scholarly journals Long-term patterns in Iberian hare population dynamics in a protected area (Doñana National Park) in the southwestern Iberian Peninsula: Effects of weather conditions and plant cover

2017 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
pp. 49-60 ◽  
Author(s):  
Francisco CARRO ◽  
Ramón C. SORIGUER
Author(s):  
Arthur M. Spickett ◽  
Gordon J. Gallivan ◽  
Ivan G. Horak

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.


Oryx ◽  
2013 ◽  
Vol 48 (3) ◽  
pp. 394-401 ◽  
Author(s):  
Edward Okot Omoya ◽  
Tutilo Mudumba ◽  
Stephen T. Buckland ◽  
Paul Mulondo ◽  
Andrew J. Plumptre

AbstractDespite > 60 years of conservation in Uganda's national parks the populations of lions and spotted hyaenas in these areas have never been estimated using a census method. Estimates for some sites have been extrapolated to other protected areas and educated guesses have been made but there has been nothing more definitive. We used a lure count analysis method of call-up counts to estimate populations of the lion Panthera leo and spotted hyaena Crocuta crocuta in the parks where reasonable numbers of these species exist: Queen Elizabeth Protected Area, Murchison Falls Conservation Area and Kidepo Valley National Park. We estimated a total of 408 lions and 324 hyaenas for these three conservation areas. It is unlikely that other conservation areas in Uganda host > 10 lions or > 40 hyaenas. The Queen Elizabeth Protected Area had the largest populations of lions and hyaenas: 140 and 211, respectively. It is estimated that lion numbers have declined by 30% in this protected area since the late 1990s and there are increasing concerns for the long-term viability of both species in Uganda.


Zootaxa ◽  
2011 ◽  
Vol 2791 (1) ◽  
pp. 1 ◽  
Author(s):  
NIELS VAN STEENKISTE ◽  
BART TESSENS ◽  
KATHLEEN KRZNARIC ◽  
TOM ARTOIS

Nineteen taxa of Dalytyphloplanida Willems et al., 2006 collected from southwestern Andalusia are discussed. Although most taxa were found in freshwater, three are marine, one occurred in brackish water and Protoplanella simplex Reisinger, 1924 was even collected in a dry, limnoterrestrial habitat. Four taxa are new to science. Castrada purgatorialis n. sp., Castrada paradisea n. sp. and Strongylostoma devleeschouweri n. sp., all belong to the Typhloplanidae Graff, 1905. The first two species differ from other species of Castrada Schmidt, 1861 by the presence of a large accessory bursa and the morphology of the copulatory atrium. C. purgatorialis n. sp. has zoochlorellae while these are lacking in C. paradisea n. sp. Strongylostoma devleeschouweri n. sp. is unique because of its coalescing testes and because of the presence of a sphincter around the stalk of the seminal receptacle. Gieysztoria iberica n. sp. belongs to the Dalyelliidae Graff, 1905 and is characterized by the extreme length of the girdle of the stylet. Except for five taxa, all specimens were collected within the boundaries of the Doñana National Park. Most of the taxa could easily be identified to species level except for one taxon of Kytorhynchidae Rieger, 1974 and one species of Phaenocora Ehrenberg, 1836. Four species are new for the Iberian Peninsula. Three of these, Trigonostomum penicillatum (Schmidt, 1857) Micoletzky, 1910, Promesostoma maculosum Ax, 1956 and Gieysztoria macrovariata (Weise, 1942) Ruebush & Hayes, 1939, were already known from other European localities, whereas Parapharyngiella involucrum Willems et al., 2005, a marine species, has previously only been found in Zanzibar, Tanzania.


Author(s):  
Aelita Pinter

Multiannual fluctuations ("cycles") in population density of small rodents doubtless result from the interaction of a multitude of factors, as evidenced by the variety of hypotheses proposed to explain the phenomenon (for reviews see Finerty 1980, Taitt and Krebs 1985). However, the inability of these hypotheses - alone or in combination - to explain the causality of cycles rests in no small measure with the fact that long-term studies of the phenomenon are notoriously uncommon. The objectives of this project are to continue a long-term study of the population dynamics of the montane vole, Microtus montanus, in Grand Teton National Park. On the basis of earlier observations (Pinter 1986, 1988) particular emphasis will be placed on how environmental variables, possibly acting through reproductive responses, contribute to the population density cycles of these rodents.


Author(s):  
Aelita Pinter

A variety of hypotheses have been proposed to explain multiannual fluctuations in population density ("cycles") of small rodents (for reviews see Finerty 1980, Taitt and Krebs 1985). Doubtless, such cycles - known since antiquity (Elton 1942) - result from an interaction of a multitude of factors. However, the inability of extant hypotheses, alone or in combination, to explain the causality of cycles rests in no small measure with the fact that long-term studies of the phenomenon are notoriously uncommon. The objectives of this project are to continue the long-term study of population dynamics of the montane vole, Microtus montanus, in Grand Teton National Park. Earlier observations (Pinter 1986, 1988) indicate that environmental variables might contribute to the population density cycles of these rodents, possibly by influencing their growth and various aspects of their reproduction.


2020 ◽  
Vol 67 (4) ◽  
pp. 339
Author(s):  
Evert Kasiringua ◽  
Şerban Procheş ◽  
Grzegorz Kopij

Author(s):  
Ivan G. Horak ◽  
Gordon J. Gallivan ◽  
Arthur M. Spickett

Despite a large number of studies on tick biology, there is limited information on long- term changes in tick populations. This study thus aimed to assess the long-term population dynamics of questing ixodid ticks in two landscape zones of the Kruger National Park (KNP). Questing ixodid ticks were collected in the KNP from August 1988 to March 2002 by monthly dragging of the vegetation in three habitats (grassland, woodland and gully) at two sites (Nhlowa Road and Skukuza). Findings pertaining to total tick numbers and Amblyomma hebraeum and Rhipicephalus decoloratus specifically are presented here. Fourteen tick species were collected, as well as four others that could be identified only to generic level. More ticks (211 569 vs 125 810) were collected at Nhlowa Road than at Skukuza. Larvae were the most commonly collected stage of all the major tick species. A. hebraeum was the most commonly collected tick (63.6%) at Nhlowa Road, whereas R. decoloratus accounted for 15.3% of the ticks collected there. At Skukuza, 31.6% and 27.1% of the collected ticks were R. decoloratus and A. hebraeum respectively. Most A. hebraeum larvae were collected in summer and the fewest in winter and early spring, mostly in woodland and least often in grassland habitats. Most R. decoloratus larvae were collected in spring and the fewest in autumn and winter, and were more frequently collected in woodland and grassland than in gullies. The largest collections of most tick species were made during the early 1990s, while numbers were lowest in the mid-1990s after a drought during 1991 and 1992 and then increased towards the late 1990s, followed by a final decrease. The changes in tick numbers over time probably reflect differences in their host communities at the two sites and the effect of climatic conditions on both hosts and free-living ticks. The population dynamics of questing ticks reflect a complex interaction between ticks, their hosts and the environment.


2018 ◽  
Vol 28 (2) ◽  
pp. 501-522
Author(s):  
Saúl Manzano ◽  
José S. Carrión ◽  
Pablo García-Murillo ◽  
Lourdes López-Merino

2001 ◽  
Vol 28 (2) ◽  
pp. 160-166 ◽  
Author(s):  
Matthew J. Walpole ◽  
Harold J. Goodwin

Ensuring local support for protected areas is increasingly viewed as an important element of biodiversity conservation. This is often predicated on the provision of benefits from protected areas, and a common means of providing such benefits is tourism development. However, the relationship between receipt of tourism benefits and support for conservation has not been explored. This study examined local attitudes towards protected area tourism and the effects of tourism benefits on local support for Komodo National Park, Indonesia. Komodo National Park is a flagship for tourism in a region where protected areas are becoming increasingly visited and where local support for conservation has not been investigated. Results of a questionnaire survey revealed positive attitudes towards tourism and high support for conservation (93.7%), as well as a recognition that tourism is dependent upon the existence of the park. Positive attitudes towards tourism were positively related to the receipt of economic benefits, and to support for conservation. However, a positive relationship between receipt of tourism benefits and support for conservation was not identified, suggesting that benefits from protected area conservation make no difference to local support for conservation. Local people recognized distributional inequalities in tourism benefits, and the most common complaints were of local inflation and tourist dress code. To fully identify the impacts of protected area tourism, long-term studies of local attitudes alongside traditional economic and ecological assessments are recommended.


2018 ◽  
Vol 9 (5) ◽  
pp. 285-290
Author(s):  
Thi Thanh Nga Cao ◽  
Song Tung Nguyen

Among the protected area system of Vietnam, Cat Ba appears as an ideal national park for biodiversity research and conservation. It covers a large area of karst landscape including islands and different ecosystems ranging from forests, wetland, mangroves, caves and others. Since the establishment of Cat Ba National Park in 1986, biodiversity research and conservation within the park have been strongly promoted and raised. The park has been well known as home to highly diverse flora and fauna with many species endemic to the archipelago and Vietnam. A series of projects and programmes have been effectively implemented for urgent and long-term conservation of threatened species. However, results from scientific research also indicated that many sites and species are still almost unstudied while several sections of the park’s buffer zone are affected by human activities including unscientific development of ecotourism. We recently conduct a field survey and recorded 2 bat species and echolocation calls in their natural habitats. This paper provides an overview of achievements with recent records and recommendations for strengthening conservation of biodiversity and habitats in the park and surroundings. Trong hệ thống khu vực bảo vệ của Việt Nam, Cát Bà là một vườn quốc gia có điều kiện thuận lợi đối với công tác nghiên cứu và bảo tồn đa dạng sinh học. Vườn quốc gia này bao gồm diện tích lớn cảnh quan núi đá vôi với các đảo và hệ sinh thái đặc trưng như rừng trên núi, đất ngập nước, rừng ngập mặn, hang động và nhiều hệ sinh thái khác. Từ khi thành lập Vườn Quốc gia Cát Bà năm 1986, công tác nghiên cứu và bảo tồn đa dạng sinh học được quan tâm và thực hiện ngày càng nhiều. Vườn quốc gia cũng chứa đựng khu hệ động vật và thực vật đa dạng với nhiều loài đặc hữu cho quần đảo và Việt Nam. Nhiều dự án và chương trình đã được thực hiện nhằm bảo tồn cấp bách và lâu dài những loài bị đe dọa. Tuy nhiên, những kết quả nghiên cứu khoa học cũng cho thấy nhiều khu vực trong phạm vi vườn quốc gia gần như chưa được nghiên cứu trong khi một số tiểu khu thuộc vùng đệm đang bị ảnh hưởng bởi hoạt động của con người như sự phát triển du lịch. Chúng tôi đã ghi nhận được 2 loài dơi cùng với tiếng kêu siêu âm trong môi trường sống tự nhiên của chúng qua thời gian điều tra thực địa vừa qua. Bài báo này cung cấp dẫn liệu tổng quan và cập nhật về những kết quả đã đạt được với những thông tin cập nhật và đề xuất nhằm thúc đẩy công tác bảo tồn đa dạng sinh học và sinh cảnh ở vườn quốc gia và vùng phụ cận trong tương lai.


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