scholarly journals Towards an adaptive management approach for the conservation of rare antelope in the Kruger National Park - outcome of a workshop held in May 2000

Koedoe ◽  
2000 ◽  
Vol 43 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
C.C. Grant ◽  
J.L. Van der Walt
Keyword(s):  
Adaptive Management ◽  
National Park ◽  
High Density ◽  
Kruger National Park ◽  
Management Tool ◽  
Management Approach ◽  
Predator Control ◽  
Viable Option ◽  
Equus Burchelli ◽  
The Subject

A precipitous drop in rare antelope numbers specifically roan (<i>Hippotragus equinis</i>) sable (<i>Hippotragus niger</i>) and tsessebe (<i>Damaliscus lunatus</i>) since 1986 has become one of the main concerns of management. The zebra (<i>Equus burchelli</i>) population in the preferred habitats of these species had increased with the development of artificial waterpoints especially in the areas occupied by roan and tsessebe, and these events are hypothesised to be the main cause of the decline. Closure of artificial waterpoints resulted in moving the high-density, water-dependent zebra from the northern basalt plains, the preferred roan habitat. However, the expected responding increase in the rare antelope populations did not materialise. This lack of response over six years necessitated a critical re-evaluation of the management of rare antelope in the Kruger National Park. Subsequently, a workshop was held at Skukuza during May 2000. The options for adaptive management of the declining rare antelope populations, which was discussed at the workshop, is the subject of this manuscript. The participants felt that the removal/closure of artificial waterpoints was the most unintrusive management tool available to move high density grazers from the habitats preferred by rare antelope. Waterpoints to be closed should be carefully evaluated, and time allowed for rare antelope to respond to habitat changes. Boosting populations of roan and tsessebe by supplementing animals was seriously considered, with the proviso that it should be done under favourable circumstances. Small patch fires that could provide green grazing over extended periods were recommended. Predator control was discussed but could not obtain general support as a viable option in the Kruger National Park.

scholarly journals Elephant population growth in Kruger National Park, South Africa, under a landscape management approach

Koedoe ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 59 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Sam M. Ferreira ◽  
Cathy Greaver ◽  
Chenay Simms
Keyword(s):  
Population Growth ◽  
National Parks ◽  
National Park ◽  
Landscape Management ◽  
Aerial Survey ◽  
Kruger National Park ◽  
Management Approach ◽  
Intensive Management ◽  
Ecological Processes ◽  
Management Interventions

South African National Parks (SANParks) manage landscapes rather than numbers of elephants (Loxodonta africana) to mitigate the effects that elephants may have on biodiversity, tourism and stakeholder conservation values associated with protected areas. This management philosophy imposes spatial variability of critical resources on elephants. Restoration of such ecological processes through less intensive management predicts a reduction in population growth rates from the eras of intensive management. We collated aerial survey data since 1995 and conducted an aerial total count using a helicopter observation platform during 2015. A minimum of 17 086 elephants were resident in the Kruger National Park (KNP) in 2015, growing at 4.2% per annum over the last generation of elephants (i.e. 12 years), compared to 6.5% annual population growth noted during the intensive management era ending in 1994. This may come from responses of elephants to density and environmental factors manifested through reduced birth rates and increased mortality rates. Authorities should continue to evaluate the demographic responses of elephants to landscape scale interventions directed at restoring the limitation of spatial variance in resource distribution on elephant spatiotemporal dynamics and the consequences that may have for other conservation values.Conservation implications: Conservation managers should continue with surveying elephants in a way that allows the extraction of key variables. Such variables should focus on measures that reflect on how theory predicts elephants should respond to management interventions.

scholarly journals Home range sizes for burchell's zebra equus burchelli antiquorum from the Kruger National Park

Koedoe ◽  
1975 ◽  
Vol 18 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
G.L. Smuts
Keyword(s):  
Home Range ◽  
National Park ◽  
Kruger National Park ◽  
Home Ranges ◽  
Equus Burchelli ◽  
Kruger Park ◽  
Mean Size ◽  
Large Home Range ◽  
The Mean ◽  
Specific Tolerance

Annual home range sizes were determined for 49 marked zebra family groups in the Kruger National Park. Sizes varied from 49 to 566 sq. km, the mean for the Park being 164 square kilometre. Mean home range sizes for different zebra sub-populations and biotic areas were found to differ considerably. Present herbivore densities have not influenced intra- and inter-specific tolerance levels to the extent that home range sizes have increased. Local habitat conditions, and particularly seasonal vegetational changes, were found to have the most profound influence on the shape and mean size of home ranges. The large home range sizes obtained in the Kruger Park, when compared to an area such as the Ngorongoro Crater, can be ascribed to a lower carrying capacity with respect to zebra, large portions of the habitat being sub-optimal, either seasonally or annually.

scholarly journals Reproduction in the zebra mare Equus burchelli antiquorum from the Kruger National Park

Koedoe ◽  
1976 ◽  
Vol 19 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
G. L. Smuts
Keyword(s):  
National Park ◽  
Kruger National Park ◽  
Reproductive Capacity ◽  
Reproductive Characteristics ◽  
Equus Burchelli ◽  
Using Data ◽  
Free Ranging ◽  
First Time

Reproductive characteristics of Burchell's zebra mares are described using data collected from captive and free ranging animals and the reproductive tracts of 310 mares shot during a game cropping campaign. The pubertal interval in zebra mares ranges from age 16 to 22 months, succesful mating occurring for the first time at 23 months of age. Full reproductive capacity is attained at three years. Zebra mares are seasonally polyoestrous, with an average of 85 of all mating and foaling occurring during the wet summer months (October to March).

An adaptive management case study for managing macropods on Maria Island National Park, Tasmania, Australia: adding devils to the detail

2018 ◽  
Vol 24 (2) ◽  
pp. 108 ◽  
Author(s):  
Janeane Ingram
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Adaptive Management ◽  
National Park ◽  
Animal Health ◽  
Small Scale ◽  
Management Approach ◽  
Tasmanian Devil ◽  
Integrated Monitoring ◽  
Juvenile Mortality ◽  
Management Actions

Adaptive management is driven by structured decision making and evidence from monitoring in a ‘learning’ framework that guides management actions. In a conservation context, this iterative approach includes evaluation of the impacts on natural processes. On Maria Island National Park, Tasmania, Australia, introduced Forester kangaroo, Bennetts wallaby and Tasmanian pademelon have been intensively managed by an annual cull since 1994. Management actions were triggered by high parasite loads, intense grazing pressure and high juvenile mortality during drought periods. Criticism of the annual cull from animal welfare groups initiated the development of an adaptive management approach for decision making that replaces the historic ‘trial and error’ process. Following a comprehensive review of the existing macropod management program in 2011, an integrated monitoring strategy was established to provide evidence for informed decision making. Assessments of animal health and estimates of population trends are the key indicators for management actions to occur. Maintaining viable macropod populations and protecting natural values form the basis of management objectives. Management actions in each year, for each species, represent ‘treatments’ as spatial replication is not possible at such a small scale. An adaptive management approach for macropod management on Maria Island has resulted in only one species being culled in 2014 and 2015 for the first time in almost 20 years. However the recent introduction of a major predator, the Tasmanian devil, has increased uncertainty for long-term macropod management on Maria Island with no cull occurring in 2016 and 2017.

scholarly journals History, rationale, and lessons learned: Thresholds of potential concern in Kruger National Park river adaptive management

Koedoe ◽  
2011 ◽  
Vol 53 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Craig A. McLoughlin ◽  
Andrew Deacon ◽  
Hendrik Sithole ◽  
Thomas Gyedu-Ababio
Keyword(s):  
Adaptive Management ◽  
National Park ◽  
River Flow ◽  
Research Programme ◽  
Lessons Learned ◽  
Kruger National Park ◽  
Management Options ◽  
Conservation Implications ◽  
New Thinking ◽  
Learning And Adaptation

The Kruger National Park’s (KNP) adopted system of management, called Strategic Adaptive Management (SAM), originated during the Kruger National Park Rivers Research Programme (KNPRRP) of the 1990s. An important concept in SAM is the thresholds of potential concern (TPCs), representing end-points in a continuum of change. TPCs within the KNP SAM system guide management if or when reached, ‘red-flagging’ possible negative biodiversity impacts and catalysing consideration of management options. TPC-related monitoring generates the strategic information for ongoing evaluation, learning and adaptation within SAM. Post- KNPRRP, although river flow and water quality TPCs have been implemented partly, those designed to detect undesirable changes in biodiversity have not been implemented, until recently. This paper describes the history, rationale, application and ongoing developments associated with the KNP river TPCs over the last decade, providing some key lessons for organisations utilising SAM. The paper concludes with an overview of new thinking and future directions envisaged for the KNP river TPCs, as part of the KNP SAM system. Conservation implications: This paper documents important concepts of strategic adaptive management associated with the KNP river systems. Understanding, related to the rationale and justification for use and development or refinement of the thresholds of potential concern, lays an important foundation for ongoing work in managing these rivers adaptively.

scholarly journals Challenges faced in the conservation of rare antelope: a case study on the northern basalt plains of the Kruger National Park

Koedoe ◽  
2002 ◽  
Vol 45 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
C.C. Grant ◽  
T. Davidson ◽  
P.J. Funston ◽  
D.J. Pienaar
Keyword(s):  
National Park ◽  
Kruger National Park ◽  
Grass Species ◽  
Management Options ◽  
Equus Burchelli ◽  
Initial Drop ◽  
Roan Antelope ◽  
Hippotragus Equinus ◽  
Management Approaches

The conservation of rare antelope has long been one of the goals of the Kruger National Park. The roan antelope Hippotragus equinus, and to a lesser extent the tsessebe Damaliscus lunatus, represent low-density species or rare antelope in the park. Specific management approaches representing the older equilibrium approach, have been employed to conserve these antelope. Of these, the supply of artificial water over many decades was the most resource intensive. The sudden, severe drop in the roan antelope population towards the end of the 1980s was unexpected and, retrospectively, attributed to the development of a high density of perennial waterpoints. The postulated mechanism was that the perennial presence of water allowed Burchell’s zebra Equus burchelli to stay permanently in an area that was previously only seasonally accessible. The combined effect of a long, dry climatic cycle, high numbers of zebra and their associated predators was proposed to be the cause of this decline. As part of the new nature evolving or ecosystem resilience approach, twelve artificial waterpoints were closed in the prime roan antelope habitat in 1994 in an attempt to move the zebra out of this area. The zebra numbers declined as the rainfall increased. Closure of waterholes clearly led to redistribution of zebra numbers on the northern plains, zebra tending to avoid areas within several kilometres of closed waterpoints. However, at a larger scale, regional densities appeared similar in areas with and without closed waterpoints. There was an initial drop in the lion numbers in 1995, after which they stabilised. In spite of an improvement in the grass species composition and an increase in biomass the roan antelope population did not increase. The complexity of maintaining a population at the edge of their distribution and the problems associated with the conservation of such populations are discussed in terms of management options and monitoring approaches that may be employed in this process.

scholarly journals River management under transformation: The emergence of strategic adaptive management of river systems in the Kruger National Park

Koedoe ◽  
2011 ◽  
Vol 53 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Sharon Pollard ◽  
Derick Du Toit ◽  
Harry Biggs
Keyword(s):  
Adaptive Management ◽  
National Park ◽  
Management Practices ◽  
Management Practice ◽  
Stakeholder Involvement ◽  
Evaluation Process ◽  
Major Change ◽  
River Management ◽  
Kruger National Park ◽  
Management Options

Protected areas such as the Kruger National Park (KNP) face many management challenges, of which ensuring a healthy flow of rivers into the park is one of the most important. Although previous management policies isolated the KNP from its neighbours, this position has changed as the KNP seeks to negotiate a respected ‘place’ for water and conservation in a competitive environment. A major catalyst for this re-orientation has been the response from the KNP to the growing water crisis where its position needed to be seen within the wider catchment and policy context in South Africa. This paper presents an overview of the transforming management practices of the KNP in a changing political, socio-economic and environmental context, through the lens of water resources. We show that the KNP management model moved beyond inward-looking, isolationist policies to adopt responsivity to major change factors. The new approach was applied first in the sphere of river management in the KNP after which it spread to other domains such as fire and game management. It explicitly incorporates an experimental–reflexive orientation and considers management as a process of learningby- doing. This paper strives to review the transformation since the onset of explicit adaptive management of these rivers. The development of a new stewardship, based on a stakeholdercentred vision and on learning-focused management, has been a main achievement for the KNP. A closer partnership between researchers, managers and field staff, supported with buyin and co-learning, has led to a management framework based on a clear vision informed by stakeholder involvement, an objectives hierarchy, a scoping of management options, a monitoring system and a reflective evaluation process with feedback loops. Although developed through a focus on rivers, the framework can be embraced for the management of ecosystems as a whole.Conservation implications: The explicit adoption of strategic adaptive management for the rivers entering the KNP has had considerable implications not only with regard to management practice within the park, but also for the relationships with neighbours. This has also meant setting and implementing new goals and priorities with managers and staff.

Can ecological thinning deliver conservation outcomes in high-density river red gum forests? Establishing an adaptive management experiment

2017 ◽  
Vol 23 (3) ◽  
pp. 262 ◽  
Author(s):  
E. J. Gorrod ◽  
P. Childs ◽  
D. A. Keith ◽  
S. Bowen ◽  
M. Pennay ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Land Use ◽  
Protected Areas ◽  
Adaptive Management ◽  
National Park ◽  
Management Approach ◽  
Stem Density ◽  
Floodplain Forests ◽  
Understorey Vegetation ◽  
Land Use Legacies ◽  
River Red Gum

Newly protected areas often have land-use legacies that affect their capacity to deliver conservation outcomes into the future. The management actions required to achieve conservation outcomes may be uncertain. This uncertainty may be resolved through experimental adaptive management that draws on knowledge of the ecology and history of the ecosystem. In New South Wales, Australia, river red gum (Eucalyptus camaldulensis) floodplain forests were gazetted as National Park in 2010, including Murray Valley National Park. Land-use legacies had resulted in one-third of river red gum forests and woodlands occurring as high-stem-density (>400 stems ha−1) stands at the time of gazettal. High-stem-density stands are characterised by dominance of narrow straight trees, a paucity of large and hollow-bearing trees, modified understorey vegetation and reduced coarse woody debris. A simple state-and-transition process model captured knowledge of the processes that led to the high-stem-density river red gum forest state being widespread. We describe the establishment of a manipulative experiment to evaluate whether ecological thinning can achieve conservation outcomes in high-stem-density stands of river red gum floodplain forest. The experiment was designed to reduce intrastand competition for water and other resources, and encourage development of spreading tree crowns. Future results will inform management decisions in high-stem-density stands of river red gum floodplain forests. The adaptive management approach employed provides a template for using knowledge of the ecosystem to resolve uncertainty about management, particularly in newly protected areas.

scholarly journals How assessment and reflection relate to more effective learning in adaptive management

Koedoe ◽  
2011 ◽  
Vol 53 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Harry Biggs ◽  
Charles Breen ◽  
Rob Slotow ◽  
Stefanie Freitag ◽  
Marc Hockings
Keyword(s):  
Adaptive Management ◽  
National Park ◽  
Kruger National Park ◽  
The Other ◽  
Complex Environment ◽  
Holistic View ◽  
Dual Nature ◽  
Effective Learning ◽  
Adaptive Cycle ◽  
Complementary Actions

Assessment (an immediate evaluation of significance or performance) and reflection (a lengthy, deep consideration) should be important components of adaptive management leading to learning. In this paper we use a prototype adaptive cycle and feedback framework, which are related to some aspects of learning theory, to examine the extent to which assessment and reflection were applied in a series of studies and initiatives in the Kruger National Park. In addition to evaluating assessment and reflection, we also considered how the various contributing components of each case were inter-related to provide a holistic view of each initiative.Two other studies in the Kruger National Park, which have examined learning specifically, are also discussed. One of them suggests that in a complex environment, learning necessarily has a dual nature, with each component of seven contrasting pairs of the aspects of learning in partial tension with the other. We use these dualities to further probe assessment, reflection, inter-relatedness and learning in the cases presented. Each contrasting aspect of a ‘learning duality’ turns out to emphasise either assessment or reflection, which reinforces the idea that both are needed to facilitate sufficient learning for successful adaptive management. We hope this analysis can act as a springboard for further study, practice and reflection on these important and often underrated components of adaptive management.Conservation implications: The better understanding of assessment and reflection as being largely separate but complementary actions will assist adaptive management practitioners to give explicit attention to both, and to relate them better to each other.

scholarly journals Korttermyn plantegroeistruktuur- veranderings op Basalt in die sentrale distrik, Nasionale Krugerwildtuin

Koedoe ◽  
1977 ◽  
Vol 20 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
B. J. Coetzee ◽  
W. P.D. Gertenbach ◽  
P. J. Nel
Keyword(s):  
Vegetation Structure ◽  
National Park ◽  
Structural Changes ◽  
Kruger National Park ◽  
Short Term ◽  
Central District ◽  
Average Rainfall ◽  
Floristic Classification ◽  
The Subject ◽  
Components Analysis

Short term changes in vegetation structure on basalt in the Central District, Kruger National Park. A monitor system in the Kruger National Park, Republic of South Africa, allows for recording changes in vegetation structure in terms of frequency of different height ranges of individuals in 1 m x 1 m blocks. Structural changes over four above average rainfall years became the subject of investigation when wildebeest and zebra populations of the Acacia nigrescens Bushveld of the basalt plains declined rapidly in numbers. Changes in woody vegetation structure were ordinated by Principal Components Analysis and compared with a floristic classification. Three major types of structural changes were found to be related to floristic differences within Acacia nigrescens Bushveld.

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