Wildlife Science
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Browsing Wildlife Science by Subject "Ecology"
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Item Aspects of Evolution in the Parrot Genus Agapornis(1948) Moreau, R.E.; East African Agricultural Research Institute AmaniAgapornis, an African genus of parrots allied to Loriculus of Asia, has usually been classified in nine species. Their geographical, attitudinal and ecological ranges are described and their temperature relations are worked out. There is a general agreement with Bergmann's rule. Only two of the Agapornids appear to be in any respect ecologically specialized: to A. swinderniana, the only one confined to tropical evergreen forest, the seeds of figs may be an essential food; and A. pullaria is more or less completely dependent on the nests of arboreal insects for nesting-sites. The other seven Agapornids are birds of dry country with a wide range of food and are indiscriminate hole-nesters. All nine birds are practically allopatric. The four closely allied birds in East Africa, which produce fertile hybrids very freely in captvity, seem nowhere actually to meet in nature. Certain vegetation types, especially Brachysregia-Isoberlinia woodland, appear to be an effective barrier, for reasons not clear.Item The Comparative Breeding Ecology of Two Species of Euplectes (Bishop Birds) in Usambara(1938) Moreau, R.E.; Moreau, W.M.; East African Agricultural Research Station, AmaniEUPLECTES NIGROVENTRIS CASSIN, the Zanzibar red bishop, and Eh hordeacea (Linn.), the crimson-crowned bishop, are weavers of the subfamily Ploceinae. On the biology of the former species nothing appears to have been recorded hitherto except the notes reproduced by Reichenow (1904) and those of Vaughan (1929), who (rightly) suspected it to be polygamous. For Euplectes hordeacea we take the work of Lack (1935) as basis and amplify only certain points. Our study is more incomplete than we should have wished because we could not make continuous observations and because of an unexpected technical difficulty. The males of both these bishop birds have a highly conspicuous red breeding dress and are at other times practically indistinguishable in the field from females and young. Both are territory-holding species dependent on grasses for their food and their nesting materials. The architecture of their nests, which are similar except in size, demands close upright vegetation. The rather restricted geographical range of E. nigroventris is wholly contained in that of E. hordeacea. The two species may often be found side by side, but in our experience there is little ecological overlap; the smaller E. nigroventrisItem Ecology and Zoogeography of Aquatic Hemiptera from l'emporary Pools in Central Africa(1965) Weir, J.S.; University College of Rhodesia NyasalandLittle information is available on the biology or ecology of African aquatic Hemiptera though these are abundant in many habitats. Some ecological information is given by HYNES (1955) (in East Africa) and HUTCHINSON (1929) (mainly in South Africa).
