Salary inequality as a predictor of biodiversity research output in Africa

African nations contribute <1% of global scientific output, with biodiversity research productivity constrained by political instability, limited infrastructure, and restricted access. An often-overlooked barrier is low salaries, which limit the feasibility of fieldwork for local researchers. Using publication data from the Scopus database, we explored the relationship between salary disparities among locally affiliated and non-African-affiliated researchers (i.e., foreign researchers) and biodiversity research output in Africa. We then used generalized linear models to test whether these disparities predicted national publication output and the proportion of foreign-affiliated studies. We found that salary disparities between locally based and foreign researchers were inversely correlated with national research productivity and positively correlated with the proportion of foreign-affiliated publications. Local researchers face major financial barriers to conducting fieldwork and are often unable to cover basic costs without external funding, whereas foreign researchers may still retain sufficient disposable income to self-finance high-quality fieldwork even after accounting for travel expenses. These disparities perpetuate reliance on foreign institutions, constrain local research capacity, and limit Africa's ability to address its unique conservation challenges. Addressing salary inequality is essential to strengthen local research capacity and ensure more equitable contributions to global biodiversity science, especially given the rapid global decline of biodiversity.