Serengeti III

by Sinclair, A. R. E.; Packer, Craig; Mduma, Simon A. R.; Fryxell, John M., Ph.D.

• ISBN13: 9780226760346
• ISBN10: 0226760340
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2008-10-01
• Publisher: Univ of Chicago Pr

Summary

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 IIIis 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 disciplinesecologists, 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 IIIpresents a timely and provocative look at the conservation status of one of earth's most renowned ecosystems.

Author Biography

A. R. E. Sinclair is professor in the Biodiversity Research Centre at the University of British Columbia. Craig Packer is professor of Ecology, Evolution, and Behavior at the University of Minnesota. Simon A. R. Mduma is director of the Tanzania Wildlife Research Institute. John M. Fryxell is professor of integrative biology at the University of Guelph.

Table of Contents

Preface and Acknowledgments	p. ix
Introduction: Understanding the Greater Serengeti Ecosystem	p. 1
Historical and Future Changes to the Serengeti Ecosystem	p. 7
Paleoecology of the Serengeti-Mara Ecosystem	p. 47
The Resource Basis of Human-Wildlife Interaction	p. 95
Generation and Maintenance of Heterogeneity in the Serengeti Ecosystem	p. 135
Global Environmental Changes and Their Impact On the Serengeti	p. 183
The Multiple Roles of Infectious Diseases in the Serengeti Ecosystem	p. 209
Reticulate Food Webs in Space and Time: Messages from the Serengeti	p. 241
Spatial Dynamics and Coexistence of the Serengeti Grazer Community	p. 277
Dynamic Consequences of Human Behavior in the Serengeti Ecosystem	p. 301
Human Responses to Change: Modeling Household Decision Making in Western Serengeti	p. 325
Larger-Scale Influences on the Serengeti Ecosystem: National and International Policy, Economics, and Human Demography	p. 347
Land-Use Economics in the Mara Area of the Serengeti Ecosystem	p. 379
Propagation of Change through a Complex Ecosystem	p. 417
Who Pays for Conservation? Current and Future Financing Scenarios for the Serengeti Ecosystem	p. 443
Integrating Conservation in Human and Natural Ecosystems	p. 471
The Main Herbivorous Mammals and Crocodiles in the Greater Serengeti Ecosystem	p. 497
Contributors	p. 507
Index	p. 513
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