Galagos are an understudied family of primates which inhabit much of Sub-Saharan Africa, some of which are potentially at risk. The coastal forests of East Africa are home to many galagos, however this habitat is under threat from an increasing human population seeking timber, charcoal and land for agriculture, amongst other pressures. This study used repeated transect methods when estimating the density of both the Zanzibar galago (Galagoides zanzibaricus) and Garnett’s galago (Otolemur garnetti) in a human influenced forest and a relatively undisturbed forest which were otherwise similar. Densities of Zanzibar galagos were not significantly influenced by human activities. Garnett’s galago numbers showed a statistically significant though slight increase when their environment displayed signs of modification by human activities. Results also indicate that the future use of territory mapping style methods may give reliable estimates of species that have been difficult to monitor in the past, as well as providing a more comprehensive view of social structure in surveyed populations. A survey of 60 households in close proximity to these forests found that 56.7 % of household heads thought that conservation of the forests and their resources were worth conserving. It also identified that problems need to be addressed in the management of the park to prevent loss of crops for farmers and that many of them resent stringent restrictions they must abide by when living in proximity to this protected forest. This study shows that proposed agroecosytems to be used to help the conservation of primates will only aid certain species and that further study is necessary of the Galago family to determine how they will fare in rapidly changing coastal forest environments. Key Words: galago density, coastal forest, conservation perception, territory mapping

Scorodophloeus fischeri (Fabaceae, subfamily Caesalpinoideae) and Manilkara sulcata (Sapotaceae) are examples of tropical African hardwood species and are endemic to East African coastal forests. These plant species are threatened by human activities beyond natural recovery in some forests. This study aimed to assess the effects of anthropogenic disturbance on the natural regeneration potential of S. fischeri and M. sulcata in the selected coastal forests of Tanzania. Transects were established in various vegetation communities and a nested quadrat technique was used to assess the natural regeneration. Scorodophloeus fischeri regenerates best in Zaraninge forest with high density of trees with diameter at breast height (DBH) between 10-50 cm and a higher seedling density than in other forests. Similarly, M. sulcata regenerates best in Pande forest, although many trees had a DBH of 10-30 cm, implying that the trees with size classes above these are missing. It was concluded that the minimum level of human disturbances in Zaraninge favoured high potentials of natural regeneration of S. fischeri. Disturbances through human activities contributed to the variation in the natural regeneration potentials for S. fischeri and M. sulcata in these forests. Conservation attention is likely to improve population structure and natural regeneration patterns of S. fischeri and M. sulcata in East African coastal forests.

Serengeti is the largest ecosystem in Tanzania endowed with high level of biodiversity in pro-tected and unprotected areas. Serengeti National Park is the only protected area in a matrix of unprotected areas characterized with a wide range of human activities which threaten biodiversi-ty conservation. It was assessed plant species composition, diversity, distribution and vegetation structure in both the protected and unprotected areas of the ecosystem. Two transects with twen-ty plots each were established in each vegetation type in which data was collected. A significantly higher species composition (262) and diversity (2.39 ± 0.03) was observed in unprotected areas than in the protected area (163 and 2.06 ± 0.04 respectively). The DCA ordination of the species data from the two management regimes formed four clusters based on similarity in plant species composition, where three clusters were from unprotected areas and one from protected area. The variations in plant species composition ranged from 35.69 % to 65.92 % for the first four DCA axes. There was no significant difference in stem density between protected and unprotected areas of the ecosystem. Although high density of trees at 10- 14 cm DBH sizes was observed in both sides of the conservation management regimes, individuals with DBH above 65 cm existed in the pro-