Northern Bostwana human wildlife coexistence project : project evaluation report

The Northern Botswana Human Wildlife Coexistence Project is a six year project (2010 – 2016) implemented by the Department of Wildlife and National Parks and supported by the Global Environment Facility in partnership with the Government of Botswana. The project has successfully achieved the outcomes for which it was established, namely to develop and test an approach towards mitigating the effects of Human Wildlife Conflict

Aerial census of animals in Botswana, dry season 2012

Department of Wildlife and National Parks (DWNP) initiated countrywide aerial surveys in response to a number of wildlife management challenges, including a severe drought in the 1980s which resulted in high wildlife mortalities and rangeland degradation. These challenges required information on wildlife population, abundance and distribution before any informed management decisions can be made. Recent concerns that some species in key wildlife areas were declining further underlined the need for monitoring data

Fresno Canyon

Accompanied by 3 foldout maps -- Map 1 : Major plant associations. Map 2 : Areas subjected to archaeological reconnaissance. Map 3 : Range conditionsUT Librarie

Bofecillos Mountains

Accompanied by 4 foldout maps -- Map 1 : Bofecillos Mountains West: Major plant associations. Map 2 : Bofecillos Mountains West : Areas subjected to archaeological reconnaissance. Map 3 : Bofecillos Mountains East : Major plant associations. Map 4 : Bofecillos Mountains East : Areas subjected to archaeological reconnaissanceUT Librarie

Rio Grande-Falcon Thorn Woodland

Accompanied by 3 fold-out maps : Areas subjected to archaeological reconnaissance. Major plant associations. Photogeologic mapUT Librarie

Modeling the distribution of a wide-ranging invasive species using the sampling efforts of expert and citizen scientists

1- Results for the models calibrated with <i>Weigted Pts</i> pseudo-absences for the paper 'Modelling the distribution of a wide-ranging invasive species using the sampling efforts of expert and citizen scientists'.<div>2- Final figure of the probability of distribution of rabbits in black and white.</div><div>3- Final figure of the probability of distribution of rabbits in ASC format.<br></div

Does urbanization influence the diet of a large snake?

Urbanization facilitates synanthropic species such as rodents, which benefit the diets of many predators in cities. We investigated how urbanization affects the feeding ecology of dugites Pseudonaja affinis, a common elapid snake in south-west Western Australia. We predicted that urban snakes: 1) more frequently contain prey and eat larger meals, 2) eat proportionally more non-native prey, 3) eat a lower diversity of prey species, and 4) are relatively heavier, than non-urban dugites. We analyzed the diet of 453 specimens obtained from the Western Australian Museum and opportunistic road-kill collections. Correcting for size, sex, season, and temporal biases, we tested whether location influenced diet for our 4 predictions. Body size was a strong predictor of diet (larger snakes had larger prey present, a greater number of prey items, and a greater diversity of prey). We identified potential collection biases: urban dugites were relatively smaller (snout-vent length) than non-urban specimens, and females were relatively lighter than males. Accounting for these effects, urban snakes were less likely to have prey present in their stomachs and were relatively lighter than non-urban snakes. Other urban-adapted carnivores appear to benefit from urbanization through increased food supplementation, but we found the opposite of this: urban dugites were less likely to contain a meal, and their meals were smaller, indicating they did not make greater use of synanthropic species than was evident for non-urban snakes. In contrast to other carnivores, snakes do not appear to fit a consistent directional pattern for size differences between urban and non-urban populations

A review of assessment methods for river hydromorphology

The work leading to this paper has received funding for the EU’s FP7 under Grant Agreement No. 282656 (REFORM

Pollination by the locally endangered island flying fox (Pteropus hypomelanus) enhances fruit production of the economically important durian (Durio zibethinus)

Fruit bats provide valuable pollination services to humans through a unique coevolutionary relationship with chiropterophilous plants. However, chiropterophily in the Old World and the pollination roles of large bats, such as flying foxes (Pteropus spp., Acerodon spp., Desmalopex spp.), are still poorly understood and require further elucidation. Efforts to protect these bats have been hampered by a lack of basic quantitative information on their role as ecosystem service providers. Here, we investigate the role of the locally endangered island flying fox Pteropus hypomelanus in the pollination ecology of durian (Durio zibethinus), an economically important crop in Southeast Asia.On Tioman Island, Peninsular Malaysia, we deployed 19 stations of paired infrared camera and video traps across varying heights at four individual flowering trees in a durian orchard. We detected at least nine species of animal visitors, but only bats had mutualistic interactions with durian flowers. There was a clear vertical stratification in the feeding niches of flying foxes and nectar bats, with flying foxes feeding at greater heights in the trees. Flying foxes had a positive effect on mature fruit set and therefore serve as important pollinators for durian trees. As such, semi-wild durian trees—particularly tall ones—may be dependent on flying foxes for enhancing reproductive success. Our study is the first to quantify the role of flying foxes in durian pollination, demonstrating that these giant fruit bats may have far more important ecological, evolutionary, and economic roles than previously thought. This has important implications and can aid efforts to promote flying fox conservation, especially in Southeast Asian countries