Usually hated, sometimes loved: A review of wild ungulates' contributions to people

Pascual‐Rico, Roberto; Morales‐Reyes, Zebensui; Aguilera-Alcalá, Natividad; Olszańska, Agnieszka; Sebastián‐González, Esther; Naidoo, Robin; Moleón, Marcos; Lozano, Jorge; Botella, Francisco; Wehrden, Henrik von; Martín‐López, Berta; Sánchez‐Zapata, José A.

doi:10.1016/j.scitotenv.2021.149652

Cited by 24 publications

(11 citation statements)

References 95 publications

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“…On the other hand, local community members also experience detrimental, material NCPs due to local wildlife. These hardships include loss of livestock assets from depredation and disease transmission from wild animals (Pascual-Rico et al, 2021;Woodroffe et al, 2005). Rising global populations, along with ongoing habitat loss and the degradation of ecosystems, have forced humans and wildlife into an increasingly ubiquitous coexistence environmental education measures are targeting the right groups, as these respondents coincide with lower favourability of scavengers' ecosystem services, but may be unable to overcome existing human-wildlife conflict.…”

Section: People's Knowledge and Experiencesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Local ecological knowledge and education drive farmers' contrasting perceptions of scavengers and their function in Nepal

et al. 2022

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There is a long‐standing relationship between humans and vertebrate scavengers, as scavengers' contributions take on regulating (e.g. nutrient recycling and disease control), material (e.g. competition and livestock depredation) and non‐material (e.g. sky burials and ecotourism) roles in society. A social–ecological approach to studying biodiversity is increasingly needed, since the inclusion of local perceptions and knowledge has proven critical for effective conservation programs and ecosystem management. We examine livestock farmers' perceptions and knowledge related to vertebrate scavengers in the highly diverse Chitwan‐Annapurna Landscape (Nepal) and assess the socio‐demographic traits that influence their perceived value of scavengers' ecosystem service provisioning (ESP) index, and function via scavenging services (SS). Farmers' perceptions of functional importance (SS) showed species‐specific gradation, unlike ESP, where only avian scavengers were perceived as beneficial. Our results show that the perception of scavenging as a beneficial ecosystem service and its importance as a biological function are decoupled for facultative scavengers and coupled for obligate scavengers. Relatedly, we identify that affluence‐related traits drove positive perceptions of ESP, and local ecological knowledge‐based traits were linked to increased knowledge of function via SS. Thus, this increased awareness of functional importance based on close contact with nature does not guarantee positive valuations of scavengers' contributions, whereas formal education did influence positive perceptions despite reduced awareness of function. Additionally, our findings suggest that existing environmental education measures are targeting the right groups, as these respondents coincide with lower favourability of scavengers' ecosystem services, but may be unable to overcome existing human–wildlife conflict. For the first time in South Asia, we survey relevant community stakeholder's attitudes towards an entire scavenging guild and their associated benefits, detriments and functional importance. Our study illustrates the varied perceptions that exist for different scavenger species and closely examines a wide‐ranging set of socio‐demographic traits that show disparate influences on farmers' knowledge of ecological function and perceived ecosystem service benefits. Crucially, these findings can guide conservation and management priorities by considering the differences in public perception and awareness of scavenging, as well as the interpretation of nature's contribution to people. Read the free Plain Language Summary for this article on the Journal blog.

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Section: People's Knowledge and Experiencesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Local ecological knowledge and education drive farmers' contrasting perceptions of scavengers and their function in Nepal

et al. 2022

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“…Often, anthropogenic stressors cause disruptions to ecosystems that can lead to population declines if not addressed through restoration and management efforts (DeCesare et al, 2014; Jones et al, 2019; Shanley et al, 2021). Because of their importance for human subsistence and economics and their sensitivity to landscape disturbances, ungulates are often the focus of management actions to restore habitat and maintain connectivity (Berger, 2004; Pascual‐Rico et al, 2021; Runge et al, 2014). For instance, identifying spatial risk factors to understand mechanisms that drive variation in adult female survival is a focus of conservation efforts for threatened woodland caribou ( Rangifer tarandus caribou ) in Alberta, Canada (DeCesare et al, 2014).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Spatiotemporal risk factors predict landscape‐scale survivorship for a northern ungulate

Eacker¹,

Jakes

Jones

2023

Ecosphere

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Effective wildlife conservation requires decomposing the drivers of population dynamics for species affected by anthropogenic habitat alterations. Ungulates are often the focus of management actions to restore habitat and maintain connectivity as they are sensitive to landscape disturbances. We used Bayesian proportional hazards models to assess anthropogenic risk factors that could potentially predict landscape-scale survivorship for pronghorn (Antilocapra americana) in the Northern Sagebrush Steppe ecosystem, where extensive habitat alterations occurred from the conversion of native sagebrush grasslands to agricultural lands. Using 170 adult female pronghorn monitored from 2003 to 2011, we tested the importance of linear features (road and fence densities) and forage productivity (maximum decadal normalized difference vegetation index [NDVI]) for spatiotemporal pronghorn mortality risk, while accounting for a seasonally varying proxy of snow depth. We found moderate support for the effects of linear features on mortality risk as coefficient estimates translated to predicted declines in survivorship of 27.1% over the observed range of road densities (0-1.4 km/km 2 ) and 11.8% over the range of fence densities (0-6.1 km/km 2 ) encountered by pronghorn. Our results also suggested that agricultural areas could act as ecological traps for pronghorn, based on mortality risk increasing by a factor of 14.3% with every 0.1 increase in maximum decadal NDVI in summer (range = 0.38-0.73). Like our previous findings, we found considerable support for the effects of average depth (in centimeters) of snow water equivalent (SWE; SWE depth = snow depth Â snow density/water density) within pronghorn seasonal ranges, with mortality risk increasing by 45.7% with every 1 cm increase in SWE depth (range = 0-5.37 cm). We then developed the first broadscale, spatially explicit map of predicted annual pronghorn survivorship based on anthropogenic features and environmental gradients to identify areas for conservation and habitat restoration efforts.These efforts to highlight anthropogenic risk factors on the landscape will hopefully support conservation and habitat restoration for pronghorn populations at the northern periphery of their range.

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“…This can result in localized and widespread biodiversity loss, diminished human health and wellbeing, and decreased support for conservation initiatives (Kansky et al, 2014; Ngorima et al, 2020; Talukdar & Choudhury, 2020). Large terrestrial herbivores are especially prone to negative interactions with humans due to their substantial dietary and space‐use requirements (Pascual‐Rico et al, 2021; Ripple et al, 2015). This presents a particular challenge for many rural communities living in mixed‐use landscapes in sub‐Saharan Africa that include African savanna elephants Loxodonta africana .…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

A mixed‐methods assessment of human‐elephant conflict in the Western Okavango Panhandle, Botswana

et al. 2023

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Human‐wildlife conflict, where interactions have negative impacts on both people and animals, is complex with underlying drivers and broad ecological and social impacts. From individual incidents and perceptions, to contemporary patterns and long‐term trends, a range of information about human‐wildlife conflict can help understand and manage challenges. However, many studies focus on a single data type or spatiotemporal scale. In the Western Okavango Panhandle in Botswana, people in rural farming communities share and compete for resources with a growing African savanna elephant population. Few previous studies have focused on human‐wildlife interactions in this region. We assessed spatiotemporal trends in human‐elephant conflict using reported conflict incidents (2008–2016), surveys of individual perceptions of conflict encompassing the late 1990s–2016, and detailed field raid assessments from 2016. We found complementary patterns among the data types at different geographic and spatial scales. We found that the number of annual HEC incidents have increased over time, although not evenly across space, with increases primarily in the northern region of the Panhandle. Crop raiding presents both chronic and acute challenges for farmers, with the amount of damage incurred per incident largely dependent on the size of elephant group involved rather than factors within the farmers' control such as guarding or types of crops grown. Our results provide a characterization of contemporary conflict incidents and long‐term trends, despite scarce historical data. Combining the reporting and assessment data with surveyed local ecological knowledge offered a multidimensional understanding of human‐wildlife conflict for a region where this information was lacking. It is an important precursor to effective and collaborative conflict management and mitigation. When possible, this mixed‐methods approach may facilitate understanding for complex human‐wildlife interactions and support the diverse communities and stakeholders involved with conflict‐related challenges. Read the free Plain Language Summary for this article on the Journal blog.

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Usually hated, sometimes loved: A review of wild ungulates' contributions to people

Cited by 24 publications

References 95 publications

Local ecological knowledge and education drive farmers' contrasting perceptions of scavengers and their function in Nepal

Local ecological knowledge and education drive farmers' contrasting perceptions of scavengers and their function in Nepal

Spatiotemporal risk factors predict landscape‐scale survivorship for a northern ungulate

A mixed‐methods assessment of human‐elephant conflict in the Western Okavango Panhandle, Botswana

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