Resolving management conflicts: could agricultural land provide the answer for an endangered species in a habitat classified as a World Heritage Site?

Abstract

SUMMARYThe short-interval fires required to promote grazing for large herbivores within the Cape Floristic Region World Heritage Site are detrimental to plant diversity. At the same time, longer interval fires significantly reduce graze quality. Conservation managers thus face an enormous challenge when the herbivores are also a conservation priority, since the competing conservation objectives are difficult to reconcile. Population growth rates of genetically important populations of endangered Cape mountain zebra (Equus zebra zebra) are low or declining following management focused on their fynbos habitat. Investigation of spatial and temporal habitat use and the diet of Cape mountain zebra, focusing on the use of land historically converted to agricultural grassland within fynbos in De Hoop Nature Reserve (South Africa), determined factors limiting populations and facilitated development of management strategies. Zebras selected grassland over other habitat types, despite grassland accounting for only a small proportion of the reserve. Grasses also made up the greatest proportion of diet for zebras throughout the year. Time spent on grasslands increased with grass height and was likely to have been influenced by grass protein levels. It is likely that grazing resources are a limiting factor for zebra, and so options for improving and/or increasing grassland at De Hoop should be considered. Translocation of surplus males to other conservation areas, reductions in other herbivore populations and targeted burns to increase grassland availability all offer short-term solutions. However, the acquisition of agricultural grassland adjacent to reserves is likely to be a viable long-term management strategy for this and other genetically important Cape mountain zebra populations. Low conservation priority habitats, such as farmland, should be considered for other management conflicts, as they have the potential to play a vital role in conservation.

The importance of farmland for the conservation of the brown hyaena Parahyaena brunnea

“…In recent years however, they have come to be seen as inadequate for the conservation of wide-ranging territorial carnivores that cannot be contained within the boundaries of patches of land, sometimes small and isolated, designated for the purpose. As a result the importance of landscape-scale conservation that encompasses non-protected areas is now acknowledged (Woodroffe & Ginsberg, 2000;Smith et al, 2011;Limiñana et al, 2012). Loss of habitat is widely considered to be one of the major factors affecting the survival of mammalian predators.…”

Adaptive Governance of Cape Mountain Zebra, Can It Work?

“…Additional protected areas within the NDR have suitable habitat, but it is essential to apply appropriate stocking models considerate of the forage production potential, climate, total game stocking, size of suitable habitat, accessibility to water and areas of high grass cover. It has also been suggested that environments transformed by agriculture may be suitable for Cape mountain zebra (Smith et al 2011).…”

“…Habitat suitability studies were conducted for Bontebok NP (Kraaij and Novellie 2010;Watson et al 2011;Strauss 2015), De Hoop NR (Smith et al 2007;Hurzuk 2009;Smith et al 2011), Gamkaberg NR (Watson et al 2005), Mountain Zebra NP (Winkler and Owen-Smith 1995) and Kammanassie NR . All studies showed that Cape mountain zebra prefer habitat with a high grassy component, and that only small portions of these reserves have suitable habitat for the species (Hurzuk 2009;Strauss 2015).…”

“…Habitat quality and quantity is negatively impacted by modification, groundwater abstraction, erosion, alien invasive species, inappropriate fire management, overstocking and transformation (Penzhorn and Novellie 1991;Winkler and Owen-Smith 1995;Watson and Chadwick 2007;Hurzuk 2009;Kraaij and Novellie 2010;Smith et al 2011;Watson et al 2011;Schutte-Vlok et al 2012;Strauss 2015;Birss et al 2016;).…”

“…identifying spatially explicit priorities and actions for the conservation of Cape mountain zebra) (Penzhorn and Novellie 1991;Winkler and Owen-Smith 1995;Margules and Pressey 2000;Kerley et al 2003;Watson et al 2005;Smith et al 2007;Hurzuk 2009;Ryers et al 2010;Kraaij and Novellie 2010;Watson et al 2011;Smith et al 2011;Hrabar and Kerley 2013;Birss and Schutte-Vlok 2015 pers. comm.…”