The potto Perodicticus potto is a small, arboreal, nocturnal primate with an extensive, but poorly-known, distribution through tropical Africa, and a debated taxonomy. This paper (1) examines the Eastern Rift Valley as a major barrier to primate distribution in eastern Africa, (2) reviews the taxonomy of P. potto, (3) describes the distribution of the eastern potto P.p. ibeanus, (4) summarizes what is known about the body size, abundance, elevation and rainfall limits of P.p. ibeanus, (5) provides evidence for the presence of P. potto east of the Eastern Rift Valley, and (6) describes, names, and discusses a new subspecies of Perodicticus for Mount Kenya (the ‘Mount Kenya potto’ Perodicticus potto stockleyi). The geographic range for P.p. ibeanus is ca. 850 000 km² and extends from western Democratic Republic of Congo to western Kenya. P.p. ibeanus occurs where the mean annual rainfall is between 1300–2000 mm, and is not known to be present below 600 m or above 2300 m. Densities range from <2–28 individuals/km². P.p. stockleyi is described from one specimen that is phenotypically distinct from P.p. ibeanus and that derives from a population that is probably isolated from the nearest population of P.p. ibeanus by >175 km.

This paper focuses on the naming and use of plants by Taita who live at Mount Kasigau in Kenya's Eastern Arc Mountains. Plant vouchers and ethnobotanical data were compiled from transects and within 55 ecological plots, and during participant observations, home surveys, and semi-structured interviews with residents. Between 2002 and 2006, we recorded 338 wild woody plants in 74 families and 208 genera. Kasigau Taita named 252 of these plants and described 758 material uses or ecosystem services for 205 plants. Most plants with uses occurred in montane woodland (650–1000 m), the bushland (<650 m) comprised most of the plant uses, and <7% of the plants in evergreen forest (>1000 m) had a described use. Local residents also enriched the availability of resources around their homes and farms. Extra-local pressures for commerce posed the greatest threat to biodiversity conservation and the sustainable provision of woody plant resources for local livelihoods.

A single adult Cassin's hawk-eagle Spizaetus africanus was sighted on five occasions over three years in a highland forest in the Udzungwa Mountains, the first ever record of this species in Tanzania. This discovery has potentially significant biogeographical implications, strengthening ancient links between the forests of the Udzungwa Mountains and the Guineo-Congolian forests of central Africa.

Encephalartos kanga sp. nov. is described from Mount Kanga, an isolated hill of the Nguru Mountains within the crystalline, Precambrian Eastern Arc Mountains of Tanzania. The new species is distinguished by its spinose distal leaflet-shoulders with otherwise entire median leaflet margins and by the sharply tuberculate-dentate proximal side of the seminal ridge of the female cone scales.

Following a preliminary survey in 2004, a more intensive inventory of the small mammals of Mount Malundwe, Mikumi National Park, Tanzania, was conducted in July, 2005. Two species of insectivore, one species of bat, and five species of rodent were documented in the montane forest of this mountain. There were significantly more Praomys captured in 2005 than in 2004, but no new species of shrew or rodent were documented. One species of bat was recorded for the first time on Malundwe. The results of this study suggest that several surveys over an extended period of time may be necessary to comprehensively document the diversity and abundance of a small mammal community in an Afromontane forest.

The first systematic survey of mammals for two forest reserves (Kindoroko and Minja) in the North Pare Mountains, Tanzania, is reported here. The North Pares are the most northerly Tanzanian representative of the Eastern Arc Mountains (EAM), and represent an important source of information of the biogeographical relationship between these ancient fault block massifs, and more recent volcanoes to the northwest. Our survey found a fauna that is not as diverse as neighboring EAM such as the South Pares and West Usambaras, but the presence of Hylomyscus arcimontensis, a recently described wood mouse from the Eastern Arc and Rungwe Mountains, indicates the North Pares share closer affinities to the mammalian fauna of the EAM than to nearby Kilimanjaro. Praomys delectorum was the most common rodent species sampled. The abundance of both shrews and rodents was significantly higher in Minja than in Kindoroko.