Browsing by Author "Sheil, Douglas"

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    Comparing seed removal rates in actively and passively restored tropical moist forests
    (Restoration Ecology, 2018) Ssekuubwa, Enock; Loe, Leif E.; Sheil, Douglas; Tweheyo, Mnason; Moe, Stein R.
    High rates of seed removal can impede forest recovery, but tropical seed removal studies are few and mainly from the neotropics. Little is known about the comparative influences of active restoration (i.e. planting) and passive restoration (i.e. protection of natural regrowth) on seed removal. We conducted an evaluation of seed removal in grasslands, natural forests (tropical moist semideciduous forest), and actively (21-, 17-, 16-, 11-, 8-, and 6-year-old) and passively (21-year-old) restored forests in Kibale National Park, Uganda. We wanted to compare the effect of vegetation type, time since restoration and restoration actions (i.e. active vs. passive) on removal of seeds of five animal-dispersed tree species during wet and dry seasons. Seeds were either fully exposed or placed in closed mesh cages or under a mesh roof. We used differential removal rates between these treatments to attribute seed removal to different animal taxa. Seed removal rate (percentage of seed removed over a 4-day period) was highest in passively restored forests, compared with actively restored forests, grasslands, and natural forests.We detected no significant relationship between time since restoration and seed removal rates within actively restored sites. Seed removal rate from roofed treatments was not significantly different from removal from open treatments but was significantly higher than removal from closed treatments, which we interpret as reflecting the greater effect of small mammals versus insects. Smaller seeds tended to be removed at a greater rate than larger seeds. We discuss the implications of these findings for forest regeneration.
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    Determinants Of Participation In State And Private PES Projects In Uganda
    (Scientific African, 2020) Aganyira, Kellen; Kabumbuli, Robert; Muwanika, Vincent B.; Tabuti, John R.S.; Sheil, Douglas
    Climate change mitigation can improve rural livelihoods through payment for environmental services (PES) approaches. However, participation in PES projects is voluntary, uncertain and some people's participation is more important than others. In this article, we use quantitative and qualitative methods to examine factors that determine local peoples’ participation in state (Rwoho and Kasagala) and private (‘Undisclosed’ and Hoima) forestry carbon projects in Uganda. We find that such determinants vary within and between projects. For example, older people with more land parcels were more likely to participate in private projects compared to their counterparts in state projects. In plantation forests, participation was motivated by access to forest products (timber and charcoal), while the desire to conserve water sources was important for participants adjacent to natural forests. While expected carbon payments were important in one state project, they were less significant in the others. Non-participation was linked to high entry costs, distrust for forest managers in state projects and non-ownership of natural forests. In all case studies, non-participation was mainly associated to limited project information. To gain broad participation, Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and forest Degradation (REDD+) and other PES mechanisms must critically identify and consider community specific needs, expectations and concerns in their design and implementation. This requires willingness to diagnose community concerns and allow adjustments.
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    Financing forest conservation in Uganda
    (2008) Van Heist, Miriam; Sheil, Douglas; Bitariho, Robert; Kasangaki, Aventino
    The Institute of Tropical Forest Conservation (ITFC) is a small but dynamic research station of Mbarara University of Science and Technology and is located on the edge of Bwindi Impenetrable National Park (BINP or Bwindi), a World Heritage site in southwest Uganda. The area has numerous endemic species and half the world’s mountain gorillas (Gorilla berengei berengei), which have attracted a valuable tourist trade. The wider region is poor and densely populated (about 600 people per km2); people mainly depend on subsistence agriculture. Forest cover stops abruptly at the park boundary — most forest outside the park has been lost.
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    Rodents As Potential Hosts And Reservoirs Of Parasites Along The Edge Of A Central African Forest: Bwindi Impenetrable National Park, South Western Uganda
    (African Health Sciences, 2020) Mawanda, Patrick; Rwego, Innocent; Kisakye, John J.; Sheil, Douglas
    Rodents which constitute 42% of the world’s mammalian population are major reservoirs of pathogens that cause zoonoses. Currently we know little about rodents’ potential zoonotic transfer from human settlements into protected areas and how any such threats might be reduced.To investigate the role of rodents as reservoirs of zoonotic pathogens along the boundary of Bwindi.A rodent inventory in three villages along the edge of Bwindi, was carried using live trapping techniques and the local rodents’ ecto and endoparasite fauna investigated.Two hundred eighty eight rodents captured belonged to 24 species, 17 genera and 4 families with Lophuromys aquilus being most abundant (30.2%). 240 ectoparasites which included mites, fleas and ticks were collected from 88 rodents out of 249. Proamys jacksoni rodents were most infested. Although the mites represented the largest proportion (84.6%), the highest species diversity was shown among the fleas (9 species). Some 36.9% of the rodents were infected with endopara- sites of which L. aquilus haboured most. Endoparasitic genera identified included Nippostrongylus, Ascaris, Strongyloides, Trichuris, Hymenolepis, Taenia and Cryptosporidium.Rodents have a zoonotic potentiality. There is need for developing effective integrated rodent management programs against rodent to reduce chances of parasite transmission within the protected areas.