The effects of agricultural fields and human settlements on the use of rivers by wildlife in the mid-Zambezi valley,Zimbabwe

After the eradication of the Tse-Tse fly in the Mid-Zambezi valley, human settlements and fields extended mainly along the main rivers. In order to investigate the consequences of this human development on wildlife diversity we monitored three rivers of the Mid-Zambezi valley in Zimbabwe: Angwa, Manyame and Kadzi. The rivers were divided in segments of 200 m which were checked for spoors in order to assess the number of species and the number of individuals that used the segments. Human settlements were also recorded. We used a GIS to define the spatial characteristics of the fields present along the rivers, and related them to the distribution and abundance of wild species spoors in the river beds and banks. Our results show that the number of species in one segment of the river decreased with the increasing size of the field area bordering the segment. For all the major ungulate species, the numbers of individuals recorded per segment decreased with increasing field area. A similar trend was observed for small and medium-sized carnivores, though they were in lower numbers when present. Our analyses thus confirm that the extension of human agriculture in wildlife areas has an impact on most wild species, but we also define some threshold value of field size above which there seem to be an acceleration of the decrease in wildlife density and diversity: 3.2 ha for medium and small herbivores and carnivores; only the elephant seem to tolerate larger field area with a threshold value of 32 ha.This revised version was published online in May 2005 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Irrigation timeliness indicators and application in smallholder irrigation systems in Zimbabwe

Timing of supply of irrigation water is an important measure of water management performance. Yet despite this widely accepted importance of timeliness, few studies have attempted to quantify this performance indicator. This paper suggests a methodology for quantifying timeliness. The indices thus generated are used to compare the performance of some types of smallholder irrigation schemes in Zimbabwe. Results indicate that applying measures of timeliness helps to assess water management practices across scheme types.The methodology given in this paper differentiates between timely irrigation deliveries which meet Crop Water Requirements (CWR) and surplus water supplies due to poor timeliness which cannot be used by the crop, hence denoting wastage. The timeliness indices provide more information regarding management practices than simple measures of total water applications over a given season.     

Traditional agroforestry practices in Zimbabwe

Traditional agroforestry systems in the communal areas of Zimbabwe are described. There are systems centered on main fields, on home gardens, on homesites and on grazing areas. In the main fields, the major tree-related management practice is the conservation of preferred indigenous fruit trees. Fruit trees are also the focus of forestry activities around the gardens and the homesite; but here it is the planting of exotic species. In a localized area of Zimbabwe Acacia albida is important in fields. There is almost no use of tree fallows in Zimbabwe. Trees in grazing areas have numerous roles, but at present there is little knowledge about traditional management practices in these areas. In the development of agroforestry systems in Zimbabwe it is suggested that those systems designed to improve fodder production will make a significant contribution to farm productivity because of the importance of cattle in the farming system and the present fodder shortage. Interventions involving the planting of fruit trees are likely to be very successful, as there is much interest in such planting. Another area that needs to be developed is that of tree plantings to improve soil fertility.     

The potential of replacing conventional dairy supplements with forage legume-based diets in Zimbabwe’s smallholder dairy sector

The effect of replacing commercial supplements with isoenergetic and isonitrogenous velvet bean-, cowpeaand lablab-based supplements on milk yield, milk quality and economic returns in smallholder crossbred dairy cows was investigated in the 2013 and 2014 dry seasons. Using 3 × 3 Latin square designs, nine multiparous Red Dane, Guernsey and Holstein-Friesian crosses in mid-lactation (130 ± 19 d) were offered forage legume-based supplements for 63 d at 0.5 kg per litre of milk produced. Milk quantity and quality were significantly (P < 0.05) different among supplements in both seasons. Cows fed commercial supplements had higher milk yield than cows fed forage legume supplements. Milk fat content was significantly (p < 0.05) higher in cows fed lablab-based supplements than cows fed other supplements. Milk protein, total solids and lactose content of cows fed commercial supplements was significantly (p < 0.05) higher than those fed forage legume-based supplements, although protein content was similar to cows fed lablab-based supplements. Dietary gross margins were higher for cows fed velvet beanand lablab-based supplements by 17% and 16.5%, respectively. Based on supplement, production costs per litre of milk was higher by 28% and 23% using commercial supplements compared to velvet bean and lablab supplements, respectively.     

云南与津巴布韦烤烟致香物质含量差异研究

【研究目的】为明确云南与津巴布韦烤烟在致香物质方面的差距,指导云南部分替代进口烤烟的研究和生产,提高烟叶质量,特进行此项试验。【方法】采用比色法测定了烟叶多酚总量,索式提取法测定石油醚提取物,硫酸甲酯、三氯甲烷萃取法测定多元酸和高级脂肪酸,水蒸汽-二氯甲烷同时蒸馏萃取、GC/MS-内标定量检测挥发性香气物质;并分类分析比较了云南与津巴布韦烤烟的多酚总量、石油醚提取物、多元酸、高级脂肪酸及挥发性香气物质等烟草致香物质含量的差异。【结果】结果表明云南烤烟各部位烟叶的石油醚提取物、芳香氨基酸降解的香气物质超过津巴布韦烤烟,多酚、高级脂肪酸则低于津巴布韦烤烟;上部烟叶的西柏烷类香气物质高于津巴布韦烤烟,多元酸、类胡萝卜素降解的香气物质、梅拉德反应的香气物质则低于津巴布韦烤烟;中部和下部烟叶的多元酸、类胡萝卜素降解的香气物质、梅拉德反应的香气物质高于津巴布韦烤烟,而西柏烷类香气物质则低于津巴布韦烤烟。云南与津巴布韦烤烟在致香物质方面的差距,主要表现在上部烟叶的柠檬酸、油酸、巨豆三烯酮、金合欢基丙酮、β-二氢大马酮、二氢猕猴桃内酯、糠醇、糠醛等致香物质含量低于津巴布韦烟叶。【结论】云南与津巴布韦烤烟的致香物质差异比较明显,上部烟叶致香物质含量明显不如津巴布韦。     

Sustainability and peasant farming systems: Observations from Zimbabwe

Many authors suggest the need to define ‘sustainable development’in operational terms. This paper looks at the problems ofattempting to ask whether peasant farming systems are sustainable.Any attempt at sustainability assessment needs to consider issuesrelated to the selected indicators or performance criteria, spatialscale or boundaries, and temporal scale. While there is certainlya need for more rigorous analysis of sustainability issues, thereis limited outlook for an approach based on indicators. Even if themany purely technical problems associated with specific indicatorscan be surmounted, will accurate bio-physical data advance ourknowledge about sustainability? Peasant systems arepolitically-guided management systems, whose boundaries are the state,not the field or the farm. Given the dynamic nature of peasant farmingsystems, where do we draw the line in assessing sustainability?Attempts at sustainability assessment 100 years ago or even 20–30years ago would have been completely superseded by events. We drawattention to the system as a whole, to a web of interconnections,causes and effects – of varying significance over both time andspace.     

Delineating the drivers of waning wildlife habitat: The predominance of cotton farming on the fringe of protected areas in the Mid-Zambezi Valley, Zimbabwe

Zimbabwe’s Mid-Zambezi Valley is of global importance for the emblematic mega-fauna of Africa. Over the past 30 years rapid land use change in this area has substantially reduced wildlife habitat. Tsetse control operations are often blamed for this. In this study, we quantify this change for the Dande Communal Area, Mbire District, of the Mid-Zambezi Valley and analyse the contribution of three major potential drivers: (1) increase in human population; (2) increase in cattle population (and the expansion of associated plough-based agriculture), and; (3) expansion of cotton farming. Although direct effects of land use change on wildlife densities could not be proven, our study suggests that the consequences for elephant and buffalo numbers are negative. All three of the above drivers have contributed to the observed land use change. However, we found farmland to have expanded faster than the human population, and to have followed a similar rate of expansion in cattle sparse, tsetse infested areas as in tsetse free areas where cattle-drawn plough agriculture dominates. This implies the existence of a paramount driver, which we demonstrate to be cotton farming. Contrary to common belief, we argue that tsetse control was not the major trigger behind the dramatic land use change observed, but merely alleviated a constraint to cattle accumulation. We argue that without the presence of a cash crop (cotton), land use change would have been neither as extensive nor as rapid as has been observed. Therefore, conservation agencies should be as concerned by the way people farm as they are by population increase. Conserving biodiversity without jeopardising agricultural production will require the development of innovative technological and institutional options in association with policy and market interventions.     

Elephant-induced structural changes in the vegetation and habitat selection by large herbivores in an African savanna

African elephants can affect the quality of the habitat of other species by breaking or uprooting trees and shrubs in savannas. Their effect on vegetation has been widely studied but less is known about the effects of such vegetation changes on other animals. We studied how changes in the vegetation caused by elephants influence the selection of microhabitats by five African herbivore species (giraffe, kudu, steenbok, impala, and zebra) in Hwange National Park, Zimbabwe. There was no clear significant effect of overall elephant-induced vegetation changes on microhabitat selection except for the small species (steenbok and impala) that used vegetation modified by elephants preferentially. This is consistent with a medium-term browsing facilitation hypothesis. More subtle possible effects were detected for larger browsers (giraffe and kudu). They selected areas with broken and uprooted plants and avoided coppiced areas. All of the browsers selected sites characterized by plants uprooted and broken by elephants, which were associated with a higher visibility, and ultimately a better probability of detecting an approaching predator, suggesting that perceived predation risk plays an important role in microhabitat selection. These results illustrate how elephants can initiate indirect effects that influence microhabitat selection by other herbivores. Understanding the indirect effects of elephants through changes in food availability and predation risk thus needs further investigation. The results of this study do not provide support for the hypothesis that elephant-induced changes in the structure of habitats have caused the declines in the populations of the other herbivores in the study area.     

不同烘烤工艺对津巴布韦烟叶产质量的影响

为了摸清津巴布韦烟叶烘烤特性和产质量,特进行津巴布韦烟叶烘烤工艺、中国三段式烘烤工艺和云南新烟区烟叶特色品质烘烤工艺试验研究.结果表明:云南新烟区烟叶特色品质烘烤工艺成本较低,为1.09美元/kg,烤后烟叶外观质量较好,即叶片组织结构疏松、成熟、有油分、色度强,评吸表现出香气量足、香气质细腻、焦甜香、透发性好、余味干净、劲头适中、刺激性较小,烟叶化学成分协调,是卷烟企业首选的优质烟叶.     

The impact of fish and drought on frog breeding in temporary waters in Zimbabwe

The breeding of frogs in four ponds near Harare, Zimbabwe, was investigated during a wet rainy season (2000/01) and a dry one (2001/02). During 2000/01 eight and nine species bred in two ponds in abandoned gravel pits that never contained fish, but only four species bred in these in 2001/02 and the relative abundance was reduced by about 50%. Pond 3 was a small dam that filled after the rains and was invaded by fish once it overflowed. Five species bred in it in 2000/01, but breeding activity was curtailed once it was invaded by catfish, Clarias gariepinus, some of which were found with frog remains in their stomachs. The pond did not overflow in the following season, and was therefore not invaded by fish; although only four species bred in it their relative abundance was considerably higher. Pond 4 was a permanent pond that always contained fish. Only three species bred in it and the relative abundance of tadpoles was always low. Species belonging to the Ranidae seemed to be most severely affected by drought and this may explain the absence of some species, such as the African bullfrog, Pyxicephalus adspersus, that was once abundant around Harare.