Mapping conservation areas for large carnivores in the Carpathian Mountains
Mapping conservation areas for large carnivores in the Carpathian Mountains
The present study is an effort towards the international and multidisciplinary approach to conservation of European biodiversity. The main aim was to map the distribution of suitable areas for the conservation of bears, lynx and wolves in the Carpathian Mountains. It was done applying a distance classifier, the Mahalanobis distance, over a set of environmental variables representing the region.
The results suggested that 41, 58 and 65% of the Carpathian Ecoregion is highly suitable for bear, lynx and wolf, respectively. Considering the three carnivores at once, 20% of the area is highly suitable.
Suitable areas are fragmented, but interspersed with areas of less suitability value, without being isolated, and spatially distributed all along the Mountain range.
The results were validated with an independent data set and results suggest that the model produced an acceptable estimate of the areas effectively occupied by the carnivores. The comparison between suitability maps obtained with the two independent data sets showed that they were consistent, always reaching values of K-statistics > 0.5.
The development of human activities over the land poses problems of how to integrate land exploitation and biodiversity conservation. The outputs of the environmental modelling exercise were used for estimating the distribution of potential conflicts between the presence of carnivores and livestock husbandry practices. Results suggested an effective management would avoid the summer grazing of livestock in carnivore areas and the use of damage prevention measures. The actual effect of currently protected areas in the region was assessed and the need of an increased portion of protected land, particularly in Romania and Ukraine emerged after analysing the proportion of highly suitable areas for large carnivores under any kind of legal protection.
University of Southampton
Salvatori, Valeria
9716ad6d-83a4-4260-9f1e-d89427c16309
2004
Salvatori, Valeria
9716ad6d-83a4-4260-9f1e-d89427c16309
Salvatori, Valeria
(2004)
Mapping conservation areas for large carnivores in the Carpathian Mountains.
University of Southampton, Doctoral Thesis.
Record type:
Thesis
(Doctoral)
Abstract
The present study is an effort towards the international and multidisciplinary approach to conservation of European biodiversity. The main aim was to map the distribution of suitable areas for the conservation of bears, lynx and wolves in the Carpathian Mountains. It was done applying a distance classifier, the Mahalanobis distance, over a set of environmental variables representing the region.
The results suggested that 41, 58 and 65% of the Carpathian Ecoregion is highly suitable for bear, lynx and wolf, respectively. Considering the three carnivores at once, 20% of the area is highly suitable.
Suitable areas are fragmented, but interspersed with areas of less suitability value, without being isolated, and spatially distributed all along the Mountain range.
The results were validated with an independent data set and results suggest that the model produced an acceptable estimate of the areas effectively occupied by the carnivores. The comparison between suitability maps obtained with the two independent data sets showed that they were consistent, always reaching values of K-statistics > 0.5.
The development of human activities over the land poses problems of how to integrate land exploitation and biodiversity conservation. The outputs of the environmental modelling exercise were used for estimating the distribution of potential conflicts between the presence of carnivores and livestock husbandry practices. Results suggested an effective management would avoid the summer grazing of livestock in carnivore areas and the use of damage prevention measures. The actual effect of currently protected areas in the region was assessed and the need of an increased portion of protected land, particularly in Romania and Ukraine emerged after analysing the proportion of highly suitable areas for large carnivores under any kind of legal protection.
Text
945938.pdf
- Version of Record
More information
Published date: 2004
Identifiers
Local EPrints ID: 465368
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/465368
PURE UUID: ec4f47d6-c89a-4979-b000-ff75798ec10d
Catalogue record
Date deposited: 05 Jul 2022 00:40
Last modified: 16 Mar 2024 20:08
Export record
Contributors
Author:
Valeria Salvatori
Download statistics
Downloads from ePrints over the past year. Other digital versions may also be available to download e.g. from the publisher's website.
View more statistics