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Published June 16, 2021 | Version v1
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Data from: Cross-boundary human impacts compromise the Serengeti-Mara ecosystem

Creators

  • 1. University of Groningen
  • 2. Syracuse University
  • 3. University of Hohenheim
  • 4. University of Glasgow
  • 5. University of York
  • 6. Pennsylvania State University
  • 7. Tanzania National Parks
  • 8. University of Liverpool
  • 9. Directorate of Resource Surveys and Remote Sensing, Nairobi, Kenya*

Description

Protected areas provide major benefits for humans in the form of ecosystem services, but landscape degradation by human activity at their edges may compromise their ecological functioning. Using multiple lines of evidence from 40 years of research in the Serengeti-Mara ecosystem, we find that such edge degradation has effectively "squeezed" wildlife into the core protected area and has altered the ecosystem's dynamics even within this 40,000-square-kilometer ecosystem. This spatial cascade reduced resilience in the core and was mediated by the movement of grazers, which reduced grass fuel and fires, weakened the capacity of soils to sequester nutrients and carbon, and decreased the responsiveness of primary production to rainfall. Similar effects in other protected ecosystems worldwide may require rethinking of natural resource management outside protected areas.

Notes

Cross-boundary human impacts compromise the Serengeti-Mara ecosystem
These data files are used for the analyses presented in "Cross-boundary human impacts compromise the Serengeti-Mara ecosystem" by Veldhuis et al (2019) Science 29 Mar 2019. Vol. 363, Issue 6434, pp. 1424-1428. DOI: 10.1126/science.aav0564.
 
Each folder contains data on different aspects of the paper and includes a readme file with contact information for further inquiries. Detailed information on the data sources and methods for the analyses can be found in the supplementary material of the paper.
 
Veldhuis_et_al_human_impacts_Serengeti-Mara.zip

Funding provided by: National Science Foundation
Crossref Funder Registry ID: http://dx.doi.org/10.13039/100000001
Award Number: DEB0842230

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Veldhuis-b303788.zip

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Additional details

Related works

Is cited by
10.1126/science.aav0564 (DOI)