Saiga antelope calving site selection is increasingly driven by human disturbance

Singh, Navinder J.; Grachev, Iu. A.; Bekenov, A. B.; Milner‐Gulland, E. J.

doi:10.1016/j.biocon.2010.04.026

Cited by 63 publications

(69 citation statements)

References 43 publications

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“…Effective protection of critical habitats, such as the calving grounds of ungulates, has received much attention [60,67]. Rutting ranges, however, have a limited and relatively well-defined geographical extent, often with high densities of animals, but are not targeted by legislated protection.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Temporally dynamic habitat suitability predicts genetic relatedness among caribou

et al. 2014

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Landscape heterogeneity plays a central role in shaping ecological and evolutionary processes. While species utilization of the landscape is usually viewed as constant within a year, the spatial distribution of individuals is likely to vary in time in relation to particular seasonal needs. Understanding temporal variation in landscape use and genetic connectivity has direct conservation implications. Here, we modelled the daily use of the landscape by caribou in Quebec and Labrador, Canada and tested its ability to explain the genetic relatedness among individuals. We assessed habitat selection using locations of collared individuals in migratory herds and static occurrences from sedentary groups. Connectivity models based on habitat use outperformed a baseline isolation-by-distance model in explaining genetic relatedness, suggesting that variations in landscape features such as snow, vegetation productivity and land use modulate connectivity among populations. Connectivity surfaces derived from habitat use were the best predictors of genetic relatedness. The relationship between connectivity surface and genetic relatedness varied in time and peaked during the rutting period. Landscape permeability in the period of mate searching is especially important to allow gene flow among populations. Our study highlights the importance of considering temporal variations in habitat selection for optimizing connectivity across heterogeneous landscape and counter habitat fragmentation.

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Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Temporally dynamic habitat suitability predicts genetic relatedness among caribou

et al. 2014

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“…The saiga antelopes undertake large-scale seasonal migrations between their summer and winter ranges because of the extreme variation in climate conditions and the need for pastures offering sufficient forage. The calving sites are highly variable from year to year and depend on plant phenology, environmental factors, and anthropogenic effects ( 9 ). The analysis of available data showed that the number of saiga antelopes in Kazakhstan over the past 60 years has fluctuated widely, from ≈2 million in the 1970s to ≈50,000 animals in the early 21st century because of poaching and other factors, including a series of mass die-offs ( 10 , 11 ).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Mass Die-Off of Saiga Antelopes, Kazakhstan, 2015

Fereidouni¹,

Freimanis²,

Orynbayev³

et al. 2019

Emerg. Infect. Dis.

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In 2015, a mass die-off of ≈200,000 saiga antelopes in central Kazakhstan was caused by hemorrhagic septicemia attributable to the bacterium Pasteurella multocida serotype B. Previous analyses have indicated that environmental triggers associated with weather conditions, specifically air moisture and temperature in the region of the saiga antelope calving during the 10-day period running up to the event, were critical to the proliferation of latent bacteria and were comparable to conditions accompanying historically similar die-offs in the same areas. We investigated whether additional viral or bacterial pathogens could be detected in samples from affected animals using 3 different high-throughput sequencing approaches. We did not identify pathogens associated with commensal bacterial opportunisms in blood, kidney, or lung samples and thus concluded that P. multocida serotype B was the primary cause of the disease.

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“…Gazelles also might be avoiding free‐ranging household dogs that are common (Buuveibaatar et al 2009; Young et al 2011), or grazing livestock that likely compete for forage around households (Campos‐Arceiz et al 2004; Yoshihara et al 2008). Since our survey occurred in the month before gazelle calving (Odonkhuu et al 2009), there is also the possibility that pregnant gazelles avoid disturbance by humans, as seems true for saiga antelope (Singh et al 2010).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…2009). Saiga antelope ( Saiga tartarica ) calving site selection in central Asia is increasingly driven by human disturbance (Singh et al 2010). Reversing the issue, kiang ( Equus kiang ) in the Indian Himalayas are perceived by pastoralists to be overabundant and grazing on prime pastures for livestock leading to the fencing of prime pastures to exclude kiang from consuming forage that livestock are expected to eat (Bhatnagar et al .…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Death by a thousand huts? Effects of household presence on density and distribution of Mongolian gazelles

Olson

Mueller

Kerby

et al. 2011

Conservation Letters

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In late spring 2005, we surveyed Mongolian gazelle (Procapra gutturosa) populations in a 275,000-km 2 portion the eastern steppe of Mongolia to estimate their population size and assess their distribution with respect to forage and human households. We estimated a total population of 1.126 million (95% CI, 843,000-1,500,000), and found that gazelle distribution could be accurately predicted by a Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) as an approximated measurement of vegetation productivity, and thus habitat quality. However, the presence of households had a considerable impact on gazelle density; in most regions, density was 76-98% lower than in survey blocks where no households were found. We show that in addition to large regional differences in gazelle density throughout their range, the presence of herding households had a negative impact on gazelle density in selected habitat. The conservation of ungulates that depend on the ability to make long-distance nomadic movements requires not only that access to habitat is unimpeded but also that the subtle impacts of activities associated with the presence of people need to be considered.

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Saiga antelope calving site selection is increasingly driven by human disturbance

Cited by 63 publications

References 43 publications

Temporally dynamic habitat suitability predicts genetic relatedness among caribou

Temporally dynamic habitat suitability predicts genetic relatedness among caribou

Mass Die-Off of Saiga Antelopes, Kazakhstan, 2015

Death by a thousand huts? Effects of household presence on density and distribution of Mongolian gazelles

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