1,720,998 research outputs found
Human–Carnivore Conflict in and Around Kafta Sheraro National Park, Northern Ethiopia: Determinants, Costs, and Conservation Implications
No full textResolving human–carnivore conflict is crucial for the sustainable coexistence of humans and wildlife. Achieving this, however, requires a comprehensive understanding of the causes and complexities associated with the conflict. This study aimed to assess the nature, underlying causes and costs of human–carnivore conflict, as well as the conservation challenges and potential mitigation measures in and around Kafta Sheraro National Park, Ethiopia. In 2020, we conducted 210 questionnaire interviews with villagers surrounding the park. The surveys gathered data on respondents’ reports of carnivore depredation, the extent and patterns of human–carnivore conflicts, incidents of carnivore killings, the economic impact of livestock depredation, threats to wildlife conservation, potential traditional mitigation measures for human–carnivore conflicts, and their socio-economic characteristics. A logistic regression model was used to identify factors contributing to livestock depredation. Seventy-one percent of respondents reported conflict with carnivore species in the 5 years preceding the study. A total of 1390 heads of stock were reported killed by carnivore species, resulting in an economic loss of US$ 170,741. Spotted hyenas (Crocuta crocuta) were responsible for most livestock depredation (37.8%), followed by leopards (Panthera pardus) (29.5%), caracals (Felis caracal) (8%), and common jackals (Canis aureus) (7.3%). Spotted hyenas killed all types of livestock [cattle (Bos taurus), goat (Capra hircus), sheep (Ovis aries), and donkey (Equus asinus)] across all the studied villages, while leopards, caracals, and jackals primarily targeted goats and sheep. Our findings indicated that most livestock depredations occurred at night and during the dry season. Although villagers employed several mitigation measures to prevent carnivore attacks, vigilance and bush fences were reported as the most effective methods. The study also revealed that agricultural land expansion and human settlements are major threats to wildlife conservation. Approximately 75% of surveyed households admitted to retaliatory killings of carnivore species in direct response to livestock losses. The study suggests that effective conflict mitigation and community conservation education should incorporate strategies to promote sustainable wildlife conservation and rural development
Going Beyond Counting First Authors in Author Co-citation Analysis
Get PDFThe present study examines one of the fundamental aspects of author co-citation analysis (ACA) - the way co-citation
counts are defined. Co-citation counting provides the data on which all subsequent statistical analyses and mappings
are based, and we compare ACA results based on two different types of co-citation counting - the traditional type that
only counts the first one among a cited work's authors on the one hand and a non-traditional type that takes into
account the first 5 authors of a cited work on the other hand. Results indicate that the picture produced through this non-traditional author co-citation counting contains more coherent author groups and is therefore considerably clearer. However, this picture represents fewer specialties in the research field being studied than that produced through the traditional first-author co-citation counting when the same number of top-ranked authors is selected and analyzed. Reasons for these effects are discussed
Population Dynamics of Large Herbivores and the Framing of Wildlife Conservation in Zimbabwe
Get PDFThis article reviews: 1) The role of natural and human-induced controls in influencing large herbivore
populations; 2) how human controls (i.e., policy instruments, incentives and provisions) influence
human activities and wildlife conservation; and 3) media framing of wildlife conservation
using Zimbabwe as a case study, in particular Gonarezhou National Park and adjacent areas. The
review shows that droughts are important in influencing large herbivore populations in semi-arid
ecosystems; political instability and economic collapse does not necessarily lead to increased illegal
hunting in situations where policy instruments, such as laws, are enforced. A higher perceived
effectiveness of Communal Areas Management Programme for Indigenous Resources was
partly associated with a decline in human-wildlife conflicts and there was a spill-over effect of
frames from the political domain into wildlife conservation following Zimbabwe’s land reforms in
2000. It is concluded that natural bottom-up processes (e.g., droughts) influence large herbivore
population dynamics whereas policy instruments, incentives, provisions and societal frames
mainly have a top-down effect on wild large herbivore populations in savanna ecosystems.
Keywords
Bottom-Up Control, Illegal Hunting, Law Enforcement, Media Framing, Top-Down Contro
Variations on the Author
Get PDF“Variations on the Author” discusses two of Eduardo Coutinho’s recent films (Um Dia na Vida, from 2010, and Últimas Conversas, posthumously released in 2015) and their contribution to the general question of documentary authorship. The director’s filmography is characterized by a consistent yet self-effacing form of authorial self-inscription: Coutinho often features as an interviewer that rather than express opinions propels discourses; an interviewer that is good at listening. This mode of self-inscription characterizes him as an author who is not expressive but who is nonetheless markedly present on the screen. In Um Dia na Vida, however, Coutinho is completely absent form the image, while Últimas Conversas, on the contrary, includes a confessional prologue that moves the director from the margins to the center of his films. This article examines the ways in which these works stand out in the filmography of a director who offers new insights into the notion of cinematic authorship
Appropriate Similarity Measures for Author Cocitation Analysis
Get PDFWe provide a number of new insights into the methodological discussion about author cocitation analysis. We first argue that the use of the Pearson correlation for measuring the similarity between authors’ cocitation profiles is not very satisfactory. We then discuss what kind of similarity measures may be used as an alternative to the Pearson correlation. We consider three similarity measures in particular. One is the well-known cosine. The other two similarity measures have not been used before in the bibliometric literature. Finally, we show by means of an example that our findings have a high practical relevance.information science;Pearson correlation;cosine;similarity measure;author cocitation analysis
Dispelling the Myths Behind First-author Citation Counts
Get PDFWe conducted a full-scale evaluative citation analysis study of scholars in the XML research field to explore just how different from each other author rankings resulting from different citation counting methods actually are, and to demonstrate the capability of emerging data and tools on the Web in supporting more realistic citation counting methods. Our results contest some common arguments for the continued
use of first-author citation counts in the evaluation of scholars, such as high correlations between author rankings by first-author citation counts and other citation
counting methods, and high costs of using more realistic citation counting methods that are not well-supported by the ISI databases. It is argued that increasingly available digital full text research papers make it possible for citation analysis studies to go beyond what the ISI databases have directly supported and to employ more
sophisticated methods
Top-down and bottom-up control of large herbivore populations: a review of natural and human-induced influences
Get PDFThe question whether animal populations are top-down and/or bottom-up controlled has motivated a thriving body of research over the past five decades. In this review I address two questions: 1) how do top-down and bottom-up controls influence large herbivore populations? 2) How do human activities and control systems influence the top-down and bottom-up processes that affect large herbivore population dynamics? Previous studies suggest that the relative influence of top-down vs. bottom-up control varies among ecosystems at the global level, with abrupt shifts in control possible in arid and semi-arid regions during years with large differences in rainfall. Humans as super-predators exert top-down control on large wild herbivore abundances through hunting. However, through fires and livestock grazing, humans also exert bottom-up controls on large wild herbivore abundances through altering resource availability, which influences secondary productivity. This review suggests a need for further research, especially on the human-induced top-down and bottom-up control of animal populations in different terrestrial ecosystems
koamabayili/VECTRON-author-checklist: VECTRON author checklist
No full textWe have done our best to complete the author checklist relating to the use of animals in the hut study. Note that the objective for the hut study was to evaluate the IRS treatment applications for residual efficacy against Anopheles mosquitoes, including the local An. coluzzii mosquito population. Cows were only used to attract mosquitoes into the huts and no tests were carried out directly on the cows. The author checklist is intended for use with studies where experiments are carried out on animals, which is why we have had such difficulty in completing this for the hut study, as many of the questions do not relate to how the cows were used
- …
