- Title
- The Camdeboo-Mountain Zebra mega-reserve as an opportunity to protect viable populations of medium- to large-sized mammals
- Creator
- Davis, Kristen
- Subject
- Mammals -- Ecology -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape
- Subject
- Conservation of natural resources -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape
- Subject
- Wildlife conservation -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape
- Date Issued
- 2024-04
- Date
- 2024-04
- Type
- Master's theses
- Type
- text
- Identifier
- http://hdl.handle.net/10948/63711
- Identifier
- vital:73590
- Description
- Conservation planning has focused extensively on representation of species in protected areas (PAs), rather than achieving the persistence of these species in PAs. Consequently, most PAs do not support viable populations of many species represented within them, particularly large mammals, resulting in extinction debt risks. The challenge is therefore to identify opportunities to achieve viable populations and to develop and implement conservation plans to achieve this, e.g., expand and connect existing PAs. A recent meta-analysis provides a minimum viable population (MVP) estimate of 5 000 individuals for mammals. This value was used as the target for modelling conservation opportunities for the South African endemic Cape mountain zebra (Equus zebra zebra), blesbok (Damaliscus pygargus phillipsi), black wildebeest (Connochaetes gnou) and co-existing medium- and large-sized mammal species. This study focused on the region between the Camdeboo and Mountain Zebra national parks (ca. 736 000 ha). Within the envisaged Camdeboo-Mountain Zebra (C-MZ) mega-reserve, a spreadsheet model was used to estimate potential herbivore population sizes, spatial requirement data were used to estimate potential omnivore and insectivore population sizes, and herbivore densities were used to estimate potential large carnivore population sizes. I show that 12 (the three endemic grazers and nine co-existing species) of the 28 modelled medium- and large-sized mammal species will potentially exceed 5 000 individuals, the MVP target, within the envisaged mega-reserve. The remaining 16 species show potential to reach substantial population sizes, however, will likely require ongoing metapopulation management. Using a conservation planning approach, I identify priority areas for the conservation of suitable habitat for Cape mountain zebra, blesbok, and black wildebeest within the envisaged mega-reserve, thus indirectly identifying priority areas for the conservation of these endemic species. I show that the potential incorporation of these priority areas within the envisaged mega-reserve will contribute considerably to the conservation of all focal species. In addition, the potential incorporation of these priority areas will contribute to PA expansion and significantly improve connectivity between existing PAs within the envisaged C-MZ mega-reserve. The importance of adequately-sized PAs to support viable populations of focal species is thus evident, and will ensure their long-term survival and ability to persist by allowing population and evolutionary scale processes.
- Description
- Thesis (MSc) -- Faculty of Science, School of Environmental Sciences, 2024
- Format
- computer
- Format
- online resource
- Format
- application/pdf
- Format
- 1 online resource (iv, 104 pages)
- Format
- Publisher
- Nelson Mandela University
- Publisher
- Faculty of Science
- Language
- English
- Rights
- Nelson Mandela University
- Rights
- All Rights Reserved
- Rights
- Open Access
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Collections
NMU School of Environmental Sciences
| Thumbnail | File | Description | Size | Format | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| View Details Download | SOURCE1 | Davis, K.pdf | 5 MB | Adobe Acrobat PDF | View Details Download |