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In recent years lion bones have been legally traded internationally to Asian markets from captive-bred sources in South Africa. There are also indications of increasing instances of illegal international trade in wild lion bones. ...
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In recent years lion bones have been legally traded internationally to Asian markets from captive-bred sources in South Africa. There are also indications of increasing instances of illegal international trade in wild lion bones. The existence of parallel captive and wild supplies of lion bone are a cause of law enforcement concern regarding the potential for the laundering of illegally sourced bones through legal trade, and present a problem for the assessment of the conservation impact of wild lion bone trade due to the difficulty of determining what market-share wild and captive-bred lion bones account for. Captive-bred and wild lion bone are visually indistinguishable and no reliable method currently exists for distinguishing them. We present a preliminary study that explores the use of DART mass spectrometry as a method to differentiate between captive-bred and wild lion bones. We find that DART is able to differentiate between a batch of captive-bred South African lion bone and a batch of wild lion bone and suggest that DART mass spectrometry shows strong potential as a tool for the regulation and investigation of lion bone trade. Further testing is needed to prove the suitability of this technique. Therefore, we suggest that further research focuses on testing the capability of DART to differentiate between contemporary wild and captive-bred lion bone originating from South Africa, and attempts to identify chemical markers in bone that can be used as indicators of captive-bred origin.
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Context Understanding the environmental and anthropogenic factors influencing habitat selection of multiple species is a foundation for quantifying human impacts on biodiversity and developing effective conservation measures. Obje...
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Context Understanding the environmental and anthropogenic factors influencing habitat selection of multiple species is a foundation for quantifying human impacts on biodiversity and developing effective conservation measures. Objectives To determine the effect of multiple scales of environmental/topographic and anthropogenic variables and landscape patterns on habitat suitability of terrestrial mammals in Bhutan, assess the effectiveness of the current protected area network, identify areas of high species richness outside of the existing protected area, and evaluate the potential effectiveness of indicator and umbrella species for conservation planning. Methods We modelled multi-scale habitat selection of sixteen species of terrestrial mammals across Bhutan using data from a nation-wide camera trap survey. We used the predicted species distribution maps to assess the multi-species conservation effectiveness of the existing protected area network. We performed simulations to identify high priority areas for multiple species based on their habitat suitability, proximity to existing protected areas and overall connectivity within the predicted distribution of species. We used correlation analysis among predicted occurrence maps and multivariate cluster analysis to identify potential indicator species. We evaluated the potential utility of each species as umbrella species by assessing how well optimal protected areas for that species would protect suitable habitat for all 16 species simultaneously. Results Protected areas and forest cover were strongly associated with habitat use of most modelled species. Additionally, topographical features, like terrain roughness and slope position, contributed to habitat selection of multiple species, but often in different ways. Environmental and topographical variables were mostly selected at medium to broad scales. Anthropogenic variables (agriculture and built-up areas) were negatively associated with habitat suitability of most species at both fine and broad scales. Conservation effectiveness assessment of existing protected areas found protected areas in south-central Bhutan have high effectiveness in terms of both mean and total richness protected. Similarly, biological corridors in the south-central region offered high mean richness protection. Our simulation of optimal areas for additional protection found areas abutting protected areas in southern Bhutan offered high relative species richness protection. Our umbrella species analysis found muntjac, wild pig, serow, sambar and Asian golden cat are the most effective umbrella species for broader biodiversity protection. Our indicator species analysis found tiger, gaur, dhole, clouded leopard, Asian black bear and common leopard as effective indicator species. Conclusions This study highlights the need to protect optimally located species-rich areas outside the current protected areas. This kind of multi-species habitat assessment provides important information to optimize future conservation and development plans at national and regional scales.
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I review the shocking current status of terrestrial mammals and then describe an approach to solving it, embracing a continuum of spatial and intellectual scales, from groundedness to geopolitics. Starting with an illustrative are...
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I review the shocking current status of terrestrial mammals and then describe an approach to solving it, embracing a continuum of spatial and intellectual scales, from groundedness to geopolitics. Starting with an illustrative arena, the interface between agriculture and wildlife, I then outline the litany of threats to mammals and some successful approaches to their conservation, and document some broad-scale patterns regarding ecosystems, the mammalian communities within, and some implications for conservation. Observing that the battle for mammalian conservation is being badly lost, I dedicate the third part of this article to a combination of top-down and bottom-up, interdisciplinary studies, aspiring to a holistic approach that sets conservation in the wider sphere of the human enterprise and that I term transdisciplinary conservation.
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Many wildlife tourist attractions (WTAs) have negative impacts on animal welfare and species conservation. In the absence of regulation, raising standards requires tourists to create market pressure by choosing to attend WTAs with...
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Many wildlife tourist attractions (WTAs) have negative impacts on animal welfare and species conservation. In the absence of regulation, raising standards requires tourists to create market pressure by choosing to attend WTAs with benefits for wildlife. We surveyed respondents from five countries - China, Australia, Canada, UK, and USA - to quantify how attitudes to captive animals, and towards WTAs' outputs and standards, may vary with nationality. Our aim was to provide a firm basis for behaviour change interventions to alter current patterns of tourist consumption of WTAs. All respondents agreed on the importance of conservation and animal welfare, but Chinese respondents were twice as likely to believe that WTAs would not be allowed to exist if they were bad for animals, and that WTAs' promotional materials were reliable indicators of welfare and conservation standards. These findings indicate Chinese respondents had fundamentally similar attitudes to those from the other countries, but differed in how those attitudes were likely to be applied. Chinese tourists may experience more barriers to aligning their actions with their values with respect to WTAs. Removing these barriers may require information campaigns to highlight the lack of regulation, and the unreliability of some WTAs' promotional materials and tourists' reviews.
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Livestock predation by tiger and leopard in Bhutan is a major threat to the conservation of these felids. Conflict mitigation planning would benefit from an improved understanding of the spatial pattern of livestock kills by the two predators.
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In the first global review focused specifically on clouded leopard trade, we assess its impact on the basis of information gathered from annual CITES reports, literature and expert opinion. Although international and domestic trad...
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In the first global review focused specifically on clouded leopard trade, we assess its impact on the basis of information gathered from annual CITES reports, literature and expert opinion. Although international and domestic trade regulations are in place, in 'exceptional circumstances' trade in Asian big cats is legally permitted. More generally, and irrespective of its legal status, trade also has potential to compromise wild animal welfare. We report an apparent shift toward commercial trade in captive bred clouded leopards, trade irregularities that point toward possible laundering of wild caught animals, and document the presence of individuals on 'tiger farms' in south-east Asia and a 'lion park' in South Africa. We found CITES records contradictory and incomplete, with data on source country particularly lacking. This study highlights 'legal loopholes' that apply to all Asian big cat species. As a precautionary measure, we support calls to extend existing bans on Asian big cat trade so that they include commercial trade in captive bred individuals. Illegal trade in derivatives can openly be observed online and at wildlife markets in range countries where enforcement is weak. However, an energetic search has revealed that specific information regarding clouded leopards is lacking. We argue that this is not grounds for complacency, but rather suggests a need for research into trade dynamics, cooperation between national enforcement agencies, improved compliance with trade data management systems, the destruction of private held stockpiles and the revision of existing legal frameworks to prevent illegal trade in these and other threatened wild felids.
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Context Effective planning for protected areas and wildlife population management requires a firm understanding of the location of the species' core habitat patches, the dispersal corridors connecting them, and the risk they face ...
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Context Effective planning for protected areas and wildlife population management requires a firm understanding of the location of the species' core habitat patches, the dispersal corridors connecting them, and the risk they face from key threats, notably deforestation. Objectives To quantify and map core habitat patches and dispersal corridors for Sunda clouded leopard (Neofelis diardi diardi), Asiatic golden cat (Catopuma temminckii) and marbled cat (Pardofelis marmorata) across the 16,000 km(2) tropical rainforest Kerinci Seblat landscape, Sumatra. Also, to model future forest loss and fragmentation and its effect on landscape connectivity for populations of these threatened species. Methods Using data from camera trap (671 sites/55,856 trap nights), and occupancy modelling, we developed habitat use maps and converted these into species-specific landscape resistance layers. We applied cumulative resistant kernels to map core areas and we used factorial least-cost paths to define dispersal corridors. A 17-year deforestation dataset was used to predict deforestation risk towards the integrity of corridors and core areas. Results The occupancy estimates of the three cats were similar (0.18-0.29), with preference shown for habitats with dense tree cover, medium elevation and low human disturbance. The overlap between core areas and corridors across the three species was moderate, 7-11% and 10%, respectively. We predicted future loss of 1052 km(2) of forest in the landscape, of which 2-4% and 5% in highly importance core areas and corridors. Conclusions This study provides a valuable guidance for identifying priority areas in need of urgent protection within and outside the protected area network, and where infrastructure development planning can incorporate wildlife conservation goals.
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Bushmeat consumption in Madagascar is increasingly acknowledged as one of the major threats to its wild vertebrates. Nevertheless, few studies have examined the drivers of the consumption of protected versus legally huntable wild ...
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Bushmeat consumption in Madagascar is increasingly acknowledged as one of the major threats to its wild vertebrates. Nevertheless, few studies have examined the drivers of the consumption of protected versus legally huntable wild species, or examined its variance across Madagascar's protected and unprotected areas. This research provides a novel study of the consumption of protected, unprotected, and fish/eel species between forest types (deciduous and rainforest), as well as across a gradient of protected habitat (National Park, Reserve, Unprotected). Members of 1750 households were interviewed across four regions, including two national parks, two reserves, and two unprotected forests. Household demographic, socioeconomic, cultural, and geographic variables were explored as possible predictors of bushmeat consumption. We found that poorer households reported consuming greater quantities of protected species whereas wealthier households reported consuming greater quantities of fish and eel. Households located inside Andasibe-Mantadia National Park, Madagascar's most visited protected area, reported consuming the greatest quantities of protected species. Interviewees' most favoured meat was from livestock, and fish. The consumption pattern of wild species reflected interviewees' stated preference for species that are either unlisted (e.g. tilapia fish) under Malagasy species protection laws, classified as pest (e.g. bushpig) and/or game species (e.g. tenrec). Most protected species (such as lemurs and carnivorans) were interviewees' least favoured wild meats. Given the lack of cultural affinity, and low preference for the consumption of most protected species, our results suggest that improving accessibility to domestic meat is a promising strategy for reducing the consumption of protected species.
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Context Species habitat suitability models rarely incorporate multiple spatial scales or functional shapes of a species' response to covariates. Optimizing models for these factors may produce more robust, reliable, and informativ...
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Context Species habitat suitability models rarely incorporate multiple spatial scales or functional shapes of a species' response to covariates. Optimizing models for these factors may produce more robust, reliable, and informative habitat suitability models, which can be beneficial for the conservation of rare and endangered species, such as tigers (Panthera tigris).
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Context After decades of political and economic isolation, Myanmar is now the focus of large international investments, particularly from China, which raises questions of how to balance national development with safeguarding the I...
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Context After decades of political and economic isolation, Myanmar is now the focus of large international investments, particularly from China, which raises questions of how to balance national development with safeguarding the Indo-Burma biodiversity hotspot. Objective To evaluate the impact of five major developments in Myanmar on forest ecosystems, using clouded leopard as a focal and umbrella species for wider biodiversity conservation. Methods Based on an empirical habitat relationships model, we identified core areas and corridors in Myanmar, and compared them across the development scenarios. We simulated population dynamics and genetic diversity in each scenario using an individual-based, spatially explicit cost-distance population genetics model. Results The predicted current clouded leopard population may be larger than the current carrying capacity of the landscape, raising the possibility that the species' population has not yet equilibrated with recent habitat loss and degradation. All the developments combined resulted in 36% decrease in landscape connectivity and 29% decrease in simulated clouded leopard population size, including substantial reduction in genetic diversity. Each development was predicted to have a negative effect; however, emerging economic zones had disproportionally large impacts (- 24% in connectivity and - 25% in population size), resulting in fragmentation of the largest core areas. Similarly, the Indian Highway and Silk Road caused fragmentation of the largest core habitats, and the Pipeline Railroad significantly decreased connectivity in the main stronghold for clouded leopards. Conclusions Spatially-explicit assessments like the one presented here provide quantitative evaluation on development impacts and help optimize the trade-offs between development and conservation. The rapid and increasing development of Myanmar and surrounding Southeast Asian nations pose an enormous threat to the biodiversity of the region. Optimizing the trade-off between development goals and conservation is essential to minimize the effects of rapid land use change on biodiversity.
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