Suchergebnisse

This is an environmental history of humans and wildfire on the Cape Peninsula, from the practices of Khoikhoi herders to the conflagrations of January 2000. The book examines how the region's unique, famously diverse fynbos vegetation has been transformed since European colonial settlement, through urbanisation and biological modifications.

Human-wildlife conflict is a growing problem worldwide wherever humans share landscapes with large predators, and negative encounters with eight species of the crocodilians is particularly widespread. Conservationists' responses to these adverse encounters have focused on the ecological and behavioural aspects of predators, rather than on the social, political, and cultural contexts which have threatened their existence in the first place. Few studies have thusfar tried to understand the rich, varied, contradictory and complex relations that exist between particular humans and human societies, and particular predators and groups of predators. It is in the spirit of Brian Morris's explorations of the interactional encounters and co-produced sociabilities that exist between humans and animals in specific places and regions that this paper offers a cultural herpetology (an account of human-crocodile interrelations) of the Nile crocodile (Crocodilus niloticus and C. suchus) in Africa. It draws on extensive historical documentation of the interactions of humans and crocodiles across Africa to examine how diverse and complex human responses to Nile crocodiles have been, and continue to be, and suggests some implications for improving human-crocodile relations.

Intro -- Acknowledgements -- Contents -- Contributors -- 1 Introduction: Historical Perspectives on Bioinvasions in the Mediterranean Region -- Abstract -- 1.1 Bioinvasions in Interdisciplinary Context -- 1.2 Aims and Scope -- 1.3 The Study Region -- 1.4 Natural and Cultural Dimension of Bioinvasions -- 1.5 Overview of the Chapters -- 1.6 Directions for Future Study -- References -- 2 Mare Nostrum, Mare Quod Invaditur-The History of Bioinvasions in the Mediterranean Sea -- Abstract -- 2.1 The Mediterranean Sea-A Brief Introduction -- 2.2 Mare Quod Invaditur-The Mediterranean Sea as a Hotspot of Marine Invasions -- 2.3 Marine Bioinvasions in the Mediterranean Sea-A Brief Historical Account -- 2.3.1 Shipping Precedes Science: The Pseudo-indigenous Species -- 2.3.2 Vessels and Non-indigenous Species -- 2.3.3 Mariculture: Intentional and Unintentional Introductions -- 2.3.4 The Suez Canal-A Corridor for Thermophilic Species -- 2.4 Marine NIS and Their Impacts: The Known and the Unknown -- 2.4.1 Environmental Impacts -- 2.4.2 The Economic Impact of Erythrean NIS -- 2.4.3 The Economic Impact of Intentionally Introduced NIS-A Silver Lining? -- 2.4.4 Human Health Hazards -- 2.5 The Legislative Response to Introductions into the Mediterranean Sea -- Acknowledgements -- References -- 3 The Apparently Relentless Spread of the Major Decapod Alien Species in the Mediterranean Basin and European Inland Waters -- Abstract -- 3.1 Biodiversity, Heritage Status and Socio-economic Activities of Mediterranean Decapod Crustaceans -- 3.1.1 Ecology of Lobsters, Crayfish, Crabs and Shrimps (Decapoda) -- 3.1.2 Protection of Mediterranean Habitats and Fauna -- 3.1.2.1 Protection of Mediterranean Fresh Waters -- 3.1.3 Native Decapods and Their Exploitation -- 3.2 Alien Decapod Species in the Mediterranean -- 3.3 Introduction, Spread and Impacts on Biodiversity.

Overexploitation represents a significant threat to wildlife, with the severest impacts felt by slow growing, economically valuable species. Governments often seek to address this through regulating utilisation and trade of species, which is commonly catalysed by multi-lateral environmental agreements (MEAs) such as the Convention on the International Trade of Endangered Species (CITES). However, it is often unclear to what degree CITES and associated regulations lead to tangible conservation outcomes. Robust impact assessments are needed to understand whether regulations are effective for achieving biodiversity conservation goals, and to learn lessons for future policy interventions. Yet such assessments are hindered by data paucity, bias, complexity and uncertainty. Here we discuss key challenges for assessing the impact of regulations on the use and trade of wildlife, and offer a practical approach to overcome them. Our approach combines an integrated framework for collating and analysing disparate and methodologically inconsistent data with a robust process to establish causal inference (and hence assess impact). This framework and process can be applied to any regulation, species or country context. To demonstrate its utility we apply this approach to the case of manta ray utilisation and trade (Mobula alfredi and M. Birostris) in Indonesia. This case study is particularly important due to the recent increase in the number of commercially important elasmobranchs listed in CITES appendices, with Parties adopting various national-level regulations to implement their CITES commitments. However, it is unclear to what degree these listings lead to meaningful regulatory reform, and much-needed reductions in fishing mortality, utilisation and onward trade. Indonesia is also a priority country for effective regulatory reform, due to its role as a major source country for international elasmobranch trade. Overall, we highlight challenges and opportunities for assessing the impact of wildlife trade regulations, which are generalisable across species and contexts, and provide the first attempt to assess the impact of such regulatory change on manta ray mortality in a source country. We also offer recommendation for future implementation and evaluation, emphasising the importance of mixed-methods, multiple datasets, and explicit acknowledgement of bias and complexity.