Since CITES (Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora) ratification 40 years ago, trade bans have emerged as a principle conservation tool for endangered species. While trade bans have been successful in helping to stabilize populations of certain species, evidence for others suggests that such bans are proving less effective. Looking at three species, the author identifies and explores a conflux of forces that, in the context of a trade ban, may result in an increase of illegal trade, further threatening a species already at risk. These forces include 1) inelastic demand and high profit potential, 2) long history of trade, both legal and illegal, coupled with strong cultural affiliation, 3) ambiguous property rights, 4) negative economic incentives for conservation due to human-animal conflict, and 5) inadequate enforcement. Termed a “Perfect Storm”, these forces combine to accelerate the demise of the species. In essence, a trade ban hands a monopoly on commerce to the black market. It is even possible that the trade ban protects the illegal market against competition, suggesting that other conservation tactics warrant consideration. The author concludes that legal, regulated trade needs to be fully investigated using fields of science that have evolved during CITES lifetime to determine if it is a viable tactic for conservation when such conditions exist.

Understanding animal abundances and population trends is a fundamental goal of ecology. The aim of this study was to examine local ecological knowledge (LEK) held by local people bordering the northern Gonarezhou National Park (GNP), Zimbabwe, concerning domestic and wild animal species abundances and perceived population trends, in order to evaluate the possible contribution of LEK to wildlife conservation and management. Data were collected through interviews using a semi-structured questionnaire from 236 local people in communities adjacent to the northern GNP from December 2010 to May 2011. The results show that perceptions of domestic animal population trends were mixed, with 44% of the respondents perceiving an increase, 36% perceiving a decline, and 20% perceiving that domestic animal populations had remained the same between 2000 and 2010. Furthermore, about 76% of the respondents perceived that wild animal abundances had increased, 15% perceived a decline, and 9% perceived that wild animal abundances had remained the same in GNP between 2000 and 2010. Responses on perceptions of animal population trends were to a great extent in line with recorded population trends from conventional scientific studies. The study results suggest that LEK may serve as a valuable source of ecological information and could compliment scientific information for wildlife conservation and management, particularly in community-based natural resources management programmes.

Nous avons évalué l'impact anthropique sur la richesse, la diversité, l'abondance et la densité relative des Rongeurs dans quatre habitats de la Réserve de Masako au nord-est de la République Démocratique du Congo. Une forêt primaire à Gilbertiodendron dewevrei et trois habitats d'origine anthropique (forêt secondaire, jachère et zone de contact jachère/forêt secondaire (lisière)) ont été investigués de mai 2009 à avril 2010. 1275 spécimens répartis entre 24 espèces et 5 familles inventoriées ont permis de quantifier des différences de composition et d'abondances entre un habitat non perturbé et des milieux anthropisés, ainsi qu'entre une lisière et des habitats adjacents. Nos résultats montrent une distribution non uniforme des Rongeurs dans les quatre milieux. La richesse et la diversité sont élevées en lisière et faibles en forêt primaire. Chaque milieu héberge une densité relative différente. Les plus fortes densités sont observées en forêt secondaire et jachère; la plus faible est observée en forêt primaire. Les abondances diffèrent significativement entre les habitats, à l'exception de la paire forêt secondaire - jachère. Les paramètres dans la lisière diffèrent de ceux des habitats adjacents, traduisant l'existence d'un effet de lisière. Les équitabilités faibles obtenues dans tous les habitats traduisent l'instabilité relative de cet écosystème forestier. Le test de χ² atteste l'existence de l'effet « saison » sur les abondances des Rongeurs. De même, ce test confirme l'existence de l'effet « activités anthropiques » sur les abondances dans les milieux anthropisés, mais pas en forêt primaire.

The maned wolf has been studied in nature reserves, but few researches have been carried out outside protected areas. Since only about 2 % of the Brazilian Cerrado, the maned wolf's main habitat, has been set aside as parks and reserves, determining what is happening with the species in private and disturbed areas is important for an accurate assessment of its vulnerability to extinction. Here we investigated the trophic ecology of a maned wolf population inhabiting a 1610 ha section of the Calçada Ridge, an unprotected area located in the metropolitan region of Belo Horizonte, capital of the state of Minas Gerais, Brazil. The study site is in the buffer zone (< 10 km) of two protected areas, where anthropogenic (urban areas and roads) and disturbed areas (burned fields) total a third of the study landscape. The main disturbances are mining activities, unregulated ecotourism and road proximity. Fecal samples (n= 95) collected between 2006 and 2008 revealed that the maned wolf frequently used both natural and disturbed fields. The diet was composed mostly of small mammals (9 species, 16.2 % of items and 92.6% of scats) and the plant Solanum lycocarpum (12.2% of items and 89.5% of scats), similar to what has been found in less disturbed areas. Overall diet diversity was, however, lower than has been found elsewhere, probably reflecting the poorer resource base of the study area. These results, together with recent findings from other sources, highlight the importance of buffer zones. They also suggest that the maned wolf is an ecologically flexible species that might be prone to hunt, and perhaps even survive, in disturbed areas outside protected areas.

Few ornithologists have conducted research in the southwestern Amazonian state of Acre, Brazil. Threats and opportunities associated with completion of the Brazil-Peru Interoceanic Highway provide impetus to increase understanding of 1) the distribution, status, and natural history of rare and restricted-range birds, 2) human-wildlife conflicts, and 3) interest in ecotourism within Acre. I conducted point-count surveys, recorded opportunistic encounters, and estimated occupancy for the globally threatened, near-threatened, and restricted-range birds of eastern Acre. I also interviewed hunters that inhabit Chico Mendes Extractive Reserve (CMER) about their perception of the relative abundance of the near-threatened Harpy Eagle (Harpia harpyja) and Crested Eagle (Morphnus guianensis), about conflicts with these species, how conflicts were resolved, and their interest in community-run ecotourism. Results suggest that the vulnerable Blue-headed Macaw (Primolius couloni) is uncommon but widely distributed throughout eastern Acre. The vulnerable Rufous Twistwing (Cnipodectes superrufus) appears rare; it was detected at only four locations but appears to occur throughout CMER. I present information on the diet of both species. I expand upon and confirm recent findings that extend the distribution of several near-threatened and restricted-range species. Interviews with local hunters suggest that H. harpyja and M. guianensis are rare to uncommon and widely persecuted throughout CMER, although interest in community-run ecotourism presents opportunities to increase conservation of these and other rare species. Land managers, biologists, and conservation organizations may use these results and recommendations to inform wildlife management decisions, estimates of population trends, and ecotourism ventures.

Las especies de plantas raras de las selvas en la Península de Yucatán aún no han sido evaluadas como un grupo particular. Se seleccionó un conjunto de especies leñosas raras (ELR) de las selvas tropicales de la Península de Yucatán. Se estimó la riqueza de especies, sumando los mapas de distribución potencial de cada especie, y se evaluó su relación con las Áreas Naturales Protegidas (ANP) de la península. Se identificaron 3 niveles de rareza -bajo, medio y alto-, de acuerdo a la frecuencia, la especificidad de hábitat y el rango de distribución potencial de las especies seleccionadas. Se identificaron 4 regiones de mayor riqueza de ELR. Todas las regiones incluyeron especies del nivel de rareza bajo, 3 regiones incluyeron especies de nivel medio y sólo una región incluyó especies extremadamente raras (nivel alto); esta región está fuera de las ANP establecidas. La riqueza de ELR se asoció positivamente con el tamaño de las ANP. Este estudio representa el primer esfuerzo para conocer a las especies leñosas raras de la Península de Yucatán, sus patrones de distribución potencial y evaluar su estado de protección actual. Nuestros resultados sugieren que las ANP actuales podrían estar preservando la riqueza de ELR del nivel bajo y medio de rareza, pero no la riqueza de las especies extremadamente raras. Por lo tanto, es prioritario el establecimiento de ANP en la región en la que podría concentrarse la más alta riqueza de estas especies, que son particularmente vulnerables a la extinción.

The wax palm (Ceroxylon echinulatum) is an arborescent, dioecious and slow-growing palm distributed on Andean slopes at 1000–2000 m elevation in Ecuador and northern Peru. The leaves of wax palm have been traditionally harvested and used for the making of handicrafts during Easter celebrations. It has been suggested that removal of unexpanded leaves may be the main source of threat to the survival of the species. The goal of this work was to evaluate the impact of leaf removal on growth and development of C. echinulatum. Leaf production and growth were monitored in 60 young individuals divided into three treatments: T0 - control, T1- without damage to adjacent leaves; T2- with damage to adjacent leaves. Results from two years of observation reveal that leaf growth rate and the number of new leaves produced per individual are not adversely affected by this practice. Harvest treatments were equal or even higher than the control for both variables. Balance of leaf number in the crown (before and after the extraction) was negative in the harvest treatments, indicating a factor of unsustainability in the annual harvest management of the species. The results suggest that biennial harvesting of one young leaf per individual could be sustainable. An appropriate management strategy could be to distinguish young individual populations by marking palms with nine or more leaves in the crown in different quadrants of extraction, in order to perform rotational, biennial and monitored cropping.

Consumption of bushmeat is a problem around many protected areas, but successful mitigation programs are proving difficult to design, in part because anthropogenic pressures are often treated as uniform. In Eastern Africa, where bushmeat consumption has become a major problem, most studies focus on threats emerging from a single site or single ethnic group. In this study, we interviewed two groups of people, indigenous inhabitants of Mpimbwe and refugee dwellers in Katumba, who both hunt in the same ecosystem, in order to compare their consumption of bushmeat and their knowledge of hunters' activities. We related our findings to economic and other differences between them. More than four-fifths of the sampled population in Mpimbwe consumed bushmeat whereas just over half did in Katumba, and frequency of eating bushmeat was higher in the former. Mpimbwe residents hunted principally in the wet season, whereas Katumba residents hunted more in the dry season. We attributed greater consumption of bushmeat in Mpimbwe to a comparative shortage of eggs and pork there, to greater ease of access to large mammals, and to a lower price of bushmeat. Our study draws attention to the variation in bushmeat consumption between groups hunting in the same general area and demonstrates how site-specific data can be used to hone different strategies for reducing illegal hunting in the same region.

The causes of spatial distribution gaps for a given species may be either both natural (habitat discontinuities) or non-natural (local extinctions, inaccurate knowledge). These species are defined as ‘gap species’. We analyzed the country checklists for African chelonians in order to identify both gap species and gap countries. We also compared patterns observed in chelonians with those observed in African small mammals. Species richness was highest in South Africa, Congo, Nigeria, Tanzania, Angola and Ghana, and the countries exchanging the smallest number of species with neighboring countries were South Africa and Congo. The main gap countries were Togo, Benin, and Congo. Moist savannahs, tropical forests, and swamp areas were inhabited by significantly higher numbers of gap species. Body size of gap species was significantly larger than that of non-gap species, possibly due to bush-meat consumption. Increases in the number of gap species per country were significantly correlated between chelonians and small mammals. There was a significantly positive relationship of turnover rates by paired countries between chelonians and rodents as well as between chelonians and insectivores, and the mean turnover rates by country were highest in Sudan and Chad, whereas the whole southern portion of Africa and part of West Africa had low mean turnover rates. The high number of gap species in Congo, Central African Republic (C.A.R.), and Cameroon may be due to suboptimal research, and in Togo and Benin may depend on the Dahomey Gap. The tropical forests and the moist savannahs are the most important habitats for both groups.

Predicting variation in animal abundance across time and space has proven very difficult; however, a model exists to predict the biomass of small folivorous primates that has considerable correlative support. This model suggests that the protein-to-fiber ratio of leaves in a habitat can predict folivore biomass. Here we present an experimental test of this protein-to-fiber model to assess if the number of infant monkeys per female and group size can be predicted based on the leaf chemistry of a habitat. We expected regenerating forest in Kibale National Park, Uganda to have leaves with higher concentrations of crude protein and lower concentrations of fiber than old-growth forest trees, and consequently, we expected a greater number of infants per female in the folivorous red colobus (Procolobus rufomitratus) with access to this area. As predicted, regenerating forests did have trees with leaves with high concentrations of protein and low concentrations of fiber, but there was no corresponding change in the demographic structure of red colobus groups. We also tested whether energy was a potential determinant of these parameters, but found no evidence for its importance. Our findings support recent studies that are critical of the protein-to-fiber model, which lead us to question the model's generality, particularly for conservation and management.

A caça e o uso da fauna são práticas antigas e que desempenham um importante papel socioeconômico no semiárido nordestino. De uma perspectiva conservacionista, essas atividades tem evidentes implicações que necessitam ser melhor investigadas visando subsidiar planos de manejo sustentável. Diante disso, a presente pesquisa objetiva caracterizar as práticas cinegéticas direcionadas a vertebrados e seus usos em dois municípios do semiárido do Estado da Paraíba (Brasil), bem como avaliar as implicações dessas práticas para conservação. As informações foram obtidas através de entrevistas com questionários semiestruturados, complementadas com conversas informais. Um total de 37 caçadores ou usuários de produtos de animais silvestres foi entrevistado. A fauna cinegética registrada foi representada por 81 espécies de vertebrados, os quais se enquadram nas seguintes categorias de uso: alimentação (42 espécies), estimação (31), medicinal (15), artesanal (05) e ritualística (03). Um total de 21 espécies é abatida por controle, uma vez que podem representar perigo ou prejuízo. Constatou-se que dentre as espécies de valor utilitário, os grupos taxonômicos com papel mais relevante são aves e mamíferos. Nossos resultados apontam a necessidade urgente de programas educativos junto aos moradores locais procurando ordenar as atividades de caça. Considerando que a caça e uso da fauna silvestre são atividades comuns na região, percebe-se a urgência em controlar melhor essas práticas, já que a legislação não tem sido eficaz nesse sentido. A elaboração de planos de manejo e conservação deve levar em consideração o contexto social e cultural das pessoas envolvidas nessas atividades e devem ser implementados em consonância com populações usuárias dos recursos.