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.