Wildlife movements and landscape connectivity in the Tarangire ecosystem

Lohay, G. G., Riggio, J., Lobora, A. L., Kissui, B. M. and Morrison, T. A. (2022) Wildlife movements and landscape connectivity in the Tarangire ecosystem. In: Kiffner, C., Bond, M. L. and Lee, D. E. (eds.) Tarangire: Human-Wildlife Coexistence in a Fragmented Ecosystem. Series: Ecological Studies (243). Springer: Cham, pp. 255-276. ISBN 9783030936037 (doi: 10.1007/978-3-030-93604-4_12)

Abstract

A fundamental condition for maintaining viable populations of wildlife is to ensure that animals can access resources. In landscapes where the boundaries of protected areas encompass only a fraction of annual home ranges, animal movement is often curtailed by human activities, often with negative population consequences. In the Tarangire Ecosystem (TE), wildlife generally aggregates in three main protected areas during the dry season (Tarangire and Lake Manyara National Parks, and Manyara Ranch Conservancy) and disperses to several other areas during the wet season. Connectivity between and within seasonal ranges in the ecosystem has generally become more restricted over time, though the apparent effects of these changes have been species-specific. Historical accounts of wildlife movement suggest that animals once moved over much larger areas than they do currently. In this chapter, we review historical information on wildlife movement and distributions in the TE and synthesize data on population genetic structure and individual movements from studies of elephants, giraffes, lions and wildebeests conducted over the past 25 years. Given the continued expansion of agricultural and urban areas, there is a need to coordinate efforts across land management agencies and local governments to ensure that wildlife can continue to move across the landscape.

• Item Type: Book Sections
• Status: Published
• Glasgow Author(s) Enlighten ID: Morrison, Dr Thomas
• Authors: Lohay, G. G., Riggio, J., Lobora, A. L., Kissui, B. M., and Morrison, T. A.
• College/School: College of Medical Veterinary and Life Sciences > School of Biodiversity, One Health & Veterinary Medicine
• Publisher: Springer
• ISSN: 0070-8356
• ISBN: 9783030936037