Co-occurrence of snow leopard, wolf and Siberian ibex under livestock encroachment into protected areas across the Mongolian Altai

Salvatori, Marco; Tenan, Simone; Oberosler, Valentina; Augugliaro, Claudio; Christe, Philippe; Groff, Claudio; Krofel, Miha; Zimmermann, Fridolin; Rovero, Francesco

doi:10.1016/j.biocon.2021.109294

Cited by 26 publications

(28 citation statements)

References 24 publications

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“…When considering that livestock numbers have markedly increased across Mongolia over the last decades (Berger et al 2013, Pfeiffer et al 2018), and that we also recorded diffused livestock presence into protected areas (this study, Augugliaro et al 2020, Salvatori et al 2021), our findings are of conservation concern for a number of reasons. First, the Pallas's cat is specialized in its habitat choice, and only uses a small fraction of area available within the steppe ecosystem (10–30%; Ross et al 2019 a ); it is dependent on areas that are protected but also increasingly used for grazing, which may eventually threaten the cat from habitat degradation affecting the abundance of small rodents, hence progressively reducing prey availability (Cao et al 2016, Schieltz and Rubenstein 2016).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 49%

“…Previous information on Pallas's cat occupancy was limited to local ecological knowledge (Chimed et al 2021). We are aware of the limitations of our sampling that primarily targeted the snow leopard (Rovero et al 2020), and we acknowledge that occupancy may simply reflect the proportion of area used by the Pallas's cat (Efford and Dawson 2012, Neilson et al 2018). Yet, being a metric that accounts for imperfect detection, its usefulness to assess habitat associations has been revealed by many studies (Niedballa et al 2015, Gompper et al 2016, Moll et al 2016, Greco et al 2021).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…We placed motion‐sensitive cameras on narrow valleys and ridges to maximize the chances to detect passing wildlife. Albeit aimed at primarily detecting snow leopards, such design and site selection proved efficient at detecting livestock and other wild mammals (Rovero et al 2020) including the Pallas's cat. Pallas's cat and snow leopard occur at similar altitudinal ranges in the Altai Mountains (Snow Leopard Network 2014, Moqanaki et al 2019), and display a comparable marking behavior (Allen et al 2016).…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Spatio‐temporal occurrence and sensitivity to livestock husbandry of Pallas's cat in the Mongolian Altai

et al. 2021

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Biased research and conservation efforts result in some faunal groups (e.g., small felids) being understudied, and hence these groups are often declining without adequate knowledge to manage for threat reduction. The Pallas's cat (Otocolobus manul) occurs across central and western Asia with declining populations and the largest population is likely in Mongolia.A potential threat to this felid is livestock encroachment across its range, including within protected areas, yet we lack a clear understanding of the impact of livestock husbandry on this cat.We used motion-sensitive camera data from 216 sites in 4 study areas in western Mongolia to study the occurrence probability of Pallas's cat in relation to habitat characteristics and occurrence of livestock, and conducted a local assessment within a strictly protected area where we obtained the highest number of detections. We estimated a relatively low occupancy (0.33 ± 0.10), which is associated with sites with natural vegetation, steeper slopes, and greater prey abundance.Occupancy also increased with increasing livestock occurrence, particularly large herds of sheep and goats. Such cooccurrence was partially adjusted by diel activity segregation, presumably to limit direct encounters. Our results suggest that the preferred habitat by Pallas's cat in the study region coincides with areas encroached by livestock. The Pallas's cat's

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 49%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Spatio‐temporal occurrence and sensitivity to livestock husbandry of Pallas's cat in the Mongolian Altai

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“…Technology‐based methods gain importance in conservation research (Stephenson, 2020), whereof we compare two in this study. Non‐invasive camera traps (CT) with infrared sensors are widely employed for conservation research and monitoring, in particular for larger terrestrial mammals (Caravaggi et al, 2017; Salvatori et al, 2021). They are becoming less effort‐intensive thanks to AI‐based tools to sort CT datasets.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Assessing environmental DNA metabarcoding and camera trap surveys as complementary tools for biomonitoring of remote desert water bodies

et al. 2021

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Biodiversity assessments are indispensable tools for planning and monitoring conservation strategies. Camera traps (CT) are widely used to monitor wildlife and have proven their usefulness. Environmental DNA (eDNA)‐based approaches are increasingly implemented for biomonitoring, combining sensitivity, high taxonomic coverage and resolution, non‐invasiveness and easiness of sampling, but remain challenging for terrestrial fauna. However, in remote desert areas where scattered water bodies attract terrestrial species, which release their DNA into the water, this method presents a unique opportunity for their detection. In order to identify the most efficient method for a given study system, comparative studies are needed. Here, we compare CT and DNA metabarcoding of water samples collected from two desert ecosystems, the Trans‐Altai Gobi in Mongolia and the Kalahari in Botswana. We recorded with CT the visiting patterns of wildlife and studied the correlation with the biodiversity captured with the eDNA approach. The aim of the present study was threefold: (a) to investigate how well waterborne eDNA captures signals of terrestrial fauna in remote desert environments, which have been so far neglected in terms of biomonitoring efforts; (b) to compare two distinct approaches for biomonitoring in such environments; and (c) to draw recommendations for future eDNA‐based biomonitoring. We found significant correlations between the two methodologies and describe a detectability score based on variables extracted from CT data and the visiting patterns of wildlife. This supports the use of eDNA‐based biomonitoring in these ecosystems and encourages further research to integrate the methodology in the planning and monitoring of conservation strategies.

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“…Although wolves have been less commonly reported as having rabies within Mongolia, they are estimated to be the source of rabies infection in 73.1% of small ruminant cases, 12.6% of equine cases and 32.4% domestic canine cases (Odontsetseg et al, 2009). The enhanced contribution of rabies cases despite lower amounts of rabies reports may reflect both the reported higher frequency with which wolves prey on domestic animals and their widespread distribution across the country (Augugliaro et al, 2020; Lieb et al, 2021; Salvatori et al, 2021).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Hotspots in a cold land‐reported cases of rabies in wildlife and livestock in Mongolia from 2012–2018

Matulis

Altantogtokh

Lantos

et al. 2022

Zoonoses and Public Health

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The epidemiological profile of rabies virus within Mongolia remains poorly characterized despite 21,302 domestic animal cases being reported between 1970–2005. This lack of knowledge is particularly concerning given that roughly 26% of the population lives a pastoral herding lifestyle and livestock production contributes up to 18% of Mongolia's total gross domestic product (GDP). The gaps in knowledge of the rabies disease ecology within Mongolia combined with the lack of routine vaccination of domestic animals and wildlife poses a significant threat to the more than 60 million heads of livestock within Mongolia. Animal rabies case data from the General Authority for Veterinary Services and National Center for Zoonotic Diseases were used in this study. Each data point included year of report, an animal descriptor, geographic coordinates and the aimag (province) of origin. A total of 2,359 animal rabies cases were reported between 2012–2018. Cattle were the most commonly reported animal overall (861 cases), followed by goats (268), sheep (251) and dogs (221) within the domestic animal category. Red foxes were responsible for most reported wildlife cases (317) followed by wolves (151). Most rabid animals were reported in the Khuvsgul, Uvurkhangai and Govi‐Altai aimags, and a positive correlation was found between livestock numbers per soum and the number of rabies cases reported. Rabies poses a significant threat to the Mongolian economy and the health of human and animal populations within Mongolia. The close association of the nomadic pastoralists with both domestic animals and wildlife represents a significant threat for disease emergence and necessitates studies that describe the ecology of rabies, which may threaten these populations.

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Co-occurrence of snow leopard, wolf and Siberian ibex under livestock encroachment into protected areas across the Mongolian Altai

Cited by 26 publications

References 24 publications

Spatio‐temporal occurrence and sensitivity to livestock husbandry of Pallas's cat in the Mongolian Altai

Spatio‐temporal occurrence and sensitivity to livestock husbandry of Pallas's cat in the Mongolian Altai

Assessing environmental DNA metabarcoding and camera trap surveys as complementary tools for biomonitoring of remote desert water bodies

Hotspots in a cold land‐reported cases of rabies in wildlife and livestock in Mongolia from 2012–2018

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