Accelerated Human Population Growth at Protected Area Edges

Wittemyer, George; Elsen, Paul R.; Bean, William T.; Burton, A. Cole; Brashares, Justin S.

doi:10.1126/science.1158900

Cited by 575 publications

(560 citation statements)

References 17 publications

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“…This result is consistent with the predicted impacts from increases of human settlement around protected areas elsewhere in Africa (Harcourt et al 2001;Wittemyer et al 2008). Hilborn et al (2006) suggested that these negative consequences are mitigated by increases in enforcement of wildlife laws by protected area authorities.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 80%

“…Wittemyer et al (2008) have shown that average human population growth rates on the borders of protected areas in Africa and Latin America were nearly double the average rural growth, suggesting that protected areas attracted human settlement. People perceive or obtain benefit from their proximity to such areas (de Sherbinin and Freudenberger 1998;Scholte 2003) but, there could be a concomitant threat to biodiversity within them.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Evaluating the protection of wildlife in parks: the case of African buffalo in Serengeti

et al. 2010

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Human population growth rates on the borders of protected areas in Africa are nearly double the average rural growth, suggesting that protected areas attract human settlement. Increasing human populations could be a threat to biodiversity through increases in illegal hunting. In the Serengeti ecosystem, Tanzania, there have been marked declines in black rhino (Diceros bicornis), elephant (Loxodonta africana) and African buffalo (Syncerus caffer) inside the protected area during a period when there was a reduction of protection through anti-poaching effort . Subsequently, protection effort has increased and has remained stable. During both periods there were major differences in population decline and recovery in different areas. The purpose of this paper is to analyse the possible causes of the spatial differences. We used a spatially structured population model to analyze the impacts of three factors-(i) hunting, (ii) food shortage and (iii) natural predation. Population changes were best explained by illegal hunting but model fit improved with the addition of predation mortality and the effect of food supply in areas where hunting was least. We used a GIS analysis to determine variation in human settlement rates and related those rates to intrinsic population changes in buffalo. Buffalo populations in close proximity to areas with higher rates of human settlement had low or 123Biodivers Conserv (2010) 19:3431-3444 DOI 10.1007/s10531-010-9904-z negative rates of increase and were slowest to recover or failed to recover at all. The increase in human populations along the western boundary of the Serengeti ecosystem has led to negative consequences for wildlife populations, pointing to the need for enforcement of wildlife laws to mitigate these effects.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 80%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Evaluating the protection of wildlife in parks: the case of African buffalo in Serengeti

et al. 2010

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“…Most carnivore populations reside within and adjacent to protected areas (PAs), which face increasing pressure from rapid human population growth on their periphery (Wittemyer et al. 2008). Peripheral human encroachment and activities can limit carnivore populations within PAs (edge effects; Pulliam 1988; Woodroffe and Ginsberg 1998) and can draw individuals from PAs (attractive sinks; Loveridge et al.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Effects of a protection gradient on carnivore density and survival: an example with leopards in the Luangwa valley, Zambia

Rosenblatt

Creel

Becker

et al. 2016

Ecology and Evolution

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Human activities on the periphery of protected areas can limit carnivore populations, but measurements of the strength of such effects are limited, largely due to difficulties of obtaining precise data on population density and survival. We measured how density and survival rates of a previously unstudied leopard population varied across a gradient of protection and evaluated which anthropogenic activities accounted for observed patterns. Insights into this generalist's response to human encroachment are likely to identify limiting factors for other sympatric carnivore species. Motion‐sensitive cameras were deployed systematically in adjacent, similarly sized, and ecologically similar study areas inside and outside Zambia's South Luangwa National Park (SLNP) from 2012 to 2014. The sites differed primarily in the degree of human impacts: SLNP is strictly protected, but the adjacent area was subject to human encroachment and bushmeat poaching throughout the study, and trophy hunting of leopards prior to 2012. We used photographic capture histories with robust design capture–recapture models to estimate population size and sex‐specific survival rates for the two areas. Leopard density within SLNP was 67% greater than in the adjacent area, but annual survival rates and sex ratios did not detectably differ between the sites. Prior research indicated that wire‐snare occurrence was 5.2 times greater in the areas adjacent to the park. These results suggest that the low density of leopards on the periphery of SLNP is better explained by prey depletion, rather than by direct anthropogenic mortality. Long‐term spatial data from concurrent lion studies suggested that interspecific competition did not produce the observed patterns. Large carnivore populations are often limited by human activities, but science‐based management policies depend on methods to rigorously and quantitatively assess threats to populations of concern. Using noninvasive robust design capture–recapture methods, we systematically assessed leopard density and survival across a protection gradient and identified bushmeat poaching as the likely limiting factor. This approach is of broad value to evaluate the impacts of anthropogenic activities on carnivore populations that are distributed across gradients of protection.

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“…As an indicator of the value humans place upon functioning ecosystems, in many areas of the world human populations have been migrating to settlements around protected areas for their ecosystem services such as water, wildlife, and fire-wood as well as for economic opportunities (Wittemyer et al 2008).…”

Section: Integrating Social Goalsmentioning

confidence: 99%