity Hotspots in the Far-Eastern Himalaya

About this journal

International Journal of Ecology publishes articles in all areas of ecological sciences, The journal encourages the submission of big data studies, either presenting novel findings from large datasets or demonstrating new analytical techniques.

Journal profile

Meet the editorial board

International Journal of Ecology maintains an Editorial Board of practicing researchers from around the world, to ensure manuscripts are handled by editors who are experts in the field of study.

Editor spotlight

Submit your proposal

Do you think there is an emerging area of research that really needs to be highlighted? Or an existing research area that has been overlooked or would benefit from deeper investigation? Raise the profile of a research area by leading a Special Issue.

Special Issues

Author guidelines

Editorial board

Databases and indexing

International Journal of Ecology - Table of contents 2019

International Journal of Ecology | Hindawi

title

International Journal of Ecology publishes articles in all areas of ecological sciences, The journal encourages the submission of big data studies, either presenting novel findings from large datasets or demonstrating new analytical techniques.

International Journal of Ecology