Biodiversity of the Gulf of Guinea Oceanic Islands: Science and Conservation

Author Biography

Luis M. P. Ceríaco is the head of collections & research and curator of Herpetology at the Natural History and Science Museum (Univ. Porto), also serving as external-curator of Herpetology at the National Museum of Natural History and Science (Univ. Lisbon). His main research topics focus on the integrative taxonomy of African vertebrates (especially herpetofauna), nomenclature, history of science and natural history collections. He described several new species of vertebrates and has ongoing research projects in São Tomé & Príncipe, Angola and Namibia. He has been working in the Gulf of Guinea since 2013. Ricardo F. de Lima is an ecologist and conservation biologist at Ce3C (Center for Ecology, Evolution and Environmental Changes, Univ. Lisbon), who has worked in São Tomé and Príncipe since 2008. His research focuses on the response of forest biodiversity to human activities, having worked with multiple taxa, from birds and plants to amphibians and snails. Much of his work focuses on translating his findings into conservation priorities, namely by contributing to the International Union for Conservation of Nature Red List of Threatened Species.  Martim Melo is an evolutionary and conservation biologist at CIBIO (Research Center in Biodiversity and Genetic Resources, Univ. Porto), Head of Exploration of the Natural History and Science Museum (Univ. Porto) and Research Associate at the FitzPatrick Institute of African Ornithology (Univ. Cape Town). He has worked on the Gulf of Guinea Islands since 1996 – running a research program on the origins and evolution of the avifauna and assisting conservation programs. He has been involved in the taxonomic revision of São Tomé & Príncipe birds and the description of a new endemic owl from Príncipe island. He also runs similar programs in the Afromontane and Scarp forests of Angola and in the Cabo Verde archipelago. Rayna C. Bell is the curator of Herpetology at the California Academy of Sciences, USA. Her research focuses on the evolution, ecology, and conservation of reptiles and amphibians in sub-Saharan Africa. She has been working in the Gulf of Guinea since 2011 and recently described Hyperolius drewesi, a new species of reed frog endemic to Príncipe Island. She has also documented the presence of the amphibian chytrid fungus in several Central African regions, including São Tomé and Príncipe islands.