Globally, the composition of species communities in human-modified environments tends to homogenize. Anthropogenic landscapes can benefit certain wild mammals, offering, for example, new food sources.
In a global context of increasing human pressure on natural spaces, it is important to understand which species are capable of persisting in these transformed habitats and what traits allow them to take advantage of anthropogenic landscapes.
Photograph of Chacma baboons (Papio ursinus) taken by a camera trap in a peri-urban area.
© IRL REHABS
The Garden Route National Park is one of the few unfenced protected areas in South Africa. The absence of barriers allows wild species to move freely between the protected area and surrounding territories.
A study conducted in collaboration between teams from CNRS, Nelson Mandela University, and the South African National Parks scientific service sought to understand the impact of these landscape modifications on the persistence of life-history traits in African mammals from the Garden Route Biosphere Reserve. This study combined data from camera traps and local ecological knowledge.
To achieve this, 75 camera traps were deployed inside and outside the national park to monitor the presence of wild mammals. Additionally, an online questionnaire was sent to residents of the Biosphere Reserve to ensure better spatial coverage and gather more information on rare species.
The two methods provided information on the presence of 16 mammal species over an area of 334 square miles (865 km²). The datasets were then combined and integrated into a single spatial occupancy model to determine the landscape characteristics explaining the species' presence.
The results highlighted that protected areas play a crucial role in maintaining large-bodied species with specialized diets in the Biosphere Reserve. Natural habitats, in contrast, were found to be important for species with slow reproductive strategies.
Photograph of a leopard (Panthera pardus) footprint.
© Alice Bernard
These findings have direct implications for land-use planning, supporting the importance of conserving natural habitats within anthropogenic landscapes to preserve mammal presence. Furthermore, the study demonstrated the value of combining data from local ecological knowledge, particularly by helping managers document the presence of rare and cryptic species such as the common duiker (
Sylvicapra grimmia) or the African clawless otter (
Aonyx capensis).
The approach used in this work promoted the involvement of various territorial stakeholders and engaged local populations in conservation research. Establishing a relationship of trust is an essential step for co-designing anthropogenic landscapes that respect wildlife and flora while being accepted by residents. It also fosters long-term mutual learning experiences.
Publication reference:
Combining local ecological knowledge with camera traps to assess the link between African mammal life‐history traits and their occurrence in anthropogenic landscapes.
Journal Of Applied Ecology,
61(10), 2470‑2482.
Bernard, A., Guerbois, C., Moolman, L., De Morney, M. A., Venter, J. A., & Fritz, H. (2024).