Do protection gradients explain patterns in herbivore densities? An example with ungulates in Zambia’s Luangwa Valley
Autoři:
Elias Rosenblatt aff001; Scott Creel aff001; Paul Schuette aff001; Matthew S. Becker aff001; David Christianson aff001; Egil Dröge aff005; Thandiwe Mweetwa aff001; Henry Mwape aff001; Johnathan Merkle aff001; Jassiel M’soka aff001; Jones Masonde aff006; Twakundine Simpamba aff006
Působiště autorů:
Zambian Carnivore Programme, Mfuwe, Eastern Province, Zambia
aff001; Department of Ecology, Montana State University, Bozeman, Montana, United States of America
aff002; Alaska Center for Conservation Science, University of Alaska Anchorage, Anchorage, Alaska, United States of America
aff003; School of Natural Resources and the Environment, University of Arizona, Tucson, Arizona, United States of America
aff004; Wildlife Conservation Research Unit, University of Oxford, Tubney, United Kingdom
aff005; Department of National Parks and Wildlife, Chilanga, Zambia
aff006
Vyšlo v časopise:
PLoS ONE 14(10)
Kategorie:
Research Article
prolekare.web.journal.doi_sk:
https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0224438
Souhrn
Ungulate populations face declines across the globe, and populations are commonly conserved by using protected areas. However, assessing the effectiveness of protected areas in conserving ungulate populations has remained difficult. Using herd size data from four years of line transect surveys and distance sampling models, we modeled population densities of four important herbivore species across a gradient of protection on the edge of Zambia’s South Luangwa National Park (SLNP) while accounting for the role of various ecological and anthropogenic variables. Our goal was to test whether protection was responsible for density dynamics in this protection gradient, and whether a hunting moratorium impacted herbivore densities during the studies. For all four species, we estimated lower densities in partially protected buffer areas adjacent to SLNP (ranging from 4.5-fold to 13.2-fold lower) compared to protected parklands. Density trends through the study period were species-specific, with some species increasing, decreasing, or remaining stable in all or some regions of the protection gradient. Surprisingly, when controlling for other covariates, we found that these observed differences were not always detectably related to the level of protection or year. Our findings highlight the importance of accounting for variables beyond strata of interest in evaluating the effectiveness of a protected area. This study highlights the importance of comprehensively modeling ungulate population density across protection gradients, identifies lands within an important protection gradient for targeted conservation and monitoring, documents prey depletion and expands our understanding on the drivers in a critical buffer area in Zambia.
Klíčová slova:
Grasses – Conservation science – Population density – Wildlife – Surface water – Zebras – Lagoons – Herbivory
Zdroje
1. Gordon IJ, Hester AJ, Festa‐Bianchet M. Review: The management of wild large herbivores to meet economic, conservation and environmental objectives. J Appl Ecol 2004;41: 1021–1031.
2. Western D, Russell S, Cuthill I. The status of wildlife in protected areas compared to non-protected areas of Kenya. PloS one 2009; 4:e6140. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0006140 19584912
3. Ripple WJ, Newsome TM, Wolf C, Dirzo R, Everatt KT, Galetti M, et al. Collapse of the world’s largest herbivores. Sci Adv 2015;1:e1400103. doi: 10.1126/sciadv.1400103 26601172
4. Wittemyer G, Elsen P, Bean WT, Burton ACO, Brashares JS. Accelerated human growth at protected area edges. Science 2008;321: 123–126. doi: 10.1126/science.1158900 18599788
5. Geldmann J, Barnes M, Coad L, Craigie ID, Hockings M, Burgess ND. Effectiveness of terrestrial protected areas in reducing habitat loss and population declines. Biol Conserv 2013;161: 230–238.
6. Woodroffe R, Ginsberg J. Edge effects and the extinction of populations inside protected areas. Science 1998;280: 2126–2128. doi: 10.1126/science.280.5372.2126 9641920
7. Pulliam HR. Sources, sinks, and population regulation. Am Nat 1988;132: 652–661.
8. Joppa L, Pfaff A. Reassessing the forest impacts of protection: the challenge of nonrandom location and a corrective method. Ann. N.Y. Acad. Sci. 2010;1185: 135–149. doi: 10.1111/j.1749-6632.2009.05162.x 20146766
9. M'soka J, Creel S, Becker MS, Murdoch JD. Ecological and anthropogenic effects on the density of migratory and resident ungulates in a human-inhabited protected area. Afr J Ecol 2017;55: 618–631.
10. Buckland ST. Introduction to Distance Sampling: Estimating Abundance of Biological Populations. Oxford: Oxford University Press; 2001.
11. Royle JA, Dawson DK, Bates S. Modeling abundance effects in distance sampling. Ecol 2004;85: 1591–1597.
12. Ferguson MC, Barlow J, Fiedler P, Reilly SB, Gerrodette T. Spatial models of delphinid (family Delphinidae) encounter rate and group size in the eastern tropical Pacific Ocean. Ecol Model 2006;193: 645–662.
13. Rduch V. Population characteristics and coexistence of puku (Kobus vardonii) and impala (Aepyceros melampus) in and around Kafue National Park, Zambia. Mamm Biol 2016;81: 350–360.
14. Caro TM, Pelkey N, Borner M, Campbell KLI, Woodworth BL, Farm BP, et al. Consequences of different forms of conservation for large mammals in Tanzania: preliminary analyses. Afr J Ecol 1998;36: 303–320.
15. Stoner C, Caro T, Mduma S, Mlingwa C, Sabuni G, Borner M. Assessment of effectiveness of protection strategies in Tanzania based on a decade of survey data for large herbivores. Conserv Biol 2007;21: 635–646. doi: 10.1111/j.1523-1739.2007.00705.x 17531042
16. Ogutu JO, Piepho HP, Dublin HT, Bhola N, Reid RS. Dynamics of Mara–Serengeti ungulates in relation to land use changes. J Zool 2009;278: 1–14.
17. Schuette P, Creel S, Christianson D. Ungulate distributions in a rangeland with competitors, predators and pastoralists. J Appl Ecol 2016;53: 1066–1077.
18. Purchase G, Mateke C, Purchase D. A review of the status and distribution of carnivores, and levels of human- carnivore conflict, in the protected areas and surrounds of the Zambezi Basin. Unpublished report. The Zambezi Society, Bulawayo. 2007. pp 1–77.
19. Watson FGR, Becker MS, Milanzi J, Nyirenda M. Human encroachment into protected area networks in Zambia: implications for large carnivore conservation. Reg Environ Change 2014;15: 415–429.
20. Rosenblatt E, Becker MS, Creel S, Droge E, Mweetwa T, Schuette PA et al. Detecting declines of apex carnivores and evaluating their causes: An example with Zambian lions. Biol Conserv 2014;180: 176–186.
21. Lindsey PA, Nyirenda VR, Barnes JI, Becker MS, Mcrobb R, Tambling CJ, et al. Underperformance of African protected area networks and the case for new conservation models: Insights from Zambia. PLoS One 2014;9: e94109 doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0094109 24847712
22. Becker MS, Watson FGR, Droge E, Leigh K, Carlson RS, Carlson AA. Estimating past and future male loss in three Zambian lion populations. J Wildl Manag 2013;77: 128–142.
23. Rosenblatt E, Creel S, Becker MS, Merkle J, Mwape H, Schuette P, Simpamba T. Effects of a protection gradient on carnivore density and survival: an example with leopards in the Luangwa valley, Zambia. Ecol Evol 2016;6: 3772–3785. doi: 10.1002/ece3.2155 27231529
24. Creel S, M'soka J, Dröge E, Rosenblatt E, Becker M, Matandiko W, Simpamba T. Assessing the sustainability of African lion trophy hunting, with recommendations for policy. Ecol Appl 2016;26: 2347–2357. doi: 10.1002/eap.1377 27755732
25. Mweetwa T, Christianson D, Becker MS, Creel S, Rosenblatt E, Merkle J, et al. Quantifying lion demographic responses during a three-year moratorium on trophy hunting. PLOS One 2018;13: e0197030. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0197030 29782514
26. Becker MS, McRobb R, Watson F, Droge E, Kanyembo B, Murdoch J, Kakumbi C. Evaluating wire-snare poaching trends and the impacts of by-catch on elephants and large carnivores. Biol Conserv 2013;158: 26–36.
27. Watson F, Becker MS, McRobb R, Kanyembo B. Spatial patterns of wire-snare poaching: implications for community conservation in buffer zones around National Parks. Biol Conserv 2013;168: 1–9.
28. White PA, Belant JL. Provisioning of game meat to rural communities as a benefit of sport hunting in Zambia. PloS one 2015;10: e0117237. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0117237 25693191
29. SLCS. South Luangwa Conservation Society Annual Report 2014. 2015. 22 pp.
30. Lewis DM, Phiri A. Wildlife snaring—an indicator of community response to a community-based conservation project. Oryx 1998;32: 111–121.
31. Astle WL, Webster R, Lawrance CJ. Land classification for management planning in the Luangwa Valley of Zambia. J Appl Ecol 1969;6: 143–169.
32. White F. The Vegetation of Africa: A Descriptive Memoir to Accompany the Unesco/AETFAT/UNSO Vegetation Map of Africa. Paris, France: United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization; 1983.
33. Republic of Zambia. 2010 census of population and housing. Lusaka, Zambia; Central Statistical Office; 2011.
34. Maechler M, Rousseeuw P, Struyf A, Hubert M, Hornik K. cluster: Cluster analysis basics and extensions. R package version 2.0.4; 2016.
35. R Core Team. R: A language and environment for statistical computing. Vienna, Austria: R Foundation for Statistical Computing; 2019.
36. Pebesma EJ, Bivand RS. Classes and methods for spatial data in R. R News 5; 2005.
37. Bivand RS, Pebesma E, Gomez-Rubio V. Applied spatial data analysis with R. 2nd ed. New York: Springer; 2013.
38. Bivand RS, Keitt T, Rowlingson B. rgdal: Bindings for the geospatial data abstraction library. R package version 1.0–4; 2015.
39. Wickham H. The split-apply-combine strategy for data analysis. J Stat Softw 2011;40: 1–29.
40. Drӧge E, Creel S, Becker M, M'soka J. Spatial and temporal avoidance of risk within a large carnivore guild. Ecol Evol 2017;7: 189–199. doi: 10.1002/ece3.2616 28070283
41. Calenge C. The package adehabitat for the R software: a tool for the analysis of space and habitat use by animals. Ecol Model 2006;197: 516–519.
42. Hijmans RJ. raster: Geographic data analysis and modeling. R package version 2.4–15; (2015).
43. Anderson DR, Laake JL, Crain BR, Burnham KP. Guidelines for line transect sampling of biological populations. J Wildl Manag 1979;43: 70–78.
44. Wilsey BJ. Variation in use of green flushes following burns among African ungulate species: the importance of body size. Afr J Ecol 1996;34: 32–38.
45. Chandler RB, Royle JA, King DI. Inference about density and temporary emigration in unmarked populations. Ecol 2011;92: 1429–1435.
46. Zuur AF, Leno EN, Walker NJ, Savaliev AA, Smith GM. Mixed Effects Models and Extensions in Ecology with R. New York: Springer; 2009.
47. Yee TW. Vector Generalized Linear and Additive Models: With an Implementation in R. New York: Springer; 2015.
48. Frid A, Dill L. Human-caused disturbance stimuli as a form of predation risk. Conserv Ecol 2002;6: 11.
49. SLCS. Annual Report to Luangwa Conservation Community Fund. 2012. 22 pp.
50. SLCS. South Luangwa Conservation Society Annual Report 2013. 2014. 24 pp.
51. CSL. Conservation South Luangwa Annual Report 2015. 2015. 21 pp.
52. Nyirenda VR, Lindsey PA, Phiri E, Stevenson I, Chomba C, Namukonde N, et al. Trends in illegal killing of African elephants (Loxodonta africana) in the Luangwa and Zambezi ecosystems of Zambia. Environ Nat Resour Res 2015;5: 24–36.
53. Sankaran M, Augustine DJ, Ratnam J. Native ungulates of diverse body sizes collectively regulate long‐term woody plant demography and structure of a semi‐arid savanna. J Ecol 2013;101: 1389–1399.
54. DNPW. Report on the 2015 aerial census of elephants and other large mammals in Zambia: Volume II Population estimates for other large mammals and birds. Chilanga, Zambia: Department of National Parks and Wildlife; 2016.
55. Jachmann H. Estimating Abundance of African Wildlife: An Aid to Adaptive Management. Boston: Kluwer Academic Publishers; 2001.
56. Schuette P, Namukonde N, Becker MS, Watson F, Creel S, Chifunte C, et al. Boots on the ground: in defense of low‑tech, inexpensive, and robust survey methods for Africa’s under‑funded protected areas. Biodivers Conserv 2018;27: 2173–2191.
57. Marnewick K. Conservation biology of cheetahs Acinonyx jubatus (Schreber 1775) and African wild dogs Lycaon pictus (Temminck 1820) in South Africa. Doctoral Dissertation, University of Pretoria, South Africa. 2016.
Článok vyšiel v časopise
PLOS One
2019 Číslo 10
- Metamizol jako analgetikum první volby: kdy, pro koho, jak a proč?
- Nejasný stín na plicích – kazuistika
- Masturbační chování žen v ČR − dotazníková studie
- Těžké menstruační krvácení může značit poruchu krevní srážlivosti. Jaký management vyšetření a léčby je v takovém případě vhodný?
- Fixní kombinace paracetamol/kodein nabízí synergické analgetické účinky
Najčítanejšie v tomto čísle
- Correction: Low dose naltrexone: Effects on medication in rheumatoid and seropositive arthritis. A nationwide register-based controlled quasi-experimental before-after study
- Combining CDK4/6 inhibitors ribociclib and palbociclib with cytotoxic agents does not enhance cytotoxicity
- Experimentally validated simulation of coronary stents considering different dogboning ratios and asymmetric stent positioning
- Risk factors associated with IgA vasculitis with nephritis (Henoch–Schönlein purpura nephritis) progressing to unfavorable outcomes: A meta-analysis