Griffin Shanungu

International Crane Foundation | ICF · Zambia Cranes and Wetlands Conservation Programme

Animal tolerance towards humans can be a key factor facilitating wildlife–human coexistence, yet traits predicting its direction and magnitude across tropical animals are poorly known. Using 10,249 observations for 842 bird species inhabiting open tropical ecosystems in Africa, South America, and Australia, we find that avian tolerance towards huma...

Mycobacterium bovis (M. bovis) causes tuberculosis in mammals and is a major public health threat worldwide. While M. bovis has been reported in humans, domestic and wild ruminants at the human‐wildlife‐livestock interface area in Zambia, there is paucity of information on the role of primates as reservoir hosts. We screened seven wild chacma baboo...

The semiaquatic weed Mimosa pigra has negative impacts on biodiversity, fishing, crop and livestock production, and tourism in most places where it has been introduced, established and proliferated. Many of the ecological impacts are well known, but its impacts on rural livelihoods are less well documented, especially in Africa. We mapped the distr...

During the past century, the biomass of woody species has increased in many grassland and savanna ecosystems. As many of these species fix nitrogen symbiotically, they may alter not only soil nitrogen (N) conditions but also those of phosphorus (P). We studied the N-fixing shrub Dichrostachys cinerea in a mesic savanna in Zambia, quantifying its ef...

This study aimed at assessing impacts of Dichrostachys cinerea and Mimosa pigra encroachment on soil nitrogen, phosphorous and carbon pools as well as plant species diversity, vegetation composition and food supply for herbivores in Lochinvar National park of Southern Zambia. The study hypothesized that shrub encroachment a) increases soil nitrogen...

Woody encroachment has become a widespread phenomenon in grassland ecosystems throughout the world. Encroachment is often a gradual process, making it important to consider the extent of woody cover when assessing its influence on the under-story vegetation. We used remote sensing to map patterns of encroachment by Dichrostachys cinerea and Mimosa...

Wattled Cranes depend on the open, seasonally flooded plains of the Kafue Flats. Photo by Griffin Shanungu T he Kafue Flats of Zambia are a rich mosaic of lush grasslands, deep blue lagoons, and palm savannas sustained by seasonal floodwaters of the Kafue River. The flats are home to the Kafue lechwe, a semi-aquatic antelope found nowhere else on e...

Mimosa pigra L. is a tropical/sub-tropical spiny shrub that is becoming invasive in several parts of Asia, Australia and Africa. It is spreading on several floodplains where it can form thick, impenetrable, one-species stands that exclude other plants and most animals - both terrestrial and aquatic. M. pigra has invaded the floodplain of the Kafue...