Community-managed forests and wildlife-friendly agriculture play a subsidiary but not substitutive role to protected areas for the endangered Asian elephant

Goswami, Varun R.; Sridhara, Sachin; Medhi, Kamal; Williams, A. Christy; Chellam, Ravi; Nichols, James D.; Oli, Madan K.

doi:10.1016/j.biocon.2014.06.013

Cited by 44 publications

(37 citation statements)

References 51 publications

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“…Our results suggest that we can ascertain the most important areas for dispersal even without detailed information on species-specific responses to the landscape matrix, as long as we are concerned with the entire metacommunity rather than any particular species. Pywell et al 2012, Goswami et al 2014). This provides a simple and low-cost means for countries to greatly improve biodiversity outcomes and fulfill international treaty obligations, such as the Convention on Biological Diversity, which stipulates that "By 2020, at least 17 per cent of terrestrial and inland water areas … are conserved through effectively and equitably managed, ecologically representative and well-connected systems of protected areas…" (CBD 2015; emphasis added).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

How individual links affect network stability in a large‐scale, heterogeneous metacommunity

Brodie

Schnell

2016

Ecology

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Elucidating how dispersal and landscape connectivity influence metacommunity stability will shed light on natural processes structuring ecosystems and help prioritize conservation actions in an increasingly fragmented world. Much of the theoretical and mathematical development of the metacommunity concept has been based on simplified experimental systems or simulated data. We still have limited understanding of how variation in the habitat matrix and species-specific differences in dispersal ability contribute to metacommunity dynamics in heterogeneous landscapes. We model a metacommunity of rainforest mammals in Borneo, a tropical biodiversity hotspot, where protected areas are increasingly isolated by ongoing habitat disturbance and loss. We employ a combination of hierarchical models of local abundance, circuit-theory-based dispersal analysis, and metapopulation models. Our goal was to understand which landscape links were the most important to metapopulation persistence and metacommunity stability. Links were particularly important if they were short and connected two large patches. This was partly because only the very shortest links could be traversed by poorly dispersing species, including small herbivores such as chevrotains (Tragulus spp.) and porcupines. Links that join large patches into a "super-patch" may also promote island-mainland rather than Levins-type metapopulation dynamics for good dispersers, particularly large carnivores such as clouded leopards (Neofelis diardi) and sun bears (Helarctos malayanus), reducing metapopulation extinction risk and thereby enhancing metacommunity stability. Link importance to metacommunity stability was highly correlated between heterogeneous and homogeneous landscapes. But link importance to metapopulation capacity varied strongly across species, and the correlation between heterogeneous and homogeneous landscape matrix scenarios was low for poorly dispersing taxa. This suggests that the environmental conditions in the area between habitat patches, the landscape matrix, is important for assessing certain individual species but less so for understanding the stability of the entire metacommunity.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

How individual links affect network stability in a large‐scale, heterogeneous metacommunity

Brodie

Schnell

2016

Ecology

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“…To meet the habitat requirements of such species, many of which are endangered, conservation programs are increasingly expanding their scale of focus from individual protected areas to heterogeneous landscapes (Sanderson et al, 2002;Wikramanayake et al, 2004). Such a landscape-scale conservation strategy hinges on the use of human land-uses by wildlife (Athreya et al, 2013;Goswami et al, 2014a), but the cooccurrence of large mammal species and people can often lead to negative interactions and conflict between them (NaughtonTreves, 1998; Woodroffe et al, 2005;Goswami et al, 2014b).…”

Section: Landscape-scale Conservation Involves Multiple Considerationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Veterinary fences in Botswana, for instance, have been shown as a barrier for elephant landscape connectivity (Cushman et al, 2010). Community-based guarding or antagonistic responses of local people to elephant presence in their lands can result in an increased perception of risk for elephants traversing human land-uses, thereby limiting their use of these areas (Goswami et al, 2014a). Thus, such strategies or responses can impose a behavioral barrier to connectivity.…”

Section: Conflict Mitigation Strategies As Barriers To Connectivitymentioning

confidence: 99%

Triage of Conservation Needs: The Juxtaposition of Conflict Mitigation and Connectivity Considerations in Heterogeneous, Human-Dominated Landscapes

Goswami

Vasudev

2017

Front. Ecol. Evol.

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Conservation of wide-ranging endangered species is increasingly focused on large heterogeneous landscapes. At such scales, particularly when conservation landscapes are human dominated, it is imperative that prioritization techniques be used to allocate limited resources wisely. Moreover, spatial aspects of conservation planning warrant key consideration within these landscapes, such that certain sites that are key to either mitigating threats to species or to maintaining ecological processes, are prioritized. However, there are often multiple conservation needs, and multiple associated constraints, for species conservation in such landscapes. While there are tools to prioritize sites based on single or few conservation requirements and constraints, there is less knowledge on how these conservation needs, or corresponding management interventions, relate to each other in a scenario where conservation focus on one issue potentially detracts from another. We take the specific example of two conservation needs that are central to landscape-scale conservation of the endangered Asian elephant Elephas maximus, namely the maintenance of connectivity, and the mitigation of human-elephant conflict. We show that conservation decision making, in addition to considering which species and sites to focus on, should also prioritize conservation needs. We review documentation of conflict mitigation and examine if the maintenance of connectivity was simultaneously addressed, and if so, whether optimal conservation solutions differed when connectivity considerations were included. We conclude with a discussion on the triage of conservation needs, and future prospects and challenges in ensuring that landscape-scale conservation strategies account for multiple interacting conservation needs for endangered species in heterogeneous human-dominated landscapes.

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“…Landscapes in which carefully managed extraction and human use areas complement areas under stricter protection might provide wild felids the highest chance for longterm large-scale conservation (Davies et al 2001;Fimbel et al 2001;Meijaard et al 2005;Henschel et al 2011;Jorge et al 2013;Goswami et al 2014;Rayan and Linkie 2015;Bahaa-el-Din et al 2016;Boron et al 2016). Sound management of protected areas should be viewed as a priority complement to well-managed logging concessions using FSC's principles and criteria (FSC 2015a, b).…”

Section: Recommendations and Conclusionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Using certified timber extraction to benefit jaguar and ecosystem conservation

Polisar

Thoisy

Rumiz

et al. 2016

Ambio

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The jaguar Panthera onca requires large areas of relatively intact habitats containing adequate amounts of prey to survive. Since a substantial portion of jaguar range occurs outside of strict protected areas, there is a need for economic incentives for habitat conservation, which carefully managed selective logging can provide. Forest Stewardship Council and Pan European Forest Council certifications intended to regulate wood extraction to maintain the ecological functions of forests require evidence of biodiversity and ecosystem conservation. We draw on twelve surveys across four countries and a range of biomes to present evidence that adequate logging management can maintain jaguar populations, but that they are at risk without efficient control of secondary impacts of access and hunting. Where resident, the presence of jaguars can serve as an indication that the ecological requirements of certified timber extraction are being met. We present a gradient of rigor for monitoring, recommending cost-effective options.

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Community-managed forests and wildlife-friendly agriculture play a subsidiary but not substitutive role to protected areas for the endangered Asian elephant

Cited by 44 publications

References 51 publications

How individual links affect network stability in a large‐scale, heterogeneous metacommunity

How individual links affect network stability in a large‐scale, heterogeneous metacommunity

Triage of Conservation Needs: The Juxtaposition of Conflict Mitigation and Connectivity Considerations in Heterogeneous, Human-Dominated Landscapes

Using certified timber extraction to benefit jaguar and ecosystem conservation

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