A framework to measure the wildness of managed large vertebrate populations |
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| Authors: | Matthew F. Child S. A. Jeanetta Selier Frans G. T. Radloff W. Andrew Taylor Michael Hoffmann Lizanne Nel R. John Power Coral Birss Nicola C. Okes Michael J. Peel David Mallon Harriet Davies-Mostert |
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| Affiliation: | 1. Mammal Research Institute, Department of Zoology and Entomology, University of Pretoria, Private Bag X20 Hatfield, Pretoria, 0028 South Africa;2. Biodiversity Information and Policy Advice, South African National Biodiversity Institute, Rhodes Drive, Cape Town, 7735 South Africa;3. Department of Conservation and Marine Sciences, Cape Peninsula University of Technology, P.O. Box 652, Cape Town, 8000 South Africa;4. Endangered Wildlife Trust, Private Bag X11, Johannesburg, 1609 South Africa;5. Zoological Society of London, Regent's Park, London, NW1 4RY U.K.;6. South African Hunters and Game Conservation Association, 7 Mountain Drive, Pretoria, 2876 South Africa;7. Directorate: Biodiversity Management, North West Provincial Government, Mmabatho, 2750 South Africa;8. CapeNature, Assegaaibosch Nature Reserve, Jonkershoek Drive, Private Bag X 5014, Stellenbosch, 7599 South Africa;9. Department of Biological Sciences, University of Cape Town, Private Bag X3, Cape Town, 7700 South Africa;10. Rangeland Ecology Group, Agricultural Research Council, P.O. Box 7063, Nelspruit, 1200, South Africa;11. Division of Biology and Conservation Ecology, Manchester Metropolitan University, Chester St, Manchester, M1 5GD U.K. |
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| Abstract: | As landscapes continue to fall under human influence through habitat loss and fragmentation, fencing is increasingly being used to mitigate anthropogenic threats and enhance the commercial value of wildlife. Subsequent intensification of management potentially erodes wildness by disembodying populations from landscape-level processes, thereby disconnecting species from natural selection. Tools are needed to measure the degree to which populations of large vertebrate species in formally protected and privately owned wildlife areas are self-sustaining and free to adapt. We devised a framework to measure such wildness based on 6 attributes relating to the evolutionary and ecological dynamics of vertebrates (space, disease and parasite resistance, exposure to predation, exposure to limitations and fluctuations of food and water supply, and reproduction). For each attribute, we set empirical, species-specific thresholds between 5 wildness states based on quantifiable management interventions. We analysed data from 205 private wildlife properties with management objectives spanning ecotourism to consumptive utilization to test the framework on 6 herbivore species representing a range of conservation statuses and commercial values. Wildness scores among species differed significantly, and the proportion of populations identified as wild ranged from 12% to 84%, which indicates the tool detected site-scale differences both among populations of different species and populations of the same species under different management regimes. By quantifying wildness, this framework provides practitioners with standardized measurement units that link biodiversity with the sustainable use of wildlife. Applications include informing species management plans at local scales; standardizing the inclusion of managed populations in red-list assessments; and providing a platform for certification and regulation of wildlife-based economies. Applying this framework may help embed wildness as a normative value in policy and mitigate the shifting baseline of what it means to truly conserve a species. |
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| Keywords: | dynamics indicator management policy regulation wildlife dinámicas fauna indicador manejo políticas regulación 野生动物 指标 政策 规章 动态 管理 |
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