Woodboring Beetles of Kimboza Forest Reserve in Tanzania

Kimboza Forest Reserve is a priority conservation area (IUCN category IV-habitat or species management area) as it is the home to many important endemic floras, and several fauna. Among fauna species found in this forest is the highly threatened species a blue dwarf gecko (Lygodactylus williamsi). Furthermore, human activities including rampant deforestation activities have intensified the threat to the existence of some of the once abundant and flourishing flora species, for example Khaya anthotheca, Milicia excelsa, Pterocarpus angolensis and Cynometra uluguruensis. Woodboring beetles are attack dying or dead trees in Kimboza Forest Reserve. In Kimboza Forest Reserve, they are important in the turnover of trees by culling weak trees, thus allowing new growth to occur. They are also important as primary decomposers of trees within forest systems, allowing for the recycling of nutrients locked away in the relatively decay-resilient woody material of trees.