The Effect of Multi-Use Landscapes on Mammal Assemblages and Its Implication for Conservation

Zoë Woodgate (), Marine Drouilly, Greg Distiller and M. Justin O’Riain
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Zoë Woodgate: Department of Biological Sciences, Institute for Communities and Wildlife in Africa, University of Cape Town, Cape Town 7700, South Africa
Marine Drouilly: Department of Biological Sciences, Institute for Communities and Wildlife in Africa, University of Cape Town, Cape Town 7700, South Africa
Greg Distiller: Statistics in Ecology, Environment and Conservation, Department of Statistical Science, University of Cape Town, Cape Town 7700, South Africa
M. Justin O’Riain: Department of Biological Sciences, Institute for Communities and Wildlife in Africa, University of Cape Town, Cape Town 7700, South Africa

Land, 2023, vol. 12, issue 3, 1-23

Abstract: It has become clear that state-owned protected areas (PAs) are insufficient in preserving the world’s spatially heterogenous biodiversity. Private land conservation could contribute significantly to national conservation goals, without further burdening state resources. In South Africa, legislation has been introduced to incentivise private landowners to contribute to national biodiversity goals. In this study, we used camera trap arrays and hierarchical multi-species occupancy modelling to evaluate the impact of land-use on mammal (body mass >0.5 kg) diversity in the drylands of South Africa. Four hundred and fifty-one camera traps were deployed across a statutory PA, private PA and a neighbouring group of farmlands, covering ~2096 km 2 . Although trophic species richness were similar across all three land-uses, occurrence and detection probabilities of larger (>20 kg) species were low in the farmlands and highest in the private PA. In contrast, smaller species had higher occurrence probabilities in the farmlands, where large predators and megaherbivores have been extirpated. Differences in species-specific occurrence probabilities were primarily driven by land-use context, as opposed to fine-scale habitat attributes. These results highlight how a land-use matrix incorporating statutory PAs, private PAs and well-managed rangelands can benefit wildlife conservation, as long as these land-uses are included in carefully developed regional conservation planning.

Keywords: camera-trapping; multi-species occupancy model; trophic guild; land-use; species richness (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q15 Q2 Q24 Q28 Q5 R14 R52 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2023
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