ORCID Profile
0000-0002-5430-0784
Current Organisations
University of Queensland
,
International Institute for Sustainbility Australia
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Publisher: Wiley
Date: 08-2014
DOI: 10.1890/13-1446.1
Publisher: Public Library of Science (PLoS)
Date: 06-03-2013
Publisher: AOSIS
Date: 23-04-2014
Abstract: Over the past 20 years, major progress has been made in our understanding of critical aspects of rabies epidemiology and control. This paper presents results of recent research, highlighting methodological advances that have been applied to burden of disease studies, rabies epidemiological modelling and rabies surveillance. These results contribute new insights and understanding with regard to the epidemiology of rabies and help to counteract misperceptions that currently h er rabies control efforts in Africa. The conclusion of these analyses is that the elimination of canine rabies in Africa is feasible, even in wildlife-rich areas, through mass vaccination of domestic dogs and without the need for indiscriminate culling to reduce dog population density. Furthermore, the research provides valuable practical insights that support the operational planning and design of dog vaccination c aigns and rabies surveillance measures.
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 04-04-2019
DOI: 10.1111/CONL.12646
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 12-03-2018
Publisher: The Royal Society
Date: 15-12-2010
Abstract: Spatial structure in a host population results in heterogeneity in transmission dynamics. We used a Bayesian framework to evaluate competing metapopulation models of rabies transmission among domestic dog populations in villages in Tanzania. A proximate indicator of disease, medical records of animal-bite injuries, is used to infer the occurrence (presence/absence) of suspected rabid dog cases in one month intervals. State-space models were used to explore the implications of different levels of reporting probability on model parameter estimates. We find evidence for a relatively high rate of infection of these populations from neighbouring districts or from other species distributed throughout the study area, rather than from adjacent wildlife protected areas, suggesting wildlife is unlikely to be implicated in the long-term persistence of rabies. Stochastic simulation of our highest ranked models in vaccinated and hypothetical unvaccinated populations indicated that pulsed vaccination c aigns occurring from 2002 to 2007 reduced rabies occurrence by 57.3 per cent in vaccinated villages in the 1 year following each pulse, and that a similar regional c aign would deliver an 80.9 per cent reduction in occurrence. This work demonstrates how a relatively coarse, proximate sentinel of rabies infection is useful for making inferences about spatial disease dynamics and the efficacy of control measures.
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 06-09-2021
DOI: 10.1111/GCB.15844
Abstract: Marine species are declining at an unprecedented rate, catalyzing many nations to adopt conservation and management targets within their jurisdictions. However, marine species and the biophysical processes that sustain them are naive to international borders. An understanding of the prevalence of cross‐border species distributions is important for informing high‐level conservation strategies, such as bilateral or regional agreements. Here, we examined 28,252 distribution maps to determine the number and locations of transboundary marine plants and animals. More than 90% of species have ranges spanning at least two jurisdictions, with 58% covering more than 10 jurisdictions. All jurisdictions have at least one transboundary species, with the highest concentrations of transboundary species in the USA, Australia, Indonesia, and the Areas Beyond National Jurisdiction. Distributions of mapped bio ersity indicate that overcoming the challenges of multinational governance is critical for a much wider suite of species than migratory megavertebrates and commercially exploited fish stocks—the groups that have received the vast majority of multinational management attention. To effectively protect marine bio ersity, international governance mechanisms (particularly those related to the Convention on Biological Diversity, the Convention on Migratory Species, and Regional Seas Organizations) must be expanded to promote multinational conservation planning, and complimented by a holistic governance framework for bio ersity beyond national jurisdiction.
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 2021
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 06-2019
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 15-02-2017
DOI: 10.1002/ECE3.2764
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 07-2017
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 15-10-2008
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 29-07-2019
Abstract: Social network analysis has been postulated as a tool to study potential pathogen transmission in wildlife but is resource-intensive to quantify. Networks based on bacterial genotypes have been proposed as a cost-effective method for estimating social or transmission network based on the assumption that in iduals in close contact will share commensal bacteria. However, the use of network analysis to study wild populations requires critical evaluation of the assumptions and parameters these models are founded on. We test (a) whether networks of commensal bacterial sharing are related to hosts' social associations and hence could act as a proxy for estimating transmission networks, (b) how the parameters chosen to define host associations and delineate bacterial genotypes impact inference and (c) whether these relationships change across time. We use stochastic simulations to evaluate how uncertainty in parameter choice affects network structure. We focused on a well-studied population of eastern grey kangaroos (Macropus giganteus), from Sundown National Park, Australia. Using natural markings, each in idual was identified and its associations with other kangaroos recorded through direct field observations over 2 years to construct social networks. Faecal s les were collected, Escherichia coli was cultured and genotyped using BOX-PCR, and bacterial networks were constructed. Two in iduals were connected in the bacterial network if they shared at least one E. coli genotype. We determined the capacity of bacterial networks to predict the observed social network structure in each year. We found little support for a relationship between social association and dyadic commensal bacterial similarity. Thresholds to determine host associations and similarity cut-off values used to define E. coli genotypes had important ramifications for inferring links between in iduals. In fact, we found that inferences can show opposite patterns based on the chosen thresholds. Moreover, no similarity in overall bacterial network structure was detected between years. Although empirical disease transmission data are often unavailable in wildlife populations, both bacterial networks and social networks have limitations in representing the mode of transmission of a pathogen. Our results suggest that caution is needed when designing such studies and interpreting results.
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 28-04-2011
DOI: 10.1890/09-2090.1
Abstract: The persistence of forest-dependent species in fragmented landscapes is fundamentally linked to the movement of in iduals among subpopulations. The paths taken by dispersing in iduals can be considered a series of steps built from in idual route choices. Despite the importance of these fine-scale movement decisions, it has proved difficult to collect such data that reveal how forest birds move in novel landscapes. We collected unprecedented route information about the movement of translocated forest birds from two species in the highly fragmented tropical dry forest of Costa Rica. In this pasture-dominated landscape, forest remains in patches or riparian corridors, with lesser amounts of living fencerows and in idual trees or "stepping stones." We used step selection functions to quantify how route choice was influenced by these habitat elements. We found that the amount of risk these birds were willing to take by crossing open habitat was context dependent. The forest-specialist Barred Antshrike (Thamnophilus doliatus) exhibited stronger selection for forested routes when moving in novel landscapes distant from its territory relative to locations closer to its territory. It also selected forested routes when its step originated in forest habitat. It preferred steps ending in stepping stones when the available routes had little forest cover, but avoided them when routes had greater forest cover. The forest-generalist Rufous-naped Wren (C ylorhynchus rufinucha) preferred steps that contained more pasture, but only when starting from non-forest habitats. Our results showed that forested corridors (i.e., riparian corridors) best facilitated the movement of a sensitive forest specialist through this fragmented landscape. They also suggested that stepping stones can be important in highly fragmented forests with little remaining forest cover. We expect that naturally dispersing birds and species with greater forest dependence would exhibit even stronger selection for forested routes than did the birds in our experiments.
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 14-02-2013
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 20-10-2020
DOI: 10.1038/S41597-020-00698-6
Abstract: Addressing the global decline of coral reefs requires effective actions from managers, policymakers and society as a whole. Coral reef scientists are therefore challenged with the task of providing prompt and relevant inputs for science-based decision-making. Here, we provide a baseline dataset, covering 1300 km of tropical coral reef habitats globally, and comprised of over one million geo-referenced, high-resolution photo-quadrats analysed using artificial intelligence to automatically estimate the proportional cover of benthic components. The dataset contains information on five major reef regions, and spans 2012–2018, including surveys before and after the 2016 global bleaching event. The taxonomic resolution attained by image analysis, as well as the spatially explicit nature of the images, allow for multi-scale spatial analyses, temporal assessments (decline and recovery), and serve for supporting image recognition developments. This standardised dataset across broad geographies offers a significant contribution towards a sound baseline for advancing our understanding of coral reef ecology and thereby taking collective and informed actions to mitigate catastrophic losses in coral reefs worldwide.
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 17-12-2019
DOI: 10.1038/S41559-018-0743-8
Abstract: International commitments for ecosystem restoration add up to one-quarter of the world's arable land. Fulfilling them would ease global challenges such as climate change and bio ersity decline but could displace food production and impose financial costs on farmers. Here, we present a restoration prioritization approach capable of revealing these synergies and trade-offs, incorporating ecological and economic efficiencies of scale and modelling specific policy options. Using an actual large-scale restoration target of the Atlantic Forest hotspot, we show that our approach can deliver an eightfold increase in cost-effectiveness for bio ersity conservation compared with a baseline of non-systematic restoration. A compromise solution avoids 26% of the biome's current extinction debt of 2,864 plant and animal species (an increase of 257% compared with the baseline). Moreover, this solution sequesters 1 billion tonnes of CO
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 21-04-2016
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 11-2015
DOI: 10.1016/J.SCITOTENV.2015.01.089
Abstract: The presence and movements of organisms both reflect and influence the distribution of ecological resources in space and time. The monitoring of animal movement by telemetry devices is being increasingly used to inform management of marine, freshwater and terrestrial ecosystems. Here, we brought together academics, and environmental managers to determine the extent of animal movement research in the Australasian region, and assess the opportunities and challenges in the sharing and reuse of these data. This working group was formed under the Australian Centre for Ecological Analysis and Synthesis (ACEAS), whose overall aim was to facilitate trans-organisational and transdisciplinary synthesis. We discovered that between 2000 and 2012 at least 501 peer-reviewed scientific papers were published that report animal location data collected by telemetry devices from within the Australasian region. Collectively, this involved the capture and electronic tagging of 12 656 animals. The majority of studies were undertaken to address specific management questions rarely were these data used beyond their original intent. We estimate that approximately half (~500) of all animal telemetry projects undertaken remained unpublished, a similar proportion were not discoverable via online resources, and less than 8.8% of all animals tagged and tracked had their data stored in a discoverable and accessible manner. Animal telemetry data contain a wealth of information about how animals and species interact with each other and the landscapes they inhabit. These data are expensive and difficult to collect and can reduce survivorship of the tagged in iduals, which implies an ethical obligation to make the data available to the scientific community. This is the first study to quantify the gap between telemetry devices placed on animals and findings/data published, and presents methods for improvement. Instigation of these strategies will enhance the cost-effectiveness of the research and maximise its impact on the management of natural resources.
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 02-2018
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 14-10-2020
DOI: 10.1038/S41586-020-2784-9
Abstract: Extensive ecosystem restoration is increasingly seen as being central to conserving bio ersity
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 20-01-2021
DOI: 10.1038/S41467-021-20999-7
Abstract: A Correction to this paper has been published: 0.1038/s41467-021-20999-7.
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 29-06-2018
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 12-2018
DOI: 10.1016/J.TREE.2018.09.006
Abstract: Rapid ocean warming as a result of climate change poses a key risk for coral reefs. Even if the goals of the Paris Climate Agreement are achieved, coral reefs are likely to decline by 70-90% relative to their current abundance by midcentury. Although alarming, coral communities that survive will play a key role in the regeneration of reefs by mid-to-late century. Here, we argue for a coordinated, global coral reef conservation strategy that is centred on 50 large (500km
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 25-11-2020
DOI: 10.1111/CONL.12692
Publisher: Springer Japan
Date: 2010
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Date: 07-06-2012
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 29-08-2008
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 06-02-2022
DOI: 10.1111/COBI.13874
Abstract: Management of the land–sea interface is essential for global conservation and sustainability objectives because coastal regions maintain natural processes that support bio ersity and the livelihood of billions of people. However, assessments of coastal regions have focused strictly on either the terrestrial or marine realm. Consequently, understanding of the overall state of Earth's coastal regions is poor. We integrated the terrestrial human footprint and marine cumulative human impact maps in a global assessment of the anthropogenic pressures affecting coastal regions. Of coastal regions globally, 15.5% had low anthropogenic pressure, mostly in Canada, Russia, and Greenland. Conversely, 47.9% of coastal regions were heavily affected by humanity, and in most countries (84.1%) % of their coastal regions were degraded. Nearly half (43.3%) of protected areas across coastal regions were exposed to high human pressures. To meet global sustainability objectives, all nations must undertake greater actions to preserve and restore the coastal regions within their borders.
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 18-02-2020
DOI: 10.1111/CONL.12709
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 23-05-2019
DOI: 10.1111/GCBB.12619
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 04-2005
Publisher: Informa UK Limited
Date: 03-07-2017
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 23-04-2020
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 27-06-2018
DOI: 10.1111/CONL.12587
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 09-2007
DOI: 10.1890/06-1254.1
Abstract: Reintroduction of wolves (Canis lupus) to Yellowstone National Park in 1995-1996 has been argued to promote a trophic cascade by altering elk (Cervus elaphus) density, habitat-selection patterns, and behavior that, in turn, could lead to changes within the plant communities used by elk. We s led two species of willow (Salix boothii and S. geyeriana) on the northern winter range to determine whether (1) there was quantitative evidence of increased willow growth following wolf reintroduction, (2) browsing by elk affected willow growth, and (3) any increase in growth observed was greater than that expected by climatic and hydrological factors alone, thereby indicating a trophic cascade caused by wolves. Using stem sectioning techniques to quantify historical growth patterns we found an approximately twofold increase in stem growth-ring area following wolf reintroduction for both species of willow. This increase could not be explained by climate and hydrological factors alone the presence of wolves on the landscape was a significant predictor of stem growth above and beyond these abiotic factors. Growth-ring area was positively correlated with the previous year's ring area and negatively correlated with the percentage of twigs browsed from the stem during the winter preceding growth, indicating that elk browse impeded stem growth. Our results are consistent with the hypothesis of a behaviorally mediated trophic cascade on Yellowstone's northern winter range following wolf reintroduction. We suggest that the community-altering effects of wolf restoration are an endorsement of ecological-process management in Yellowstone National Park.
Publisher: IOP Publishing
Date: 2020
Abstract: As humanity’s demand for resources continues to rise and productive arable lands become increasingly scarce, many of Earth’s remaining intact regions are at heightened risk of destruction from agricultural development. In situations where agricultural expansion is inevitable, it is important to manage intact landscape transformation so that impacts on environmental values are minimised. Here, we present a novel, spatially explicit, land use planning framework that addresses the decision making needed to account for different, competing economic-environment objectives (agricultural production value, bio ersity conservation, ecosystem service retention) when land use change is inevitable within an intact landscape. We apply our framework to the globally significant savannahs of the Orinoquia (Colombia), which in a post-conflict era is under increased agricultural development pressure. We show that while negative environmental impacts can be reduced through planning, the total area of land converted to agriculture is the unavoidable principal driver of bio ersity and ecosystem service loss. We therefore identify planning solutions that perform well across all objectives simultaneously, despite trade-offs among them. When 15%, 20%, 30% and 40% of the study area is allowed to be converted to agriculture, on average planning can improve species persistence and ecosystem service retention by up to 16%, 15%, 12%, and 9%, respectively, when compared to agricultural-focused solutions. Development in the region so far has had an unnecessarily large impact on environmental objectives due to a lack of effective land use planning, creating an ‘opportunity debt’. Our study provides an evidence base to inform proactive planning and the development of environmentally sensible agricultural development policy and practice in the region. This framework can be used by stakeholders to achieve agriculture expansion goals and maximise economic profit while minimising impacts on the environment in the Orinoquia, or any relatively intact region that is being developed.
Publisher: CSIRO Publishing
Date: 2021
DOI: 10.1071/PC20002
Abstract: Coral reefs are one of the ecosystems most sensitive to climate change. The recent loss and degradation of coral reef ecosystems is expected to continue even if global warming is limited to 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels. There is therefore an urgent need to develop new technologies and management approaches to coral reef conservation. Emerging technologies, however, bring new challenges for decision making as they are associated with novel risks and impacts on the reef system. We argue that accounting for multiple biophysical thresholds and identifying key decisions in the planning process are crucial to avoid perverse outcomes in coral reef conservation. We identify opportunities to apply an Adaptation Pathways (AP) framework combined with a ‘values, rules and knowledge’ approach to facilitate long-term and large-scale coral reef conservation by explicitly considering uncertainty with climate change impacts in the decision-making process. The AP process can be used to reconcile the erse values of stakeholders, scientific and cultural knowledge about the system, and the policy and regulatory context within which management must occur, in order to achieve robust long-term management.
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 2003
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 05-2007
DOI: 10.1890/06-0534
Publisher: American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS)
Date: 25-10-2013
Abstract: The overlapping of bio erse areas and fossil fuel reserves indicates high-risk regions.
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 09-2008
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 15-04-2017
DOI: 10.1111/CONL.12239
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 16-07-2019
DOI: 10.1111/AVJ.12840
Abstract: Koalas (Phascolarctos cinereus) are experiencing significant declines across the northern part of their range. However, unbiased, population-level estimates of mortality are rarely reported, as it's difficult to quantify causes of mortality robustly in this cryptic species. We aimed to determine the relative importance of carpet python (Morelia spilota) predation in a free-living koala population and describe the characteristic pathological findings during necropsy. In total, 503 koalas were captured, underwent veterinary examination and telemetric tagging, and were monitored after release over a four-year period. Mortalities were detected when activity data reported by K-Tracker® biotelemetry collars indicated low or zero activity, or during routine field monitoring events. Experienced koala veterinarians performed thorough, standardised necropsy examinations on retrieved carcasses to determine causes of death. The three, sometimes subtle, cardinal signs used to definitively diagnose carpet python-caused deaths of koalas were a U-shaped primary bite site, slicking of the fur by python saliva (particularly around the face), and diffuse, uniform pulmonary congestion. We found that carpet pythons were important predators of koalas, second only to wild dogs (dingoes and dingo hybrids (Canis familiaris dingo)), accounting for 11.6% of predation deaths and 7.2% of total deaths. Less than half (38%) of the koalas killed by carpet pythons were ingested. Though carpet pythons are known predators of koalas, their relative importance as a cause of mortality hasn't previously been recognised. Population viability analyses and conservation management plans benefit from robust cause-of-death data collected during longitudinal monitoring studies, requiring telemetry methods that facilitate rapid detection of mortalities.
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 09-05-2017
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 08-12-2020
DOI: 10.1038/S41467-020-19493-3
Abstract: Many global environmental agendas, including halting bio ersity loss, reversing land degradation, and limiting climate change, depend upon retaining forests with high ecological integrity, yet the scale and degree of forest modification remain poorly quantified and mapped. By integrating data on observed and inferred human pressures and an index of lost connectivity, we generate a globally consistent, continuous index of forest condition as determined by the degree of anthropogenic modification. Globally, only 17.4 million km 2 of forest (40.5%) has high landscape-level integrity (mostly found in Canada, Russia, the Amazon, Central Africa, and New Guinea) and only 27% of this area is found in nationally designated protected areas. Of the forest inside protected areas, only 56% has high landscape-level integrity. Ambitious policies that prioritize the retention of forest integrity, especially in the most intact areas, are now urgently needed alongside current efforts aimed at halting deforestation and restoring the integrity of forests globally.
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 04-2004
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 04-08-2021
DOI: 10.1111/GCB.15811
Abstract: Sediment runoff from disturbed coastal catchments is a major threat to marine ecosystems. Understanding where sediments are produced and where they are delivered enables managers to design more effective strategies for improving water quality. A management strategy is targeted restoration of degraded terrestrial areas, as it provides opportunities to reduce land‐based runoff from coastal areas and consequently foster coral reef conservation. To do this strategically, a systematic approach is needed to identify watersheds where restoration actions will provide the highest conservation benefits for coral reefs. Here, we develop a systematic approach for identifying global forest restoration opportunities that would also result in large decreases in the flux of sediments to coral reefs. We estimate how land‐use change affects sediment runoff globally using high‐resolution spatial data and determine the subsequent risk of sediment exposure on coral reefs using a diffusion‐based ocean transport model. Our results reveal that sediment export is a major issue affecting 41% of coral reefs globally. The main coastal watersheds with the highest sediment export are predominantly located in Southeast Asian countries, with Indonesia and the Philippines accounting for 52% of the sediment export in coastal areas near coral reefs. We show how restoring forest across multiple watersheds could help to reduce sediment export to 63,000 km 2 of coral reefs. Although reforestation opportunities in areas that discharge onto coral reefs are relatively small across watersheds, it is possible to achieve large sediment reduction benefits by strategically targeting watersheds located in regions with a high density of corals near to the coast. Thus, reforestation benefits on coral reefs do not necessarily come from the watersheds that produce the highest sediment export. These analyses are key for generating informed action to support both international conservation policy and national restoration activities.
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 08-02-2013
Publisher: The Royal Society
Date: 27-07-2010
Abstract: Models of habitat preference are widely used to quantify animal–habitat relationships, to describe and predict differential space use by animals, and to identify habitat that is important to an animal (i.e. that is assumed to influence fitness). Quantifying habitat preference involves the statistical comparison of s les of habitat use and availability. Preference is therefore contingent upon both of these s les. The inferences that can be made from use versus availability designs are influenced by subjectivity in defining what is available to the animal, the problem of quantifying the accessibility of available resources and the framework in which preference is modelled. Here, we describe these issues, document the conditional nature of preference and establish the limits of inferences that can be drawn from these analyses. We argue that preference is not interpretable as reflecting the intrinsic behavioural motivations of the animal, that estimates of preference are not directly comparable among different s les of availability and that preference is not necessarily correlated with the value of habitat to the animal. We also suggest that preference is context-dependent and that functional responses in preference resulting from changing availability are expected. We conclude by describing advances in analytical methods that begin to resolve these issues.
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 15-07-2150
DOI: 10.1111/DDI.12349
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 25-08-2014
Abstract: Impediments to animal movement are ubiquitous and vary widely in both scale and permeability. It is essential to understand how impediments alter ecological dynamics via their influence on animal behavioural strategies governing space use and, for anthropogenic features such as roads and fences, how to mitigate these effects to effectively manage species and landscapes. Here, we focused primarily on barriers to movement, which we define as features that cannot be circumnavigated but may be crossed. Responses to barriers will be influenced by the movement capabilities of the animal, its proximity to the barriers, and habitat preference. We developed a mechanistic modelling framework for simultaneously quantifying the permeability and proximity effects of barriers on habitat preference and movement. We used simulations based on our model to demonstrate how parameters on movement, habitat preference and barrier permeability can be estimated statistically. We then applied the model to a case study of road effects on wild mountain reindeer summer movements. This framework provided unbiased and precise parameter estimates across a range of strengths of preferences and barrier permeabilities. The quality of permeability estimates, however, was correlated with the number of times the barrier is crossed and the number of locations in proximity to barriers. In the case study we found that reindeer avoided areas near roads and that roads are semi-permeable barriers to movement. There was strong avoidance of roads extending up to c. 1 km for four of five animals, and having to cross roads reduced the probability of movement by 68·6% (range 3·5-99·5%). Human infrastructure has embedded within it the idea of networks: nodes connected by linear features such as roads, rail tracks, pipelines, fences and cables, many of which ide the landscape and limit animal movement. The unintended but potentially profound consequences of infrastructure on animals remain poorly understood. The rigorous framework for simultaneously quantifying movement, habitat preference and barrier permeability developed here begins to address this knowledge gap.
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 02-2012
DOI: 10.1016/J.VACCINE.2011.12.052
Abstract: Control programmes for vaccine preventable diseases typically operate under logistic constraints such as limited resources and in spatially structured populations where the assumption of homogeneous mixing is invalid. It is unclear, therefore, how to maximise the effectiveness of c aigns in such populations. We investigate how to deploy vaccine in metapopulations by comparing the effectiveness of alternative vaccination strategies on reducing disease occurrence (presence/absence), using canine rabies as a model system, and a domestic dog population within a Tanzanian district ided into sub-populations corresponding to villages. We use patch-occupancy models to quantify the contribution of sub-populations to disease occurrence ("risk") and model allocation strategies for a limited number of vaccine doses that prioritize villages based on their size, risk, or the reduction in risk for the entire population that would result from vaccination. We assume that a maximum of 70% of susceptible in iduals in a village could be vaccinated, and that only susceptible dogs are vaccinated. The most effective strategy maximised the reduction in risk of the entire population, and was up to 62% more effective than the other strategies. Large, single-pulse c aigns provided the greatest short-term protection, but higher frequencies of smaller pulses were more effective at reducing long-term disease occurrence. Vaccine allocation on a per-dose basis was substantially more effective than a per-village strategy, indicating that operational constraints can reduce control effectiveness. The spatial distribution and abundance of hosts have an important influence on disease dynamics and these results demonstrate that metapopulation models can be used to substantially improve the effectiveness of vaccination c aigns and optimize the allocation of limited control resources.
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 08-03-2018
DOI: 10.1002/FEE.1776
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 09-2009
DOI: 10.1890/08-0345.1
Abstract: For gregarious animals the cost–benefit trade‐offs that drive habitat selection may vary dynamically with group size, which plays an important role in foraging and predator avoidance strategies. We examined how habitat selection by bison ( Bison bison ) varied as a function of group size and interpreted these patterns by testing whether habitat selection was more strongly driven by the competing demands of forage intake vs. predator avoidance behavior. We developed an analytical framework that integrated group size into resource selection functions (RSFs). These group‐size‐dependent RSFs were based on a matched case–control design and were estimated using conditional logistic regression (mixed and population‐averaged models). Fitting RSF models to bison revealed that bison groups responded to multiple aspects of landscape heterogeneity and that selection varied seasonally and as a function of group size. For ex le, roads were selected in summer, but not in winter. Bison groups avoided areas of high snow water equivalent in winter. They selected areas composed of a large proportion of meadow area within a 700‐m radius, and within those areas, bison selected meadows. Importantly, the strength of selection for meadows varied as a function of group size, with stronger selection being observed in larger groups. Hence the bison–habitat relationship depended in part on the dynamics of group formation and ision. Group formation was most likely in meadows. In contrast, risk of group fission increased when bison moved into the forest and was higher during the time of day when movements are generally longer and more variable among in iduals. We also found that stronger selection for meadows by large rather than small bison groups was caused by longer residence time in in idual meadows by larger groups and that departure from meadows appears unlikely to result from a depression in food intake rate. These group‐size‐dependent patterns were consistent with the hypothesis that avoidance of predation risk is the strongest driver of habitat selection.
Publisher: Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory
Date: 12-05-2021
DOI: 10.1101/2021.05.10.443490
Abstract: Management of the land-sea interface is considered essential for global conservation and sustainability objectives, as coastal regions maintain natural processes that support bio ersity and the livelihood of billions of people. However, assessments of coastal regions have focused on either strictly the terrestrial or marine realm, and as a consequence, we still have a poor understanding of the overall state of Earth’s coastal regions. Here, by integrating the terrestrial human footprint and marine cumulative human impact maps, we provide a global assessment of the anthropogenic pressures affecting coastal areas. Just 15.5% of coastal areas globally can be considered having low anthropogenic pressure, mostly found in Canada, Russia, and Greenland. Conversely, 47.9% of coastal regions are heavily impacted by humanity with most countries (84.1%) having % of their coastal regions degraded. Nearly half (43.3%) of protected areas across coastal regions are exposed to high human pressures. In order to meet global sustainability objectives, we identify those nations that must undertake greater actions to preserve and restore coastal regions so as to ensure global sustainable development objectives can be met.
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 18-01-2018
DOI: 10.1038/S41559-017-0421-2
Abstract: Predators and scavengers are frequently persecuted for their negative effects on property, livestock and human life. Research has shown that these species play important regulatory roles in intact ecosystems including regulating herbivore and mesopredator populations that in turn affect floral, soil and hydrological systems. Yet predators and scavengers receive surprisingly little recognition for their benefits to humans in the landscapes they share. We review these benefits, highlighting the most recent studies that have documented their positive effects across a range of environments. Indeed, the benefits of predators and scavengers can be far reaching, affecting human health and well-being through disease mitigation, agricultural production and waste-disposal services. As many predators and scavengers are in a state of rapid decline, we argue that researchers must work in concert with the media, managers and policymakers to highlight benefits of these species and the need to ensure their long-term conservation. Furthermore, instead of assessing the costs of predators and scavengers only in economic terms, it is critical to recognize their beneficial contributions to human health and well-being. Given the ever-expanding human footprint, it is essential that we construct conservation solutions that allow a wide variety of species to persist in shared landscapes. Identifying, evaluating and communicating the benefits provided by species that are often considered problem animals is an important step for establishing tolerance in these shared spaces.
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 05-2016
Location: United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland
Location: Australia
No related grants have been discovered for Hawthorne Beyer.