scholarly journals Sampling bias in reptile occurrence data for the Kruger National Park

Koedoe ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 62 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Jody M. Barends ◽  
Darren W. Pietersen ◽  
Guinevere Zambatis ◽  
Donovan R.C. Tye ◽  
Bryan Maritz
Keyword(s):  
National Park ◽  
Conservation Management ◽  
Species Distributions ◽  
Sampling Bias ◽  
Kruger National Park ◽  
Data Set ◽  
Occurrence Data ◽  
Reptile Species ◽  
Sampling Biases ◽  
Occurrence Records

o effectively conserve and manage species, it is important to (1) understand how they are spatially distributed across the globe at both broad and fine spatial resolutions and (2) elucidate the determinants of these distributions. However, information pertaining to the distributions of many species remains poor as occurrence data are often scarce or collected with varying motivations, making the resulting patterns susceptible to sampling bias. Exacerbating an already limited quantity of occurrence data with an assortment of biases hinders their effectiveness for research, thus making it important to identify and understand the biases present within species occurrence data sets. We quantitatively assessed occurrence records of 126 reptile species occurring in the Kruger National Park (KNP), South Africa, to quantify the severity of sampling bias within this data set. We collated a data set of 7118 occurrence records from museum, literature and citizen science sources and analysed these at a biologically relevant spatial resolution of 1 km × 1 km. As a result of logistical challenges associated with sampling in KNP, approximately 92% of KNP is data deficient for reptile occurrences at the 1 km × 1 km resolution. Additionally, the spatial coverage of available occurrences varied at species and family levels, and the majority of occurrence records were strongly associated with publicly accessible human infrastructure. Furthermore, we found that sampled areas within KNP were not necessarily ecologically representative of KNP as a whole, suggesting that areas of unique environmental space remain to be sampled. Our findings highlight the need for substantially greater sampling effort for reptiles across KNP and emphasise the need to carefully consider the sampling biases within existing data should these be used for conservation management decision-making. Modelling species distributions could potentially serve as a short-term solution, but a concomitant increase in surveys across the park is needed.Conservation implications: The sampling biases present within KNP reptile occurrence data inhibit the inference of fine-scale species distributions within and across the park, which limits the usage of these data towards meaningfully informing conservation management decisions as applicable to reptile species in KNP.

scholarly journals Amphibians and Reptiles, Luzon Island, Aurora Province and Aurora Memorial National Park, northern Philippines: new island distribution records

Check List ◽  
2011 ◽  
Vol 7 (2) ◽  
pp. 182 ◽  
Author(s):  
Cameron D. Siler ◽  
Luke J. Welton ◽  
Jessi M. Siler ◽  
Joseph Brown ◽  
Abner Bucol ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
New Species ◽  
National Park ◽  
Conservation Status ◽  
Species Distributions ◽  
Mountain Range ◽  
Previous Survey ◽  
Monitor Lizard ◽  
Sierra Madre ◽  
Reptile Species ◽  
Data Result

We report 35 new amphibian and reptile distribution records for two regions within the southern Sierra Madre Mountain Range, Aurora Province, central Luzon Island, Philippines. Together with results of our previous survey work in Aurora, our new data result in a total of 82 amphibian and reptile species for the area. These results highlight the degree to which the island’s biodiversity continues to be underestimated and poorly understood. We report on observations of rarely encountered species including the skink Sphenomorphus leucospilos, the forest gecko Luperosaurus cf. cumingii, and a sensational new species of monitor lizard, Varanus bitatawa. Our recent collections clarify the conservation status of the “critically endangered” Polillo Island forest frog Platymantis polillensis, now known to be widespread, abundant, and common throughout Camarines Norte, Quezon, and Aurora Provinces on the adjacent mainland of Luzon Island. These results add to our growing understanding of many species’ distributions in the region.

Using occurrence data to evaluate extinction reveals a strong resilience of butterflies in a National Park of Southern Europe (Alta Murgia National Park)

2021 ◽  
Vol 28 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
ROCCO LABADESSA ◽  
GIUSEPPE CAGNETTA ◽  
JEAN-FRANCOIS DESAPHY ◽  
MARCO BONIFACINO ◽  
GIUSEPPE DODARO ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
National Park ◽  
Extinction Risk ◽  
Large Fraction ◽  
Heterogeneous Environments ◽  
European Regions ◽  
Conservation Area ◽  
Occurrence Data ◽  
Sample Data ◽  
Butterfly Community ◽  
Occurrence Records

Butterflies from southernmost European regions encompass a large fraction of faunistic and genetic diversity but are also at the forefront of extinction risk for climate change. Nevertheless, monitoring schemes aimed at detecting their population trends were only recently established. In this study, we gathered all occurrence records of the 81 species of butterflies recorded for the Alta Murgia National Park (Italy, Apulia), a prime conservation area for butterflies. By using literature, citizen science, and unpublished sample data, we traced potential extinctions since 1966. We also provided a dedicated index to evaluate the potential extinction at the whole community level. We found that among the 29 species recorded before 2009, three were not recovered from 2009 to 2021. Another group of nine species was not recorded in the last five years. However, given the not standardized sampling methodology and the possibility that apparently disappeared species were due to inaccurate identification, we conclude that the butterfly community of the Park is showing a strong resilience. We hypothesize that such resilience may be attributed to the existence of the protected area and the presence of heterogeneous environments, which allow to buffer climatic changes and any other negative anthropic effects. The objective recognition of rare species in the surrounding region of 200 km ray also allowed identifying which species should be considered as prime targets for the conservation of local and regional diversity.

scholarly journals Another reptile translocation to a national park

Koedoe ◽  
1990 ◽  
Vol 33 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
W.R. Branch ◽  
H.H. Braack
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
East Africa ◽  
National Parks ◽  
Royal Society ◽  
National Park ◽  
Kruger National Park ◽  
Tree Bark ◽  
Conservation Areas ◽  
Diamond Mining ◽  
Reptile Species

On 4 May 1988 a sub-adult (50 mm snout-vent length, 42 mm tail) Jones' girdled lizard Cordylus tropidosternum jonesi was collected in a pile of wood being off-loaded at the new restcamp in the Karoo National Park, Beaufort West. The wood had been transported by lorry from the Kruger National Park. The specimen is deposited in the herpetological collection of the Port Elizabeth Museum (PEM R 4584). Jones' girdled lizard is a small, arboreal cordylid that shelters under tree bark and in hollow logs. It is common and widely-distributed in the Kruger National Park (Pienaar, Haacke & Jacobsen 1983, The Reptiles of the Kruger National Park, 3rd edition. Pretoria: National Parks Board) and adjacent lowveld, being replaced in northern Zimbabwe and East Africa by the nominate race. Hewitt & Power (1913, Transactions of the Royal Society of South Africa 3: 147-176, 1913) reported a similar translocation of the species to Kimberley in association with timber brought to the diamond mining camps. One of us noted recently the ease and danger of the unwitting spread of commensal reptile species into conservation areas (Branch 1978, Koedoe 30: 165), and this is confirmed by this additional example. We recommend that should similar shipments of wood be considered essential, then they be fumigated to prevent the translocation of other alien organisms that may potentially have more dangerous consequences.

scholarly journals Measurement of concentrations of Faecal Glucocorticoid Metabolites in free-ranging African Elephants within the Kruger National Park

Koedoe ◽  
2008 ◽  
Vol 50 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Jozua J. Viljoen ◽  
Andre Ganswindt ◽  
Rupert Palme ◽  
Hendrick C. Reynecke ◽  
Johan T. Du Toit ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
National Park ◽  
Reliable Data ◽  
Stressful Events ◽  
Kruger National Park ◽  
African Elephants ◽  
Age Classes ◽  
Data Set ◽  
Faecal Glucocorticoid Metabolites ◽  
Baseline Concentrations ◽  
The Impact

During the past several years, non-invasive monitoring of steroid metabolites in faeces of elephants has become an increasingly popular technique to generate more information about the causal relationship between hormones and behaviour in both living elephant species. This is important knowledge which can be used to optimise local conservation and wildlife management by finding new strategies for better elephant population management and control. In this context, however, information about an actual involvement of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis during assumable stressful events is still limited, especially for wildlife populations. One difficulty in discovering such information is often the lack of reliable data for hormone baseline levels. Therefore, the aim of this study was to determine baseline concentrations of faecal glucocorticoid metabolites that could be expected within age classes and between seasons in African elephants (Loxodonta africana) in the Kruger National Park (KNP ). A total of 374 faecal samples were collected from randomly located family herds in the southern KNP between May 2002 and August 2005. The samples were analysed for immunoreactive concentrations of faecal glucocorticoid metabolites using a validated enzyme immunoassay for 3α,11oxo-cortisol metabolites(3α,11oxo-CM). All samples were grouped according to the estimated age class of the subject using a field method based on bolus diameter, and regarding the ecological season collected. No significant differences in faecal 3α,11oxo-CM concentrations were found across age classes (H3 = 7.54; p = 0.057), but the mean 3α,11oxo-CM concentration of samples collected in the dry season (n = 196) was significantly higher than in the wet season (n = 178) (u = 15206.50; p = 0.032), which indicates a possible physiological stress situation due to a decline in food quantity and quality. The information generated in this study represents a reliable data set for baseline concentrations of faecal glucocorticoid metabolites for elephants within the KNP and can be used to measure the stressrelated effects of translocations, management actions and the impact of chosen land use activities.

Species’ Occurrence Data

2011 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. Townsend Peterson ◽  
Jorge Soberón ◽  
Richard G. Pearson ◽  
Robert P. Anderson ◽  
Enrique Martínez-Meyer ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Species Distributions ◽  
Sampling Bias ◽  
Species Occurrence ◽  
Ecological Conditions ◽  
Broad Applicability ◽  
Occurrence Data ◽  
Data Record ◽  
Different Types ◽  
Correlative Models ◽  
A Site

This chapter discusses the process of transforming a species’ primary occurrence data into a synthetic understanding of the geographic and ecological conditions under which the species occurs. The focus is on correlative models based on occurrence data, since such models can have quite broad applicability. The chapter first considers different types of occurrence data as well as factors that connect the suitability of a site to the existence of a data record documenting the species’ presence or absence at that site. It then examines variations in the geographic and ecological characteristics of species distributions and occurrences, along with sampling bias in geographic and environmental spaces. It also describes the characteristics of absence data before concluding with an assessment of issues of content and availability that affect occurrence data.

scholarly journals Moss occurrences in Yugyd Va National Park, Subpolar and Northern Urals, European North-East Russia

2019 ◽  
Vol 7 ◽  
Author(s):  
Galina Zheleznova ◽  
Tatyana Shubina ◽  
Svetlana Degteva ◽  
Ivan Chadin ◽  
Mikhail Rubtsov
Keyword(s):  
National Park ◽  
Herbarium Specimen ◽  
Remote Areas ◽  
Northern Urals ◽  
North East ◽  
European North ◽  
Occurrence Data ◽  
East Russia ◽  
Occurrence Records

This study produced a dataset containing information on moss occurrences in the territory of Yugyd Va National Park, located in the Subpolar and Northern Urals, European North-East Russia. The dataset summarises occurrences noted by long-term bryological explorations in remote areas of the Subpolar and Northern Urals from 1943 to 2015 and from studies published since 1915. The dataset consists of 4,120 occurrence records. The occurrence data were extracted from herbarium specimen labels (3,833 records) and data from published literature (287 records). Most of the records (4,104) are georeferenced. A total of 302 moss taxa belonging to 112 genera and 36 families are reported herein to occur in Yugyd Va National Park. The diversity of bryophytes in this National Park has not yet been fully explored and further exploration will lead to more taxa. A total of 4,120 moss occurrences records in the territory of Yugyd Va National Park were published.

Managing rivers for conservation and ecotourism in the Kruger National Park

1995 ◽  
Vol 32 (5-6) ◽  
pp. 227-233 ◽  
Author(s):  
F. J. Venter ◽  
A. R. Deacon
Keyword(s):  
National Park ◽  
Good Condition ◽  
Kruger National Park ◽  
Rapid Expansion ◽  
Natural Environments ◽  
The West ◽  
The Past ◽  
Management Actions ◽  
Flow Through ◽  
Three Rivers

Six major rivers flow through the Kruger National Park (KNP). All these rivers originate outside and to the west of the KNP and are highly utilized. They are crucially important for the conservation of the unique natural environments of the KNP. The human population growth in the Lowveld during the past two decades brought with it the rapid expansion of irrigation farming, exotic afforestation and land grazed by domestic stock, as well as the establishment of large towns, mines, dams and industries. Along with these developments came overgrazing, erosion, over-utilization and pollution of rivers, as well as clearing of indigenous forests from large areas outside the borders of the KNP. Over-utilization of the rivers which ultimately flow through the KNP poses one of the most serious challenges to the KNP's management. This paper gives the background to the development in the catchments and highlights the problems which these have caused for the KNP. Management actions which have been taken as well as their results are discussed and solutions to certain problems proposed. Three rivers, namely the Letaba, Olifants and Sabie are respectively described as examples of an over-utilized river, a polluted river and a river which is still in a fairly good condition.

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