Desalegn Chala Gelete

• Chala, Desalegn; Roos, Christian; Svenning, Jens-Christian & Zinner, Dietmar (2019). Species-specific effects of climate change on the distribution of suitable baboon habitats - Ecological niche modeling of current and Last Glacial Maximum conditions. Journal of Human Evolution.  ISSN 0047-2484.  132, s 215- 226 . doi: 10.1016/j.jhevol.2019.05.003
• Chala, Desalegn; Zimmermann, Niklaus E.; Brochmann, Christian & Bakkestuen, Vegar (2017). Migration corridors for alpine plants among the `sky islands? of eastern Africa: do they, or did they exist?. Alpine Botany.  ISSN 1664-2201.  Published ahead of print, s 1- 12 . doi: 10.1007/s00035-017-0184-z Full text in Research Archive. Show summary

  The tropical alpine ecosystem in eastern Africa is highly fragmented among biological ‘sky islands’, where populations of frost-tolerant organisms are isolated from each other by a ‘sea’ of tropical lowlands. One-third of the species in the afroalpine flora are exclusively alpine, but the other species can to varying degrees extend into grasslands and open forests of lower vegetation belts. A long-debated question is whether colonization of the alpine zone of these mountains and subsequent intermountain gene flow entirely depend on long-distance dispersal across unsuitable habitats, or whether suitable habitats shifted far enough downslope under past colder climates to form bridges enabling gradual migration. Here we address this question using a classification tree model. We mapped the extent of the current alpine habitat and projected it to the last glacial maximum (LGM) climate to assess whether gradual migration was possible for exclusively alpine taxa during this glacial period, and thus potentially also during earlier Pleistocene glaciations. Next, we modelled landcover under current and LGM climates to assess whether grassland and open forests could have served as migration corridors for alpine taxa that today extend into lower vegetation belts. We estimated that the LGM treeline was about 1000 m lower and the alpine habitat was about eight times larger than that today. At the LGM, we found that most of the currently fragmented alpine habitat of the Ethiopian highlands was interconnected except across the Great Rift Valley, whereas the solitary mountains of East/Central Africa remained isolated for exclusively alpine species. However, for drought-tolerant alpine species that today extend below the treeline, gradual migration through habitat corridors may have been possible among mountains during the dry glacial periods, and possibly also under the current climate before agriculture transformed the low-lying landscapes. Afroalpine · CART · Gene flow · Habitat connectivity · Last glacial maximum · Treeline

• Gelete, Desalegn Chala; Brochmann, Christian; Psomas, Achilleas; Ehrich, Dorothee; Gizaw, Abel; Masao, Catherine; Bakkestuen, Vegar & Zimmermann, Niklaus E. (2016). Good-bye to tropical alpine plant giants under warmer climates? Loss of range and genetic diversity in Lobelia rhynchopetalum. Ecology and Evolution.  ISSN 2045-7758.  6(24), s 8931- 8941 . doi: 10.1002/ece3.2603 Full text in Research Archive.
• Mewicha, Berihun Gebremedhin; Flagstad, Øystein; Bekele, Afework; Gelete, Desalegn Chala; Bakkestuen, Vegar; Boessenkool, Sanne; Popp, Magnus; Gusarova, Galina; Schrøder-Nielsen, Audun; Nemomissa, Sileshi; Brochmann, Christian; Stenseth, Nils Christian & Epp, Laura (2016). DNA metabarcoding reveals diet overlap between the endangered walia ibex and domestic goats - Implications for conservation. PLoS ONE.  ISSN 1932-6203.  11(7), s 1- 18 . doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0159133 Full text in Research Archive. Show summary

  Human population expansion and associated degradation of the habitat of many wildlife species cause loss of biodiversity and species extinctions. The small Simen Mountains National Park in Ethiopia is one of the last strongholds for the preservation of a number of afro-alpine mammals, plants and birds, and it is home to the rare endemic Walia ibex, Capra walie. The narrow distribution range of this species as well as potential competition for resources with livestock, especially with domestic goat, Capra hircus, may compromise its future survival. Based on a curated afro-alpine taxonomic reference library constructed for plant taxon identification, we investigated the diet of the Walia ibex and addressed the dietary overlap with domestic goat using DNA metabarcoding of faecal samples. Faeces of both species were collected from different localities in the National Park. We show that both species are browsers, with forbs, shrubs and trees comprising the largest proportion of their diet, supplemented by grasses. There was a considerable overlap in dietary preferences. Several of the preferred diet items of the Walia ibex (Alchemilla sp., Hypericum revolutum, Erica arborea and Rumex sp.) were also among the most preferred diet items of the domestic goat. These results indicate that there is potential for competition between the two species, especially during the dry season, when resources are limited. Our findings, in combination with the expected increase in domestic herbivores, suggest that management plans should consider the potential threat posed by domestic goats to ensure future survival of the endangered Walia ibex.

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• Aarrestad, Per Arild; Bakkestuen, Vegar; Töpper, Joachim Paul; Chala, Desalegn; Often, Anders; Olsen, Siri Lie; Myklebost, Heidi Elin & Stabbetorp, Odd Egil (2017). Vegetasjonsundersøkelser av boreal bjørkeskog i Lund og Åmotsdalen, I: Erik Framstad (red.),  Terrestrisk naturovervåking i 2016: Markvegetasjon, epifytter, smågnagere og fugl. Sammenfatning av resultater.  Norsk institutt for naturforskning (NINA).  ISBN 978-82-426-3101-5.  3.  s 22 - 35
• Gizaw, Abel; Brochmann, Christian; Chala, Desalegn; Popp, Magnus; Zimmermann, Niklaus E.; Ehrich, Dorothee; Bakkestuen, Vegar; Eilu, Gerald; Munishi, Pantaleo; Mwachala, Geoffrey; Nemomissa, Sileshi & The AFROALP, team (2017). Connectivity in the extremely fragmented African ‘Sky Island’ flora: historical migration corridors or long-distance dispersal?.

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