A list of coleoptera recorded in Mixed Forest habitat in Arabuko-Sokoke Forest, Kenya

Latest version published by A Rocha Kenya on Apr 1, 2019 A Rocha Kenya

Arabuko-Sokoke Forest, located just south of Gede in Kilifi County, Kenya, has been studied by biologists for over 100 years yet there is still much that is unknown regarding the biodiversity of this globally important forest. This list represents 39 coleopteran species recorded within the boundaries of the Mixed Forest habitat near the Gede Forest Station both inside and outside of the electric elephant fence. Specimens were collected in April and May, 2009 using pitfall and malaise traps. They were identified to the most specific taxon rank possible at the National Museums of Kenya. Of particular note are Crepidogaster hubenthali (Carabidae) and Cryptochile elegans (Tenebrionidae) which are considered endemic to the Kenyan coastal forests.

Data Records

The data in this sampling event resource has been published as a Darwin Core Archive (DwC-A), which is a standardized format for sharing biodiversity data as a set of one or more data tables. The core data table contains 50 records. 1 extension data tables also exist. An extension record supplies extra information about a core record. The number of records in each extension data table is illustrated below.

  • Event (core)
    50
  • Occurrence 
    92

This IPT archives the data and thus serves as the data repository. The data and resource metadata are available for download in the downloads section. The versions table lists other versions of the resource that have been made publicly available and allows tracking changes made to the resource over time.

Downloads

Download the latest version of this resource data as a Darwin Core Archive (DwC-A) or the resource metadata as EML or RTF:

Data as a DwC-A file download 50 records in English (9 KB) - Update frequency: unknown
Metadata as an EML file download in English (18 KB)
Metadata as an RTF file download in English (14 KB)

Versions

The table below shows only published versions of the resource that are publicly accessible.

How to cite

Researchers should cite this work as follows:

Banks J, Njoroge L, Jackson C, Reyes-Gallegos E, Ochieng J (2019): A list of coleoptera recorded in Mixed Forest habitat in Arabuko-Sokoke Forest, Kenya. v1.6. A Rocha Kenya. Dataset/Samplingevent. http://ipt.museums.or.ke/ipt/resource?r=coleop&v=1.6

Rights

Researchers should respect the following rights statement:

The publisher and rights holder of this work is A Rocha Kenya. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial (CC-BY-NC) 4.0 License.

GBIF Registration

This resource has been registered with GBIF, and assigned the following GBIF UUID: 267cc444-4df8-4d9e-8a6b-6b13e3600a84.  A Rocha Kenya publishes this resource, and is itself registered in GBIF as a data publisher endorsed by Participant Node Managers Committee.

Keywords

beetles; Coleoptera; pitfall; malaise; Arabuko-Sokoke; coastal forest; Kenya; Arocha; Mixed forest; Habitat

Contacts

Who created the resource:

John Banks
Director
Undergraduate Research Opportunities Center (UROC) 100 Campus Center Seaside, CA 93955 US
https://csumb.edu/uroc
Laban Njoroge
Head of Entomology
National Museums of Kenya P.O Box 40658 00100 Nairobi KE
http://www.museums.or.ke
Colin Jackson
National Director
A Rocha Kenya P.O Box 383 80202 Watamu KE
http://www.arocha.or.ke
Elizabeth Reyes-Gallegos
Undergraduate Researcher
California State University, Monterey Bay US
Judith Ochieng
Data Clerk
A Rocha Kenya P.O Box 383 80202 Watamu KE

Who can answer questions about the resource:

John Banks
Director
Undergraduate Research Opportunities Center (UROC) 100 Campus Center Seaside, CA 93955 US
https://csumb.edu/uroc
Laban Njoroge
Head of Entomology
National Museums of Kenya P.O Box 40658 Nairobi 00100 KE
http://www.museums.or.ke

Who filled in the metadata:

John Banks
Director
Undergraduate Research Opportunities Center (UROC) 100 Campus Center Seaside, CA 93955 US
https://csumb.edu/uroc
Laban Njoroge
Head of Entomology
National Museums of Kenya P.O Box 40658 00100 Nairobi KE
http://www.museums.or.ke
Colin Jackson
National Director
A Rocha Kenya P.O Box 383 80202 Watamu KE
http://www.arocha.or.ke

Who else was associated with the resource:

Publisher
Lawrence Monda
ICT Manager
National Museums of Kenya P.O Box 40658 00100 Nairobi KE
http://www.museums.or.ke

Geographic Coverage

Coleoptera beetles recorded within the mixed forest habitat of the Arabuko-Sokoke Forest. Latitude of 3°18'10"S, Longitude 39°58'31"E

Bounding Coordinates South West [-3.352, 39.912], North East [-3.26, 40.005]

Taxonomic Coverage

Class Insecta, Order Coleoptera

Genus  Aleochara Gravenhorst, 1802

Temporal Coverage

Formation Period Arthropod traps were set up and samples collected between 6am and 8am on the mornings of 27, 28 and 29 April, and 1, 3 and 4 May 2009.

Project Data

Where they occur, elephants are key players in defining habitat structure and composition (Cowling & Kerley, 2002) and thus as a result, biodiversity (Kerley & Landman, 2006). No less in Arabuko-Sokoke Forest where an electrified elephant fence has surrounded the forest trapping the elephant population within it. The impact of trapping elephants in the forest has been little studied or understood. This project aimed to compare and contrast the impact of elephant habitat damage and the lack of it either side of the elephant fence on arthropod diversity and abundance and thus the knock-on effect on an Afrotropical thrush, the East Coast Akalat Sheppardia gunningi. The list of coleoptera published here are a subset of the arthropods collected through this study. The project was a joint project with the University of Washington and A Rocha Kenya. It was funded by a University of Washington Royalty Research Fund Scholar & Research Grant to J.E.B. Results were published by Banks et al. (2010). The data were published to GBIF through a Biodiversity Information for Development project by A Rocha Kenya focused on the Arabuko-Sokoke Forest. The project aims to share biodiversity data through the GBIF online database so as to assist research in and the conservation and management of the forest.

Title Arthropods and East Coast Akalats in Arabuko-Sokoke Forest, Kenya
Identifier BID-AF2017-0274-NAC
Funding The data collection and analysis were funded by a University of Washington Royalty Research Fund Scholar & Research Grant. The final formatting and digitisation of checklist was funded by the European Union through the Biodiversity Information for Development project of the Global Biodiversity Information Facility (project ref. BID-AF2017-0274-NAC) https://bid.gbif.org/en/calls/africa-2017/national-grants/
Study Area Description Arabuko-Sokoke Forest is the largest remaining patch of indigenous coastal forest in East Africa. It is located south of Malindi on the north coast of Kenya at 03° 20’ S, 39° 50’ E. It predominantly consists of three distinct forest habitat types. Cynometra Forest, Brachystegia Woodland and Mixed Forest. The Mixed Forest covers an area of c.7,000 ha (17%) and occurs on the eastern side of the forest. It has a diverse tree flora including Afzelia quanzensis (formerly dominant), Hymenaea verrucosa, Combretum schumannii and Manilkara sansibarensis and the cycad Encephalartos hildebrandtii.

The personnel involved in the project:

Author
John Banks
Author
Laban Njoroge
Metadata Provider
Colin Jackson
Editor
Elizabeth Reyes-Gallegos
Processor
Judith Ochieng
Publisher
Lawrence Monda

Sampling Methods

Arthropods were sampled at five points along each of six transects, three inside the elephant fence and three outside. Sampling was carried out using pitfall (cup) traps and malaise (aerial) traps. Five 414-ml pitfall traps were dug into the ground 20 m away from each point count station perpendicular to the transect trail. At each point four pitfalls were also set 3 m apart arranged in a square pattern surrounding a fifth pitfall at the centre of the square. Pitfalls were left with 20 ml of soapy water to collect arthropods for 24 hours. At each point count, a malaise trap was set up 20 m from the transect line but on the opposite side of the transect line from the pitfall trap area; malaise trap heads were charged with approximately 250 ml of isopropyl alcohol and left in place for 24 hours. Arthropod traps were set up and samples collected between 6am and 8am on the mornings of 27, 28 and 29 April, and 1, 3 and 4 May 2009. Arthropod specimens were sorted to order at A Rocha Kenya’s Conservation Centre, Watamu, and placed in vials with 70% alcohol. Subsequent identification to family/genus/species were conducted at National Museums of Kenya, Nairobi

Study Extent The area of Mixed Forest covered by this study measures c. 2 km x 2 km near Gede Forest Station of Arabuko-Sokoke Forest. The elephant fence erected in 2003 passes through the middle of this section of forest leaving c. 2.5 km2 outside the fence and therefore out of reach of elephant damage. Sampling was carried out over one study period during April and May, 2009, during the wet season when maximum arthropods are expected to occur. Sampling frequency within this period is described below under ‘Sampling description’.
Quality Control Specimens were collected and placed immediately into vials labelled carefully with the date and collection station number to ensure specimens were associated with the correct geolocation. Specimen names were then carefully recorded in an Excel spreadsheet under the collection station name. Specimens were identified with direct reference to previously identified specimens in the arthropod collection of the National Museums of Kenya, Nairobi by L.N.

Method step description:

  1. Specimens from the field study were placed in 70% alcohol in glass vials, sorted by Order, labelled with place and date of collection. Specimens were then further identified to family, genus, and, where possible, species level at the National Museums of Kenya. Occurrences were listed in an Excel spreadsheet, which was used to generate data files.

Bibliographic Citations

  1. Banks, J.E., Jackson, C., Hannon, L.M., Thomas, C.M., Baya, A. & Njoroge, L. 2010. The cascading effects of elephant presence ⁄absence on arthropods and an Afrotropical thrush in Arabuko-Sokoke Forest, Kenya. African Journal of Ecology. Cowling, R. & Kerley, G.I.H. 2002. Impacts of elephants on the flora and vegetation of subtropical thicket in the Eastern Cape. In Elephant Conservation and Management in the Eastern Cape. Workshop Proceedings’. (Eds G. Kerley, S. Wilson and A. Massey.) pp. 55–72. Kerley, G.I.H. & Landman, M. 2006. The impacts of elephants on biodiversity in the Eastern Cape subtropical thickets: elephant conservation. South African Journal of Science. 102(9–10):395–402.

Additional Metadata

Purpose The data are published to provide managers, researchers and interested members of the public a baseline list of coleoptera species found in Mixed Forest habitat of a Kenyan coastal forest. This list provides a baseline for further research – whether to fill in gaps of species not captured here, or for comparison with other forests. It further highlights species of conservation concern that occur in Arabuko-Sokoke and thus the raises the international importance of conserving the forest.
Alternative Identifiers 267cc444-4df8-4d9e-8a6b-6b13e3600a84
http://ipt.museums.or.ke/ipt/resource?r=coleop