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December 2008 | Vol. 1 | Issue 4 | 307 - 445
Aerin L. Jacob, Ismael Vaccaro, Raja Sengupta, Joel Hartter and Colin A. Chapman Globally, human settlement patterns are changing as people move from rural places to urban ones for a perceived increase in access to job markets, social services, and security. The United Nations estimates that 2008 is the first year in history where more than half of the world’s population will live in urban areas. In many places this rural ‘depopulation’ has resulted in large areas of land being abandoned. These areas are important for managers and policy makers who want to conserve biodiversity and ecosystems, while balancing the demands of human development. We chose a set of developed and developing countries to look at how the rates of population growth and urbanization would affect this trend of rural depopulation. We compared these projected trends to the changes in forest cover that our field research has shown in Spain, Mexico, and Uganda, where a decrease in rural human population has resulted in a transition from a mosaic of habitats maintained by human disturbance to one dominant habitat type, potentially lowering wildlife diversity and ecosystem quality on the local scale. Although rural depopulation and land abandonment will not have this effect in all situations, it is important for conservation biologists and land managers to understand the circumstances that control this transition. Building on this information, we consider research programs that need to be conducted so that policy makers are prepared to effectively manage depopulated rural areas. Distribution and conservation of the West Indian manatee (Trichechus manatus manatus) in the Catazajá wetlands of northeast Chiapas, México | 321-333 Jenner Rodas-Trejo, Emilio I. Romero-Berny and Alejandro Estrada Manatees (Order Sirenia, family Trichechidae, genus Trichechus) are large, fully aquatic marine mammals sometimes known as sea cows. The Sirenia is thought to have evolved from four-legged land mammals over 60 million years ago, with the closest living relatives being the Proboscidea (elephants) and Hyracoidea (hyraxes). Prime habitats for manatees in the Neotropics are tropical coastal wetlands which have a rich biodiversity and a restricted geographic distribution. In the continental Neotropics, the West Indian manatee (Trichechus manatus) is represented in Mexico by the subspecies T. m. manatus. Lack of information regarding the current distribution of manatees in Mexico hampers conservation approaches of this marine mammal, as human activity extensively transforms the coastal wetlands. Our study reports a first-time survey of a population of manatees found in the Catazajá wetlands (ca 60,000ha) in northeast Chiapas, Mexico, about 50 km from the Gulf of Mexico coast. We also report on manatee conservation efforts spanning seven years involving participation by local rural communities in the Catazajá wetlands. The population of manatees was surveyed by sightings along waterways and interconnected lagoons, by recording evidence of manatee presence by recently browsed aquatic vegetation (manatees are basically herbivorous), by noting the presence of stranded individuals in shallow waters (these were rescued and transferred to deeper waters) and by recording the presence of deceased manatees. Additional records of manatee presence underwater were obtained by using a side-scan sonar system. Interviews with individuals from 10 local communities existing in the Catazajá wetlands also yielded information on manatee presence in various localities within the wetland system. Records indicated presence of manatees throughout the wetland, but with concentration in particular sectors, totaling about 4,850 ha. Involvement of local communities in manatee conservation in the Catazajá wetlands has grown rapidly in the last 3 years and the manatee is now the local animal emblem, a manatee festival is celebrated once a year and now local inhabitants participate in the monitoring and protection of the manatee population in the Catazajá wetlands. Aspects of the manatee conservation project can be seen in http://www.primatesmx.com/manateewebfntpgxpress1english.htm The potentials for co-management approaches in western Serengeti, Tanzania | 204-221 Jafari R Kideghesho and Paul E Mtoni This paper analyses some potentials in which the conservation agencies can capitalize in realizing the successful and meaningful co-management arrangements in Serengeti - one of the flagship conservation areas of the world. The arrangements, defined as the sharing of power, responsibilities, rights and duties between the government and local resource users, have emerged as a popular paradigm in natural resource management sectors. The arrangements are justified by a perceived failure of centralized management to halt degradation of natural resources and overcoming a growing local apathy towards conservation. Three potentials are analyzed: (i) outstanding level of awareness on the rationale of and, legal aspects pertaining to wildlife conservation among the local communities; (ii) presence of the traditional institutions for management of natural resources and ability of local communities to evaluate their performance, establish causes for inadequate performance and propose some workable solutions and; (iii) ability of local communities to evaluate different options for resource ownership and provide valid reasons for opposing or supporting them. In conclusion, the paper recommends among other things, the need to: balance the benefits and costs of conservation in order to instill positive attitude among the people; promote awareness on policy and legal aspects among the local communities and recognize, revive and strengthen traditional institutions for natural resources management. The paper also calls for good governance and sensitization of the government bureaucrats on importance of the arrangements along with defined responsibilities and limitations in order to forestall any interference that may frustrate the operations of the arrangements. Conservation of neotropical herpetofauna: research trends and challenges | 359-375 J. Nicolás Urbina-Cardona Actually little is known about the ecology and natural history of many neotropical amphibians and reptiles, making conservation strategies difficult to plan. It was determined that the number of publications on amphibians and reptiles conservation has increased in recent years, however, only 31% of the papers on herpetofauna conservation have been published in high impact journals. There are many challenges to overcome in the conservation of the Neotropical herpetofauna: Uniform and stable taxonomy is critical to determine the context of legal proceedings; herpetofauna research needs to be conducted within the appropriate socio-political and economic framework, in order to effectively implement conservation area networks; It is important to reevaluate the role of protected area systems in ensuring the persistence of biodiversity based on climate-change scenarios; population studies at different spatial and temporal scales are necessary to understand herpetofauna responses to human made disturbances such as habitat loss and fragmentation, and their relation with environmental gradients. Importantly, emergent diseases and shifting patterns of genetic diversity also deserve attention. Scientific research is crucial for conservation of biodiversity but it must also take into account the socio-economic context of the locality or region where the study is being conducted. This will ensure the understanding and use of scientific knowledge in local and political decisions, and both need to be linked to environmental education initiatives at all levels of society. Current state of conservation knowledge on threatened amphibian species in Peru | 376-396 Rudolf von May et al. The fact that only 8% of all amphibian species recorded in Peru (approximately 500 species) were recognized as threatened by the Peruvian government, in contrast to the global estimate of threatened amphibians (32%), led us to question whether this figure underestimates the number of species that may be at risk. As a first approach to answering this question, we used data from separate field surveys in 17 regions of Peru to evaluate the presence/absence of threatened amphibian species and species that are potentially threatened. We used several databases to update information about these species, produced by various institutions – the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN), the Global Amphibian Assessment, other conservation organizations, and the Peruvian government. We compiled data on 83 species, 44 of which are recognized as threatened by the IUCN and/or the Peruvian government, and 39 species that are not technically classified as threatened but appear to be experiencing negative impacts. Our results showed that almost 40% of threatened amphibians evaluated here occur outside of nature preserves, whereas more than 50% of potentially threatened amphibians also occur outside preserves. We also found that data on chytridiomycosis, a skin infection caused by a fungus and that is linked to population decline and extinction of many amphibians worldwide, are lacking for most species. Given the fact that more than two-thirds (~72%) of the evaluated threatened amphibians are endemic to Peru, it is crucial to develop strategies for habitat conservation and research on disease dynamics in natural populations. Patterns of reptile diversity and composition in tropical dry forest fragments at Cordoba Department, Colombia | 397-416 Juan E. Carvajal-Cogollo & J. Nicolás Urbina-Cardona At least 25% of World reptiles are threatened of extinction. Some reptile species are ideal to detect the effects of habitat loss due to they are susceptible to the disturbance caused in their natural habitats. Tropical dry forest is the most threatened ecosystem around the World because of deforestation and land use changes. Based on an intensive survey of reptiles along six tropical dry forest fragments, in Cordoba Department (Colombia), we found that largest forest fragments supported the highest number of reptile species and the lizard Anolis vittigerus inhabit exclusively large tracts of forest being clearly threatened by regional habitat loss. Although some species of reptiles are of great economic and alimentary importance for local communities at Cordoba, Colombia, most of the reptiles generate aversion in the region. Snakes and lizards regulate ecosystem prey-predator relationships and contribute to soil processes with their burrowing activities; for that reason it is urgent to undertake local campaigns of environmental education and sensitization that will contribute to increase local people willingness for protection of the tropical dry forest and the biodiversity that it harbors. Applying niche-based models to predict endangered-hylid potential distributions: are neotropical protected areas effective enough? | 417-445 J. Nicolás Urbina-Cardona and Rafael D. Loyola Amphibians play a key role in ecosystems due to they control great amount of insects, serve as food for larger predators and are an integral part of terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems linking these environments. Tropical amphibians face a severe decline crisis with ca. 35% of species being currently threatened in the Neotropics. We analyzed the potential geographical distribution of 16 endangered tree frog species for the continental Neotropics. We found that nine species have small geographic ranges with only 25% of its potential distribution being currently protected in the Neotropics. It’s necessary to prioritize and implement additional conservation areas to ensure the protection of amphibians due to most Neotropical species have only the periphery of their distribution protected with its core distribution outside protected areas. These species may be especially threatened because they now occur in small, isolated subpopulations due to habitat fragmentation and loss. Remaining habitats for threatened frogs need to be managed as a coordinate network including site-scale (e.g. critical microhabitats for the reproduction of amphibians) and landscape-scale actions (e.g. conservation area network) to buffer the extinction-driven process. Neotropical amphibian conservation is a challenge that requires the help of people from different levels of society. More social effort is needed to reduce natural resources overexploitation, trafficking and collecting of amphibians, as well as sustaining and protecting natural habitats. Reader comments are generally moderated. If you find something inappropriate, please contact Tropical Conservation Science. The opinions expressed in reader comments are those of the author only, and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of other authors or Tropical Conservation Science. |
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Tropical Conservation Science is an open-access e-journal that publishes research relating to conservation of tropical forests and other tropical ecosystems.
Volume 1: Issue 3 Table of Contents Articles Jacob Rodas-Trejo et al. Kideghesho & Mtoni Urbina-Cardona von May et al. Carvajal-Cogollo & Urbina-Cardona. Urbina-Cardona & Loyola All issues Mar 2008 Jun 2008 Sep 2008 Dec 2008 Mar 2009 Jun 2009 Sep 2009 Dec 2009 Mar 2010 Jun 2010 Sep 2010 Dec 2010 Mar 2011 Jun 2011 Sep 2011 Dec 2011 Mar 2012 Jun 2012 Sep 2012 Dec 2012 Mar 2013 Jun 2013 Aug 2013 Sep 2013 Nov 2013 Dec 2013 Mar 2014 Jun 2014 Sep 2014 Dec 2014 Mar 2015 Jun 2015 Sep 2015 Dec 2015 Mar 2016 Jun 2016 Most downloaded 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 All time ADVERTISEMENT SEARCH  This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License. |
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