Department of Ecology, Evolution and Behavior, University of Minnesota, St. Paul, MN 55408, USA.
Ecol Lett. 2013 May;16(5):635-41. doi: 10.1111/ele.12091. Epub 2013 Mar 5.
Conservationists often advocate for landscape approaches to wildlife management while others argue for physical separation between protected species and human communities, but direct empirical comparisons of these alternatives are scarce. We relate African lion population densities and population trends to contrasting management practices across 42 sites in 11 countries. Lion populations in fenced reserves are significantly closer to their estimated carrying capacities than unfenced populations. Whereas fenced reserves can maintain lions at 80% of their potential densities on annual management budgets of $500 km(-2) , unfenced populations require budgets in excess of $2000 km(-2) to attain half their potential densities. Lions in fenced reserves are primarily limited by density dependence, but lions in unfenced reserves are highly sensitive to human population densities in surrounding communities, and unfenced populations are frequently subjected to density-independent factors. Nearly half the unfenced lion populations may decline to near extinction over the next 20-40 years.
保护主义者经常倡导采用景观方法进行野生动物管理，而另一些人则主张在受保护物种和人类社区之间进行物理隔离，但对这些替代方案的直接实证比较却很少。我们将非洲狮的种群密度和种群趋势与 11 个国家的 42 个地点的对比管理实践联系起来。有围栏保护区的狮子种群与未受围栏保护区的狮子种群相比，更接近其估计的承载能力。在每年 500 公里（-2）的管理预算下，有围栏保护区可以将狮子维持在其潜在密度的 80%，而无围栏保护区则需要超过 2000 公里（-2）的预算才能达到其潜在密度的一半。有围栏保护区的狮子主要受到密度制约，但无围栏保护区的狮子对周围社区的人口密度非常敏感，而且无围栏保护区经常受到密度无关因素的影响。在未来 20-40 年内，近一半的无围栏狮子种群可能会减少到接近灭绝的程度。
