The landscape surrounding protected areas influences their ability to maintain ecosystem functions and achieve conservation goals. As anthropogenic intensification continues, it is important to monitor land-use and land-cover change in and around protected areas. We measure land-cover change surrounding protected areas in the Maputaland-Pondoland-Albany Biodiversity hotspot from the 1980s to present. Using Landsat imagery, we classified land cover within and around each protected area. Agricultural land uses were increasing and often directly border protected area boundaries. Human settlements increased around every protected area, potentially increasing human activity along the edges of protected areas and threatening their ecological integrity. Urban expansion around protected areas varied but increased as much as 10%. Woody vegetation cover varied both within and around protected areas with possible evidence of deforestation and shrub encroachment throughout the hotspot. We recommend monitoring land cover across southeastern Africa to better understand regional trends in land-use impacts to protected areas.
Staphylococcus pseudintermedius is an opportunistic and emerging zoonotic pathogen that primarily colonises the skin of dogs. Many common variants are methicillin resistant (MRSP) or multidrug resistant (MDR), and drug resistance is increasingly reported across the globe. In New Zealand, MRSP isolation remains rare in clinics. To pre-emptively inform diagnostic and antimicrobial stewardship practices, we examine isolates of S. pseudintermedius, MRSP and MDR-MRSP from New Zealand dogs using a combination of methodologies. Genetic and genomic data combined with antimicrobial susceptibility screening identify common drug-resistance profiles and their genetic determinants. We demonstrate that sensitive and specific species-level identification of S. pseudintermedius can be achieved using Bruker MALDI-TOF MS and, further, that this technique can be used to identify some common subtype variants, providing a level of categorical precision that falls somewhere between single-locus and multi-locus sequence typing. Comparative genomics analysis of global S. pseudintermedius data shows that MRSP moves frequently across the globe, but that horizontal gene transfer events resulting in the acquisition of the SCCmec cassette (responsible for beta-lactam antibiotic resistance) are infrequent. This suggests that biosecurity and surveillance in addition to antibiotic stewardship should play important roles in mitigating the risk of MRSP, especially in countries such as New Zealand where MRSP is still rare.
The process of hatching has been well studied in some model species of teleosts: the medaka Oryzias latipes, the mummichog Fundulus heteroclitus, and the zebrafish Danio rerio. These models are compared to the California Grunion, Leuresthes tenuis that has some unique features of reproduction related to tidal synchrony of spawning and environmentally cued hatching (ECH). During oviposition at spring tides, this marine teleost spawns out of water to bury its clutches on sandy beaches in the high intertidal zone. After embryos of L. tenuis reach hatching competence, hatching can be triggered at any time. Incubation above the water line inhibits hatching until ECH is triggered by rising tides during the following lunar phase, and hatching occurs within a few seconds. We review the embryo's response to environmental cues at hatching and the effects of the surrounding medium on the chorionase and chorion for this form of ECH. Leuresthes tenuis shares some similarities as well as some important differences with the model species. Comparison of hatching across teleostean taxa indicates great variability in stage at hatching and in duration of incubation that suggest hatching plasticity in response to environmental cues may be more widespread than currently appreciated.
Interactions between humans and wildlife resulting in negative impacts are among the most pressing conservation challenges globally. In regions of smallholder livestock and crop production, interactions with wildlife can compromise human well-being and motivate negative sentiment and retaliation toward wildlife, undermining conservation goals. Although impacts may be unavoidable when human and wildlife land use overlap, scant large-scale human data exist quantifying the direct costs of wildlife to livelihoods. In a landscape of global importance for wildlife conservation in southern Africa, we quantified costs for people living with wildlife through a fundamental measure of human well-being, food security, and we tested whether existing livelihood strategies buffer certain households against crop depredation by wildlife, predominantly elephants. To do this, we estimated Bayesian multilevel statistical models based on multicounty household data (n = 711) and interpreted model results in the context of spatial data from participatory land-use mapping. Reported crop depredation by wildlife was widespread. Over half of the sample households were affected and household food security was reduced significantly (odds ratio 0.37 [0.22, 0.63]). The most food insecure households relied on gathered food sources and welfare programs. In the event of crop depredation by wildlife, these 2 livelihood sources buffered or reduced harmful effects of depredation. The presence of buffering strategies suggests a targeted compensation strategy could benefit the region's most vulnerable people. Such strategies should be combined with dynamic and spatially explicit land-use planning that may reduce the frequency of negative human-wildlife impacts. Quantifying and mitigating the human costs from wildlife are necessary steps in working toward human-wildlife coexistence.
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