The landscape ecology of pastoral herding: Spatial analysis of land use and livestock production in East Africa.

Understanding landscape-scale patterns of herding is critical in identifyin

Central-place analysis and modeling of landscape-scale resource use in East African agropastoral system. Landscape Ecology 16(3

Abstract Most spatial models of grazing assume a global search; that is, the entire paddock or landscape is available to grazers. These 'unconstrained' models characterize landscape patches based on absolute properties (i.e., without regard for how individual grazers are situated within them). In most of East Africa cattle are herded and must start and end each day's grazing at their enclosure. Thus, global search is not a realistic assumption. This implies that the relative location of a patch may be more important than its absolute properties because its quality depends not only on the properties of the patch itself, but also on its location relative to home and to water. Using data from 73 full-day herd follows among a group of agropastoralists in western Tanzania, I build and test an unconstrained model and compare its analytical utility and predictive power to a 'central-place' model that defines the landscape relative to herders' homes (the central place) and dry season water. The central-place model provides analytical insights into the grazing system that are not apparent when using an unconstrained model, and it explains more of the variance in grazing intensity. Because many types of resources are collected around a focal point, central-place models should have wide applicability for analyzing and modeling many kinds of resource use, particularly in the developing world

A "one health" approach to address emerging zoonoses: the HALI project in Tanzania.

Jonna Mazet and colleagues describe their work in the Tanzania-based HALI Project, which adopts the “One Health” approach to address emerging zoonoses and that recognizes the interconnectedness of human, animal, and environmental health

A species approach to marine ecosystem conservation

1. The concept of integrated ecosystem conservation is widely supported as a framework to achieve sustainable management of biodiversity. However, paucity of data and limited methodological tools reduce its application in approaches that integrate scientific knowledge, enhance international cooperation, and promote a rationale that appeals to stakeholders. 2. The landscape species concept (LS), a species-based conservation planning tool developed for patterns and processes of terrestrial conservation, is applied to the Extended Patagonian Marine Ecosystem (E-PME) in the SW Atlantic. The E-PME encompasses the Patagonian continental shelf, shelf break front and part of the Argentine Basin (ca. 3000000km(2)). 3. This ecosystem is influenced by oceanographic patterns of currents and bathymetry as well as by the overlapping geographies of national and international conventions, including those that govern use of the High Seas. The interactions of these oceanographic and jurisdictional structures, and the distribution and seasonal movements of biological species, drive present conservation opportunities and threats. 4. Here, an analysis of 33 candidate species in terms of their area requirements, heterogeneity of their habitat use, vulnerability to threats, ecological functions, and socioeconomic importance is reported, and a suite of 'seascape species' is developed around which to build conservation efforts. Preliminary geographic representations of the human and biological aspects of the seascape are provided, and how their spatial intersection affects conservation approaches is discussed. 5. The application of a focal species approach in an ecosystem framework complements space-habitat perspectives (e.g. the Large Marine Ecosystem concept) and may lead to more efficient planning of marine protected areas

The local and global influences impacting human health, including the interdependence of people, animals, plants, and the environment, and the associated food and water availability, safety, and security.

<p>(Graphic artist credit: A. Kent).</p

Map of the HALI Project study site in the Ruaha ecosystem, Tanzania.

<p>(Graphic artist credit: A. Kent).</p

Men's and women's disease risks from livestock likely differ: men have occasional, but intense contact with sick animals (left), while women have regular, close contact with animals, particularly poultry and lactating cows and goats (right).

<p>(Photo credit: M. Kock-Wildlife Conservation Society).</p