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Financial constraints precluded the intended field surveys which were intended to contribute an important data source for the project. Many of the taxonomic problems therefore remain unresolved and the field experience and data required for effective conservation planning were not obtained. In consequence, the following tasks have been identified as priorities for future research.
VERIFICATION OF IDENTIFIED TAXONOMIC UNITS
The examination of preserved specimens as part of this project resulted in the identification of some 57 operational taxonomic units (OTUs) of varying levels of certainty. Some of these OTUs are based on only one or very few specimens which could either represent valid taxa or may merely be aberrant specimens of other, more clearly defined OTUs.
In order the verify to taxonomic status of these questionable OTUs it will be necessary to undertake further field collection of specimens at the given localities as well as surrounding areas. This fieldwork should also aim to establish distributional limits to the various OTUs and whether any zones of intergradation, hybridization, parapatry or sympatry exist. This information will be highly significant for the taxonomic interpretation of the various OTUs. Specimens collected during this fieldwork should be used for cytological, molecular and biochemical analysis in order to provide additional evidence for determining the status of their OTUs.
ELUCIDATION OF GEOGRAPHIC DISTRIBUTIONS AND RELATIONSHIPS
Present information is based on museum specimen localities and literature records. Many of these locality records are widely scattered and there is no way of determining whether the populations they represent are truly disjunct or whether the wide separation of records is merely due to the under-collection of a continuous population.
This aspect is closely correlated with the research required under the previous item and would involve field surveys to establish overall population (or OTU) distributions. Linking these with the identification of possible barriers and dispersal routes could be used to explain present distribution patterns. This can, in turn, be used to support taxonomic phylogenies derived from the cladistic analysis of morphological and biochemical character sets.
IDENTIFICATION OF HABITAT AND ECOLOGICAL REQUIREMENTS
At present, the habitat requirements of these chameleon taxa are only broadly known through extrapolation of locality data against the Acocks Veld Types known to occur at or around these localities. In a minority of cases, personal field collection has provided more detailed information, but, for the majority of OTUs, no such specific information exists.
Basic ecological information for each taxon is also needed. Fecundity, reproductive age, expected life span, juvenile and adult mortality rates, population stability, territory or home range size, predation levels, population densities and a number of other ecological parameters will need to be researched.
Only field exploration of the various populations in their natural habitat will supply the detailed habitat and ecological parameters which will be needed to determine the basic conservation requirements of the taxa in order to prepare plans for future conservation management.
PREPARATION OF CONSERVATION MANAGEMENT PLANS
The technique detailed elsewhere (section 4) in this report is recommended for use in preparing conservation management plans for each individual taxon, starting with those which have been assessed as priority species for conservation. It may be found that additional research projects are identified in the course of preparing these plans, e.g. the effects of a particular fire-management regime on the resident populations of dwarf chameleons. It seems desirable that such planning and research applications are undertaken by individuals or teams with the requisite knowledge of both dwarf chameleon biology and local environmental conditions.
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