Conservation of snow leopards: spill-over benefits for other carnivores?
Abstract In high-altitude settings of Central Asia the Endangered snow leopard Panthera uncia has been recognized as a potential umbrella species. As a first step in assessing the potential benefits of snow leopard conservation for other carnivores, we sought a better understanding of the presence o...
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crcambridgeupr:10.1017/s0030605315001040 2024-09-15T18:01:19+00:00 Conservation of snow leopards: spill-over benefits for other carnivores? Alexander, Justine S. Cusack, Jeremy J. Pengju, Chen Kun, Shi Riordan, Philip 2015 http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/s0030605315001040 https://www.cambridge.org/core/services/aop-cambridge-core/content/view/S0030605315001040 en eng Cambridge University Press (CUP) https://www.cambridge.org/core/terms Oryx volume 50, issue 2, page 239-243 ISSN 0030-6053 1365-3008 journal-article 2015 crcambridgeupr https://doi.org/10.1017/s0030605315001040 2024-08-07T04:03:43Z Abstract In high-altitude settings of Central Asia the Endangered snow leopard Panthera uncia has been recognized as a potential umbrella species. As a first step in assessing the potential benefits of snow leopard conservation for other carnivores, we sought a better understanding of the presence of other carnivores in areas occupied by snow leopards in China's Qilianshan National Nature Reserve. We used camera-trap and sign surveys to examine whether other carnivores were using the same travel routes as snow leopards at two spatial scales. We also considered temporal interactions between species. Our results confirm that other carnivores, including the red fox Vulpes vulpes , grey wolf Canis lupus , Eurasian lynx Lynx lynx and dhole Cuon alpinus , occur along snow leopard travel routes, albeit with low detection rates. Even at the smaller scale of our camera trap survey all five carnivores (snow leopard, lynx, wolf, red fox and dhole) were observed. Kernel density estimates suggested a high degree of temporal overlap between the snow leopard and the fox, and the snow leopard and the lynx, as indicated by high overlap coefficient estimates. There is an opportunity to consider protective measures at the local scale that would benefit various species simultaneously. However, it should also be recognized that snow leopard conservation efforts could exacerbate human–wildlife conflicts through their protective effect on other carnivore species. Article in Journal/Newspaper Canis lupus Lynx Lynx lynx lynx Cambridge University Press Oryx 50 2 239 243 |
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Cambridge University Press |
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English |
description |
Abstract In high-altitude settings of Central Asia the Endangered snow leopard Panthera uncia has been recognized as a potential umbrella species. As a first step in assessing the potential benefits of snow leopard conservation for other carnivores, we sought a better understanding of the presence of other carnivores in areas occupied by snow leopards in China's Qilianshan National Nature Reserve. We used camera-trap and sign surveys to examine whether other carnivores were using the same travel routes as snow leopards at two spatial scales. We also considered temporal interactions between species. Our results confirm that other carnivores, including the red fox Vulpes vulpes , grey wolf Canis lupus , Eurasian lynx Lynx lynx and dhole Cuon alpinus , occur along snow leopard travel routes, albeit with low detection rates. Even at the smaller scale of our camera trap survey all five carnivores (snow leopard, lynx, wolf, red fox and dhole) were observed. Kernel density estimates suggested a high degree of temporal overlap between the snow leopard and the fox, and the snow leopard and the lynx, as indicated by high overlap coefficient estimates. There is an opportunity to consider protective measures at the local scale that would benefit various species simultaneously. However, it should also be recognized that snow leopard conservation efforts could exacerbate human–wildlife conflicts through their protective effect on other carnivore species. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Alexander, Justine S. Cusack, Jeremy J. Pengju, Chen Kun, Shi Riordan, Philip |
spellingShingle |
Alexander, Justine S. Cusack, Jeremy J. Pengju, Chen Kun, Shi Riordan, Philip Conservation of snow leopards: spill-over benefits for other carnivores? |
author_facet |
Alexander, Justine S. Cusack, Jeremy J. Pengju, Chen Kun, Shi Riordan, Philip |
author_sort |
Alexander, Justine S. |
title |
Conservation of snow leopards: spill-over benefits for other carnivores? |
title_short |
Conservation of snow leopards: spill-over benefits for other carnivores? |
title_full |
Conservation of snow leopards: spill-over benefits for other carnivores? |
title_fullStr |
Conservation of snow leopards: spill-over benefits for other carnivores? |
title_full_unstemmed |
Conservation of snow leopards: spill-over benefits for other carnivores? |
title_sort |
conservation of snow leopards: spill-over benefits for other carnivores? |
publisher |
Cambridge University Press (CUP) |
publishDate |
2015 |
url |
http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/s0030605315001040 https://www.cambridge.org/core/services/aop-cambridge-core/content/view/S0030605315001040 |
genre |
Canis lupus Lynx Lynx lynx lynx |
genre_facet |
Canis lupus Lynx Lynx lynx lynx |
op_source |
Oryx volume 50, issue 2, page 239-243 ISSN 0030-6053 1365-3008 |
op_rights |
https://www.cambridge.org/core/terms |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1017/s0030605315001040 |
container_title |
Oryx |
container_volume |
50 |
container_issue |
2 |
container_start_page |
239 |
op_container_end_page |
243 |
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1810438482546393088 |