Landscape connectivity as a strategy to mitigate the risk of zoonoses from deforestation and defaunation

Ecosistemas ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 30 (3) ◽  
pp. 2235
Author(s):  
Edgar G. Leija ◽  
Manuel E. Mendoza

Actualmente, el ser humano ha rebasado la capacidad de resistencia de los ecosistemas ante disturbios ecológicos a nivel mundial. Los impactos antropogénicos sobre el planeta durante siglos han ocasionado la transformación de bosques y selvas a un ritmo acelerado y sin precedentes a diferentes escalas, principalmente por los cambios en el uso del suelo, particularmente la deforestación. El crecimiento exponencial de la población y la enorme desigualdad social que prevalece, así como el desperdicio exorbitante de alimentos representan desafíos importantes para alcanzar los objetivos de desarrollo sostenible en el mundo, debido al incremento en el uso de los recursos para satisfacer las necesidades humanas. Además, aumentan el riesgo de desencadenar enfermedades zoonóticas emergentes trasmitidas por animales silvestres en regiones tropicales, las cuales representan una amenaza para la salud pública. Ante este tipo de eventos, la conectividad del paisaje juega un papel clave en la conservación de la biodiversidad y en el mantenimiento de las funciones ecológicas, a través del desarrollo de herramientas para el análisis y planificación territorial. Lo que permitiría la restauración de los ecosistemas, la creación de corredores ecológicos principalmente para la protección de la fauna silvestre de mayor tamaño, así como disminuir el riesgo potencial de zoonosis y el desarrollo de estudios multidisciplinarios

2012 ◽  
Vol 30 (4) ◽  
pp. 308-311 ◽  
Author(s):  
K. Fields ◽  
R. Ament ◽  
D. Johns ◽  
J. Davis ◽  
K. Bowers

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
James D. Karimi ◽  
Jim A. Harris ◽  
Ron Corstanje

Abstract Context Landscape connectivity is assumed to influence ecosystem service (ES) trade-offs and synergies. However, empirical studies of the effect of landscape connectivity on ES trade-offs and synergies are limited, especially in urban areas where the interactions between patterns and processes are complex. Objectives The objectives of this study were to use a Bayesian Belief Network approach to (1) assess whether functional connectivity drives ES trade-offs and synergies in urban areas and (2) assess the influence of connectivity on the supply of ESs. Methods We used circuit theory to model urban bird flow of P. major and C. caeruleus at a 2 m spatial resolution in Bedford, Luton and Milton Keynes, UK, and Bayesian Belief Networks (BBNs) to assess the sensitivity of ES trade-offs and synergies model outputs to landscape and patch structural characteristics (patch area, connectivity and bird species abundance). Results We found that functional connectivity was the most influential variable in determining two of three ES trade-offs and synergies. Patch area and connectivity exerted a strong influence on ES trade-offs and synergies. Low patch area and low to moderately low connectivity were associated with high levels of ES trade-offs and synergies. Conclusions This study demonstrates that landscape connectivity is an influential determinant of ES trade-offs and synergies and supports the conviction that larger and better-connected habitat patches increase ES provision. A BBN approach is proposed as a feasible method of ES trade-off and synergy prediction in complex landscapes. Our findings can prove to be informative for urban ES management.


Oryx ◽  
2021 ◽  
pp. 1-9
Author(s):  
Helen M. K. O'Neill ◽  
Sarah M. Durant ◽  
Stefanie Strebel ◽  
Rosie Woodroffe

Abstract Wildlife fences are often considered an important tool in conservation. Fences are used in attempts to prevent human–wildlife conflict and reduce poaching, despite known negative impacts on landscape connectivity and animal movement patterns. Such impacts are likely to be particularly important for wide-ranging species, such as the African wild dog Lycaon pictus, which requires large areas of continuous habitat to fulfil its resource requirements. Laikipia County in northern Kenya is an important area for wild dogs but new wildlife fences are increasingly being built in this ecosystem. Using a long-term dataset from the area's free-ranging wild dog population, we evaluated the effect of wildlife fence structure on the ability of wild dogs to cross them. The extent to which fences impeded wild dog movement differed between fence designs, although individuals crossed fences of all types. Purpose-built fence gaps increased passage through relatively impermeable fences. Nevertheless, low fence permeability can lead to packs, or parts of packs, becoming trapped on the wrong side of a fence, with consequences for population dynamics. Careful evaluation should be given to the necessity of erecting fences; ecological impact assessments should incorporate evaluation of impacts on animal movement patterns and should be undertaken for all large-scale fencing interventions. Where fencing is unavoidable, projects should use the most permeable fencing structures possible, both in the design of the fence and including as many purpose-built gaps as possible, to minimize impacts on wide-ranging wildlife.


2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Remo Ryser ◽  
Myriam R. Hirt ◽  
Johanna Häussler ◽  
Dominique Gravel ◽  
Ulrich Brose

AbstractHabitat fragmentation and eutrophication have strong impacts on biodiversity. Metacommunity research demonstrated that reduction in landscape connectivity may cause biodiversity loss in fragmented landscapes. Food-web research addressed how eutrophication can cause local biodiversity declines. However, there is very limited understanding of their cumulative impacts as they could amplify or cancel each other. Our simulations of meta-food-webs show that dispersal and trophic processes interact through two complementary mechanisms. First, the ‘rescue effect’ maintains local biodiversity by rapid recolonization after a local crash in population densities. Second, the ‘drainage effect’ stabilizes biodiversity by preventing overshooting of population densities on eutrophic patches. In complex food webs on large spatial networks of habitat patches, these effects yield systematically higher biodiversity in heterogeneous than in homogeneous landscapes. Our meta-food-web approach reveals a strong interaction between habitat fragmentation and eutrophication and provides a mechanistic explanation of how landscape heterogeneity promotes biodiversity.


2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (6) ◽  
pp. 3473
Author(s):  
Yong Lai ◽  
Guangqing Huang ◽  
Shengzhong Chen ◽  
Shaotao Lin ◽  
Wenjun Lin ◽  
...  

Anthropogenic land-use change is one of the main drivers of global environmental change. China has been on a fast track of land-use change since the Reform and Opening-up policy in 1978. In view of the situation, this study aims to optimize land use and provide a way to effectively coordinate the development and ecological protection in China. We took East Guangdong (EGD), an underdeveloped but populous region, as a case study. We used land-use changes indexes to demonstrate the land-use dynamics in EGD from 2000 to 2020, then identified the hot spots for fast-growing areas of built-up land and simulated land use in 2030 using the future land-use simulation (FLUS) model. The results indicated that the cropland and the built-up land changed in a large proportion during the study period. Then we established the ecological security pattern (ESP) according to the minimal cumulative resistance model (MCRM) based on the natural and socioeconomic factors. Corridors, buffer zones, and the key nodes were extracted by the MCRM to maintain landscape connectivity and key ecological processes of the study area. Moreover, the study showed the way to identify the conflict zones between future built-up land expansion with the corridors and buffer zones, which will be critical areas of consideration for future land-use management. Finally, some relevant policy recommendations are proposed based on the research result.


Land ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (6) ◽  
pp. 555
Author(s):  
Megan K. Jennings ◽  
Katherine A. Zeller ◽  
Rebecca L. Lewison

Until fairly recently, the majority of landscape connectivity analyses have considered connectivity as a static landscape feature, despite the widespread recognition that landscapes and the abiotic and biotic processes that influence them are dynamic [...]


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