Land use patterns within Wattled Crane (<i>Bugeranus carunculatus</i>) home ranges in an agricultural landscape in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa

McCann, Kevin; Benn, G.A.

doi:10.2989/00306520609485532

Cited by 11 publications

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“…The Wattled Crane depends more on wetlands surrounded by natural grasslands than any other African crane species (McCann and Benn 2006). Today, its southern African population is restricted to montane, permanently inundated wetlands.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Descriptions and palaeoecological implications of bird remains from the Middle Pleistocene of Florisbad, South Africa

Manegold

Brink

2010

Paläontol. Z.

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The spring mound deposit Florisbad (Free State, South Africa) yielded several bird remains dating to the late Middle Pleistocene. These specimens derive from spring vent structures and are the product of natural taphonomic processes relating to the spring as primary sampling agent. The bird fossils can be assigned to Ostrich, Struthio camelus; Greater Flamingo, Phoenicopterus ruber roseus; Wattled Crane, Bugeranus carunculatus; an anatine dabbling duck; and a francolin with strong resemblance to Shelley's Francolin, Scleroptila shelleyi. As in the case of the large mammal record, the bird remains from the Florisbad spring reflect two components in the palaeoenvironment. Evidence for Greater Flamingo, Wattled Crane, and a dabbling duck strongly supports previous hypotheses regarding the presence of a palaeolake system, while records for Ostrich and a francolin, but also Wattled Crane accord with the presence of open landscapes, such as grasslands.Ausgrabungen von Quellschloten an der Hominidenfundstelle Florisbad (Free State, Südafrika) för-derten neben eine Vielzahl von Säugetierfossilien auch Ü berreste mehrerer Vogelarten zu Tage, die aus dem späten Mittelpleistozän datieren. Die Vogelfossilien lassen sich einem Strauß (Struthio camelus), einem Rosaflamingo (Phoenicopterus ruber roseus), einem Klunkerkranich (Bugeranus carunculatus), einer nicht näher zu identifizierenden Gründelente (Anatini, Anatidae) sowie einem Frankolin mit Merkmalen des Shelleyfrankolins (Scleroptila shelleyi) zuordnen. Die Vogelfossilien erlauben wie die bisher bekanntgewordenen Säugetierfossilien Rückschlüsse auf die Lebensräume in unmittelbarer Umgebung der Florisbad-Quellen während des Mittelpleistozäns: Nachweise für Rosaflamingo, Klunkerkranich und einer Gründelente stützen die Hypothese, dass es in der Nähe ein System von Paläo-Seen gegeben haben muss. Nachweise von Strauß und Frankolin, aber auch von Klunkerkranich deuten darauf hin, dass die spätere Fossilfundstelle von offenen und ausgedehnten Graslandschaften umgeben war. Schlü sselwörter Florisbad Á Pleistozän Á Anatini Á Gruidae Á Phasianidae Á Phoenicopteridae Á Struthionidae

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Descriptions and palaeoecological implications of bird remains from the Middle Pleistocene of Florisbad, South Africa

Manegold

Brink

2010

Paläontol. Z.

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“…The A2 land-use category is characterized by large farms with minimum land disturbances which could be the reason why it attracted the highest number of Wattled Cranes. The Wattled Crane is known to be more sensitive to land disturbances; therefore, it tends to move to less disturbed habitat [16]. Wattled Crane requires more space and its home range has been recorded to be around 16.6 km 2 , with 2.3% of this being the core breeding area [16].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Land-use change due to human activities was reported as one of the factors that influenced the transformation of cranes’ habitat [1,15,16]. Elsewhere, it was recorded that human population pressures and associated land-use changes were major challenges hindering conservation efforts of cranes in developing countries where they occur [17].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Varying Land-Use Has an Influence on Wattled and Grey Crowned Cranes’ Abundance and Distribution in Driefontein Grasslands Important Bird Area, Zimbabwe

et al. 2016

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Three species of cranes are distributed widely throughout southern Africa, but little is known about how they respond to the changes in land-use that have occurred in this region. This study assessed habitat preference of the two crane species across land-use categories of the self contained small scale commercial farms of 30 to 40 ha per household (A1), large scale commercial agriculture farms of > 50 ha per household (A2) and Old Resettlement, farms of < 5 ha per household with communal grazing land in Driefontein Grasslands Important Bird Area (IBA), Zimbabwe. The study further explored how selected explanatory (environmental) habitat variables influence crane species abundance. Crane bird counts and data on influencing environmental variables were collected between June and August 2012. Our results show that varying land-use categories had an influence on the abundance and distribution of the Wattled Crane (Bugeranus carunculatus) and the Grey Crowned Crane (Belearica regulorum) across Driefontein Grasslands IBA. The Wattled Crane was widely distributed in the relatively undisturbed A2 farms while the Grey Crowned Crane was associated with the more disturbed land of A1 farms, Old Resettlement and its communal grazing land. Cyperus esculentus and percent (%) bare ground were strong environmental variables best explaining the observed patterns in Wattled Crane abundance across land-use categories. The pattern in Grey Crowned Crane abundance was best explained by soil penetrability, moisture and grass height variables. A holistic sustainable land-use management that takes into account conservation of essential habitats in Driefontein Grasslands IBA is desirable for crane populations and other wetland dependent species that include water birds.

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“…Wattled Cranes have an average home range of 1,664 ha, including proportions of both wetlands (48.9%) and grassland (51.8%). Pairs are strongly territorial, and each pair requires a territory size of approximately 25 ha [10]. A total of 5,290 ha of both wetlands and grasslands were lost in Driefontein IBA between 1995 and 2010 (Table 1), which translates to a total loss of about 3 actual home ranges and 212 breeding sites of Wattled Cranes lost to conversion of wetlands and grasslands to cultivated land between 1995 and 2010 in Driefontein IBA.…”

Section: Implications For Conservationmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Accordingly, land use change due to human activities in Africa has influenced the transformation of habitats [7,8]. Severe conversion of natural grasslands and wetlands to agriculture, forestry and human settlement has been reported in Africa [9][10][11], thus likely threatening the conservation value of some of the IBAs.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Pattern of Land-Use and Land Cover Changes in Driefontein Grassland Important Bird Area, Zimbabwe

Fakarayi

Mashapa

Gandiwa

et al. 2015

Tropical Conservation Science

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We assessed land cover and land use change in Driefontein Grasslands Important Bird Area (Driefontein IBA), Zimbabwe, after the land reforms that took place in 2000, using remotely sensed satellite land cover images of 1995, 2000, 2005 and 2010. A drive transect was done for ground truthing. Data were analysed spatially in a Geographical Information System environment. Changes in land cover and land use proportions were recorded from 1995 to 2010 throughout the Driefontein IBA. The land cover classes of grassland and wetland showed a decrease, whereas land area under cultivation increased during 1995-2010. However, the woodland area marginally remained constant over the same time. We concluded that changes in land cover in the study area were largely driven by land use change, i.e., increase in cultivation, following the resettlement of people within the Driefontein IBA. It is likely that with increasing human population the natural habitat of the study area will be degraded further, negatively impacting key sensitive habitats such as wetlands, bird species, and other biodiversity. Threats to birds and wetlands habitats are also threats to human livelihoods because people in this semi-arid area depend on wetland ecosystem services for their survival. The study recommends continuous monitoring of Driefontein IBA for conservation of birds and their habitats.

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Land use patterns within Wattled Crane (Bugeranus carunculatus) home ranges in an agricultural landscape in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa

Cited by 11 publications

References 0 publications

Descriptions and palaeoecological implications of bird remains from the Middle Pleistocene of Florisbad, South Africa

Descriptions and palaeoecological implications of bird remains from the Middle Pleistocene of Florisbad, South Africa

Varying Land-Use Has an Influence on Wattled and Grey Crowned Cranes’ Abundance and Distribution in Driefontein Grasslands Important Bird Area, Zimbabwe

Pattern of Land-Use and Land Cover Changes in Driefontein Grassland Important Bird Area, Zimbabwe

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