Large Herbivore Ecology, Ecosystem Dynamics and Conservation

Large Herbivore Ecology, Ecosystem Dynamics and Conservation PDF Author: Kjell Danell
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 1139455842
Category : Nature
Languages : en
Pages : 489

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Book Description
Most large herbivores require some type of management within their habitats. Some populations of large herbivores are at the brink of extinction, some are under discussion for reintroduction, whilst others already occur in dense populations causing conflicts with other land use. Large herbivores are the major drivers for forming the shape and function of terrestrial ecosystems. This 2006 book addresses the scientifically based action plans to manage both the large herbivore populations and their habitats worldwide. It covers the processes by which large herbivores not only affect their environment (e.g. grazing) but are affected by it (e.g. nutrient cycling) and the management strategies required. Also discussed are new modeling techniques, which help assess integration processes in a landscape context, as well as assessing the consequences of new developments in the processes of conservation. This book will be essential reading for all involved in the management of both large herbivores and natural resources.

Large Herbivore Ecology, Ecosystem Dynamics and Conservation

Large Herbivore Ecology, Ecosystem Dynamics and Conservation PDF Author: Kjell Danell
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 1139455842
Category : Nature
Languages : en
Pages : 489

Get Book

Book Description
Most large herbivores require some type of management within their habitats. Some populations of large herbivores are at the brink of extinction, some are under discussion for reintroduction, whilst others already occur in dense populations causing conflicts with other land use. Large herbivores are the major drivers for forming the shape and function of terrestrial ecosystems. This 2006 book addresses the scientifically based action plans to manage both the large herbivore populations and their habitats worldwide. It covers the processes by which large herbivores not only affect their environment (e.g. grazing) but are affected by it (e.g. nutrient cycling) and the management strategies required. Also discussed are new modeling techniques, which help assess integration processes in a landscape context, as well as assessing the consequences of new developments in the processes of conservation. This book will be essential reading for all involved in the management of both large herbivores and natural resources.

Self-regulating ecosystem dynamics in future wilderness development driven by large herbivore-wildfire-vegetation interactions

Self-regulating ecosystem dynamics in future wilderness development driven by large herbivore-wildfire-vegetation interactions PDF Author: Kiowa Alraune Schulze
Publisher: kassel university press GmbH
ISBN: 3737606765
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 132

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Book Description
In the context of the rewilding Europe debate, the German national strategy on biodiversity aims to dedicate two percent of the German state area to wilderness development until 2020. Many of these potential large wilderness reserves harbor open habitats that require protection according to the Flora-Fauna-Habitat-directive of the European Union. As forests prevail in potential natural vegetation, research is required in future wilderness development in Central Europe, to which extent wild large herbivores and natural disturbances may create semi-open landscape patterns in the long-term. The spatially explicit process-based ecosystem model “WoodPaM” was used to simulate various potential future wilderness scenarios in order to analyze the long-term interactions between wild intermediate foraging large herbivores, natural wildfires and vegetation dynamics. It required the integrative analysis of future wilderness dynamics in the context of a balanced representation of all relevant processes to reveal the emergence of the ecosystem property “self-regulation” in wilderness landscapes as well as of novel landscape patterns in future wilderness areas.

Dynamics of Large Herbivore Populations in Changing Environments

Dynamics of Large Herbivore Populations in Changing Environments PDF Author: Norman Owen-Smith
Publisher: John Wiley & Sons
ISBN: 9781444318609
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 216

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Book Description
This book aims to reconcile theoretical models of population dynamics with what is currently known about the population dynamics of large mammalian herbivores. It arose from a working group established at the National Center for Ecological Analysis and Synthesis at the University of California, Santa Barbara, to address the need for models that better accommodate environmental variability, especially for herbivores dependent on changing vegetation resources. The initial chapter reviews findings from definitive long-term studies of certain other ungulate populations, many based on individually identifiable animals. Other chapters cover climatic influences, emphasising temperate versus tropical contrasts, and demographic processes underlying population dynamics, more generally. There are new assessments of irruptive population dynamics, and of the consequences of landscape heterogeneity for herbivore populations. An initial review of candidate population models is followed up by a final chapter outlining how these models might be modified to better accommodate environmental variability. The contents provide a foundation for resolving problems of diminishing large mammal populations in Africa, over-abundant ungulate populations elsewhere, and general consequences of global change for biodiversity conservation. This book will serve as a definitive outline of what is currently known about the population dynamics of large herbivores.

Serengeti III

Serengeti III PDF Author: A. R. E. Sinclair
Publisher: University of Chicago Press
ISBN: 0226760359
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 534

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Book Description
Serengeti National Park is one of the world’s most diverse ecosystems, a natural laboratory for ecology, evolution, and conservation, with a history that dates back at least four million years to the beginnings of human evolution. The third book of a ground- breaking series, Serengeti III is the result of a long-term integrated research project that documents changes to this unique ecosystem every ten years. Bringing together researchers from a wide range of disciplines—ecologists, paleontologists, economists, social scientists, mathematicians, and disease specialists— this volume focuses on the interactions between the natural system and the human-dominated agricultural system. By examining how changes in rainfall, wildebeest numbers, commodity prices, and human populations have impacted the Serengeti ecosystem, the authors conclude that changes in the natural system have affected human welfare just as changes in the human system have impacted the natural world. To promote both the conservation of biota and the sustainability of human welfare, the authors recommend community-based conservation and protected-area conservation. Serengeti III presents a timely and provocative look at the conservation status of one of earth’s most renowned ecosystems.

Ecosystem Dynamics of the Boreal Forest

Ecosystem Dynamics of the Boreal Forest PDF Author: Charles J. Krebs
Publisher: Oxford University Press on Demand
ISBN: 9780195133936
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 511

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Book Description
The boreal forest is one of the world's great ecosystems, stretching across North America and Eurasia in an unbroken band and containing about 25% of the world's closed canopy forests. The Kluane Boreal Forest Ecosystem Project was a 10-year study by nine of Canada's leading ecologists to unravel the impact of the snowshoe hare cycle on the plants and the other vertebrate species in the boreal forest. In much of the boreal forest, the snowshoe hare acts as a keystone herbivore, fluctuating in 9-10 year cycles, and dragging along secondary cycles in predators such as lynx and great-horned owls. By manipulating the ecosystem on a large scale from the bottom via fertilizer additions and from the top by predator exclosures, they have traced the plant-herbivore relationships and the predator-prey relationships in this ecosystem to try to answer the question of what drives small mammal population cycles. This study is unique in being large scale and experimental on a relatively simple ecosystem, with the overall goal of defining what determines community structure in the boreal forest. Ecosystem Dynamics of the Boreal Forest: The Kluane Project summarizes these findings, weaving new discoveries of the role of herbivores-turned-predators, compensatory plant growth, and predators-eating-predators with an ecological story rich in details and clear in its findings of a community where predation plays a key role in determining the fate of individuals and populations. The study of the Kluane boreal forest raises key questions about the scale of conservation required for boreal forest communities and the many mammals and birds that live there.

The Ecology of Large Herbivores in South and Southeast Asia

The Ecology of Large Herbivores in South and Southeast Asia PDF Author: Farshid Ahrestani
Publisher: Springer
ISBN: 9401775702
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 257

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Book Description
Large terrestrial mammalian herbivores play critical roles in ecosystems by acting as regulators of energy and nutrient cycles, modulators of plant community composition and grassland-woodland transitions, agents of seed dispersal, and as prey for large carnivores. Though large herbivores represent a prominent component of mammalian assemblages throughout South and Southeast Asia, little is known about their roles in ecosystems in the region. This volume presents, for the first time, a collection of studies on the ecology of the rich and diverse large herbivore assemblages of South and Southeast Asia. Prepared by experts on herbivores of the region, it covers a comprehensive range of topics, including their evolutionary history, behavioural, nutritional, and population ecology, patterns of diversity across environmental gradients, roles as seed dispersers and regulators of plant growth, community compositions, and their conservation in the face of hunting and global change.

Savanna Woody Plants and Large Herbivores

Savanna Woody Plants and Large Herbivores PDF Author: Peter Frank Scogings
Publisher: John Wiley & Sons
ISBN: 1119081106
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 794

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Book Description
Insights on current research and recent developments in understanding global savanna systems Increasingly recognized as synonymous with tropical grassy biomes, savannas are found in tropical and sub-tropical climates as well as warm, temperate regions of North America. Savanna Woody Plants and Large Herbivores examines the interactions between woody plants and browsing mammals in global savannas—focusing primarily on the C4 grassy ecosystems with woody components that constitute the majority of global savannas—and discusses contemporary savanna management models and applications. This much-needed addition to current research examines topics including the varying behavior of browsing mammals, the response to browsing by woody species, and the factors that inhibit forage intake. Contributions from an international team of active researchers and experts compare and contrast different savanna ecosystems, offering a global perspective on savanna functioning, the roles of soil and climate in resource availability and organism interaction, and the possible impacts of climate change across global savannas. Fills a gap in literature on savanna management issues, including biodiversity conservation and animal production Applies concepts developed in other biomes to future savanna research Complements contemporary books on savanna or large herbivore ecology Focuses on the woody component of savanna ecosystems and large herbivore interactions in savannas Compares tree-mammal systems of savannas and other eco-systems of temperate and boreal regions Provides numerous case studies of plant-mammal interactions from various savanna ecosystems Savanna Woody Plants and Large Herbivores is a valuable addition to those in fields such as ecology, wildlife and conservation biology, natural resource management, and environmental science.

Spatial Dynamics and Ecology of Large Ungulate Populations in Tropical Forests of India

Spatial Dynamics and Ecology of Large Ungulate Populations in Tropical Forests of India PDF Author: N. Samba Kumar
Publisher: Springer Nature
ISBN: 9811569347
Category : Nature
Languages : en
Pages : 195

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Book Description
Large ungulates in tropical forests are among the most threatened taxa of mammals. Excessive hunting, degradation of and encroachments on their natural habitats by humans have contributed to drastic reductions in wild ungulate populations in recent decades. As such, reliable assessments of ungulate-habitat relationships and the spatial dynamics of their populations are urgently needed to provide a scientific basis for conservation efforts. However, such rigorous assessments are methodologically complex and logistically difficult, and consequently many commonly used ungulate population survey methods do not address key problems. As a result of such deficiencies, key parameters related to population distribution, abundance, habitat ecology and management of tropical forest ungulates remain poorly understood. This book addresses this critical knowledge gap by examining how population abundance patterns in five threatened species of large ungulates vary across space in the tropical forests of the Nagarahole-Bandipur reserves in southwestern India. It also explains the development and application of an innovative methodology – spatially explicit line transect sampling – based on an advanced hierarchical modelling under the Bayesian inferential framework, which overcomes common methodological deficiencies in current ungulate surveys. The methods and results presented provide valuable reference material for researchers and professionals involved in studying and managing wild ungulate populations around the globe.

Dynamics of Large Herbivore Populations in Changing Environments

Dynamics of Large Herbivore Populations in Changing Environments PDF Author: Norman Owen-Smith
Publisher: Wiley-Blackwell
ISBN: 9781405198943
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 216

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Book Description
This book aims to reconcile theoretical models of population dynamics with what is currently known about the population dynamics of large mammalian herbivores. It arose from a working group established at the National Center for Ecological Analysis and Synthesis at the University of California, Santa Barbara, to address the need for models that better accommodate environmental variability, especially for herbivores dependent on changing vegetation resources. The initial chapter reviews findings from definitive long-term studies of certain other ungulate populations, many based on individually identifiable animals. Other chapters cover climatic influences, emphasising temperate versus tropical contrasts, and demographic processes underlying population dynamics, more generally. There are new assessments of irruptive population dynamics, and of the consequences of landscape heterogeneity for herbivore populations. An initial review of candidate population models is followed up by a final chapter outlining how these models might be modified to better accommodate environmental variability. The contents provide a foundation for resolving problems of diminishing large mammal populations in Africa, over-abundant ungulate populations elsewhere, and general consequences of global change for biodiversity conservation. This book will serve as a definitive outline of what is currently known about the population dynamics of large herbivores.

Rewilding

Rewilding PDF Author: Nathalie Pettorelli
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 1108472672
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 465

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Book Description
Discusses the benefits and risks, as well as the economic and socio-political realities, of rewilding as a novel conservation tool.