Seasonal Ranging Pattern of Asian Elephants in the Protected Area Landscape of Bangladesh

Abstract Background Seasonal ranging pattern of the Asian Elephants was assessed within two major Protected Areas, namely Chunati Wildlife Sanctuary and Teknaf Wildlife Sanctuary situated in the southern Bangladesh, for the period between November 2016 and May 2018. The objective of this study was to see how do the elephants move across the Protected Area landscapes, what was the linkage between the water sources and elephant’s seasonal movement patterns and how does vegetation cover link to elephant movement. Methods The ranging pattern was analyzed using the elephant dung distribution data. Normalized Difference Vegetation Index and Normalized Difference Water Index were estimated through satellite image analysis. Results Study clearly indicated that the ranging pattern of elephants fully depends on the vegetation and water sources. The areas where water sources and vegetation coverage were good, elephant movement was higher. The study identified few areas of these two Protected Areas where both vegetation coverage and water sources were visible and those areas as hot-spots for elephants. Conclusions The findings of this study can be used in conservation and management of elephants, particularly through the protection of preferred water sources and vegetation covered areas. In future these areas need to be protected and take proper management interventions.

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Areas of endemism of Cactaceae and the effectiveness of the protected area network in the Chihuahuan Desert

Oryx ◽

10.1017/s0030605310001079 ◽

2011 ◽

Vol 45 (2) ◽

pp. 191-200 ◽

Cited By ~ 12

Author(s):

Héctor M. Hernández ◽

Carlos Gómez-Hinostrosa

Keyword(s):

Protected Areas ◽

Protected Area ◽

Chihuahuan Desert ◽

Distribution Data ◽

Area Network ◽

Protected Area Network ◽

Complementarity Analysis ◽

Areas Of Endemism ◽

The Rich ◽

Narrow Endemism

AbstractWe used distribution data of 121 cactus species endemic to the Chihuahuan Desert to test the effectiveness of the region’s protected area network. The analysis of species distribution using a 30′ latitude × 30′ longitude grid facilitated the identification and categorization of areas of endemism. We found a low degree of coincidence between protected areas and the areas of cactus endemism, and only 63.6% of the 121 species occur in protected areas. A complementarity analysis showed that 10 of the protected areas contain the 77 species that occur in protected areas. The four top priority areas protect 65 (84.4%) of these 77 species The 44 unprotected species are mainly micro-endemic and taxonomically distinctive taxa widely scattered in the region. The complementarity analysis applied to these species showed that all of them can be contained in a minimum of 24 grid squares, representing 32.9% of the total area occupied. Their strong spatial dispersion, along with their narrow endemism, is a major conservation challenge. We conclude that the current protected area network is insufficient to protect the rich assemblage of cacti endemic to the Chihuahuan Desert. Conservation efforts in this region should be enhanced by increasing the effectiveness of the already existing protected areas and by the creation of additional protected areas, specifically micro-reserves, to provide refuge for the unprotected species.

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Protected Areas and Endemic Freshwater Fishes of the Cape Fold Ecoregion: Missing the Boat for Fish Conservation?

Frontiers in Environmental Science ◽

10.3389/fenvs.2020.502042 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 8 ◽

Author(s):

Martine S. Jordaan ◽

Albert Chakona ◽

Dewidine van der Colff

Keyword(s):

Protected Areas ◽

Protected Area ◽

Native Species ◽

Fish Fauna ◽

Freshwater Fishes ◽

Distribution Data ◽

Area Network ◽

Protected Area Network ◽

Conservation Targets ◽

Riverine Systems

Freshwater systems and their associated biodiversity are among the most threatened ecosystems globally. The greatest threats to freshwater fishes are the introduction and spread of non-native species, pollution, habitat degradation and loss, and overexploitation. While many regions across the world contain extensive networks of protected areas, these are largely ineffective for protecting riverine systems and their biodiversity. This is because they were designed with the aim of prioritising conservation of terrestrial biodiversity, with limited or no consideration for aquatic systems. The Cape Fold Ecoregion, located within the Western and Eastern Cape Provinces of South Africa, is home to the highest percentage of threatened freshwater fishes in the country. The region has an extensive protected area network that protects a wide array of ecosystems, but limited information exists on the role of protected areas in conserving the endemic freshwater fish fauna of this region. This study evaluated the value of protected areas for protection of freshwater fishes in the Western Cape Province by setting species conservation targets and then intersecting species distribution data with protected area polygons. Conservation targets were set to protect the minimum viable population required for long-term persistence, with a minimum of 10 subpopulations as a target. This, along with other factors such as population viability and protected area effectiveness was used to determine whether a species was effectively protected by the current protected area network. Species were classified into one of four categories; (1) “well protected,” (2) “moderately protected,” (3) “poorly protected,” and (4) “not protected.” Our results indicate that the majority of native fishes are inadequately protected within the current protected area network in the province. This is mainly a result of the linear nature of riverine ecosystems that exposes them to impacts and threats that emanate from outside of the protected area. These limitations are not unique to the CFE, and our findings have broader implications as they highlight the need for integrating both the riverine and terrestrial ecosystems in the design, expansion and management of protected areas. This will enhance and maximise conservation and protection of riverine systems and their unique biodiversity.

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Disturbances-based plan of delineating protected area’s buffer zone: A case study in Masigit Kareumbi Mountain, West Java, Indonesia

Biodiversitas Journal of Biological Diversity ◽

10.13057/biodiv/d221150 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 22 (11) ◽

Author(s):

Elham Sumarga ◽

Ichsan Suwandhi ◽

Hairatunnisa HAIRATUNNISA ◽

Dwi Susilowardani ◽

Adenna Yuska Nurrahman ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Protected Areas ◽

Protected Area ◽

Spatial Information ◽

Satellite Image ◽

Fire Risk ◽

Buffer Zone ◽

West Java ◽

Different Types ◽

Mountain West

Abstract. Sumarga E, Swandhi I, Hairatunnisa, Susilowardani D, Nurrahman AY, Sadida A. 2021. Disturbances-based plan of delineating protected area’s buffer zone: A case study in Masigit Kareumbi Mountain, West Java, Indonesia. Biodiversitas 22: 5115-5122. The harmony between ecosystems and people, particularly those who live around and inside protected areas, is a key factor for the success of ecosystem protection. This subsequently will ensure the maintenance of ecosystem capacity in providing different types of services. Unfortunately, human activities are still commonly linked to different types of disturbances inside protected areas. This study aims to spatially analyze the anthropogenic disturbances inside a protected area, with a case study in Mount Masigit Kareumbi Protected Area, Indonesia. Two types of disturbances, which can be directly and indirectly related to human intervention, are analyzed, i.e., fires and encroachment for agricultural purposes. This study used Maximum Enthropy (MaxEnt) to analyze the risk of forest fire, while the encroachment was analyzed based on a combination of satellite image interpretation and direct field observation. Fire risk modeling performed well with a mean AUC of 0.98, estimating high fire risk (fire probability more than 0.5) distributed in about 109 ha area inside the Mount Masigit Kareumbi Protected Area. This study also identified about 428 ha of forest encroachment inside the protected area. This study further used the spatial information of the disturbances to determine the priority for selecting and designing areas for buffer zone development.

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Measuring impact of protected area management interventions: current and future use of the Global Database of Protected Area Management Effectiveness

Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B Biological Sciences ◽

10.1098/rstb.2014.0281 ◽

2015 ◽

Vol 370 (1681) ◽

pp. 20140281 ◽

Cited By ~ 83

Author(s):

Lauren Coad ◽

Fiona Leverington ◽

Kathryn Knights ◽

Jonas Geldmann ◽

April Eassom ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Protected Areas ◽

Protected Area ◽

Global Scale ◽

Protected Area Management ◽

Management Effectiveness ◽

Global Database ◽

Management Interventions ◽

Published Evidence ◽

The Impact ◽

Area Management

Protected areas (PAs) are at the forefront of conservation efforts, and yet despite considerable progress towards the global target of having 17% of the world's land area within protected areas by 2020, biodiversity continues to decline. The discrepancy between increasing PA coverage and negative biodiversity trends has resulted in renewed efforts to enhance PA effectiveness. The global conservation community has conducted thousands of assessments of protected area management effectiveness (PAME), and interest in the use of these data to help measure the conservation impact of PA management interventions is high. Here, we summarize the status of PAME assessment, review the published evidence for a link between PAME assessment results and the conservation impacts of PAs, and discuss the limitations and future use of PAME data in measuring the impact of PA management interventions on conservation outcomes. We conclude that PAME data, while designed as a tool for local adaptive management, may also help to provide insights into the impact of PA management interventions from the local-to-global scale. However, the subjective and ordinal characteristics of the data present significant limitations for their application in rigorous scientific impact evaluations, a problem that should be recognized and mitigated where possible.

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Old-Growth Forest Disturbance in the Ukrainian Carpathians

Forests ◽

10.3390/f11020151 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 11 (2) ◽

pp. 151 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

Benedict D. Spracklen ◽

Dominick V. Spracklen

Keyword(s):

Image Analysis ◽

Protected Areas ◽

Protected Area ◽

Forest Disturbance ◽

Satellite Image ◽

Old Growth ◽

Old Growth Forest ◽

Western Ukraine ◽

Future Loss ◽

Satellite Image Analysis

Human activity has greatly reduced the area of old-growth forest in Europe, with some of the largest remaining fragments in the Carpathian Mountains of south-western Ukraine. We used satellite image analysis to calculate old-growth forest disturbance in this region from 2010 to 2019. Over this period, we identified 1335 ha of disturbance in old-growth forest, equivalent to 1.8% of old-growth forest in the region. During 2015 to 2019, the average annual disturbance rate was 0.34%, varying with altitude, distance to settlements and location within the region. Disturbance rates were 7–8 times lower in protected areas compared to outside of protected areas. Only one third of old-growth forest is currently within protected areas; expansion of the protected area system to include more old-growth forests would reduce future loss. A 2017 law that gave protection to all old-growth forest in Ukraine had no significant impact on disturbance rates in 2018, but in 2019 disturbance rates reduced to 0.19%. Our analysis is the first indication that this new legislation may be reducing loss of old-growth forest in Ukraine.

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Protected Area Versus People Conflict and a Co-Management Programme: A Case Study from the Dhudpukuria-Dhopachari Wildlife Sanctuary, Bangladesh

Environment and Natural Resources Research ◽

10.5539/enrr.v7n2p87 ◽

2017 ◽

Vol 7 (2) ◽

pp. 87

Author(s):

A. H. M. Raihan Sarker ◽

Amir Hossen ◽

Ma Suza ◽

Eivin Roskaft

Keyword(s):

Natural Resources ◽

Protected Areas ◽

Protected Area ◽

Wildlife Conservation ◽

Management Program ◽

Management Programme ◽

Management Approach ◽

Wildlife Sanctuary ◽

Human Welfare ◽

Almost All

Conflicts over the conservation of natural resources at the community level occur in different forms and at various levels of severity. These conflicts can be defined as situations in which the allocation, management or use of natural resources results in attacks on human rights or denial of access to natural resources to an extent that considerably diminishes human welfare. However, the conflict between the authorities of the Dhudpukuria-Dhopachari Wildlife Sanctuary (DDWS) and local people over wildlife conservation is one of the most serious conservation issues in Chittagong region of Bangladesh. The DDWS is managed under a co-management programme, but there are many questions that have already been asked about the success of co-management in the study area. A total of 195 standardized, structured and semi-structured questionnaires were administered randomly to villagers. The majority of respondents reported that they did not receive any potential benefit from the DDWS, and almost one-third of respondents reported that they had problems with the DDWS. Almost all respondents reported that they were unable to control the damage caused by wildlife. More than 80% of respondents reported that the co-management approach was not effective in mitigating conflict between people and protected areas. More than 45% of the participants in co-management program reported greater effectiveness of the co-management approach than non-participants. Moreover, the respondents who received more benefits from the Protected Areas (PA) reported more effectiveness of the co-management approach than those who received less or no benefits from the protected area. Integration of local knowledge and preferences into the co-management process will ensure the sustainability of the co-management programme by minimizing the conflict between people and protected areas.

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Evaluating the utility of protected area status and conservation legislation in tropical forest conservation using satellite data: a case study of the great hornbill in Thailand

Journal of Tropical Ecology ◽

10.1017/s0266467421000560 ◽

2022 ◽

pp. 1-7

Author(s):

Naparat Suttidate

Keyword(s):

Habitat Fragmentation ◽

Tropical Forest ◽

Protected Areas ◽

Protected Area ◽

Anthropogenic Activities ◽

Conservation Strategies ◽

Tropical Species ◽

Long Term Effects ◽

Wildlife Sanctuary ◽

Logging Ban

Abstract Preserving wildlife and their environment from anthropogenic activities requires identification and establishment of protected areas, and monitoring of their long-term effects on wildlife and habitat. Tropical forests are one of the most at-risk habitats and many tropical species have become extinct recently due to human activity. It is imperative to monitor habitat in protected areas and without in order to identify strategies and legislative policies that optimize conservation outcomes. To this end, I quantified habitat fragmentation for the great hornbill (Buceros bicornis) in Om Koi Wildlife Sanctuary, Thailand, pre- and post-establishment, within and outside the protected area, from 1973, 1985, and 1992, to assess the effectiveness of the protected area status, established in 1978, and a national logging ban, established in 1989, in preserving and restoring hornbill habitat. The results demonstrate that the establishment of Om Koi Wildlife Sanctuary did not decrease the rate of hornbill habitat fragmentation relative to areas outside the protected area. While the protected area had less fragmentation to begin with, protection status did not affect the rate of loss. Fragmentation increased significantly both inside and outside the protected area between the first and second time points (p < 0.05), after the protected area was first established. However, the national logging ban policy implemented in 1985 seems to have successfully halted the fragmentation of habitat within the protected area and surrounding unprotected areas, with all areas showing no significant change (p > 0.05). While not significant, the rate of fragmentation outside the protected area was greater. This suggests that the establishment of a protected area alone may not be sufficient to stop or reverse anthropogenic damage to endangered habitat and the species that utilize these environments. The incorporation of multiple strategies for management is likely needed to increase the ability of protected areas to preserve tropical forest species and habitats. The assessment of protected areas via satellite and ground-level data is an essential tool for evaluating the effectiveness of conservation strategies and improving outcomes.

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Butterflies (Lepidoptera) of the Kameng Protected Area Complex, western Arunachal Pradesh, India

Journal of Threatened Taxa ◽

10.11609/jott.2984.8.8.9053-9124 ◽

2016 ◽

Vol 8 (8) ◽

pp. 9053 ◽

Cited By ~ 4

Author(s):

Sanjay Sondhi ◽

Krushnamegh Kunte

Keyword(s):

Protected Areas ◽

Protected Area ◽

Eastern Himalaya ◽

Butterfly Species ◽

Historical Records ◽

Arunachal Pradesh ◽

Wildlife Sanctuary ◽

Number Of Species ◽

Tiger Reserve ◽

Annotated Checklist

The butterflies of the Kameng Protected Area Complex in western Arunachal Pradesh, India, covering the protected areas of Eaglenest Wildlife Sanctuary, Pakke Tiger Reserve and Sessa Orchid Wildlife Sanctuary were surveyed over a 5-year period (2009–2014). A total of 421 butterfly species were recorded during the survey, including two species new to India (Gonepteryx amintha thibetana and Bhutanitis ludlowi) and several species rediscoveries and range extensions in the Eastern Himalaya, most notably Arhopala belphoebe, Sovia separata magna, Aulocera saraswati vishnu, Calinaga aborica, Callerebia annada annada, and Callerebria scanda opima. Here we provide an annotated checklist of butterflies of the Kameng Protected Area Complex, including historical records, distributions, abundance, habitats and other notes on these 421 species. An additional 42 species recorded in older literature or by other authors in recent times are also listed, taking the total number of species recorded in the landscape to 463.

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Population and habitat use of Asian elephants (Elephas maximus) and five ungulate species in Khao Ang Rue Nai Wildlife Sanctuary, Chachoengsao Province, Thailand

Biodiversitas Journal of Biological Diversity ◽

10.13057/biodiv/d200815 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 20 (8) ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

KUSUMA MENKHAM ◽

RONGLARP SUKMASUANG ◽

MANANYA PLA-ARD ◽

KHWANRUTAI CHARASPET ◽

TARAPONE PANGANTA ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Habitat Use ◽

Adult Female ◽

Water Sources ◽

Asian Elephant ◽

Elephas Maximus ◽

Diel Activity ◽

Wildlife Sanctuary ◽

Asian Elephants ◽

Female Ratio ◽

Sambar Deer

Abstract. Menkham K, Sukmasuang R, Pla-Ard M, Charaspet K, Panganta T, Trisurat Y, Bhumpakphan N. 2019. Population and habitat use of Asian elephants (Elephas maximus) and five ungulate species in Khao Ang Rue Nai Wildlife Sanctuary, Chachoengsao Province, Thailand. Biodiversitas 20: 2213-2221. This study on the Asian elephant (Elephas maximus) population, habitat use and the diel activity patterns of elephants and five species of large even-toed ungulates was conducted between March 2017 and March 2018 in Khao Ang Rue Nai Wildlife Sanctuary, Chachoengsao Province using intensive camera trapping. Fifty-eight camera traps were deployed, adding up to a total of 4,463 trap nights and revealing 1,760 independent encounters. Six species of mammals were recorded, including the Asian elephant (Elephas maximus) and five species of large even-toed ungulates; the gaur (Bos gaurus), the banteng (Bos javanicus), the sambar deer (Rusa unicolor), the wild boar (Sus scrofa), and the muntjac (Muntiacus muntjak). The abundance analysis reflected that the probability occupancy of the elephant was 0.92 (SE = 0.04); in dry seasons 0.97 (SE = 0.04) and in wet seasons 0.90 (SE = 0.83). The population of elephants within the study site of 87.95 km2 was within 79.51-334.15 individuals. The elephant age classes were identified as adult, sub-adult, juvenile, and calf with percentages of 77.85%, 5.71%, 9.28%, and 7.14%, respectively. The adult male to adult female sex-ratio was 1: 1.39 and the adult female per calf ratio was 1: 0.12. The percentage of the calf to adult female ratio was 9.17%. Maximum Entropy analysis revealed that saltlicks and artificial water sources were the environmental factors that had the most influence on the probability of occurrence of the elephant (all year). We found that the diel activity pattern of the elephants was strongly nocturnal (85% recorded between 18.00-05.59 hours). Temporal overlapping was seen between elephants and gaurs, bantengs and sambar deer in order. Suggestions for area management include improvement of water sources, salt licks, grassland management, and providing education, publicization, and strict control to decrease human activities within the protected area. There also should be continuous studies to monitor the population and the ecology of these species.

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Continued loss of temperate old-growth forests in the Romanian Carpathians despite an increasing protected area network

Environmental Conservation ◽

10.1017/s0376892912000355 ◽

2012 ◽

Vol 40 (2) ◽

pp. 182-193 ◽

Cited By ~ 41

Author(s):

JAN KNORN ◽

TOBIAS KUEMMERLE ◽

VOLKER C. RADELOFF ◽

WILLIAM S. KEETON ◽

VLADIMIR GANCZ ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Protected Areas ◽

Protected Area ◽

Management Practices ◽

Forest Cover ◽

Satellite Image ◽

Area Network ◽

Old Growth ◽

Protected Area Network ◽

Old Growth Forest ◽

Old Growth Forests

SUMMARYOld-growth forests around the world are vanishing rapidly and have been lost almost completely from the European temperate forest region. Poor management practices, often triggered by socioeconomic and institutional change, are the main causes of loss. Recent trends in old-growth forest cover in Romania, where some of the last remaining tracts of these forests within Europe are located, are revealed by satellite image analysis. Forest cover declined by 1.3 % from 2000 to 2010. Romania's protected area network has been expanded substantially since the country's accession to the European Union in 2007, and most of the remaining old-growth forests now are located within protected areas. Surprisingly though, 72% of the old-growth forest disturbances are found within protected areas, highlighting the threats still facing these forests. It appears that logging in old-growth forests is, at least in part, related to institutional reforms, insufficient protection and ownership changes since the collapse of communism in 1989. The majority of harvesting activities in old-growth forest areas are in accordance with the law. Without improvements to their governance, the future of Romania's old-growth forests and the important ecosystem services they provide remains uncertain.

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