Serengeti III

Human Impacts on Ecosystem Dynamics

A. R. E. Sinclair, Craig Packer, Simon A. R. Mduma, John M. Fryxell, A. R. E. Sinclair, Craig Packer, Simon A. R. Mduma, John M. Fryxell

• Publisher: University of Chicago Press
• Year: 2009
• Print ISBN: 9780226760346, 9780226760339
• eBook ISBN: 9780226760353
• Topic: Biological Sciences
• Subtopic: Ecology
• Index: Biological Sciences

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.  

Table of contents

• CONTENTS
• Preface and Acknowledgments
• 1 Introduction: Understanding the Greater Serengeti Ecosystem - Craig Packer and Stephen Polasky
• 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
• 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
• 4 The Resource Basis of Human-Wildlife Interaction - Han Olff and J. Grant C. Hopcraft
• 5 Generation and Maintenance of Heterogeneity in the Serengeti Ecosystem - T. Michael Anderson, Jan Dempewolf, Kristine L. Metzger, Denné N. Reed, and Suzanne Serneels
• 6 Global Environmental Changes and Their Impact On the Serengeti - Mark E. Ritchie
• 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
• 8 Reticulate Food Webs in Space and Time: Messages from the Serengeti - Robert D. Holt, Peter A. Abrams, John M. Fryxell, and T. Kimbrell
• 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
• 10 Dynamic Consequences of Human Behavior in the Serengeti Ecosystem - Christopher Costello, Nicholas Burger, Kathleen A. Galvin, Ray Hilborn, and Stephen Polasky
• 11 Human Responses to Change: Modeling Household Decision Making in Western Serengeti - Kathleen A. Galvin, Steven Polasky, Christopher Costello, and Martin Loibooki
• 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
• 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
• 14 Propagation of Change through a Complex Ecosystem - Ray Hilborn, A. R. E. Sinclair, and John M. Fryxell
• 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
• 16 Integrating Conservation in Human and Natural Ecosystems - A. R. E. Sinclair
• Appendix: The Main Herbivorous Mammals and Crocodilesin the Greater Serengeti Ecosystem - Simon A. R. Mduma and J. Grant C. Hopcraft
• Contributors
• Index