2,464 research outputs found
Forest management and the distribution of understorey birds in the Bossematié Forest, eastern Ivory Coast
No full textThe Bossematie Forest, Eastern Ivory Coast, has repeatedly been logged but is now subject to rehabilitation carried out by the Ivorian SODEFOR (Societe de developpement des forets) in co-operation with the German GTZ (Gesellschaft fur Technische Zusammenarbeit). To estimate the conservation prospects of forest birds, the influence of selective cleaning, an applied forestry practice, on vegetation structure and on the understorey bird community was studied. Vertical vegetation coverage was described and mistnetting was carried out in ONO adjacent management zones, a 3-years-old treated plot and an untreated control plot. The understorey vegetation in the treated plot has been damaged by fallen midstorey trees. The treatment plot differed from the control plot mainly in forming a low, single-layered canopy, which is typical for early successional stages. The analysis of 810 captures shows clear differences in the bird communities: the number of individuals of so-called open-land species was significantly higher in the treated plot, whereas that of forest-interior species significantly decreased. The results are used for the adaptation of species lists for an existing monitoring program. This will show, whether the establishment of strict reserves and the spatial and temporal distribution of management activities can maintain populations of forest interior species in the Bossematie forest in the long run
Announcing the 2022 Arnold Berliner Award Winner: spider research at the International Space Station
No full textThe Arnold Berliner Award 2021 honors research on bombardier beetles
No full textGeorg-August-Universität Göttingen (1018
A global view on evidence‐based effectiveness of interventions used to protect livestock from wild cats
No full textAbstract Rapid population declines of wild cats (family Felidae) are often related to widespread conflicts with people over the livestock depredation they are causing. In spite of increasing literature on wild felids, there is no overview on the evidence‐based effectiveness of livestock protection interventions in reducing depredation inflicted by these animals. We collected and analyzed 92 cases from 57 publications describing the percentage of damage reduction from the application of 11 interventions to 10 felid species. We found that the effectiveness of interventions differed significantly between species. Interventions tested for cheetahs (Acinonyx jubatus), Iberian lynx (Lynx pardinus) and snow leopards (Panthera uncia) were very effective, reducing damage by 70–100% due to species shyness, good fit of interventions to these species and local conditions, and strong social involvement. The most variable and often the lowest effectiveness of interventions was found for leopard (Panthera pardus), puma (Puma concolor) and caracal (Caracal caracal), which are more common and tolerant to humans. In other felids, interventions were generally effective, but some of them reportedly failed because of local contexts and intervention performance. Much more effort is required to invigorate the research of intervention effectiveness in little studied species and regions.Open-Access-Publikationsfonds 202
How long do anti-predator interventions remain effective? Patterns, thresholds and uncertainty
No full textHuman–predator conflicts are globally widespread, and effective interventions are essential to protect human assets from predator attacks. As effectiveness also has a temporal dimension, it is of importance to know how long interventions remain most effective and to determine time thresholds at which effectiveness begins to decrease. To address this, we conducted a systematic review of the temporal changes in the effectiveness of non-invasive interventions against terrestrial mammalian predators, defining a temporal trend line of effectiveness for each published case. We found only 26 cases from 14 publications, mainly referring to electric fences (n = 7 cases) and deterrents (n = 7 cases). We found electric fences and calving control to remain highly effective for the longest time, reducing damage by 100% for periods between three months and 3 years. The effectiveness of acoustical and light deterrents as well as guarding animals eroded quite fast after one to five months. Supplemental feeding was found to be counter-productive by increasing damage over time instead of reducing it. We stress that it is vital to make monitoring a routine requirement for all intervention applications and suggest to standardize periods of time over which monitoring can produce meaningful and affordable informatio
Does the tropical agricultural matrix bear potential for primate conservation? A baseline study from Western Uganda
No full textAs for most large mammals, conservation research on primates usually focuses on protected areas, and yet not much is known about primate communities in land-use systems in the absence of hunting. Using line transects, we estimated population densities for four primate species in a mixed agroforest landscape up to a distance of 4000m from a forest reserve, in a region where no primate hunting takes place. We then modelled encounter rates and cluster size in relation to landscape parameters by means of bivariate analysis and Generalised Linear Models (GLMs). Black-and-white colobus (Colobus guereza) were most common, with confidence intervals for density estimates of 31.1-62.8 individuals/km(2). Red-tailed monkeys (Cercopithecus ascanius) and blue monkeys (Cercopithecus mitis) occurred at 15.2-37.9 ind/km(2) and 13.9-36.7 ind/km(2) respectively, and chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes) at 1.0-2.8 ind/km(2). Chimpanzee nest numbers and distribution appeared to be significantly constrained by transect forest coverage, forest coverage within 500 m and distance from the main forest, whereas monkey sightings were generally less restricted by landscape variables. The considerable population density of monkeys suggests that, in the absence of hunting, mixed agroforest systems may play a relevant role in primate conservation and highlight that it is useful to consider primate ecology in land sharing approaches to conservation. (C) 2013 Elsevier GmbH. All rights reserved
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