Utilizing bycatch camera-trap data for broad-scale occupancy and conservation: a case study of the brown hyaena Parahyaena brunnea

Abstract With human influences driving populations of apex predators into decline, more information is required on how factors affect species at national and global scales. However, camera-trap studies are seldom executed at a broad spatial scale. We demonstrate how uniting fine-scale studies and utilizing camera-trap data of non-target species is an effective approach for broadscale assessments through a case study of the brown hyaena Parahyaena brunnea. We collated camera-trap data from 25 protected and unprotected sites across South Africa into the largest detection/non-detection dataset collected on the brown hyaena, and investigated the influence of biological and anthropogenic factors on brown hyaena occupancy. Spatial autocorrelation had a significant effect on the data, and was corrected using a Bayesian Gibbs sampler. We show that brown hyaena occupancy is driven by specific co-occurring apex predator species and human disturbance. The relative abundance of spotted hyaenas Crocuta crocuta and people on foot had a negative effect on brown hyaena occupancy, whereas the relative abundance of leopards Panthera pardus and vehicles had a positive influence. We estimated that brown hyaenas occur across 66% of the surveyed camera-trap station sites. Occupancy varied geographically, with lower estimates in eastern and southern South Africa. Our findings suggest that brown hyaena conservation is dependent upon a multi-species approach focussed on implementing conservation policies that better facilitate coexistence between people and hyaenas. We also validate the conservation value of pooling fine-scale datasets and utilizing bycatch data to examine species trends at broad spatial scales.

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Estimating leopard density across the highly modified human-dominated landscape of the Western Cape, South Africa

Oryx ◽

10.1017/s0030605318001473 ◽

2019 ◽

pp. 1-12 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Carolyn H. Devens ◽

Matt W. Hayward ◽

Thulani Tshabalala ◽

Amy Dickman ◽

Jeannine S. McManus ◽

...

Keyword(s):

South Africa ◽

Habitat Degradation ◽

Land Use Changes ◽

Critical Role ◽

Camera Trap ◽

Anthropogenic Factors ◽

Spatially Explicit ◽

Western Cape ◽

Apex Predators ◽

Capture Recapture

Abstract Apex predators play a critical role in maintaining the health of ecosystems but are highly susceptible to habitat degradation and loss caused by land-use changes, and to anthropogenic mortality. The leopard Panthera pardus is the last free-roaming large carnivore in the Western Cape province, South Africa. During 2011–2015, we carried out a camera-trap survey across three regions covering c. 30,000 km2 of the Western Cape. Our survey comprised 151 camera sites sampling nearly 14,000 camera-trap nights, resulting in the identification of 71 individuals. We used two spatially explicit capture–recapture methods (R programmes secr and SPACECAP) to provide a comprehensive density analysis capable of incorporating environmental and anthropogenic factors. Leopard density was estimated to be 0.35 and 1.18 leopards/100 km2, using secr and SPACECAP, respectively. Leopard population size was predicted to be 102–345 individuals for our three study regions. With these estimates and the predicted available leopard habitat for the province, we extrapolated that the Western Cape supports an estimated 175–588 individuals. Providing a comprehensive baseline population density estimate is critical to understanding population dynamics across a mixed landscape and helping to determine the most appropriate conservation actions. Spatially explicit capture–recapture methods are unbiased by edge effects and superior to traditional capture–mark–recapture methods when estimating animal densities. We therefore recommend further utilization of robust spatial methods as they continue to be advanced.

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Wildlife-Friendly Livestock Management Promotes Mammalian Biodiversity Recovery on a Semi-Arid Karoo Farm in South Africa

Frontiers in Conservation Science ◽

10.3389/fcosc.2021.652415 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 2 ◽

Author(s):

Matthew P. E. Schurch ◽

Jeannine McManus ◽

Stefan Goets ◽

Lain E. Pardo ◽

David Gaynor ◽

...

Keyword(s):

South Africa ◽

Species Richness ◽

Relative Abundance ◽

Positive Impact ◽

Mammalian Species ◽

Biodiversity Loss ◽

Livestock Grazing ◽

Predator Species ◽

Livestock Farm ◽

Number Of Species

Agriculture is an essential production system used to feed the growing human population, but at the same time has become a major driver of biodiversity loss and environmental degradation. Employing production methods that restore degraded landscapes can have a positive impact on biodiversity, whilst improving food production. We assessed how mammalian biodiversity, specifically richness and their relative abundances varied on five Karoo farms in South Africa that had been amalgamated and subjected to a transition from traditional livestock grazing techniques (sporadic rotational grazing and lethal predator control) to wildlife-friendly non-lethal predator management, using human shepherding of livestock under a high-density short-duration grazing regime. We used camera trap data collected over a 4-year period, to measure mammalian species richness, distribution and relative abundance on the wildlife-friendly farm to investigate temporal changes throughout the conversion from traditional farming practices. In the last year of the study (2019) additional cameras were used to provide a spatial comparison of mammalian species on the wildlife-friendly farm to two neighboring farms, a traditional livestock farm using lethal predator controls, and a game farm. We found that mammalian species richness increased year on year resulting in a significant increase of 24% over the duration of the study. Herbivores showed an increase of 33% in the number of species detected over the years, while predator species increased by 8%. The relative abundance and distribution of most species also showed increases as the conversion process took place. For example, 73% of the herbivore species detected throughout the study increased in their relative abundance. Similarly, 67% of all species showed an increase in the number of sites occupied over the years. In the final year of the study the wildlife-friendly farm had more mammalian species compared to the game farm and traditional livestock farm, with the latter two sites having a similar number of species when compared to the commencement of the conversion of the wildlife-friendly site. These broad improvements in mammalian biodiversity demonstrate that livestock production can benefit local mammalian biodiversity through a combination of herder grazing management and wildlife-friendly farming.

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A low-cost, long-term underwater camera trap network coupled with deep residual learning image analysis

10.1101/2021.03.08.434472 ◽

2021 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Stephanie M. Bilodeau ◽

Austin W. H. Schwartz ◽

Binfeng Xu ◽

V. Paúl Pauca ◽

Miles R. Silman

Keyword(s):

Machine Learning ◽

Spatial Scales ◽

Low Cost ◽

Camera Trap ◽

Marine Animal ◽

List Type ◽

Machine Learning Classification ◽

Underwater Camera

AbstractUnderstanding long-term trends in marine ecosystems requires accurate and repeatable counts of fishes and other aquatic organisms on spatial and temporal scales that are difficult or impossible to achieve with diver-based surveys. Long-term, spatially distributed cameras, like those used in terrestrial camera trapping, have not been successfully applied in marine systems due to limitations of the aquatic environment.Here, we develop methodology for a system of low-cost, long-term camera traps (Dispersed Environment Aquatic Cameras), deployable over large spatial scales in remote marine environments. We use machine learning to classify the large volume of images collected by the cameras. We present a case study of these combined techniques’ use by addressing fish movement and feeding behavior related to grazing halos, a well-documented benthic pattern in shallow tropical reefscapes.Cameras proved able to function continuously underwater at deployed depths (up to 7 m, with later versions deployed to 40 m) with no maintenance or monitoring for over five months, and collected time-lapse images during daylight hours for a total of over 100,000 images. Our ResNet-50-based deep learning model achieved 92.5% overall accuracy in sorting images with and without fish, and diver surveys revealed that the camera images accurately represented local fish communities.The cameras and machine learning classification represent the first successful method for broad-scale underwater camera trap deployment, and our case study demonstrates the cameras’ potential for addressing questions of marine animal behavior, distributions, and large-scale spatial patterns.

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Social Design for Services Framework

Conference Proceedings of the Academy for Design Innovation Management ◽

10.33114/adim.2017.89 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 1 (1) ◽

Author(s):

Melanie SARANTOU ◽

Satu MIETTINEN

Keyword(s):

South Africa ◽

Sustainable Development ◽

Research Group ◽

Design Research ◽

Service Design ◽

Social Design ◽

Practical Action ◽

The Social ◽

The World

This paper addresses the fields of social and service design in development contexts, practice-based and constructive design research. A framework for social design for services will be explored through the survey of existing literature, specifically by drawing on eight doctoral theses that were produced by the World Design research group. The work of World Design researcher-designers was guided by a strong ethos of social and service design for development in marginalised communities. The paper also draws on a case study in Namibia and South Africa titled ‘My Dream World’. This case study presents a good example of how the social design for services framework functions in practice during experimentation and research in the field. The social design for services framework transfers the World Design group’s research results into practical action, providing a tool for the facilitation of design and research processes for sustainable development in marginal contexts.

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The Socio-Economic Challenges of South African Indigenous Musicians: A Case Study of Venda-Based Vho-Ntshengedzeni Mamphodo

Southern African Journal for Folklore Studies ◽

10.25159/1016-8427/3814 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 29 (1) ◽

Author(s):

N G Mugovhani ◽

Lebogang Lance Nawa

Keyword(s):

South Africa ◽

South African ◽

Empirical Data ◽

Cultural Policy ◽

Qualitative Case Study ◽

Arts Management ◽

Black South African ◽

Indigenous Music ◽

Entire Country

This article discusses and raises awareness about the socio-economic plight of indigenous musicians in South Africa. Through a qualitative case study of the Venda musician, Vho-Talelani Andries Ntshengedzeni Mamphodo, dubbed the â€œFather of mbila music,â€ the article highlights the fact that the welfare of Black South African artists, particularly indigenous musicians in South Africa, is generally a precarious affair. Their popularity, at the height of their careers, sometimes masks shocking details of exploitation, neglect, and the poverty they are subjected to, which are exposed only after they have died. Empirical data identifies this as a symptom of, among other things, cultural policy and arts management deficiencies in the promotion of indigenous music. The article aims to find ways to redress this unfortunate situation, which is partially a product of general apathy and scant regard that these artists have perennially been subjected to, even by their own governments, as well as some members of their societies. All these factors mentioned are compounded by ignorance on the part of South African artists. Part of the objective of this study was to establish whether the exposition of the Vhavenda musicians is a typical example of all Black South African indigenous musicians and, if this is the case, whether the suggested ways to redress this unfortunate situation could contribute to or play a role in alleviating the plight of such artists in the entire country.

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Breaking the Shackles of Gender Stereotyping to Create New Norms: The Case of Zimbabwean Migrant Women in Mthatha Town

Gender Questions ◽

10.25159/2412-8457/6847 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 8 (1) ◽

Author(s):

Sanction Madambi

Keyword(s):

South Africa ◽

Gender Stereotyping ◽

Personal Agency ◽

Migrant Women ◽

Host Countries ◽

Qualitative Research Design ◽

Norms And Values ◽

Recent Case Study ◽

Traditional Approaches

The migration of Zimbabweans into South Africa is shaped by several factors and processes. Traditionally, the decision to migrate was mostly based on family considerations (where gender stereotypic roles were a priority), although in some cases the migrants exercised individualism and personal agency. This led to migration trends that were male dominated. Current Zimbabwean migration trends reflect large volumes of women as the socio-economic crisis forces them to leave their country. These migrant women encounter a myriad of challenges in their host countries. This paper explores Zimbabwean women’s migration to the town of Mthatha in South Africa, highlighting their challenges and the strategies they employ to overcome these, as found in a recent case study. Applying a qualitative research design and using questionnaires and interviews to gather data from the 100 purposively sampled women, the study found that many Zimbabwean migrant women in Mthatha encountered numerous challenges. They lacked the required documents to live and work in South Africa, experienced exploitation and marriage constraints, and had broken ties with their families back in Zimbabwe. According to the study, these women managed to navigate these challenges, rising above the stereotypic norms and values that used to label them as non-productive citizens to superheroes who were supporting their families and the country’s economy—thus breaking the shackles of gender stereotyping to create new norms. These findings underline the importance of shifting from the traditional approaches to women migration and pursuing perspectives that present migration as a critical component of the process of social change and development to all migrants.

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