Bats of Southern and Central Africa. Ara Monadjem
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Название: Bats of Southern and Central Africa
Автор: Ara Monadjem
Издательство: Ingram
Жанр: Биология
isbn: 9781776145843
isbn:
I have continued to receive support and encouragement from the Department of Biological Sciences at the University of Eswatini, where I would like to single out my long-term collaborator and friend, as well as head of department, Dr T. A. Mahlaba. A very big thank you to Dr Leigh Richards, curator of mammals at the Durban Natural Science Museum for assisting with new distribution records and photographing skulls of newly acquired specimens. Thanks also to my wife Dr Sara Padidar for her willingness to engage in this project. I would like to thank Tina Mössmer for her diligent attention to detail and for making my life as easy as possible during the editorial process.
Ara Monadjem is Full Professor in the Department of Biological Sciences at the University of Eswatini where he has been lecturing zoology for the past 27 years. His research has taken him across much of Africa. His academic interests are mostly centred around ecology and conservation, with special focus on small mammals and birds of prey. He has published widely, including five books and 165 scientific articles.
PETER TAYLOR
My contribution to this book was wholeheartedly supported by Guy Redman, Director of the Durban Natural Science Museum, as well as the management of the eThekwini Municipality’s Parks, Recreation and Culture Unit. I am indebted to them and all my museum colleagues for much moral and logistic support. In particular, Rawoof Ali (late), Anita Rautenbach and Kate Richardson assisted enormously with the preparation and curation of the bat collection in the Durban Natural Science Museum. Kate Richardson, Wendy White, Juan Wood, Fiona Mackenzie, Tammie van Zyl, Helen Bruigom, Carol and Graham Allan and other members of Bats KZN provided many spirited discussions about various aspects of bats and bat conservation. They also enthusiastically assisted with fieldwork and generally shared their knowledge, observations and experience, in particular concerning the behaviour and rehabilitation of captive bats. My wife, Frances, and children, Ashleigh, Robyn, Lauren and Ben, either stoically tolerated my frequent periods of absence or joined in the fun! I dedicate this book to my family and other animals (bats).
I acknowledge funding support from the University of Venda, the South African National Research Foundation and Department of Science and Technology through the SARChI Chair on Biodiversity Value and Change hosted at the University of Venda and co-hosted by the Centre for Invasion Biology of Stellenbosch University.
I thank all my bat students who have helped to advance our knowledge of southern African bats. Funding from the National Geographic Society for the Okavango Wilderness Project administered by the Wild Bird Trust contributed towards new knowledge of Angolan bats. The German Federal Government funded research on the diversity and ecosystem services of bats in agro-ecosystems in Limpopo Province, South Africa, through the SPACES (Science Partnerships for the Assessment of Complex Earth Systems) consortium. New knowledge from both projects is reported in this edition.
Peter Taylor is Full Professor in the School of Mathematical and Natural Sciences at the University of Venda, where he currently heads the NRF/DST South African Research Chair on Biodiversity Value and Change in the Vhembe Biosphere Reserve. He was Curator of Mammals at the Durban Natural Science Museum for 21 years (1989–2010). In 1994 he co-founded the Bat Interest Group of KwaZulu-Natal. His academic interests include taxonomy, conservation, ecosystem services and ecologically based pest management, with special focus on bats and rodents. He has published four scientific books, a children’s novel, over 40 popular science articles and 160 scientific articles.
FENTON (WOODY) COTTERILL
I dedicate this book to Frank Ansell (1923–1996) and Reay Smithers (1907–1987), who each supported my bat research in so many ways, both directly and indirectly. Without their pioneering commitment, there would be a lot less data to report. Moreover, the opportunity to curate the wealth of specimens (many collected by Frank) in the Bulawayo Museum (inaugurated by Reay) remains an immense privilege. I also single out the kind help and encouragement of the late Dr David L. Harrison, who aided and encouraged my efforts over two decades, years after his pioneering work on the bat collection in the then Museum of Rhodesia. In complementary ways, all three of these scientists laid the foundations of this world-class mammal collection. The late Karl Koopman (AMNH) and the late John Edwards Hill (BM) selflessly provided expert advice and information. My bat research began whilst I was still a high school pupil at Falcon College, where biology teacher E. J. ‘Ted’ Marais, and Richard Peek, then the Curator of Mammals in Bulawayo, encouraged an aspiring interest in bats. Dave Cumming, Colin Craig, Debbie Gibson, Liz Herzholdt and Jon Hutton provided continuing help and encouragement. At the University of Zimbabwe, the late John Loveridge, Peter Frost, Brian Marshall, the late Steve Telford and ‘Basher’ Attwell supported my undivided commitment to bat biology (despite costs exacted on other arenas of academia). I also benefited from the mentorship and expertise of Andy McWilliam during his tenure in Zimbabwe (1987–1990) assessing pesticide impacts on bats in tsetse control areas. National Parks personnel at the former Sengwa Wildlife Research Area (SWRA) helped tirelessly with bat research through 1989; I am especially indebted to the late Ian Coulson, Resident Ecologist, who taught me so much. The Coulson family in Esigodini, and the Douie, Searle and Teede families in Harare all provided key support. J. Bingham, R. N. Cunliffe, G. Eick, R. A. Fergusson, A. J. Gardiner, M. C. M. Griffiths, G. R. Griffiths, the late Ron Hartley, K. Mkwananzi, A. Ndlovu, D. Parry, the late E. M. B. Parry, the late N. Sango-Moyo, T. Volpers and S. Wilson helped with fieldwork. Members of Operation Raleigh, and the Exploration Societies of Falcon College and Girls College, Bulawayo, provided help and vital logistical support, which aided the collection of so many of the specimens mapped through these pages. For over three decades, John Stakesby Lewis assumed a leading role in organising museum expeditions almost annually and often into remote regions. These biodiversity surveys collected a wealth of data, in addition to Chiroptera. I thank the many landowners for considerable support for inventories, including the Bingham, Bruce-Miller, Fisher and Middleton families in Zambia, and the Bristows and Coulsons in Zimbabwe. Almin Metal Industries and Saltrama Plastics in Harare are thanked for their generous donations of materials, vital for the construction of a variety of bat-collecting devices. Colleagues in Bulawayo, notably the late Don Broadley, Moira FitzPatrick, Kit Hustler, John Minshull, and Rudo Sithole, provided encouragement for my science, especially during some bleaker periods. Without the deep commitment of A. Ndlovu, K. Mkwananzi, the late N. Sango-Moyo, the late F. M. Masiyandima and the late A. N. Sango, there would be very few specimens to study in NMZB. This research has benefited immensely from a Biodiversity Leadership Award from the Bay Foundation, as well as from the Josephine Bay Paul and C. Michael Paul Foundations, New York City. The award provided critical funding that allowed work to be done directly on the immense wealth of specimens preserved in the museums outside Africa, and to add many thousands of specimen records to the database. I am especially grateful to all the curators, collection managers and research associates in so many museums in Europe and North America for boundless hospitality, helpful assistance and permissions to examine specimens. I thank Margaret Sandwith (Percy FitzPatrick Institute, University of Cape Town), who cheerfully located some of the most obscure publications. Jacqueline Bishop, Moctar Doucouré, Andy Duncan, and Maarten de Wit provided encouragement СКАЧАТЬ