Hotspot elephant‐poaching areas in the Eastern Selous Game Reserve,Tanzania

Elephant poaching is a significant problem in many parts of Africa, including Tanzania. This study identifies areas within the Eastern Selous Game Reserve (ESGR) that are at a higher risk of elephant poaching for the illegal ivory trade. We obtained data on the distribution of poached elephants and the seasons of poaching from 2008 to 2013 from the elephant mortality database of the Selous Game Reserve in the eastern and north‐eastern sectors. The incidences of poaching were higher during the wet season. The hot spots of elephant poaching were observed on the edges of the ESGR. This finding was attributed to the involvement of local people adjacent to the ESGR in poaching activities due to a lack of economic opportunities. This study will serve as a tool to guide and inform reserve managers involved in wildlife conservation in Tanzania. Recommended solutions to address the problem of elephant poaching are improved economic opportunities for local people, enhanced conservation education and research and improved governance and law enforcement.     

Monitoring Great Ape and Elephant Abundance at Large Spatial Scales: Measuring Effectiveness of a Conservation Landscape

Protected areas are fundamental to biodiversity conservation, but there is growing recognition of the need to extend beyond protected areas to meet the ecological requirements of species at larger scales. Landscape-scale conservation requires an evaluation of management impact on biodiversity under different land-use strategies; this is challenging and there exist few empirical studies. In a conservation landscape in northern Republic of Congo we demonstrate the application of a large-scale monitoring program designed to evaluate the impact of conservation interventions on three globally threatened species: western gorillas, chimpanzees and forest elephants, under three land-use types: integral protection, commercial logging, and community-based natural resource management. We applied distance-sampling methods to examine species abundance across different land-use types under varying degrees of management and human disturbance. We found no clear trends in abundance between land-use types. However, units with interventions designed to reduce poaching and protect habitats - irrespective of land-use type - harboured all three species at consistently higher abundance than a neighbouring logging concession undergoing no wildlife management. We applied Generalized-Additive Models to evaluate a priori predictions of species response to different landscape processes. Our results indicate that, given adequate protection from poaching, elephants and gorillas can profit from herbaceous vegetation in recently logged forests and maintain access to ecologically important resources located outside of protected areas. However, proximity to the single integrally protected area in the landscape maintained an overriding positive influence on elephant abundance, and logging roads – even subject to anti-poaching controls - were exploited by elephant poachers and had a major negative influence on elephant distribution. Chimpanzees show a clear preference for unlogged or more mature forests and human disturbance had a negative influence on chimpanzee abundance, in spite of anti-poaching interventions. We caution against the pitfalls of missing and confounded co-variables in model-based estimation approaches and highlight the importance of spatial scale in the response of different species to landscape processes. We stress the importance of a stratified design-based approach to monitoring species status in response to conservation interventions and advocate a holistic framework for landscape-scale monitoring that includes smaller-scale targeted research and punctual assessment of threats.     

The pattern of poaching signs in Ugalla Game Reserve,western Tanzania

Illegal harvesting of wildlife resources is an important challenge facing protected areas in Africa. A better understanding of its nature would improve the way in which it is managed. We investigated the degree of poaching into different types of natural resources and its management implications in Ugalla Game Reserve, western Tanzania, using data on spatial distribution of poaching signs. Poaching signs were distributed nonrandomly through the reserve, which suggested that poachers targeted particular resources at certain areas of the reserve. Logging was the predominant illegal activity, followed by bushmeat hunting and illegal fishing. Logging signs were widespread at Ugalla east and Ugalla south. The latter also contained the highest encounter rate of bushmeat signs. Illegal fishing was extensive around the main rivers in the reserve. For improved conservation enforcement in western Tanzania and similar ecosystems, conservation efforts should take into consideration the distribution and composition of different types of poaching.     

Optimising investments from elephant tourist revenues in the Maputo Elephant Reserve, Mozambique

Private enterprises are active in conservation initiatives in Africa. Some of these enterprises have long-term licences for the development of conservation areas. The motivation of these organisations to participate in conservation is ultimately determined by the economic output of their activities. An electric fence is being constructed in the Maputo Elephant Reserve, Mozambique. A costs-benefit analysis was carried out, in order to assist in the optimisation of the management activities of the elephant population, based on elephant population size, fence costs, crop raid costs, elephant poaching, and benefits derived from tourism (game-viewing and hunting). Tourist numbers increased with increasing elephant density through a concave utility function. Optimal harvest/hunting strategies were calculated from optimal control theory, using dynamic optimisation (Pontryagin's Maximum Principle). Poaching and raid costs could be compared to fence construction costs at different elephant population sizes. Costs generated through elephant poaching and elephant crop raid costs were higher than fence construction costs at a population size >100. Elephant hunting was a less favourable activity, economically and ecologically, than elephant viewing, due to the large game-viewing profits per elephant. Only if the licence fee increases from US$6500 to 28,500 would hunting become attractive, although ecological and economical constraints would probably prevent the development of hunting activities in the area. The assumed resource price of elephant (US$5000) was lower than the marginal value derived from tourism, indicating that elephants should be bought until the maximum stocking rate is reached.     

Birds and biogeography of Mount Mecula in Mozambique’s Niassa National Reserve

The montane forests of northern Mozambique’s isolated massifs are inhabited by numerous range-restricted and threatened bird species, but until recently were extremely little-known. We report on a first avifaunal survey of the isolated montane habitats of Mt Mecula (1 442 m), Niassa National Reserve, notable as the only currently protected montane area in northern Mozambique. Mount Mecula’s moist forest is small (approximately 136 ha in total) and patchy, and although known botanically to have some montane affinities, was found to support an avifauna more typical of riparian forests of medium to low altitude. The only montane forest species recorded was Lemon Dove Aplopelia larvata. Other montane elements included Vincent’s Bunting Emberiza (capensis) vincenti, one of six species recorded new to the Niassa National Reserve list. Overall, it appears that despite its intermediate location, Mt Mecula does not represent a biogeographical ‘stepping stone’ for montane forest bird species. This probably owes to its remoteness from the Eastern Arc Mountains of Tanzania to the north and the massifs of other parts of northern Mozambique, to the south and west.     

Human disturbances on landscapes in protected areas: a case study of the Wolong Nature Reserve

Human-induced ecological degradation in protected areas is of great concern in landscape ecological studies. Using Landsat TM data and GIS-based spatial analysis, we assessed the impacts of human disturbances on landscape structure in the Wolong Nature Reserve in southwestern China. Buffer zone and landscape dissimilarity analysis were used to examine the scope of three types of human-induced disturbances—construction of hydropower stations, human activities around settlement, and human activities along roads. We found that the impacts of these human disturbances extend to a threshold distance of about 1,000 m from the sources of disturbance. The intensity of the impact of human disturbances on landscape structure exhibited clear distance–decay effects. The first 200 m buffer zone is the area where human activities have inflicted the most visible changes, with a decrease of forest cover by 15–40% and an increase of shrub and barren land area by 15–50%. The relative intensity of the overall impact on landscape structure was highest around hydropower stations, second around human settlements, and lowest along roads. Overtime, however, the relative level of impact associated with construction of hydropower stations will likely decrease and that associated with human activities around settlements likely increase. Our case study of Wolong exposes hurdles that habitat preservation must cross in protected areas. Future management of Wolong Nature Reserve should focus on adoption of effective policies to further constrain human activities in the reserve.     

Forest elephant crisis in the Congo Basin

Debate over repealing the ivory trade ban dominates conferences of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES). Resolving this controversy requires accurate estimates of elephant population trends and rates of illegal killing. Most African savannah elephant populations are well known; however, the status of forest elephants, perhaps a distinct species, in the vast Congo Basin is unclear. We assessed population status and incidence of poaching from line-transect and reconnaissance surveys conducted on foot in sites throughout the Congo Basin. Results indicate that the abundance and range of forest elephants are threatened from poaching that is most intense close to roads. The probability of elephant presence increased with distance to roads, whereas that of human signs declined. At all distances from roads, the probability of elephant occurrence was always higher inside, compared to outside, protected areas, whereas that of humans was always lower. Inside protected areas, forest elephant density was correlated with the size of remote forest core, but not with size of protected area. Forest elephants must be prioritised in elephant management planning at the continental scale.     

Global trends and factors associated with the illegal killing of elephants: A hierarchical bayesian analysis of carcass encounter data

Elephant poaching and the ivory trade remain high on the agenda at meetings of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES). Well-informed debates require robust estimates of trends, the spatial distribution of poaching, and drivers of poaching. We present an analysis of trends and drivers of an indicator of elephant poaching of all elephant species. The site-based monitoring system known as Monitoring the Illegal Killing of Elephants (MIKE), set up by the 10(th) Conference of the Parties of CITES in 1997, produces carcass encounter data reported mainly by anti-poaching patrols. Data analyzed were site by year totals of 6,337 carcasses from 66 sites in Africa and Asia from 2002-2009. Analysis of these observational data is a serious challenge to traditional statistical methods because of the opportunistic and non-random nature of patrols, and the heterogeneity across sites. Adopting a bayesian hierarchical modeling approach, we used the proportion of carcasses that were illegally killed (PIKE) as a poaching index, to estimate the trend and the effects of site- and country-level factors associated with poaching. Important drivers of illegal killing that emerged at country level were poor governance and low levels of human development, and at site level, forest cover and area of the site in regions where human population density is low. After a drop from 2002, PIKE remained fairly constant from 2003 until 2006, after which it increased until 2008. The results for 2009 indicate a decline. Sites with PIKE ranging from the lowest to the highest were identified. The results of the analysis provide a sound information base for scientific evidence-based decision making in the CITES process.     

Landscape-scale habitat response of African elephants shows strong selection for foraging opportunities in a human dominated ecosystem

Balancing trade-offs between foraging and risk factors is a fundamental behavior that structures the spatial distribution of species. For African elephants Loxodonta africana, human pressures from poaching and conflict are primary drivers of species decline, but little is known about how elephants structure their spatial behavior in the face of human occupancy and predation. We seek to understand how elephants balance trade-offs between resource access, human presence and human predatory risk factors (poaching and conflict killing) in an unfenced, dynamic ecosystem where elephants persist primarily outside protected areas in community rangelands. We used tracking data from 101 elephants collected between 2001 and 2016. We investigated elephant behavior in response to landcover, topography, productivity, water, human features and human predation risk using third-order resource selection functions. We extended this analysis by employing a mixed-effects multinomial regression to identify temporal shifts in habitat use, and evaluated temporal shifts in movement patterns by estimating mean squared displacement across different productivity periods. Across periods, elephants displayed strong selection for productive areas and areas near water. Temporal shifts in habitat use showed that, during the dry period, elephants were clustered around permanent water sources where humans also congregated. At the onset of the wet period, a shift occurred where elephants moved away from permanent water and from permanent settlements towards seasonal water sources and seasonal settlements. Our findings indicate that foraging and water access are important limiting factors affecting elephants that potentially restrain their spatial responses to humans at the scale of our analysis. Given that pastoralists and elephants rely on the same resources, increasing human and livestock populations enhance pressure on shared resources and space in Africa's drylands. The long-term conservation of elephants will require approaches that reduce poaching as well as landscape level planning to prevent negative impacts from increasing competition for preferred resources.     

Resource wars and conflict ivory: the impact of civil conflict on elephants in the Democratic Republic of Congo--the case of the Okapi Reserve

Human conflict generally has substantial negative impacts on wildlife and conservation. The recent civil war (1995-2006) in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) resulted in a significant loss of wildlife, including elephants, due to institutional collapse, lawlessness and unbridled exploitation of natural resources such as minerals, wood, ivory and bushmeat. We used data from distance sampling surveys conducted before and after the war in a protected forest, the Okapi Faunal Reserve, to document changes in elephant abundance and distribution. We employed Generalized Additive Models to relate changes in elephant distribution to human and environmental factors. Populations declined by nearly fifty percent coinciding with a major increase in elephant poaching as indicated by reports of ivory trade during the war. Our results suggest that humans influenced elephant distribution far more than habitat, both before and after the war, but post-war models explained more of the variation. Elephant abundance declined more, closer to the park boundary and to areas of intense human activity. After the war, elephant densities were relatively higher in the centre of the park where they were better protected, suggesting that this area may have acted as a refuge. In other sites in Eastern DRC, where no protection was provided, elephants were even more decimated. Post-war dynamics, such as weakened institutions, human movements and availability of weapons, continue to affect elephants. Survival of remaining populations and recovery will be determined by these persistent factors and by new threats associated with growing human populations and exploitation of natural resources. Prioritizing wildlife protection, curbing illegal trade in ivory and bushmeat, and strengthening national institutions and organizations in charge of conservation will be crucial to counter these threats.     

卧龙自然保护区人为活动对景观结构的影响

利用遥感景观制图,在确定不同人为影响发生源的显著影响范围后,分析了卧龙自然保护区人为活动对景观结构的影响。结果表明,在水电站、居民点和道路三种人为影响发生源中,水电站的修建对周围景观结构的一次性改造效果最显著,居民点属中等强度的持续性影响类型,道路的影响程度最小。人为活动使人为影响景观典型地段（200m缓冲区）的林地覆盖率减小15%-40%,灌丛和裸地面积比重增加15%-50%。在居民点点和水电站周围,景观结构变化证明人为影响作用呈明显的梯度衰减,600m半径缓冲区范围内为典型人为影响区域,600-1200m区间为人为影响景观与自然景观的过渡区域,其余地区属自然因素控制的自然景观。与水电站和居民点相比,道路两侧景观结构的梯度变化特征不甚明显,显示出其对景观结构的影响程度小于居民点和水电站。     

青海湖自然保护区人类数字足迹及草地生物量的人类活动暴露度的时空模式分析

开展保护区人类活动压力定量评估对保护区内生态系统安全、降低人类活动影响具有重要意义。许多学者从人类活动对生物多样性、生物的生境或生态系统服务及其价值的影响等角度已开展了大量研究, 但由于反映人类活动的统计数据在时空尺度上较粗, 难以精细刻画保护区内短期动态的人类活动干扰。本研究尝试通过记录人的位置到访信息的高时空分辨率数字足迹数据, 以青海湖国家级自然保护区为研究区域, 利用0.01°逐日的定位请求数据和草地生物量数据, 从人类数字足迹覆盖率、数字足迹强度和草地生物量的人类活动暴露度3个指标上对青海湖自然保护区内人类数字足迹入侵强度及其对生态环境的影响开展了研究。研究结果显示, 青海湖保护区人类数字足迹具有“多尖峰、南高北低、景区节律”的时空模式; 每日人类数字足迹覆盖率和足迹强度呈现按月聚集模式, 最大值分别为7.42%和5.24; 草地生物量的人类活动暴露度显示人类数字足迹对青海湖二郎剑-黑马河沿线的草地生物量影响最大, 此时草地生物量的人类活动暴露度水平在热门旅游景点较高, 最高达到2.24。通过位置大数据挖掘青海湖保护区内人类数字足迹的时空变化及其对于生态环境的影响, 不仅证明了数字足迹用于人类活动对于生态环境影响研究的有效性, 也为保护区生态环境精细化的管理提供支撑。     

An empirical evaluation of the African elephant as a focal species for connectivity planning in East Africa

Aim Large, charismatic and wide‐ranging animals are often employed as focal species for prioritizing landscape linkages in threatened ecosystems (i.e. ‘connectivity conservation’), but there have been few efforts to assess empirically whether focal species co‐occur with other species of conservation interest within potential linkages. We evaluated whether the African elephant (Loxodonta africana), a world‐recognized flagship species, would serve as an appropriate focal species for other large mammals in a potential linkage between two major protected area complexes. Location A 15,400 km² area between the Ruaha and Selous ecosystems in central Tanzania, East Africa. Methods We used walking transects to assess habitat, human activity and co‐occurrence of elephants and 48 other large mammal species (> 1 kg) at 63 sites using animal sign and direct sightings. We repeated a subset of transects to estimate species detectability using occupancy modelling. We used logistic regression and AIC model selection to characterize patterns of elephant occurrence and assessed correlation of elephant presence with richness of large mammals and subgroups. We considered other possible focal species, compared habitat‐based linear regression models of large mammal richness and used circuit theory to examine potential connectivity spatially. Results Elephants were detected in many locations across the potential linkage. Elephant presence was highly positively correlated with the richness of large mammals, as well as ungulates, carnivores, large carnivores and species > 45 kg in body mass (‘megafauna’). Outside of protected areas, both mammal richness and elephant presence were negatively correlated with human population density and distance from water. Only one other potential focal species was more strongly correlated with species richness than elephants, but detectability was highest for elephants. Main conclusions Although African elephants have dispersal abilities that exceed most other terrestrial mammals, conserving elephant movement corridors may effectively preserve habitat and potential landscape linkages for other large mammal species among Tanzanian reserves.     

Elephant response to spatial heterogeneity in a savanna landscape of northern Tanzania

Landscape heterogeneity, namely the variation of a landscape property across space and time, can influence the distribution of a species and its abundance. Quantifying landscape heterogeneity is important for the management of semi‐natural areas through predicting species response to landscape changes, such as habitat fragmentation. In this paper, we tested whether the change in spatial heterogeneity of the vegetation cover due to farming expansion affected the distribution of the African elephant in the Tarangire‐Manyara ecosystem, northern Tanzania. Spatial heterogeneity (based on the normalized difference vegetation index) was characterized at multiple spatial scales using the wavelet transform and the intensity‐dominant scale method. Elephant distribution was estimated from time‐series aerial surveys using a kernel density function. The intensity, which relates to the contrast in vegetation cover, quantified the maximum variation in NDVI across multiple spatial scales, whereas the dominant scale, which represents the scale at which this maximum variation occurs, identified the dominant inter‐patches distance, i.e. the size of dominant landscape features. We related the dominant scale of spatial heterogeneity to the probability of elephant occurrence in order to identify: 1) the scale that maximizes elephant occurrence, and 2) its change between 1988 and 2001. Neither the dominant scale and intensity of spatial heterogeneity, nor the probability of the elephant occurrence changed significantly between 1988 and 2001. The spatial scale maximizing elephant occurrence remained constant at 7000 to 8000 m during each wet season. Compared to the findings of a recent, similar study in Zimbabwe, our results suggest that the change in the dominant scale was relatively small in Tarangire‐Manyara ecosystem and well within the critical threshold for elephant persistence. The method is a useful tool for monitoring ecosystems and their properties.     

India's biodiversity hotspot under anthropogenic pressure: A case study of Nilgiri Biosphere Reserve

This paper presents data on the impact of biotic pressure in terms of grazing by livestock and wood cutting by humans on the plant community in the Nilgiri Biosphere Reserve of India. Grass, and herbaceous plant biomass, number of cattle dung piles, number of woody stems available and damaged by human activities and weed biomass were assessed at different proximity along transects radiating from village-forest boundary to forest interior to measure the ecological impact of livestock grazing and fire wood collection. The grass biomass was positively correlated to overgrazing indicating the adverse effect on natural vegetation by cattle. Woodcutting was intense along the forest boundary and significantly declined as distance increased. Similarly, weed biomass and number of thorny species declined positively with proximity from village-forest boundary and the weed biomass was significantly higher in the pastoral sites compared to residential sites. The results suggest that human impact adversely affects natural vegetation and promotes weed proliferation in forest areas adjoining human settlements in the ecologically important Nilgiri Biosphere Reserve. Continued anthropogenic pressure could cause reduction in fodder availability to large herbivores like elephants, which in turn leads to an increase in human–elephant conflict.     

Distribution of savannah elephants (Loxodonta africana africana Blumenbach 1797) within Nazinga game ranch,Southern Burkina Faso

We tested the hypothesis that elephant distribution inside the Nazinga Game Ranch (Southern Burkina Faso) during the wet season is influenced by villages outside, while in the dry season elephants are restricted only by water. Occupancy was evaluated by recording elephant dung‐piles on 54 line transects in each of three seasons: wet 2006, dry 2007 and dry 2008. We measured the distance of each transect from nearest villages, nearest permanent water sources, nearest guard posts and tourist camps. The results were unexpected: elephant occupancy in the wet season was independent of villages but influenced by poaching, while their occupancy in both dry seasons was determined by the proximity of villages as well as water. In the dry season, elephants were attracted to villages by grain stores and fruiting trees. There has been a dramatic shift in the dry season distribution of elephants, and consequently in browsing pressure, over the last two decades. We suggest that this change is a consequence of the expansion of human activities outside the ranch. This study shows that the effects of growing human disturbance on elephant populations in small protected areas are not predictable. Correcting for spatial autocorrelation had a negligible effect upon the models.     

近40年艾比湖湿地自然保护区生态干扰度时空动态及景观格局变化

以新疆艾比湖湿地为研究区,利用1972、1998、2007年及2013年4个时期的Landsat遥感影像作为数据源,并结合湿地的土地覆被状况,参考《全国土地利用分类》建立艾比湖湿地生态干扰类型分类系统。借助生态干扰度指数、景观格局指数以及GIS空间分析方法,探讨艾比湖湿地的生态干扰度的时空动态及景观响应机制。结果表明:(1)1972—2013年,研究区的生态干扰度总体呈现较为稳定的趋势,但其空间分布发生变化。生态干扰度类型之间的转化速率有加快的趋势。(2)1972—2013年,边缘密度指数(ED),平均形状指数(MSI),面积加权的平均斑块分形指数(AWMPFD)及景观分离度(DIVISION)4项景观格局指数大体呈上升的趋势,2013年区域的景观指数较为稳定。(3)景观格局指数与生态干扰程度有密切的一致性。生态干扰度与景观格局指数空间分布相关性大小依次为:边缘密度指数(ED)景观丰度密度(PRD)香农多样性指数(SHDI)平均形状指数(MSI)面积加权的平均斑块分形指数(AWMPFD)景观分离度(DIVISION)。客观系统的认识和评价艾比湖湿地的生态系统及环境,可为干旱区实现自然环境的保护,协调土地利用及环境保护之间的关系提供较为实用的参考。     

周边区域景观破碎对铜鼓岭国家级自然保护区的压力分析

以铜鼓岭自然保护区及其周边地区为研究对象,基于2004年的SPOT-5卫星遥感数据,应用ERDAS、ArcGIS等遥感和GIS软件提取出研究区的景观要素分类信息,并选用斑块密度(PD)、最大斑块指数(LPI)、面积加权平均形状指数(AWMSI)、面积加权平均斑块分维数(AWMPFD)、斑块面积变异系数(PSCOV)等景观指数和ArcGIS空间分析功能对保护区及其周边区域(缓冲区)进行景观指数分析。结果表明,铜鼓岭地区景观破碎化趋于严重,在保护区外1 km的范围内,海防林破坏,红树林锐减,生态压力大;高位养虾池的大量建造是威胁保护区生态健康的主要因素。     

人类活动对升金湖国家级自然保护区景观格局的影响

自然保护地通常是重要的生态敏感区域,具有十分重要的生态和社会经济价值,因此维持自然状况,避免人为干扰是日常管理的基本要求.借助遥感手段,快速识别人为扰动引起的景观变化,是加强保护地管理的有效手段.以升金湖国家级自然保护区为研究对象,基于RS和GIS空间分析等技术方法,利用人为干扰度模型,并结合特定人类活动干扰类型的变化...     

基于Landsat时序影像和LandTrendr算法的森林保护区植被扰动研究——以陕西柴松和太白山保护区为例

跟踪森林自然保护区的森林变化及其时空特征,可为保护区生态保护评价提供科学依据。使用LandTrendr算法和谷歌地球引擎（GEE）的Landsat卫星时间序列数据,描述了柴松和太白山保护区的长期（1984-2018年）森林变化模式。对森林变化像元和稳定像元的总体识别精度达到93%,对扰动年探测的总体精度为89%。在柴松保护区,扰动年发生在2008年左右,大部分扰动由人类活动引起。在太白山保护区,扰动年主要发生在2013年,由自然因素造成。柴松和太白山保护区的森林扰动面积分别为42.74 hm²和23.68 hm²。柴松保护区的扰动斑块数多于太白山,表明柴松保护区自2004年建立后干扰频繁。本研究可以帮助研究人员和决策者了解这两个保护区的森林状况,可为森林生态系统的自然保护区保护评估提供基线信息。