Wildlife Conservation Research Unit, Department of Zoology, University of Oxford, Recanati-Kaplan Centre, Oxford, UK.
Lion Landscapes, Iringa, Tanzania.
Conserv Biol. 2022 Dec;36(6):e13943. doi: 10.1111/cobi.13943. Epub 2022 Aug 4.
Large carnivores increasingly inhabit human-affected landscapes, which exhibit heterogeneity in biotic resources, anthropogenic pressures, and management strategies. Understanding large carnivore habitat use in these systems is critical for their conservation, as is the evaluation of competing management approaches and the impacts of significant land-use changes. We used occupancy modeling to investigate habitat use of an intact eastern African large carnivore guild across the 45,000 km Ruaha-Rungwa landscape in south-central Tanzania. We determined the relative impact on five large carnivore species of biotic, anthropogenic, and management factors at the scales of home range selection and short-term use within home ranges. We also specifically tested the effect of abandonment of trophy hunting areas on large carnivore occurrence. Patterns of habitat use differed among species. Lions (Panthera leo) appeared affected by top-down limitation, as their occurrence was significantly negatively associated with illegal human activity (β = -0.63 [SE 0.28]). African wild dogs (Lycaon pictus), instead, were limited by biotic features; the species was negatively associated with riverine areas of high sympatric predator density (β = -1.00 [SE 0.43]) and used less-productive habitats. Spotted hyaena (Crocuta crocuta) and leopard (Panthera pardus) persisted in more disturbed areas and across habitat types. Large carnivore occurrence was not affected by whether an area was used for photographic or trophy hunting tourism; regular law enforcement was instead a better predictor of occurrence. All species fared better in actively managed hunting areas than those that had been abandoned by operators. Overall, our findings highlight the divergent habitat requirements within large carnivore guilds and the importance of adopting an integrated approach to large carnivore conservation planning in modern systems. We also identified a novel threat to African conservation areas in the form of decreased management investments associated with the abandonment of trophy hunting areas.
大型食肉动物越来越多地栖息在受人类影响的景观中，这些景观表现出生物资源、人为压力和管理策略的异质性。了解这些系统中大型食肉动物的栖息地利用情况对于它们的保护至关重要，评估竞争管理方法和重大土地利用变化的影响也是如此。我们使用占有模型调查了坦桑尼亚中南部 Ruaha-Rungwa 景观 45000 平方公里范围内完整的东非大型食肉动物群体的栖息地利用情况。我们确定了生物、人为和管理因素在大范围内对五种大型食肉动物物种的相对影响范围和短期利用范围。我们还特别测试了放弃奖杯狩猎区对大型食肉动物出现的影响。物种间的栖息地利用模式存在差异。狮子（Panthera leo）似乎受到自上而下的限制，因为它们的存在与非法人类活动显著负相关（β=-0.63 [SE 0.28]）。相反，非洲野狗（Lycaon pictus）受到生物特征的限制；该物种与高同域捕食者密度的河流区域呈负相关（β=-1.00 [SE 0.43]），并利用较少生产性的栖息地。斑点鬣狗（Crocuta crocuta）和豹（Panthera pardus）在更多受干扰的地区和各种生境类型中都能生存。大型食肉动物的出现不受该地区是否用于摄影或奖杯狩猎旅游的影响；相反，定期执法是出现的更好预测因素。所有物种在积极管理的狩猎区的表现都优于被经营者放弃的狩猎区。总的来说，我们的研究结果强调了大型食肉动物群体内部不同的栖息地需求，以及在现代系统中采用综合方法进行大型食肉动物保护规划的重要性。我们还发现了一种新的威胁，即由于放弃奖杯狩猎区，与管理投资相关的减少，对非洲保护区构成了威胁。
