Using an energetic cost–benefit approach to identify ecological traps: the case of the <scp>A</scp>frican wild dog

Meer, E. van der; Rasmussen, Gregory S. A.; Fritz, Hervé

doi:10.1111/acv.12182

Cited by 13 publications

(9 citation statements)

References 30 publications

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“…In addition to anthropogenic and ecological variables, we considered the effects of environmental factors that regulate the system through bottom-up processes. We therefore assessed the influence of available drinking water on lion occupancy using density of rivers and average precipitation (Mosser, Fryxell, Eberly, & Packer, 2009;Valeix et al, 2010). River spatial data were obtained from the USGS HydroSHEDS dataset (Lehner, Verdin, & Jarvis, 2008).…”

Section: Covariate Developmentmentioning

confidence: 99%

Comparable space use by lions between hunting concessions and national parks in West Africa

Mills

Harissou²,

Gnoumou

et al. 2020

Journal of Applied Ecology

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1. Spatially varied resources and threats govern the persistence of African lions across dynamic protected areas. An important precursor to effective conservation for lions requires assessing trade-offs in space use due to heterogeneity in habitat, resources and human presence between national parks (NPs) and hunting areas, the dominant land-use classifications across their range.2. We conducted a large camera survey in West Africa, encompassing three NPs and 11 hunting concessions (HCs) in Burkina Faso and Niger. This equates to half of the 26,500-km 2 transboundary W-Arly-Pendjari protected area complex. We combined occupancy and structural equation modelling to disentangle the relative effects of environmental, ecological and anthropogenic variables influencing space use of Critically Endangered lions across 21,430 trap-nights from 2016 to 2018.3. National parks are intended to serve as refuges from human pressures, and thus we expect higher lion occupancy in NPs compared to neighbouring HCs. But because prey availability drove lion occupancy and was comparable between NPs and HCs, lions exhibited no spatial response to management type. Prey availability was primarily influenced by edge effects and natural water availability. Furthermore, water availability and habitat diversity were higher in HCs, possibly outweighing disturbances from higher human occupancy and road density and contributing to comparable lion space use between management types. Synthesis and applications.We found that lions exhibited no avoidance hunting concessions, despite higher human occupancy than in neighbouring national parks. This may be due to the lions' heavy reliance on depleted prey populations and preferred habitat characteristics in hunting concessions. We offer potential management interventions to indirectly influence lion space use, such as enhancing water availability and reducing human disturbance at park edges. Our findings provide insight into lion habitat preferences in a system degraded by human pressures and prey depletion, aiding in the understanding of the management's role in the ecology and conservation of apex predators and hunted species. S U PP O RTI N G I N FO R M ATI O N Additional supporting information may be found online in the Supporting Information section. How to cite this article: Mills KL, Harissou Y, Gnoumou IT, Abdel-Nasser YI, Doamba B, Harris NC. Comparable space use by lions between hunting concessions and national parks in West Africa. J Appl Ecol. 2020;57:975-984. https://doi.

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Section: Covariate Developmentmentioning

confidence: 99%

Comparable space use by lions between hunting concessions and national parks in West Africa

Mills

Harissou²,

Gnoumou

et al. 2020

Journal of Applied Ecology

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“…The establishment of a buffer zone prevents and/or mitigates direct and indirect anthropogenic-derived impacts from outside of the PA such as fire, erosion, alien species invasion, noise disturbance and edge effects (Vitalli et al 2009, Vynne et al 2014. Moreover, this strategy contributes to avoid that the immediate surroundings of a PA act as ecological traps for wildlife (i.e., road kills, trapping and poaching) (van der Meer et al 2015). Additionally, buffer zones have the potential to mitigate conflicts between local communities and wildlife (Hjert 2006).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Buffer zone use by mammals in a Cerrado protected area

et al. 2016

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Habitat loss and degradation is threatening mammals worldwide. Therefore, Protected Areas (PA) are of utmost importance to preserve biodiversity. Their effectiveness, however, depends on some management strategies such as buffer zones, which prevent/mitigate the impact of external threats and might increase the amount of available habitat for wildlife existing within reserves. Nevertheless, how intensively terrestrial mammals use buffer zones remains little studied, particularly in the Neotropical region. Aiming to analyse the use of a buffer zone (5 km wide) by medium and large-sized mammals, we modelled the occupancy probabilities of five species of conservation concern including local (interior and buffer zone) as a site covariate, simultaneously controlling for imperfect detection. Data collection was made with camera traps from April to September 2013 in a 9000 ha Cerrado PA (“interior”) and in its surrounding area (39721.41 ha; “buffer zone”). This PA (Jataí Ecological Station) is immersed in a landscape where sugarcane plantations predominate in the northeastern of the state of São Paulo. We also conducted an inventory to compare the number and composition of species between interior and buffer zone. A total of 31 mammal species (26 natives) was recorded via camera traps and active search for sightings, vocalizations, tracks and signs. Occupancy estimates for Myrmecophaga tridactyla, Leopardus pardalis and Pecari tajacu were numerically higher in interior. On the other hand, Chrysocyon brachyurus had the highest occupancy in buffer zone, while the largest predator, Puma concolor, used both areas similarly. However, as the confidence intervals (95%) overlapped, the differences in occupancy probabilities between interior and buffer were weak for all these species. Additionally, regarding only the species recorded by cameras, the observed and estimated richness were similar between interior and buffer zone of the PA. Our data demonstrated that the buffer zone is indeed used by medium and large-sized mammals, including conservation-dependent ones. The lack of enforcement of current legislation regarding buffer zones is therefore a real threat for mammals, even when protection is guaranteed in the interior of protected areas.

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“…Protected, predator-free seabird habitat in the western Pacific is largely restricted to the small low-lying islands within protected areas. As such, with rising sea levels and increased perturbations from storm wave overwash, contemporary colonial seabird habitat is likely to become increasingly unsuitable and may function as an ecological trap [ 48 , 49 , 112 ]. Decades of reproductive effort may be lost at colonies as low-lying islands continue to attract breeders via social attraction, despite chronic nest failure.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Under conditions of rapid environmental change and rising sea levels, the concentration and attraction of colonial seabirds to protected low-lying islands may result in high reproductive failure or mortality, essentially creating an ecological trap in the absence of alternative predator-free, high elevation nesting habitat [ 48 , 49 ]. Some species currently concentrated on low-lying islands may adjust to increasing overwash events and habitat loss by laying replacement eggs, increasing clutch size, increasing nest density or dispersing to more suitable habitat [ 50 ].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Will the Effects of Sea-Level Rise Create Ecological Traps for Pacific Island Seabirds?

et al. 2015

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More than 18 million seabirds nest on 58 Pacific islands protected within vast U.S. Marine National Monuments (1.9 million km2). However, most of these seabird colonies are on low-elevation islands and sea-level rise (SLR) and accompanying high-water perturbations are predicted to escalate with climate change. To understand how SLR may impact protected islands and insular biodiversity, we modeled inundation and wave-driven flooding of a globally important seabird rookery in the subtropical Pacific. We acquired new high-resolution Digital Elevation Models (DEMs) and used the Delft3D wave model and ArcGIS to model wave heights and inundation for a range of SLR scenarios (+0.5, +1.0, +1.5, and +2.0 m) at Midway Atoll. Next, we classified vegetation to delineate habitat exposure to inundation and identified how breeding phenology, colony synchrony, and life history traits affect species-specific sensitivity. We identified 3 of 13 species as highly vulnerable to SLR in the Hawaiian Islands and quantified their atoll-wide distribution (Laysan albatross, Phoebastria immutabilis; black-footed albatross, P. nigripes; and Bonin petrel, Pterodroma hypoleuca). Our models of wave-driven flooding forecast nest losses up to 10% greater than passive inundation models at +1.0 m SLR. At projections of + 2.0 m SLR, approximately 60% of albatross and 44% of Bonin petrel nests were overwashed displacing more than 616,400 breeding albatrosses and petrels. Habitat loss due to passive SLR may decrease the carrying capacity of some islands to support seabird colonies, while sudden high-water events directly reduce survival and reproduction. This is the first study to simulate wave-driven flooding and the combined impacts of SLR, groundwater rise, and storm waves on seabird colonies. Our results highlight the need for early climate change planning and restoration of higher elevation seabird refugia to prevent low-lying protected islands from becoming ecological traps in the face of rising sea levels.

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Using an energetic cost–benefit approach to identify ecological traps: the case of the African wild dog

Cited by 13 publications

References 30 publications

Comparable space use by lions between hunting concessions and national parks in West Africa

Comparable space use by lions between hunting concessions and national parks in West Africa

Buffer zone use by mammals in a Cerrado protected area

Will the Effects of Sea-Level Rise Create Ecological Traps for Pacific Island Seabirds?

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