Patrick K. Malonza’s research while affiliated with National Museums of Kenya and other places

... citizen science; Hughes et al. 2023). Summer mating activity in Karoo dwarf tortoises, in the presence of water, food, and protective plant cover, might help offset some of the energy costs and predation risks associated with mating behaviour (Mueti Ngwava et al. 2024). ...

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Bimodal nesting season in Karoo dwarf tortoises (Chersobius boulengeri)

... This can be linked to riparian habitats since the lower stream has less vegetation cover while upstream is largely covered by forest. Ndiritu et al. (2021) observed changes in afforestation cause variations in stream salinity and turbidity in the upper Tana watershed, Kenya. Salinity and turbidity have also caused by runoff and groundwater discharge (Cormier et al. 2018). ...

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Influence of physico-chemical parameters on benthic macroinvertebrate community dynamics in Isiukhu River, Kenya

... However, published studies on caecilians reported remarkable biological observations, for instance concerning their physiology and reproduction (e.g., Nussbaum & Wilkinson 1995, Kupfer et al. 2006, Gower et al. 2008, Wilkinson et al. 2013, Jared et al. 2018, Mailho-Fontana et al. 2024; summaries e.g. by Himstedt 1996, Jared et al. 1999, Exbrayat 2006, Gomes et al. 2012, but due to the predominately tropical distribution and fossorial life-style, still little is known concerning ecology and biology of most species (Wilkinson 2012). As recent species descriptions illustrate (Lalremsanga et al. 2021, Wilkinson et al. 2021, Malonza & Wasonga 2024; and see below), we are also still far from understanding the diversity of this cryptic group of subterranean vertebrates. As currently conceived, the Neotropical family Caeciliidae Rafinesque, 1814 comprises two genera (Wilkinson et al. 2011) with nine species of Oscaecilia Taylor, 1968, and 40 species of Caecilia Linnaeus, 1758 and is the second most species-rich of the ten currently recognized caecilian families (Wilkinson et al. 2011, Frost 2024. ...

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Two new species of Caecilia (Gymnophiona: Caeciliidae) from the Ecuadorian humid Chocó

... The gekkonid genus Cnemaspis Strauch, includes two non-sister Asian clades with close to 200 known species with a disjunct distribution, following the revalidation of the genus Ancylodactylus Müller for African species (Grismer et al. 2014;Malonza & Bauer 2022;Uetz et al. 2023). The clade which includes all South Asian species as well as a few southeast Asian species, referred to as South Asian Cnemaspis, is one of the most diverse squamate clades in peninsular India including over 75 named species in 10 broad clades (Agarwal et al. , 2021bPal et al. 2021;Khandekar et al. 2022a,b;Agarwal et al. 2022;Uetz et al. 2023). ...

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An expanded description of Cnemaspis gracilis (Beddome 1870) (Squamata: Gekkonidae) based on recent material

... The vulnerability of groundwater sources to contamination is because most water sources in Kenya are unimproved and unprotected, therefore exposed to surface runoff [29][30][31]63]. Degraded landscapes are major sources of sediments that are easily eroded and transported by surface and subsurface water flows to lowland areas where wetlands and shallow groundwater resources are generally located [47,72]. Also, degraded soils allow constituents of organic and inorganic fertilisers to percolate and reach groundwater sources [18,20]. ...

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Impact of land use on shallow groundwater quality for domestic use in Mathira East Sub-County in Kenya

... Holland et al. (1991),Hansen and di Castri (1992);Kleeberg et al. (2010Kleeberg et al. ( ), (1997,Preiner et al. (2020) Are potentially sensitive sites for interactions between biological populations and their controlling variables ansen and di Castri (1992),Naiman and Decamps (1997),Alahuhta et al. (2021) Possess a diverse array of species and ecological processes, and maintain critical habitat for rare and threatened speciesNaiman and Decamps (1997),Ferreira et al. (2023),Nasirwa et al. (2021) Are corridors for animal migrationHansen and di Castri (1992),Naiman et al. (1993),Machtans et al. (1996),Wohl et al. (2021) ...

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Macrophytes of African streams and river systems

... Our failures to detect the bufonid species in recent surveys are worrying. However, surveys have been infrequent and short (average survey time of approximately two weeks), and it is therefore difficult to quantify trends in population sizes and the health of species (e.g., Ngwava et al. 2021). ...

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Thirty years of amphibian surveys in the Ukagurus Mountains of Tanzania reveal new species, yet others are in decline

... North eastern Uganda located in the western range of the Somali-Masai Regional Centre of Endemism [14,54] has not been adequately surveyed due to a prolonged history of insecurity caused mainly by cattle rustlers [20]. As such, the available floristic information in most sites comprises of plant lists for trees and shrubs which were recorded by the Forest Department in 1990's as indicator taxa for selected large CFRs [12]. ...

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Comparative analysis of floristic richness and diversity in six central forest reserves of north eastern Uganda

... Although our knowledge of the entire African herpetofauna has increased rapidly over the past years (Lewin et al. 2016;Tolley et al. 2016), recent studies that focus specifically on the Somaliland reptiles show that many groups remain largely understudied (Lanza and Nistri 2005;Wagner et al. 2013a,b;Petzold et al. 2014;Šmíd et al. 2015, 2020, 2023aMazuch et al. 2016Mazuch et al. , 2018Bates and Broadley 2018;Burriel-Carranza et al. 2023). In addition, the entire territory of the HoA ranks among the least sampled regions of the world from a genetic perspective (Šmíd 2022). ...

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Two new species of Hemidactylus Goldfuss 1820 Squamata Gekkonidae from the coastal areas of northern Somaliland

... Legal cases on land ownership (Wagura 2018); Monodominance by planted non-native tree species (Pellikka et al. 2009); Ongoing illegal deforestation and selective logging (Teucher et al. 2020); Increasing demand for firewood (Loader et al. 2009); Increasing frequency of drought (Boitt et al. 2015); Chronic forest fires (Himberg et al. 2009); Poor enforcement of riparian protection rules ); Breakdown of food web structures (Ulrich et al. 2016); ...

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Lack of benefit sharing undermines support for nature conservation in an Eastern Afromontane biodiversity hotspot