Search results for "Kenya"
showing 10 items of 45 documents
New P-T-X conditions for the formation of gem tsavorite garnet in the Voi area (southwestern Kenya)
2018
International audience; Tsavorite nodules-bearing deposits from southwestern Kenya are located in the Kurase Group, a metasedimentary unit of the Neoproterozoic Metamorphic Mozambique Belt. This unit is composed of graphitic paragneisses intercalated with metacarbonates and metaevaporites, surrounded by migmatites. The rocks underwent high grade metamorphism at 615-600 Ma. The main goal of this work is to link tsavorite formation to the metamorphic evolution of the Kurase Group. The new thermobarometric data indicate widespread granulite facies conditions at 800 +/- 50 degrees C and 10 +/- 1 kbar, with no significant difference between the tsavorite-bearing metasediments and the surrounding…
Occurrence, distribution, and risk assessment of pharmerciuticals in wastewater and open surface drains of peri-urban areas: Case study of Juja town,…
2020
Abstract The occurrence of Active Pharmaceutical Ingredients (APIs) in the environment is becoming a major area of concern due to their undesirable effects on non-target organisms. This study investigated the occurrence and risk of contamination by five antibiotics and three antiretrovirals drugs in a fast-growing peri-urban area in Kenya, with inadequate sewer system coverage. Due to poor sewage connectivity and poorly designed decentralized systems, wastewater is directly released in open drains. Water and sediment samples were collected from open surface water drains, while wastewater samples were collected from centralized wastewater treatment plants (WWTP). Solid-phase extraction and u…
Seasonal and habitat effects on the nutritional properties of savanna vegetation: Potential implications for early hominin dietary ecology.
2019
The African savannas that many early hominins occupied likely experienced stark seasonality and contained mosaic habitats (i.e., combinations of woodlands, wetlands, grasslands, etc.). Most would agree that the bulk of dietary calories obtained by taxa such as Australopithecus and Paranthropus came from the consumption of vegetation growing across these landscapes. It is also likely that many early hominins were selective feeders that consumed particular plants/plant parts (e.g., leaves, fruit, storage organs) depending on the habitat and season within which they were foraging. Thus, improving our understanding of how the nutritional properties of potential hominin plant foods growing in mo…
Fine-scale spatial genetic dynamics over the life cycle of the tropical tree Prunus africana
2014
Studying fine-scale spatial genetic patterns across life stages is a powerful approach to identify ecological processes acting within tree populations. We investigated spatial genetic dynamics across five life stages in the insect-pollinated and vertebrate-dispersed tropical tree Prunus africana in Kakamega Forest, Kenya. Using six highly polymorphic microsatellite loci, we assessed genetic diversity and spatial genetic structure (SGS) from seed rain and seedlings, and different sapling stages to adult trees. We found significant SGS in all stages, potentially caused by limited seed dispersal and high recruitment rates in areas with high light availability. SGS decreased from seed and early…
Convergences and divergences between scientific and Indigenous and Local Knowledge contribute to inform carnivore conservation
2021
There is increasing recognition that diverse knowledge systems can work in mutually enriching ways and that Indigenous and Local Knowledge (ILK) can enhance biodiversity conservation. However, studies using scientific knowledge and ILK in a complementary manner, and acknowledging convergent and especially divergent insights have remained limited. In this study, we contrasted proxies of abundances and trends of threatened and conflict-prone carnivores (caracal, cheetah, jackal, lion, leopard, spotted hyaena, striped hyaena) derived separately from scientific knowledge and ILK. We conducted camera trapping, track surveys and semi-structured interviews with local pastoralists from northern Ken…
Grass leaves as potential hominin dietary resources
2018
Discussions about early hominin diets have generally excluded grass leaves as a staple food resource, despite their ubiquity in most early hominin habitats. In particular, stable carbon isotope studies have shown a prevalent C4 component in the diets of most taxa, and grass leaves are the single most abundant C4 resource in African savannas. Grass leaves are typically portrayed as having little nutritional value (e.g., low in protein and high in fiber) for hominins lacking specialized digestive systems. It has also been argued that they present mechanical challenges (i.e., high toughness) for hominins with bunodont dentition. Here, we compare the nutritional and mechanical properties of gra…
Composition and Genetic Diversity of Mosquitoes (Diptera: Culicidae) on Islands and Mainland Shores of Kenya's Lakes Victoria and Baringo.
2016
The Lake Baringo and Lake Victoria regions of Kenya are associated with high seroprevalence of mosquito-transmitted arboviruses. However, molecular identification of potential mosquito vector species, including morphologically identified ones, remains scarce. To estimate the diversity, abundance, and distribution of mosquito vectors on the mainland shores and adjacent inhabited islands in these regions, we collected and morphologically identified adult and immature mosquitoes and obtained the corresponding sequence variation at cytochrome c oxidase 1 (COI) and internal transcribed spacer region 2 (ITS2) gene regions. A total of 63 species (including five subspecies) were collected from both…
Archaeology and ichnology at Gombore II-2, Melka Kunture, Ethiopia: everyday life of a mixed age hominin group 700,000 years ago
2018
AbstractWe report the occurrence at 0.7 million years (Ma) of an ichnological assemblage at Gombore II-2, which is one of several archaeological sites at Melka Kunture in the upper Awash Valley of Ethiopia, 2000 m asl. Adults and children potentially as young as 12 months old left tracks in a silty substrate on the shore of a body of water where ungulates, as well as other mammals and birds, congregated. Furthermore, the same layers contain a rich archaeological and palaeontological record, confirming that knapping was taking place in situ and that stone tools were used for butchering hippo carcasses at the site. The site gives direct information on hominin landscape use at 0.7 Ma and may p…
The aspect of nationality and performance in a mountain ultra-marathon-the ‘Swiss Alpine Marathon’
2012
Eichenberger E, Knechtle B, Rust CA, Lepers R, Rosemann T, Onywera VO. The aspect of nationality and performance in a mountain ultra-marathon - the ‘Swiss Alpine Marathon’ J. Hum. Sport Exerc. Vol. 7, No. 4, pp. 748-762, 2012. Runners from East Africa and especially from Kenya dominate middle- and longdistance running races worldwide. The aim of the present study was to investigate the participation and performance trends regarding the nationality of runners in a mountain ultra-marathon held in partially high alpine terrain. We hypothesized that Kenyan runners, living and training in the Great Rift Valley, a predominantly hilly, mountainous and altitudinous region like the Alps, would domin…
Performance of Kenyan athletes in mountain versus flat marathon running - An example in Switzerland
2013
Harm, C., Knechtle, B., Rust, A.C., Rosemann, T., Lepers, R. & Onywera, V. (2013). Performance of Kenyan athletes in mountain versus flat marathon running - An example in Switzerland. J. Hum. Sport Exerc., 8(4), pp.881-893. The purpose of this study was to compare running performance of Kenyans in a flat city marathon and a mountain marathon in Switzerland. Running times of top three overall Kenyan runners were compared with running times of top three overall runners of other nations in a mountain and a flat marathon held in Switzerland between 2003 and 2011. In the mountain marathon top three male Kenyans achieved with 199±23min the 11th fastest running time behind athletes from Italy (177…