POTENTIAL IMPACTS OF FUTURE CLIMATE-CHANGE ON NYALA TRAGELAPHUS-ANGASI IN LENGWE-NATIONAL-PARK, MALAWI

General Circulation Models (GCMs) were used to develop climate change scenarios for the Lengwe National Park in Malawi. Scenarios of future precipitation and ambient temperature were in turn used to evaluate ha bitat suitability of 5 ungulate populations and to rank their vulnerab ility to global climate change in the park. Preliminary results sugges t that ambient temperatures may rise with a doubling of atmospheric CO 2, and precipitation will be more variable. The vulnerability assessme nt results suggest that all the ungulates, especially nyala antelope T ragelaphus angasi, could be highly susceptible to climate induced chan ges in habitat and food supply. Adaptive measures, such as translocati on, culling, and expanding the water supply, may alleviate climatic ch ange impacts on nyala and other ungulates.