International Research Fellow Awards Program: Boundary Analysis of Mammal Densities in Protected, Pastoral and Agropastoral Landscapes in Western Tanzania

国际研究员奖计划使美国科学家和工程师能够在国外进行三到二十四个月的研究。该计划的奖项提供了联合研究的机会，并利用国外独特或互补的设施、专业知识和实验条件。该奖项将为彼得·科波利洛博士提供24个月的支持，以便与西蒙·姆杜马博士在坦桑尼亚的塞伦盖蒂野生动物研究中心合作。该项目的目标是了解限制物种在半自然栖息地分布的因素。研究人员将研究牲畜放牧强度(资源竞争)、人类存在(干扰竞争)、木材砍伐(生境修改)和耕作带来的景观变化(碎片化)的影响。具体地说，他们将使用边界模型来组织采样，该模型检查景观单元(受保护地区、牧区和农牧区)之间的过渡。数据将使用多元Logistic回归和主成分分析进行分析。这项工作将为了解半自然基质生境对保护区的影响提供重要的观测基础。这将有助于分解影响大型哺乳动物分布的因素，并为未来的实验研究确定关键变量。研究结果将为保护区管理和社区保护提供有益的见解。姆杜马是位于坦桑尼亚阿鲁沙的塞伦盖蒂生物多样性计划(SBP)的主任。在这个项目的位置，鲁克瓦山谷是一个理想的地点，因为它的地方突出，因为它将提供关于一个未被充分代表的生态系统的重要生态数据，明博林地。***

0076213CoppolilloThe International Research Fellow Awards Program enables U.S. scientists and engineers to conduct three to twenty-four months of research abroad. The program's awards provide opportunities for joint research, and the use of unique or complementary facilities, expertise and experimental conditions abroad.This award will provide Dr. Peter Coppolillo with support for twenty-four months to work with Dr. Simon Mduma at the Serengeti Wildlife Research Centre in Tanzania.The goal of this project is to understand the factors limiting species' distributions in semi-natural habitats. The researchers will examine the effects of livestock grazing intensity (resource competition), human presence (interference competition), wood cutting (habitat modification), and landscape change from cultivation (fragmentation). Specifically, they will structure sampling using a boundary model, which examines transitions between landscape units (protected, pastoral and agropastoral areas). Data will be analyzed using multiple logistic regression and principal components analysis. This work will provide an important observational basis for understanding the effects of semi-natural matrix habitat on protected areas. This will help disaggregate the factors affecting large mammal distributions and identify key variables for future experimental investigation. Results will provide insights helpful to protected area management and for community-based conservation.Dr. Mduma is director of the Serengeti Biodiversity Program (SBP) located in Arusha, Tanzania. The location of this project, the Rukwa Valley is an ideal site because of its local salience and because it will provide important ecological data on an underrepresented ecosystem, Miombo woodlands. ***