Value of combining transect counts and telemetry data to determine short-term population trends in a globally threatened species

To evaluate conservation interventions, it is necessary to obtain reliable population trends for short (<10 years) time scales. Telemetry can be used to estimate short-term survival rates and is a common tool for assessing population trends, but it has limitations and can be biased toward specific behavioral traits of tagged individuals. Encounter rates calculated from transects can be useful for assessing changes across multiple species, but they can have large confidence intervals and be affected by variations in survey conditions. The decline of African vultures has been well-documented, but understanding of recent trends is lacking. To examine population trends, we used survival estimates from telemetry data collected over 6 years (primarily for white-backed vultures [Gyps africanus]) and transect counts conducted over 8 years (for 7 scavenging raptors) in 3 large protected areas in Tanzania. Population trends were estimated using survival analysis combined with the Leslie Lefkovitch matrix model from the telemetry data and using Bayesian mixed effects generalized linear regression models from the transect data. Both methods showed significant declines for white-backed vultures in Ruaha and Nyerere National Parks. Only telemetry estimates suggested significant declines in Katavi National Park. Encounter rates calculated from transects also showed declines in Nyerere National Park for lappet-faced vultures (38% annual declines) and Bateleurs (18%) and in Ruaha National Park for white-headed vultures (Trigonoceps occipitalis) (19%). Mortality rates recorded and inferred from telemetry suggested that poisoning is prevalent. However, only 6 mortalities of the 26 presumed mortalities were confirmed to be caused by poisoning, highlighting the challenges of determining the cause of death when working across large landscapes. Despite declines, our data provide evidence that southern Tanzania has higher current encounter rates of African vultures than elsewhere in East Africa. Preventing further declines will depend greatly on mitigating poisoning. Based on our results, we suggest that the use of multiple techniques improves understanding of population trends over the short term.Vulture research in southern Tanzania was funded by the North Carolina Zoological Society and the Wildlife Conservation Society. Donor support provided by Association of Zoos and Aquariums (AZA), AZA SAFE (Saving Animals From Extinction), Dallas Zoo, Disney Conservation Fund, Leiden Conservation Foundation, National Geographic Society, Taronga Conservation Society Australia, The Mohamed bin Zayed Species Conservation Fund, and the Wyss Foundation. Research permission was granted by the Tanzania Wildlife Research Institute (TAWIRI), Tanzania Commission for Science and Technology, and Tanzania National Parks and Tanzania Wildlife Authority (TAWA). We thank Singira Ngoishiye and TAWA Selous GR for invaluable contributions to ensure successful deployment of satellite tags and rapidmobilization of rangers to poisoning events, L. Mlawila for assistance with surveys and retrieving satellite tags from mortalities, and E. Kohi (TAWIRI) for his input on the manuscript. Work in Selous Game Reserve (nowNyerere National Park) was conducted in collaboration with Frankfurt Zoological Society.https://conbio.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/journal/15231739am2024Mammal Research InstituteZoology and EntomologySDG-15:Life on lan

Effect of harness design for tag attachment on the flight performance of five soaring species

BackgroundBio-logging devices play a fundamental and indispensable role in movement ecology studies, particularly in the wild. However, researchers are aware of the influence that attaching devices can have on animals, particularly on their behaviour, energy expenditure and survival. The way a device is attached to an animal’s body has also potential consequences for the collected data, and quantifying the type and magnitude of such potential effects is fundamental to enable researchers to combine and compare data from different studies, as much as it is to improve animal welfare. For over two decades, large terrestrial birds have been in the focus of long-term movement ecology research, employing bio-logging devices attached with different types of harnesses. However, comparative studies investigating the effects of different harness types used on these species are scarce.MethodsIn this study, we tested for potential differences in data collected by two commonly used harness types, backpack and leg-loop, on the flight performance of 10 individuals from five soaring raptor species, equipped with high resolution bio-logging devices, in the same area and time. We explored the effect of harness type on vertical speed, airspeed, glide ratio, height above sea level, distance travelled, proportion of soaring and flapping behaviour, and VeDBA (a proxy for energy expenditure) between and within individuals, all used as fine-scale measures of flight performance.ResultsBirds equipped with leg-loops climbed up to 0.36 ms faster, reached 25.9% greater altitudes while soaring and spent less time in active flight compared to birds equipped with backpacks, suggesting that backpack harnesses, compared to leg-loops, might cause additional drag affecting the birds’ flight performance. A lower VeDBA, a lower rate of sinking while gliding and slightly higher glide ratio and airspeeds were also indicative of less drag using leg-loops, even though the effect on these parameters was comparable to inter-individual differences.ConclusionsOur results add to the existing literature highlighting the design-related advantages of leg-loops, and support the use of leg-loops as a better alternative to backpack harnesses for large soaring birds, when possible. Our study also highlights how apparently small changes in device attachment can lead to notable improvements in tagging practice, with implications for animal welfare, data interpretation and comparability

Movement Ecology of Philippine Birds of Prey

Movement ecology is an emerging paradigm important to conservation biology and to the protection of global biodiversity. I used two common, but poorly known Philippine birds of prey as study tools in understanding movement ecology. One species is the migratory grey-faced buzzard (Butastur indicus), a raptor that which visits the islands in large numbers in winter. The other is the resident Philippine serpent eagle (Spilornis holospilus) which lives there at relatively high population density year-round. I used migration data at two terrestrial hawkwatch sites to assess how weather correlates influenced the movement behaviors of grey-faced buzzards. The grey-faced buzzard was the second most common raptor migrant using the Philippines as part of their migration route. My models show that they are more likely observed, either initiating or completing over-water crossings, in headwinds. I also created spatial models to understand how grey-faced buzzards overcome movement barriers (i.e. ocean). Modeled buzzard routes across the Philippines were between 1,582 and 2,970 km, and all repeatedly crossed water. Some of the routes overlapped at long and unavoidable over-water crossings. My models suggest that the optimal strategy for these birds is to find the shortest route to an exit point with the greatest possible access to stopover habitats and fewest over-water crossings under wind resistance. Additionally, I used road survey data to determine habitat associations of Philippine serpent eagle abundance across central and eastern Mindanao. My model showed that detection probability for the Philippine serpent eagle is relatively low, and the probability of occupancy was highest in near-pristine forests, especially low elevation dipterocarp forests. My road surveys helped establish the beginning of the breeding season for the Philippine serpent eagle. They also provided initial information on wintering habitats for grey-faced buzzards. This work is cutting-edge ecology and also provided natural history information about species for which there is almost no existing knowledge

Negotiating memory and nation building in new South African drama

ABSTRACT This thesis examines the representation of trauma and memory in six post-Apartheid plays. The topic is explored through a treatment of the tropes of racial segregation, different forms of dispossession as well as violence. The thesis draws its inspiration from the critical and self-reflexive engagements with which South African playwrights depict the Truth and Reconciliation Commission. The dramatists are concerned with the contested nature of the TRC as an experiential and historical archive. Others explore the idea of disputed and seemingly elusive notions of truth (from the embodied to the forensic). Through the unpacking of the TRC, as reflected in three of the plays, the thesis argues that apart from the idea of an absolute or forensic truth, the TRC is also characterised by the repression of truth. Furthermore, there is a consideration of debates around amnesty, justice, and reparations. Underpinning the politics and representations of trauma and memory, the thesis also interrogates the concomitant explorations and implications of identity and citizenship in the dramas. In the experience of violence, subjugation and exile, the characters in the dramas wrestle with the physical and psychological implications of their lived experiences. This creates anxieties around notions of self and community whether at home or in exile and such representations foreground the centrality of memory in identity construction. All these complex personal and social challenges are further exacerbated by the presence of endemic violence against women and children as well as that of rampart crime. The thesis, therefore, explores the negotiation of memory and identity in relation to how trauma could be mitigated or healing could be attained. The thesis substantially blurs the orthodox lines of differentiation between race and class, but emphasises the centrality of the individual or self in recent post-Apartheid engagements

SHORT AND LONG-TERM EFFECTS OF VARIATION IN THE BREEDINGENVIRONMENT ON BEHAVIOUR AND FITNESS TRAITS IN ACOLONIAL, CAVITY NESTING RAPTOR

The heterogeneity of breeding environment leads the evolution of different behavioural strategies that individuals undertake to guarantee their fitness and survival. Moreover, the cyclic nature of animal life determines that each set of decision made by individuals during reproduction could severely affect behaviour and fitness traits during their successive stages of life cycle. Among different species that have been studied to investigate these relationships, migratory birds are optimal model species, since the rigid scheduling of their life cycle exacerbates the associations established among breeding environmental variations, fitness and behaviour. In the present thesis, I investigated the possible effects of variation in the breeding environment on fitness and behavioural traits of a colonial, migratory, avian species the lesser kestrel (Falco naumanni), assessing possible effects during two different temporal scales: in the current breeding season (short-term effects) and/or during successive life stages (long-term effects). In the first part, I analysed short-term effects of breeding environmental variations, observing whether nest-site quality and food resource abundancy and distribution could affect fitness and behaviour of lesser kestrel. Firstly, I have investigated the strategy implemented by lesser kestrel during nest-site selection, and whether individual differences in the nest-site preference could affect fitness. Secondly, I have assessed whether food resource abundancy could limit lesser kestrel\u2019s breeding performance and whether the patchy prey distribution in the breeding environment could negatively affect their foraging behaviour and fitness. In the second part, I have investigated whether variation in breeding environment could affect lesser kestrel during successive stages of the life cycle. I therefore analysed whether breeding area continental distribution affects migratory behaviour and strategy of five European populations of lesser kestrel. The overall results reported in this thesis suggested that lesser kestrel suffers variations in the breeding environment that occur during the current breeding season, indeed I have assessed that individuals rely on public information gathered from the environment to choose the most suitable nest-site and to identify optimal foraging areas. Foraging strategies adopted by lesser kestrel during the breeding season have evolved to cope with the heterogeneous prey distribution and to limit intraspecific competition among individuals of the same and different colonies. Moreover, food resource abundancy mediates individual fitness according to parent body condition. Finally, despite the absence of any direct effects of lesser kestrel migratory connectivity on individual fitness, I observed that the continental distribution of the breeding site reflects the location of the non-breeding areas in Africa. This evidence highlighted that European populations remain separated during the African stay and thus are subjected to different abiotic and biotic traits with possible profound effects on population dynamics

Annual Report of the Board of Regents of the Smithsonian Institution showing the operations, expenditures, and condition of the Institution for the year ending June 30, 1889

Annual Report of the Smithsonian Institution. 1 July. HMO 224 (pts. 1 and 2), 51-1, v20-21. 18llp. [2779-2780] Research related to the American Indian

Bowdoin Orient v.115, no.1-27 (1985-1986)

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Bowdoin Orient v.110, no.1-25 (1980-1981)

https://digitalcommons.bowdoin.edu/bowdoinorient-1980s/1001/thumbnail.jp

Bowdoin Orient v.135, no.1-25 (2005-2006)

https://digitalcommons.bowdoin.edu/bowdoinorient-2000s/1006/thumbnail.jp

Of rattle snakes and grapes of wrath: rise, fall and rise of independent media in Kenya

The Kenyan case highlights government’s recourse to sophisticated, “silent” but effective process of emasculating the media in spite of the robustness of the constitutional, legal and institutional frames for media behaviour. The author, Peter Kimani, notes further, however, that investments in the technology sector have led to an empowered citizenry and helped to reorganize the way news is sourced and disseminated, particularly through mobile telephony. According to him, “this, it is safe to predict, is the next news frontier, and start-ups and other fringe news portals are likely to problematize power relations between media barons and the state, and provoke reassessment in the way censorship is/will be exercised in the near future”