As global temperatures rise, the melting glaciers of
Mt. Kilimanjaro have become a "calling card" for the consequences of the global climate change phenomenon. Yet, beyond its melting glaciers, many wonder if there are other significant changes taking place on Kilimanjaro caused by global climate change.

Specifically, we are interested in assessing the effects of climate change on Mt. Kilimanjaro's distinct biomes.

A biome is a climatically and geographically defined area of ecologically similar climatic conditions such as communities of plants, animals and soil organisms and is often referred to as an ecosystem. Biomes are defined based on factors such as plant structures (such as trees, shrubs, and grasses), leaf types (such as broadleaf and needleleaf), plant spacing (forest, woodland, savanna), and climate.

There are six distinct altitudinal biomes on Mt. Kilimanjaro: cultivated areas; rain forest; heath; moorland; alpine desert and the summit. In addition, we would like to assess what impact the changes in the biomes will have on viable mosquito habitats on the mountain.

The timing and duration of the growing seasons on the mountain may also change as a result of warmer temperatures. This may result in a migration of the native species up the mountain, shifting the location of the biomes, as well as creating hospitable habitats for invasive plant species introduced by tourists. The net effect could be that established ecosystems are severely altered.

Climate Change is already having a significant impact on human health. Malaria is widespread in Africa (Figure 1) and poses one of the most dangerous threats to the health of Africans. This disease is transmitted to human beings by bites from infected mosquitoes and is responsible for approximately 2 million deaths worldwide each year. About 90% of these deaths occur in sub-Saharan Africa, including the country of Tanzania (Figure 2). How malaria will be affected by climate change is a subject of intense debate among scientists and those working in the health profession. Seasonal patterns of temperature and precipitation may change due to global climate change. These changes could affect the geographic distribution and number of malaria outbreaks.

Mt. Kilimanjaro offers the unique opportunity to collect data pertaining to a number of major vegetative zones because of the confined nature of their geographic distribution (altitude vs latitude, see Figure 3). This data can be used for comparative analysis with data that already exist and as a baseline data set for future study.

Source: http://www.globalchange.umich.edu/gctext/Inquiries/Inquiries_by_Unit/Unit_3.htm

Figure 3: Example of vegetation distribution (biomes) based on latitude and elevation

Our data collection and analysis will allow future GLOBE Students to make in-roads into finding answers to important questions such as:

1. Are changes occurring in the altitudinal distribution of the
...biomes on Mt. Kilimanjaro?

2. Is the plant composition within each biome changing
.. (invasive plant species)?

3. Is the habitat of the malaria-bearing mosquito changing in
.. the Kilimanjaro area?

4. Can these changes be attributed to global climate change?

 

We will address these issues by:

1. Mapping the boundaries between the biomes and determining if they have changed;

2. Documenting the plant species within each biome to determine if changes in the plant communities have occurred, i.e., new (invasive) species are present and/or native species have disappeared; and

3. Sampling for Anopheles mosquito larvae to determine whether the elevation boundaries normally associated with presence of these mosquitoes has changed.

 

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