Related Papers
Assessing Anthropogenic Impacts on the Persistence of Forest Mammals within the Indian Ocean Coastal Belt of Southern KwaZulu-Natal Province
Yvette Ehlers Smith, Colleen Downs
Forest habitats in a mixed urban-agriculture mosaic landscape: patterns of mammal occupancy
Yvette Ehlers Smith
Context Conservation planning for biodiversity within anthropogenic landscapes is crucial given the rate of habitat conversion and human population growth. Investigating anthropogenic impacts on the persistence of biodiversity is key to management decision-making. Objectives We investigated the influence of protected areas (PAs), agriculture and urbanisation on the occupancy of mammal communities in an anthropogenic matrix containing indigenous forest fragments of the Coastal Belt of southern KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. Methods We integrated camera-trap mammal data, land-use and human population density within occupancy models, and compared occupancy of individual species across the land-use mosaic. Results We modelled occupancy of seven mammal species with sufficient naı¨ve occupancy ([ 0.20, range 0.25–0.87). The occupancy of Philantomba monticola was positively influenced by human population size and was higher within urban areas compared with PAs. Although human population size positively affected Hystrix africaeaustralis occupancy, it along with Atilax paludinosus had a lower occupancy within urban areas. Tragelaphus scriptus and Potamocho*rus larvatus overall had higher and Sylvicapra grimmia had lower occupancies within PAs. Main conclusions Species were variable in their response to the anthropogenic changes in the landscape. For example, occupancy of P. monticola was low within PAs but high in areas where change in land ownership and loss of habitat are threats. For other species, it appeared that the density of infrastructure of the urban landscape, rather than human population density, affected them negatively. However, seasonal differences within different management regimes also provided context-specific influences on occupancy and detectability. We emphasize the importance of natural vegetation patches within anthropogenic
Urban Forestry & Urban Greening
Factors affecting the occupancy of forest mammals in an urban-forest mosaic in EThekwini Municipality, Durban, South Africa
2020 •
mfundo maseko
The Diet of Caracal, Caracal caracal, in Two Areas of the Southern Cape, South Africa as Determined by Scat Analysis
Alexander Braczkowski, Monique Rossi
Caracal (Caracal caracal) diet in southern Africa has primarily been quantified in protected areas dominated by natural vegetation. Here we present data on the diet of caracal ranging in two coastal landscapes (George and Vleesbaai, South Africa) with considerable anthropogenic modification (pine plantation and agricultural land). In terms of the corrected frequency of occurrence (CFO), rodents dominated the diet (>70%) and the vlei rat (Otomys irroratus) formed the bulk in terms of volume of the rodents recorded in the diet at both sites. Bushbuck (Tragelaphus scriptus) formed an important component of the diet in George (11.4% CFO) while small carnivores comprised 11.6% CFO in Vleesbaai. Although our results are relevant in light of the extensively modified vegetation of this part of South Africa's coastal region, they are unlikely to represent the full extent of the diet in Vleesbaai, as farmers in this region regularly report livestock losses attributed to caracal.
Journal of East African Natural History
Africa's Forgotten Forests: The Conservation Value of Kenya's Northern Coastal Forests for Large Mammals
2018 •
Bernard Agwanda
Animal Conservation
Fragment and life-history correlates of extinction vulnerability of forest mammals in an urban-forest mosaic in EThekwini Municipality, Durban, South Africa
2018 •
mfundo maseko
Diet of leopards in the southern Cape, South Africa
Alexander Braczkowski
The leopard Panthera pardus is the most widespread large felid and although diet in sub-Saharan Africa is diverse, preferred prey range between 10 and 40 kg. Leopard diet has been studied in savannah, tropical forest and recently in fynbos, and here we report on the diet of leopard ranging in a landscape comprised of Afrotemperate forest, plantations and pastureland. Presently human/leopard conflict in the region is relatively low; this may change, however, because of increased urban and agricultural development. Leopard diet is therefore of interest, and our study had the following aims: (i) to investigate the dietary composition of leopards; and (ii) to determine the prey preference of leopards.
PLOS ONE
Land use, REDD+ and the status of wildlife populations in Yaeda Valley, northern Tanzania
Bernard Kissui
Global Ecology and Conservation
Effects of landscape context on mammal richness in the urban forest mosaic of EThekwini Municipality, Durban, South Africa
2019 •
mfundo maseko
Quaternary International
"But what silence! No more gazelles…": Occurrence and extinction of fauna in Lesotho, southern Africa, since the late Pleistocene
2020 •
David Nash
Understanding the historical dynamics of wildlife distribution and abundance is essential to developing appropriate conservation measures. Here we investigate the occurrence and status of medium-to large-sized fauna (excluding avifauna) for the mountain Kingdom of Lesotho and immediate adjoining regions of South Africa, from the late Pleistocene to the present-day. We provide historical timelines and records of reported medium to large faunal taxa based on: data from eight published archaeological excavations, analyses of several hundred unpublished 19th and 20th century historical documents (including missionary letters, diaries, colonial reports and newspapers), and 58 recent oral history interviews. Vegetation and climate changes through the Holocene are also noted, based on archaeo-botanical records. Through these sources, we record 61 medium to large faunal species for Lesotho and surrounding regions over the past~21 ka, of which only 22 are present today. Some species not previously known to the region are documented (e.g. Temminck's pangolin). Most species were present during the early 19th century, but many regional species extinctions and a major faunal population decline occurred between 1845 and 1850, owing mainly to settler hunting campaigns. Subsequent extinctions have taken place over a wider temporal interval, due to factors including overhunting, human-wildlife conflicts and habitat loss. It seems that some taxa were forced into unsuitable mountain refugia where species eventually succumbed to genetic erosion and/or harsh climatic conditions. Our results increase current understanding of regional faunal and environmental changes, such as the timing of species occurrences and extinction events and processes in Lesotho. Such work adds valuable knowledge to understanding the environmental heritage of the region. Information can be disseminated into wildlife records, national environmental reports, the WWF, the national school environmental educational curriculum and to National Parks and Heritage Sites.
