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Research about Tanzania

Source-linked reports with geographic coverage including Tanzania.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources

Inflation at Ol Doinyo Lengai driven by shallow magma intrusion during the 2022–2023 uplift episode in an early-phase continental rift

The active stratovolcano Ol Doinyo Lengai is located in the magma-rich, early-phase continental Natron Rift, which is part of the larger East African Rift System. Since 2016, a geodetic network comprising 7 Global Navigation Satellite Navigation (GNSS) and 2 seismic stations has been deployed to monitor inflation and deflation around this volcano. Between March 2022 and August 2023, millimeter-precision GNSS data detected a non-eruptive uplift episode at Ol Doinyo Lengai. In this work, we explore potential drivers of the uplift event by inverting GNSS data using the open-source software package dMODELS developed by the US Geological Survey. We assess four mathematical models (spherical, sill-like, spheroid, dislocation/dike) and find the best-fit solution is consistent with an intrusion of magma from a shallow, sill-like source at approximately 3.1 ± 2.2 km depth below the summit with a volume change of 0.99 ± 0.22 × 10 6 m 3 . Although continuous GNSS observations of surface motions at Ol Doinyo Lengai are relatively short, having only begun in 2016, this work contributes to our understanding of the ongoing magmatic processes and its long-term deformation cycle, allowing for improved volcanic hazards assessment and comparisons with global volcanic systems.

Ol Doinyo Lengai↗

Role of volcano-tectonic interactions during early-phase magma-assisted continental rifting

We study volcanic-tectonic interactions during the early phase of rifting in the Natron Rift, a magmatic segment of the East African Rift System. We use the open-source crustal deformation modeling code, PyLith, to model deflation during the 2007–2008 explosive eruptions and inflation during 2016–2023. We compare predictions of surface displacements resulting from magma reservoir inflation from 3D models with and without topography and homogeneous and heterogeneous material properties against Global Navigation Satellite System displacements from 2016 to 2023. We prefer the model with heterogeneous material properties and topography for fitting the observed displacements. Including topography improves the fit to GNSS data and modulates stress changes from shallow magma sources. Our numerical modeling of Coulomb stress changes suggests that deflation of a magma reservoir under the active Ol Doinyo Lengai volcano could trigger oblique normal slip on the Natron Fault with Coulomb stress increases exceeding ∼0.1 MPa on the volcano-adjacent fault segment. Fault slip on the Natron Fault is less likely during inflation of the magma reservoir because normal compressive stress increases on the fault. We also demonstrate that Coulomb stress changes are sensitive to the inclusion of topography in our model, particularly because the depth of the magma reservoir is similar to the amplitude of the topographic relief.

Ol Doinyo Lenga↗

Growth patterns, sexual dimorphism, and seasonal body mass variation in Plains Zebra of the Serengeti region, Tanzania

Knowledge of growth patterns and physical properties of animals helps researchers assess population characteristics and health in the field. Information on age-specific body measurements and growth patterns is rare in ungulates because examining a large portion of a population is time-, budget-, and personnel-intensive in the wild. We collected age- and sex-specific body measurements from 442 Plains Zebra ( Equus quagga boehmi ) culled in the Serengeti region, Tanzania, between 1969 and 1971. The dataset contained 307 males and 133 females. We found that males were on average 2.8% larger than females in body measurements of heart girth, height at shoulder, neck-body length, hind foot length, and the body mass, indicating minimal sexual dimorphism in adult Plains Zebra. We used polynomial regression to explore the relationship between heart girth and body mass and applied third-degree polynomial regression models to predict body mass for 34 females and 115 males with recorded girth but missing body mass records. We applied 5 non-linear models—Gompertz, von Bertalanffy, Bertalanffy-Pütter, logistic, and Richards—to characterize sex-specific growth trajectories for each trait. Our results showed that different traits followed different growth patterns, with size asymptotes reached by ∼2 to 5 yr depending on trait and sex. Seasonal trends in adult body mass were also evaluated using generalized linear models incorporating sex and cyclical effects of day of year. While female body mass showed little seasonal variation, adult males exhibited a 16.9% increase in mass during the wet season, followed by a sharp decline, suggesting greater seasonal plasticity and energetic investment. Our work is one of the few studies on body size and growth in wild equids, which provides new information on age- and sex-specific growth trajectories for comparison across zebra subspecies over time and space.

Serengeti region↗

Climate change refugia hotspots for priority species: A case study in East Africa

Natural resource managers and policymakers need actionable climate data to guide conservation decisions. Conserving climate change refugia, areas relatively buffered from contemporary climate change, is increasingly considered an effective strategy for adaptation. Despite tropical species facing heightened vulnerability to climate change, the tropics remain underserved in climate adaptation research. We coproduced with Tanzanian partners the first comprehensive assessment of climate change refugia across Tanzania through extensive consultation, in-person conversations, and field visits to priority ecosystems, ensuring our analysis addressed local conservation needs and decision-making contexts. We developed species distribution models for 33 terrestrial animal species using maximum entropy and boosted regression tree algorithms. We projected future suitable habitats for SSP126 and SSP585, for 2011–2040 and 2071–2100, using GFDL Earth System and the UK Earth System models. More than half under SSP126 and 79% of focal species under SSP585 lost their suitable habitat by 2100. Serengeti National Park, Northern Highlands Forest Reserve, and the Eastern Arc Mountains emerged as key climate change refugia, while other protected areas, including Kigosi and Ugalla River National Parks, had no climate change refugia. This assessment provides actionable insights for Tanzania's conservation prioritization while identifying critical research gaps in western and montane ecosystems.

Conservation Science and Practice↗

Middle-late Holocene paleolimnological changes in central Lake Tanganyika: Integrated evidence from the Kavala Island Ridge (Tanzania)

Middle and Late Holocene sediments have not been extensively sampled in Lake Tanganyika, and much remains unknown about the response of the Rift Valley’s largest lake to major environmental shifts during the Holocene, including the termination of the African Humid Period (AHP). Here, we present an integrated study (sedimentology, mineralogy, and geochemistry) of a radiocarbon-dated sediment core from the Kavala Island Ridge (KIR) that reveals paleoenvironmental variability in Lake Tanganyika since the Middle Holocene with decadal to centennial resolution. Massive blue-gray sandy silts represent sediments deposited during the terminal AHP (~5880–4640 cal yr BP), with detrital particle size, carbon concentrations, light stable isotopes, and mineralogy suggesting an influx of river-borne soil organic matter and weathered clay minerals to the lake at that time. Enhanced by the AHP’s warm and wet conditions, chemical weathering and erosion of Lake Tanganyika’s watershed appears to have promoted considerable nutrient recharge to the lake system. Following a relatively gradual termination of the AHP over the period from ~4640 cal yr BP to ~3680 cal yr BP, laminated and organic carbon-rich sediments began accumulating on the KIR. δ 15 N bulk , C/N, and hydrogen index data suggest high relative primary production from a mix of algae and cyanobacteria, most likely in response to nutrient availability in the water column under a cooler and seasonally dry climate from ~3680 to 1100 cal yr BP. Sediments deposited during the Common Era show considerable variability in magnetic susceptibility, total organic carbon content, carbon isotopes, and C/N, consistent with dynamic hydroclimate conditions that affected the depositional patterns, including substantial changes around the Medieval Climate Anomaly and Little Ice Age. Data from this study highlight the importance of sedimentary records to constrain boundary conditions in hydroclimate and nutrient flux that can inform long-term ecosystem response in Lake Tanganyika.

Kavala Island Ridge, Lake Tanganyika↗

Elucidating the magma plumbing system of Ol Doinyo Lengai (Natron Rift, Tanzania) Using satellite geodesy and numerical modeling

Ol Doinyo Lengai, located in the southern Eastern Branch of the East African Rift had several eruptive episodes with ash falls and lava flows (VEI 3) that caused damage to the nearby communities between 2007 and 2010. The volcano is remote and access is difficult. Although this volcano has been studied for decades, its plumbing system is still poorly understood, in part, because of the lack of precise observations of surface deformation during periods of quiet and unrest. This study investigates the volcanic plumbing system of Ol Doinyo Lengai and its surroundings using data from the network of permanent Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) sites monitoring the volcano (the TZVOLCANO network) around the flanks of the volcano and Interferometric Synthetic Aperture Radar (InSAR) observations. We constrain surface motions using 6 GNSS sites distributed around Ol Doinyo Lengai, operating between 2016 and 2021, and InSAR data covering nearly the same time period. Because of the complex local tectonics, the interpretation of the deformation pattern is not straightforward. We first invert the GNSS deformation and InSAR observations independently to infer potential deformation sources. Then we perform a joint inversion of both GNSS and InSAR datasets to verify our findings. We compare the results from the joint inversion with the results from inverting each dataset independently. The GNSS, InSAR, and joint inversion results point to a deflating source, located east of Ol Doinyo Lengai and southwest of the dormant volcano Gelai at a depth of 3.49 ± 0.03 km (GNSS inversion), 5.2 ± 1.2 km (InSAR inversion) and 3.49 ± 0.06 km (joint inversion) relative to the summit (vent) and with a volume change ∆V of −0.04 ± 0.05 × 10 6 m 3 (GNSS inversion), −0.39 ± 0.29 × 10 6 m 3 (InSAR inversion), and − 0.04 ± 0.01 × 10 6 m 3 (joint inversion). Although this is non-unique modeling of geodetic datasets with small signals, the inversion results suggest that Ol Doinyo Lengai could be fed by an offset multi-reservoir system that includes a shallow magma reservoir (<5 km) east of Ol Doinyo Lengai, possibly connected to a deeper magma reservoir.

Natron Rift, Ol Doinyo Lengai↗

Inversion of induced polarization-affected towed-transient electromagnetic data in a lateritic regolith geology: A case study from western Tanzania

For several decades, induced polarization (IP) effects on transient electromagnetic (TEM) responses have been observed. These effects can manifest as late-time negative transients or as rapidly decaying curves and are usually associated with highly polarizable bodies. If neglected, IP effects can lead to erroneous resistivity models. Recent work allows IP effects to be incorporated into the inversion of TEM data on a more routine basis. In a recent field survey in western Tanzania, strongly IP-affected TEM signals are observed using a towed-transient electromagnetic (tTEM) system. The survey have been carried out to locate drinking water resources in a weathered regolith setting. In these settings, an inversion of tTEM data using a resistivity-only forward model (i.e., IP neglected) cannot fit the data and severely limits the value of the TEM data for hydrogeologic interpretation. To account for IP effects, we have applied a modified version of the Cole-Cole model called the maximum phase angle (MPA) model to invert IP-affected tTEM data. The MPA model incorporates four inversion model parameters: resistivity ( ⁠ &#x3C1; "> ρ ), MPA ( ⁠ &#x3D5; max "> ϕ max ⁠ ), relaxation time ( ⁠ &#x3C4; "> τ ), and frequency exponent ( ⁠ c "> c ). The MPA model fits the data well and improves the reliability of the resistivity model. In much of the surveyed region, the inverted models using MPA display a three-layer system consisting of an upper resistive laterite layer of varying thickness and an intermediate polarizable conductive unit overlying more resistive weathered basement rocks. The conductive polarizable layer is interpreted as a chemically weathered saprolite separating the surficial and deeper aquifers. Overall, tTEM inversion results provide a local understanding of groundwater systems, especially in such regions with very limited subsurface knowledge.

Kaguruka, Kitagata↗

Hippopotamus movements structure the spatiotemporal dynamics of an active anthrax outbreak

Globally, anthrax outbreaks pose a serious threat to people, livestock, and wildlife. Furthermore, environmental change can exacerbate these outbreak dynamics by altering the host–pathogen relationship. However, little is known about how the quantitative spatial dynamics of host movement and environmental change may affect the spread of Bacillus anthracis , the causative agent of anthrax. Here, we use real-time observations and high-resolution tracking data from a population of common hippopotamus ( Hippopotamus amphibius ) in Tanzania to explore the relationship between river hydrology, H. amphibius movement, and the spatiotemporal dynamics of an active anthrax outbreak. We found that extreme river drying, a consequence of anthropogenic disturbances to our study river, indirectly facilitated the spread of B. anthracis by modulating H. amphibius movements. Our findings reveal that anthrax spread upstream in the Great Ruaha River (~3.5 km over a 9-day period), which followed the movement patterns of infected H. amphibius , who moved upstream as the river dried in search of remaining aquatic refugia. These upstream movements can result in large aggregations of H. amphibius . However, despite these aggregations, the density of H. amphibius in river pools did not influence the number of B. anthracis -induced mortalities. Moreover, infection by B. anthracis did not appear to influence H. amphibius movement behaviors, which suggests that infected individuals can vector B. anthracis over large distances right up until their death. Finally, we show that contact rates between H. amphibius- and B. anthracis- infected river pools are highly variable and the frequency and duration of contacts could potentially increase the probability of mortality. While difficult to obtain, the quantitative insights that we gathered during a real-time anthrax outbreak are critical to better understand, predict, and manage future outbreaks.

Ruaha National Park↗

Temperature‐associated decreases in demographic rates of Afrotropical bird species over 30 years

Tropical mountains harbor globally significant levels of biodiversity and endemism. Climate change threatens many tropical montane species, yet little research has assessed the effects of climate change on the demographic rates of tropical species, particularly in the Afrotropics. Here, we report on the demographic rates of 21 Afrotropical bird species over 30 years in montane forests in Tanzania. We used mark–recapture analyses to model rates of population growth, recruitment, and apparent survival as functions of annual mean temperature and annual precipitation. For over one‐half of focal species, decreasing population growth rates were associated with increasing temperature. Due to the trend in temperature over time, we substituted a time covariate for the temperature covariate in top‐ranked population growth rate models. Temperature was a better explanatory covariate than time for 6 of the 12 species, or 29% of all focal species. Population growth rates were also lower for species found further below their elevational midpoint and for smaller‐bodied species. Changes in population growth rates were more closely tied to changes in recruitment than to changes in apparent survival. There were no consistent associations between demographic rates and precipitation. This study demonstrates temperature‐associated demographic impacts for 6 (29%) of 21 focal species in an Afrotropical understory bird community and highlights the need to incorporate the impacts of climate change on demographic rates into conservation planning across the tropics.

Global Change Biology↗

Pacific sea surface temperature linkages with Tanzania’s multi-season drying trends

Droughts in Tanzania pose challenges to agriculture, water resources, and hydropower production, all of which impact livelihoods. Tanzania experienced below average precipitation during 1999-2014 during two important seasons: December to February (DJF) in the south and during March to June (MAMJ) in the northeast. We explore DJF and MAMJ precipitation in the areas with drying trends and examine their relationships with anomalous sea surface temperatures (SST) in the Indo-Pacific and corresponding circulation patterns. It is found that at seasonal time scales, precipitation in DJF and MAMJ trend areas appears inversely related to diabatic forcing in the equatorial Pacific. The dominant influence for droughts in DJF is from eastern Pacific SST while for droughts in MAMJ it is from West Pacific SST. A bivariate regression model with West Pacific and Niño3.4 region SST as predictors is found to recreate multidecadal DJF variability after the 1950s and the extreme drying in MAMJ during the 2000s. The regression model coefficients also indicate differential eastern vs. western Pacific forcing for DJF vs. MAMJ. Thus we suggest that recent La Niña-like conditions, characterized by an enhanced Pacific SST gradient due to cooling in the eastern Pacific and warming in the western Pacific, played a substantial role in Tanzania’s recent multi-season drying trends. SST change scenarios (difference between 2023-2037 and 2000-2014 means) based on CMIP5 projections and observed trends illustrate the uncertainty about future precipitation outcomes and also the potential implications of contrasting linkages to eastern vs. western Pacific SSTs. These scenarios are mainly optimistic for the DJF southern Tanzania trend area, because it appears dominated by Niño3.4 cooling at both seasonal and decadal time scales. Conversely, our scenarios are quite pessimistic for the MAMJ northeastern Tanzania trend area, because we find a dominant negative influence of warming West Pacific SST.

International Journal of Climate Change: Impacts a↗

Seasonality of stable isotope composition of atmospheric water input at the southern slopes of Mt. Kilimanjaro, Tanzania

To understand the moisture regime at the southern slopes of Mt. Kilimanjaro, we analysed the isotopic variability of oxygen (δ 18 O) and hydrogen (δD) of rainfall, throughfall, and fog from a total of 2,140 samples collected weekly over 2 years at 9 study sites along an elevation transect ranging from 950 to 3,880 m above sea level. Precipitation in the Kilimanjaro tropical rainforests consists of a combination of rainfall, throughfall, and fog. We defined local meteoric water lines for all 3 precipitation types individually and the overall precipitation, δD prec = 7.45 (±0.05) × δ 18 O prec + 13.61 (±0.20), n = 2,140, R 2 = .91, p < .001. We investigated the precipitation-type-specific stable isotope composition and analysed the effects of amount, altitude, and temperature. Aggregated annual mean values revealed isotope composition of rainfall as most depleted and fog water as most enriched in heavy isotopes at the highest elevation research site. We found an altitude effect of δ 18 O rain = −0.11‰ × 100 m −1 , which varied according to precipitation type and season. The relatively weak isotope or altitude gradient may reveal 2 different moisture sources in the research area: (a) local moisture recycling and (b) regional moisture sources. Generally, the seasonality of δ 18 O rain values follows the bimodal rainfall distribution under the influences of south- and north-easterly trade winds. These seasonal patterns of isotopic composition were linked to different regional moisture sources by analysing Hybrid Single Particle Lagrangian Integrated Trajectory backward trajectories. Seasonality of d excess values revealed evidence of enhanced moisture recycling after the onset of the rainy seasons. This comprehensive dataset is essential for further research using stable isotopes as a hydrological tracer of sources of precipitation that contribute to water resources of the Kilimanjaro region.

Mt. Kilimanjaro↗

Tarangire revisited: Consequences of declining connectivity in a tropical ungulate population

The hyper-abundance of migratory wildlife in many ecosystems depends on maintaining access to seasonally available resources. In Eastern and Southern Africa, land-use change and a loss of connectivity have coincided with widespread declines in the abundance and geographic range of ungulate populations. Using photographic capture-mark-recapture, we examine the historical pattern of loss of connectivity and its impact on population trends in a partially migratory wildebeest population in northern Tanzania. To estimate abundance, we use a novel modeling approach that overcomes bias associated with photo misidentifications. Our data indicate (1) diminished connectivity within and between seasonal areas as a result of human activities, (2) a reduction in the overall population size compared to historical numbers, with high variability over time, (3) the continued use of highly constrained movement corridors between the three main seasonal ranges, (4) higher recruitment in the non-migratory subpopulation (Lake Manyara National Park) than in other areas of the ecosystem, and (5) an increase in the relative abundance of resident to migrant wildebeest. Recent conservation efforts to protect seasonal habitat and to enforce anti-poaching policies outside protected areas have likely helped stabilize the population, at least temporarily, but we caution that several key vulnerabilities remain.

Tarangire-Manyara Ecosystem↗

Breeding biology of an afrotropical forest understory bird community in northeastern Tanzania

Many aspects of the breeding biology of Afrotropical forest birds are poorly known. Here we provide a description based on the monitoring of 1461 active nests over eight breeding seasons about one or more aspects of the breeding biology for 28 coexisting understory bird species on the Amani Plateau in the East Usambara Mountains, Tanzania. Mean nest height and mean distance of nest from forest edge varied widely among species with most species constructing nests across a broad vertical and forest edge to interior gradient. However, there were important exceptions with all sunbird species and several dove and waxbill species constructing nests in close proximity to the forest edge. For 17 common species for which we recorded two or more active nests, mean clutch size across species was 1.9 eggs per clutch, the lowest site-specific mean clutch size yet reported for a tropical forest bird community. For nine bird species, a subset of the 17 common species, length of breeding season, defined as the difference between the earliest and latest recorded incubation onset date, ranged from 88–139 days. Most of these nine species displayed a unimodal distribution in incubation onset dates across a breeding season which extended from the end of August through middle January. In summary, a wide variation exists in most aspects of the breeding biology within an understory forest bird community in the East Usambara Mountains.

Wilson Journal of Ornithology↗

Long-term demographic consequences of habitat fragmentation to a tropical understory bird community

Tropical deforestation continues to cause population declines and local extinctions in centers of avian diversity and endemism. Although local species extinctions stem from reductions in demographic rates, little is known about how habitat fragmentation influences survival of tropical bird populations or the relative importance of survival and fecundity in ultimately shaping communities. We analyzed 22 years of mark-recapture data to assess how fragmentation influenced apparent survival, recruitment, and realized population growth rate within 22 forest understory bird species in the Usambara Mountains, Tanzania. This represents the first such effort, in either tropical or temperate systems, to characterize the effect of deforestation on avian survival across such a broad suite of species. Long-term demographic analysis of this suite of species experiencing the same fragmented environment revealed considerable variability in species' responses to fragmentation, in addition to general patterns that emerged from comparison among species. Across the understory bird community as a whole, we found significantly lower apparent survival and realized population growth rate in small fragments relative to large, demonstrating fragmentation effects to demographic rates long after habitat loss. Demographic rates were depressed across five feeding guilds, suggesting that fragmentation sensitivity was not limited to insectivores. Seniority analyses, together with a positive effect of fragmentation on recruitment, indicated that depressed apparent survival was the primary driver of population declines and observed extinctions. We also found a landscape effect, with lower vital rates in one mountain range relative to another, suggesting that fragmentation effects may add to other large-scale drivers of population decline. Overall, realized population growth rate (&lambda;) estimates were < 1 for most species, suggesting that future population persistence even within large forest fragments is uncertain in this biodiversity hotspot.

Usambara Mountains↗

Fundamental changes in the activity of the natrocarbonatite volcano Oldoinyo Lengai, Tanzania

On September 4, 2007, after 25 years of effusive natrocarbonatite eruptions, the eruptive activity of Oldoinyo Lengai (OL), N Tanzania, changed abruptly to episodic explosive eruptions. This transition was preceded by a voluminous lava eruption in March 2006, a year of quiescence, resumption of natrocarbonatite eruptions in June 2007, and a volcano-tectonic earthquake swarm in July 2007. Despite the lack of ground-based monitoring, the evolution in OL eruption dynamics is documented based on the available field observations, ASTER and MODIS satellite images, and almost-daily photos provided by local pilots. Satellite data enabled identification of a phase of voluminous lava effusion in the 2 weeks prior to the onset of explosive eruptions. After the onset, the activity varied from 100 m high ash jets to 2–15 km high violent, steady or unsteady, eruption columns dispersing ash to 100 km distance. The explosive eruptions built up a ∼400 m wide, ∼75 m high intra-crater pyroclastic cone. Time series data for eruption column height show distinct peaks at the end of September 2007 and February 2008, the latter being associated with the first pyroclastic flows to be documented at OL. Chemical analyses of the erupted products, presented in a companion paper (Keller et al. 2010 ), show that the 2007–2008 explosive eruptions are associated with an undersaturated carbonated silicate melt. This new phase of explosive eruptions provides constraints on the factors causing the transition from natrocarbonatite effusive eruptions to explosive eruptions of carbonated nephelinite magma, observed repetitively in the last 100 years at OL.

Oldoinyo Lengai↗

Experimentally induced pigment changes in small African 'Barbus' (Teleostei: Cyprinidae): Synonymy of 'Barbus' amphigramma and 'Barbus' taitensis with 'Barbus' paludinosus

Pigmentation in fishes is known to be variable both among individuals of a species and within individuals over time. Use of pigment characters for taxonomic diagnoses must, therefore, be carefully considered. I present experimental evidence showing that pigment characters previously considered diagnostic for three small African ‘ Barbus ’ species may differ between living and preserved specimens and that lasting changes in these characters can be induced experimentally by placing fishes in a different, less turbid environment. Lateral line pigmentation and presence of a spot on the caudal peduncle showed significant changes that resulted in different species identifications before and after the experiment. These pigment patterns are thereby shown to be labile, nontrenchant characters having little or no diagnostic utility. ‘ Barbus ’ amphigramma Boulenger, 1903 , and ‘ Barbus ’ taitensis Günther, 1894, are thus shown to be junior synonyms of ‘ Barbus ’ paludinosus Peters, 1852 .

Serengeti National Park, Nyabogati River↗

Uranium-series dating of bone from the Isimila prehistoric site, Tanzania

EXCAVATIONS in 1957 and 1958 at the Isimila prehistoric site, in Tanzania 1 , sampled Acheulian occurrences in horizons at various levels in the Isimila Beds which are approximately 18 m thick. No significant breaks were observed in the sedimentary sequence, although there are numerous local hiatuses.

Nature↗