The bii4africa dataset of faunal and floral population intactness estimates across Africa's major land uses.

Sub-Saharan Africa is under-represented in global biodiversity datasets, particularly regarding the impact of land use on species' population abundances. Drawing on recent advances in expert elicitation to ensure data consistency, 200 experts were convened using a modified-Delphi process to estimate 'intactness scores': the remaining proportion of an 'intact' reference population of a species group in a particular land use, on a scale from 0 (no remaining individuals) to 1 (same abundance as the reference) and, in rare cases, to 2 (populations that thrive in human-modified landscapes). The resulting bii4africa dataset contains intactness scores representing terrestrial vertebrates (tetrapods: ±5,400 amphibians, reptiles, birds, mammals) and vascular plants (±45,000 forbs, graminoids, trees, shrubs) in sub-Saharan Africa across the region's major land uses (urban, cropland, rangeland, plantation, protected, etc.) and intensities (e.g., large-scale vs smallholder cropland). This dataset was co-produced as part of the Biodiversity Intactness Index for Africa Project. Additional uses include assessing ecosystem condition; rectifying geographic/taxonomic biases in global biodiversity indicators and maps; and informing the Red List of Ecosystems.

Flexible Use of Urban Resources by the Yellow Mongoose Cynictis penicillata.

Several species are negatively impacted by urbanization, while others thrive in urban areas by exploiting anthropogenic habitats matching their pre-existing niche preferences, or by modifying their behavior for urban life. We studied the ecology of a recent urban resident, the yellow mongoose, in an urban ecological estate in South Africa. We assessed urban dwelling yellow mongooses' diet, spatial and temporal occurrence, home range size, and whenever possible, compared our findings to the published literature on their non-urban conspecifics. Additionally, we evaluated occurrence overlap with residential gardens. Similar to their non-urban counterparts, scat analyses revealed that yellow mongooses in urban areas fed mainly on insects, particularly during spring/summer. In the colder months, anthropogenic items, small mammals and birds in scats increased. Camera trap surveys showed that the mongooses were common in open habitats, similar to previous studies, and exhibited a species-typical bimodal diurnal activity pattern. The occurrence of these mongooses was greater near human residences than at sites further away. Home range sizes were considerably smaller than those of non-urban mongoose. Mongoose occurred in residential gardens, more so during the colder months. The urban yellow mongooses' diet, habitat preference and activity patterns were similar to non-urban conspecifics. Nonetheless, the exploitation of anthropogenic food sources, occurrence in residential gardens and smaller home range sizes showed that they respond flexibly to urbanization, and these modifications might aid in their success in urban areas.