Search results for "suojelualueet"
showing 10 items of 24 documents
Assessing the Impact of Road and Land Use on Species Diversity of Trees, Shrubs, Herbs and Grasses in the Mountain Landscape in Southern Africa
2022
Mountain landscape, described as a global biodiversity hotspot due to high endemism, is threatened by land-use change, including management and modification of vegetation. However, there is little knowledge about how road and land use affect plant diversity in mountains landscapes, particularly in southern Africa. Previous studies have studied the impact of the road or land use on plant species diversity separately and have concentrated on a single plant species. Here we compare the plant diversity of regenerated trees, shrubs, herbaceous plant, and grasses among Forest, Fallow, Agriculture, and Road in the Moribane Forest Reserve (MFR), in Eastern Chimanimani Mountain landscape in Mozambiq…
Invasive catfish in northern Italy and their impacts on waterbirds
2022
Predatory fish have occasionally been observed preying on birds, sometimes repeatedly, but few studies were able to unravel the overall significance of avian prey in fish diet and the predation impacts on bird populations. We used a control/impact study setup, using a Nature Reserve in northern Italy and a nearby control area, to determine: 1) the contribution of waterbirds to wels catfish diet in the Reserve, 2) the population density of wels catfish in the Reserve and control area and 3) the potential impacts of waterbird depredation by wels catfish on waterbird population trends. Our stable isotope Bayesian mixing model indicated that birds contributed 12.2% (5–27.9%, 50% confidence inte…
Ecosystem rescue : when protection is not enough
2015
More wood but less biodiversity in forests in Finland: a historical evaluation
2022
National forest inventories (NFI) in Finland provide empirical evidence for a marked increase in tree growth, total forest area, and total timber volume over the past century. Meanwhile, the assessments of threatened forest species and habitats indicate continuous degradation of biodiversity in Finnish forests. To shed light on this seeming paradox, we summarized the temporal patterns of forest characteristics (indicators) that have major influence on biodiversity, comparing the structure of current Finnish forests with natural and historical references. Using a variety of data sources, we estimated the proportion of area of old-growth forest and of deciduous-dominated forests, the density …
Complex effects of natural disasters on protected areas
2022
It is now broadly recognised that in order to be sustainable, protected areas (PAs) must bring concrete benefits to local populations who suffer from the restrictions imposed for conservation. Natural disasters, such as major floods, bring additional challenges to conservation efforts and related support activities, notably nature-based tourism. Disasters often intensify conflicts between conservation objectives and local community needs, but they may also bring some mutual benefits. Reduced income from decreased nature-based tourism can, for example, lead to expansion of agricultural fields to protected forests, and subsequent land-use conflicts. Yet, disasters can also strengthen feelings…
Assessing tolerance for wildlife: human-elephant conflict in Chimanimani, Mozambique
2020
Human–elephant conflict (HEC) is a common problem for rural populations in sub-Saharan Africa. Recent studies have shown that willingness to tolerate wildlife is largely a function of perceived risks and benefits, but most technical assessments are limited to the immediate cause of the conflict and neglect the broader socioeconomic and political contexts. Based on two sets of interviews, this article provides a socioeconomic analysis of HEC in the buffer zone of Chimanimani National Reserve in Mozambique. Although traditional methods to scare off elephants were found to have little effect, a beehive fence introduced in 2016 initially appeared to be successful. However, follow-up three years…
Impact of Conservation Policies on Households’ Deforestation Decisions in Protected and Open-Access Forests: Cases of Moribane Forest Reserve and Ser…
2022
Tropical deforestation is considered a global priority due to its environmental, social, and economic impacts at international, national, and household levels. Conservation policies constitute one of the pathways to reverse this scenario. This paper examines the influence of forest protection measures on local communities’ livelihood decisions regarding forest clearing. It compares deforestation, access to forest resources, and households’ strategies in protected and open-access forests: the Moribane Forest Reserve (MFR) and Serra Chôa (SCH), two environmentally sensitive areas with different conservation statuses in Manica Province, central Mozambique. Socioeconomic data were collected fro…
Comparison of methods to model species habitat networks for decision-making in nature conservation : the case of the wildcat in southern Belgium
2020
Facing the loss of biodiversity caused by landscape fragmentation, implementation of ecological networks to connect habitats is an important biodiversity conservation issue. It is necessary to develop easily reproducible methods to identify and prioritize actions to maintain or restore ecological corridors. To date, several competing methods are used with recurrent debate on which is best and if expert-based approaches can replace data-driven models. We compared three methods: knowledge-driven (expert based), data-driven (based on species distribution model), and a mixed approach. We quantified their differences in habitat and corridor mapping, and prioritizations of landscape elements in t…