Timescales, dynamics, and ecological understanding

ESA Online Journals - Timescales, dynamics, and ecological understanding: "Explicit consideration of timescales and dynamics is required for an understanding of fundamental issues in ecology. Endogenous dynamics can lead to transient states where asymptotic behavior is very different from dynamics on short timescales. The causes of these kinds of transients can be placed in one of three classes: linear systems with different timescales embedded or exhibiting reactive behavior, the potentially long times to reach synchrony across space for oscillating systems, and the complex dynamics of systems with strong density-dependent (nonlinear) interaction"

Wildlife diseases: from individuals to ecosystems - Tompkins - 2010 - Journal of Animal Ecology - Wiley Online Library

Wildlife diseases: from individuals to ecosystems - Tompkins - 2010 - Journal of Animal Ecology - Wiley Online Library: "We review our ecological understanding of wildlife infectious diseases from the individual host to the ecosystem scale, highlighting where conceptual thinking lacks verification, discussing difficulties and challenges, and offering potential future research directions.

2. New molecular approaches hold potential to increase our understanding of parasite interactions within hosts. Also, advances in our knowledge of immune systems makes immunological parameters viable measures of parasite exposure, and useful tools for improving our understanding of causal mechanisms.

3. Studies of transmission dynamics have revealed the importance of heterogeneity in host behaviour and physiology, and of contact processes operating at different spatial and temporal scales. An important future challenge is to determine the key transmission mechanisms maintaining the persistence of different types of diseases in the wild.

4. Regulation of host populations is too complex to consider parasite effects in isolation from other factors. One solution is to seek a unified understanding of the conditions under which (and the ecological rules determining when) population scale impacts of parasites can occur."

The spatial scaling of habitat selection by African elephants - De Knegt - 2010 - Journal of Animal Ecology - Wiley Online Library

The spatial scaling of habitat selection by African elephants - De Knegt - 2010 - Journal of Animal Ecology - Wiley Online Library: "We focused on the spatial scaling of the elephants’ response to their main resources, forage and water, and found that the quantification of habitat selection strongly depended on the scales at which environmental context was considered. Moreover, the inclusion of environmental context at characteristic scales (i.e. those at which habitat selectivity was maximized) increased the predictive capacity of habitat suitability models.

4. The elephants responded to their environment in a scale-dependent and perhaps hierarchical manner, with forage characteristics driving habitat selection at coarse spatial scales, and surface water at fine spatial scales."

Kenya Wildlife Agents Kill 2 Elephant Poachers : NPR

Kenya Wildlife Agents Kill 2 Elephant Poachers : NPR: "The Kenya Wildlife Service on Friday said its agents shot dead two suspected poachers who they saw shooting at a herd of elephants in one of the country's famous national parks.

This brings the number of poachers shot dead by agents of the wildlife service to five, the most killed in a month, said spokesman Paul Udoto."

Rhino warriors

Wildlife Extra News - Show your support for the rhino warriors: "August 2010: WWF has launched a campaign to raise support and funding for those rangers who put their lives on the line to protect Africa's rhinos. Rhino poaching has increased dramatically over the past year-and-a half, fuelled by demand for horn in Asia for use in traditional medicines.


SHOW YOUR SUPPORT: WWF is asking for the public
to show their support on Make Noise for Rhinos Day
South Africa, proud stronghold of the African black and white rhino with more than 90 per cent of Africa's rhino populations, has been losing at least 20 of the animals per month. In the past four years, about 600 rhinos were poached across the African continent."

Employing participatory surveys to monitor the illegal killing of elephants across diverse land uses in Laikipia–Samburu, Kenya - Kahindi - 2009 - African Journal of Ecology - Wiley Online Library

Employing participatory surveys to monitor the illegal killing of elephants across diverse land uses in Laikipia–Samburu, Kenya - Kahindi - 2009 - African Journal of Ecology - Wiley Online Library: "Levels and trends of illegal killing of elephants are measured by the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) Monitoring the Illegal Killing of Elephants (MIKE) programme in sites across Africa and Asia. In the mostly unprotected Laikipia–Samburu MIKE site in northern Kenya, elephant mortality data were collected using both standard law enforcement monitoring procedures, relying on patrolling, and participatory methods involving local communities. Qualitatively, traditional patrolling techniques were more successful in protected areas whereas participatory approaches provided more information outside protected areas, where elephant were most at risk from ivory poachers."

The home range fractal: From random walk to memory-dependent space use

ScienceDirect - Ecological Complexity : The home range fractal: From random walk to memory-dependent space use

We present theoretical developments of the multi-scaled random walk (MRW) model for cognitive map-influenced space use by animals. The extensions include a unified space–time scaling function, and further details with respect to statistical properties of the spatial distribution of a set of locations. Supported by numeric simulations we show how memory effects may open for a complex, multi-scaled and self-organized – i.e., intrinsically driven – habitat utilization pattern with fractal dimensional properties. These properties allow for testing for MRW compliance by using parameters from classic movement models like Brownian motion, correlated random walk and Levy walks as null models.

The ontologies of complexity and learning about complex systems

SpringerLink - Instructional Science, Online First™: "This paper discusses a study of students learning core conceptual perspectives from recent scientific research on complexity using a hypermedia learning environment in which different types of scaffolding were provided. Three comparison groups used a hypermedia system with agent-based models and scaffolds for problem-based learning activities that varied in terms of the types of text based scaffolds that were provided related to a set of complex systems concepts."

ScienceDirect - Ecological Modelling : A parsimonious optimal foraging model explaining mortality patterns in Serengeti wildebeest

Wildebeest follow a single decision rule in good and poor rainfall years, viz. move when foraging elsewhere increases your rate of intake of nutritious food. Similarly, predators follow a single decision rule in good and poor rainfall years, viz. take the prey item that maximizes the intake of energy per unit effort expended. This parsimonious model does not require differences in predator sensitivity as required by Sinclair and Arcese's (1995) model. I indicate ways in which my model can be falsified.

ScienceDirect - Ecological Modelling : A parsimonious optimal foraging model explaining mortality patterns in Serengeti wildebeest

Multimodel inference and adaptive management

ScienceDirect - Journal of Environmental Management : Multimodel inference and adaptive management

Ecology is an inherently complex science coping with correlated variables, nonlinear interactions and multiple scales of pattern and process, making it difficult for experiments to result in clear, strong inference. Natural resource managers, policy makers, and stakeholders rely on science to provide timely and accurate management recommendations. However, the time necessary to untangle the complexities of interactions within ecosystems is often far greater than the time available to make management decisions. One method of coping with this problem is multimodel inference. Multimodel inference assesses uncertainty by calculating likelihoods among multiple competing hypotheses, but multimodel inference results are often equivocal. Despite this, there may be pressure for ecologists to provide management recommendations regardless of the strength of their study’s inference. We reviewed papers in the Journal of Wildlife Management (JWM) and the journal Conservation Biology (CB) to quantify the prevalence of multimodel inference approaches, the resulting inference (weak versus strong), and how authors dealt with the uncertainty. Thirty-eight percent and 14%, respectively, of articles in the JWM and CB used multimodel inference approaches. Strong inference was rarely observed, with only 7% of JWM and 20% of CB articles resulting in strong inference. We found the majority of weak inference papers in both journals (59%) gave specific management recommendations. Model selection uncertainty was ignored in most recommendations for management. We suggest that adaptive management is an ideal method to resolve uncertainty when research results in weak inference.

Coping with shrub secondary metabolites by ruminants

ScienceDirect - Small Ruminant Research : Coping with shrub secondary metabolites by ruminants

Rangelands throughout the world contain varying but often substantial proportions of shrubs. Shrubs are generally heavily chemically defended, and herbivores must either contend with their plant secondary metabolites (PSM) or avoid a significant component of the available forage. Browsing ruminants are exposed to thousands of chemicals in infinite combinations and concentrations that are constantly changing both temporally and spatially. The success with which a herbivore navigates this complex environment is in part attributed to its ability to cope with PSM. Plant secondary metabolites can affect a number of physiological and metabolic processes (e.g., altered microbial activity, reduced digestion, compromised acid/base balance, toxicity), although negative consequences to the herbivore range from harmless to lethal, depending factors such as dose, animal species, plane of nutrition, and physiological state. Herbivores have a variety of intertwined mechanisms to cope with consumption of PSM, ranging from physiological (e.g., salivary proteins, detoxification pathways) to behavioral (e.g., avoidance, regulation of intake below critical threshold, cautious sampling, altering size and pattern of feeding bouts, diet switching, consuming diverse and/or complementary diets). Secondary compounds may affect requirements for nutrients (e.g., protein, minerals, and glucose) and water, and may alter basal metabolic rate.

Evolution of Nutrient Uptake Reveals a Trade-Off i... [Am Nat. 2010] - PubMed result

Evolution of Nutrient Uptake Reveals a Trade-Off i... [Am Nat. 2010] - PubMed result: "Nutrient limitation determines the primary production and species composition of many ecosystems. Here we apply an adaptive dynamics approach to investigate evolution of the ecological stoichiometry of primary producers and its implications for plant-herbivore interactions. The model predicts a trade-off between the competitive ability and grazing susceptibility of primary producers, driven by changes in their nutrient uptake rates. High nutrient uptake rates enhance the competitiveness of primary producers but also increase their nutritional quality for herbivores. This trade-off enables coexistence of nutrient exploiters and grazing avoiders. If herbivores are not selective, evolution favors runaway selection toward high nutrient uptake rates of the primary producers. However, if herbivores select nutritious food, the model predicts an evolutionarily stable strategy with lower nutrient uptake rates."

Seasonal and demographic factors influencing gastr... [J Wildl Dis. 2010] - PubMed result

Seasonal and demographic factors influencing gastr... [J Wildl Dis. 2010] - PubMed result: "Strongyle intensity in zebra was significantly lower in juveniles than adults, and in springbok hosts, Eimeria spp. intensity was significantly greater in juveniles than adults. These results provide evidence that acquired immunity is less protective against strongyle nematodes than Eimeria spp. infections. The seasonal patterns in parasitism further indicate that the long dry season may limit development and survival of parasite stages in the environment and, as a result, host contact and parasite transmission."

Inference from habitat-selection analysis depends on foraging strategies

Inference from habitat-selection analysis depends on foraging strategies - Bastille-Rousseau - 2010 - Journal of Animal Ecology - Wiley Online Library: "Several methods have been developed to assess habitat selection, most of which are based on a comparison between habitat attributes in used vs. unused or random locations, such as the popular resource selection functions (RSFs). Spatial evaluation of residency time has been recently proposed as a promising avenue for studying habitat selection. Residency-time analyses assume a positive relationship between residency time within habitat patches and selection. We demonstrate that RSF and residency-time analyses provide different information about the process of habitat selection. Further, we show how the consideration of switching rate between habitat patches (interpatch movements) together with residency-time analysis can reveal habitat-selection strategies."

Protecting endangered species: When are shoot-on-sight policies the only viable option to stop poaching?

ScienceDirect - Ecological Economics : Protecting endangered species: When are shoot-on-sight policies the only viable option to stop poaching?

Protecting endangered species that offer poachers from low-income countries high economic benefits remains a policy challenge. A broadly applicable economic model of poaching shows why CITES international bans have not always been successful, especially in situations where black markets exist and nonpoaching wages are low. In these situations, poachers may have nothing left to lose, since low nonpoaching wages impose a practical cap on the potential economic costs of fines and imprisonment. Thus, the model suggests “shoot-on-sight” policies as the only viable option. Trends in animal populations appear to support the efficacy of the shoot-on-sight policies, which also suggests an inherent value of life traditionally not captured in Value of a Statistical Life estimates

Total Mortality and Population Dynamics of Gray Wolves (Canis lupus)

PLoS ONE: Meta-Analysis of Relationships between Human Offtake, Total Mortality and Population Dynamics of Gray Wolves (Canis lupus): "Following the growth and geographic expansion of wolf (Canis lupus) populations reintroduced to Yellowstone National Park and central Idaho in 1995–1996, Rocky Mountain wolves were removed from the endangered species list in May 2009. Idaho and Montana immediately established hunting seasons with quotas equaling 20% of the regional wolf population. Combining hunting with predator control, 37.1% of Montana and Idaho wolves were killed in the year of delisting."

Allometric scaling predicts preferences for burned patches in a guild of East African grazers

ESA Online Journals - Allometric scaling predicts preferences for burned patches in a guild of East African grazers: "The high herbivore diversity in savanna systems has been attributed to the inherent spatial and temporal heterogeneity related to the quantity and quality of food resources. Allometric scaling predicts that smaller-bodied grazers rely on higher quality forage than larger-bodied grazers. We replicated burns at varying scales in an East African savanna and measured visitation by an entire guild of larger grazers ranging in size from hare to elephant. We found a strong negative relationship between burn preference and body mass with foregut fermenters preferring burns to a greater degree than hindgut fermenters. Burns with higher quality forage were preferred more than burns with lower quality forage by small-bodied grazers, while the opposite was true for large-bodied grazers. Our results represent some of the first experimental evidence demonstrating the importance of body size in predicting how large herbivores respond to fire-induced changes in plant quality and quantity."

Understanding the effects of rainfall on elephant–vegetation interactions around waterholes

ScienceDirect - Ecological Modelling : Understanding the effects of rainfall on elephant–vegetation interactions around waterholes

The distribution of surface water affects herbivore–vegetation interactions in arid and semi-arid regions. Limited access to surface water typically results in the emergence of vegetation gradients around natural and artificial water sources. In particular, African elephants can create large-scale gradients of woody vegetation. Understanding the dynamics of these gradients is of particular importance for the conservation of other, less mobile herbivores that depend on woody vegetation in areas close to water. While rainfall is known to be a key determinant of herbivore–vegetation interactions in dry areas, we only have limited understanding on how it impacts woody vegetation gradients around waterholes. To address this problem, we developed a deterministic simulation model that describes the interplay of rainfall, elephants and woody vegetation in the vicinity of waterholes.

Modelling nutrient digestion and utilization in farm animals

Wageningen Academic Publishers - Modelling nutrient digestion and utilization in farm animals: "For more than 30 years, modelling has been an important method for integrating, in a flexible, comprehensive and widely applicable way, basic knowledge and biological concepts on digestion and metabolism in farm animals. The purpose of this book is to present the 'state of art' in this area. The chapters are written by leading teams and researchers in this field of study, mainly from Europe, North America and Australasia."

Allometric scaling of resource acquisition by ruminants in dynamic and heterogeneous environments

ScienceDirect - Ecological Modelling : Allometric scaling of resource acquisition by ruminants in dynamic and heterogeneous environments We present a mechanistic formulation of the intake response of ruminants to vegetation biomass based solely on physiological and morphological parameters that scale allometrically with the animal's body mass. The model is applied to describe herbivore–vegetation interactions in dynamic and heterogeneous landscapes with low quality but abundant “tall grass” and high quality but sparsely available “short grass”, under two conditions: “uncoupled” (such that the effect of food intake on vegetation biomass can be neglected), or “coupled” (such that the vegetation biomass is determined by herbivore feeding). The results show that under uncoupled conditions, the minimum acceptance (proportion of vegetation consumed by the herbivore) at which the herbivore can leave its current patch without reducing its intake rate is when it has depleted the current patch by the energetic cost required to travel to another patch. The maximum acceptance at which the herbivore should leave its patch is when it has depleted the current patch by the cumulative energetic cost of traveling, handling, cropping, and digesting. Under coupled conditions, the optimal acceptance equals half the relative growth rate of the vegetation.

Challenges of foraging on a high-quality but unpredictable food source

Challenges of foraging on a high-quality but unpredictable food source: the dynamics of grass production and consumption in savanna grazing lawns
Bonnet, O., Fritz, H., Gignoux, J., Meuret, M.
Journal of Ecology
Abstract
Grazing lawns are short grassland areas where intense grazing maintains grass in an early growth stage. These areas represent a source of high-quality forage for herbivores. However, as herbivores continually remove nearly all the newly accumulated biomass, instantaneous resource availability depends on the dynamics of grass growth.2. In this study, we investigate how production and consumption inside grazing lawns are synchronized. We then explore how that synchronization affects the ability of large herbivores to use these lawns. We also provide a critical comparison between grazing lawns and intensively managed grasslands in livestock farms.3. We investigated vegetation production and herbivore grazing activity during a wet and a dry season using clipping experiments and direct observation in two grazing lawns in a South African savanna.4. Weekly total grazing activity by unit area was strongly and positively related to short-term primary production. This indicates a close synchronization between these two processes. In contrast, grazing activity was poorly related to standing biomass. Primary production had a threshold response to the weekly pattern of rainfall, implying a stochastic dynamics of grass growth.5. The dynamics of grass production and consumption of grazing lawns is similar to the one of continuously stocked grazing systems from intensively managed grasslands. But the mechanisms regulating the two systems lead to different equilibrium points between production and consumption. The two systems also have opposed nutritional functions within the animal diet.6. Synthesis. The close synchronization between resource production and consumption inside grazing lawns indicates that instantaneous resource availability is a direct function of the short-term rate of grass growth. In tropical savannas, the main source of variability of lawn grass primary productivity is the stochastic nature of short-term rainfall. As a result, herbivores' ability to use grazing lawns is poorly predictable in time. This has important consequences on the degree of information herbivores can use in the elaboration of their foraging strategies, and on the potential interest of grazing lawns.

Scopus preview - Scopus - Document details

ScienceDirect - Ecological Modelling : Multi-agent simulations and ecosystem management: a review

 

This paper proposes a review of the development and use of multi-agent simulations (MAS) for ecosystem management. The use of this methodology and the associated tools accompanies the shifts in various paradigms on the study of ecological complexity. Behavior and interactions are now key issues for understanding and modeling ecosystem organization, and models are used in a constructivist way. MAS are introduced conceptually and are compared with individual-based modeling approaches. Various architectures of agents are presented, the role of the environment is emphasized and some computer tools are presented. A discussion follows on the use of MAS for ecosystem management. The strength of MAS has been discussed for social sciences and for spatial issues such as land-use change.

ScienceDirect - Ecological Modelling : Multi-agent simulations and ecosystem management: a review

ESA Online Journals - Responses to alternative rainfall regimes and antipoaching in a migratory system

 

Migratory ungulates may be particularly vulnerable to the challenges imposed by growing human populations and climate change. These species depend on vast areas to sustain their migratory behavior, and in many cases come into frequent contact with human populations outside protected areas. They may also act as spatial coupling agents allowing feedbacks between ecological systems and local economies, particularly in the agropastoral subsistence economies found in the African savanna biome. We used HUMENTS, a spatially realistic socioecological model of the Greater Serengeti Ecosystem in East Africa, to explore the potential impacts of changing climate and poaching on the migratory wildebeest (Connochaetes taurinus) population, the fire regime, and habitat structure in the ecosystem, as well as changes in the size and economic activities of the human population outside the protected area.

ESA Online Journals - Responses to alternative rainfall regimes and antipoaching in a migratory system

Rhinoceros Poachers Targeted in South Africa as Killings Surge to a Record - Bloomberg

Rhinoceros Poachers Targeted in South Africa as Killings Surge to a Record - Bloomberg: "Rhino poachers are using helicopters to find rhinos both in national parks and on private game farms and the Endangered Wildlife Trust is working with aviation authorities to find ways of tracking low-flying helicopters. Game farmers are also being urged to take DNA samples from their stock to help prosecute poachers by linking dead rhinos to horns. South Africa is home to 93 percent of Africa’s rhino population"

Estimating Economic Carrying Capacity for an Ungulate Guild in Western Canada

BSP :Estimating Economic Carrying Capacity for an Ungulate Guild in Western Canada:Using linear programming, we explored optimal allocation of forage resources for bison (Bison bison bison), moose (Alces andersoni), wapiti (Cervus elaphus manitobensis) and deer (Odocoileus virginianus and O. hemionus) to maximize ungulate biomass and numbers, when constrained by use of the major forage classes and minimum viable populations (MVP) of those ungulate species that do not cross the boundary fence (bison and wapiti). Maximum numbers of animals were achieved by a stocking combination dominated by deer and bison, whereas maximum biomass was attained when bison and moose were abundant but deer were absent. Wapiti remained at MVP during all solutions. Optimal solutions consistent with current ungulate densities were associated with 7 to 11% forage removal. This is less than normally assumed for sustainable forage use, and may reflect the need to account for other biotic and abiotic losses to forage in carrying capacity models for which ungulate densities can be constrained by availability of a preferred forage class (e.g., grass) as well as forage quality.

ScienceDirect - Ecological Modelling : A parsimonious optimal foraging model explaining mortality patterns in Serengeti wildebeest

ScienceDirect - Ecological Modelling : A parsimonious optimal foraging model explaining mortality patterns in Serengeti wildebeest. Based on data collected over 24 years in the Serengeti in Tanzania, Sinclair and Arcese (1995) indicated that the sensitivity of blue wildebeest Connochaetes taurinus to predation risk by lions Panthera leo may cause them to change habitats between open (low risk) and wooded (risky) habitats. They found that, in poor rainfall years, predators kill wildebeest that are in better condition than those that die of natural causes. In good rainfall years, predators kill wildebeest that are in worse condition than those that die of natural causes. Sinclair and Arcese (1995) proposed the “predation-sensitive food” hypothesis. This hypothesis suggests that, as food becomes limiting, animals take greater risks to obtain more food, and some of these animals are killed. I propose a more parsimonious hypothesis based on the marginal value theorem that is consistent with the observations made by Sinclair and Arcese (1995). Wildebeest follow a single decision rule in good and poor rainfall years, viz. move when foraging elsewhere increases your rate of intake of nutritious food. Similarly, predators follow a singledecision rule in good and poor rainfall years, viz. take the prey item that maximizes the intake of energy per unit effort expended.

Structure and Dynamics of Ecological Networks -- Bascompte 329 (5993): 765 -- Science

Structure and Dynamics of Ecological Networks -- Bascompte 329 (5993): 765 -- Science: "Ecologists have a long tradition of studying how species interact. Almost all of this work, however, has focused on networks involved in a single type of interaction. For instance, ecologists have studied either 'antagonistic' interactions, such as those in who-eats-who food webs, or, more recently, mutually beneficial interactions, such as those between flowering plants and their insect pollinators. Very few studies have embraced both (1–3), leaving a key question: To what degree do different kinds of interactions lead to ecological networks with different structures? The answer is crucial to understanding the suite of ecological, evolutionary, and coevolutionary processes that shape these networks and how they may respond to future changes. On page 853 of this issue, Th�bault and Fontaine (4) take an important step forward by comparing the structure and dynamics of antagonistic and mutualistic networks."

Spatial distribution and deviations from the IFD when animals forage over large resource patches -- Miller and Coll 21 (5): 927 -- Behavioral Ecology

Spatial distribution and deviations from the IFD when animals forage over large resource patches -- Miller and Coll 21 (5): 927 -- Behavioral Ecology: "Animal distribution among resource patches in a habitat has for the most part been treated as a deterministic process. When patch size is large compared with the animal’s foraging range, individuals assess the quality of the patch by sampling small fractions of it, the sampled area (SA). In doing so, each individual may experience different patch qualities because of stochastic distribution of animal numbers in different SAs."

ScienceDirect - Animal Behaviour : Effects of group composition on the grazing behaviour of herbivores

ScienceDirect - Animal Behaviour : Effects of group composition on the grazing behaviour of herbivores: "Animal behaviour is often a function of the animal’s physiological state. Groups of animals will often contain individuals with a range of physiological states and the grazing behaviour of herbivores is affected by their physiological state. This study compared the grazing decisions of animals in groups of single and mixed physiological states. Using a grazing model that simulated individual herbivore behaviour in relation to environmental distributions of forage resource (grass) and parasites (faeces), we tested the hypothesis that an animal’s level of parasite exposure via the faecal–oral route is affected by the composition of physiological states in the group."

AFP: Extinct mammoth tusks fill elephant ivory ban gap

AFP: Extinct mammoth tusks fill elephant ivory ban gap: "HONG KONG — Stumped by a ban designed to save elephants from extinction, Hong Kong's master carvers turned to a long dead species that left thousands of tonnes of frozen ivory in Siberian mass graves.
Mammoth tusks, intricately carved to depict anything from devotional Buddhist scenes and teeming wildlife to bizarre erotic fantasies, now make up most of the ivory for sale in the city.
The international trade in elephant ivory, with rare exceptions, has been outlawed since 1989 after populations of the African giants dropped from the millions in the mid-20th century to some 600,000 by the end of the 1980s.
The ban left hundreds of traditional carvers in the south China region facing an uncertain future, until they turned to a global stock of ancient tusks buried mostly in Siberia, but also in Europe and north America."

Spatial autocorrelation: an overlooked concept in behavioral ecology -- Valcu and Kempenaers 21 (5): 902 -- Behavioral Ecology

Spatial autocorrelation: an overlooked concept in behavioral ecology -- Valcu and Kempenaers 21 (5): 902 -- Behavioral Ecology: "The general aim of this paper is to draw the attention of behavioral ecologists to the phenomenon of SAC. Specifically, we aim 1) to provide examples of spatially autocorrelated variables, indicating that SAC is widespread in variables commonly used in behavioral ecology studies, 2) to show why it is important to take SAC into account, and 3) to point to some tools to explore and model it."

Quantification and Simulation of Grazing Impacts on Soil Water in Boreal Grasslands - Donkor - 2006 - Journal of Agronomy and Crop Science - Wiley Online Library

Quantification and Simulation of Grazing Impacts on Soil Water in Boreal Grasslands - Donkor - 2006 - Journal of Agronomy and Crop Science - Wiley Online Library: "We conducted a 2-year study in central Alberta to quantify and simulate the soil water status of boreal grasslands under three grazing systems using wapiti (Cervus elaphus Canadensis), viz. (1) ungrazed control (UNG), (2) high intensity [4.16 animal unit month per ha (AUM) ha−1 ] short-duration grazing (SDG) and (3) moderate intensity (2.08 AUM ha−1) continuous grazing (CG). Soil water was measured from May 1997 to September 1998 to a depth of 15�cm. Total annual precipitation in 1997 and 1998 was 494 and 429�mm respectively. In both years grazing treatments reduced soil water. Soil water content under SDG was significantly (P�<�0.05) lower than CG. Simulation of soil water on each grazing system was conducted using PASTURE, a simple compartmental system dynamics model."

Challenges of foraging on a high-quality but unpredictable food source: the dynamics of grass production and consumption in savanna grazing lawns - Bonnet - 2010 - Journal of Ecology - Wiley Online Library

Challenges of foraging on a high-quality but unpredictable food source: the dynamics of grass production and consumption in savanna grazing lawns - Bonnet - 2010 - Journal of Ecology - Wiley Online Library: "Grazing lawns are short grassland areas where intense grazing maintains grass in an early growth stage. These areas represent a source of high-quality forage for herbivores. However, as herbivores continually remove nearly all the newly accumulated biomass, instantaneous resource availability depends on the dynamics of grass growth. We investigate how production and consumption inside grazing lawns are synchronized. We then explore how that synchronization affects the ability of large herbivores to use these lawns. We also provide a critical comparison between grazing lawns and intensively managed grasslands in livestock farms. We investigated vegetation production and herbivore grazing activity during a wet and a dry season using clipping experiments and direct observation in two grazing lawns in a South African savanna."

A system for predicting energy and protein requirements of wild ruminants - Hackmann - 2010 - Zoo Biology - Wiley Online Library

A system for predicting energy and protein requirements of wild ruminants - Hackmann - 2010 - Zoo Biology - Wiley Online Library: "Wild ruminants require energy and protein for the normal function. I developed a system for predicting these energy and protein requirements across ruminant species and life stages. This system defines requirements on the basis of net energy (NE), net protein (NP), and ruminally degraded protein (RDP). Total NE and NP requirements are calculated as the sum of NE and NP required for several functions (maintenance, activity, thermoregulation, gain, lactation, and gestation). To estimate the requirements for each function, I collected data predominantly for wild species and then formulated allometric and other equations that predict requirements across species."

Agent-based Modeling of Animal Movement: A Review - Tang - 2010 - Geography Compass - Wiley Online Library

Agent-based Modeling of Animal Movement: A Review - Tang - 2010 - Geography Compass - Wiley Online Library: "Animal movement is a complex spatiotemporal phenomenon that has intrigued researchers from many disciplines. Interactions among animals, and between animals and the environments that they traverse, play an important role in the development of the complex ecological and social systems in which they are embedded. Agent-based models have been increasingly applied as a computational approach to the study of animal movement across landscapes. In this article, we present a review of agent-based models in which the simulation of animal movement processes and patterns is the central theme."

Irruptive Dynamics and Vegetation Interactions - Dynamics of Large Herbivore Populations in Changing Environments: Towards Appropriate Models - Gross - Wiley Online Library

Irruptive Dynamics and Vegetation Interactions - Dynamics of Large Herbivore Populations in Changing Environments: Towards Appropriate Models - Gross - Wiley Online Library: "irruptive dynamics and vegetation interactions;irruption, leading to severe mortality associated with vegetation degradation;concept of irruptive herbivore dynamics, by Leopold;herbivore–vegetation interaction models and herbivore dynamics;irruptive dynamics, ungulate populations on islands-prone to extreme irruptions;Isle Royale population - standing out for cyclic behavior;wolf population crash on Isle Royale - precipitating irruption of moose;irruption effects on vegetation;harsh weather, and population crashes - weather and food availability interaction;large herbivore management - hinging on philosophical basis of management"

THE ORIGINS OF SEXUAL DIMORPHISM IN BODY SIZE IN UNGULATES - P�rez-Barber�a - 2007 - Evolution - Wiley Online Library

THE ORIGINS OF SEXUAL DIMORPHISM IN BODY SIZE IN UNGULATES - P�rez-Barber�a - 2007 - Evolution - Wiley Online Library: "Jarman (1974) proposed a series of relationships between habitat use, food dispersion, and social behavior and hypothesized a series of evolutionary steps leading to sexual dimorphism in body size through sexual selection in African antelope species. The hypothesis states that sexual size dimorphism evolved in a three-step process. Initially, ancestral monomorphic and monogamous ungulate species occupying closed habitats radiated into open grassland habitats."

Correlation of relative muzzle width and relative incisor width with dietary preference in ungulates - JANIS - 2008 - Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society - Wiley Online Library

Correlation of relative muzzle width and relative incisor width with dietary preference in ungulates - JANIS - 2008 - Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society - Wiley Online Library: "Qualitative observations suggest that grazing ungulates have relatively broader muzzles than browsing ones, and that grazers have incisors that are all of a similar size, as opposed to the large central and smaller lateral incisors seen in browsers. These differences may be correlated respectively with the need for grazing ungulates to maintain a large daily intake, or for browsing ungulates to forage selectively in a stand of vegetation."

Incorporating Collateral Data in Conservation Biology - LINACRE - 2004 - Conservation Biology - Wiley Online Library

Incorporating Collateral Data in Conservation Biology - LINACRE - 2004 - Conservation Biology - Wiley Online Library: "Conservation biologists often need to set ecological modeling assumptions or estimate parameters from sparse data. In some cases this problem can be addressed by incorporating data from closely related species or from the same species at different sites (i.e., collateral data). Currently no structured methods exist for incorporating such information."

BioOne Online Journals - Linking Top-Down Forces to the Pleistocene Megafaunal Extinctions

BioOne Online Journals - Linking Top-Down Forces to the Pleistocene Megafaunal Extinctions: "Humans, in conjunction with natural top-down processes and through a sequence of cascading trophic interactions, may have contributed to the Pleistocene megafaunal extinctions. The arrival of the first humans, as hunters and scavengers, through top-down forcing, could have triggered a population collapse of large herbivores and their predators."

ESA Online Journals - Interacting regime shifts in ecosystems: implication for early warnings

ESA Online Journals - Interacting regime shifts in ecosystems: implication for early warnings: "Big ecological changes often involve regime shifts in which a critical threshold is crossed. Thresholds are often difficult to measure, and transgressions of thresholds come as surprises. If a critical threshold is approached gradually, however, there are early warnings of the impending regime shift. For example, in a one-dimensional ecosystem dynamics, autocorrelation approaches 1 from below, variance and skewness increase, and variance spectra shift to lower frequencies"

Influence of host migration between woodland and pasture on the population dynamics of the tick Ixodes ricinus: A modelling approach

ScienceDirect - Ecological Modelling : Influence of host migration between woodland and pasture on the population dynamics of the tick Ixodes ricinus: A modelling approach. The modelling of tick population dynamics is a prerequisite to simulating tick-borne diseases and the corresponding spread of the pathogen. We have developed a dynamic model to simulate changes in tick density at different stages (egg, larva, nymph and adult) under the influence of temperature. We have focused on the tick Ixodes ricinus, which is widespread in Europe.

Foraging decisions of bison for rapid energy gains can explain the relative risk to neighboring plants in complex swards

ESA Online Journals - Foraging decisions of bison for rapid energy gains can explain the relative risk to neighboring plants in complex swards: "Herbivores commonly base their foraging decisions not only on the intrinsic characteristics of plants, but also on the attributes of neighboring species. Although herbivores commonly orient their food choices toward the maximization of energy intake, the impact of such choices on neighboring plants remains largely unexplored. We evaluated whether foraging decisions by herbivores aiming at a rapid intake of digestible energy could explain multiple neighboring effects in complex swards"

ESA Online Journals - Simultaneous modeling of habitat suitability, occupancy, and relative abundance: African elephants in Zimbabwe

ESA Online Journals - Simultaneous modeling of habitat suitability, occupancy, and relative abundance: African elephants in Zimbabwe: "The recent development of statistical models such as dynamic site occupancy models provides the opportunity to address fairly complex management and conservation problems with relatively simple models. However, surprisingly few empirical studies have simultaneously modeled habitat suitability and occupancy status of organisms over large landscapes for management purposes. Joint modeling of these components is particularly important in the context of management of wild populations, as it provides a more coherent framework to investigate the population dynamics of organisms in space and time for the application of management decision tools."

Management of infectious wildlife diseases: bridging conventional and bioeconomic approaches

ESA Online Journals - Management of infectious wildlife diseases: bridging conventional and bioeconomic approaches: "The primary goal of disease ecology is to understand disease systems and then use this information to inform management. The purpose of this paper is to show that conventional disease ecology models are limited in their ability to inform management of systems that are already infected, and to show how such models can be integrated with economic decision models to improve upon management recommendations."

ScienceDirect - Biological Conservation : Triage for conserving populations of threatened species: The case of woodland caribou in Alberta

ScienceDirect - Biological Conservation : Triage for conserving populations of threatened species: The case of woodland caribou in Alberta "Prioritization of conservation efforts for threatened and endangered species has tended to focus on factors measuring the risk of extirpation rather than the probability of success and cost. Approaches such as triage are advisable when three main conditions are present: insufficient capacity exists to adequately treat all patients, patients are in a critical state and cannot wait until additional capacity becomes available, and patients differ in their likely outcome and/or the amount of treatment they require. "

ScienceDirect - Biological Conservation : Dynamic wildlife habitat models: Seasonal foods and mortality risk predict occupancy-abundance and habitat selection in grizzly bears

ScienceDirect - Biological Conservation : Dynamic wildlife habitat models: Seasonal foods and mortality risk predict occupancy-abundance and habitat selection in grizzly bears: "Most current wildlife habitat models, such as resource selection functions, typically assume a static environment, extrapolate poorly in space and time, and often lack linkages to population processes"

HOMINIDS: An agent-based spatial simulation model to evaluate behavioral patterns of early Pleistocene hominids

Scopus preview – Scopus - Ecological Modelling: HOMINIDS: An agent-based spatial simulation model to evaluate behavioral patterns of early Pleistocene hominids: "The HOMINIDS ABM is a new Agent Based Model that simulates the actions of two species of proto-human agents defined by a few, simple parameters. These proto-human agents attempt to subsist by foraging and nesting on dynamic, spatially explicit landscapes. The landscapes are described with a number of parameters based on empirical field data collected in habitats in East Africa. The results of three separate scenarios with 1 year model runs repeated 30 times each, for a total of 90 simulations, are presented and discussed to illustrate both the capacity and flexibility of our ABM modeling environment. The simulations show that the model food preferences and anatomy ascribed to Australopithecus boisei resulted in different expressions of foraging behaviors and subsistence strategies in two distinct ecological settings, and that adding tubers to the diet significantly increases the chances of the hominid agents meeting their daily caloric requirements year-round."

Modelling nutritional interactions: from individuals to communities

Scopus preview – Scopus - Trends in Ecology and Evolution: Modelling nutritional interactions: from individuals to communities: "Nutrient acquisition is a major context for ecological interactions among species but ecologists and nutritionists have developed theory in isolation from each other. Developments in agent-based modelling, state-space modelling of nutrition and multi-scale modelling of landscape ecology provide the components for a new synthesis in nutritional ecology linking the nutritional biology of individual organisms to population- and community-level processes across multiple scales within an evolutionary context. We review the core elements for such a synthesis and set out the principles for a generic modelling framework that could be used to test specific ecological hypotheses."

Modelling the effectiveness of contraception for controlling introduced populations of elephant in South Africa

Scopus preview – Scopus - African Journal of Ecology: Modelling the effectiveness of contraception for controlling introduced populations of elephant in South Africa: "Re-introduced African elephant (Loxodonta africana Blumenbach) populations are growing at very high rates in many of southern Africa's reserves, have attained densities higher than previously thought possible and may be exhibiting irruptive growth. Active management of such populations is necessary to prevent the potentially negative effects on habitat and biodiversity that are associated with elephant overpopulation. One potentially feasible method of elephant management is immunocontraception, but very little is known about the long-term effectiveness of this method. Using demographic data from three South African elephant populations, we made model projections of the effects of contraception on population growth rates to determine whether contraception may be a feasible management tool for elephant. In comparison with noncontracepted populations, realistic reductions in population growth rate after 20 years of contraception were projected to be up to c. 64%, with 50% being a very feasible target. Through its ability to reduce population growth rates, immunocontraception should be an effective tool for preventing or minimizing irruption in elephants and, perhaps, other introduced ungulate species."

A herbivore specific grazing capacity model accounting for spatio-temporal environmental variation: A tool for a more sustainable nature conservation and rangeland management

ScienceDirect - Ecological Modelling : A herbivore specific grazing capacity model accounting for spatio-temporal environmental variation: A tool for a more sustainable nature conservation and rangeland management: "This spatio-temporally dynamic model considers crucial variables at both the terrain and the grazer level, such as (seasonally) fluctuating forage yield, forage quality, plant palatability, accessibility of the area, soil erosion vulnerability, animal nutritive requirements, animal behaviour and general habitat condition. It predicts the optimal grazer species and density, taking into account the seasonal variation in animal needs and fluctuating terrain characteristics. A sensitivity analysis was conducted to define each parameter's relative impact on the final outcome of the model."

Spatial Dynamics and Ecosystem Functioning

PLoS Biology: Spatial Dynamics and Ecosystem Functioning: "Classical theory of species dynamics in ecosystems is built on the concept of homogeneous, reciprocal interaction. The concept is borrowed from that branch of physics and chemistry dealing with reaction kinetics of molecules in well-mixed gases and liquids. It idealizes individual entities—no longer molecules but now individuals of a species—as interacting with each other or with their predators or competitors in such a way that each individual has an equal likelihood of interacting with every other individual in the system. There is no spatial structure in the system; in fact, space is assumed to be immaterial to system dynamics."

Vietnam seizes cache of smuggled elephant tusks, third this year | Earth Times News

Vietnam seizes cache of smuggled elephant tusks, third this year | Earth Times News: "Hanoi - Vietnamese customs inspectors have discovered more than a ton of elephant tusks hidden in a shipping container full of snail shells from Africa, an official said Wednesday.
It was the third seizure of elephant ivory this year and the sixth in the past two years at the northern port of Haiphong, a transfer point for smuggled ivory from Africa to the lucrative Chinese market."

Vietnam discovers nearly 2 tons of elephant tusks hidden in seaweed shipped from Kenya | San Francisco Examiner

Vietnam discovers nearly 2 tons of elephant tusks hidden in seaweed shipped from Kenya | San Francisco Examiner

HANOI, VIETNAM — Authorities in the northern port city of Haiphong have discovered nearly two tons of elephant tusks illegally imported from Kenya.

A customs official says the tusks were discovered on Tuesday hidden in dried seaweed in a container that arrived at the port on April 28. The official declined to be named due to policy prohibiting junior officers from speaking to the media.

The official said Thursday the shipment was bound for neighboring China.

Haiphong authorities confiscated nearly 7 tons of elephant tusks last March smuggled from Tanzania — Vietnam's biggest-ever seizure of tusks.

Kenya weighs options to dispose ivory stockpile, after Cites vote

Kenya weighs options to dispose ivory stockpile, after Cites vote

A ranger shows elephant tusks intercepted from poachers during a commemoration of the 1989 ivory burning at the Nairobi National Park. Photo/FILE 

By COSMAS BUTUNYI  (email the author)
Posted Monday, April 5 2010 at 00:00
Even after successfully waging a campaign that saw the defeat of a proposal for a one- off ivory sale by Tanzania and Zambia, Kenya is considering various ways of disposing of its own stockpiles.
Sources estimate the country’s stockpiles could raise $9 million for the Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS).
An assistant director of KWS in charge of species and conservation management, Patrick Omondi, said the disposal plans have been under consideration since 2000. A series of proposals are soon to be presented to the Cabinet.
Among the options that the country is exploring is a non-commercial buyout where the ivory will be offered for sale to a consortium of donors before it is destroyed.
Another alternative is the establishment of ivory museums in one of the national parks where elephant skulls and other body parts preserved after the animal’s natural death would be on display.
Visitors would pay extra and the money charges that would be invested in elephant management and conservation.
“The issue has now been left to the government to decide,” Mr Omondi said.
While part of the ivory stockpile was seized from poachers, the rest was retrieved from elephants that died out of natural causes.
It is two decades since the last ivory stockpiles, then only 12 tonnes, were torched by former president Daniel Moi.
The decision on how to dispose of the ivory will however, have to wait until the expiry of a nine year moratorium against trade in ivory that began in February last year.
In addition to this, the country will have to conform to the proposals laid down in the Elephant Action Plan that was ratified at the recently concluded Conference of Parties to the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species held in Doha, Qatar.
At the meeting, the 175 countries that are party to the Cites convention voted against down listing elephant populations in Tanzania and Zambia, that would have paved way for a one- off sale of their 90 and 21 tonnes respectively, and reinstated a nine-year moratorium on ivory trade.
While maintaining that relations between Kenya and Tanzania have not been soured by the conflicting stands, Mr Omondi said the ban is intended to allow for the monitoring of the impact of legal ivory sales on elephant populations, besides implementing an elaborate African Elephant Action Plan across the 36 African range states.
“Our relationship with Tanzania is good and we deal with several cross border issues,” added KWS director, Julius Kipng’etich.
Meanwhile, the KWS is fundraising for its recently established wildlife conservation and management kitty, aimed at cushioning it from external shocks such as the 2007 post election violence that resulted in a drastic drop in tourist numbers.

The East African - Kenya weighs options to dispose ivory stockpile, after Cites vote

Epoch Times - China Fuels East African Elephant Poaching

 

China Fuels East African Elephant Poaching

By Damian Robin
Epoch Times Staff Created: Mar 30, 2010 Last Updated: Mar 30, 2010

An elephant uses its trunk to reach the upper branches of a tree over the dry brush as it searches for food at the Tsavo West National Park in southern Kenya in August 2009. China has been accused of causing a higher rate of ivory poaching in East Africa. (Roberto Schmidt/AFP/Getty Images)

China’s influence in East Africa is fueling an upsurge in elephant poaching, gunrunning, and corruption according to a report on U.K. television Friday.
A Channel 4 reporter spoke to people in villages and cities, wildlife managers, rangers, government officials, and illegal ivory sellers in Kenya and Tanzania—all of whom said China is the main buyer of banned ivory.
Filmed secretly, sellers told the journalist from Unreported World that during a presidential visit from Chinese Communist Party leader Hu Jintao in 2009, two hundred kilos of ivory was bought by Chinese diplomats and taken out of Tanzania.
The sellers did not say if Hu knew of the trade, but did say that a prominent diplomat from the Chinese Embassy frequently bought large amounts of ivory from them.
Kooky Gorman owns a wildlife park in Kenya. Accompanied by armed rangers, she took the reporter to many spots in her park, where elephant carcasses rotted, their heads split open to make it easy to saw the tusks off.
Many hides showed multiple bullet holes. The lead ranger said the killers had used AK47 automatic weapons to spray herds. The shootings were indiscriminate, killing young and old.
Gorman said the weapons were bought from neighboring Somalia where the civil war has continued since 1991.
The intensity of the poaching has been increasing for the past two years. In 2007 six elephants were poached from her park. In 2008, twenty-eight were poached. Fifty-seven were poached in 2009.
She says there is a threat of elephant extinction.
The Kenya Wildlife Service has strong rooms full of tusks and carved ivory taken during raids and confiscated at Nairobi airport. It has about 65 tons to 70 tons estimated at $10 million.
The U.N. recently rejected Zambia and Tanzania’s request to hold a one-off sale for their ivory stockpile, valued of approximately $15 million.
Since trade in ivory was stopped in 1989, some countries have been allowed to do a small amount of business in ivory if they have good conservation measures. Zambia and Tanzania are currently prohibited from any trade in ivory. The International Trade of Endangered Species of Fauna and Flora (CITES) annual meeting in Doha disregarded arguments that the sale could help police wildlife parks and stop the burden of protecting the horde of ivory.
Selous Game Reserve in Tanzania has 40,000 elephants.
On the TV program, a police informant who lived nearby in a village known for its illegal ivory deals said armed groups of 30 often came from Dara Salam in Senegal to take back ivory in 440-to-660-pound batches. (An average tusk weighs about 4.4 pounds.)
The informant, whose face was not shown for fear of reprisals, had had his house burned down recently.
Another man, who did not want to be identified as he had received death threats, was a safari operator who brings tourists to the Selous Reserve. “I think the wildlife department knows exactly what’s going on here,” he said. “There are some members of the games department who are poaching to supplement their pay and feed their families.”
He said he thinks movers are coming from China and the Far East to take bones and that they are in collusion with local authorities.
He said they could not get through the 15 to 20 policed roadblocks without help from “some very well-placed people.”
One illegal dealer said he had friends in airport security. “It’s no problem with money,” he told the reporter. “If you have money, it’s easy.”
There is a small industry carving the poached ivory for the East Asian trade. “Many people from China come and buy,” he said. There is a market for trinkets, seals, and chopsticks.
Chinese regime officials told Unreported World that they are against the illegal ivory trade and that Chinese diplomats did not illegally purchase or export ivory by misusing diplomatic immunity in 2009.
Most villagers have stood by while violence around the poaching continues. They felt threatened and were unable to prevent the elephant deaths. Now, many see tourism as the main way they can earn a living, so they are protecting the animals and habitat as much as they can.

Epoch Times - China Fuels East African Elephant Poaching

World Sentinel | WWF and TRAFFIC: Ivory Sales Proposal Fails at CITES Meeting

 

Ivory Sales Proposal Fails at CITES Meeting

Newswire Services

March 28, 2010

Washington, DC -- Requests from Zambia and Tanzania to hold one-off sales of their ivory stockpiles failed during a United Nations species trade meeting that comes during a worldwide poaching crisis.
Governments participating in the United Nation´s Convention on the International Trade of Endangered Species of Fauna and Flora (CITES) rejected proposals by Tanzania and Zambia to relax trade restrictions on their elephant populations by moving them from Appendix I -- the highest level of protection under the Convention banning all international commercial trade -- to Appendix II.
The two countries had also initially asked that they be able to hold a one-off sale of their ivory stockpiles. No commercial ivory sale is permitted if elephants remain in Appendix I, but an Appendix II listing allows some regulated international commercial trade.
Neither country was given permission to sell their ivory at this stage or relax trade controls on their elephant populations. The decisions come amid a poaching crisis destroying elephant populations in Asia and Africa.
"WWF and TRAFFIC believe the main factor behind the ongoing elephant poaching is the continued existence of illegal ivory markets across parts of Africa and Asia," said Crawford Allan of TRAFFIC, the wildlife trade monitoring network of WWF and International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN).

World Sentinel | WWF and TRAFFIC: Ivory Sales Proposal Fails at CITES Meeting

Kenya Welcomes Tanzania Ivory Ban | East Africa | English

 

Kenya Welcomes Tanzania Ivory Ban

Mike Sunderland | Nairobi 23 March 2010

Photo: AP

Kenyan Wildlife wardens keep a watch on confiscated elephant tusks at the Kenyan wildlife offices in Nairobi, Nov. 30, 2009

Kenya has welcomed the decision by The Convention on International Trade and Endangered Species to prevent neighboring Tanzania from selling part of its ivory stockpile.  The Kenyan government says putting ivory back on the market would stimulate illegal poaching in the region.
Speaking to VOA, Kenya Wildlife Spokesman Paul Udoto said the decision would help to ensure the continuation of one of Africa's most important conservation efforts.
"It is a victory for the African elephant," Udoto said. "It is also an opportunity for Kenya and like-minded partners to engage the other side of the argument."
Kenya was one of more than 20 countries from East and Central Africa that rallied against a proposal from Tanzania and Zambia to remove the African elephant from a list of endangered species.
The proposed change would have allowed the two countries to make a one-time sale of more than 100 tons of ivory; the profits of which they said would be used to fund further conservation projects.
Elephants can move freely across the border between Kenya and Tanzania at three main points where wildlife reserves straddle both countries.  Udoto argues that no decision regarding animal welfare in those regions should be made without consultation between the two nations.
"They are shared populations," Udoto said. "The elephants have no idea about the passports and the visas to cross over, and it was upon the two countries to have discussed this issue before being presented to Doha.  It is unfortunate that Tanzania moved ahead and took this to Doha without agreeing with us."
Experts say an insatiable demand for ivory from the Far East means many African countries are facing serious problems in controlling illegal poaching.
Speaking to VOA from the CITES summit in Doha, Save the Elephants Founder Ian Douglas-Hamilton said authorities must act to ensure all options stay closed to ivory buyers.  
"If the price of ivory is propelled upwards due to an increase in demand from the Far East, the poaching will definitely escalate and I think Kenya's really fearful that one-off sales would stimulate the market and increase the demand and that would definitely feed back down to increase the ivory poaching," Douglas-Hamilton said.
Douglas-Hamilton says the 1989 worldwide ban on ivory trade initially led to an increase in most significant elephant populations, a trend that continued until a few years ago.   
"Now what worries us is that we have seen a sudden escalation in poaching levels," Douglas-Hamilton said. "Everyone acknowledges that throughout the CITES program and that is why were particularly worried that we could see a return to the bad old days."

Kenya Welcomes Tanzania Ivory Ban | East Africa | English

Anna Brones: UN Ban on Ivory Threatened: Take Action to Protect Endangered Elephants

 

Beginning on Saturday, the world's nations will meet at the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) in Doha, Qatar to consider lifting an ban on ivory trade that would permit one-off sales of stockpiled ivory. There's a lot at stake at this convention; if the UN ban is lifted, endangered African elephants could be wiped out.

According to Samuel LaBudde, a biologist with the Environmental Investigation Agency,

Every time CITES approves an ivory sale it translates into an open hunting season on elephants across Africa and a death sentence for tens of thousands of protected elephants. It would be a tragedy for elephants and a travesty of conservation principles for CITES to approve Tanzania and Zambia's applications to downlist protections for elephants.

Both Tanzania and Zambia have put forth proposals to CITES that would allow each country to a one-off sale of their ivory stocks. That stockpiled ivory equals about 112 tonnes. These proposals have been made despite the fact that intensive elephant poaching and illegal ivory trade occur within both countries.

What does a one-off ivory sale mean for the ivory trade and conservation in general? The last time a one-off ivory sale was permitted by CITES was in 2008, when Botswana, Namibia, South Africa and Zimbabwe were allowed to sell a total of 108 tonnes to China and Japan. In the following year there was a global surge in the level of seizures of illegal ivory, with Tanzania responsible for almost half of the total 24 tonnes captured.

In fact, from 2008 to 2009, illegal ivory seizures doubled, the poaching death rate of elephants grew to nearly 10%, and the price of ivory ballooned to record levels.

Those increased death levels have a tremendous effect on a species that is already endangered. To raise awareness of the issue, and add to the scientific data in support of protecting elephants, a group of conservationists created the Elephant Ivory Project (EIP). The expedition, which will take place in the fall of 2010, is focused on pinpointing ivory poaching hot spots, aiding innovative elephant ivory forensics programs, and creating educational media to build public and political will to stop the illegal ivory trade. According to Trip Jennings, a team member of EIP,

Across the world's cultures and throughout our history elephants have been revered in religions and have captured our imagination -- Babar, Dumbo, Ganesh, Airavata, Erawan. But today these beautiful and highly intelligent creatures are being annihilated... As long as there is demand for ivory, elephants are at risk from poaching and smuggling -- but this week we have a chance to help stop it.

Many African countries and conservation groups are currently standing firm to uphold the ban, but they need our support. You can take action by signing this petition to save elephants and stop the bloody ivory trade. The petition calls on the nations of CITES to extend the ban for at least 20 years.

As the meeting in Doha unveils, global public opinion could tip the scales, and it's imperative that we all voice our opinion in support of this endangered species.

Anna Brones: UN Ban on Ivory Threatened: Take Action to Protect Endangered Elephants

Kenya steps up fight against ivory trade

Kenya steps up fight against ivory trade

By SATURDAY NATION Correspondent Posted Friday, February 26 2010 at 18:26

Kenya upped its campaign against international trade in ivory ahead of next month’s Doha Conference of Parties by hosting more than 20 diplomats to present its case.

Dubbed the bush breakfast, the Kenya Wildlife Service used Friday’s occasion to appeal to the envoys and their representatives, mostly from western Europe, to block attempts by Tanzania and Zambia to sell 110 tonnes of ivory.

The event was held at the symbolic ivory burning site where former president Daniel Moi set ablaze tonnes of tusks seized from poachers in 1989.

Kenya submitted a proposal for the March Convention on International Trade on Endangered Species (Cites) 15th Conference in Doha seeking to extend the moratorium on international trade in ivory to 20 years from the nine agreed in 2007 at The Hague.

KWS director Julius Kipng’etich told the diplomats that the spirit of The Hague agreement had been betrayed by the Cites secretariat and the Tanzania and Zambia governments.

Wiped out
“There is a clear disconnect between the spirit and the wording of the agreement,” he said, referring to a loophole in the wording of the moratorium that appeared to ban only Zimbabwe, South Africa, Botswana and Namibia from selling ivory.

The four countries were allowed to conduct a one-off sale in 2007 after which the moratorium would take effect.

“It is illogical for the Cites secretariat to turn around and say that the moratorium was not binding on all parties,” said Dr Kipng’etich.

“If we allow the sale to go ahead, the entire West African elephant population will be wiped out in 10 years,” he said.

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