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Semi-arid Zone (semi-arid + zone)
Selected AbstractsChanging household responses to drought in Tharaka, Kenya: vulnerability, persistence and challengeDISASTERS, Issue 2 2008Thomas A. Smucker Drought is a recurring challenge to the livelihoods of those living in Tharaka District, Kenya, situated in the semi-arid zone to the east of Mount Kenya, from the lowest slopes of the mountain to the banks of the Tana River. This part of Kenya has been marginal to the economic and political life of Kenya from the colonial period until the present day. A study of more than 30 years of change in how people in Tharaka cope with drought reveals resilience in the face of major macro-level transformations, which include privatisation of landownership, population growth, political decentralisation, increased conflict over natural resources, different market conditions, and environmental shifts. However, the study also shows troubling signs of increased use of drought responses that are incompatible with long-term agrarian livelihoods. Government policy needs to address the challenge of drought under these new macro conditions if sustainable human development is to be achieved. [source] The Kalgoorlie Otitis Media Research Project: rationale, methods, population characteristics and ethical considerationsPAEDIATRIC & PERINATAL EPIDEMIOLOGY, Issue 1 2008Deborah Lehmann Summary Otitis media (OM) is one of the most common paediatric illnesses for which medical advice is sought in developed countries. Australian Aboriginal children suffer high rates of OM from early infancy. The resultant hearing loss can affect education and quality of life. As numerous factors contribute to the burden of OM, interventions aimed at reducing the impact of single risk factors are likely to fail. To identify key risk factors and understand how they interact in complex causal pathways, we followed 100 Aboriginal and 180 non-Aboriginal children from birth to age 2 years in a semi-arid zone of Western Australia. We collected demographic, obstetric, socio-economic and environmental data, breast milk once, and nasopharyngeal samples and saliva on seven occasions. Ear health was assessed by clinical examination, tympanometry, transient evoked otoacoustic emissions and audiometry. We considered the conduct of our study in relation to national ethical guidelines for research in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health. After 1 year of community consultation, the study was endorsed by local committees and ethical approval granted. Fieldwork was tailored to minimise disruption to people's lives and we provided regular feedback to the community. We saw 81% of non-Aboriginal and 65% of Aboriginal children at age 12 months. OM was diagnosed on 55% and 26% of routine clinical examinations in Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal children respectively. Aboriginal mothers were younger and less educated, fewer were employed and they lived in more crowded conditions than non-Aboriginal mothers. Sixty-four per cent of Aboriginal and 40% of non-Aboriginal babies were exposed to environmental tobacco smoke. Early consultation, provision of a service while undertaking research, inclusion of Aboriginal people as active members of a research team and appropriate acknowledgement will assist in ensuring successful completion of the research. [source] Home range dynamics of the yellow-footed rock-wallaby (Petrogale xanthopus celeris) in central-western QueenslandAUSTRAL ECOLOGY, Issue 1 2009ANDY SHARP Abstract Analyses of the interspecific differences in macropod home range size suggest that habitat productivity exerts a greater influence on range size than does body mass. This relationship is also apparent within the rock-wallaby genus. Lim reported that yellow-footed rock-wallabies (Petrogale xanthopus xanthopus) inhabiting the semi-arid Flinders Ranges (South Australia) had a mean home range of 170 ha. While consistent with the hypothesis that species inhabiting less productive habitats will require larger ranges to fulfil their energetic requirements, the ranges reported by Lim were considerably larger than those observed for heavier sympatric macropods. The aim of the current study was to document the home range dynamics of P. x. celeris in central-western Queensland and undertake a comparison with those reported for their southern counterparts. Wallaby movements were monitored at Idalia National Park, between winter 1992 and winter 1994. Male foraging ranges (95% fixed kernel; 15.4 ha, SD = ±7.8 ha) were found to be significantly larger than those of female wallabies (11.3 ha, SD = ±4.9 ha). Because of varying distances to the wallabies' favoured foraging ground (i.e. an adjacent herb field), the direction in which the wallabies moved to forage also significantly affected range size. Mean home range size was estimated to be 23.5 ha (SD = ±15.2 ha; 95% fixed kernel) and 67.5 ha (SD = ±22.4 ha; 100% minimum convex polygon). The discrepancy between these two estimates resulted from the exclusion of locations, from the 95% kernel estimates, when the wallabies moved to a water source 1.5 km distant from the colony site. The observed foraging and home ranges approximated those that could be expected for a macropod inhabiting the semi-arid zone (i.e. 2.4 times larger-than-predicted from body mass alone). Possible reasons for the disparity between the current study and that of Lim are examined. [source] The feeding choice of the Red Fox (Vulpes vulpes) in a semi-arid fragmented landscape of North Africa in relation to water and energy contents of preyAFRICAN JOURNAL OF ECOLOGY, Issue 4 2009Graziella L. Dell'Arte Abstract In semi-arid zones, the lack of surface water for drinking forced predators to obtain it from the body fluids of prey and this requires more different prey than that needed to provide energy alone. We examined Red fox (Vulpes vulpes) scats to ascertain if selective feeding compensates the shortage of free water by the ingestion of more prey rich in water such as insects. In addition, we discussed our results in light of increasing habitat fragmentation that, in turn, influences the prey availability. At different spatial levels, recombination of prey assemblages in the diet reaches a solution for variable shortage of water. This was true especially at the landscape level (different degree of aridity) and indirectly for habitat types. Nevertheless, the effects of landscape characteristics probably influenced foxes through the influence of suitable habitats, which partitioned prey species. In fact, increasing values of patchiness had a negative effect on measured energetic gain indices but foxes try to exploiting different patches including small and isolated ones because these surveys become important to obtain water moistures from alternative prey (Orthopters). Résumé Dans les zones semi arides, un manque d'eau de surface à boire a forcé des prédateurs à la trouver dans les fluides corporels de leurs proies, et ceci exige des proies plus diverses que pour la seule production d'énergie. Nous avons examiné des déjections de renard roux (Vulpes vulpes) pour déterminer si une alimentation sélective compense le déficit en eau libre, en ingérant plus de proies riches en eau, tels les insectes. De plus, nous avons discuté nos résultats à la lumière de la fragmentation croissante de l'habitat qui, elle, influence la disponibilité des proies. À différents niveaux spatiaux, la recombinaison d'assemblages de proies dans le régime alimentaire parvient à résoudre une pénurie d'eau variable. Ceci était particulièrement vrai au niveau du paysage (différents degrés d'aridité) et indirectement pour les types d'habitats. Néanmoins, les effets des caractéristiques du paysage ont probablement influencé les renards de par leur influence sur les habitats qui leur sont appropriés, qui divisent les espèces proies. En fait, un morcellement accru avait un effet négatif sur les indices mesurés des gains énergétiques, mais les renards essaient d'exploiter différents sites, y compris les plus petits et les plus isolés, parce que ces incursions deviennent importantes pour trouver l'humidité chez des proies alternatives (orthoptères). [source] | ||||||||||