Cargando…

Using an occupancy approach to identify poaching hotspots in protected areas in a seasonally dry tropical forest

Poaching activity has been described in the literature as harmful due to impacts on biodiversity, especially in protected areas. Although the main reason for this activity is subsistence, in many regions motivation goes beyond the limits of food necessity. We applied single-species, single season oc...

Descripción completa

Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores principales: de Matos Dias, Douglas, Ferreguetti, Átilla Colombo, Rodrigues, Flávio Henrique Guimarães
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: Elsevier Ltd. 2020
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7536534/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/33041345
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.biocon.2020.108796
_version_ 1783590589529325568
author de Matos Dias, Douglas
Ferreguetti, Átilla Colombo
Rodrigues, Flávio Henrique Guimarães
author_facet de Matos Dias, Douglas
Ferreguetti, Átilla Colombo
Rodrigues, Flávio Henrique Guimarães
author_sort de Matos Dias, Douglas
collection PubMed
description Poaching activity has been described in the literature as harmful due to impacts on biodiversity, especially in protected areas. Although the main reason for this activity is subsistence, in many regions motivation goes beyond the limits of food necessity. We applied single-species, single season occupancy models to evaluate the spatial distribution of poachers and identify potential poaching hotspots in a mosaic of protected areas in the Caatinga domain, northeastern Brazil. We used camera-traps over a period of 200 days at 60 sites randomly selected. We used distances from human settlements, roads and the nearest water holes, frequency of game species and sampling effort as covariables that could influence poachers' occupancy and detectability and to identify potential poaching areas. Occupancy poachers were higher in sites with higher frequency of game species. Frequency of game species and distance from roads had a negative effect on the detectability of poachers. Spatial analysis indicated three critical poaching areas within and around the Boqueirão da Onça National Park, associated with roads and some isolated cattle and goat farms. In this study, we provided an assessment of poaching spatial patterns in relation to different landscape elements and biotic influences, indicating critical areas where enforcement efforts should be focused. Hotspots are clearly concentrated within and on the edge of National Park. The approach presented here to identify poaching hotspots is effective and economical, and therefore may be applied in other protected and non-protected areas throughout the world.
format Online
Article
Text
id pubmed-7536534
institution National Center for Biotechnology Information
language English
publishDate 2020
publisher Elsevier Ltd.
record_format MEDLINE/PubMed
spelling pubmed-75365342020-10-06 Using an occupancy approach to identify poaching hotspots in protected areas in a seasonally dry tropical forest de Matos Dias, Douglas Ferreguetti, Átilla Colombo Rodrigues, Flávio Henrique Guimarães Biol Conserv Review Poaching activity has been described in the literature as harmful due to impacts on biodiversity, especially in protected areas. Although the main reason for this activity is subsistence, in many regions motivation goes beyond the limits of food necessity. We applied single-species, single season occupancy models to evaluate the spatial distribution of poachers and identify potential poaching hotspots in a mosaic of protected areas in the Caatinga domain, northeastern Brazil. We used camera-traps over a period of 200 days at 60 sites randomly selected. We used distances from human settlements, roads and the nearest water holes, frequency of game species and sampling effort as covariables that could influence poachers' occupancy and detectability and to identify potential poaching areas. Occupancy poachers were higher in sites with higher frequency of game species. Frequency of game species and distance from roads had a negative effect on the detectability of poachers. Spatial analysis indicated three critical poaching areas within and around the Boqueirão da Onça National Park, associated with roads and some isolated cattle and goat farms. In this study, we provided an assessment of poaching spatial patterns in relation to different landscape elements and biotic influences, indicating critical areas where enforcement efforts should be focused. Hotspots are clearly concentrated within and on the edge of National Park. The approach presented here to identify poaching hotspots is effective and economical, and therefore may be applied in other protected and non-protected areas throughout the world. Elsevier Ltd. 2020-11 2020-10-06 /pmc/articles/PMC7536534/ /pubmed/33041345 http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.biocon.2020.108796 Text en © 2020 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. Since January 2020 Elsevier has created a COVID-19 resource centre with free information in English and Mandarin on the novel coronavirus COVID-19. The COVID-19 resource centre is hosted on Elsevier Connect, the company's public news and information website. Elsevier hereby grants permission to make all its COVID-19-related research that is available on the COVID-19 resource centre - including this research content - immediately available in PubMed Central and other publicly funded repositories, such as the WHO COVID database with rights for unrestricted research re-use and analyses in any form or by any means with acknowledgement of the original source. These permissions are granted for free by Elsevier for as long as the COVID-19 resource centre remains active.
spellingShingle Review
de Matos Dias, Douglas
Ferreguetti, Átilla Colombo
Rodrigues, Flávio Henrique Guimarães
Using an occupancy approach to identify poaching hotspots in protected areas in a seasonally dry tropical forest
title Using an occupancy approach to identify poaching hotspots in protected areas in a seasonally dry tropical forest
title_full Using an occupancy approach to identify poaching hotspots in protected areas in a seasonally dry tropical forest
title_fullStr Using an occupancy approach to identify poaching hotspots in protected areas in a seasonally dry tropical forest
title_full_unstemmed Using an occupancy approach to identify poaching hotspots in protected areas in a seasonally dry tropical forest
title_short Using an occupancy approach to identify poaching hotspots in protected areas in a seasonally dry tropical forest
title_sort using an occupancy approach to identify poaching hotspots in protected areas in a seasonally dry tropical forest
topic Review
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7536534/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/33041345
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.biocon.2020.108796
work_keys_str_mv AT dematosdiasdouglas usinganoccupancyapproachtoidentifypoachinghotspotsinprotectedareasinaseasonallydrytropicalforest
AT ferreguettiatillacolombo usinganoccupancyapproachtoidentifypoachinghotspotsinprotectedareasinaseasonallydrytropicalforest
AT rodriguesflaviohenriqueguimaraes usinganoccupancyapproachtoidentifypoachinghotspotsinprotectedareasinaseasonallydrytropicalforest