scholarly journals Landscape habitat occupancy and distribution of the Wild Ground Pangolin (Smutsia temminckii) in Zimbabwe’s Protected Areas (PAs)

2021 ◽  
pp. 105-111
Author(s):  
Mahakata Innocent ◽  
Gonhi Prudence ◽  
Matindike Spencer ◽  
Masumba Yvonne ◽  
Hungwe Christopher

The Smutsia temminckii is the only species of pangolin known to exist in Zimbabwe and is considered vulnerable under the IUCN Red List of threatened species. Distribution of wild S. temminckii in protected areas (PAs) and associated environmental variables are not well defined in Zimbabwe. The study sort to relate key environmental variables (Altitude, rainfall, temperature and vegetation type) to habitat occupancy and distribution of S. temminckii. Data was collected from forty-eight stations based on S.temminckii sightings historical records spanning ten years (2011-2021) done by field rangers, tourists and scientific services research personnel. A review of available literature was done from online sources and station records. A distribution map based on S. temminckii sightings across various PAs in Zimbabwe was developed for this study. Results of this study reveal that S. temminckii occupy PAs in South East low-veld areas, Northwestern Zimbabwe, Mid Zambezi Valley and Nyanga NP. No historical data on S. temminckii sighting in central PAs located in ecological regions IIa, IIb and III of Zimbabwe. Climatic conditions associated with S. temminckii distribution, except for Nyanga NP, are average temperatures above 220C and rainfall between 400mm to 900mm per annum. Landscapes ideal for S. temminckii habitat occupancy have an altitude between 262m-2000m above sea level. Associated vegetation types for habitat occupancy of S. temminckii are the Zambezian and mopane woodlands as well as montane forest grasslands mosaic of Nyanga NP. Future studies should focus on establishing distribution of S. temminckii outside PA, population status and density to inform conservation of this rare and unique species around Zimbabwe.

2018 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
pp. 14-24
Author(s):  
Chabi A.M.S. Djagoun ◽  
Etotépé A. Sogbohossou ◽  
Barthélémy Kassa ◽  
Christian B. Ahouandjinou ◽  
Hugues A. Akpona ◽  
...  

Background: The habitat degradation together with fragmentation and illegal hunting represent a major threat for biodiversity conservation in Lama protected areas. Method: We used a combination of questionnaire survey with local communities for ranking the hunted mammal species as bushmeat and track surveys in gridded-cell system of 500x500 m2 (n=268) to assess at what extend the management design, the anthropogenic factors and habitat type affect the occupancy model of those mammal species. Results: Twenty mammal species have been predominantly reported by the local inhabitants to consume bushmeat species and 5 of them have been identified as the most preferable as hunted game mammals. The selection of the preferred habitat among the swampy forest, the dense forest, the tree plantations and cropland for the prioritized game species varies between species but looks similar when grouping in different orders. Some bushmeat species were found to select the more secure habitat (natural forest); suggesting the zoning system in the Lama forest can passively protect those species. However, some species such as T. swinderianus although highly hunted showed preference to anthropogenic habitat, avoiding the well secured core zone in Lama Forest. Conclusion: Our findings highlighted the importance of the zoning system with different management objectives in the habitat occupancy model of the highly hunted wildlife species.


2020 ◽  
Vol 955 (1) ◽  
pp. 7-18
Author(s):  
A.V. Myadzelets ◽  
N.M. Luzhkova

Environmental education is an important function of Protected Areas among them nature reserves. It includes development of visible and available materials on tours and routes, on geographical and environmental features of a territory, and on unique species of flora and fauna. Interactive map of vegetation “Along Doppelmair’s trail” is an example of scientific information visualization. It was made for a distant and restricted core area in Barguzinsky Nature Reserve. We applied traditional geographical approaches and methods (field research, geobotanical descriptions) and modern GIS technologies (creation of unit database on landscape foundation, satellite image interpretation, infogram visualization) to create the map. As a result a GIS product is created with ArcMAP and located on the ArcGIS Online platform. This map shows characteristic vegetation types, succession stages of pyrogenic dynamics of forest geosystems formed during a century period. Infograms demonstrate information on sites with wild animal encounters, vegetation distribution, landscape features, and photographical materials. This interactive map is a way for environment protection popularization and solving some educational tasks for Protected Areas. It gives an opportunity to study changes in vegetation from Lake Baikal shoreline to mountain peaks of Bаrguzinskii Range, learn typical flora and fauna species, including endangered ones, find interesting historical facts about the reserve, and, thus, get an idea of uniqueness and fragility of nature and the importance of protection attempts.


1992 ◽  
Vol 70 (10) ◽  
pp. 1931-1939 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. R. T. Dale ◽  
A. G. Thomas ◽  
E. A. John

The relationship between the weed communities and environmental variables such as soil, crop, and management was investigated in two provinces of Canada. The frequencies of weed species were recorded in cereal and oilseed fields in Saskatchewan (2244 fields over 4 years) and Manitoba (864 fields over 3 years), Canada. Information on some of the physical characteristics of the fields and on the management practices imposed on them was also collected, in part by questionnaire. The two kinds of data were ordinated together using canonical correspondence analysis to assess the relationships between the species and the environmental variables. In the Saskatchewan data, there was a clear and consistent separation of the species into groups along an axis correlated with soil zone and the associated climatic gradient. In the Manitoba data, the same groups of species did not separate as clearly or as consistently, although geographic region was a major determinant of the weed communities. The greater variability may be due to the fact that the gradient of soil types is much more restricted in Manitoba and not as closely correlated with climatic conditions. In both provinces, culture practices were less important as correlates of the weed community composition than soil type or, to a certain extent, the previous crop. Key words: canonical correspondence analysis, cereal crops, oil seed crops.


2019 ◽  
Vol 8 (3) ◽  
pp. 150-157
Author(s):  
Tatyana Anatolyevna Vasilyeva

The paper presents the study results of Vigainavolok I materials. This settlement is located on the west of Lake Onega in Karelia. The monument was investigated by G.A. Pankrushev in 1963-1966. Its area was 8,000 m. 26 buildings remains were revealed. The area of 2748 m was studied. The inventory collection includes more than 25 thousand pieces of ceramics and about 7 thousand pieces of stone, clay and metal. The buildings served as dwellings and workshops. The collection includes sinkers that are marked as direct signs of fishing. Favorable climatic conditions for the development in the forest zone, confined to the coast of a large body of water, settlement equipment, osteological materials of the Stone Age monuments characterize fishing as one of the determining factors in the life of the population.


2019 ◽  
Vol 14 (1) ◽  
pp. 20-34
Author(s):  
T. G. RYASHCHENKO ◽  
N. N. UKHOVA ◽  
S. I. SHTELMAKH ◽  
N. I. BELYANINA ◽  
P. S. BELYANIN

The article considers the study results of composition, microstructure and physical-chemical properties of the quaternary clays of the Prikhankayskaya depression in district of the lake Khanka (Primorye) on the example of air-dry samples of geological borehole 45-b in the range of 18–62 m. The objective of research was to obtain new information about the properties of widespread clay sediments in this area using geologic-lithological materials and laboratory data. The schematic geologic-lithological column was composed with the selection of various zones in the quaternary clay sediments section and the border with sediments of the Neogene System. The methodological scheme of laboratory studies of clays was proposed. This scheme includes the determination of chemical and microelement composition, clay minerals, contents of carbonates, water-soluble salts, mobile forms of aluminum oxide, humus, as well as microstructural parameters (method «Microstructure») and some physical-chemical properties. Geochemical coefficients (Kz, CIA, CIW, ICV) determined the degree of chemical maturity of clays and confirmed the results of palynological studies reflecting the fluctuations of the climatic conditions of their formation. For the group of toxic microelements for the first time the special indicator (Zc) was calculated. Which was the criterion for a degree of pollution of the clay sediments section. Clay minerals of the quaternary clays are represented by smectite and hydromica. The clear change in the mineral association was found when passing to the Neogene sediments (kaolinite prevails). The method «Microstructure» revealed the aggregated type of clays microstructure, the domination of the particles of coarse dust fraction among the primary (free) particles and the almost complete absence of the particles of fine-grained sand fraction, the participation of various fractions in the composition of aggregates. The variants of the formation of certain types of aggregates (on sizes) in the fluviolacustrine «khankayskiy» clays are presented. Solid part density, water resistance (soaking time), sedimentation volume, plasticity, relative swelling (samples-pastes) were determined using standard methods for clays. By special methods, the cation exchange capacity was measured and the calculated values of the plasticity index were obtained from forecasting formulas using the yield limit. The proposed methodological scheme of complex laboratory studies of clay sediments can be recommended for problematic geologic-lithological and engineering-geological sections.


2017 ◽  
Vol 9 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Elaine Cristina Batista ◽  
José Luiz De Andrade Rezende Pereira ◽  
Adriano Teodoro Bruzi ◽  
Everton Vinucius Zambiazzi ◽  
Karina Barroso Silva

Cultivar evaluation is one of the basic steps recommended for a given region, since the best adapted cultivars have higher yields, and success in this parameter is based on the genotype of the material and its interaction with the environmental variables. The aim of this study was to evaluate thebehavior of 23 soy cultivars in the soil-climatic conditions of the south region of Minas Gerais State (MG), Brazil, in the municipality of Inconfidentes. The evaluated traits were grain yield, plant height, height of insertion of the first legume and lodging. The experiments were conducted on the 2013/2014 and 2014/2015 harvests, adopting a randomized block design with three replicates and 23 treatments, which were constituted by the following cultivars: FAVORITA RR, BRS MG 760SRR, NA 5909 RG, NA 7200 RR, CD 2630, CD 250, NA 7620 RR, CD 2737, TMG 123, V-MAX RR, P 98Y11 RR, NS 7100 RR, BMX Potencia, Anta 82 RR, CD 237, V-TOP, TMG 1176 RR, TMG 1174 RR, TMG 1179 RR, TMG 1181 RR, BMX Força, Monsoy 7211 RR and BRS MG 780 RR. Of the studied cultivars, those that most stood out for the traits evaluated in the conditions of Inconfidentes (MG) were TMG 1179 RR (48.6 bags of 60 kg ha-1), NA 7200 RR (45.6 bags), CD 2737 (41.1 bags), CD 237 (41 bags) and BRS MG 760 SRR (40.6 bags), all of which displayed satisfactory conditions for mechanical harvesting, demonstrating the good performance of the crop in the south region of Minas Gerais State.


Oryx ◽  
2010 ◽  
Vol 44 (2) ◽  
pp. 213-218 ◽  
Author(s):  
Martin Dallimer ◽  
Martim Melo

AbstractTerrestrial and freshwater molluscs are amongst the most threatened of all taxa, yet data exist on the distribution and status of only a small proportion of the species. Here we present the results of the first systematic survey of a terrestrial mollusc on the island of Príncipe in the Gulf of Guinea. Archachatina bicarinata has never been previously surveyed, despite being categorized as Vulnerable on the IUCN Red List and suffering from unregulated harvesting for food. We found that A. bicarinata is restricted to primary rainforest and its abundance and probability of occurrence increased as surveyed sites became less accessible. Additional anecdotal evidence from the observations of previous scientific expeditions, local guides and snail harvesters suggested that the species has suffered a dramatic decline in population size and distribution in recent years. We therefore recommend that immediate action be taken to prevent its imminent extinction on Príncipe. The collection of A. bicarinata from protected areas should be banned, as should commercial harvesting and sales. Subsistence collecting should be limited to larger individuals. Our data have been used to inform the management plans for the protected areas on Príncipe and São Tomé, and this should help to ensure the future of A. bicarinata on both islands.


Oryx ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 54 (6) ◽  
pp. 854-865
Author(s):  
Marina Peres Portugal ◽  
Ronaldo Gonçalves Morato ◽  
Katia Maria Paschoaletto Micchi de Barros Ferraz ◽  
Flávio Henrique Guimarães Rodrigues ◽  
Claudia Maria Jacobi

AbstractThe jaguar Panthera onca, a threatened species in Brazil, is losing suitable habitat as a result of agricultural expansion and other forms of land conversion, especially in the Cerrado biome. In the current context of habitat loss and fragmentation, a network of protected areas is paramount for the conservation of this species. We aimed to identify jaguar conservation units in the Cerrado, and propose a ranking of priority areas for the species in this region. We used the maximum entropy algorithm to model habitat suitability for the jaguar in the Cerrado, with nine uncorrelated environmental variables and 106 non-autocorrelated presence-only records. We prioritized regions, using Zonation, and ranked jaguar conservation units according to their area, proximity to strictly protected areas, jaguar presence, and potential for connectivity. Circa 30% of the Cerrado is suitable for the jaguar. The most important variables affecting jaguar distribution are mean rainfall and land cover, with a high probability of jaguar presence in forest and savannah. We selected 31 high-priority jaguar conservation units, covering c. 174,825 km2 (8.5%) of the Cerrado. We emphasize the need for new protected areas and the promotion of sustainable development, as only 0.4% of the Cerrado (8,345 km2) has high environmental suitability for jaguars and < 1% of the area covered by jaguar conservation units falls within protected areas. Most jaguar conservation units identified here are relevant for habitat connectivity in Brazil, given their proximity to other critical areas for jaguar conservation in the Caatinga and the Amazon.


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