Suchergebnisse

One of the main threats to wild primates is habitat alteration, fragmentation and destruction. Therefore it is crucial to understand the ability of those species to adapt to human-induced habitat changes to prevent extirpation. Key to this is a species diet plasticity. In Paraguay over 91% of the Upper Paraná Atlantic Forest has been destroyed to expand agricultural land. We determined the diet composition of three Sapajus cay groups in degraded and near-pristine Atlantic Forest in eastern Paraguay to assess whether the diet composition of this species changes with habitat degradation. We accounted for diet variability associated with demographic traits and forest characteristics using multinomial linear models. Once the effect of age, sex, and season were accounted for, we found that the diet of capuchins was plastic and shifted to adapt to studied degraded forest conditions. The results showed that (as expected) the capuchins have a generalist and flexible diet, including opportunistically taking advantage of crop plants, particularly Slash Pine plantations, when the risks were lower. The capuchins ability to adjust their diet in different habitat fragments demonstrates that small islands of Paraguayan Atlantic Forest are valuable for their persistence. This insight can be used to create applied conservation strategies, such as using the existing Payment for Ecosystem Services (PES) legislation to provide an opportunity to begin reconnecting fragments using native trees bordered by Slash Pine plantations. Using the capuchins as an umbrella species would increase public support of the program, while compensation through the PES scheme and profiting from the timber would encourage landowner participation.

Managing the nonlethal effects of disturbance on wildlife populations has been a long-term goal for decision makers, managers, and ecologists, and assessment of these effects is currently required by European Union and United States legislation. However, robust assessment of these effects is challenging. The management of human activities that have nonlethal effects on wildlife is a specific example of a fundamental ecological problem: how to understand the population-level consequences of changes in the behavior or physiology of individual animals that are caused by external stressors. In this study, we review recent applications of a conceptual framework for assessing and predicting these consequences for marine mammal populations. We explore the range of models that can be used to formalize the approach and we identify critical research gaps. We also provide a decision tree that can be used to select the most appropriate model structure given the available data. Synthesis and applications: The implementation of this framework has moved the focus of discussion of the management of nonlethal disturbances on marine mammal populations away from a rhetorical debate about defining negligible impact and toward a quantitative understanding of long-term population-level effects. Here we demonstrate the frameworks general applicability to other marine and terrestrial systems and show how it can support integrated modeling of the proximate and ultimate mechanisms that regulate trait-mediated, indirect interactions in ecological communities, that is, the nonconsumptive effects of a predator or stressor on a species behavior, physiology, or life history.

Frontmatter -- Contents -- Contributors -- 1 Introduction: Welcome to the Futures of Wildlife Tourism -- Part 1: Paths Towards the Futures of Wildlife Tourism -- 2 Wildlife Tourism in (Un)sustainable Futures -- 3 Rabbits in the Wild: Close Encounters on an Equal Footing? -- 4 Representing Wild Animals to Humans: The Ethical Future of Wildlife Tourism -- Part 2: Human–Animal Encounters -- 5 The Rise of Selfie Safaris and the Future(s) of Wildlife Tourism -- 6 The Future of Captive Wildlife: Useful and Enjoyable for Animals and Visitors -- 7 Promises and Pitfalls in the Future of Sustainable Wildlife Interpretation -- 8 Interspecies Communication and Encounters with Orcas -- Part 3: Technology Advancements -- 9 Safeguarding Sustainable Futures for Marine Wildlife Tourism through Collaboration and Innovation: The Utopia of Whale-Watching -- 10 Designing Future Wildlife Tourism Experiences: On Agency in Human–Sled Dog Encounters -- 11 The Future of Captive Animals and Tourism: The Zoo and Aquatic Cloning Centre 2070 -- 12 Will Cryptogovernance Save the Wildlife Tourism Commons -- 13 Final Reflections: Travel Notes, Postcards, Treasures and Dragons -- Index

Managing the nonlethal effects of disturbance on wildlife populations has been a long‐term goal for decision makers, managers, and ecologists, and assessment of these effects is currently required by European Union and United States legislation. However, robust assessment of these effects is challenging. The management of human activities that have nonlethal effects on wildlife is a specific example of a fundamental ecological problem: how to understand the population‐level consequences of changes in the behavior or physiology of individual animals that are caused by external stressors. In this study, we review recent applications of a conceptual framework for assessing and predicting these consequences for marine mammal populations. We explore the range of models that can be used to formalize the approach and we identify critical research gaps. We also provide a decision tree that can be used to select the most appropriate model structure given the available data. Synthesis and applications: The implementation of this framework has moved the focus of discussion of the management of nonlethal disturbances on marine mammal populations away from a rhetorical debate about defining negligible impact and toward a quantitative understanding of long‐term population‐level effects. Here we demonstrate the framework's general applicability to other marine and terrestrial systems and show how it can support integrated modeling of the proximate and ultimate mechanisms that regulate trait‐mediated, indirect interactions in ecological communities, that is, the nonconsumptive effects of a predator or stressor on a species' behavior, physiology, or life history.