Serengeti National Park is one of the world’s most diverse ecosystems, a natural laboratory for ecology, evolution, and conservation, with a history that dates back at least four million years to the beginnings of human evolution. The third book of a ground- breaking series, Serengeti III is the result of a long-term integrated research project that documents changes to this unique ecosystem every ten years. Bringing together researchers from a wide range of disciplines—ecologists, paleontologists, economists, social scientists, mathematicians, and disease specialists— this volume focuses on the interactions between the natural system and the human-dominated agricultural system. By examining how changes in rainfall, wildebeest numbers, commodity prices, and human populations have impacted the Serengeti ecosystem, the authors conclude that changes in the natural system have affected human welfare just as changes in the human system have impacted the natural world. To promote both the conservation of biota and the sustainability of human welfare, the authors recommend community-based conservation and protected-area conservation. Serengeti III presents a timely and provocative look at the conservation status of one of earth’s most renowned ecosystems.
Author(s): A. R. E. Sinclair, Craig Packer, Simon A. R. Mduma, John M. Fryxell
Year: 2008
Language: English
Pages: 512
CONTENTS......Page 8
Preface and Acknowledgments......Page 10
1 Introduction: Understanding the Greater Serengeti Ecosystem - Craig Packer and Stephen Polasky......Page 12
2 Historical and Future Changes to the Serengeti Ecosystem - A .R. E. Sinclair, J. Grant C. Hopcraft, Han Olff, Simon A.R. Mduma, Kathleen A. Galvin, and Gregory J. Sharam......Page 18
3 Paleoecology of the Serengeti-Mara Ecosystem - Charles R. Peters, Robert J. Blumenschine, Richard L. Hay, Daniel A. Livingstone, Curtis W. Marean, Terry Harrison, Miranda Armour-Chelu, Peter Andrews, Raymond L. Bernor, Raymonde Bonnefille, and Lars Werdelin......Page 58
4 The Resource Basis of Human-Wildlife Interaction - Han Olff and J. Grant C. Hopcraft......Page 106
5 Generation and Maintenance of Heterogeneity in the Serengeti Ecosystem - T. Michael Anderson, Jan Dempewolf, Kristine L. Metzger, Denné N. Reed, and Suzanne Serneels......Page 146
6 Global Environmental Changes and Their Impact On the Serengeti - Mark E. Ritchie......Page 194
7 The Multiple Roles of Infectious Diseases in the Serengeti Ecosystem - Sarah Cleaveland, Craig Packer, Katie Hampson, Magai Kaare, Richard Kock, Meggan Craft, Tiziana Limbo, Titus Mlengeya, and Andy Dobson......Page 220
8 Reticulate Food Webs in Space and Time: Messages from the Serengeti - Robert D. Holt, Peter A. Abrams, John M. Fryxell, and T. Kimbrell......Page 252
9 Spatial Dynamics and Coexistence of the Serengeti Grazer Community - John M. Fryxell, Peter A. Abrams, Robert D. Holt, John F. Wilmshurst, A. R. E. Sinclair, and Ray Hilborn......Page 288
10 Dynamic Consequences of Human Behavior in the Serengeti Ecosystem - Christopher Costello, Nicholas Burger, Kathleen A. Galvin, Ray Hilborn, and Stephen Polasky......Page 312
11 Human Responses to Change: Modeling Household Decision Making in Western Serengeti - Kathleen A. Galvin, Steven Polasky, Christopher Costello, and Martin Loibooki......Page 336
12 Larger- Scale Influences on the Serengeti Ecosystem: National and International Policy, Economics, and Human Demography - Stephen Polasky, Jennifer Schmitt, Christopher Costello, and Liaila Tajibaeva......Page 358
13 Land-Use Economics in the Mara Area of the Serengeti Ecosystem - Mike Norton-Griffiths, Mohammed Y. Said, Suzanne Serneels, Dixon S. Kaelo, Mike Coughenour, Richard H. Lamprey, D. Michael Thompson, and Robin S. Reid......Page 390
14 Propagation of Change through a Complex Ecosystem - Ray Hilborn, A. R. E. Sinclair, and John M. Fryxell......Page 428
15 Who Pays for Conservation? Current and Future Financing Scenarios for the Serengeti Ecosystem - Simon Thirgood, Charles Mlingwa, Emmanuel Gereta, Victor Runyoro, Rob Malpas, Karen Laurenson, and Markus Borner......Page 454
16 Integrating Conservation in Human and Natural Ecosystems - A. R. E. Sinclair......Page 482
Appendix: The Main Herbivorous Mammals and Crocodilesin the Greater Serengeti Ecosystem - Simon A. R. Mduma and J. Grant C. Hopcraft......Page 508
Contributors......Page 518
Index......Page 524
