scholarly journals Mapping Knowledge Gaps of Mozambique’s Terrestrial Mammals

2019 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Isabel Queirós Neves ◽  
Maria da Luz Mathias ◽  
Cristiane Bastos-Silveira
Keyword(s):  
Species Conservation ◽  
Cost Effective ◽  
Management Plan ◽  
Knowledge Gap ◽  
Species Occurrence ◽  
Knowledge Gaps ◽  
Mammal Species ◽  
Terrestrial Mammals ◽  
Occurrence Data ◽  
The Impact

AbstractA valuable strategy to support conservation planning is to assess knowledge gaps regarding primary species occurrence data to identify and select areas for future biodiversity surveys. Currently, increasing accessibility to these data allows a cost-effective method for boosting knowledge about a country’s biodiversity. For understudied countries where the lack of resources for conservation is more pronounced to resort to primary biodiversity data can be especially beneficial. Here, using a primary species occurrence dataset, we assessed and mapped Mozambique’s knowledge gaps regarding terrestrial mammal species by identifying areas that are geographically distant and environmentally different from well-known sites. By comparing gaps from old and recent primary species occurrence data, we identified: (i) gaps of knowledge over time, (ii) the lesser-known taxa, and (iii) areas with potential for spatiotemporal studies. Our results show that the inventory of Mozambique’s mammal fauna is near-complete in less than 5% of the territory, with broad areas of the country poorly sampled or not sampled at all. The knowledge gap areas are mostly associated with two ecoregions. The provinces lacking documentation coincide with areas over-explored for natural resources, and many such sites may never be documented. It is our understanding that by prioritising the survey of the knowledge-gap areas will likely produce new records for the country and, continuing the study of the well-known regions will guarantee their potential use for spatiotemporal studies. The implemented approach to assess the knowledge gaps from primary species occurrence data proved to be a powerful strategy to generate information that is essential to species conservation and management plan. However, we are aware that the impact of digital and openly available data depends mostly on its completeness and accuracy, and thus we encourage action from the scientific community and government authorities to support and promote data mobilisation.

scholarly journals Mapping the Impact of Digitisation for Poorly Documented Countries: Mozambique as a case study

2019 ◽  
Vol 3 ◽  
Author(s):  
Isabel Neves ◽  
Maria da Luz Mathias ◽  
Cristiane Bastos-Silveira
Keyword(s):  
Data Cleaning ◽  
Data Sources ◽  
Data Driven ◽  
Biodiversity Data ◽  
Species Occurrence ◽  
Terrestrial Mammals ◽  
Management Actions ◽  
Occurrence Data ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Conservation And Management

Despite the rise of the global availability of biodiversity data by digitisation, essential regions of the world remain poorly documented (Peterson et al. 2015). Research-neglected regions that lack quality information, are mainly the species-rich and developing nations (Gaikwad and Chavan 2006). Mozambique is an African country without a wide-ranging knowledge regarding its fauna’s diversity and distribution (Neves et al. 2018). Undeniably, this country's knowledge gaps constitute a significant impediment for the improvement of effective conservation measures. Primary species occurrence data across dispersed data sources can be a cost-effective resource for boosting knowledge about a country’s biodiversity. Aiming to aggregate a comprehensive dataset of Mozambique’s terrestrial mammals, we compiled primary species occurrence data from dispersed data sources. The produced dataset not only gathered digitalised accessible knowledge (DAK) from the Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF) and natural history collections, but also retrieved and digitalised species occurrence data enclosed in grey and scientific literature. Particularly for poorly documented countries, filling data gaps are crucial for new and broad insights for biodiversity research and preservation. Thus, quantification of the effects of data digitisation and mobilisation goes beyond the specific goals of organisations, institutions or data-sharing resources. The impact of data digitisation should be disseminated, not only by the number of publications and times data are accessed (Nelson and Ellis 2018), but also by the actual achievements in regions covered by DAK. To highlight the impact of further data digitisation in a poorly documented country, we examine the effective gain of further digitisation and data cleaning on the terrestrial mammals from Mozambique. We demonstrate the increase in the overall knowledge, not merely in terms of number of species, number of records, and country’s coverage, but from the production of outputs with potential value for data-driven conservation research and planning. More than 17000 records were compiled. The digitisation of data in literature as well as data cleaning and quality improvements resulted in a substantial increase in the amount of DAK, which acknowledges Mozambique’s high species diversity (Fig. 1). The digitisation and data mobilisation hereby described allowed for the update of the country’s terrestrial mammals checklist (Neves et al. 2018). The final dataset also expands the knowledge of the most poorly documented provinces, allowing generation of a data-driven proposal of priority areas to survey (in review). Also, an assessment of Mozambique’s conservation network effectiveness for mammal protection was performed, and additional relevant areas were suggested (in prep.). The dataset compiled is an important "stepping stone" towards an enhanced knowledge of Mozambique’s fauna. Biodiversity conservation and management in developing countries rich in natural resources, which often must deal with a lack of internal capacity for applied research and conservation actions, are challenges. Considering that digitisation and mobilisation of biodiversity data are resourceful processes for improving knowledge, collaborative work between institutions of those countries and international data-provider communities could, in the short term, successfully improve the information baseline to support decision-making in future conservation and management actions.

scholarly journals Molecular detection of Bartonella species and haemoplasmas in wild African buffalo (Syncerus caffer) in Mozambique, Africa

2018 ◽  
Vol 4 ◽  
Author(s):  
Luiz Ricardo Gonçalves ◽  
Marta Maria Geraldes Teixeira ◽  
Adriana Carlos Rodrigues ◽  
Natalia Serra Mendes ◽  
Carlos Antonio Matos ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Phylogenetic Analyses ◽  
Bacterial Species ◽  
Animal Health ◽  
Species Conservation ◽  
Release Site ◽  
Molecular Techniques ◽  
African Buffalo ◽  
Syncerus Caffer ◽  
Mammal Species ◽  
The Impact

AbstractThe African buffalo (Syncerus caffer), a mammal species whose population is declining, can play a role as a reservoir or carrier of a wide number of arthropod-borne pathogens. Translocation procedures have been used as an alternative approach for species conservation. However, the veterinary aspects of this sort of procedures are extremely important to minimize the impact on animal health. In order to detectBartonellaand haemoplasmas, two important group of bacterial that have an impact in both human and animal health, EDTA whole-blood samples were screened for the presence of these bacterial pathogens by molecular techniques. As a result, a molecular occurrence of 4.1 and 15.4% forBartonellaspp. and haemoplasmas, respectively, was reported among 97 wild buffaloes sampled during a translocation procedure from Marromeu to Gorongosa Reserve, Mozambique. Additionally, phylogenetic analyses of the obtained sequences were conducted. At least, three bovine-associated pathogens, namelyB. bovis,M. wenyoniiand ‘CandidatusM. haemobos’, as well as a probably newBartonellagenotype/species were detected inS. caffer.Further studies are needed in order to determine whether these bacterial species may cause impact in buffaloes and other sympatric ruminant species living in the release site.

scholarly journals Wildlife inventory from camera-trapping surveys in the Azores (Pico and Terceira islands)

2020 ◽  
Vol 8 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lucas Lamelas-Lopez ◽  
Xose Pardavila ◽  
Isabel Amorim ◽  
Paulo Borges
Keyword(s):  
Bird Species ◽  
Large Data ◽  
Camera Traps ◽  
Camera Trapping ◽  
Data Series ◽  
Mammal Species ◽  
Terrestrial Mammals ◽  
Cory’S Shearwater ◽  
Native Birds ◽  
The Impact

The present publication provides a dataset from five camera-trapping sampling campaigns on two islands of the Azorean archipelago (Pico and Terceira islands), between 2013-2018. This dataset was obtained as a by-product of campaigns designed for different purposes. The sampling campaigns were designed to: (i) study the ecology of introduced mammals; (ii) assess the impact of introduced mammals on native birds (Azores woodpigeon - Columba palumbus azorica and Cory's shearwater - Calonectris diomeda borealis), through nest predation; and (iii) obtain information about the impact of vertebrates on agricultural systems, particularly on Azorean traditional vineyards. A total of 258 sites and 47 nests were sampled using camera traps. These sampling campaigns provided a large data series that allowed the creation of a vertebrate wildlife inventory. We obtained a total of 102,095 camera-trap records, which allowed us to to identify 30 species of vertebrates: one amphibian, one reptile, 17 birds and ten mammal species. This represented 100% of the amphibians and terrestrial mammals, 58% of the breeding birds and 50% of the reptile species known for Pico and/or Terceira islands. Concerning the colonisation status of the species, we recorded 15 indigenous (native non-endemic or endemic) and three introduced bird species; all known terrestrial amphibians, reptiles and mammals in the Azores are introduced species. The data collected contribute to increasing knowledge on the distribution of vertebrate species on Pico and Terceira islands, where most existing records of some species were only available to Island level (e.g. mustelids and hedgehogs). None of the identified species was previously unknown to the study area.

scholarly journals Buffer zone use by mammals in a Cerrado protected area

2016 ◽  
Vol 16 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Roberta Montanheiro Paolino ◽  
Natalia Fraguas Versiani ◽  
Nielson Pasqualotto ◽  
Thiago Ferreira Rodrigues ◽  
Victor Gasperotto Krepschi ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Protected Areas ◽  
Puma Concolor ◽  
Buffer Zone ◽  
Camera Traps ◽  
Imperfect Detection ◽  
Mammal Species ◽  
Buffer Zones ◽  
Terrestrial Mammals ◽  
External Threats ◽  
The Impact

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.

scholarly journals Identifying Key Knowledge Gaps to Better Protect Biodiversity and Simultaneously Secure Livelihoods in a Priority Conservation Area

2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (20) ◽  
pp. 5695 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anke S. K. Frank ◽  
Livia Schäffler
Keyword(s):  
Regional Scale ◽  
Research Priorities ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Economic Benefits ◽  
Human Migration ◽  
Knowledge Gap ◽  
Knowledge Gaps ◽  
Conservation Area ◽  
A Priority ◽  
The Impact

Global agreements like the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and Achi Biodiversity Targets (ABTs) aim to secure human well-being and to protect biodiversity, but little progress has been made in reaching these aims. The key role of biodiversity in securing human well-being is rarely considered a priority – instead short-term economic profits benefiting a few are prioritized. Particularly where local livelihoods rely on resources of protected areas for immediate survival, top-down enforced biodiversity conservation often increases social inequality, hunger and poverty and thus regularly fails. Identifying key knowledge gaps helps to adjust political priority setting and investment strategies to assess conservation threats and improve natural resource management. Since acting usually occurs at a local or regional scale, we focused on a priority conservation area in one of the world’s poorest countries — the dry deciduous forests of western Madagascar. We aimed to identify key knowledge gaps in this area which need to be filled to better protect biodiversity and simultaneously ensure well-being of the local poor. We consulted 51 predominantly Malagasy experts using questionnaires. These questionnaires listed 71 knowledge gaps we collated from the literature which the experts were asked to rank by importance. Experts were encouraged to list additional knowledge gaps. Averaging the scores of all experts, we identified the top 10 knowledge gaps. Two political knowledge gaps addressing the need to determine strategies which improve law enforcement and reduce corruption ranked highest, followed by an ecological one concerning appropriate restoration and a socio–economic one regarding economic benefits locals gain from biodiversity. The general knowledge gap perceived as most important addressed strategies for long-term funding. Only one additional knowledge gap was identified: the impact of climate change-driven human migration from southwestern to central western Madagascar on socio–economic problems and its impacts on natural resources We linked the identified top 10 knowledge gaps as well as the additional knowledge gap suggested by experts to the SDGs, ABTs and 2 °C target of the Paris Climate Agreement, and discussed why these gaps were considered a priority. This research highlights important ecological, socio–economic and political research priorities and provides guidelines for policy makers and funding organizations.

scholarly journals Tourism in Protected Areas and Appraisal of Ecotourism in Nepalese Policies

2019 ◽  
Vol 9 ◽  
pp. 40-73 ◽  
Author(s):  
Chandramani Aryal ◽  
Bina Ghimire ◽  
Narayan Niraula
Keyword(s):  
Protected Areas ◽  
Protected Area ◽  
Action Plan ◽  
Species Conservation ◽  
Primary Source ◽  
Management Plan ◽  
Conservation Action ◽  
Environmental Diversity ◽  
Specific Policy ◽  
The Impact

Ecotourism is a form of nature-based tourism. It is recognized as the sustainable alternative to the mass tourism and is executed to contribute to the protection and enhancement of various component of the environment. As environmental and cultural diversity are considered as the greatest assets to ecotourism, Nepal with high cultural and environmental diversity is prime destinations for ecotourism and other forms of nature-based tourism. Ecotourism contributes to the conservation of biodiversity as a primary source of internal funding in the protected areas. Researches on the aspects of ecotourism in Nepal were focused towards potentiality evaluation, impact assessment and the impact of climate change including others. Despite the significance of ecotourism in the Nepalese economy, research on governance aspects of ecotourism is limited. This article aims to analyze the role of government in ecotourism development in Nepal through policy-based approach. Beside this, data of visitation in the protected areas was evaluated. Tourist number in the protected area was observed to increase in a gradual fashion in response to the growing number of tourists visiting Nepal. Tourism policies of government primarily focus to increase the number of tourists in the country and fail to recognize tourism carrying capacity and environmental implication. Different tourism and other sectoral policies attempt to cover the issues of ecotourism, but, ecotourism specific policy is yet to be drafted. In addition to this, the tourism aspect is addressed by the species conservation action plan for species-level conservation within the country. In all, nine action plans reviewed, the provisions relating to tourism were found to be too general, most of them acknowledging ecotourism as a source of conservation funding but failed to define species-specific policy. A similar trend can be observed in the protected area management plan excluding the Chitwan and Banke National Park. Further study on the implementation status and formulation of new policy to address the holistic issues of ecotourism is an urgent requirement.

scholarly journals Insights on the role of forest cover and on the changes in forest cover on thirty-five endangered mammal species distributions

2019 ◽  
Vol 5 (2) ◽  
pp. 88-110
Author(s):  
Kuenda Laze
Keyword(s):  
Forest Cover ◽  
Large Body ◽  
Species Range ◽  
Range Data ◽  
Species Occurrence ◽  
Mammal Species ◽  
Terrestrial Mammals ◽  
In The Wild ◽  
Resource Conditions ◽  
Occurrence Records

Abstract The changes in forest cover can determine the survival of terrestrial endangered mammal species in the wild. This study assessed the impacts of forest cover changes on endangered mammal species distribution at global scale aiming to understand how the changes in forest cover may have impacted the distributions of 35 endangered small and large-body terrestrial mammals. There were used forest data obtained from time-series analyses of Landsat images between 2000 and 2014, species occurrence records collected by observations between 2000 and 2015 of Global Biodiversity Information Facility and species range data of International Union for Nature Conservation (IUCN) of the year 2015, to test the ‘natural and resource conditions’ hypothesis. Hypothesis on ‘natural and resource conditions’ produced models with high prediction accuracy of above 70 percent for 88 percent of 35 species models. The changes in forest cover explained species occurrences in 10 percent of all species models. In average, 59 percent of species occurrence records overlapped with species range data. The 51 percent of all species had no occurrence records between 2000 and 2015. Species and forest data collection as well as transnational cooperation for conservation of species roaming in the wild in upland forested areas and in cross-border areas may be critical for endangered mammal species conservation.

scholarly journals Sharing the Decision Process Framework to Identify Well-supported Records of Mammal Species-occurrence in Mozambique

2019 ◽  
Vol 3 ◽  
Author(s):  
Isabel Neves ◽  
Maria da Luz Mathias ◽  
Cristiane Bastos-Silveira
Keyword(s):  
Selection Process ◽  
Grey Literature ◽  
Species Selection ◽  
Digital Data ◽  
Biodiversity Data ◽  
Species Occurrence ◽  
Mammal Species ◽  
Terrestrial Mammals ◽  
Single Author ◽  
Species Checklist

Conservation research and policies tend to be significantly restricted wherever relevant data on biodiversity is sparse, scattered or non-curated. Thus, the usefulness of occurrence data, for the study of biodiversity, depends not only on the availability but also on data quality. Notwithstanding the increase in the global availability of primary biodiversity data, they have numerous shortfalls, from incomplete or partially erroneous documentation to spatial and temporal biases (Hortal et al. 2015, Aubry et al. 2017). Also, many non-digitized specimen collections, scientific publications and grey literature are locked as printed or digital publications. We integrated existing knowledge, from dispersed sources of biodiversity data, namely Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF), natural history collections, wildlife survey reports, species checklist and other scientific literature. This procedure allowed an update of Mozambique’s checklist of terrestrial mammals (Neves et al. 2018). Despite the potential from digital data to overcome gaps of knowledge, a relevant constraint on creating or updating species checklist is the dificulty to access spatially-disperse collections and examine every specimens upon which occurrences are based. To partly overcome this impediment, we developed a species selection process for specimen data from GBIF and museums (Fig. 1). The aim was to categorise the species detected in more than one data source as species with the well-supported occurrence. In addition to the number of collectors, we also accounted for the number of records collected and presented in Smithers and Tello (1976), the last checklist produced for Mozambique’ mammals. A species-occurrence record was considered well-supported and included into the species checklist when was: independently recorded by different collectors or recorded by a single collector but listed in Smithers and Tello (1976). independently recorded by different collectors or recorded by a single collector but listed in Smithers and Tello (1976). An additional list was produced which contained species with questionable occurrence in the country. Species entered this "questionable occurrence" list when they were: not listed in Smithers and Tello (1976), and a single record supported its presence in the country; not listed in Smithers and Tello (1976) and multiple records exist, but were all cited by a single author; or registered with a single record in Smithers and Tello (1976). not listed in Smithers and Tello (1976), and a single record supported its presence in the country; not listed in Smithers and Tello (1976) and multiple records exist, but were all cited by a single author; or registered with a single record in Smithers and Tello (1976). We compiled more than 17000 records, resulting in a total of 217 species (14 orders, 39 families and 133 genera) with supported occurrence in Mozambique and 23 species with questionable reported occurrence (Table 1). The proposed approach for species selection can be adapted and function as a powerful tool to update species checklists of countries facing similar lack of knowledge regarding their biodiversity. The capacity to pinpointing species and specimens in need of occurrence and taxonomic re-evaluation is of great value to optimise collection’s study and to boost collaboration between curators and researchers. Lastly, considering that most records integrated are from European and North American institutions, this work would significantly improve with the integration of data from African institutions. Therefore, an effort should be made to make these essential collections accessible online.

scholarly journals Development of a computational Procedure for Optimum Sediment Removal: Application to case of Roseires Hydropower Intakes

2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
pp. 28-36
Author(s):  
Ahmed Musa Siyam ◽  
Kantoush S. A ◽  
Saad A. S
Keyword(s):  
Management Practices ◽  
Design Procedure ◽  
Cost Effective ◽  
Computational Procedure ◽  
Management Plan ◽  
Sediment Management ◽  
Hydropower Generation ◽  
Sediment Removal ◽  
Dam Site ◽  
The Impact

Hydropower generation is one of the key purposes that dams were built for. World-wide the sustainability of hydropower operation is deprived and threatened by the alarming rate of reservoir sedimentation. The situation is even worst for the cases where the sediment delta has propagated and reached the dam site. Various sediment management practices have been employed to cope with the problem at a huge amount of cost. This paper analyses the sedimentation problem and the impact on hydropower generation in Roseires reservoir, in Sudan. An economical reservoir sediment management plan such as Hydro-suction dredging technique is suggested. The deposited sediment should be agitated before being bypassed to the downstream via a pipeline that makes use of the natural hydraulic head of water. A detailed design procedure is outlined and guidelines for the optimization are presented. The procedure is theoretically illustrated by applying it to remove the annual deposited sediment ahead of Roseires Hydropower intakes in Sudan. It was concluded that such system is cost effective when compared to costs incurred in tackling the effect of siltation in front of hydropower intakes.

Regulatory and sustainability initiatives lead to improved polyaminopolyamide epichlorohydrin (PAE) wet-strength resins and paper products

TAPPI Journal ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 17 (09) ◽  
pp. 519-532 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mark Crisp ◽  
Richard Riehle
Keyword(s):  
Health And Safety ◽  
Cost Effective ◽  
Worker Safety ◽  
Regulatory Requirements ◽  
Wet Strength ◽  
The Past ◽  
Consumer Safety ◽  
Federal Institute ◽  
Sustainability Initiatives ◽  
The Impact

Polyaminopolyamide-epichlorohydrin (PAE) resins are the predominant commercial products used to manufacture wet-strengthened paper products for grades requiring wet-strength permanence. Since their development in the late 1950s, the first generation (G1) resins have proven to be one of the most cost-effective technologies available to provide wet strength to paper. Throughout the past three decades, regulatory directives and sustainability initiatives from various organizations have driven the development of cleaner and safer PAE resins and paper products. Early efforts in this area focused on improving worker safety and reducing the impact of PAE resins on the environment. These efforts led to the development of resins containing significantly reduced levels of 1,3-dichloro-2-propanol (1,3-DCP) and 3-monochloropropane-1,2-diol (3-MCPD), potentially carcinogenic byproducts formed during the manufacturing process of PAE resins. As the levels of these byproducts decreased, the environmental, health, and safety (EH&S) profile of PAE resins and paper products improved. Recent initiatives from major retailers are focusing on product ingredient transparency and quality, thus encouraging the development of safer product formulations while maintaining performance. PAE resin research over the past 20 years has been directed toward regulatory requirements to improve consumer safety and minimize exposure to potentially carcinogenic materials found in various paper products. One of the best known regulatory requirements is the recommendations of the German Federal Institute for Risk Assessment (BfR), which defines the levels of 1,3-DCP and 3-MCPD that can be extracted by water from various food contact grades of paper. These criteria led to the development of third generation (G3) products that contain very low levels of 1,3-DCP (typically <10 parts per million in the as-received/delivered resin). This paper outlines the PAE resin chemical contributors to adsorbable organic halogens and 3-MCPD in paper and provides recommendations for the use of each PAE resin product generation (G1, G1.5, G2, G2.5, and G3).

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