scholarly journals The range, abundance and habitat of Hinde’s Babbler Turdoides hindei: fine-scale changes in abundance during 2000–2011 reflect temporal variation in scrub cover

2013 ◽  
Vol 24 (4) ◽  
pp. 453-465 ◽  
Author(s):  
PHIL SHAW ◽  
PETER NJOROGE ◽  
VINCENT OTIENO ◽  
EDSON MLAMBA

SummaryIn developing countries, ‘land sparing’ may be more effective than ‘land sharing’ in partially mitigating the impacts of farming on bird species diversity. We examined the pattern of change in the global and local distribution of Hinde’s Babbler Turdoides hindei, a ‘Vulnerable’ Kenyan endemic whose local abundance is dependent on a passive form of land sharing, in which farmland is left fallow or abandoned, enabling Lantana scrub to colonise. In 2011 we assessed the species’ global range and resurveyed three IBAs, surveyed previously in 2000–2001, to determine whether fine-scale changes in abundance reflected temporal changes in habitat quality. Although the babbler’s known range increased between 1900–1970 and 1991–2011, we suggest that this apparent expansion largely reflects an improved knowledge base, and that several recently discovered sites are likely to have been overlooked in the past. In combination, the three IBAs surveyed in 2000-2001 and 2011 showed little net change in the number of individuals (+1.3%) or groups (-3.8%) encountered, despite a 68% decline in the number individuals recorded at one site. Within 1-km transect sections there was a positive correlation between change in Hinde’s Babbler abundance and change in the amount of scrub cover available, such that a reduction in scrub cover of 22 and 6 percentage points, respectively, was associated with the loss of one group or one individual. The availability of scrub cover was dependent mainly on the amount land left uncultivated, perhaps in response to changes in the value of coffee and other crops. Since the babbler’s abundance thus currently depends mainly on land sharing by default, rather than by design, we suggest that a more proactive approach, involving land purchase or payments for land set aside, might help to secure its future.

2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (16) ◽  
pp. 6472 ◽  
Author(s):  
Akib Hasan ◽  
Miguel Montoro Girona ◽  
Guillaume Grosbois ◽  
Narayan Saha ◽  
Md Abdul Halim

One of humanity’s most significant challenges in the process of attaining the established sustainability goals is balancing the growing human demand for food and the need to conserve biodiversity. This challenge requires appropriate land uses that are able to conserve biodiversity while ensuring ample food supply. This study compares bird species diversity and abundance in areas undergoing land sharing and land sparing in northeastern Bangladesh (West Bhanugach Reserved Forest). Birds serve as useful biologic indicators because of their presence within different trophic levels and their well-studied ecology. To survey birds, we selected a total of 66 sampling sites within land-sharing (33) and land-sparing (33) land-use areas. Between May and June 2017, we observed and recorded bird calls within a 50-m radius around each sampling site. We counted 541 individuals from 46 species of birds. The Shannon bird diversity was higher in the land-sparing sites (1.52) than in the land-sharing sites (1.23). We found approximately 30% more bird species (39 vs. 30) and 40% more individuals (318 vs. 223) in the land-sparing areas than land-sharing areas. Three bird species, Arachnothera longirostra, Micropternus brachyurus and Copsychus malabaricus, were significantly associated with the land-sparing sites. This study shows that land sharing negatively affects bird diversity, richness and abundance compared to land-sparing. The use of chemical fertilizers and the lack of food, such as insects, for birds can explain the lower diversity, richness and abundance of birds in the land-sharing areas. Although land sharing is an effective means of producing food, land sparing is the most effective land-use practice for preserving bird diversity in northeastern Bangladesh.


Author(s):  
Karen J. Esler ◽  
Anna L. Jacobsen ◽  
R. Brandon Pratt

Mediterranean-type climate (MTC) regions are highlighted in several global analyses of conservation risk and priorities. These regions have undergone high levels of habitat conversion and yet of all terrestrial biomes they have the second lowest level of land protection. With transformation pressures set to continue (Chapter 8), planning for a sustainable conservation future in MTC regions is therefore essential. Conservation activities are represented by a variety of philosophies and motives, partially driven by the underlying differences in transformation drivers and sociopolitical contexts across MTC regions. These activities include investment in, and best-practice management of, protected areas (land sparing), an interdisciplinary focus on integrated management of production landscapes (land sharing; stewardship), as well as ecological restoration to increase habitat, improve connectivity, and provide a hedge against the impacts of future climate change. These responses need to be applied in a strategic, synergistic manner to minimize future biodiversity loss.


2021 ◽  
Vol 34 (03) ◽  
pp. 186-193
Author(s):  
Assad Zahid ◽  
Danilo Miskovic

AbstractTeaching an established surgeon in a novel technique by a colleague who has acquired a level of expertise is often referred to as “proctoring” or “precepting.” Surgical preceptorships can be defined as supervised teaching programs, whereby individual or groups of surgeons (proctors) experienced in a certain technique support a colleague who wants to adopt this technique (sometimes referred to as “delegates” or “preceptees”). Preceptorship programs really focus on a specific technique, technology, or skill which is required to broaden, complement, or transform an established surgeon's practice.Within colorectal surgery, in the past 30 years, there is been an evolution of interventional options including open, laparoscopic, robotic, and endoscopic procedures. With each new emerging technology and technique, safe and effective uptake by established surgeons is best been attained by a period of proctorship by an experienced colleague. Formalizing this has been facilitated largely through industry support. There, however, remains a considerable chasm when it comes to standardization, quality control, and jurisprudence.This article aims to describe the requirements for a contemporary proctorship program, to examine instruments of quality control, and how to improve effectiveness.


2017 ◽  
Vol 210 (4) ◽  
pp. 307-308 ◽  
Author(s):  
Derek K. Tracy ◽  
Dan W. Joyce ◽  
Sukhwinder S. Shergill

Quitting smoking isn't easy, even with the advent of e-cigarettes. The NHS Stop Smoking Services (SSSs) were established in 2000, and have shown superior results to nicotine replacement alone, but are characterised by low, and dropping, attendance rates. Beneath the highlight figure of a halving of UK smoking prevalence over the past 40 years lies a direct £6 billion cost to the NHS and 80000 deaths each year, as well as recent concern that clinical commissioning groups are not renewing service funding. Given that the ‘health belief model’ is based upon a trigger changing behaviour, what will encourage attendance at SSSs, especially with evidence that smokers underestimate their own personal risk? Gilbert et al randomised over 4000 smokers across almost 100 general practices to receive either a standard generic advertisement of the SSS clinic, or an individually tailored risk letter and invitation to a no-commitment introductory SSS session. The hosting general practitioners (GPs) and SSS advisors were masked to the allocation. The personalised letter more than doubled the odds of attending the SSS, showing that a more proactive approach can help engagement. Interestingly, the intervention was more effective with men, who are typically less likely to attend and set quit dates.


2008 ◽  
Vol 15 (1) ◽  
pp. 56-69 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kristian Kristiansen

When I agreed to present the article as a vehicle for discussion at a session at the EAA's annual meeting in Zadar, Croatia, I decided to approach the question of a European archaeology from what I considered to be the three organizing pillars of archaeological practice: heritage, theory and publications. Heritage is the dominant organizational/legislative framework for archaeological practice, and it is where most of the money is spent. Theory, on the other hand, organizes most of our interpretations of the past, while publications are still the most common way of presenting the results of both heritage work (mostly excavations) and interpretations of that work. In this way I hoped to have encircled the dominant parameters for a diagnosis of the archaeological landscapes in Europe. I assumed that there might be some correlation between the three, and that such observed common trends within two or more variables would strengthen the argument, to paraphrase processual jargon.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Aaron Shiels

Abstract The Pacific rat, R. exulans, is an major agricultural and environmental pest in parts of Southeast Asia and the Pacific. Thought to have spread with Polynesian colonists over the past several thousand years, it is now found through much of the Pacific basin, and is extensively distributed in the tropical Pacific. It poses a significant threat to indigenous wildlife, particularly ground-nesting birds, and has been linked to the extinction of several bird species. R. exulans may also transmit diseases to humans.


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