scholarly journals What motivates hunters to target exotic or endemic species on the island of São Tomé, Gulf of Guinea?

Oryx ◽  
2014 ◽  
Vol 49 (2) ◽  
pp. 278-286 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mariana Carvalho ◽  
Jorge M. Palmeirim ◽  
Francisco C. Rego ◽  
Nelson Sole ◽  
Aristides Santana ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Invasive Species ◽  
Urban Areas ◽  
Bird Species ◽  
Oceanic Islands ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Local Fauna ◽  
Rural Workers ◽  
Final Destination ◽  
Local Livelihoods ◽  
Endemic Birds

AbstractHunting and invasive species are amongst the main causes of species extinctions on oceanic islands. On the island of São Tomé hunting of introduced mammals (monkeys, civets and pigs) and endemic bird species has contrasting effects in terms of conservation. Hunting of introduced mammals may benefit native fauna and flora but pressure on endemic birds poses a threat to some species. We conducted semi-structured interviews with 119 hunters to assess the relative importance of native and introduced prey species, gathering information on personal profiles, preference and practice, and hunters’ perceptions of trends in prey populations. Eleven species were hunted, including five invasive mammals and five endemic birds of high conservation importance. Based on species hunted, techniques used and final destination of the quarry we distinguished three groups of hunters, using cluster analyses: bird, monkey and feral-pig hunters. Bird hunters were all from urban areas but most pig hunters were rural. Monkey hunters were mostly rural workers but a small proportion were from urban areas. Bird and monkey hunters were primarily motivated by commercial gains but they also hunted for enjoyment and food. In general, hunting of mammals is an opportunistic activity that, if regulated, can be sustainable and contribute to mitigating the effects of invasive species on local fauna as well contributing to local livelihoods. Given the economic drivers involved in hunting of birds, intervention to reduce or eliminate this form of hunting will require enforcement of legislation and raising awareness of the issues involved.

Invasive species in the flora and fauna of Podilski Tovtry National Nature Park (Ukraine)

Geo&Bio ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 2021 (20) ◽  
pp. 70-78
Author(s):  
Lyudmila Lyubinska ◽  
◽  
Mykola Маtvieiev ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Invasive Species ◽  
Invasive Plant ◽  
Bird Species ◽  
Negative Influence ◽  
Trophic Factors ◽  
Urban Landscapes ◽  
Migration Routes ◽  
Local Fauna ◽  
Nature Park ◽  
The Impact

The territory of Podilski Tovtry National Natural Park covers an area of 261 315 ha, 72 % of which are cultivated lands that facilitated the expansion of 335 adventive species. Research on invasive plant and animal species was carried out during field surveys in 1996–2019. More than 220 geobotanical descriptions were compiled applying the Brown-Blanque method. In this territory, 26 species display distinct aggression and are referred to as invasive, which belong to 15 families of the class Magnoliopsida and division Magnoliophyta. By origin, Northern American species prevail (15 species) followed by Asian (6) and European (5) species. By life form, annual herbal plants (therophytes) and trees predominate. Тherophytes mainly represent the family Asteraceae. The studies of the phytocenosis showed that the invasive species are part of 19 vegetation classes. The invasive species settled in 14 natural communities and they grow in 10 rare (singular) aggregations. To reduce the impact of invasive species on rare habitats and communities it is necessary to take measures to restore the natural vegetation cover. In the territory of Podilski Tovtry National Nature Park, 7 species of vertebrate animals are considered invasive, the naturalisation of which threatens and has negative influence on the local fauna. Another 6 species of birds and mammals, due to natural range expansion and anthropogenic changes of abiotic environmental factors, settled in urban landscapes and were introduced by means of synanthropisation; they can be considered as close invaders. Motacilla citreola occurs in wet meadows and has an unstable abundance, thus it belongs to propulsive species. Another 11 bird species appear in the surveyed territory during the autumn and winter periods or in separate years. Their invasiveness is possible due to abundance fluctuations during migration and changes in their migration routes because of the influence of trophic factors.

scholarly journals Smart Cities in Turkey: Approaches, Advances and Applications with Greater Consideration for Future Urban Transport Development

Energies ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 12 (12) ◽  
pp. 2308 ◽  
Author(s):  
Can Bıyık
Keyword(s):  
Urban Areas ◽  
Planning Process ◽  
Smart Cities ◽  
Radical Change ◽  
Urban Transport ◽  
Transport Systems ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Policy Makers ◽  
Comprehensive Survey ◽  
Future Vision

The smart city transport concept is viewed as a future vision aiming to undertake investigations on the urban planning process and to construct policy-pathways for achieving future targets. Therefore, this paper sets out three visions for the year 2035 which bring about a radical change in the level of green transport systems (often called walking, cycling, and public transport) in Turkish urban areas. A participatory visioning technique was structured according to a three-stage technique: (i) Extensive online comprehensive survey, in which potential transport measures were researched for their relevance in promoting smart transport systems in future Turkish urban areas; (ii) semi-structured interviews, where transport strategy suggestions were developed in the context of the possible imaginary urban areas and their associated contextual description of the imaginary urban areas for each vision; (iii) participatory workshops, where an innovative method was developed to explore various creative future choices and alternatives. Overall, this paper indicates that the content of the future smart transport visions was reasonable, but such visions need a considerable degree of consensus and radical approaches for tackling them. The findings offer invaluable insights to researchers inquiring about the smart transport field, and policy-makers considering applying those into practice in their local urban areas.

scholarly journals Using Bayesian Belief Networks to assess the influence of landscape connectivity on ecosystem service trade-offs and synergies in urban landscapes in the UK

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
James D. Karimi ◽  
Jim A. Harris ◽  
Ron Corstanje
Keyword(s):  
Functional Connectivity ◽  
Ecosystem Service ◽  
Urban Areas ◽  
Landscape Connectivity ◽  
Structural Characteristics ◽  
Bird Species ◽  
Bayesian Belief Networks ◽  
Belief Networks ◽  
Patch Area ◽  
Trade Offs

Abstract Context Landscape connectivity is assumed to influence ecosystem service (ES) trade-offs and synergies. However, empirical studies of the effect of landscape connectivity on ES trade-offs and synergies are limited, especially in urban areas where the interactions between patterns and processes are complex. Objectives The objectives of this study were to use a Bayesian Belief Network approach to (1) assess whether functional connectivity drives ES trade-offs and synergies in urban areas and (2) assess the influence of connectivity on the supply of ESs. Methods We used circuit theory to model urban bird flow of P. major and C. caeruleus at a 2 m spatial resolution in Bedford, Luton and Milton Keynes, UK, and Bayesian Belief Networks (BBNs) to assess the sensitivity of ES trade-offs and synergies model outputs to landscape and patch structural characteristics (patch area, connectivity and bird species abundance). Results We found that functional connectivity was the most influential variable in determining two of three ES trade-offs and synergies. Patch area and connectivity exerted a strong influence on ES trade-offs and synergies. Low patch area and low to moderately low connectivity were associated with high levels of ES trade-offs and synergies. Conclusions This study demonstrates that landscape connectivity is an influential determinant of ES trade-offs and synergies and supports the conviction that larger and better-connected habitat patches increase ES provision. A BBN approach is proposed as a feasible method of ES trade-off and synergy prediction in complex landscapes. Our findings can prove to be informative for urban ES management.

scholarly journals Social Security Access Challenges for Chinese Farmers Migrating to Urban Settings

2020 ◽  
Vol 4 (Supplement_1) ◽  
pp. 564-564
Author(s):  
Hong Mi ◽  
Qiyini Ma
Keyword(s):  
Older Adults ◽  
Old Age ◽  
Urban Areas ◽  
Living Standard ◽  
Chinese Government ◽  
Absolute Poverty ◽  
Rural People ◽  
Rural Workers ◽  
Urban And Rural Residents ◽  
Economic Need

Abstract In 2018, China had 564 million rural people, accounting for 40% of the total population. However in 2018, the total number of rural workers immigrating to urban areas related to economic need reached 288 million. This represents an increase of 46 million since 2011. The Chinese government piloted a new rural insurance as an answer to pushing urbanization forward to support rural immigrants. Consequently since 2009, the number of urban and rural residents participating in the basic old-age insurance has been kept above 500 million, making it the largest basic old-age insurance system, covering the largest number of persons in the world. Due to this insurance, an estimated 515 million people were lifted out of poverty, of which 27.41 million were older adults. Challenges for the Chinese government include transforming the Chinese situation of absolute poverty to relative poverty, and improving the living standard of older adults.

scholarly journals How many bird extinctions have we prevented?

Oryx ◽  
2006 ◽  
Vol 40 (3) ◽  
pp. 266-278 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stuart H.M. Butchart ◽  
Alison J. Stattersfield ◽  
Nigel J. Collar
Keyword(s):  
Invasive Species ◽  
Captive Breeding ◽  
Extinction Risk ◽  
Bird Species ◽  
Iucn Red List ◽  
Additional Species ◽  
Conservation Actions ◽  
Declining Populations ◽  
Population Sizes ◽  
Principal Actions

Considerable resources and efforts have been directed at biodiversity conservation in recent years, but measures of the success of conservation programmes have been limited. Based on information on population sizes, trends, threatening processes and the nature and intensity of conservation actions implemented during 1994–2004, we assessed that 16 bird species would have probably become extinct during this period if conservation programmes for them had not been undertaken. The mean minimum population size of these 16 species increased from 34 to 147 breeding individuals during 1994–2004. In 1994, 63% of them had declining populations but by 2004, 81% were increasing. Most of these species (63%) are found on islands. The principal threats that led to their decline were habitat loss and degradation (88%), invasive species (50%) and exploitation (38%), a pattern similar to that for other threatened species, but with exploitation and invasive species being relatively more important. The principal actions carried out were habitat protection and management (75% of species), control of invasive species (50%), and captive breeding and release (33%). The 16 species represent only 8.9% of those currently classified as Critically Endangered, and 1.3% of those threatened with extinction. Many of these additional species slipped closer to extinction during 1994–2004, including 164 that deteriorated in status sufficiently to be uplisted to higher categories of extinction risk on the IUCN Red List (IUCN, 2006). Efforts need to be considerably scaled up to prevent many more extinctions in the coming decades. The knowledge and tools to achieve this are available, but we need to mobilize the resources and political will to apply them.

Diversity, status and habitat usage of avifauna at sadar upazila, magura, Bangladesh

2021 ◽  
Vol 48 (2) ◽  
pp. 441-456
Author(s):  
Ashikur Rahman Shome ◽  
Md Mahabub Alam ◽  
Md Fazle Rabbe ◽  
Mohammad Mijanur Rahman ◽  
Mohammad Firoj Jaman
Keyword(s):  
Rural Areas ◽  
Urban Areas ◽  
Winter Season ◽  
Bird Species ◽  
Diversity Indices ◽  
Habitat Diversity ◽  
Seasonal Abundance ◽  
Line Transect ◽  
Common Myna ◽  
Rural And Urban

A study on diversity, status, and habitat preference of avifauna was conducted from November 2017 to October 2018 in Magura Sadar upazila, Magura. Data was collected through direct field observations using line-transect method. Field surveys were made for three days per month in both rural and urban sites. A total of 140 species of birds belonged to 18 orders and 48 families were reported. Among the total species, 55% (77 species) were non-passerines and 45% (63 species) passerines with the highest individuals were counted under order Passeriformes. Resident bird species were dominant (106 species, 75.71%) over migratory (34 species, 24.28%) species. Species richness was the highest in the rural areas (124 species, 88.57%) and occurrence was the highest in winter season (97 species, 69.29%). The maximum species were recorded from trees (87 species, 62.14%) as preferred habitat. In this study, in total 4,060 individuals of birds were counted and among them, 51.55% (n=2093) were observed in the rural areas and 48.45% (n=1967) were in the urban areas. The highest number of birds was found in December (10.34%, n=432) and seasonal abundance was the highest in winter (40.15%, n=1630). Abundance was the highest for Common Myna (5.76%, n=234) among all recorded species. Diversity indices showed that the bird species were the most diverse in the rural areas in the winter season and in July. Habitat diversity indices were the highest for trees and birds used different types of habitats at different times for roosting, breeding and feeding. Regarding the observation status, 29.28% species was very common, 4.28% common, 31.42% fairly common, and 35% were few. This baseline data indicate that this study site is significant from the ecological and conservation point of views. Therefore, further research is necessary to understand how this avian diversity is maintained in this ecological setting. Bangladesh J. Zool. 48(2): 441-456, 2020

New Results of Using the Light Trap for Collecting Beetles (Insecta: Coleoptera) in the Urban Environment (on the Example of Saratov)

2020 ◽  
Vol 2 (2) ◽  
pp. 72-78
Author(s):  
A.S. Sazhnev ◽  
◽  
V.V. Anikin ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Invasive Species ◽  
Urban Areas ◽  
Harmonia Axyridis ◽  
Low Cost ◽  
Light Trap ◽  
Ecological Groups ◽  
Light Traps ◽  
Adventitious Species ◽  
First Time ◽  
Stegobium Paniceum

The article presents the results of research of the using light traps (luminescent lamp Actinic 6W) for collecting Coleoptera in the Saratov city. Entomological material was collected by the second author in the period from 1.06 to 2.10.2019. In 2019, 52 species of Coleoptera of 22 families from different ecological groups were recorded. A relatively high proportion of adventitious species remains in 17.3– 30.7% of the presented fauna was presented. For two years the 14 species of alien and cryptogenic Coleoptera species were observed, that is 24.5% of the adventive fauna of the Saratov Province. Among invasive species Attagenus smirnovi, Stegobium paniceum, Atomaria lewisi, Harmonia axyridis, Gnatocerus cornutus, and Orchestes steppensis were record for the first time in 2019. It to use bringing on light as one of the available and low-cost ways to identify alien and cryptogenic organisms in urban areas is recommended.

Investigating Corruption in the Afghan Police Force

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Danny Singh
Keyword(s):  
Police Officers ◽  
Urban Areas ◽  
Structured Interview ◽  
Police Force ◽  
Public Confidence ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Police Corruption ◽  
State Legitimacy ◽  
Post Conflict ◽  
Political Economic

This book provides a unique study on the lower ranks of the Afghan police force due to the lack of empirical evidence of what attributes to the causes, practices and consequences of corruption in this institution. The book is divided into a number of sections. It commences with an understanding of how corruption, and narrowly police corruption, impact on the police force, state legitimacy and the strategies in place to mitigate such problems as part of broader security and post-conflict reconstruction initiatives. The theoretical framework comprises political, economic and cultural drivers of police corruption by drawing on semi-structured interviews with elites and a survey and structured interview conducted with street-level police officers. The findings infer that weak oversight and low pay are causes of police corruption which intensify bribery and roadside extortion. The lack of professionalism, partly due to short and unclear training, and patronage are deemed as meanings of police corruption. In terms of motivation, there is no sense of pride in Afghan policing to fulfil a clear mandate. Moreover, non-meritocratic recruitment is prevalent which exacerbates local influences, loyalties and job buying in either high-drug cultivating or urban areas. To curb patronage, police officers are rotated to distant provinces but economic hardship is further increased when catering for large families with fewer breadwinners. The book concludes that the problems with police corruption and failure to combat it results in low public confidence and state illegitimacy which can support violent opposition groups to create further instability in war-torn societies.

Reviving the consumption of insects in Japan: a promising case of hebo (Vespula spp., wasps) by high school club activities

2020 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
pp. 45-50 ◽  
Author(s):  
K. Nonaka ◽  
H. Yanagihara
Keyword(s):  
High School ◽  
Resource Use ◽  
Environmental Sustainability ◽  
Urban Areas ◽  
Local Development ◽  
Participant Observation ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
New Development ◽  
School Research ◽  
Recent Initiative

For people who hunt and eat hebo (Vespula spp., wasps) it is more about culture than it is about food production or environmental sustainability in mountainous central Japan. Individuals who currently semi-cultivate hebo do not intend to industrialize hebo semi-cultivation. Semi-cultivation of hebo is a seasonal activity and it is a hobby for them. This paper focuses on the declining number of wasp hunters. The number declined because younger generations did not take up the hobby or moved to urban areas in search of jobs. Hebo hunters thus consisted of seniors only. The number further declined as those who reached old age were no longer able to practice hebo hunting. Very recently, initiated a promising new development at Ena Agricultural High School. The support to the Hebo Club initiative was quickly expanded and now covers the members belonging to the Japan Vespula Association, and academics involved in edible insect research. We present an overview of the efforts of hebo hunters to maintain and promote the use of Vespula spp. as food and we describe the Hebo Club, a promising recent initiative spearheaded by the students of Ena Agricultural High School. The information was collected between fiscal 2015 and 2017 (namely from September 2015 to March 2018) by participant observation and semi-structured interviews with hebo hunters collaborating with the Hebo Club activities. The Hebo Club uses a hands-on approach: students gain knowledge on edible wasps and their semi-cultivation by actively engaging in the semi-cultivation of the wasps. The club thus teaches the students about resource use by engaging in resource use. The students are taught by experienced wasp hunters how to find, collect, house, and raise hebo. The Hebo Club’s colonies are housed in a shed in the school research forest. By cooperating with the members belonging to various Hebo Associations of south-eastern Gifu and northern Aichi, the students experience the variation in employed techniques and equipment, and make observations of hebo biology and ecology in different environments. Other than the hebo season, the club practice develops their idea for local development and applying it to tourism according to the evaluation of their activities. The successful beginning of the Hebo Club, a well-organized cultural initiative spearheaded by youngsters who are backed by seniors, is indicative of how people caring about hebo culture in central mountainous Japan maintains and preserves its culture and identity.

Exploring Just Sustainability in Re-Blocking Intervention in a Johannesburg Informal Settlement

2017 ◽  
Vol 53 (5) ◽  
pp. 782-796 ◽  
Author(s):  
Olumuyiwa Bayode Adegun
Keyword(s):  
Environmental Justice ◽  
Urban Areas ◽  
Informal Settlement ◽  
Informal Settlements ◽  
Environmental Problems ◽  
Urban Housing ◽  
Material Distribution ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Institutional Structures ◽  
Just Sustainability

Addressing intertwined socio-economic and environmental problems in informal urban areas underscores the need for just sustainability. The co-production of urban housing provides a useful domain to link issues related to sustainability with social and environmental justice. Using the example of an informal settlement re-blocking project, this paper shows how co-production as an approach might or might not promote principles ingrained in just sustainability. The study relied on data collected through semi-structured interviews with residents and key informants as well as transect walks within the settlement. The case shows that working towards just sustainability is not straight-forward. It demands efforts that navigate, with foresight rather than hindsight, the dynamics in multi-scalar contexts into which informal settlements are embedded. Social and institutional structures, processes and relationships producing and reproducing material distribution are crucial to entrenching the just sustainability praxis.

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