Find research datasets worth reusing

opencc-by-4.0Nov 2018View details →

Performance Indicator Data for Eight Research Universities in Africa 2001 to 2015

Student, staff and research performance indicator data for eight research universities in Africa from 2001 to 2015, collected by the Higher Education Research and Advocacy Network for Africa (HERANA), a project of the Centre for Higher Education Trust (CHET).

opencc-zeroNov 2020View details →

Spatial and temporal dynamics of space use by free-ranging domestic dogs Canis familiaris in rural Africa

Variation in the spatial ecology of animals influences the transmission of infections and so understanding host behaviour can improve the control of diseases. Despite the global distribution of free-ranging domestic dogs Canis familiaris and their role as reservoirs for zoonotic diseases, little is known about the dynamics of their space use. We deployed GPS loggers on free-ranging dogs from six villages in rural Chad, and tracked the movements of 174 individuals in the dry season and 151 in the wet season. We calculated 95% and core home ranges using auto-correlated kernel density estimates (AKDE95 and AKDEcore), determined the degree to which their movements were predictable, and identified correlates of movement patterns. The median AKDE95 range in the dry season was 0.54km2 and in the wet season was 0.31km2, while the median AKDEcore range in the dry season was 0.08km2 and in the wet season was 0.04km2. Seasonal variation was, in part, related to owner activities. Dogs from hunting households had ranges that were five times larger in the dry season. At least 70% of individuals were more predictably 'at home' (<50m from the household) throughout the day in the dry season. 80% of dogs demonstrated periodicity in activity levels (speed) and just over half the dogs exhibited periodicity in location (repeated space use). In the wet season, dogs mostly exhibited 24-hour cycles in activity and location, with peaks at midday. In the dry season, dogs exhibited both 12 and 24-hour cycles, with either a single peak at midday, or one peak between 6am and 12 noon and a second between 6 and 10pm. Strategies to control canine-mediated zoonoses can be improved by tailoring operations to the local spatial ecology of free-ranging dogs. Interventions using a door-to-door strategy in rural Chad would best conduct operations during the dry season, when access to dogs around their household more reliably exceeds 70% throughout the day. Given the importance of use in hunting for explaining variation in dog space-use, targeting approaches to disease control at the household level on the basis of owner activities offers potential to improve access to dogs.

opencc-by-4.0Sep 2020View details →

Kruia rediscovered: phylogenetic implications, larval morphology, and biology of an enigmatic hydrophilid beetle from western Africa (Coleoptera: Hydrophilidae)

This is the dataset for the paper to be published in Arthropod Systematics and Phylogeny, containing original unedited original photos and SEM micrographs, and the moleclar dataset used for the phylogenetic analyses.

opencc-by-4.0Dec 2018View details →

FIG. 5 in Feasting among Venda-speakers of South Africa: the Late Iron Age fauna from Mutokolwe

FIG. 5. — Bovid skeletal part representation (NISP).

opencc-by-4.0Dec 2018View details →

FIG. 4 in Feasting among Venda-speakers of South Africa: the Late Iron Age fauna from Mutokolwe

FIG. 4. — An example of a complete cattle metacarpal from Mutokolwe. Scalebar: 10 cm.

opencc-zeroDec 2020View details →

Data from: Implementation of Option B and a fixed-dose combination antiretroviral regimen for prevention of mother-to-child transmission of HIV in South Africa: a model of uptake and adherence to care

Introduction Initiating and retaining pregnant women on antiretroviral therapy (ART) to prevent mother-to-child HIV transmission (PMTCT) remains a major challenge facing African HIV programs, particularly during the critical final months prior to delivery. In 2013, South Africa implemented its "Option B" PMTCT regimen (three-drug ART throughout pregnancy and breastfeeding, regardless of maternal CD4 count) and introduced once-daily fixed-dose combinations and lifelong ART. Currently, the uptake of Option B and its possible impact on adherence to PMTCT during the critical final months of pregnancy is unclear. Materials and Methods We prospectively collected visit data from a cohort of adult, HIV-infected, pregnant women between July 2013-August 2014 to estimate three models of adherence to PMTCT during the final 16 weeks immediately preceding delivery. Adherence was defined according to possession of antiretroviral drugs, which was inferred from clinic visit records under varying assumptions in each model. We describe uptake of the PMTCT regimen, gestational age at initiation, and model possible scenarios of adherence through delivery after the implementation of Option B. Results Among 138 women enrolled (median (IQR) age 28 years (24-32), median CD4 count 378 cells/mm3), median (IQR) gestational age at initiation was 22 weeks (16-26). Estimates of adherence during the final 16 weeks of pregnancy prior to delivery ranged from 75% (52-89%) under the best case scenario assumptions to 52% (30-75%) under the worst case scenario assumptions. Estimates of the proportion of women who would achieve 80% adherence to PMTCT were <50% across all models. Conclusions Despite the switch to Option B and once-daily dosing, South African women continue to initiate PMTCT late in pregnancy, and estimations of regimen adherence, as modelled using PMTCT visit attendance data, is poor, with <50% of women reaching 80% adherence during final months of pregnancy across all models. Further guideline changes and interventions are needed to achieve vertical transmission goals. Trial Registration This study was nested within the original RapIT randomized controlled trial which was registered on ClinicalTrials.gov (Registration number) NCT01710397 on September 7, 2012 and the South African National Clinical Trials Register DOH-27-0213-4177. The first participant in the RapIT study was enrolled on May 8th, 2013.

opencc-by-4.0Dec 2020View details →

Database of Last Interglacial sea levels in Angola, Namibia and South Africa

Database of sea-level information from southern Africa (Angola to South Africa) from the Last Interglacial

Figure 7 in Agistemus collyerae (Acari: Trombidiformes: Stigmaeidae) in South Africa: first record, introduction pathways and a re-description including additional life stages

Figure 7 Male Agistemus collyerae: A – leg I; B – leg II.

Figure 2 in Agistemus collyerae (Acari: Trombidiformes: Stigmaeidae) in South Africa: first record, introduction pathways and a re-description including additional life stages

Figure 2 Female Agistemus collyerae: A – dorsum; B – dorsal setae.

Figure 1 in Agistemus collyerae (Acari: Trombidiformes: Stigmaeidae) in South Africa: first record, introduction pathways and a re-description including additional life stages

Figure 1 Female Agistemus collyerae: Dorsal view (photo).

Figure 8 in Agistemus collyerae (Acari: Trombidiformes: Stigmaeidae) in South Africa: first record, introduction pathways and a re-description including additional life stages

Figure 8 Male Agistemus collyerae: A – leg III; B – leg IV.

Figure 4 in Agistemus collyerae (Acari: Trombidiformes: Stigmaeidae) in South Africa: first record, introduction pathways and a re-description including additional life stages

Figure 4 Female Agistemus collyerae: A – leg I; B – leg II.

Figure 6 in Agistemus collyerae (Acari: Trombidiformes: Stigmaeidae) in South Africa: first record, introduction pathways and a re-description including additional life stages

Figure 6 Male Agistemus collyerae: A – dorsum; B – venter; C – gnathosoma.

Figure 3 in Agistemus collyerae (Acari: Trombidiformes: Stigmaeidae) in South Africa: first record, introduction pathways and a re-description including additional life stages

Figure 3 Female Agistemus collyerae: A – venter; B – palp; C – subcapitulum.

opencc-by-4.0Mar 2021View details →

Appendix 4 to "The Status of Biological Invasions and their Management in South Africa in 2019"—Species list change tracker

For more details see: http://iasreport.sanbi.org.za SANBI and CIB 2020. Appendix 4 to "The Status of Biological Invasions and their Management in South Africa in 2019"—Species list change tracker. South African National Biodiversity Institute, Kirstenbosch and DSI-NRF Centre of Excellence for Invasion Biology, Stellenbosch. http://dx.doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.3947778

opencc-by-4.0Mar 2021View details →

Appendix 5 to "The Status of Biological Invasions and their Management in South Africa in 2019"—Pathways change tracker

For more details see: http://iasreport.sanbi.org.za SANBI and CIB 2020. Appendix 5 to "The Status of Biological Invasions and their Management in South Africa in 2019"—Pathways change tracker. South African National Biodiversity Institute, Kirstenbosch and DSI-NRF Centre of Excellence for Invasion Biology, Stellenbosch. http://dx.doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.3947799

opencc-zeroDec 2017View details →

Data from: Organic matter and nutrient inputs from large wildlife influence ecosystem function in the Mara River, Africa

Animals can be important vectors for the movement of resources across ecosystem boundaries. Animals add resources to ecosystems primarily through egestion, excretion and carcasses, and the stoichiometry and bioavailability of these inputs likely interacts with characteristics of the recipient ecosystem to determine their effects on ecosystem function. We studied the influence of hippopotamus excretion/egestion and wildebeest carcasses, and their interactions with discharge, in the Mara River, Kenya. We measured nutrient dissolution and decomposition rates of wildlife inputs, the influence of inputs on nutrient concentrations and nutrient limitation in the river and the influence of inputs on biofilm growth and function in both experimental streams and along a gradient of inputs in the river. We found that hippopotamus excretion/egestion increase ammonium and coarse particulate organic matter in the river, and wildebeest carcasses increase ammonium, soluble reactive phosphorus, and total phosphorus. Concentrations of dissolved carbon and nutrients in the water column increased along a gradient of wildlife inputs and during low discharge, although concentrations of particulate carbon decreased during low discharge due to deposition on the river bottom. Autotrophs were nitrogen-limited, and heterotrophs were carbon-limited and nitrogen- and phosphorus- co-limited, upstream of animal inputs, but there was no nutrient limitation downstream of inputs. In experimental streams, hippo and wildebeest inputs together increased biofilm GPP and R. These results differed in the river, where low concentrations of hippo inputs increased gross primary production (GPP) and respiration (R) of biofilms, but high concentrations of hippo inputs in conjunction with wildebeest inputs decreased GPP. Our research shows that inputs from large wildlife alleviate nutrient limitation and stimulate ecosystem metabolism in the Mara River, and that the extent to which these inputs subsidize the ecosystem is mediated by the quantity and quality of inputs and discharge of the river ecosystem. Thus, animal inputs provide an important ecological subsidy to this river, and animal inputs were likely important in many other rivers prior to the widespread extirpation of large wildlife.

opencc-zeroJun 2019View details →

Data from: Population genomics and demographic sampling of the ant-plant Vachellia drepanolobium and its symbiotic ants from sites across its range in East Africa.

The association between the African ant plant, Vachellia drepanolobium, and the ants that inhabit it has provided insight into the boundaries between mutualism and parasitism, the response of symbioses to environmental perturbations, and the ecology of species coexistence. We use a landscape genomics approach at sites sampled throughout the range of this system in Kenya to investigate the demographics and genetic structure of the different partners in the association. We find that different species of ant associates of V. drepanolobium show striking differences in their spatial distribution throughout Kenya, and these differences are only partly correlated with abiotic factors. A comparison of the population structure of the host plant and its three obligately arboreal ant symbionts, Crematogaster mimosae, Crematogaster nigriceps, and Tetraponera penzigi, shows that the ants exhibit somewhat similar patterns of structure throughout each of their respective ranges, but that this does not correlate in any clear way with the respective genetic structure of the populations of their host plants. A lack of evidence for local coadaptation in this system suggests that all partners have evolved to cope with a wide variety of biotic and abiotic conditions.

opencc-zeroDec 2016View details →

Data from: The distribution and numbers of cheetah (Acinonyx jubatus) in southern Africa

Assessing the numbers and distribution of threatened species is a central challenge in conservation, often made difficult because the species of concern are rare and elusive. For some predators, this may be compounded by their being sparsely distributed over large areas. Such is the case with the cheetah Acinonyx jubatus. The IUCN Red List process solicits comments, is democratic, transparent, widely-used, and has recently assessed the species. Here, we present additional methods to that process and provide quantitative approaches that may afford greater detail and a benchmark against which to compare future assessments. The cheetah poses challenges, but also affords unique opportunities. It is photogenic, allowing the compilation of thousands of crowd-sourced data. It is also persecuted for killing livestock, enabling estimation of local population densities from the numbers persecuted. Documented instances of persecution in areas with known human and livestock density mean that these data can provide an estimate of where the species may or may not occur in areas without observational data. Compilations of extensive telemetry data coupled with nearly 20,000 additional observations from 39 sources show that free-ranging cheetahs were present across approximately 789,700 km2 of Namibia, Botswana, South Africa, and Zimbabwe (56%, 22%, 12% and 10% respectively) from 2010 to 2016, with an estimated adult population of 3,577 animals. We identified a further 742,800 km2 of potential cheetah habitat within the study region with low human and livestock densities, where another ∼3,250 cheetahs may occur. Unlike many previous estimates, we make the data available and provide explicit information on exactly where cheetahs occur, or are unlikely to occur. We stress the value of gathering data from public sources though these data were mostly from well-visited protected areas. There is a contiguous, transboundary population of cheetah in southern Africa, known to be the largest in the world. We suggest that this population is more threatened than believed due to the concentration of about 55% of free-ranging individuals in two ecoregions. This area overlaps with commercial farmland with high persecution risk; adult cheetahs were removed at the rate of 0.3 individuals per 100 km2 per year. Our population estimate for confirmed cheetah presence areas is 11% lower than the IUCN's current assessment for the same region, lending additional support to the recent call for the up-listing of this species from vulnerable to endangered status.