Gain and loss: Human and environmental wellbeing – drivers of Kilimanjaro’s decreasing biodiversity

PLOS One | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0334184 October 29, 2025 22 / 23 41. Meyer H. Ostafrikanische Gletscherfahrten. Forschungsreisen im Kilimandscharo-Gebiet. Leipzig: Duncker & Humblot; 1890. 42. Volkens G. Der Kilimandscharo: Darstellung der allgemeineren Ergebnisse eines fünfzehnmonatigen Aufenthalts im Dschaggalande. Berlin: Reimer; 1897. 43. Jaeger F. Forschungen in den Hochregionen des Kilimandscharo. Mitteilungen aus den Deutschen Schutzgebieten. 2023;22(1090):113–46, 161–96. 44. Klute F. Ergebnisse der Forschungen am Kilimandscharo 1912. Berlin; 1920. 45. Arrhenius O. Species and area. J Ecol. 1921;9:95–9. 46. Rosenzweig ML. Species diversity in space and time. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press; 1995. 47. Drakare S, Lennon JJ, Hillebrand H. The imprint of the geographical, evolutionary and ecological context on species-area relationships. Ecol Lett. 2006;9(2):215–27. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1461-0248.2005.00848.x PMID: 16958886 48. Hemp A, Del Fabbro C, Fischer M. Area modulates the effect of elevation but not of land use or canopy on tropical plant species richness. Biodiv- ers Conserv. 2021;30(14):4265–77. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10531-021-02304-6 49. National Bureau of Statistics Tanzania. General Information. 2024. [cited 2024 Mar 13] Available from: https://www.nbs.go.tz/?utm_source=chatgpt. com 50. United Nations. World Population Prospects 2024: Summary of Results. New York: UN DESA/POP; 2024. 51. World Population Review. Tanzania Population. Available from: http://worldpopulationreview.com/countries/tanzania-population/

52. Swynnerton RJM. Some Problems of the Chagga on Kilimanjaro. East Afr Agric J. 1949;14(3):117–32. https://doi.org/10.1080/03670074.1949.1166 4670 53. Hemp A, Hemp C, Winter JC. Environment and worldview: the Chagga homegardens. Culture, history and identity: landscapes of inhabitation in the Mount Kilimanjaro Area, Tanzania. Essays in honour of Paramount Chief Thomas Lenana Mlanga Marealle II (1915-2007). Oxford: Archaeo- press; 2009. pp. 235–303. 54. Twisa S, Buchroithner MF. Land-Use and Land-Cover (LULC) Change Detection in Wami River Basin, Tanzania. Land. 2019;8(9):136. https://doi. org/10.3390/land8090136 55. IMF. GDP per capita, current prices – Tanzania. IMF Datamapper. 2024. [cited 2024 May 29]. Available from: https://www.imf.org/external/datamap- per/NGDPDPC@WEO/TZA?zoom=TZA&highlight=TZA 56. OECD, Sahel and West Africa Club Secretariat, African Development Bank, United Nations Economic Commission for Africa. Africa’s Urbanisation Dynamics 2025: Planning for Urban Expansion. Paris: OECD Publishing; 2025. 57. Hemp A, Bianco G, Pócs T. Homegardens and coffee plantations on Kilimanjaro: refugium for bryophytes in densely cultivated landscapes. Hatto- ria. 2023;14(1):1–16. 58. IPCC. Climate Change 2014: The Physical Science Basis. Contribution of Working Group I to the Fourth Assessment Report of the IPCC. Cam- bridge: Cambridge University Press; 2014. 59. Mölg T, Großhauser M, Hemp A, Hofer M, Marzeion B. Limited forcing of glacier loss through land-cover change on Kilimanjaro. Nat Clim Chang. 2012;2:254–8. https://doi.org/10.1038/nclimate1425

60. Hemp A. The impact of fire on diversity, structure, and composition of the vegetation on Mt. Kilimanjaro. Land use change and mountain biodiver- sity. Boca Raton: CRC Press; 2005. pp. 51–68. 61. Abera TA, Heiskanen J, Maeda EE, Muhammed MA, Bhandari N, Vakkari V, et al. Deforestation amplifies climate change effects on warming and cloud level rise in African montane forests. Nat Commun. 2024;15(1):6992. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-024-51324-7 PMID: 39143071 62. Pepin NC, Duane WJ, Hardy DR. The montane circulation on Kilimanjaro, Tanzania and its relevance for the summit ice fields: Compari- son of surface mountain climate with equivalent reanalysis parameters. Glob Planet Change. 2010;74(2):61–75. https://doi.org/10.1016/j. gloplacha.2010.08.001 63. Cardinale BJ, Duffy JE, Gonzalez A, Hooper DU, Perrings C, Venail P, et al. Biodiversity loss and its impact on humanity. Nature. 2012;486(7401):59–67. https://doi.org/10.1038/nature11148 PMID: 22678280 64. Marques A, Martins IS, Kastner T, Plutzar C, Theurl MC, Eisenmenger N, et al. Increasing impacts of land use on biodiversity and carbon seques- tration driven by population and economic growth. Nat Ecol Evol. 2019;3(4):628–37. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41559-019-0824-3 PMID: 30833755 65. Tscharntke T, Klein AM, Kruess A, Steffan-Dewenter I, Thies C. Landscape perspectives on agricultural intensification and biodiversity–ecosystem service management. Ecol Lett. 2005;8:857–74.

66. Jetz W, Wilcove DS, Dobson AP. Projected impacts of climate and land-use change on the global diversity of birds. PLoS Biol. 2007;5(6):e157. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pbio.0050157 PMID: 17550306 67. Lovett JC, Hemp A. Is climate change making plants go up mountains? Front Biogeogr. 2010;2(1):4−5. 68. Peters MK, Hemp A, Appelhans T, Behler C, Classen A, Detsch F, et al. Predictors of elevational biodiversity gradients change from single taxa to the multi-taxa community level. Nat Commun. 2016;7:13736. https://doi.org/10.1038/ncomms13736 PMID: 28004657 69. Mollel NP, Fischer M, Hemp A. Usable wild plant species in relation to elevation and land use at Mount Kilimanjaro, Tanzania. Alp Botany. 2017;127(2):145–54. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00035-017-0187-9