An annotated checklist of the Shimba Hills in Kwale District is presented. The checklist includes the plants found in the Shimba Hills National Reserve, Mkongani North and West Forest Reserves, Matuga, Mwaluganje Forest Reserve and Elephant Sanctuary, as well as Kaya Chombo, Kaya Teleza, Chitsanze Sacred Grove and the recently destroyed Kaya Miyani. One thousand three hundred and ninety six (1396) plant taxa in 145 families and 686 genera are documented. This represents 44% of the coastal flora and 21% of the Kenyan flora. For each taxon recorded, I also present recent synonyms, a reference specimen, a more precise locality within the checklist area, a short description of its habit and a diagnostic characteristic, as well as some notes on its distribution and conservation status.

Three isolated lowland coastal forest patches in Kwale District, namely Kaya Muhaka, Kaya Kinondo and Kaya Diani are classified here as “Wetter mixed semi-deciduous forest”, “Groundwater forest on coral rag” and “Maritime scrub forest”. Although they are sacred to the Digo people, different rates of disturbance were assessed. Kaya Kinondo, which represents a rare forest type along the Kenya coast, is undisturbed at least since the authors began their studies in 1994. Floristic diversity and endemism are high in all Kayas. Lepidoptera diversity is low in Kaya Kinondo, showing that an undisturbed forest does not automatically have a rich Lepidoptera fauna and that the latter does not always respond to a diverse flora. With 352 species, Lepidoptera diversity and endemism is high in Kaya Muhaka. This includes species with a western and central Africa distribution, as well as the Kenyan endemic montane subspecies Charaxes acuminatus shimbanus. Larger moths that appear to be endemic to coastal eastern Africa are presented and others have been preliminary classified as rare for coastal Kenya including species first recorded from Kenya. Two biogeographical groups of coastal forests were found among ca. 30% of the Kenyan butterfly fauna and the authors believe that a further sub-division of the “Usambara-Kwale local centre of endemism” is possible between coastal forests further inland (e.g. Kaya Muhaka) and those close to the shoreline of the Indian Ocean (e.g. Kaya Kinondo, Kaya Diani).

A new species Toussaintia patriciae, from the Udzungwa Mountains in Tanzania, is described and illustrated and its relationship to the other three species in the genus discussed.

From 1993 to 2000, observations were made of small to medium-sized mammals in seven poorly known submontane forest reserves and one village forest in the North Pare, South Pare, East Usambara and Nguu Mountains, Tanzania. Of 26 species recorded, three are Red-Listed as Threatened (Endangered: Zanj elephant shrew Rhynchocyon petersi; Vulnerable: red-bellied coast squirrel Paraxerus palliatus, and eastern tree hyrax Dendrohyrax validus) and five as Lower Risk (two dwarf galagos Galagoides spp., African buffalo Syncerus caffer, suni Neotragus moschatus, and Harvey's duiker Cephalophus harveyi). Most of our mammal records represent new distributions in the Eastern Arc Mountains, and one record of an unidentified squirrel in the Nguu Mountains is of conservation interest. Together with timber removal and cultivation, hunting appears to threaten the survival of mammals in these forests. There is an urgent need to establish long-term conservation programmes in these forests and more thorough surveys of mammals are necessary.

The Udzungwa forest partridge, Xenoperdix udzungwensis is known from only three forests within the Udzungwa and Rubeho Highlands of the Eastern Arc Mountains. Given the phenotypic differences between the Udzungwa (X. u. udzungwensis) and Rubeho Highland (X. u. obscurata) populations, it seems unlikely that there remains recurrent gene flow between these two populations. We used a combination of mitochondrial (1041 bp of NADH Dehydrogenase subunit 2) and nuclear DNA (569 bp of Fibrinogen intron 5 and 387 bp of Glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate Dehydrogenase intron 11) markers to investigate the degree to which these two taxa are separated. In mtDNA, 0.5% sequence divergence, with five-fixed mutational differences (two amino acid changes) was recovered between X. u. udzungwensis and X. u. obscurata. One fixed difference was found for Fib5 and none for Gadph11. Coalescent models suggest that no gene flow is taking place between the Udzungwa and Rubeho Highlands and that divergence between the two taxa took place about 200 000 years before present. The presence of fixed mutational differences in mtDNA and in one of the two nDNA markers analysed, the lack of gene flow, and diagnosable morphological differences (including potential display signals) between X. u. udzungwensis and X. u. obscurata, suggest that X. u. obscurata be accorded full species status, Xenoperdix obscurata, for which we put forth the common name ‘Rubeho forest partridge’.

Small mammals were sampled in the Udzungwa Mountains National Park, Tanzania, during 1995 and 1996. Twenty-four species, representing 16 genera were recorded for three orders: Insectivora, Chiroptera and Rodentia. Identifications and natural history information are presented for this poorly known fauna from a unique Eastern Arc Mountains habitat.

Small mammals were sampled on Mount Malundwe in Mikumi National Park, Tanzania, during July 2004. Nine species, representing seven genera were recorded for three mammalian orders: Insectivora, Chiroptera and Rodentia. Species documented included those common in other montane areas of Tanzania as well as inhabitants of drier habitats. Identifications and natural history information are presented for this poorly known fauna from a unique Eastern Arc habitat.

The small mammals of Kwamgumi Forest Reserve, a habitat representing transition between coastal and Eastern Arc forest types, and one of the lower forest reserves of the East Usambara Mountains, Tanzania, were sampled to gain a preliminary perspective on the diversity and abundance of the shrews, bats and rodents of this unique forest. While the species documented are reminiscent of those found at higher elevations in the East and West Usambara Mountains, the abundance of shrews and rodents, based on trap success, was much lower than in the montane forests of the Eastern Arc Mountains.

The structure of four small forest fragments, Kichuchenyi, Macha, Ndiwenyi and Yale, all situated in the Dabida massif of the Taita Hills, was analyzed. The study was based on sample plots of 400 m² each. Basal area, stratification and disturbance data are presented. All fragments are heavily disturbed. Ndiwenyi and Kichuchenyi forests are structurally very similar. However, the main characteristic of the former is its remarkably large diameter trees in comparison to all the other fragments. Yale is the least disturbed of the four forests and has the highest number of species typical of the primary forest.

During a bird watching excursion to the Amani Nature Reserve (East Usambara Mountains), Tanzania, in July 2003, five ornithologists encountered a mongoose of the Bdeogale-group. The mongoose was most likely the Sokoke dog mongoose Bdeogale omnivora Heller, 1913, a species first observed from this area in 1939, but not reported since then.