Dataset Information

Gap analysis and implications for seasonal management on a local scale.

ABSTRACT: Background:Identifying biodiversity hotspots on a local scale, using multiple data sources, and ecological niche modeling, has the potential to contribute to more effective nature reserve management. Methods:In this study, we used infrared-triggered camera trapping, field surveys, and interviews to create a dataset on the distribution of species (mammals and birds) in Hebei Wulingshan Nature Reserve (Hebei Province, China). Results:We identified 101 species (14 orders, 38 families), 64 of which (2,142 effective records) were selected for environmental niche modeling. All results were reclassified into three groups: "priority areas" (areas including the potential distributions of over 80% of species), "important areas" (those with 50% of species), and "normal areas" (all other areas). Our results show that priority areas (1.31-1.82 km2) and important areas (7.73-21.44 km2) for conservation were mainly covered by the core and experimental zones of the reserve; additionally, a kilometer-wide margin around the outside of the nature reserve seems to be important to maintaining biodiversity. Discussion:We close by suggesting some actions for enhancing conservation of biodiversity in the reserve, including monitoring, strengthen law enforcements, introducing popular science, and co-operating with local people.

SUBMITTER: Yang L

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6151258 | biostudies-other | 2018

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-other

ACCESS DATA

Publications

Gap analysis and implications for seasonal management on a local scale.

Yang Li L Zhang Baofeng B Wang Xinrui X Ren Yueheng Y Chen Jinlin J Zhang Chao C Xia Yongpeng Y Li Yuankun Y Sun Jianguo J Guo Jiangang J Wang Weijia W Luan XiaoFeng X

PeerJ 20180920

<h4>Background</h4>Identifying biodiversity hotspots on a local scale, using multiple data sources, and ecological niche modeling, has the potential to contribute to more effective nature reserve management.<h4>Methods</h4>In this study, we used infrared-triggered camera trapping, field surveys, and interviews to create a dataset on the distribution of species (mammals and birds) in Hebei Wulingshan Nature Reserve (Hebei Province, China).<h4>Results</h4>We identified 101 species (14 orders, 38 f ...[more]

PMID: 30258719

Similar Datasets

Project description:This study investigated the attitudes of the people living in three adjacent communities close to the Bomfobiri wildlife sanctuary in Ghana concerning the observation of the cultural, seasonal closures of hunting. The cognitive and motivational approaches to attitude theory in wildlife management guided, under the phenomenology method, the collection of qualitative data on the importance of the seasonal closure of hunting and its implementation challenges. This inquiry was deemed crucial to improving the disjointed relationship between park management and local communities that often make wildlife conservation and tourism difficult at the Bomfobiri Wildlife Sanctuary. Forty-five key wildlife stakeholders, including park officers, traditional authorities, elderly residents, and bushmeat traders, were purposively selected with some interviewed personally and others engaged in focus group discussions. Despite a more significant number of stakeholders admitting the importance of the seasonal closure of hunting, some challenges impeded its implementation. These included the absence of alternative arrangements to support hunters during the period for the annual closure of hunting; lack of proper sensitisation and education on the hunting ban; absence of transparency in the equitable sharing of proceeds from wildlife tourism at the Bomfobiri Wildlife Sanctuary among park officers (Government) and the traditional authorities; the booming bushmeat business and the fear of losing customers after the fallow period; and purported corruption on the part of park officers, threatening the observation of the seasonal closure of hunting. The study has offered proactive suggestions to the Wildlife Division of the Forestry Commission and mainly to park management at the Bomfobiri Wildlife Sanctuary on how to address these challenges and improve wildlife management and sustainable wildlife tourism potentials in Ghana. Paramount among them is the tactful provision of alternative sources of livelihood and the establishment of enterprises in non-timber forest products as sources of income for hunters during the seasonal hunting ban.

Project description:BACKGROUND: The decline of coral reefs globally underscores the need for a spatial assessment of their exposure to multiple environmental stressors to estimate vulnerability and evaluate potential counter-measures. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: This study combined global spatial gradients of coral exposure to radiation stress factors (temperature, UV light and doldrums), stress-reinforcing factors (sedimentation and eutrophication), and stress-reducing factors (temperature variability and tidal amplitude) to produce a global map of coral exposure and identify areas where exposure depends on factors that can be locally managed. A systems analytical approach was used to define interactions between radiation stress variables, stress reinforcing variables and stress reducing variables. Fuzzy logic and spatial ordinations were employed to quantify coral exposure to these stressors. Globally, corals are exposed to radiation and reinforcing stress, albeit with high spatial variability within regions. Based on ordination of exposure grades, regions group into two clusters. The first cluster was composed of severely exposed regions with high radiation and low reducing stress scores (South East Asia, Micronesia, Eastern Pacific and the central Indian Ocean) or alternatively high reinforcing stress scores (the Middle East and the Western Australia). The second cluster was composed of moderately to highly exposed regions with moderate to high scores in both radiation and reducing factors (Caribbean, Great Barrier Reef (GBR), Central Pacific, Polynesia and the western Indian Ocean) where the GBR was strongly associated with reinforcing stress. CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE: Despite radiation stress being the most dominant stressor, the exposure of coral reefs could be reduced by locally managing chronic human impacts that act to reinforce radiation stress. Future research and management efforts should focus on incorporating the factors that mitigate the effect of coral stressors until long-term carbon reductions are achieved through global negotiations.

Project description:Whitebark pine (Pinus albicaulis), a keystone species and an obligate mutualist of the Clark's nutcracker (Nucifraga columbiana), is rapidly declining throughout its range. Evidence suggests this decline is leading to a downward trend in local nutcracker populations, which would in-turn decrease whitebark pine regeneration. Our objectives were to (1) evaluate temporal variation in nutcracker habitat use as a function of whitebark pine and Douglas-fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii) habitat, at local and landscape scales, (2) develop metrics for predicting when whitebark pine communities require intervention to sustain nutcracker visitation, and (3) test McKinney et al. (2009) and Barringer et al.'s (2012) models predicting nutcracker occurrence. Between 2009 and 2013, we carried out 3,135 audio-visual Clark's nutcracker surveys at 238 random points in the southern Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem. Using Bayesian occupancy models and cross-product model selection, we evaluated the association between nutcracker occurrence and habitat variables during five stages of the nutcracker annual cycle, while accounting for imperfect detection. Nutcracker occurrence was most strongly associated with the presence of cone-bearing whitebark pine trees (rather than cone density) and the area of whitebark pine on the landscape. To promote a high, >75%, probability of occurrence at a site within the study area, we recommend a management plan that achieves a landscape composed of a minimum of 12,500-25,000 ha of cone-bearing whitebark pine habitat within a 32.6 km radius. Additionally, an optimal habitat mosaic includes moderate levels of Douglas-fir habitat. Models currently used to guide whitebark pine management strategies underpredicted nutcracker occurrence in our study area, suggesting these strategies may not be appropriate in the region. We cannot predict how this mutualistic relationship will change as the population density of each species shifts. We therefore suggest conducting periodic surveys to re-evaluate the relationship as the environment changes and management strategies are implemented.

Project description:Climate change has emerged as a principal threat to coral reefs, and is expected to exacerbate coral reef degradation caused by more localised stressors. Management of local stressors is widely advocated to bolster coral reef resilience, but the extent to which management of local stressors might affect future trajectories of reef state remains unclear. This is in part because of limited understanding of the cumulative impact of multiple stressors. Models are ideal tools to aid understanding of future reef state under alternative management and climatic scenarios, but to date few have been sufficiently developed to be useful as decision support tools for local management of coral reefs subject to multiple stressors. We used a simulation model of coral reefs to investigate the extent to which the management of local stressors (namely poor water quality and fishing) might influence future reef state under varying climatic scenarios relating to coral bleaching. We parameterised the model for Bolinao, the Philippines, and explored how simulation modelling can be used to provide decision support for local management. We found that management of water quality, and to a lesser extent fishing, can have a significant impact on future reef state, including coral recovery following bleaching-induced mortality. The stressors we examined interacted antagonistically to affect reef state, highlighting the importance of considering the combined impact of multiple stressors rather than considering them individually. Further, by providing explicit guidance for management of Bolinao's reef system, such as which course of management action will most likely to be effective over what time scales and at which sites, we demonstrated the utility of simulation models for supporting management. Aside from providing explicit guidance for management of Bolinao's reef system, our study offers insights which could inform reef management more broadly, as well as general understanding of reef systems.

Dataset Information

Gap analysis and implications for seasonal management on a local scale.

Publications

Gap analysis and implications for seasonal management on a local scale.

Similar Datasets

OmicsDI is part of the ELIXIR infrastructure

Tweets