Demographic responses of an insular elephant population to removal as a management intervention

dc.contributor.authorGuldemond, Robert Abraham Rene
dc.contributor.authorLouw, Cornelius J.
dc.contributor.authorMare, Celeste
dc.contributor.authorNorgaard, Camilla
dc.contributor.authorVan Aarde, Rudi J.
dc.contributor.emailrjvaarde@zoology.up.ac.zaen_US
dc.date.accessioned2023-05-17T13:19:16Z
dc.date.available2023-05-17T13:19:16Z
dc.date.issued2022-08
dc.description.abstractDisturbances that change population structure may evoke transient dynamics that can be assessed within a demographic resilience framework. Conservation management interventions are conceptually disturbances that can be evaluated through such a framework to inform management actions and goals. The Main Camp in Addo Elephant National Park in South Africa presents a case study. Here management reduced the size of the elephant (Loxodonta africana) population by 26%. We compared population growth, modelled trends, constructed life tables and parameterized population projection matrices from data collected before, during and after the interventions. The interventions reduced population size and density, but co-occurring droughts may have reduced subsequent population growth and stage-specific survival. Transient dynamics followed the interventions and droughts and were associated with an unstable stage structure. The effect of adult survival on modelled asymptotic growth (its elasticity) was greater than a change in fertility. However, lowered juvenile survival contributed most to changes in transient growth. Management plans for elephant populations should consider the length of transients induced by interventions and environmental disturbances such as droughts. Our approach can benefit the assessment of population responses of elephants to disturbances such as poaching and persistent droughts elsewhere in Africa.en_US
dc.description.departmentZoology and Entomologyen_US
dc.description.librarianam2023en_US
dc.description.sponsorshipThe international fund for animal welfare (ifaw) funds and supported by the University of Pretoria.en_US
dc.description.urihttp://wileyonlinelibrary.com/journal/csp2en_US
dc.identifier.citationGuldemond, R. A. R., Louw, C. J., Maré, C., Nørgaard, C., & van Aarde, R. J. (2022). Demographic responses of an insular elephant population to removal as a management intervention. Conservation Science and Practice, 4(8), e12741. https://DOI.org/10.1111/csp2.12741.en_US
dc.identifier.issn2578-4854
dc.identifier.other10.1111/csp2.12741
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/2263/90731
dc.language.isoenen_US
dc.publisherWileyen_US
dc.rights© 2022 The Authors. This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License.en_US
dc.subjectDemographic resilienceen_US
dc.subjectDemographyen_US
dc.subjectDisturbanceen_US
dc.subjectLoxodonta africanaen_US
dc.subjectManagementen_US
dc.subjectSavanna elephantsen_US
dc.subjectTransient dynamicsen_US
dc.subjectAfrican elephant (Loxodonta africana)en_US
dc.titleDemographic responses of an insular elephant population to removal as a management interventionen_US
dc.typeArticleen_US

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