Multi-species occupancy modelling of mammal and ground bird communities in rangeland in the Karoo: A case for dryland systems globally
Multi-species occupancy modelling of mammal and ground bird communities in rangeland in the Karoo: A case for dryland systems globally
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DOI：
10.1016/j.biocon.2018.05.013
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发表时间：
2018-08-01
影响因子：
5.9
通讯作者：
O'Riain, M. Justin
中科院分区：
文献类型：
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作者：
Drouilly, Marine;Clark, Allan;O'Riain, M. Justin
从自然栖息地向农业用地的转变被广泛认为是生物多样性丧失的主要驱动因素之一。尽管如此，大多数野生动物仍然生活在私人农地上的保护区之外，特别是在用于放牧的牧场上。了解哪些物种在农业景观中持续存在，哪些物种在下降，对于全球生物多样性监测、管理和保护非常重要。在这项研究中，我们使用分层多物种占有率模型来估计南非半干旱地区卡鲁地区陆生脊椎动物(体质量和0.5公斤)的丰富度。我们评估了牧场和附近大小相似的保护区对不同人为和环境变量的物种特异性反应。我们根据营养协会和体型对哺乳动物物种进行了分组，并比较了它们在不同地区的出现情况。在322个地点的4035个6天的集体诱捕夜晚中，我们总共检测到42个物种。群落物种丰富度在两种土地利用方式下差异不显著，且随着保护区海拔的升高而降低。人为干扰不影响这两个地区的个体物种占有率。食肉动物、杂食动物和中型物种在两个地区的占有率相似，但保护区内的食草动物和大型物种以及牧场的食虫和小型物种的占有率较高。我们的结果显示，南非卡鲁地区的旱地，包括用于饲养小牲畜的牧场，支持着一个多样化的陆生脊椎动物群落。因此，私人土地所有者是保护区以外的土著生物多样性关键组成部分的重要保管人，特别是在低洼地区。
The transition from natural habitat to agricultural land use is widely regarded as one of the leading drivers of biodiversity loss. Despite this, most wildlife still lives outside protected areas on private agricultural land, particularly on rangeland used for livestock grazing. Understanding which species persist and which decline in agricultural landscapes is important for global biodiversity monitoring, management and conservation. In this study, we used hierarchical multi-species occupancy modelling to estimate terrestrial vertebrate (body mass > 0.5 kg) richness in the Karoo, a semi-arid region of South Africa. We evaluated species-specific responses to different anthropogenic and environmental variables in rangeland and a nearby protected area of similar size. We grouped mammal species according to trophic guild and body size and compared their occurrence between areas. In total we detected 42 species over 4035 6-day pooled trap nights across 322 sites. Community species richness was not significantly different between the two types of land use and decreased with increasing elevation in the protected area. Human disturbance did not affect individual species occupancy in either area. Carnivores, omnivores and medium-sized species occupancy probabilities were similar between the two areas but were higher for herbivores and large species in the protected area and for insectivores and small species in rangeland. Our results reveal that drylands in the South African Karoo region, including rangeland used for small-livestock fanning, support a diverse community of terrestrial vertebrates. Private landowners are thus important custodians of key components of indigenous biodiversity outside of protected areas, especially in low-lying areas.