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Klich D, Didkowska A, Pyziel-Serafin AM, Perlińska-Teresiak M, Wołoszyn-Gałęza A, Żoch K, Balcerak M, Olech W. Contact between European bison and cattle from the cattle breeders' perspective, in the light of the risk of pathogen transmission. PLoS One 2023; 18:e0285245. [PMID: 37134113 PMCID: PMC10155960 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0285245] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/20/2022] [Accepted: 04/18/2023] [Indexed: 05/04/2023] Open
Abstract
Pathogens transmitted between wildlife and domestic animals can pose a threat to endangered species, undermine conservation efforts in wildlife, and affect productivity and parasite control in domestic animals. There are several examples of pathogen transmission between European bison and other animals. The present study surveyed breeders from the vicinity of four large wisent populations in eastern Poland about observed contacts between wisent and cattle. Such contacts were noted by 37% of breeders, indicating a significant risk of contact between European bison and cattle in the study areas, even in the areas where the European bison live mainly in a forest complex, i.e., in the Borecka Forest. A higher potential risk of contacts between European bison and cattle was noted in the Białowieska Forest and the Bieszczady Mountains than in the Borecka and Knyszyńska Forests. In the Białowieska Forest, the risk of viral pathogen transmission resulting from contacts is higher (more direct contacts), and in the case of the Bieszczady Mountains, the probability of parasitic diseases is higher. The chance of contacts between European bison and cattle depended on the distance of cattle pastures from human settlements. Moreover, such contact was possible throughout the year, not only in spring and fall. It appears possible to minimize the risk of contacts between wisent and cattle by changing management practices for both species, such as keeping grazing areas as close as possible to settlements, and reducing the time cattle graze on pastures. However, the risk of contact is much greater if European bison populations are large and are dispersed beyond forest complexes.
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Affiliation(s)
- Daniel Klich
- Department of Animal Genetic and Conservation, Institute of Animal Sciences, Warsaw University of Life Sciences-SGGW, Warsaw, Poland
| | - Anna Didkowska
- Department of Food Hygiene and Public Health Protection, Institute of Veterinary Medicine, Warsaw University of Life Sciences (SGGW), Warsaw, Poland
| | - Anna M Pyziel-Serafin
- Department of Food Hygiene and Public Health Protection, Institute of Veterinary Medicine, Warsaw University of Life Sciences (SGGW), Warsaw, Poland
| | - Magdalena Perlińska-Teresiak
- Department of Animal Genetic and Conservation, Institute of Animal Sciences, Warsaw University of Life Sciences-SGGW, Warsaw, Poland
| | | | | | - Marek Balcerak
- Department of Animal Breeding, Warsaw University of Life Sciences-SGGW, Warsaw, Poland
| | - Wanda Olech
- Department of Animal Genetic and Conservation, Institute of Animal Sciences, Warsaw University of Life Sciences-SGGW, Warsaw, Poland
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The Reintroduction Analysis of European Bison (Bison bonasus L., 1758) in the North of Romania and the Identification of the Most Favourable Locations. FORESTS 2022. [DOI: 10.3390/f13060920] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/16/2022]
Abstract
We analysed the possibility of reintroducing the European bison (Bison bonasus L.) in the north of Romania—in Suceava, Neamț, and Maramureș counties—as well as increasing the wild European bison population in Neamț county to improve the genetic quality of the existing population. Currently, there is a population of over 50 individuals in the wild in Vânători Neamț Natural Park, Romania. At the same time, an attempt was made to identify the connecting corridors between the free European bison in Neamț county and other populations through new nuclei of European bison released in Suceava and Maramureș counties. In this regard, the hunting grounds with the highest ecological potential for the analysed species were identified using GIS spatial analysis techniques. The aim was also to trace possible ecological corridors linking different reintroduction locations, taking into account the ecological claims of the species. The analysis also followed the size of the European bison groups to be released, the sex ratio of each group, and the periodicity of their releasing. In order to reach viable populations, scenarios and simulations were carried out depending on the age, number, and sex of the relocated specimens. In this regard, the dynamics and the minimum viable population that could survive without risk of extinction were highlighted. The analysis showed that the analysed area has a high potential for the reintroduction of European bison in the wild. The release and creation of new European bison nuclei in the wild creates the premises for natural contacts with the existing free populations in the wild, genetic improvement, and increasing fauna diversity with ecological, social, and economic implications.
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Kuemmerle T, Bluhm H, Ghoddousi A, Arakelyan M, Askerov E, Bleyhl B, Ghasabian M, Gavashelishvili A, Heidelberg A, Malkhasyan A, Manvelyan K, Soofi M, Yarovenko Y, Weinberg P, Zazanashvili N. Identifying priority areas for restoring mountain ungulates in the Caucasus ecoregion. CONSERVATION SCIENCE AND PRACTICE 2020. [DOI: 10.1111/csp2.276] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/28/2022] Open
Affiliation(s)
- Tobias Kuemmerle
- Geography Department Humboldt‐University Berlin Berlin Germany
- Integrative Research Institute on Transformations of Human‐Environment Systems (IRI THESys) Humboldt‐University Berlin Berlin Germany
| | - Hendrik Bluhm
- Geography Department Humboldt‐University Berlin Berlin Germany
| | - Arash Ghoddousi
- Geography Department Humboldt‐University Berlin Berlin Germany
| | | | - Elshad Askerov
- WWF‐Azerbaijan Baku Azerbaijan
- Institute of Zoology, Azerbaijan Academy of Sciences Baku Azerbaijan
| | - Benjamin Bleyhl
- Geography Department Humboldt‐University Berlin Berlin Germany
| | - Mamikon Ghasabian
- Department of Vertebrate Zoology National Academy of Sciences of the Republic of Armenia Yerevan Armenia
| | | | | | | | | | - Mahmood Soofi
- School of Biological Sciences University of Aberdeen Tillydrone Avenue, Zoology Building, Aberdeen UK
- Workgroup on Endangered Species, J. F. Blumenbach Institute of Zoology and Anthropology University of Goettingen Bürgerstr Göttingen Germany
| | - Yuriy Yarovenko
- Daghestan Federal Research Centre Russian Academy of Sciences Makhachkala Russia
| | | | - Nugzar Zazanashvili
- WWF‐Caucasus Tbilisi Georgia
- Institute of Ecology, Ilia State University Tbilisi Georgia
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D’Elia J, Brandt J, Burnett LJ, Haig SM, Hollenbeck J, Kirkland S, Marcot BG, Punzalan A, West CJ, Williams-Claussen T, Wolstenholme R, Young R. Applying circuit theory and landscape linkage maps to reintroduction planning for California Condors. PLoS One 2020; 14:e0226491. [PMID: 31891594 PMCID: PMC6938332 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0226491] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/03/2019] [Accepted: 11/26/2019] [Indexed: 11/21/2022] Open
Abstract
Conservation practitioners are increasingly looking to species translocations as a tool to recover imperiled taxa. Quantitative predictions of where animals are likely to move when released into new areas would allow managers to better address the social, institutional, and ecological dimensions of conservation translocations. Using >5 million California condor (Gymnogyps californianus) occurrence locations from 75 individuals, we developed and tested circuit-based models to predict condor movement away from release sites. We found that circuit-based models of electrical current were well calibrated to the distribution of condor movement data in southern and central California (continuous Boyce Index = 0.86 and 0.98, respectively). Model calibration was improved in southern California when additional nodes were added to the circuit to account for nesting and feeding areas, where condor movement densities were higher (continuous Boyce Index = 0.95). Circuit-based projections of electrical current around a proposed release site in northern California comported with the condor’s historical distribution and revealed that, initially, condor movements would likely be most concentrated in northwestern California and southwest Oregon. Landscape linkage maps, which incorporate information on landscape resistance, complement circuit-based models and aid in the identification of specific avenues for population connectivity or areas where movement between populations may be constrained. We found landscape linkages in the Coast Range and the Sierra Nevada provided the most connectivity to a proposed reintroduction site in northern California. Our methods are applicable to conservation translocations for other species and are flexible, allowing researchers to develop multiple competing hypotheses when there are uncertainties about landscape or social attractants, or uncertainties in the landscape conductance surface.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jesse D’Elia
- Pacific Regional Office, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Portland, Oregon, United States of America
- * E-mail:
| | - Joseph Brandt
- California Condor Recovery Office, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Ventura, California, United States of America
| | - L. Joseph Burnett
- Ventana Wildlife Society, Monterey, California, United States of America
| | - Susan M. Haig
- Forest and Rangeland Ecosystem Science Center, U.S. Geological Survey, Corvallis, Oregon, United States of America
| | - Jeff Hollenbeck
- The Northwest Habitat Institute, Corvallis, Oregon, United States of America
| | - Steve Kirkland
- California Condor Recovery Office, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Ventura, California, United States of America
| | - Bruce G. Marcot
- Pacific Northwest Research Station, U.S. Forest Service, Portland, Oregon, United States of America
| | - Arianna Punzalan
- Department of Ecosystem Science and Sustainability, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, Colorado, United States of America
| | - Christopher J. West
- Wildlife Program, Yurok Tribe, Klamath, California, United States of America
| | - Tiana Williams-Claussen
- Wildlife Program, Yurok Tribe, Klamath, California, United States of America
- Department of Wildlife, Humboldt State University, Arcata, California, United States of America
| | - Rachel Wolstenholme
- Pinnacles National Park, U.S. National Park Service, Paicines, California, United States of America
| | - Rich Young
- Pacific Regional Office, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Portland, Oregon, United States of America
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Perzanowski K, Bleyhl B, Olech W, Kuemmerle T. Connectivity or isolation? Identifying reintroduction sites for multiple conservation objectives for wisents in Poland. Anim Conserv 2019. [DOI: 10.1111/acv.12530] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/27/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- K. Perzanowski
- Institute of Landscape Architecture Catholic University of Lublin Lublin Poland
| | - B. Bleyhl
- Geography Department Humboldt‐University Berlin Berlin Germany
| | - W. Olech
- Department of Animal Genetics and Breeding Warsaw University of Life Sciences Warsaw Poland
| | - T. Kuemmerle
- Geography Department Humboldt‐University Berlin Berlin Germany
- Integrative Research Institute on Transformations of Human‐Environment Systems (IRI THESys) Humboldt‐University Berlin Berlin Germany
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Seroprevalence and risk factors for selected respiratory and reproductive tract pathogen exposure in European bison (Bison bonasus) in Poland. Vet Microbiol 2018; 215:57-65. [PMID: 29426407 DOI: 10.1016/j.vetmic.2018.01.005] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/29/2017] [Revised: 01/08/2018] [Accepted: 01/14/2018] [Indexed: 11/24/2022]
Abstract
After the complete extinction from the wild of European bison (Bison bonasus) at the beginning of the twentieth century, the worldwide species population was restored to approximately 5500 individuals, with the species however remaining endangered. Despite numerous studies on the ecology and genetics of European bison, the threats of infectious diseases have been largely unexamined. The aim of this study was to screen the exposure of the world's largest population of European bison to the pathogens, which may influence the condition and development of the endangered species. A total of 240 free-ranging and captive European bison from eight main Polish populations sampled were tested for the presence of specific antibodies against ten different viruses, bacteria or protozoan. The samples were collected from chemically immobilized, selectively culled or found dead animals. Based on serology, the exposure to bovine viral diarrhea virus (BVDV), bovine herpesvirus type 1 (BoHV-1), Mycoplasma and Brucella spp. was determined as rather accidental. Using gamma-interferon assay followed by Mycobacterium tuberculosis subs. caprae detection in tissues, diagnosis of bovine tuberculosis was made for 6 out of 78 (7.7%) bison from one captive herd. The highest seroprevalence was found for bovine adenovirus type 3 (BAdV-3) -60.2% and bovine parainfluenza type 3 (PIV-3) -34.0%, while the antibodies against bovine respiratory syncytial virus (BRSV), Toxoplasma gondii and Leptospira spp. were found in 10.4%, 10.4% and 8.7% of samples, respectively. In the multivariable statistical analysis using generalized linear mixed models (GLMMS), the risk factors for PIV-3 seropositivity included population type (free-living/captive), age and health status (apparently healthy/eliminated due to the poor condition). Higher risk of BAdV-3 seropositive result was observed in free-living female European bison. The high BAdV-3 and PIV-3 seroprevalences may suggest involvement of these pathogens in the most frequently observed respiratory disorders in European bison. Moreover, this is the first study demonstrating BAdV-3 exposure in the species.
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Butsic V, Munteanu C, Griffiths P, Knorn J, Radeloff VC, Lieskovský J, Mueller D, Kuemmerle T. The effect of protected areas on forest disturbance in the Carpathian Mountains 1985-2010. CONSERVATION BIOLOGY : THE JOURNAL OF THE SOCIETY FOR CONSERVATION BIOLOGY 2017; 31:570-580. [PMID: 27601287 DOI: 10.1111/cobi.12835] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/29/2015] [Revised: 06/21/2016] [Accepted: 08/29/2016] [Indexed: 06/06/2023]
Abstract
Protected areas are a cornerstone for forest protection, but they are not always effective during times of socioeconomic and institutional crises. The Carpathian Mountains in Eastern Europe are an ecologically outstanding region, with widespread seminatural and old-growth forest. Since 1990, Carpathian countries (Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, Romania, Slovakia, and Ukraine) have experienced economic hardship and institutional changes, including the breakdown of socialism, European Union accession, and a rapid expansion of protected areas. The question is how protected-area effectiveness has varied during these times across the Carpathians given these changes. We analyzed a satellite-based data set of forest disturbance (i.e., forest loss due to harvesting or natural disturbances) from 1985 to 2010 and used matching statistics and a fixed-effects estimator to quantify the effect of protection on forest disturbance. Protected areas in the Czech Republic, Slovakia, and the Ukraine had significantly less deforestation inside protected areas than outside in some periods; the likelihood of disturbance was reduced by 1-5%. The effectiveness of protection increased over time in these countries, whereas the opposite was true in Romania. Older protected areas were most effective in Romania and Hungary, but newer protected areas were more effective in Czech Republic, and Poland. Strict protection (International Union for Conservation of Nature [IUCN] protection category Ia-II) was not more effective than landscape-level protection (IUCN III-VI). We suggest that the strength of institutions, the differences in forest privatization, forest management, prior distribution of protected areas, and when countries joined the European Union may provide explanations for the strikingly heterogeneous effectiveness patterns among countries. Our results highlight how different the effects of protected areas can be at broad scales, indicating that the effectiveness of protected areas is transitory over time and space and suggesting that generalizations about the effectiveness of protected areas can be misleading.
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Affiliation(s)
- Van Butsic
- University of California Berkeley, Department of Environmental Science, Policy and Management, 327 Mulford Hall, Berkeley, CA 94720, U.S.A
- Geography Department, Humboldt University Berlin, Unter den Linden 6, 10099, Berlin, Germany
| | - Catalina Munteanu
- SILVIS Lab, Department of Forest and Wildlife Ecology, University of Wisconsin-Madison, 1630 Linden Drive, Madison, Wisconsin, WI 53706, U.S.A
| | - Patrick Griffiths
- Geography Department, Humboldt University Berlin, Unter den Linden 6, 10099, Berlin, Germany
| | - Jan Knorn
- Geography Department, Humboldt University Berlin, Unter den Linden 6, 10099, Berlin, Germany
| | - Volker C Radeloff
- SILVIS Lab, Department of Forest and Wildlife Ecology, University of Wisconsin-Madison, 1630 Linden Drive, Madison, Wisconsin, WI 53706, U.S.A
| | - Juraj Lieskovský
- Institute of Landscape Ecology, Slovak Academy of Sciences, Akademická 2, 94901, Nitra, Slovakia
- Swiss Federal Institute for Forest, Snow and Landscape Research WSL, Zürcherstrasse 111, CH-8903, Birmensdorf, Switzerland
| | - Daniel Mueller
- Geography Department, Humboldt University Berlin, Unter den Linden 6, 10099, Berlin, Germany
- Integrative Research Institute on Transformations in Human-Environment Systems (IRI THESys), Humboldt University Berlin, Unter der Linden 6, 10099, Berlin, Germany
- Leibniz Institute of Agricultural Development and Transition Economies (IAMO), Theodor-Lieser Str. 2, 06120, Halle Saale, Germany
| | - Tobias Kuemmerle
- Geography Department, Humboldt University Berlin, Unter den Linden 6, 10099, Berlin, Germany
- Integrative Research Institute on Transformations in Human-Environment Systems (IRI THESys), Humboldt University Berlin, Unter der Linden 6, 10099, Berlin, Germany
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Cullen L, Stanton JC, Lima F, Uezu A, Perilli MLL, Akçakaya HR. Implications of Fine-Grained Habitat Fragmentation and Road Mortality for Jaguar Conservation in the Atlantic Forest, Brazil. PLoS One 2016; 11:e0167372. [PMID: 27973584 PMCID: PMC5156341 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0167372] [Citation(s) in RCA: 16] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/09/2016] [Accepted: 11/11/2016] [Indexed: 11/18/2022] Open
Abstract
Jaguar (Panthera onca) populations in the Upper Paraná River, in the Brazilian Atlantic Forest region, live in a landscape that includes highly fragmented areas as well as relatively intact ones. We developed a model of jaguar habitat suitability in this region, and based on this habitat model, we developed a spatially structured metapopulation model of the jaguar populations in this area to analyze their viability, the potential impact of road mortality on the populations' persistence, and the interaction between road mortality and habitat fragmentation. In more highly fragmented populations, density of jaguars per unit area is lower and density of roads per jaguar is higher. The populations with the most fragmented habitat were predicted to have much lower persistence in the next 100 years when the model included no dispersal, indicating that the persistence of these populations are dependent to a large extent on dispersal from other populations. This, in turn, indicates that the interaction between road mortality and habitat fragmentation may lead to source-sink dynamics, whereby populations with highly fragmented habitat are maintained only by dispersal from populations with less fragmented habitat. This study demonstrates the utility of linking habitat and demographic models in assessing impacts on species living in fragmented landscapes.
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Affiliation(s)
- Laury Cullen
- IPÊ –Instituto de Pesquisas Ecológicas, Nazaré Paulista, São Paulo, Brazil
| | - Jessica C. Stanton
- Department of Ecology and Evolution, Stony Brook University, Stony Brook, New York, United States of America
| | - Fernando Lima
- IPÊ –Instituto de Pesquisas Ecológicas, Nazaré Paulista, São Paulo, Brazil
- Programa de Pós-graduação em Ecologia e Biodiversidade, Instituto de Biociências, Universidade Estadual Paulista–UNESP, Rio Claro, São Paulo, Brazil
| | - Alexandre Uezu
- IPÊ –Instituto de Pesquisas Ecológicas, Nazaré Paulista, São Paulo, Brazil
| | - Miriam L. L. Perilli
- Instituto para a Conservação dos Carnívoros Neotropicais–Pró-Carnívoros, Atibaia, São Paulo, Brazil
- Programa de Pós-graduação em Ecologia, Departamento de Biologia Geral, Universidade Federal de Viçosa—UFV, Viçosa, Minas Gerais, Brazil
| | - H. Reşit Akçakaya
- Department of Ecology and Evolution, Stony Brook University, Stony Brook, New York, United States of America
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Rose LE, Heard GW, Chee YE, Wintle BA. Cost-effective conservation of an endangered frog under uncertainty. CONSERVATION BIOLOGY : THE JOURNAL OF THE SOCIETY FOR CONSERVATION BIOLOGY 2016; 30:350-361. [PMID: 26395969 DOI: 10.1111/cobi.12626] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/27/2015] [Accepted: 08/12/2015] [Indexed: 06/05/2023]
Abstract
How should managers choose among conservation options when resources are scarce and there is uncertainty regarding the effectiveness of actions? Well-developed tools exist for prioritizing areas for one-time and binary actions (e.g., protect vs. not protect), but methods for prioritizing incremental or ongoing actions (such as habitat creation and maintenance) remain uncommon. We devised an approach that combines metapopulation viability and cost-effectiveness analyses to select among alternative conservation actions while accounting for uncertainty. In our study, cost-effectiveness is the ratio between the benefit of an action and its economic cost, where benefit is the change in metapopulation viability. We applied the approach to the case of the endangered growling grass frog (Litoria raniformis), which is threatened by urban development. We extended a Bayesian model to predict metapopulation viability under 9 urbanization and management scenarios and incorporated the full probability distribution of possible outcomes for each scenario into the cost-effectiveness analysis. This allowed us to discern between cost-effective alternatives that were robust to uncertainty and those with a relatively high risk of failure. We found a relatively high risk of extinction following urbanization if the only action was reservation of core habitat; habitat creation actions performed better than enhancement actions; and cost-effectiveness ranking changed depending on the consideration of uncertainty. Our results suggest that creation and maintenance of wetlands dedicated to L. raniformis is the only cost-effective action likely to result in a sufficiently low risk of extinction. To our knowledge we are the first study to use Bayesian metapopulation viability analysis to explicitly incorporate parametric and demographic uncertainty into a cost-effective evaluation of conservation actions. The approach offers guidance to decision makers aiming to achieve cost-effective conservation under uncertainty.
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Affiliation(s)
- Lucy E Rose
- School of BioSciences, University of Melbourne, Victoria, 3010, Australia
| | - Geoffrey W Heard
- School of BioSciences, University of Melbourne, Victoria, 3010, Australia
| | - Yung En Chee
- School of BioSciences, University of Melbourne, Victoria, 3010, Australia
| | - Brendan A Wintle
- School of BioSciences, University of Melbourne, Victoria, 3010, Australia
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Schmitz P, Caspers S, Warren P, Witte K. First Steps into the Wild - Exploration Behavior of European Bison after the First Reintroduction in Western Europe. PLoS One 2015; 10:e0143046. [PMID: 26605549 PMCID: PMC4659542 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0143046] [Citation(s) in RCA: 18] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/07/2014] [Accepted: 10/31/2015] [Indexed: 11/18/2022] Open
Abstract
Biodiversity is rapidly declining globally. One strategy to help to conserve species is to breed species in captivity and release them into suitable habitats. The way that reintroduced animals explore new habitats and/or disperse from the release site is rarely studied in detail and represents key information for the success of reintroduction projects. The European bison (Bison bonasus L. 1758) was the largest surviving herbivore of the post-glacial megafauna in Europe before it became extinct in the wild, surviving only in captivity since 1919. We investigated the exploration behavior of a herd of European bison reintroduced into the Rothaargebirge, a commercial forest in low range mountain intensively used and densely populated by humans, in the first six months after release. We focused on three questions: (1) how did the European bison move and utilize the habitat on a daily basis, (2) how did the animals explore the new environment, and (3) did their habitat preferences change over time. The European bison dispersed away from their previous enclosure at an average rate of 539 m/month, with their areas of daily use ranging from 70 to 173 ha, their movement ranging from 3.6 km to 5.2 km per day, and their day-to-day use of areas ranged between 389 and 900 m. We could identify three major exploration bouts, when the animals entered and explored areas previously unknown to them. During the birthing phase, the European bison reduced daily walking distances, and the adult bull segregated from the herd for 58 days. Around rut, roaming behavior of the herd increased slightly. The animals preferred spruce forest, wind thrown areas and grassland, all of which are food abundant habitat types, and they avoided beech forest. Habitat preference differed slightly between phases of the study period, probably due to phenological cycles. After six months, the complete summer home range was 42.5 km2. Our study shows that a small free-ranging herd of European bison can live in an area intensively used by humans and describes in detail the initial roaming behavior and habitat utilization of the animals.
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Affiliation(s)
- Philip Schmitz
- Institute of Biology, Research Group of Ecology and Behavioral Biology, University of Siegen, Siegen, Germany
- * E-mail:
| | - Stephanie Caspers
- Institute of Biology, Research Group of Ecology and Behavioral Biology, University of Siegen, Siegen, Germany
| | - Paige Warren
- Department of Environmental Conservation, University of Massachusetts, Amherst, Massachusetts, United States of America
| | - Klaudia Witte
- Institute of Biology, Research Group of Ecology and Behavioral Biology, University of Siegen, Siegen, Germany
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Berenguer E, Gardner TA, Ferreira J, Aragão LEOC, Camargo PB, Cerri CE, Durigan M, Oliveira Junior RC, Vieira ICG, Barlow J. Developing Cost-Effective Field Assessments of Carbon Stocks in Human-Modified Tropical Forests. PLoS One 2015; 10:e0133139. [PMID: 26308074 PMCID: PMC4550286 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0133139] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/18/2015] [Accepted: 06/09/2015] [Indexed: 11/28/2022] Open
Abstract
Across the tropics, there is a growing financial investment in activities that aim to reduce emissions from deforestation and forest degradation, such as REDD+. However, most tropical countries lack on-the-ground capacity to conduct reliable and replicable assessments of forest carbon stocks, undermining their ability to secure long-term carbon finance for forest conservation programs. Clear guidance on how to reduce the monetary and time costs of field assessments of forest carbon can help tropical countries to overcome this capacity gap. Here we provide such guidance for cost-effective one-off field assessments of forest carbon stocks. We sampled a total of eight components from four different carbon pools (i.e. aboveground, dead wood, litter and soil) in 224 study plots distributed across two regions of eastern Amazon. For each component we estimated survey costs, contribution to total forest carbon stocks and sensitivity to disturbance. Sampling costs varied thirty-one-fold between the most expensive component, soil, and the least, leaf litter. Large live stems (≥10 cm DBH), which represented only 15% of the overall sampling costs, was by far the most important component to be assessed, as it stores the largest amount of carbon and is highly sensitive to disturbance. If large stems are not taxonomically identified, costs can be reduced by a further 51%, while incurring an error in aboveground carbon estimates of only 5% in primary forests, but 31% in secondary forests. For rapid assessments, necessary to help prioritize locations for carbon- conservation activities, sampling of stems ≥20cm DBH without taxonomic identification can predict with confidence (R2 = 0.85) whether an area is relatively carbon-rich or carbon-poor—an approach that is 74% cheaper than sampling and identifying all the stems ≥10cm DBH. We use these results to evaluate the reliability of forest carbon stock estimates provided by the IPCC and FAO when applied to human-modified forests, and to highlight areas where cost savings in carbon stock assessments could be most easily made.
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Affiliation(s)
- Erika Berenguer
- Lancaster Environment Centre, Lancaster University, Lancaster, United Kingdom
| | - Toby A Gardner
- Stockholm Environment Institute, Stockholm, Sweden; International Institute for Sustainability, Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
| | | | - Luiz E O C Aragão
- College of Life and Environmental Sciences, University of Exeter, Exeter, United Kingdom; Tropical Ecosystems and Environmental Sciences Group (TREES), Remote Sensing Division, National Institute for Space Research-INPE, São José dos Campos, São Paulo, Brazil
| | - Plínio B Camargo
- Centro de Energia Nuclear na Agricultura, Universidade de São Paulo, Piracicaba, São Paulo, Brazil
| | - Carlos E Cerri
- Departamento de Ciência do Solo, Universidade de São Paulo, Escola Superior de Agricultura Luiz de Queiroz-Esalq, Piracicaba, São Paulo, Brazil
| | - Mariana Durigan
- Departamento de Ciência do Solo, Universidade de São Paulo, Escola Superior de Agricultura Luiz de Queiroz-Esalq, Piracicaba, São Paulo, Brazil
| | | | | | - Jos Barlow
- Lancaster Environment Centre, Lancaster University, Lancaster, United Kingdom; MCT/Museu Paraense Emílio Goeldi, Belém, Pará, Brazil
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Mateo-Sánchez MC, Balkenhol N, Cushman S, Pérez T, Domínguez A, Saura S. Estimating effective landscape distances and movement corridors: comparison of habitat and genetic data. Ecosphere 2015. [DOI: 10.1890/es14-00387.1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 105] [Impact Index Per Article: 11.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/18/2022] Open
Affiliation(s)
- Maria C. Mateo-Sánchez
- E.T.S.I Montes, Forestal y del Medio Natural, Technical University of Madrid, Ciudad Universitaria s/n 28040, Madrid, Spain
| | - Niko Balkenhol
- Department of Wildlife Sciences, University of Goettingen, Buesgenweg 337077, Goettingen, Germany
| | - Sam Cushman
- United States Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Research Station, Southwest Forest Science Complex, 2500 South Pine Knoll Drive, Flagstaff, Arizona 86001 USA
| | - Trinidad Pérez
- Department of Functional Biology, University of Oviedo, Avda. Julián Clavería 6, 33006 Oviedo, Spain
| | - Ana Domínguez
- Department of Functional Biology, University of Oviedo, Avda. Julián Clavería 6, 33006 Oviedo, Spain
| | - Santiago Saura
- E.T.S.I Montes, Forestal y del Medio Natural, Technical University of Madrid, Ciudad Universitaria s/n 28040, Madrid, Spain
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Frosch C, Kraus RHS, Angst C, Allgöwer R, Michaux J, Teubner J, Nowak C. The genetic legacy of multiple beaver reintroductions in Central Europe. PLoS One 2014; 9:e97619. [PMID: 24827835 PMCID: PMC4020922 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0097619] [Citation(s) in RCA: 32] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/20/2013] [Accepted: 04/19/2014] [Indexed: 11/19/2022] Open
Abstract
The comeback of the Eurasian beaver (Castor fiber) throughout western and central Europe is considered a major conservation success. Traditionally, several subspecies are recognised by morphology and mitochondrial haplotype, each linked to a relict population. During various reintroduction programs in the 20th century, beavers from multiple source localities were released and now form viable populations. These programs differed in their reintroduction strategies, i.e., using pure subspecies vs. mixed source populations. This inhomogeneity in management actions generated ongoing debates regarding the origin of present beaver populations and appropriate management plans for the future. By sequencing of the mitochondrial control region and microsatellite genotyping of 235 beaver individuals from five selected regions in Germany, Switzerland, Luxembourg, and Belgium we show that beavers from at least four source origins currently form admixed, genetically diverse populations that spread across the study region. While regional occurrences of invasive North American beavers (n = 20) were found, all but one C. fiber bore the mitochondrial haplotype of the autochthonous western Evolutionary Significant Unit (ESU). Considering this, as well as the viability of admixed populations and the fact that the fusion of different lineages is already progressing in all studied regions, we argue that admixture between different beaver source populations should be generally accepted.
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Affiliation(s)
- Christiane Frosch
- Conservation Genetics Group, Senckenberg Research Institute and Natural History Museum, Gelnhausen, Germany
- * E-mail:
| | - Robert H. S. Kraus
- Conservation Genetics Group, Senckenberg Research Institute and Natural History Museum, Gelnhausen, Germany
| | - Christof Angst
- Centre Suisse de Cartographie de la Faune (CSCF), Neuchâtel, Switzerland
| | | | - Johan Michaux
- Unité de Recherches Zoogéographiques, Institut de Zoologie, Liège, Belgium
| | - Jana Teubner
- Naturschutzstation Zippelsförde, Zippelsförde, Germany
| | - Carsten Nowak
- Conservation Genetics Group, Senckenberg Research Institute and Natural History Museum, Gelnhausen, Germany
- Biodiversity and Climate Research Centre (BiK-F), Frankfurt am Main, Germany
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Baker JD, Harting AL, Littnan CL. A two-stage translocation strategy for improving juvenile survival of Hawaiian monk seals. ENDANGER SPECIES RES 2013. [DOI: 10.3354/esr00506] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/23/2022] Open
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Margalida A, Carrete M, Hegglin D, Serrano D, Arenas R, Donázar JA. Uneven large-scale movement patterns in wild and reintroduced pre-adult bearded vultures: conservation implications. PLoS One 2013; 8:e65857. [PMID: 23776559 PMCID: PMC3679195 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0065857] [Citation(s) in RCA: 54] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/25/2012] [Accepted: 05/02/2013] [Indexed: 11/18/2022] Open
Abstract
After the quasi-extinction of much of the European vertebrate megafauna during the last few centuries, many reintroduction projects seek to restore decimated populations. However, the future of numerous species depends on the management scenarios of metapopulations where the flow of individuals can be critical to ensure their viability. This is the case of the bearded vulture Gypaetus barbatus, an Old World, large body-sized and long-lived scavenger living in mountain ranges. Although persecution in Western Europe restrained it to the Pyrenees, the species is nowadays present in other mountains thanks to reintroduction projects. We examined the movement patterns of pre-adult non-breeding individuals born in the wild population of the Pyrenees (n = 9) and in the reintroduced populations of the Alps (n = 24) and Andalusia (n = 13). Most birds were equipped with GPS-GSM radio transmitters, which allowed accurate determination of individual dispersal patterns. Two estimators were considered: i) step length (i.e., the distance travelled per day by each individual, calculated considering only successive days); and ii) total dispersal distance (i.e., the distance travelled between each mean daily location and the point of release). Both dispersal estimators showed a positive relationship with age but were also highly dependent on the source population, birds in Andalusia and Alps moving farther than in Pyrenees. Future research should confirm if differences in dispersal distances are the rule, in which case the dynamics of future populations would be strongly influenced. In summary, our findings highlight that inter-population differences can affect the flow of individuals among patches (a key aspect to ensure the viability of the European metapopulation of the endangered bearded vulture), and thus should be taken into account when planning reintroduction programs. This result also raises questions about whether similar scenarios may occur in other restoration projects of European megafauna.
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Affiliation(s)
- Antoni Margalida
- Division of Conservation Biology, Institute of Ecology and Evolution, University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland.
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Cianfrani C, Maiorano L, Loy A, Kranz A, Lehmann A, Maggini R, Guisan A. There and back again? Combining habitat suitability modelling and connectivity analyses to assess a potential return of the otter to Switzerland. Anim Conserv 2013. [DOI: 10.1111/acv.12033] [Citation(s) in RCA: 19] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/28/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- C. Cianfrani
- Department of Ecology and Evolution; University of Lausanne; Lausanne Switzerland
| | - L. Maiorano
- Department of Ecology and Evolution; University of Lausanne; Lausanne Switzerland
| | - A. Loy
- Department of Science and Technology for the Environment; University of Molise; Pesche Italy
| | | | - A. Lehmann
- Institute of Environmental Sciences; University of Geneva; Carouge Switzerland
| | - R. Maggini
- Department of Ecology and Evolution; University of Lausanne; Lausanne Switzerland
| | - A. Guisan
- Department of Ecology and Evolution; University of Lausanne; Lausanne Switzerland
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Kuemmerle T, Hickler T, Olofsson J, Schurgers G, Radeloff VC. Reconstructing range dynamics and range fragmentation of European bison for the last 8000 years. DIVERS DISTRIB 2011. [DOI: 10.1111/j.1472-4642.2011.00849.x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 37] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/30/2022] Open
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