The spatial patterns of Alpine chamois (Rupicapra rupicapra rupicapra) and their influence on population dynamics in the Swiss National Park

The idea of a Swiss national park originated with the Swiss Society for Nature Research and this Society played the leading part in its realization. In 1906 the Society set up as part of its own organization a Swiss Nature Protection Commission and charged it to search for an area in Switzerland suitable for establishment as a reserve, in which all the animal and plant life could be protected against interference by man and so could be left entirely to the play of natural forces. It was not easy to find in Switzerland a suitably large area which still retained its original characteristics, was virtually free from human settlement, and contained some wealth of fauna and flora. After a careful survey of the whole country it became clear that the most suitable region was the Lower Engadine, with its isolated valleys on the eastern border of the country. The district in which, at the beginning of the century, bears had still lived was the one in which primitive nature could be found in its truest state.

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Hooker Lecture. The Swiss National Park.

Journal of the Linnean Society of London Botany ◽

10.1111/j.1095-8339.1927.tb00526.x ◽

1927 ◽

Vol 47 (318) ◽

pp. 637-643

Author(s):

Carl Schroeter

Keyword(s):

National Park ◽

Swiss National Park

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Spatial patterns and species coexistence in mixed Abies marocana-Cedrus atlantica forest in Talassemtane National Park

Forest Ecology and Management ◽

10.1016/j.foreco.2021.119967 ◽

2022 ◽

Vol 506 ◽

pp. 119967

Author(s):

Mariem Ben-Said ◽

Juan Carlos Linares ◽

José Antonio Carreira ◽

Lahcen Taïqui

Keyword(s):

Spatial Patterns ◽

National Park ◽

Species Coexistence ◽

Cedrus Atlantica

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The dynamics of questing ticks collected for 164 consecutive months off the vegetation of two landscape zones in the Kruger National Park (1988–2002). Part II. Rhipicephalus appendiculatus and Rhipicephalus zambeziensis

Onderstepoort Journal of Veterinary Research ◽

10.4102/ojvr.v78i1.233 ◽

2011 ◽

Vol 78 (1) ◽

Cited By ~ 9

Author(s):

Arthur M. Spickett ◽

Gordon J. Gallivan ◽

Ivan G. Horak

Keyword(s):

Population Dynamics ◽

Relative Humidity ◽

National Park ◽

Rhipicephalus Appendiculatus ◽

Kruger National Park ◽

Large Herbivore ◽

Questing Ticks ◽

Over Time

The study aimed to assess the long-term population dynamics of questing Rhipicephalus appendiculatus and Rhipicephalus zambeziensis in two landscape zones of the Kruger National Park (KNP). Ticks were collected by dragging the vegetation monthly in three habitats (grassland, woodland and gully) at two sites in the KNP (Nhlowa Road and Skukuza) from August 1988 to March 2002. Larvae were the most commonly collected stage of both species. More R. appendiculatus were collected at Nhlowa Road than at Skukuza, with larvae being most abundant from May to August, while nymphs were most abundant from August to December. Larvae were most commonly collected in the gullies from 1991 to 1994, but in the grassland and woodland habitats from 1998 onwards. Nymphs were most commonly collected in the grassland and woodland. More R. zambeziensis were collected at Skukuza than at Nhlowa Road, with larvae being most abundant from May to September, while nymphs were most abundant from August to November. Larvae and nymphs were most commonly collected in the woodland and gullies and least commonly in the grassland (p < 0.01). The lowest numbers of R. appendiculatus were collected in the mid-1990s after the 1991/1992 drought. Rhipicephalus zambeziensis numbers declined after 1991 and even further after 1998, dropping to their lowest levels during 2002. The changes in numbers of these two species reflected changes in rainfall and the populations of several of their large herbivore hosts, as well as differences in the relative humidity between the two sites over time.

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