A Subjective and Intuitive Approach to Rapid, Holistic Assessment of Natural Ecosystem Integrity Across a Community-Managed Conservation Area in Southern Tanzania.

ABSTRACT: Quantitative surveys of wild animal abundance or activity, and assessments of the integrity of the complex natural ecosystems they live in, are typically quite laborious and meaningful analysis of the data obtained may require considerable time and expertise. This study describes the development and evaluation of a practical procedure for semi-quantitative consensus-based synthesis of subjective impressions accumulated by a small team of investigators who visited 32 different locations distributed in or around a community-based Wildlife Management Area in southern Tanzania. The subjective natural ecosystem integrity index (SNEII) scores obtained represent a holistic indicator of all aspects of land use, wildlife and human activities, which correlated strongly with objective indicato

SUBMITTER: Duggan LM 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC11872596 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature