Monitoring for management of conservation and recreation in Australian protected areas

Protected areas are key to conservation of biodiversity, and Australia is one of the world’s megadiverse regions. Monitoring programs provide the information to assess the state of conservation resources, the severity of threats and the success of management responses. Here we compare the management priorities, monitoring priorities and actual monitoring practices of protected area management agencies in Australia, using four sets of data at continental scale and five at a more restricted regional scale. We track changes over a period of several years and focus at successively finer levels of detail. At both continental and regional scales, most management plans emphasise fire, invasive species and visitor management; and most monitoring programmes refer to visitor numbers and impacts as well as species and ecosystems. There is only a weak match, however, between reported management priorities and actual monitoring programmes; and the effectiveness of management responses is rarely monitored. The level of detail in visitor monitor programmes varies considerably: most parks count visitors, but few know what those visitors do. Threats from fire and invasive species receive more attention that those from recreation. At regional scale, the proportion of parks with defined monitoring programmes and priorities increased significantly from 2003/2004 to 2006/2007. Whilst only a proportion of protected areas monitor endangered species populations, for those that do this is the parameter reported in most detail, with many parks reporting single records of single individuals. Some parks also maintain anecdotal records of rare species outside routine monitoring programs.     

Managing visitor access to seabird colonies: a spatial simulation and empirical observations

Managers of wildlife reserves have a range of tools available to them when considering the best way to provide visitor access while avoiding as many of the negative effects of human disturbance as possible. However, managers lack guidelines as to whether conservation interests are best met by spreading visitors thinly throughout a reserve or by aggregating them in a small area. Here I describe how relationships between disturbance impact and disturbance pressure (the dose–response curve) can be used to address this issue. I generate a spatial simulation of two different models of visitor distribution (one more aggregated than the other) and explicitly model disturbance impact for a variety of dose–response curves. I show that the optimal visitor distribution is likely to depend on the sensitivity of the species and the overall visitor pressure. Importantly, I find that in certain circumstances optimal management can shift from one management option to the other if visitor numbers cross a certain threshold. I use published relationships predicting nesting success of Common Guillemots Uria aalge and Black-legged Kittiwakes Rissa tridactyla to assess optimal management at three nature reserves in Scotland. Optimal management for Guillemots depends on the number of people and the distance between the people and the birds. At sites with high disturbance pressures, management should aim to aggregate visitors in as small an area as possible, whereas at sites with lower disturbance pressure, an even distribution of visitors is favoured. Kittiwake models were not generally accurate, and consequently only site-specific guidelines could be generated, where an even distribution was favoured.     

Effect of felid activity on zoo visitor interest

The extent to which the presence of zoo visitors influences animal behavior, and the ways in which animal activity influences visitor interest and perception, are of great interest to zoological parks. Visitors have been variously characterized as being enriching for zoo animals, as being stressors, and generally as influencing behavior in measurable ways. Most studies have focused on primates, and have assumed a “visitor effect” paradigm (i.e., visitors influence animal behavior). Here we present findings from a study of a nonprimate group (felids), and examine the “visitor attraction” model, which assumes that visitors are attracted to active animals. We assessed visitor interest and number at seven cat exhibits at the Brookfield Zoo during the spring and summer of 2002. Data were collected during 1‐min scans of each exhibit at 10‐min intervals. The results indicate that visitor presence per se did not influence cat activity, and that visitor interest was generally greater when cats were active. Various species differences may be explained by visitor familiarity with the species, variations in exhibit design, and species‐specific activity budgets. We conclude that the visitor attraction model may be more appropriate for taxa, such as large cats, that tend naturally to be largely inactive and to respond little (if at all) to visitor disturbances or efforts to engage. The relationship must be viewed as bidirectional: visitors influence animal behavior, and animal behavior influences visitor interest. However, the strength and primary direction of this relationship is likely taxon‐specific. We suggest that a visitor attraction model may be more appropriate not only for felids, but for other taxa with similar behavioral patterns and responses as well. Zoo Biol 22:587–599, 2003. © 2003 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.     

An hourly variation in zoo visitor interest: measurement and significance for animal welfare research

A methodological difficulty facing welfare research on nonhuman animals in the zoo is the large number of uncontrolled variables due to variation within and between study sites. Zoo visitors act as uncontrolled variables, with number, density, size, and behavior constantly changing. This is worrisome because previous research linked visitor variables to animal behavioral changes indicative of stress. There are implications for research design: Studies not accounting for visitors' effect on animal welfare risk confounding (visitor) variables distorting their findings. Zoos need methods to measure and minimize effects of visitor behavior and to ensure that there are no hidden variables in research models. This article identifies a previously unreported variable—hourly variation (decrease) in visitor interest—that may impinge on animal welfare and validates a methodology for measuring it. That visitor interest wanes across the course of the day has important implications for animal welfare management; visitor effects on animal welfare are likely to occur, or intensify, during the morning or in earlier visits when visitor interest is greatest. This article discusses this issue and possible solutions to reduce visitor effects on animal well-being.     

An Hourly Variation in Zoo Visitor Interest: Measurement and Significance for Animal Welfare Research

A methodological difficulty facing welfare research on nonhuman animals in the zoo is the large number of uncontrolled variables due to variation within and between study sites. Zoo visitors act as uncontrolled variables, with number, density, size, and behavior constantly changing. This is worrisome because previous research linked visitor variables to animal behavioral changes indicative of stress. There are implications for research design: Studies not accounting for visitors' effect on animal welfare risk confounding (visitor) variables distorting their findings. Zoos need methods to measure and minimize effects of visitor behavior and to ensure that there are no hidden variables in research models. This article identifies a previously unreported variable—hourly variation (decrease) in visitor interest—that may impinge on animal welfare and validates a methodology for measuring it. That visitor interest wanes across the course of the day has important implications for animal welfare management; visitor effects on animal welfare are likely to occur, or intensify, during the morning or in earlier visits when visitor interest is greatest. This article discusses this issue and possible solutions to reduce visitor effects on animal well-being.     

The influence of environmental enrichment on Chinese visitor behavior

Welfare improvements for nonhuman animals should aim to satisfy the needs of visitors as well as those of the animals. Little research has been conducted, however, and existing work is confined to zoos in developed countries. This article reports the behavioral responses of Chinese visitors to environmental enrichment improvements in a zoo enclosure. Visit, viewing, and stopping behaviors significantly increased at the transformed exhibit, indicating that it provoked greater visitor interest. Furthermore, increased intragroup behaviors suggested that the exhibit probably motivated visitors to interact socially. The positive impact of the exhibit changes supports the enrichment efforts taking place in zoos around the world. The changes also provide encouragement for zoos in developing countries such as China because greater visitor interest provides a strong argument and an incentive for improving welfare standards.     

Life Sciences Learning: An Approach That Promotes Progress and Respects Life

Welfare improvements for nonhuman animals should aim to satisfy the needs of visitors as well as those of the animals. Little research has been conducted, however, and existing work is confined to zoos in developed countries. This article reports the behavioral responses of Chinese visitors to environmental enrichment improvements in a zoo enclosure. Visit, viewing, and stopping behaviors significantly increased at the transformed exhibit, indicating that it provoked greater visitor interest. Furthermore, increased intragroup behaviors suggested that the exhibit probably motivated visitors to interact socially. The positive impact of the exhibit changes supports the enrichment efforts taking place in zoos around the world. The changes also provide encouragement for zoos in developing countries such as China because greater visitor interest provides a strong argument and an incentive for improving welfare standards.     

Icons under threat: Why monitoring visitors and their ecological impacts in protected areas matters

Summary   Visitation levels are on the rise in protected areas throughout the world. In response, many icon sites are showing signs of overuse and more protected-area managers report tourism and recreation as threats to sustainable management. Clearly, there is a growing need to assess (monitor) and manage visitors to mitigate their impacts. In this paper, we articulate why targeted visitor-impact monitoring matters and highlight how existing monitoring programmes fail to deliver the necessary information to protected-area managers. We suggest that the availability and quality of visitor data are currently insufficient to facilitate the development of proactive management strategies in most protected areas. We call for more scale-sensitive (time and space) collection of visitor load and environmental (response) data. Specifically, since icon sites (like waterfalls and mountain peaks) are the focus of visitor motivations and activities, we highlight the case for proactive assessment, management and reporting of condition at these sites. Ultimately, visitor trends will be influenced by visitor management. If visitor activities degrade the icon, the financial benefits of tourism and recreation to a protected area may not be sustainable. In addition, the conservation and protection objectives of the protected area will also not be met.     

Monitoring options for visitor numbers in national parks and natural areas

Identifying the physical behaviours of visitors is an essential component of visitor impact management in protected areas. The fundamental baseline information required is visitor numbers, and particularly how these are distributed in time and space across the protected areas. However, obtaining such counts in a reliable and cost-effective manner has proven to be more difficult than commonly expected. Reasons for this difficulty are reviewed, the range of visitor monitoring options available to park managers are described, and the features that park managers want in their visitor counting tools are summarised. The management requirements for implementing and operating an effective monitoring system are also presented.     

Size constraints and flower abundance determine the number of interactions in a plant–flower visitor web

The number of interactions with flower visitor species differs considerably among insect pollinated plants. Knowing the causes for this variation is central to the conservation of single species as well as whole plant–flower visitor communities. Species specific constraints on flower visitor numbers are seldom investigated at the community level. In this study we tested whether flower size parameters set constraints on the morphology of the potential nectar feeding visitors and thus determine the number of visitor species. We studied three possible constraints: the depth and width of tubular structures hiding the nectar (nectar holder depth and width) and the size of flower parts that visitors can land on (size of the alighting place). In addition we assess the role of flower abundance on this relationship. We hypothesized that the stronger size constraints and the smaller flower abundance, the smaller the number of visitor species will be. Our study of a Mediterranean plant–flower visitor community revealed that nectar holder depth, nectar holder width and number of flowers explained 71% of the variation in the number of visitor species. The size of the alighting place did not restrict the body length of the visitors and was not related to visitor species number. In a second step of the analyses we calculated for each plant species the potential number of visitors by determining for each insect species of the local visitor pool whether it passed the morphological limits set by the plant. These potential numbers were highly correlated with the observed numbers (r²=0.5, p<0.001). For each plant species we tested whether the observed visitors were a random selection out of these potential visitors by comparing the mean of the observed and expected proboscis length distributions. For most plant species the observed mean was not significantly different from the random means. Our findings shed light on the way plant–flower visitor networks are structured. Knowing the constraints on interaction patterns will be an important prerequisite to formulate realistic null models and understand patterns of resource partitioning as well as coevolutionary processes.