Landscape Connectivity for Elephant Movement in Kruger National Park, South Africa
Landscape Connectivity for Elephant Movement in Kruger National Park, South Africa

Author: Wenjing Xu

Publisher:

Published: 2016

Total Pages: 174

ISBN-13:

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African elephant (Loxodonta africana) population growth in Kruger National Park (KNP) and the subsequent environmental impacts, such as decreased biodiversity, has raised conservation concerns demanding thorough understandings about elephant behavior interplay with landscape dynamics. This thesis aims to examine how African elephant movement is affected by landscape changes in KNP from a combined geographic and ecological perspective. A landscape "Availability-Suitability-Connectivity" framework was employed to systematically evaluate landscape dynamics related to elephant movement by integrating GPS tracking data, satellite imagery and habitat suitability modeling as inputs. Following this framework, the study developed an individual-based model to simulate elephant movements and resulting landscape networks under various landscape conditions. Taken together, this study highlighted appealing features of coupling geospatial technologies and ecological modeling methods to assess relationships between animal movement and landscape connectivity, to evaluate potential impacts of landscape changes, and to inform effective conservation practices.

Elephant management
Elephant management

Author: Robert (Bob) Scholes

Publisher: NYU Press

Published: 2008-03-01

Total Pages: 551

ISBN-13: 1776142276

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Elephants are among the most magnificent – but also most problematic –members of South Africa's wildlife population. While they are sought after by South African and foreign tourists alike, they also have a major impact on their environment. As a result, elephant management has become a highly complex and often controversial discipline. The information needed to underpin vital decisions about elephant management has largely been unavailable to decision-makers, contested by experts, or simply unknown. As a result, the South African Minister for Environmental Affairs and Tourism convened a round table to advise him on this issue. The round table recommended that a scientific assessment of elephant management be undertaken to gather, evaluate, and present all the relevant information on this topic. Its main findings and recommendations are contained in this volume. Elephant Management is the first book of its kind, combining the work of more than 60 national and international experts. Extensively reviewed by policy-makers and other stakeholders, it is the most systematic and comprehensive review of savanna elephant populations and factors relevant to managing them to date. As such it is of interest to a broad spectrum of readers in South Africa and elsewhere. Above all, it is aimed at helping conservation policy-makers and practitioners to choose the best possible options for the sustainable preservation of these iconic animals.

The Amboseli Elephants
The Amboseli Elephants

Author: Cynthia J. Moss

Publisher: University of Chicago Press

Published: 2011-03-15

Total Pages: 401

ISBN-13: 0226542238

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Elephants have fascinated humans for millennia. Aristotle wrote of them with awe and Hannibal used them in warfare. This book is the summation of what's been learned from the Amboseli Elephant Research Project (AERP) - the longest continuously running elephant research project in the world.

The Kruger Experience
The Kruger Experience

Author: Johan T. du Toit

Publisher: Island Press

Published: 2003-10-01

Total Pages: 0

ISBN-13: 9781559639811

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Kruger National Park in South Africa has one of the most extensive sets of records of any protected area in the world, and throughout its history has supported connections between science and management. In recognition of that long-standing tradition comes The Kruger Experience, the first book to synthesize/summarize a century of ecological research and management in two million hectares of African savanna. The Kruger Experience places the scientific and management experience in Kruger within the framework of modern ecological theory and its practical applications. The book uses a cross-cutting theme of ecological heterogeneity -- the idea that ecological systems function across a full hierarchy of physical and biological components, processes, and scales, in a dynamic space-time mosaic. Contributors, who include many esteemed ecologists who have worked in Kruger in recent years, examine a range of topics covering broad taxonomic groupings and ecological processes. The book's four sections explore: the historical context of research and management in Kruger, the theme of heterogeneity, and the current philosophy in Kruger for linking science with management the template of natural components and processes, as influenced by management, that determine the present state of the Kruger ecosystem how species interact within the ecosystem to generate further heterogeneity across space and time humans as key components of savanna ecosystems In addition to the editors, contributors include William J. Bond, Jane Lubchenco, David Mabunda, Michael G.L. ("Gus") Mills, Robert J. Naiman, Norman Owen-Smith, Steward T.A. Pickett, Stuart L. Pimm, and Rober J. Scholes. The book is an invaluable new resource for scientists and managers involved with large, conserved ecosystems as well as for conservation practitioners and others with interests in adaptive management, the societal context of conservation, links between research and management in parks, and parks/academic partnerships.

Conservation Biology in Sub-Saharan Africa
Conservation Biology in Sub-Saharan Africa

Author: Richard Primack

Publisher: Open Book Publishers

Published: 2019-09-10

Total Pages: 712

ISBN-13: 1783747536

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Conservation Biology in Sub-Saharan Africa comprehensively explores the challenges and potential solutions to key conservation issues in Sub-Saharan Africa. Easy to read, this lucid and accessible textbook includes fifteen chapters that cover a full range of conservation topics, including threats to biodiversity, environmental laws, and protected areas management, as well as related topics such as sustainability, poverty, and human-wildlife conflict. This rich resource also includes a background discussion of what conservation biology is, a wide range of theoretical approaches to the subject, and concrete examples of conservation practice in specific African contexts. Strategies are outlined to protect biodiversity whilst promoting economic development in the region. Boxes covering specific themes written by scientists who live and work throughout the region are included in each chapter, together with recommended readings and suggested discussion topics. Each chapter also includes an extensive bibliography. Conservation Biology in Sub-Saharan Africa provides the most up-to-date study in the field. It is an essential resource, available on-line without charge, for undergraduate and graduate students, as well as a handy guide for professionals working to stop the rapid loss of biodiversity in Sub-Saharan Africa and elsewhere.

African Elephant Status Report 2002
African Elephant Status Report 2002

Author: J. J. Blanc

Publisher: IUCN

Published: 2003

Total Pages: 316

ISBN-13: 9782831707075

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The African elephant is the largest living land mammal, and their potential impact on their habitats raises important management issues both for protected areas and unprotected land. This Status Report, derived from data contained in the African Elephant Database, is rich in data and information on numbers, distribution and current issues, and provides continent-wide information that is vital for conservation. It will help wildlife management authorities to harmonize their policy and management decisions across regions, as well as the continent, to reduce conflict and relax the pressure on habitats.

We Alone
We Alone

Author: David Western

Publisher: Yale University Press

Published: 2020-11-24

Total Pages: 335

ISBN-13: 0300256329

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A thoughtful exploration of how humans have endangered the Earth but can pull it back from the brink, as told by a renowned conservationist This personal and thoughtful book by renowned Kenya conservationist David Western traces our global conquest from Maasai herders battling droughts in Africa to the technological frontiers of California. Western draws on a half century of research in the savannas and his own life’s journey to argue that conservation is not a modern invention. The success of all societies past and present lies in conservation practices, breaking biological barriers and learning to live in large cooperative groups able to sustain a healthy environment. Our ecological emancipation from nature enabled us to expand our horizons from conserving food and water for survival to saving whales, elephants, and our cultural heritage. In the Anthropocene, our scientific knowledge and modern sensibilities offer hope for combating global warming and creating a planet able to sustain the wealth of life, but only if we use our unique cultural capacity of cooperation to plan our future.

National Park Science
National Park Science

Author: Jane Carruthers

Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Published: 2017-08-17

Total Pages: 563

ISBN-13: 1107191440

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This book explains the changing philosophies and permutations in research and management of South Africa's national parks during the twentieth century.