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This research examines the influence of tourism on migrants’ decisions to move to La Fortuna, Costa Rica, located in the buffer zone of Arenal National Park. Tourism is integral to Costa Rica’s economy and is closely connected to its national parks. Ecotourism is proposed as a non-extractive way for local people to benefit from natural resources, thus contributing to economic development and supporting conservation initiatives. However, if employment opportunities related to tourism encourage high rates of migration to edges of parks, then the resulting population growth could be detrimental to biodiversity conservation goals. Forty participants were interviewed for this project, which used cultural consensus analysis and semi-structured interviews to examine participants’ own behavior as well as shared cultural knowledge of factors that influence migration decisions. Results show that while employment opportunity was influential, other factors such as social stability and tranquility were equally important in participants’ motivations for relocating.

Marine protected areas (MPAs) are increasing in popularity as a tool to manage fish stocks through conservation of entire habitats and fish assemblages. Quantifying the habitat use, site fidelity, and movement patterns of marine species is vital to this method of marine spatial planning. The success of these protected areas requires that sufficient habitat is guarded against fishing pressure. For large animals, which often have correspondingly large home range areas, protecting an entire home range can be logistically challenging. For MPAs to successfully protect large top predator species, it is important to understand what areas of a home range are especially important, such as breeding and feeding grounds. New technologies, such as acoustic telemetry, have made it possible to track marine animal movements at finer spatial and temporal scales than previously possible, better illuminating these spatial use patterns. This study focused on the movement patterns of great barracuda (n=35), an ecologically important top predator, around Buck Island Reef National Monument, a no-take MPA in St. Croix, U.S.V.I. managed by the National Park Service. As developing standardized methods for acoustic telemetry is still a work in progress, the first half of this study focuses on determining appropriate tools for generating home range size estimates for great barracuda and analyzing ecological parameters driving these results. The second half of this study focused on the use of network analysis to look at spatial divisions within individual home ranges and to compare individual to population level spatial patterns, as well as to generate a relative estimate of population density within the park. Barracuda within the park demonstrated high site fidelity to individual territories, but at the population level they consistently used all habitats within the array. Core use areas within home ranges were evenly distributed throughout all habitats monitored by the acoustic array, although movement corridors were detected along high rugosity reef structures. Greater population densities within the park indicate that density dependent behaviors may be influencing habitat use within the park, and suggest that barracuda are contributing high levels of top down pressure through predation within the park boundaries.

The objectives of this work were to analyze and to compare the visitors of the immediate surroundings of two protected areas in the State of Paraná: the National Park of Superagüi and the Ecological Station “Ilha do Mel”, both islands. There was applied a questionnaire with 37 qualitative and quantitative questions. The questionnaire consisted of five parts: sociodemographic characteristics; trip characteristics; environmental conscience and attitudes; favorite activities and motivation; and perception of the destiny. The data were collected through personal interviews that in the average took from 20 to 30 minutes. 327 questionnaires were applied in Superagüi; in the period of December of 1998 to May of 2000, and 392 on the Ilha do Mel, in the period of April of 2000 to June of 2000. There are significant differences among the visitors of the two islands, this practically in all the researched characteristics. The public of the Ilha do Mel is significantly younger, what influences in several other variables, such as: civil status; education degree; and employment situation. 84% of the visitors of Ilha do Mel heard about it through friends/family, while in Superagüi only 67%. Ilha do Mel, for being a tourist destiny already for a longer time and the easy access, receives a larger number of people with repeated visits. Tourism was trip objective to a larger portion of the visitors of Ilha do Mel; in compensation they were observed significantly more researchers in Superagüi. Visitors’ environmental conscience can be considered high on both islands, but the one of the visitors of Ilha do Mel was inferior to Superagüi. Fewer respondents knew that the place they visited is a protected area. The value of the entrance fee that they are willing to pay was significantly smaller, as well as the disposition to follow the rules in favor of the conservation of nature. The interest in social and environmental subjects was significantly higher among the visitors of Superagüi. They were also willing to pay more for the use of environmental sane techniques than the respondents on Ilha do Mel. The interest in practicing the 25 tourist activities was significantly different between the two places. The comparison of the visitors’ attitude towards to problems showed that a part of the interviewees in Superagüi is much less inconvenienced with problems linked to the infrastructure that reduce the comfort during the stay, confirmed this fact by the smaller importance they give to items of tourist infrastructure. Among the visitors of Superagüi there was an accentuated concern with the improvement of the quality of the host community's life, fact not noticed on Ilha do Mel. In terms of motivation, it was shown that the visitors of Superagüi have larger appreciation to the natural and cultural values and the escape of the stress of the city than the ones of Ilha do Mel. There was also accomplished a benefit segmentation, showing that it is possible to identify distinct segments among the visitors of the same place. In Superagüi they were identified the following clusters: 1) the indifferent ones; 2) the non-sociable adventurers; 3) the sociable adventurers; 4) the enthusiasts; and 5) the non-sociable naturalists. On Ilha do Mel there were identified five different clusters: 1) the sociable adventurers; 2) the pure naturalists; 3) the enthusiasts; 4) the indifferent ones; and 5) the cultural naturalists.

This thesis investigates the design of a model, methods and guidelines that may assist government agencies in South Africa to find a balance between the objective of biodiversity conservation and increased local economic development in cases of land restitution in protected areas. The data collection that was needed for this study took place from 2007 to 2009 and was limited to seven priority protected areas in Mpumalanga Province. The general model design was established via an extensive literature review and analysis of the legal background and formed the theoretical concept of this thesis. The general model design was used to devise the guidelines for co-management to be used by government agencies in South Africa for the possible implementation of the biodiversity conservation and local economic development mandates in cases of land restitution in protected areas, within their financial and institutional limitations. From the results, it is clear that a consolidated government position, agreed upon by all relevant government stakeholders, assists in keeping the land restitution process in protected areas within the legal framework. Through the analysis of the model design in the seven priority protected areas it was identified that additional information is needed to reach the preferred land claim settlement option per protected area such as the actual tourism record, a socio-economic assessment of the environment in which each protected area is embedded, and financial figures to make projections on current and future net profit calculations. Government should support all the land claim settlement options, as elaborated in the model design, which is not the case at the moment, and most alternative options, other than co-management, are currently still unclear and/or not feasible. This might have serious negative implications for the conservation agency, with the risk of compromising its mandate to manage areas of high biodiversity effectively. The methods that were developed to workshop the generic agreement frameworks with the land claimant representatives proved to assist in the land claimants making an informed choice within the legal framework and to tailor the land claim settlement option and agreements to their specific situation. / Development Studies / Ph. D. (Development Studies)

Thesis (MDF)--Stellenbosch University, 2010. / The purpose of this study was to estimate the economic value of the Lopé National Park in Gabon. The creation of the Lopé National Park (LNP) in 2002 aimed at answering international engagements of Gabon as regards conservation of the biodiversity. To be able to value this protected area, an economic valuation technique called the Total Economic Value was applied. Total economic value (TEV) is a valuation method which attempts to estimate monetarily some tangible and intangible environmental benefits. After a brief presentation and an overview of legal aspects of the LNP, two management scenarios were considered: a scenario „with the Lopé National Park‟ and a scenario „without the Lopé National Park‟. The former scenario takes in account the establishment of the park whereas the latter suggests the non-establishment of the park. A set of hypotheses was set to perform the valuation. Furthermore, the data used in this study was based on primary research and various telephone interviews to confirm their validity. Based on various valuation techniques, selected tangible and intangible ecosystem benefits classified as direct use values, indirect use values, option values and existence values were quantified. The result of this study shows that the economic value of the scenario with the Lopé National Park produces a higher economic value than the scenario without the Lopé National Park. In other words, the decision to establish a protected area is a justifiably sound economic decision as it creates social welfare at local, national and international level. It is important to note that this valuation exercise is incomplete as this study does not take into account all the environmental benefits generated by any forest ecosystem due to the difficulty in valuing its intangible nature.

Thesis (MSc)--Stellenbosch University, 2011. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: Since its introduction in 1898 into South Africa, the Argentine ant, Linepithema humile [Mayr 1868 (Hymenoptera: Formicidae)], has invaded human-occupied areas (i.e. urban and agricultural areas) and natural areas characterised by few, if any, anthropogenic disturbances. However, compared to other countries in which the Argentine ant has been recorded, and until the past few decades, very little research had been done on this invasive ant in South Africa. Consequently, several issues concerning its ecological and social effects are still under-researched. The first of these issues concerns the lack of knowledge about the distribution of the Argentine ant in the natural areas, particularly the protected areas (PAs), of South Africa. In order to determine how many PAs are occupied by this invasive ant, a study was conducted in the Western Cape Province (WCP). It was found that, of the 614 PAs documented for WCP, ten have a known presence and nine known absence records of the Argentine ant. The remainder of the PAs have no known occupancy records for this ant. A second issue concerns the seasonal bait preference of the Argentine ant in a fynbos habitat. Six bait treatments (two carbohydrate and protein baits, a mixture of the carbohydrate and protein treatments, and a control) were applied in a fynbos habitat across a sampling grid in four different Latin Square designs, i.e. once for every season. Based on these experiments, it was determined that the Argentine ant prefers the mixture of carbohydrate and protein treatments, and that this preference does not change according to season. Furthermore, previous studies conducted in Jonkershoek Nature Reserve [JNR (in WCP)] determined the existence of a distribution boundary of Argentine ants in an area known as Swartboschkloof. Therefore, the third issue concerned the exact location of the distribution boundary and possible reasons for its establishment. This distribution boundary of the Argentine ant was found to be present 450 m from Swartboschkloof hiking trail. A combination of several explanatory variables may contribute to the maintenance of this boundary, i.e. a change in the horizontal and vertical vegetation distribution, as well as in the slope and aspect across the distribution boundary. With these explanatory variables, the increasing presence of an indigenous ant species, Anoplolepis custodiens, from this boundary may also have contributed to the distribution boundary. In addition, the short-term effect of a fire that swept through this area was also assessed, which revealed that Argentine ants are severely negatively affected by fire (at least over the short-term), i.e. their abundance decreased considerably after the fire and their local distribution range contracted. The final issue concerns the public perceptions of invasive alien species (IAS) in general and the Argentine ant specifically, at JNR. This study revealed that the majority of visitors to JNR were aware of the presence of IAS in South Africa and in its PAs, while very few visitors knew about the Argentine ant. This study also revealed that future research concerning South Africans perceptions of IAS might play a strong contributing role in conservation. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Sedert die Argentynse mier, Linepithema humile [Mayr 1868 (Hymenoptera: Formicidae)], in 1898 in Suid-Afrika ingevoer is, het dié mier mens-bewoonde gebiede (soos stedelike en landbou gebiede) en natuurlike gebiede, gekenmerk deur min, indien enige, antropogeniese versteuringe, binnegedring. Nietemin, in vergelyking met ander lande waar die Argentynse mier opgeteken is, en tot die onlangse paar dekades, is min navorsing oor hierdie indringermier in Suid-Afrika onderneem. Gevolglik is daar verskeie kwessies rondom die mier se ekologiese en sosiale uitwerkinge wat nog nie nagevors is nie. Die eerste kwessie het betrekking op die gebrek aan kennis oor die Argentynse mier se verspreiding in die natuurlike gebiede, veral die beskermde gebiede (BG), van Suid-Afrika. Om te bepaal hoeveel BG deur hierdie indringermier beset word, is ʼn ondersoek in die Wes-Kaapprovinsie (WKP) uitgevoer. Daar is bevind dat, van die 614 BG gedokumenteerd in die WKP, het tien bevestigde aanwesigheid- en nege bevestigde afwesigheidrekords van hierdie mier. Die oorblywende BG het geen bekende besettingsrekords van hierdie mier nie. ʼn Tweede kwessie het betrekking op die seisoenale lokaasvoorkeur van die Argentynse mier in ʼn fynbos habitat. Ses lokaas-behandelings (twee koolhidraat en proteïen lokaas, ʼn mengsel van die koolhidraat en proteïen behandelings, en ʼn kontrole) is aangewend in ʼn fynbos habitat, oor ʼn steekproefruitgebied, in vier verskillende Latyns-kwadraatpatrone (“Latin Sqaure designs”), d.i. een vir elke seisoen. Op grond van hierdie eksperimente is vasgestel dat die Argentynse mier die mengsel van koolhidrate en proteïne verkies, en dat hierdie voorkeur nie seisoenaal verander nie. Boonop, vorige ondersoeke wat in die Jonkershoek Natuurreservaat [JNR (in die WKP)] uitgevoer is, het ʼn verspreidings-grens van Argentynse miere ontdek in ʼn gebied bekend as Swartboschkloof. Gevolglik het die derde kwessie betrekking op die presiese ligging van hierdie grens en moontlike redes waarom dit gevestig het. Dié verspreidings-grens van die Argentynse mier is 450 m vanaf die Swartboschkloof voetslaanpad gevind. ʼn Kombinasie van verskeie verklarende veranderlikes kon tot hierdie grens bygedra het, d.i. ʼn verandering in die horisontale en vertikale plantegroeiverspreiding, sowel as in die helling en ligging oor die verspreidings-grens van die Argentynse mier. Tesame met hierdie verklarende veranderlikes, kon die toenemende teenwoordigheid van ʼn inheemse mier, Anoplolepis custodiens, vanaf hierdie grens ook tot die verspredings-grens bygedra het. Daarbenewens is die korttermyn-effek van ʼn vuur wat deur die area beweeg het, ook bestudeer. Die ondersoek het getoon dat die Argentynse mier (ten minste oor die korttermyn) erg negatief deur vuur beïnvloed is, d.i. hul volopheid het ná die vuur aansienlik verminder en hul plaaslike verspreidings-grens het gekrimp. Die finale kwessie het betrekking op openbare persepsie van uitheemse indringerspesies (UIS) oor die algemeen en spesifiek die Argentynse mier, by JNR. Hierdie ondersoek het aan die lig gebring dat die meerderheid van besoekers aan JNR bewus was van die teenwoordigheid van UIS in Suid-Afrika en in dié se BG, terwyl baie min egter van die Argentynse mier geweet het. Hierdie ondersoek het ook aan die lig gebring dat toekomstige navorsing rakende Suid-Afrikaners se persepsie van UIS ʼn sterk bydra tot bewaring kan maak.

Seabirds are wide-ranging apex-predators and useful bio-indicators of marine systems. Nevertheless, changes are occurring in the marine environment, and seabirds require protection from the deleterious effects of climate change, fisheries, pollution, offshore development, introduced predators and invasive species. The UK supports internationally important populations of seabirds but also has vast wind and wave resources, therefore understanding how seabirds use the marine environment is vital in order to quantify the potential consequences of further exploiting these resources. In this thesis I first describe the range of wave energy converting devices operational or in development in the UK, and review the potential threats and benefits these developments may have for marine birds. I then synthesise data from colony-based surveys with detailed information on population dynamics, foraging ecology and near-colony behaviour, to develop a projection model that identifies important at-sea areas for breeding seabirds. These models show a positive spatial correlation with one of the most intensive at-sea seabird survey datasets, and provide qualitatively similar findings to existing tracking data. This approach has the potential to identify overlap with offshore energy developments, and could be developed to suit a range of species or whole communities and provide a theoretical framework for the study of factors such as colony size regulation. The non-breeding period is a key element of the annual cycle of seabirds and conditions experienced during one season may carry-over to influence the next. Understanding behaviour throughout the annual cycle has implications for both ecological theory and conservation. Bio-logging can provide detailed information on movements away from breeding colonies, and the analysis of stable isotope ratios in body tissues can provide information on foraging during the non-breeding period. I combine these two approaches to describe the migration strategies of northern gannets Morus bassanus breeding at two colonies in the north-west Atlantic, revealing a high degree of both winter site fidelity and dietary consistency between years. These migratory strategies also have carry-over effects with consequences for both body condition and timing of arrival on the breeding grounds. Finally, I investigate the threats posed to seabirds and other marine predators during the non-breeding period by collating information on the distributions of five different species of apex predator wintering in the Northwest African upwelling region. I describe the threat of over-fishing and fisheries bycatch to marine vertebrates in this region, and highlight the need for pelagic marine protected areas to adequately protect migratory animals throughout the annual cycle. In summary, the combination of colony-based studies, bio-logging, stable isotope analysis and modelling techniques can provide a comprehensive understanding of the interactions between individuals and the marine environment over multiple spatial and temporal scales.

African elephants are ‘keystone’ species with respect to biodiversity conservation in Africa since they maintain habitats that support several animal communities by changing vegetation structure through foraging and by dispersing seeds between landscapes. Elephants are also ‘flagship’ species because, given their impressive size, they can make people sympathetic and stimulate local and international concerns for their protection. Economically, elephants contribute to national revenues as tourists are willing to pay to watch them. Despite all these factors, little is known however about elephant movement and how they utilize resources, especially in miombo-wetland ecosystems. This thesis investigates how elephants utilize resources in a miombo-wetland ecosystem in the Ugalla landscape of Western Tanzania over different protected areas containing different resource users. Using Global Positioning System (GPS) collars fitted to six elephants, it was observed that some elephant families are not confined in one protected area in the Ugalla landscape. Rather, they moved readily between different protected areas. Elephant movements were restricted to areas near the rivers, especially the Ugalla River, during the dry season and were dispersed widely during the wet season. As they move, elephants in the miombo woodlands of Ugalla selected the most abundant woody plants for browsing. Common to many woody plants, the browsed plants were short of mineral nutrients (e.g., sodium, calcium). Elephants obtained additional minerals by eating soils from certain termite mounds. Soils from termite mounds are richer in mineral elements (e.g., sodium, calcium, iron) compared to soils from the surrounding flood plain or compared to the browsed plants. However, the recorded termite mounds from which elephants eat soils were not evenly distributed in the landscape but confined mainly to the flood plains in the Ugalla Game Reserve. The Ugalla River, which is the main source of water for the elephants and other animals and also supports fishing activities by the local people in Ugalla during the dry seasons, is infested by the water hyacinth (Eichhornia crassipes). Such infestation potentially limits access to these precious surface water supplies. In addition at the regional level, the Ugalla River is among the major rivers that flow into the Lake Tanganyika which is shared by the countries of Tanzania, Burundi, Democratic Republic of Congo and Zambia. Thus, the spread of water hyacinth if left unchecked threatens to impact Lake Tanganyika, affecting many countries and ecosystem services. This thesis highlights that sustainable conservation of biodiversity in different protected areas in the Ugalla landscape requires an integrated management approach that will embrace conservation of different interrelated landscape resources required by both wildlife and the rural poor populations for their livelihoods. Regular coordinated wildlife anti-poaching patrols should be initiated across the entire Ugalla landscape because the elephants, among other wildlife, utilize different protected areas in Ugalla. Local communities should also be engaged in conservation initiatives (e.g., controlling the spread of the water hyacinth) as these directly impact local livelihoods. / <p>At the time of the doctoral defense, the following papers were unpublished and had a status as follows: Paper 1: Manuscript. Paper 2: Manuscript. Paper 3: Manuscript. Paper 4: Manuscript.</p> / INTEGRATED NATURAL RESOURCES MANAGEMENT

Many U.S. national parks are already at the extreme warm end of their historical temperature distributions. With rapidly warming conditions, park resource management will be enhanced by information on seasonality of climate that supports adjustments in the timing of activities such as treating invasive species, operating visitor facilities, and scheduling climate-related events (e.g., flower festivals and fall leaf-viewing). Seasonal changes in vegetation, such as pollen, seed, and fruit production, are important drivers of ecological processes in parks, and phenology has thus been identified as a key indicator for park monitoring. Phenology is also one of the most proximate biological responses to climate change. Here, we use estimates of start of spring based on climatically modeled dates of first leaf and first bloom derived from indicator plant species to evaluate the recent timing of spring onset (past 10-30 yr) in each U.S. natural resource park relative to its historical range of variability across the past 112 yr (1901-2012). Of the 276 high latitude to subtropical parks examined, spring is advancing in approximately three-quarters of parks (76%), and 53% of parks are experiencing "extreme" early springs that exceed 95% of historical conditions. Our results demonstrate how changes in climate seasonality are important for understanding ecological responses to climate change, and further how spatial variability in effects of climate change necessitates different approaches to management. We discuss how our results inform climate change adaptation challenges and opportunities facing parks, with implications for other protected areas, by exploring consequences for resource management and planning.