Legislative changes during the 1960s-1970s granted user rights over wildlife to landowners in southern Africa, resulting in a shift from livestock farming to wildlifebased land uses. Few comprehensive assessments of such land uses on private land in southern Africa have been conducted and the associated benefits are not always acknowledged by politicians. Nonetheless, wildlife-based land uses are growing in prevalence on private land. In Namibia wildlife-based land use occurs over c. 287,000 km 2 . Employment is positively related to income from ecotourism and negatively related to income from livestock. While 87% of meat from livestock is exported $ 95% of venison from wildlife-based land uses remains within the country, contributing to food security. Wildlife populations are increasing with expansion of wildlife-based land uses, and private farms contain 21-33 times more wildlife than in protected areas. Because of the popularity of wildlife-based land uses among younger farmers, increasing tourist arrivals and projected impacts of climate change on livestock production, the economic output of wildlife-based land uses will probably soon exceed that of livestock. However, existing policies favour livestock production and are prejudiced against wildlife-based land uses by prohibiting reintroductions of buffalo Syncerus caffer, a key species for tourism and safari hunting, and through subsidies that artificially inflate the profitability of livestock production. Returns from wildlife-based land uses are also limited by the failure to reintroduce other charismatic species, failure to develop fully-integrated conservancies and to integrate black farmers sufficiently.

Changing land use patterns in southern Africa have potential to dramatically alter the prospects for carnivore conservation. Understanding these influences is essential for conservation planning. We interviewed 250 ranchers in Namibia to assess human tolerance towards and the distribution of large carnivores. Cheetahs (Acinonyx jubatus), leopards (Panthera pardus) and brown hyaenas (Hyaena brunnea) were widely distributed on Namibian farmlands, spotted hyaenas (Crocuta crocuta) had a narrower distribution, and wild dogs (Lycaon pictus) and lions (Panthera leo) are largely limited to areas near source populations. Farmers were most tolerant of leopards and least tolerant of lions, wild dogs and spotted hyaenas. Several factors relating to land use correlated consistently with carnivore-presence and landowner tolerance. Carnivores were more commonly present and/or tolerated where; wildlife diversity and biomass were higher; income from wildlife was higher; income from livestock was lower; livestock biomass was lower; in conservancies; game fencing was absent; and financial losses from livestock depredation were lower. Efforts to create conditions whereby the costs associated with carnivores are lowest, and which confer financial value to them are likely to be the most effective means of promoting carnivore conservation. Such conditions are achieved where land owners pool land to create conservancies where livestock are replaced with wildlife (or where livestock husbandry is improved) and where wildlife generates a significant proportion of ranch income. Additional measures, such as promoting improved livestock husbandry and educational outreach efforts may also help achieve coexistence with carnivores. Our findings provide insights into conditions more conducive to the persistence of and tolerance towards large carnivores might be increased on private (and even communal) lands in Namibia, elsewhere in southern and East Africa and other parts of the world where carnivore conservation is being attempted on private lands.

The roan antelope Hippotragus equinus, Africa's second largest antelope species, is widely distributed throughout Africa. Many populations are isolated, occur at low densities, and are declining. The species' interactions with and adaptations to the diverse environmental conditions throughout its geographic range remain largely unknown. Most studies have taken place in southern Africa, near the range limit for the species; few studies have been conducted on the historically large Central and West African populations. We reviewed available published and accessible unpublished data related to the ecology of roan antelope. We aim to: 1) review available taxonomic, abundance, distribution, and population trend data; 2) describe the threats faced by the roan antelope, and establish whether sufficient data exist to describe its ecological requirements; and 3) highlight the relevance of conserving this species throughout Africa and suggest where research on survival requirements should be focussed. Roan antelope populations throughout Africa are declining due to natural and anthropogenic threats. Methodological irregularities result in uncertainty and non‐comparable population data between studies. Large gaps exist in our knowledge of roan antelope diet and regional movements. Information on the population genetics of roan antelope is needed in order to assess the connectedness of different populations. Data deficiency severely impedes our ability to employ powerful analytical methods aimed at understanding and predicting population persistence and viability, and to model envisaged threats from impending climate change. A unified approach to fundamental ecological research is required to inform the conservation and management of large rare mammalian ungulates such as the roan antelope in Africa.

Studies of biodiversity along environmental gradients provide information on how ecological communities change in response to biotic and abiotic factors. For instance, distance to water is associated with several factors that shape the structure and the functioning of ecosystems at a range of spatial scales. We investigated the influence of distance to a perennial water source on ant communities in a semi‐arid savanna in northern Botswana. Ant abundance, taxonomic richness, and both alpha and beta diversity were generally higher during the wet than the dry season. However, there were strong seasonal influences on the effects of distance to water, with more pronounced effects during the wet season. While both abundance and beta diversity declined with increasing distances to water during the wet season, there was a contrasting increase in alpha diversity. There was no major effect of distance to water on taxonomic richness during either season. Beta diversity was as high across as along gradients, and we found support for modular rather than nested community structures along gradients. Our study demonstrated that small‐scale gradients in distance to water can influence several aspects of ant communities in semi‐arid savannas. However, our results also point to strong effects of small‐scale environmental variation, for instance associated with vegetation characteristics, soil properties, and plant community structure that are not directly linked to water access.

Under sexual selection, genitalia typically undergo rapid and divergent evolution across species and competition between the sexes over control of fertilisation may drive the co-evolution of male and female sexual traits. Sexual selection can, therefore, influence genitalia in three fundamental but non-mutually exclusive ways: 1) cryptic female choice, 2) sperm competition and 3) sexual conflict. Golden moles (Chrysochloridae) are a highly specialised family endemic to sub-Saharan Africa. We examined intra-specific genital allometry of both male and female subterranean Hottentot golden moles (Amblysomus hottentotus). Consistent with previous studies in mammals, we found positive allometry and a high coefficient of variation (CV) for male genitalia.The results for female reproductive tract length of A. hottentotus contrast with the findings of previous studies as isometry was recorded. Based on the allometric 2 relationships of both males and females presented here, we suggest that the males do not sequester females and that in the absence of visual cues the female may use penis size as an indicator of phenotypic quality.