A theoretical model of community operated compensation scheme for crop damage by wild herbivores

Watve, Milind; Patel, Kajol; Bayani, Abhijeet; Patil, Prashant

doi:10.1016/j.gecco.2015.11.012

Cited by 33 publications

(42 citation statements)

References 35 publications

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“…Animals that were once perceived to be a part of nature are now perceived as a property of the park and a cause of menace to them. This “your animal syndrome” is likely to be more injurious to conservation in the long run than the actual damage to crops and the compensation paid [ 34 ].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Assessment of Crop Damage by Protected Wild Mammalian Herbivores on the Western Boundary of Tadoba-Andhari Tiger Reserve (TATR), Central India

et al. 2016

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Crop raiding by wild herbivores close to an area of protected wildlife is a serious problem that can potentially undermine conservation efforts. Since there is orders of magnitude difference between farmers’ perception of damage and the compensation given by the government, an objective and realistic estimate of damage was found essential. We employed four different approaches to estimate the extent of and patterns in crop damage by wild herbivores along the western boundary of Tadoba-Andhari Tiger Reserve in the state of Maharashtra, central India. These approaches highlight different aspects of the problem but converge on an estimated damage of over 50% for the fields adjacent to the forest, gradually reducing in intensity with distance. We found that the visual damage assessment method currently employed by the government for paying compensation to farmers was uncorrelated to and grossly underestimated actual damage. The findings necessitate a radical rethinking of policies to assess, mitigate as well as compensate for crop damage caused by protected wildlife species.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Assessment of Crop Damage by Protected Wild Mammalian Herbivores on the Western Boundary of Tadoba-Andhari Tiger Reserve (TATR), Central India

et al. 2016

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“…Apart from the theoretical general principle, the model suggests many practical possibilities. The realization that actual loss of farmers can be greater than the direct damage done by animals is important in providing justice to the farmers 33 . The model warns against many simplistic beliefs such as a protection method that works well on an experimental scale will work equally well on a mass scale.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Crop Damage by Wild Herbivores:Insights Obtained from Optimization Models

2016

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We constructed a theoretical model of cost-benefit optimization for farmers who face continued economic loss due to crop raiding by wild herbivores, as well as for the wild herbivores that do so. Insights obtained from the model include: (i) In sustenance agriculture, a farmer needs to optimize net benefit rather than benefit-to-cost ratio, whereas herbivores need to optimize the benefit-to-cost ratio. (ii) It is imperative for a farmer to disinvest from agricultural inputs when threatened by depredation. (iii) Many mitigation measures that are highly successful on an experimental scale are most likely to fail when used on a mass scale. (iv) The effectiveness of mitigation measures such as fencing, trenching and culling will be nonmonotonic, being counterproductive under certain conditions.

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“…Foraging optimization has been an important focus of interest in behavioural ecology with substantial theoretical as well as empirical inputs. Animals have been modelled as well as demonstrated to optimize their foraging strategies to maximize nutrient gains (Clark & Mangel 1986;Kamil et al 2012;Parker et al 1990;Watve et al 2016aWatve et al , 2016b. Presence of a predator substantially alters behavioural and physiological patterns of a population (Preisser et al 2005).…”

Section: Foraging Optimizationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Foraging theory and the propensity to be obese: an alternative to thrift

Watve

Baig

Lokhande³

et al. 2018

Preprint

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The evolutionary origin of obesity is classically believed to be genetic or developmentally induced thrift, as an adaptation to ancestral feast and famine conditions. However, recently the thrift family of hypotheses have attracted serious criticism necessitating alternative thinking. Optimization of foraging behaviour is an important aspect of behavioural evolution. For a species evolved for optimizing nutritional benefits against predation or other foraging risks, reduction in foraging risk below a threshold dramatically increases the steady-state body weight. In modern life where feeding is detached from foraging, the behavioural regulation mechanisms are likely to fail resulting into escalation of adiposity. At a proximate level the signalling pathways for foraging optimization involve fear induced signal molecules in the brain including Cocaine and Amphetamine Regulated Transcript (CART) interacting with adiposity signals such as leptin. While leptin promotes the expression of the fear peptides, the fear peptides promote anorectic action of leptin.This interaction promotes foraging drive and risk tolerance when the stored energy is low and suppresses hunger and foraging drive when the perceived risk is high.The ecological model of foraging optimization and the molecular model of interaction of these peptides converge in the outcome that the steady state adiposity is an inverse square root function of foraging risk. The foraging optimization model is independent of thrift or insurance hypotheses, but not mutually exclusive. We review existing evidence and suggest testable predictions of the model.Understanding obesity simultaneously at proximate and ultimate levels is likely to suggest effective means to curb the obesity epidemic.

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A theoretical model of community operated compensation scheme for crop damage by wild herbivores

Cited by 33 publications

References 35 publications

Assessment of Crop Damage by Protected Wild Mammalian Herbivores on the Western Boundary of Tadoba-Andhari Tiger Reserve (TATR), Central India

Assessment of Crop Damage by Protected Wild Mammalian Herbivores on the Western Boundary of Tadoba-Andhari Tiger Reserve (TATR), Central India

Crop Damage by Wild Herbivores:Insights Obtained from Optimization Models

Foraging theory and the propensity to be obese: an alternative to thrift

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