Degradation of the crocodile population in the Olifants River Gorge of Kruger National Park,South Africa

• 1. Top predators such as crocodiles often reflect ecosystem degradation. The recent spate of close to 200 Nile crocodile deaths may reflect the ecosystem state of the Olifants–Letaba River system in the Kruger National Park. This paper investigates whether the crocodile deaths were indeed the consequence of a rare and perhaps acute event given the variability in annual population growth rates of crocodilians.
• 2. Spotlight‐ and helicopter‐based surveys designed to correct for availability and detectability bias were used to estimate population sizes of crocodiles from 2008 to 2010 in and around the Olifants River Gorge, the focal area of crocodile deaths.
• 3. Correction factors derived from individually observed crocodiles for both spotlight‐ and helicopter‐based counts were lower than those typically used for Nile crocodiles as well as other crocodile species. Even so, corrected spotlight‐ and helicopter‐based estimates were comparable and the number of crocodiles in the focal study area declined significantly from 780 (95% CI: 637–1222) to between 460 (spotlight estimate, 95% CI 375–665) and 505 (aerial estimate, 95% CI: 559–1746) during the period of crocodile deaths. The average annual decline of 35% was at the lower end of the distribution of annual population growth rates across the rivers of Kruger National Park.
• 4. The crocodile deaths reflect a possible rare event that suggests a degraded crocodile population, possibly the consequences of broad‐scale cascades of environmental deterioration of the Olifants–Letaba River system.
• 5. Even so, the potential risk of local demise of the population in the focal study area in the short term may be diminished through evolutionary, demographic and spatial resilience inherent within crocodiles that can accommodate the as yet unknown disease dynamics of pansteatitis. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

     

Sampling techniques for burbot in a western non‐wadeable river

Burbot, Lota lota (L.), populations are declining throughout much of their native distribution. Although numerous aspects of burbot ecology are well understood, less is known about effective sampling techniques for burbot in lotic systems. Occupancy models were used to estimate the probability of detection () for three gears (6.4‐ and 19‐mm bar mesh hoop nets, night electric fishing), within the context of various habitat characteristics. During the summer, night electric fishing had the highest estimated detection probability for both juvenile (, 95% C.I.; 0.35, 0.26–0.46) and adult (0.30, 0.20–0.41) burbot. However, small‐mesh hoop nets (6.4‐mm bar mesh) had similar detection probabilities to night electric fishing for both juvenile (0.26, 0.17–0.36) and adult (0.27, 0.18–0.39) burbot during the summer. In autumn, a similar overlap between detection probabilities was observed for juvenile and adult burbot. Small‐mesh hoop nets had the highest estimated probability of detection for both juvenile and adult burbot (0.46, 0.33–0.59), whereas night electric fishing had a detection probability of 0.39 (0.28–0.52) for juvenile and adult burbot. By using detection probabilities to compare gears, the most effective sampling technique can be identified, leading to increased species detections and more effective management of burbot.     

生物物种资源监测原则与指标及抽样设计方法

生物物种资源监测是了解生物物种资源现状、开展生物物种资源保护与管理的基础工作和重要手段.阐述了生物物种资源监测的科学性原则、可操作性原则和持续性原则.提出了监测计划的制定程序;监测计划应充分考虑所具有的人力、资金和后勤保障等条件,并进行定期评估.分析了指示物种在物种资源监测中的作用与不足;认为应选择具有不同生态需求和生活史的生物类群作为监测对象.讨论了监测指标的选取方法;监测指标应可测量、有科学基础、易被公众接受、低成本和高效益;监测方法应具有科学性,能检测到相应的变化,应采用高效率、低成本的标准化监测方法.分析了现有监测计划在抽样设计方面存在的问题,探讨了空间变异性和可检测率对监测数据误差的影响及其处理方式,讨论了样本量确定和监测样地的大小、形状及位置设计.监测样地要有较好的代表性,能在有限的监测面积中较好地反映监测区域内群落种类组成与数量特征.最后,讨论了生物物种资源监测的尺度和标准化问题.     

Prey density, prey detectability and food habits: the case of Bonelli’s eagle and the conservation measures

In the diet of raptors the presence of prey-species is influenced by their abundance and the ground-level vegetation in territories, this situation being analysed for the Bonelli’s eagle (Hieraaetus fasciatus) in south-eastern Spain. First, the minimum number of prey-items for the reliability of results was tested, obtaining between 15 and 30 prey-items depending of pair. Second, differences in prey frequency and productivity among pairs was analysed, finding an interpair shift in both variables, but there was no relationship between the frequency of prey-species in the diet and productivity. Third, it was found that the percentage of European wild rabbit in the diet was less correlated with its abundance in territories than with the surface of open land in the same. This suggests that accessibility to rabbits would be more important for the Bonelli’s eagle that the absolute abundance of this prey type. Thus, open land is the single variable selected by a multiple multiple-regression analysis explaining the frequency of rabbits in this raptor’s diet. Birds as prey complemented the diet when open-land scarcity in the territories implies low rabbit detectability and consumption. Conservation measures proposed concerning the increase of prey availability in this declining population should consider both the absolute prey density and prey detectability, avoiding extensive reforestation in territories and favouring vegetation structure suitable for prey detection by eagles.