scholarly journals From natural forest to coffee agroforest: implications for communities of large mammals in the Ethiopian highlands

Oryx ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 54 (5) ◽  
pp. 715-722
Author(s):  
Jan E. J. Mertens ◽  
Willem-Jan Emsens ◽  
Merlijn Jocqué ◽  
Lore Geeraert ◽  
Matthias De Beenhouwer

AbstractIn tropical regions the extent of agricultural land is increasing rapidly at the expense of natural forest, with associated losses of biodiversity and ecosystem services. Agroforestry has long been proposed as a more sustainable agricultural system, conserving biodiversity while providing significant local livelihoods. In this context, camera traps were deployed to compare communities of large mammals between natural forest (22,272 hours across 24 deployments) and extensively managed coffee forest (19,059 hours, 23 deployments) for the first time in the south-west Ethiopian highlands. Mammal communities in the two forest types were similar in species richness and Shannon diversity but differed in community composition. Significant indicator species of coffee forest were the crested porcupine Hystrix cristata and the Ethiopian hare Lepus fagani, whereas leopards Panthera pardus and civets Civettictis civetta had a preference for natural forest. The number of detections of mammals was higher in coffee forest, where activity patterns were predominantly crepuscular and nocturnal, which may be a direct adaptation to frequent human disturbance. In natural forest, mammal activity peaked during daytime. Despite the high mammal diversity in extensively managed coffee forest, it cannot fully replace natural forest as a habitat for large mammals. We suggest that a balanced landscape mosaic of coffee and natural forest may be a valuable combination for both conservation and coffee cultivation.

2019 ◽  
Vol 97 (10) ◽  
pp. 952-959
Author(s):  
Priscila Stéfani Monteiro-Alves ◽  
Débora Molino Helmer ◽  
Atilla Colombo Ferreguetti ◽  
Juliane Pereira-Ribeiro ◽  
Carlos Frederico Duarte Rocha ◽  
...  

Crab-eating foxes (Cerdocyon thous (Linnaeus, 1766)) are frequently recorded in lists of mammal communities. However, studies quantifying aspects of the ecology of the species are uncommon in the literature. Thus, we aimed to quantify the density, activity, habitat use, and potential threats of C. thous in two protected areas (PAs) in the State of Espírito Santo, Brazil. We used data derived from camera traps and sand plots to model occupancy, detectability, activity; we also used random encounter models (REMs) to model density and abundance. We also estimated the activity of the species. Density of C. thous was 0.82 individuals/km2 with a total abundance of 119 individuals. We concluded that in the PAs studied, C. thous had bimodal, twilight–nocturnal activity patterns and was associated with water sources. Although the species in the area has a relatively high density compared with that from other areas in Brazil, it could be locally threatened by the highway that crosses the two PAs, promoting roadkill events, and by domestic dogs (Canis familiaris Linnaeus, 1758) recorded in these areas. Results presented herein can be a starting point to support future work in the region and to make predictions regarding the management and conservation of C. thous, a widely distributed species.


2018 ◽  
Vol 66 (2) ◽  
pp. 634
Author(s):  
Julio C. Hernández Hernández ◽  
Cuauhtémoc Chávez ◽  
Rurik List

Diversity and activity patterns of medium and large mammals in La Encrucijada Biosphere Reserve, Chiapas, Mexico. In Mexico, wetlands occupy an important portion of the country, among them, mangroves are particularly diverse. La Encrucijada Biosphere Reserve (ENBIRE) is a coastal ecosystem of mangrove located along the Pacific Coastal Plain in the Southwestern portion of Chiapas state. The ENBIRE mangroves are among the most important of the American Pacific Coast, highlighting the role they play in the maintenance of the community of mammals on the coast of the state. There are few studies in Mexico related to the mammals associated with these ecosystems, our aim was to estimate the diversity and activity patterns of medium and large mammals in the ENBIRE. Sampling was conducted from August 2015 to August 2016 using camera traps. We obteined 1 851 independent photographs records, with a total sampling effort of 5 400 trap-days. Nineteen species of mammals were registered belonging to 15 families and seven orders, and five species were new records to the area. Six species present are listed, two as endangered and four as threatened. Interpolation and extrapolation analyzes showed an asymptotic trend in the curves for the rainy and dry seasons. The coverage of the sample for both seasons was 99.9 % and 99.8 %, respectively, indicating that both cases were a representative sample. According to the relative abundance index obtained, the most abundant species were Procyon lotor (IAR = 4.35), Nasua narica (IAR = 3.91), Philander opossum (IAR = 2.04), Cuniculus paca (IAR = 1.89), Didelphis marsupialis (IAR = 1.67) and Dasypus novemcinctus (IAR = 1.02). In terms of patterns of activity C. paca, P. opossum, D. marsupialis and D. novemcinctus were primarily nocturnal; P. lotor showed a tendency towards nocturnal habits but was also recorded during the day; N. narica was mainly diurnal. This information can be useful to the creation of management programs and the conservation of medium and large mammals in the ENBIRE, especially for species at risk. Rev. Biol. Trop. 66(2): 634-646. Epub 2018 June 01. 


Author(s):  
Dennis Castillo-Figueroa ◽  
Daniela Martínez-Medina ◽  
Miguel E. Rodríguez-Posada

Neotropical savannas have undergone continuous processes of landscape transformation (e.g., agriculture, oil, gas, and hydrocarbon industry) and very little is known about the ecology and natural history of key biological groups such as terrestrial mammals while the information on behavioral aspects of mammalian species in these ecosystems is very scarce. Here, we aimed to describe the activity patterns of medium and large mammals in two savanna ecosystems in the Colombian Llanos. A set of 60 camera traps was installed in the two ecosystems for 35 days (2100 camera days). We described the activity patterns of nine predominantly nocturnal species. We found no difference in circadian distributions of mammals between ecosystems. Cuniculus paca Linnaeus 1758 and Dasyprocta fuliginosa Wagler 1832 showed patterns of exclusion probably due to competition whereas other species like Tamandua tetradactyla Linnaeus1758 and Myrmecophaga tridactyla Linnaeus 1758 displayed similar activity patterns. We highlight the importance of savannas for the conservation of these species and discuss the relevance of studies on activity patterns for mammal ecology and conservation in Neotropical savannas. 


2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (19) ◽  
pp. 3226
Author(s):  
Daniel Cunningham ◽  
Paul Cunningham ◽  
Matthew E. Fagan

Global tree cover products face challenges in accurately predicting tree cover across biophysical gradients, such as precipitation or agricultural cover. To generate a natural forest cover map for Costa Rica, biases in tree cover estimation in the most widely used tree cover product (the Global Forest Change product (GFC) were quantified and corrected, and the impact of map biases on estimates of forest cover and fragmentation was examined. First, a forest reference dataset was developed to examine how the difference between reference and GFC-predicted tree cover estimates varied along gradients of precipitation and elevation, and nonlinear statistical models were fit to predict the bias. Next, an agricultural land cover map was generated by classifying Landsat and ALOS PalSAR imagery (overall accuracy of 97%) to allow removing six common agricultural crops from estimates of tree cover. Finally, the GFC product was corrected through an integrated process using the nonlinear predictions of precipitation and elevation biases and the agricultural crop map as inputs. The accuracy of tree cover prediction increased by ≈29% over the original global forest change product (the R2 rose from 0.416 to 0.538). Using an optimized 89% tree cover threshold to create a forest/nonforest map, we found that fragmentation declined and core forest area and connectivity increased in the corrected forest cover map, especially in dry tropical forests, protected areas, and designated habitat corridors. By contrast, the core forest area decreased locally where agricultural fields were removed from estimates of natural tree cover. This research demonstrates a simple, transferable methodology to correct for observed biases in the Global Forest Change product. The use of uncorrected tree cover products may markedly over- or underestimate forest cover and fragmentation, especially in tropical regions with low precipitation, significant topography, and/or perennial agricultural production.


2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (12) ◽  
pp. 6673
Author(s):  
Lidia Luty ◽  
Kamila Musiał ◽  
Monika Zioło

The functioning of various agroecosystems is nowadays shaped by different farming systems, which may impair their functions, as well as being beneficial to them. The benefits include ecosystem services, defined as economic and noneconomic values gained by humans from ecosystems, through supporting soil formation and nutrient circulation, and the impact of agriculture on climate and biodiversity. Their mutual flow and various disturbances depend on the agroecosystem’s management method, which is associated with the type of management of agricultural land (AL) in individual farms. This paper raises a problem of transformation in the structure of three main farming systems in Poland, in 2004–2018, in relation to the implementation of 16 selected ecosystem services and their scale. Special attention was given to organic farming, as the most environmentally friendly and sustainable. The analysis demonstrates the increase in ALs in that type of production during the analyzed period of time. Disparities of transformation associated with the type of agricultural system were noticeable at the regional level, which were presented in 16 Polish voivodeships. The results of the analysis confirm that the organic system, which is an important carrier of various ecosystem services, gained a stable position. Moreover, areas with integrated farming still do not exceed 0.5% of total agricultural lands in such voivodeships. The analysis of factors influencing the deterioration or disappearance of selected environmental services characterizing agricultural systems indicates the need to depart from an intensive conventional management system.


Author(s):  
Moses Mulwa ◽  
Mike Teucher ◽  
Werner Ulrich ◽  
Jan Christian Habel

AbstractTropical forests suffer severe habitat destruction. Thus, tropical forests frequently consist today of only a few small remnants that are often embedded within a matrix of agricultural fields and tree plantations. Forest specialist species have experienced severe population declines under these circumstances. We studied bird communities based on census plots set up in a near-natural forest block, as well as degraded forest patches, tree plantations, and agricultural fields, across the Taita Hills in southern Kenya. We classified each bird species according its ecology and behavior. We quantified the land cover and landscape configuration around each census plot. Typical forest species were mainly observed in the near-natural forest block, and to a lower extent in degraded forest patches. Plantations were almost devoid of birds. Bird communities of small forest fragments were more similar to that of agricultural land than the near-natural forest block. Most frugivorous, insectivorous and nectarivorous birds occurred in forest habitats, while granivorous bird species dominated the bird communities of agricultural land. The surrounding landscape had a marginal impact on bird species composition at local sites. Our study showed that the preservation of near-natural cloud forest, including small forest patches, is essential for the conservation of forest-dependent species, and that plantations do not serve as surrogate habitats.


Forests ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (3) ◽  
pp. 290
Author(s):  
Giacomo Cremonesi ◽  
Francesco Bisi ◽  
Lorenzo Gaffi ◽  
Thet Zaw ◽  
Hla Naing ◽  
...  

The effects of human disturbance represent one of the major threats for wildlife conservation. Many studies have shown that wildlife avoids or reduces direct contact with human activities through changes in activity patterns, and by minimizing spatiotemporal overlap. In this study, we investigated the possible effects of human presence on the temporal activity of medium-to-large mammals using two areas in Myanmar that differ in the intensity of human disturbance. We monitored temporal segregation mechanisms using camera trapping data and with two statistical approaches: daily activity overlaps between humans and wildlife and circular statistics. We did not find a significant difference in overlapping activity between areas but, thanks to circular statistics, we found that some species show changes in activity patterns, suggesting temporal avoidance. We observed that the daily activity of five species differed between areas of Myanmar, likely adopting mechanisms to reduce overlap in areas highly frequented by humans. Interestingly, these species are all threatened by hunting or poaching activities, four of which have been described in literature as “cathemeral”, or species that are active through day and night. This study suggests that some species adapt their behavior, at least partially, to avoid human presence in habitats with higher anthropic occurrence and increase our knowledge on the status of medium–large mammals in a poorly studied country as Myanmar.


2021 ◽  
pp. 375-394
Author(s):  
Aneta Suchoń

The article aimed to determine whether the legal regulations in the field of the statutory and contractual pre-emption right of a tenant of agricultural real estate provide adequate protection to dependent owners in terms of the possibility of acquiring such land and conducting business activity on it. Secondly, the paper indicated legal problems related to statutory and contractual pre-emption right of a tenant of agricultural real estate and suggested how those problems could be handled. In the beginning, the considerations focused on the statutory pre-emption right for agricultural real estate. It referred to a subjective and objective scope of the right in question, and an attempt was made to determine whether the leased land can be sold to a third party due to the obligation to run a farm in person (only the sale contract allows for exercising the pre-emptive right). Failure to perform the indicated obligations might result in the case being referred to the court by the National Center for Agricultural Support. The second part of the article discussed the contractual pre-emption right for agricultural real estate. The author pointed out the possible concurrence of the statutory pre-emption right of the National Support Centre for Agriculture and the contractual pre-emption right of the lessee. The paper also referred to the problems related to implementing this right due to the requirements that the buyer must meet. In summary, the author, among other things, pointed out the fact that the importance of the statutory pre-emption right of the tenant of agricultural real estate had been diminishing over the years. The position of the lessee of agricultural land in terms of purchasing agricultural land is weakening. Currently, in practice, tenants may rarely use the pre-emption right. The author proposed the introduction of a provision to the Act on Shaping the Agricultural System on an additional consent of the National Support Centre for Agriculture for the sale of real estate under a lease.


2014 ◽  
Vol 14 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Israel Dias de Carvalho ◽  
Rildo de Oliveira ◽  
Alexandra dos Santos Pires

Medium and large-sized terrestrial mammals develop important functions in ecosystems maintenance. However, this group is the most vulnerable to local extinctions, through habitat loss or hunting. This study inventoried the community of medium and large mammals in the Reserva Ecológica de Guapiaçú (REGUA), Cachoeiras de Macacu, RJ, providing data on species composition, richness and abundance. Species were registered through the use of camera traps, sign survey and visual encounters on pre-existing trails and roads. The study was conducted from January to October 2012, with each month considered as a sample unit. An effort of 1568 cameras-day and 120 km traveled, resulted on 302 records of 22 species of medium and large-sized mammals, belonging to eight orders. This value corresponds to more than three-quarters of the richness described from this group in the Atlantic Forest of Rio de Janeiro state. Five species are under some level of regional, national or global threat. Three game species, Pecari tajacu, Cuniculus paca and Dasyprocta leporina were abundant in the area. The observed richness was comparable to that found in other studies conducted in rain forests. Thus, for its high number of species, including those under some degree of threat, we conclude that REGUA is an important area to mammal conservation, especially in the Atlantic Forest of Rio de Janeiro state.


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