Do protection gradients explain patterns in herbivore densities? An example with ungulates in Zambia's Luangwa Valley.

ABSTRACT: Ungulate populations face declines across the globe, and populations are commonly conserved by using protected areas. However, assessing the effectiveness of protected areas in conserving ungulate populations has remained difficult. Using herd size data from four years of line transect surveys and distance sampling models, we modeled population densities of four important herbivore species across a gradient of protection on the edge of Zambia's South Luangwa National Park (SLNP) while accounting for the role of various ecological and anthropogenic variables. Our goal was to test whether protection was responsible for density dynamics in this protection gradient, and whether a hunting moratorium impacted herbivore densities during the studies. For all four species, we estimated lower densit

SUBMITTER: Rosenblatt E 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6821096 | biostudies-literature | 2019

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature