Comparing biodiversity between protected savanna and adjacent non-protected farmland in the southern Kalahari

Wasiolka, Bernd; Blaum, Niels

doi:10.1016/j.jaridenv.2011.04.011

Cited by 17 publications

(10 citation statements)

References 40 publications

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“…Other studies aimed at estimating PA effectiveness directly (e.g. Wasiolka and Blaum, 2011;Lee et al, 2007), but their choice of counterfactual was subjectively based on what authors considered likely to have happened to the protected site had it not been protected (Coetzee et al, 2014). Finally, some other studies used in meta-analyses were not particularly interested in differences between protected and unprotected sites, with protection used only as a covariate to potentially explain variation around the signal the authors were interested in (e.g.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Using a large-scale biodiversity monitoring dataset to test the effectiveness of protected areas at conserving North-American breeding birds

Cazalis

Belghali

Rodrigues

2018

Preprint

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Protected areas currently cover about 15% of the global land area, and constitute one of the main tools in biodiversity conservation. Quantifying their effectiveness at protecting species from local decline or extinction involves comparing protected with counterfactual unprotected sites representing "what would have happened to protected sites had they not been protected". Most studies are based on pairwise comparisons, using neighbour sites to protected areas as counterfactuals, but this choice is often subjective and may be prone to biases. An alternative is to use large-scale biodiversity monitoring datasets, whereby the effect of protected areas is analysed statistically by controlling for landscape differences between protected and unprotected sites, allowing a more targeted and clearly defined measure of the protected areas effect. Here we use the North American Breeding Bird Survey dataset as a case study to investigate the effectiveness of protected areas at conserving bird assemblages. We analysed the effect of protected areas on species richness, on assemblage-level abundance, and on the abundance of individual species by modelling how these metrics relate to the proportion of each site that is protected, while controlling for local habitat, altitude, productivity and for spatial autocorrelation. At the assemblage level, we found almost no relationship between protection and species richness or overall abundance. At the species level, we found that forest species are present in significantly higher abundances within protected forest sites, compared with unprotected forests, with the opposite effect for species that favour open habitats. Hence, even though protected forest assemblages are not richer than those of unprotected forests, they are more typical of this habitat. We also found some evidence that species that avoid human activities tend to be favoured by protection, but found no such effect for regionally declining species. Our results highlight the complexity of assessing protected areas effecti veness, and the necessity of clearly defining the metrics of effectiveness and the controls used in such assessments.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Using a large-scale biodiversity monitoring dataset to test the effectiveness of protected areas at conserving North-American breeding birds

Cazalis

Belghali

Rodrigues

2018

Preprint

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“…On the one hand, one can compare areas with similar environmental conditions but with different states of protection. In most cases, this approach is based on a comparison of the protected area with its surroundings (Wasiolka and Blaum, 2011;Belgacem et al, 2013).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Analysing land cover and land use change in the Matobo National Park and surroundings in Zimbabwe

Scharsich

Mtata

Hauhs

et al. 2017

Remote Sensing of Environment

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National parks are established to reduce human influence on nature and contribute to species conservation, biodiversity and ecological services. Other states of protection like the UNESCO world heritage sites, for example, are created for maintaining culturally important places or lifestyles. In the Matobo Hills (Zimbabwe) both states of protection are present, a national park and a world heritage site. In addition, the land outside the National Park belongs to two different systems of ownership, namely "common"(i.e. community-owned) and "not-common" (privately or governmentally owned)

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“…Conversely, Fabricius et al (2003) and Bhagwat, Kushalappa, Williams, and Brown, (2005) found no significant difference in composition of reptiles and birds between the protected area and the ranchlands and farms when the borders were unfenced. Previous studies suggest the effect of an unfenced border on vegetation influences herbaceous plants differently to woody plants (Schmidt et al, 2016;Wasiolka & Blaum, 2011) and also varies with the land-use type (Bhagwat et al, 2005;Fabricius et al, 2003). Therefore, we cannot yet infer how an unfenced border will affect the effective size of the protected area.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 90%

“…A number of studies have looked at the effects of protected areas in general (Di Minin et al, 2013;Fabricius, Burger, & Hockey, 2003;Leverington, Costa, Pavese, Lisle, & Hockings, 2010) and found contrary results for species diversity and composition. For example, species diversity and composition of vegetation (Mureithi et al, 2016;Schindler, Poirazidis, & Wrbka, 2008;Schmidt et al, 2016;Wasiolka & Blaum, 2011), reptiles (Schindler et al, 2008), and arthropods (Fabricius et al, 2003) differ significantly between an unfenced-border conservation area and adjacent land used for livestock grazing and agriculture. Conversely, Fabricius et al (2003) and Bhagwat, Kushalappa, Williams, and Brown, (2005) found no significant difference in composition of reptiles and birds between the protected area and the ranchlands and farms when the borders were unfenced.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Unfenced Borders Cause Differences in Vegetation and Fauna Between Protected and Unprotected Areas in a Tropical Savanna

Nyamukuru

Grytnes

Tabuti

et al. 2019

Tropical Conservation Science

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Protected areas generally occur within a matrix of intensively human-modified landscapes. As a way to maintain the biodiversity in these areas, enclosure by fencing is often preferred. This strategy, however, is costly and little is known about the effectiveness of the alternative of unfenced borders on the vegetation and fauna. The objectives of this study are to assess whether there is a distinct difference in biodiversity and composition of plants and mammals between the protected Lake Mburo National Park and the adjacent ranchlands across an unfenced border and to determine the associations between vegetation and faunal species over the same border. We recorded herbaceous vegetation, woody vegetation, and mammal species composition in plots 300 to 500 m away from the border both inside the protected area and in the adjacent ranchlands. The species composition of herbs and mammals in the protected area differ from the adjacent ranchlands, but there is no difference for trees and shrubs. After accounting for land-use type, distance from the border did not significantly account for any additional variation. We also find a correlation between the species composition of vegetation and fauna. Our results suggest that unfenced borders around protected areas create a clear effect.

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Comparing biodiversity between protected savanna and adjacent non-protected farmland in the southern Kalahari

Cited by 17 publications

References 40 publications

Using a large-scale biodiversity monitoring dataset to test the effectiveness of protected areas at conserving North-American breeding birds

Using a large-scale biodiversity monitoring dataset to test the effectiveness of protected areas at conserving North-American breeding birds

Analysing land cover and land use change in the Matobo National Park and surroundings in Zimbabwe

Unfenced Borders Cause Differences in Vegetation and Fauna Between Protected and Unprotected Areas in a Tropical Savanna

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