Entrepreneurs, Elites, and Exclusion in Maasailand: Trends in Wildlife Conservation and Pastoralist Development

Maasai pastoralists in Kenya are rapidly diversifying. Maasai may now derive their main livelihoods (and sometimes considerable income) from farming, wildlife tourism, and/or the leasing of land for large-scale cereal cultivation. The spread of large-scale commercial cultivation competes with wildlife for grazing land, and wildlife populations around protected areas are rapidly declining as a result. This paper presents new data to analyse the way returns from different land uses, and the social structures affecting their distribution, influence the land-use choices being made by Maasai around the Mara National Reserve in Kenya. Returns to different interest groups from livestock, cultivation, and wildlife enterprises, seen in the light of current social, economic, and political trajectories, can help to clarify likely future land-use trends in the Mara. In particular, community conservation initiatives that seek to make conservation worthwhile to reserve-adjacent dwellers inevitably have a strong economic dimension. However, the choices made by Maasai landowners are not a simple function of the economic returns potentially accruing from a particular enterprise. They are as much or more influenced by who is able to control the different flows of returns from these different types of enterprise. These findings are relevant not only for the wider Serengeti-Mara Ecosystem, but also for pastoral livelihoods and wildlife conservation elsewhere in sub-Saharan Africa.     

Spatio-temporal habitat assessment of the Gangetic floodplain in the Hastinapur wildlife sanctuary

Remote sensing provides multi-dimensional and multi-temporal information about habitat, insights into the significant drivers of change, and the key factors affecting landscape dynamics. Such information is crucial to provide perspective and a more profound understanding of ecological surveys. This study utilizes Google Earth Engine's capability to assess a riverine wetland grassland floodplain in Hastinapur Wildlife Sanctuary (HWS) along the Ganga River, which is a critical habitat for wintering migratory birds, the critically endangered gharial, turtles, aquatic mammals such as otters and dolphins, and cervid species such as swamp deer. We have developed a framework for regular monitoring through rapid habitat assessment, which visualizes the spatio-temporal change in land cover, the seasonal dynamics in water and vegetation, changes due to anthropogenic influences on the landscape, and finally, how these factors affect the habitat availability of species of concern in the HWS. The results show a dynamic river system with high seasonal variations. The vegetation trend shows increasing greenness, indicative of the conversion of grassland, scrubland, and herbaceous cover to more permanent vegetation, which will adversely affect the riparian habitat structure. A habitat suitability index generated through geospatial analysis using the weighted overlay method suggests that 40.07% of the HWS, nearly 767.12 km², comprising mainly the riverscape, wetland, and riparian grasslands, is suitable habitat for aquatic and semi-aquatic species. However, only 9.93% of the sanctuary comprising 197.27 km², is available as a core habitat. Further, the area is threatened by encroachment evident from the rapidly increasing land-use intensity and night light pollution, which puts the grasslands sheltered to swamp deer and other wildlife at higher risk leaving almost 27.9% of the area comprising 533.63 km² unsuitable for wildlife. Urban and agricultural land use has taken over 67% of the sanctuary. An increase in minimum radiance value representing ALAN, from 0.41 to 0.73 W/m²-sr in just six years from 2015 to 2021, shows a reduction in nocturnal darkness, reducing safe niches for wildlife. The study results provide critical baseline information for ecological surveys and a rapid assessment platform for future sanctuary management. Constant monitoring of anthropogenic activities such as farming, settlements, and transport routes threatening the habitat is essential for informed conservation management decisions.     

Spatiotemporal Variation and the Role of Wildlife in Seasonal Water Quality Declines in the Chobe River,Botswana

Sustainable management of dryland river systems is often complicated by extreme variability of precipitation in time and space, especially across large catchment areas. Understanding regional water quality changes in southern African dryland rivers and wetland systems is especially important because of their high subsistence value and provision of ecosystem services essential to both public and animal health. We quantified seasonal variation of Escherichia coli (E. coli) and Total Suspended Solids (TSS) in the Chobe River using spatiotemporal and geostatistical modeling of water quality time series data collected along a transect spanning a mosaic of protected, urban, and developing urban land use. We found significant relationships in the dry season between E. coli concentrations and protected land use (p = 0.0009), floodplain habitat (p = 0.016), and fecal counts from elephant (p = 0.017) and other wildlife (p = 0.001). Dry season fecal loading by both elephant (p = 0.029) and other wildlife (p = 0.006) was also an important predictor of early wet season E. coli concentrations. Locations of high E. coli concentrations likewise showed close spatial agreement with estimates of wildlife biomass derived from aerial survey data. In contrast to the dry season, wet season bacterial water quality patterns were associated only with TSS (p<0.0001), suggesting storm water and sediment runoff significantly influence E. coli loads. Our data suggest that wildlife populations, and elephants in particular, can significantly modify river water quality patterns. Loss of habitat and limitation of wildlife access to perennial rivers and floodplains in water-restricted regions may increase the impact of species on surface water resources. Our findings have important implications to land use planning in southern Africa’s dryland river ecosystems.     

Comparison of land use/land cover change and landscape patterns in Honghe National Nature Reserve and the surrounding Jiansanjiang Region,China

Land use and land cover change (LUCC) determines landscape patterns and affects the ability of ecosystems to provide the services and biodiversity on which humans ultimately depend. The Honghe National Nature Reserve is a biodiversity-rich area in the Jiansanjiang region of northeast China. In this study, the LUCC and landscape patterns were compared between the reserve and the Jiansanjiang region. With remote sensing (RS) and geographic information system (GIS) procedures, satellite images from 1989, 2001 and 2010 were used to calculate dynamics of LUCC amplitudes, landscape pattern index, transition matrix. The influence of LUCC on the wetland landscape of the nature reserve was discussed in the context of broader LUCC analyses. The results showed that land uses in the studied regions changed remarkedly over the time period; swamp area declined significantly as arable land increased. The ecological landscape index showed that distinct landscape patches were small, scattered and highly fragmented, moving toward a more monotonous landscape. Anthropogenic activities such as farming directly decreased the wetland landscape diversity. Furthermore, anthropogenic factors diminished wetland areas indirectly through climatic factors, namely air temperature and precipitation levels. National and regional policies on agriculture and water use have been highly influential, and the Honghe National Nature Reserve is highly susceptible to land use changes in the surrounding Jiansanjiang region.     

Community-based natural resource use and management of Bigodi Wetland Sanctuary,Uganda, for livelihood benefits

Conservation and sustainable management of wetlands requires participation of local stakeholders, including communities. The Bigodi Wetland is unusual because it is situated in a common property landscape but the local community has been running a successful community-based natural resource management programme (CBNRM) for the wetland for over a decade. Whilst external visitors to the wetland provide ecotourism revenues we sought to quantify community benefits through the use of wetland goods such as firewood, plant fibres, and the like, and costs associated with wild animals damaging farming activities. We interviewed 68 households living close to the wetland and valued their cash and non-cash incomes from farming and collection of non-timber forest products (NTFPs) and water. The majority of households collected a wide variety of plant and fish resources and water from the wetland for household use and livestock. Overall, 53% of total household cash and non-cash income was from collected products, mostly the wetland, 28% from arable agriculture, 12% from livestock and 7% from employment and cash transfers. Female-headed households had lower incomes than male-headed ones, and with a greater reliance on NTFPs. Annual losses due to wildlife damage were estimated at 4.2% of total gross income. Most respondents felt that the wetland was important for their livelihoods, with more than 80% identifying health, education, craft materials and firewood as key benefits. Ninety-five percent felt that the wetland was in a good condition and that most residents observed the agreed CBNRM rules regarding use of the wetland. This study confirms the success of the locally run CBNRM processes underlying the significant role that the wetland plays in local livelihoods.     

Importance of scale,land‐use,and stream network properties for riparian plant communities along an urban gradient

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黄河首曲湿地退化过程中植物群落组分及物种多样性的变化

黄河首曲湿地是黄河下游生态安全的重要屏障.通过实地调查,采用空间序列代替时间序列的方法,研究了黄河首曲湿地自然退化过程中植物多样性的变化,并用对比分析的方法研究了人工排水对植物多样性的影响.结果表明:在黄河首曲湿地自然退化过程中,经沼泽、沼泽化草甸、高寒草甸到草原化草甸,优势种向中生和旱生种演替,丰富度指数和多样性指数逐渐增大,即草原化草甸>高寒草甸>沼泽化草甸>沼泽,而优势度指数却逐渐减小,均匀度指数先降低后增加,植物物种多样性总体上表现为增加的态势.人为排水后,毒杂草在群落中的比例增加,导致丰富度指数和多样性指数增加,均匀度指数和优势度指数略有降低,群落相似性系数逐渐降低,主要是由于人工排水后,生境相对中生化,部分植物在群落内的零星分布导致多样性指数和丰富度指数增加,而均匀度指数下降.人工排水虽然增加了群落内的植物多样性,但增加的植物多为毒杂草,从而使湿地向杂草型退化方向演替.     

Impact of land use and tenure changes on the Kitenden wildlife corridor,Amboseli Ecosystem,Kenya

This study assesses the ecological pressure exerted by changing land use and tenure on the Kitenden wildlife corridor, a critical cross‐border link between the Amboseli and Kilimanjaro national parks. The implications on viability of the two high‐value protected areas and their respective dispersal areas are both negative and serious. The extent of land use change and its impacts were assessed through household and vegetation surveys, while wildlife abundance was measured using transect walks. Approximately 30% of the study area has shifted from community to private land ownership over the last two decades. Except for baboon and vervet monkey, most wildlife avoided the cultivated area. Vegetation composition on the noncultivated area has been greatly altered by intense wildlife and livestock use, where mean herbaceous vegetation cover differed significantly among range‐plant categories (F_{3, 524} = 29.015, p < 0.05). The frequency of increaser I (21.4%) differs greatly from that of decreaser and forbs, at 8.3% and 7.4%, respectively Tree recruitment was low, with a significant difference in mean density among age classes (F_{2, 110} = 3.663, p < 0.05). Only through land leasing agreements between landowners and conservation organisations, and a widely supported land use plan, can the spread of cultivation be controlled and complete cessation of wildlife movement be prevented.     

Changes in the distribution of alien plants along roadsides in relation to adjacent land use over the course of 40 years

Roads have become one of the main corridors supporting the dispersal of alien plants and their penetration and integration into native vegetation communities in new areas. The aim of this study was to use data sampled in 1970, 1994, and 2010 in order to check for changes in the spread of alien species along roadsides in relation to the adjacent land use. The results show that nutrient influxes and mechanical disturbance associated with the onset of intensive farming had a significant impact on the spread of the plant species in this study. In general, a significant increase was documented in the spread of species of invasive status. A different trend in the spread of archaeophytes and neophytes was observed in cases in which a road was adjacent to the meadow. Most of the archaeophytes in these habitats spread significantly in the first 20 years, and the distribution of neophytes did not show an increasing tendency. The highest rate of expansion was observed for plants propagating only by seed and in the built-up area of municipalities. Plants exhibiting both seed and vegetative propagation prevailed in the vicinity of meadows and forest vegetation.     

多尺度结合的西安市浐灞河湿地水鸟生境保护规划

城市湿地及其物种多样性的保护是城市生态建设的重要内容.结合西安市浐灞河湿地,对城市湿地水鸟生境的保护规划问题进行了探讨.经调查,西安市浐灞河段共发现水鸟20种,分属8目12科,孕育了丰富的水鸟多样性资源.同时保留有本地湿地植物种类,生境类型多样,具有很高的保护价值.浐灞河湿地水鸟生境的保护规划应以景观生态学、保护生物学、复合种群等相关理论为指导,区域/景观-局地-群落多尺度结合,保护与开发结合进行规划,具体从以下方面着手:生境网络的构建;小生境的设计,滨水地带土地利用格局优化及生境水深的控制;生境植物群落的构建.     

Land Use Patterns in the Brazilian Amazon: Comparative Farm-Level Evidence from Rondônia

Since the 1970s the Brazilian Amazon has received over 1 million migrant farm households from other regions of the country, many of whom were attracted to government-sponsored frontier settlement programs that offered free tropical forest land. As a result, pressures on tropical forests have intensified along several settlement corridors throughout the region. Despite their importance as agents of landscape change, surprisingly little is known about the land use practices of these farmers. This paper briefly reviews the research literature on smallholder land use patterns in Amazonia, describes the recent history of one important agricultural land settlement program in the western Brazilian Amazon state of Rondônia, and, based on 240 household surveys conducted in three separate settlement locations in the state, highlights key differences in land use patterns among the rural population. Typologies of farming systems are presented on the basis of cluster analysis of land use data and ANOVA tests. The findings indicate considerable complexity and heterogeneity in smallholder farming systems. Spatial variations in farming system types may be due to geographic differences in soil regimes, the social histories of specific communities, and site-specific responses to exogenous variables.     

Hydrogeomorphology Influences Swamp Rabbit Habitat Selection in Bottomland Hardwood Forests

In the last century, bottomland hardwood (BLH) forests throughout the Lower Mississippi Alluvial Valley in the United States declined >80% and have been degraded because of habitat loss, fragmentation, and altered hydrology. To better understand how current conditions in BLH forest systems influence wildlife and to better manage land use and vegetation, we characterized winter (Dec–Mar) multi-scale habitat selection of 75 radio-marked swamp rabbits (Sylvilagus aquaticus) based on 850 locations in southern Illinois, USA, during 2010–2016. We investigated habitat selection by fitting resource selection functions with generalized linear mixed models based on Euclidean distances (km) to 8 cover types that described hydrogeomorphic conditions. At the second-order scale of selection (home range selection), swamp rabbits were closer to deciduous forest and low-elevation BLH and farther from agriculture, permanent water, shallow BLH, and woody wetland. At the third-order scale of selection (habitat selection within the home range), swamp rabbits selected areas closer to deciduous forest, low BLH, and shallow BLH, and farther from woody wetlands. For the swamp rabbit in Illinois, a BLH specialist at the northern extent of their range, habitat selection is limited to available terrestrial habitat that provides vegetation for food and hiding cover within linear and flood-prone BLH corridors surrounded by agricultural cover types that are largely unsuitable as habitat. Because hydrologic conditions are spatially and temporally dynamic, wildlife managers should focus on providing diverse habitat conditions across elevations that ensure the continuous availability of terrestrial habitat regardless of water level and flooding extent across the BLH landscape. Further reforestation efforts in BLH ecosystems should target current agricultural land on higher elevations adjacent to characteristically flood-prone forest remnants that escaped agricultural clearing due to frequent flooding. © 2021 The Wildlife Society.     

Hydrology and history: land use changes and ecological responses in an urban wetland

The impacts of changing land use on hydrology and dominant plant species from 1850–1990 were investigated in a palustrine wetland in southern Wisconsin, USA. Aerial photographs, historic maps and water levels of the area were used to determine changes in land use, wetland vegetation, and groundwater and surface flows over time. Piezometers and water table wells were monitored weekly for two years. Vegetation was quantified in four one-square meter quadrats at each water level measurement site. Linear regression models and multivariate ordinations were used to relate wetland plant species to hydrologic, chemical and spatial variables. The current hydrologic budget of the wetland was dominated by precipitation and evapotranspiration, although overland flow into the wetland from the subwatershed has increased twenty-fold since 1850. Water level stabilization in the adjacent Yahara River, creek channelization, and groundwater pumping have decreased inputs of groundwater and spring-fed surface water, and increased retention of precipitation. Typha spp. and Phalaris arundinacea L. have increased in the wetland, while Carex spp. have decreased. Phalaris arundinacea was found most often in the driest sites, and the sites with the greatest range of water levels. Typha spp. dominated in several hydrologic settings, indicating that water depth was not the only factor controlling its distribution. The distributions of dominant plant species in the wetland were most closely correlated with site elevation and average water levels, with some weaker correlations with vertical groundwater inflows and specific conductance.     

滇西北高原纳帕海湖滨湿地退化特征、规律与过程

采用双向指示种分析(TWINSPAN)和典范对应分析(CCA)方法,研究了滇西北高原纳帕海湖滨湿地退化特征、规律与过程.结果表明: 纳帕海湖滨湿地植物群落可以划分为4个群丛,群落演替规律为水生植物群落→沼泽植物群落→沼泽化草甸植物群落→草甸植物群落.随植物群落演替,群落盖度、密度、多样性指数、物种丰富度和地上生物量均增大,群落高度减小;植物水分生态型演替规律为水生植物→沼生植物→湿生植物→中生植物.随群落演替,湿地水体矿化度、硬度和碱度均降低,氨氮和总磷含量升高,总氮和硝态氮含量变化不明显;土壤pH、有机质和全氮含量逐渐降低,全磷和全钾含量逐渐升高,速效氮和速效磷含量先增大后减小.CCA分析表明,群落结构和物种组成主要受水分梯度影响,土壤pH、全磷和湿地水的总氮、氨氮对湿地植物物种分布和群落演替影响显著.     

喜旱莲子草沿河岸带不同生境的盖度变化及形态可塑性

喜旱莲子草(Alternanthera philoxeroides)原产南美洲,是中国国家环保总局公布的9种危害最大的外来入侵植物之一。该文比较了分布于河岸带4种小生境中,喜旱莲子草和它的同属土著植物莲子草(Alternanthera sessilis)的盖度和生长特征变化,以了解影响喜旱莲子草入侵的生境和生长特征。按照距水体的距离远近,这些小生境依次为:废弃农田、沼泽、河边沙石滩及河间卵石滩。 结果表明,这4种生境在基质性质、土壤养分和生产力方面存在显著的差异。在生产力较高的生境中(如废弃地和沼泽),喜旱莲子草是优势种,但在生产力较低的生境中(即河边砾石滩及河间卵石滩)土著种莲子草的相对盖度大于喜旱莲子草。随着生境土壤养分的增加,喜旱莲子草表现出明显的形态可塑性。喜旱莲子草与觅光相关的几个形态指标,如茎的长度、节间长度和节的数目以及单叶面积都显著增加;同时,那些着生叶片的分枝也从匍匐状转变成直立生长。在生产力较高的生境中,喜旱莲子草的植冠高度和茎干密度成正相关,表明喜旱莲子草对极度密集的种群环境有很强的适应能力。这些结果说明,较高的形态可塑性和优先占据具有较高土壤养分的小生境是喜旱莲子草沿河岸带入侵的基本特征,可能也是促成其入侵的重要的内部(植物自身)和外部(生境)条件。     

黄渤海濒危水鸟栖息地动态变化研究

中国滨海湿地是东亚-澳大利西亚迁徙路线上候鸟重要的停歇地、繁殖地和越冬地,土地利用变化所引发的滨海湿地退化导致水鸟栖息地类别和面积发生了很大转变,影响迁徙水鸟种群数量的稳定性。然而,土地利用变化在哪些区域和多大程度上影响了迁徙水鸟的栖息地分布尚不清晰。以土地围垦典型区域黄渤海滨海湿地为研究区,以受胁濒危水鸟物种勺嘴鹬、大滨鹬、大杓鹬、小青脚鹬、黑脸琵鹭、黄嘴白鹭、遗鸥、黑嘴鸥为研究对象,结合物种分布模型MaxEnt和GIS空间分析,模拟2000、2015、2020年水鸟栖息地时空分布,探索过去20年栖息地分布的时空变化,分析水鸟种群变化趋势,识别水鸟栖息地保护优先区域,提出水鸟栖息地保护管理建议。结果显示：2000—2020年,8个水鸟物种栖息地主要分布在渤海湾、莱州湾、江苏盐城沿岸、如东-东台沿岸区域。所有物种的栖息地面积均呈不同程度的下降趋势,其中7个物种栖息地下降比例超过50%,下降的区域主要分布在渤海湾、江苏盐城沿岸、东台条子泥、小洋口沿岸,滨海湿地丧失是导致水鸟栖息地面积下降的直接因素。7个物种种群数量呈下降趋势。研究所确定的水鸟保护优先区面积达240.32 km^2...     

Swamp rabbits as indicators of wildlife habitat quality in bottomland hardwood forest ecosystems

Reforestation of bottomland hardwood (BLH) forests has occurred within the Lower Mississippi Alluvial Valley (LMAV), USA, to support a wide range of ecosystem services, but especially wildlife habitat enhancement. As ecosystem restoration efforts proceed in BLH ecosystems, managers and policymakers are seeking criteria to evaluate wildlife habitat enhancement goals. Specialist wildlife that evolved within forest ecosystems can be sensitive to the composition, structure, and function of an ecosystem in relation to the system's natural or historical range of variation and thereby serve as indicators of habitat quality. The swamp rabbit (Sylvilagus aquaticus) is a specialist species of BLH forests throughout the LMAV and therefore may be an appropriate indicator species for this ecosystem. To address this, we reviewed peer-reviewed literature to evaluate the utility of swamp rabbits as an indicator species according to three commonly-used criteria: habitat factors defining swamp rabbit relationships to BLH forests, the importance of swamp rabbit habitat to other wildlife, and the efficiency of swamp rabbit monitoring. We conclude that the swamp rabbit is a suitable indicator of wildlife habitat quality in BLH ecosystems in the LMAV because they evolved and remain endemic to the ecosystem, use habitat that integrates desirable characteristics that positively influence wildlife biodiversity, and are easy to monitor routinely.     

Monitoring wetlands in a salinizing landscape: case studies from the Wheatbelt region of Western Australia

Three elements of wetland biodiversity (aquatic invertebrates, waterbirds and overstorey vegetation of the wetland edge) have been monitored since 1998 at Lake Eganu and Paperbark Swamp in the Western Australian Wheatbelt to provide information about the changes occurring in wetland biodiversity in a landscape that is severely affected by dryland salinization. Changes in extent of wetland vegetation since the 1960s were examined using historical aerial photographs and waterbird use of Lake Eganu during the early 1980s was compared with recent waterbird survey results. Lake Eganu, which is within a major drainage line, started to become salinized in the mid-1960s, about 70 years after land clearing began in the catchment, and its salinity has increased an order of magnitude. The extent of wetland overstorey vegetation and the richness of freshwater aquatic invertebrates have both declined about 80%. Waterbird richness has also declined over the past 20 years, with changes in species composition. Salinization has not occurred at Paperbark Swamp, which is in a small catchment off the main drainage line, and there has been no consistent change in the biodiversity elements monitored.     

Pathogen spillover during land conversion

Pathogen spillover from wildlife to domestic animals and humans, and the reverse, has caused significant epidemics and pandemics worldwide. Although pathogen emergence has been linked to anthropogenic land conversion, a general framework to disentangle underlying processes is lacking. We develop a multi‐host model for pathogen transmission between species inhabiting intact and converted habitat. Interspecies contacts and host populations vary with the proportion of land converted; enabling us to quantify infection risk across a changing landscape. In a range of scenarios, the highest spillover risk occurs at intermediate levels of habitat loss, whereas the largest, but rarest, epidemics occur at extremes of land conversion. This framework provides insights into the mechanisms driving disease emergence and spillover during land conversion. The finding that the risk of spillover is highest at intermediate levels of habitat loss provides important guidance for conservation and public health policy.     

Performance of dryland and wetland plant species on extensive green roofs

Background and Aims

Green roofs are constructed ecosystems where plants perform valuable services, ameliorating the urban environment through roof temperature reductions and stormwater interception. Plant species differ in functional characteristics that alter ecosystem properties. Plant performance research on extensive green roofs has so far indicated that species adapted to dry conditions perform optimally. However, in moist, humid climates, species typical of wetter soils might have advantages over dryland species. In this study, survival, growth and the performance of thermal and stormwater capture functions of three pairs of dryland and wetland plant species were quantified using an extensive modular green roof system.

Methods

Seedlings of all six species were germinated in a greenhouse and planted into green roof modules with 6 cm of growing medium. There were 34 treatments consisting of each species in monoculture and all combinations of wet- and dryland species in a randomized block design. Performance measures were survival, vegetation cover and roof surface temperature recorded for each module over two growing seasons, water loss (an estimate of evapotranspiration) in 2007, and albedo and water capture in 2008.

Key Results

Over two seasons, dryland plants performed better than wetland plants, and increasing the number of dryland species in mixtures tended to improve functioning, although there was no clear effect of species or habitat group diversity. All species had survival rates >75 % after the first winter; however, dryland species had much greater cover, an important indicator of green roof performance. Sibbaldiopsis tridentata was the top performing species in monoculture, and was included in the best treatments.

Conclusions

Although dryland species outperformed wetland species, planting extensive green roofs with both groups decreased performance only slightly, while increasing diversity and possibly habitat value. This study provides further evidence that plant composition and diversity can influence green roof functions.