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Game Species (game + species)
Selected AbstractsInvasive exotic aoudad (Ammotragus lervia) as a major threat to native Iberian ibex (Capra pyrenaica): a habitat suitability model approachDIVERSITY AND DISTRIBUTIONS, Issue 5 2007Pelayo Acevedo ABSTRACT The introduction of alien species to new environments is one of the main threats to the conservation of biodiversity. One particularly problematic example is that of wild ungulates which are increasingly being established in regions outside their natural distribution range due to human hunting interests. Unfortunately, we know little of the effects these large herbivores may have on the host ecosystems. This study deals with a first comparative analysis of the habitat requirements of two ungulate species that may be facing competition for resources in the south of Europe: the native Iberian ibex (Capra pyrenaica) and the exotic aoudad (Ammotragus lervia). The aoudad is a North African caprid introduced in 1970 as a game species in south-eastern Spain. It has adapted well, and populations have been freely expanding since then. Ecological Niche Factor Analysis is used to describe the realized niche of both species where their distribution ranges merge. Both species occupy marginal areas of rugged terrain in the region. Marginality is higher for the Iberian ibex, which also presents a higher tolerance of secondary environmental gradients than the aoudad. Highly suitable areas for each species are secondarily suitable for the other. Reclassified and cross-tabulated habitat suitability maps showing the areas of potential spatial coexistence and differences in ecological traits between both species are provided. The results obtained do not allow inferring resource competition between these species. However, current aoudad expansion could result in it invading the favoured habitats of the ibex. Inadequate hunting policy and monitoring, and increasing climatic resemblance of the study region to the native aoudad areas, due to a strong desertification process, are facilitating a high rate of expansion. We strongly recommend to eradicate or, at least, monitor these exotic populations, and promote active conservation practices, if one wants to preserve the unique natural resources present in this European region. [source] Determinants of vertebrate invasion success in Europe and North AmericaGLOBAL CHANGE BIOLOGY, Issue 9 2006JONATHAN M. JESCHKE Abstract Species that are frequently introduced to an exotic range have a high potential of becoming invasive. Besides propagule pressure, however, no other generally strong determinant of invasion success is known. Although evidence has accumulated that human affiliates (domesticates, pets, human commensals) also have high invasion success, existing studies do not distinguish whether this success can be completely explained by or is partly independent of propagule pressure. Here, we analyze both factors independently, propagule pressure and human affiliation. We also consider a third factor directly related to humans, hunting, and 17 traits on each species' population size and extent, diet, body size, and life history. Our dataset includes all 2362 freshwater fish, mammals, and birds native to Europe or North America. In contrast to most previous studies, we look at the complete invasion process consisting of (1) introduction, (2) establishment, and (3) spread. In this way, we not only consider which of the introduced species became invasive but also which species were introduced. Of the 20 factors tested, propagule pressure and human affiliation were the two strongest determinants of invasion success across all taxa and steps. This was true for multivariate analyses that account for intercorrelations among variables as well as univariate analyses, suggesting that human affiliation influenced invasion success independently of propagule pressure. Some factors affected the different steps of the invasion process antagonistically. For example, game species were much more likely to be introduced to an exotic continent than nonhunted species but tended to be less likely to establish themselves and spread. Such antagonistic effects show the importance of considering the complete invasion process. [source] Hunting for large carnivore conservationJOURNAL OF APPLIED ECOLOGY, Issue 6 2009Adrian Treves Summary 1. Carnivores are difficult to conserve because of direct and indirect competition with people. Public hunts are increasingly proposed to support carnivore conservation. This article reviews scientific evidence for the effectiveness of public hunts of large carnivores in attaining three common policy goals: stable carnivore populations, preventing conflict with carnivores (property damage and competition over game) and building public support for carnivore conservation. 2. Sustainable exploitation of stable wildlife populations has a solid, scientific foundation but the theory and its predictions must be adapted to complex patterns of carnivore behavioural ecology and population dynamics that demand years of landscape-level monitoring to understand fully. 3. A review of the evidence that hunting prevents property damage or reduces competition for game reveals large gaps in our understanding. Reducing the number of large carnivores to protect hunters' quarry species seems straightforward but we still know little about behavioural and ecological responses of the contested prey and sympatric meso-predators. For reducing property damage, the direct effect , numerical reduction in problematic individual carnivores , presents numerous obstacles, whereas the indirect effect , behavioural avoidance of humans by hunted carnivores , holds more promise. 4. Scientific measures of public support for carnivore-hunting policies are almost completely lacking, particularly measures of attitudes among hunters before and after controversial wildlife is designated as legal game species. Moreover, illegal killing of carnivores does not appear to diminish if they are designated as game. 5.Synthesis and applications. Sustainable hunting to maintain stable populations is well understood in theory but complex life histories of carnivores, and behavioural changes of hunters and the carnivores they stalk may result in unsustainable mortality for carnivores. The direct impact of hunting on carnivore damage to property is unclear and even doubtful given the inability or unwillingness of hunters to remove specific individuals selectively. However, hunters may indirectly deter carnivores from people and their property. The assumption that hunters will steward carnivores simply because they have in the past helped conserve other game species requires more study as preliminary results suggest it is incorrect. Policy-makers may achieve support for policy if they mesh utilitarian and preservationist values held by the general public. A number of opposed hypotheses should be disentangled before researchers confidently inform policy on sustainable hunting to prevent conflicts and build public support for carnivore conservation. [source] Wild mammals and the human food chainMAMMAL REVIEW, Issue 2-3 2008PIRAN C. L. WHITE ABSTRACT 1Wild mammals have a long history of association with the human food chain, with some being the source for domesticated animals and others being considered traditionally as game species. Wild mammals are of negligible importance in terms of overall energy flows in agricultural ecosystems in Britain, but some wild mammals can have detrimental effects on the human food chain through predation, competition and disease transmission. 2Understanding these ecological processes at the level of populations and individuals can assist with devising appropriate management strategies to reduce human,wildlife conflict over limited resources. There remains a dearth of reliable information on the economic impacts of wild mammals on human food production, although the available quantified evidence suggests that the impacts are generally minor and localized, and are far outweighed by the wider public benefits associated with wild mammals. 3Greater public awareness of environmental and animal welfare issues, together with changes to rural communities resulting from human population movements, are changing the social landscape of interactions between people and wild mammals in the British countryside, and leading to an increase in more ambivalent attitudes towards wild mammals than has typically been the case in the past. 4Reform of agricultural policy is placing greater emphasis on the management of the land for biodiversity and environmental protection. While the benefits deriving from many previous agri-environment schemes have been mixed, there is increasing evidence that an emphasis on targeted and coordinated management at the landscape scale can enhance success. This type of approach is essential if some of the major threats facing declining wild mammal populations, such as population fragmentation, are to be overcome. 5There is an increasing divergence between regulation of agricultural ecosystems for food production and disease minimization and regulation of the land for biodiversity production via agri-environment schemes. The resolution of these tensions at the policy level will have major implications for future interactions between wild mammals and the human food chain. [source] Monitoring terrestrial mammals in the UK: past, present and future, using lessons from the bird worldMAMMAL REVIEW, Issue 1-2 2004JESSAMY E. BATTERSBY ABSTRACT 1.,A monitoring network for UK terrestrial mammals, the Tracking Mammals Partnership, is currently being set up to provide a coordinated programme to collect surveillance and monitoring data. 2.,Monitoring UK mammals is important for a number of reasons including: setting conservation priorities; measuring the effects of conservation management; managing populations of problem species and the sustainable use of game species; assessing the effects of agriculture and other human activities; providing evidence for the need for policy change; and because of obligations under intergovernmental treaties and national legislation. 3.,The bird world, largely but not solely through the work carried out by the British Trust for Ornithology, has provided a useful model for mammal surveillance and some important lessons in setting up and running a UK wide multispecies monitoring programme. 4.,Lessons include the importance: of annual monitoring; of long-term data sets of population indices rather than absolute population sizes; and of the use of volunteers in data collection. 5.,Two scoping studies have been carried out to assess the feasibility and costs of setting up a mammal surveillance and monitoring network and the survey methods that could be used for different species. 6.,The Tracking Mammals Partnership, comprising 23 organizations, has the remit of implementing the recommendations of the scoping studies. There are a number of programmes operating within the Partnership including the National Dormouse Monitoring Programme, the National Bat Monitoring Programme and the Breeding Bird Survey Mammal Monitoring. There are also a number of pilot schemes being tested. 7.,Reports on the population trend data collected should enable more informed policy and management decisions concerning UK mammal species. [source] Detecting hybridization between wild species and their domesticated relativesMOLECULAR ECOLOGY, Issue 1 2008ETTORE RANDI Abstract The widespread occurrence of free-ranging domestic or feral carnivores (dogs, cats) or ungulates (pigs, goats), and massive releases of captive-reproduced game stocks (galliforms, waterfowl) is raising fear that introgressive hybridization with wild populations might disrupt local adaptations, leading to population decline and loss of biodiversity. Detecting introgression through hybridization is problematic if the parental populations cannot be sampled (unlike in classical stable hybrid zones), or if hybridization is sporadic. However, the use of hypervariable DNA markers (microsatellites) and new statistical methods (Bayesian models), have dramatically improved the assessment of cryptic population structure, admixture analyses and individual assignment testing. In this paper, I summarize results of projects aimed to identify occurrence and extent of introgressive hybridization in European populations of wolves (Canis lupus), wildcats (Felis silvestris), rock partridges and red-legged partridges (Alectoris graeca and Alectoris rufa), using genetic methods. Results indicate that introgressive hybridization can be locally pervasive, and that conservation plans should be implemented to preserve the integrity of the gene pools of wild populations. Population genetic methods can be fruitfully used to identify introgressed individuals and hybridizing populations, providing data which allow evaluating risks of outbreeding depression. The diffusion in the wild of invasive feral animals, and massive restocking with captive-reproduced game species, should be carefully controlled to avoid loss of genetic diversity and disruption of local adaptations. [source] Effects of hunting on the behaviour and spatial distribution of farmland birds: importance of hunting-free refuges in agricultural areasANIMAL CONSERVATION, Issue 4 2009F. Casas Abstract Hunting is one of the human activities that directly affect wildlife and has received increasing attention given its socioeconomic dimensions. Most studies have been conducted on coastal and wetland areas and showed that hunting activity can greatly affect bird behaviour and distribution. Hunting-free reserves for game species are zones where birds find an area of reduced disturbance. We evaluated the effect of hunting activities on the behaviour and use of hunting-free areas of lapwings Vanellus vanellus, golden plovers Pluvialis apricaria and little bustards Tetrax tetrax in agricultural areas. We compared the habitat use and behaviour of birds on days before, during and after hunting took place. All three studied species showed strong behavioural responses to hunting activities. Hunting activity increased flight probability and time spent vigilant (higher on hunting days than just before and after a hunting day), to the detriment of resting. We also found distributional (use of hunting-free reserve) responses to hunting activities, with hunting-free reserves being used more frequently during hunting days. Thus, reserves can mitigate the disturbance caused by hunting activities, benefiting threatened species in agricultural areas. Increasing the size or number of hunting-free areas might be an important management and conservation tool to reduce the impacts of hunting activities. [source] The Plight of Large Animals in Tropical Forests and the Consequences for Plant RegenerationBIOTROPICA, Issue 3 2007S. Joseph Wright ABSTRACT We introduce a special section that addresses the bushmeat or wild meat crisis, its direct impact on game species, and its indirect impact on plants in tropical forests. RESUMEN Introducimos una sección especial que trata la crisis de la carne de animales salvajes, su impacto directo sobre las especies cazadas y su impacto indirecto sobre las plantas en los bosques tropicales. [source] | ||||||||||