Will woody plant encroachment impact the visitor experience and economy of conservation areas
Will woody plant encroachment impact the visitor experience and economy of conservation areas
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DOI：
10.4102/koedoe.v55i1.1106
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发表时间：
2013-02
期刊：
影响因子：
1.1
通讯作者：
E. Gray;W. Bond
中科院分区：
文献类型：
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作者：
E. Gray;W. Bond
木本植物对稀树草原的入侵是全球普遍存在的现象，影响着生态系统的产品和服务，如生物多样性、碳储存、养分循环、放牧和水文。对牧场的直接生态和经济后果已经进行了相当充分的研究，但据我们所知，对保护工作的经济影响尚未进行调查。非洲稀树草原是重要的保护区，因为它们支持着世界上大量现存的巨型动物。本研究利用游客调查和长期哺乳动物分布数据来调查树木密度的增加如何影响保护区动物的可见度，从而降低游客对该地区的满意度。我们发现，在树木繁茂的地区，动物的表观种群规模和密度大大减少，这表明能见度受到了负面影响。游客调查表明，如果动物变得更加难以看到，那么大部分（几乎一半）潜在的未来游客可能会流失，而这些游客中的大多数将是消费更高的游客。根据游客的来源不同，人们的反应也有所不同，国际游客对看动物更感兴趣，而当地游客则更满足于远离城市。结果表明，木本植物的入侵会对热带稀树草原保护区的游客数量产生显著影响，同时动物数量和密度也会受到显著影响。保护意义：结果指出，随着游客对他们的体验越来越不满意，保护工作可能会产生重大的经济后果。游客的看法对管理决策很重要，因为公园的费用对保护工作有很大贡献。这最终可能导致非洲保护区有效保护其生物多样性的能力下降。结果表明，管理部门可能需要重新评估其控制木本植物入侵的方法。
Woody plant encroachment into savannas is a globally prevalent phenomenon and impacts ecosystem goods and services such as biodiversity, carbon storage, nutrient cycling, grazing and hydrology. The direct ecological and economic consequences for rangelands have been fairly well studied, but, to our knowledge, the economic impact on conservation efforts has not been investigated. African savannas are important as conservation areas because they support large numbers of the world’s remaining megafauna. This study used visitor surveys and long-term mammal distribution data to investigate how an increase in tree density might affect the visibility of animals in a conservation area, which could reduce the satisfaction of visitors to the area. We found that apparent herd sizes and density of animals were much reduced in woody areas, suggesting that visibility is negatively impacted. Visitor surveys determined that a large fraction (almost half) of potential future visitors to the park may be lost if animals became more difficult to see and that the majority of these would be the higher-spending visitors. Responses differed depending on the origin of visitors, with international visitors being more interested in seeing animals, whilst local visitors were more content with just being away from the city. The results suggest that woody plant encroachment may have significant impacts on visitor numbers to savanna conservation areas, whilst animal numbers and densities may also be significantly impacted. Conservation implications: The results pointed to potentially significant economic consequences for conservation efforts as visitors become less satisfied with their experience. Perceptions of visitors are important for management decisions as park fees contribute significantly to conservation efforts. This could ultimately result in a reduced capacity for African conservation areas to conserve their biodiversity effectively. The results suggest that management may need to re-evaluate their approach to controlling woody plant encroachment.