Consequences of integrating livestock and wildlife in an African savanna

Felicia Keesing; Richard S. Ostfeld; Sharon Okanga; Steven Huckett; Brett R. Bayles; Rebecca Chaplin-Kramer; L. Page Fredericks; Tyler Hedlund; Virginia Kowal; Heather Tallis; Charles M. Warui; Spencer A. Wood; Brian F. Allan

doi:10.1038/s41893-018-0149-2

Consequences of integrating livestock and wildlife in an African savanna

Felicia Keesing, Richard S. Ostfeld, Sharon Okanga, Steven Huckett, Brett R. Bayles, Rebecca Chaplin-Kramer, L. Page Fredericks, Tyler Hedlund, Virginia Kowal, Heather Tallis, Charles M. Warui, Spencer A. Wood, Brian F. Allan

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

40 Scopus citations

Abstract

Globally, most wildlife lives outside of protected areas, creating potential conflicts between the needs of wildlife and the needs of humans. East African savannas epitomize this challenge, providing habitat for wildlife such as giraffes and elephants as well as for people and their livestock. Conflicts over land use are common, leading to the assumption of a necessary trade-off between wildlife and livestock management. Here, we show that the integration of livestock and wildlife in a large region of central Kenya can have ecological benefits, reducing the abundance of ticks and improving forage. These ecological benefits can be complemented by economic ones when property owners derive income both from wildlife through tourism and from livestock through meat and dairy production. Our results suggest that under specific ecological, economic and social conditions, integrating livestock with wildlife can provide benefits for the environment and for human well-being in African savannas.

Original language	English (US)
Pages (from-to)	566-573
Number of pages	8
Journal	Nature Sustainability
Volume	1
Issue number	10
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1038/s41893-018-0149-2
State	Published - Oct 1 2018
Externally published	Yes

Bibliographical note

Funding Information:
We thank H. Kiai, K. Age, A. Mariki, J. Keesing Ostfeld and numerous enumerators for assistance with data collection, and V. Obiero for assistance with data entry. We extend our great appreciation to the owners, managers, staff members and residents of the properties we surveyed for allowing us to work on their land, and for welcoming and assisting us. We thank the management and staff of Ol Pejeta Conservancy, Lewa Wildlife Conservancy, Mpala Research Centre and Laikipia Wildlife Foundation for their hospitality and for their facilitation of this work. This research was supported by the United States National Science Foundation (Coupled Natural and Human Systems award 1313822).

Publisher Copyright:
© 2018, The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Nature Limited.

UN SDGs

This output contributes to the following UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

Access

10.1038/s41893-018-0149-2

OpenUrl availability

Full text

Cite this

@article{b72a07d320fe41818f762bd865884559,

title = "Consequences of integrating livestock and wildlife in an African savanna",

abstract = "Globally, most wildlife lives outside of protected areas, creating potential conflicts between the needs of wildlife and the needs of humans. East African savannas epitomize this challenge, providing habitat for wildlife such as giraffes and elephants as well as for people and their livestock. Conflicts over land use are common, leading to the assumption of a necessary trade-off between wildlife and livestock management. Here, we show that the integration of livestock and wildlife in a large region of central Kenya can have ecological benefits, reducing the abundance of ticks and improving forage. These ecological benefits can be complemented by economic ones when property owners derive income both from wildlife through tourism and from livestock through meat and dairy production. Our results suggest that under specific ecological, economic and social conditions, integrating livestock with wildlife can provide benefits for the environment and for human well-being in African savannas.",

author = "Felicia Keesing and Ostfeld, {Richard S.} and Sharon Okanga and Steven Huckett and Bayles, {Brett R.} and Rebecca Chaplin-Kramer and Fredericks, {L. Page} and Tyler Hedlund and Virginia Kowal and Heather Tallis and Warui, {Charles M.} and Wood, {Spencer A.} and Allan, {Brian F.}",

note = "Funding Information: We thank H. Kiai, K. Age, A. Mariki, J. Keesing Ostfeld and numerous enumerators for assistance with data collection, and V. Obiero for assistance with data entry. We extend our great appreciation to the owners, managers, staff members and residents of the properties we surveyed for allowing us to work on their land, and for welcoming and assisting us. We thank the management and staff of Ol Pejeta Conservancy, Lewa Wildlife Conservancy, Mpala Research Centre and Laikipia Wildlife Foundation for their hospitality and for their facilitation of this work. This research was supported by the United States National Science Foundation (Coupled Natural and Human Systems award 1313822). Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} 2018, The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Nature Limited.",

year = "2018",

month = oct,

day = "1",

doi = "10.1038/s41893-018-0149-2",

language = "English (US)",

volume = "1",

pages = "566--573",

journal = "Nature Sustainability",

issn = "2398-9629",

publisher = "Nature Publishing Group",

number = "10",

}

TY - JOUR

T1 - Consequences of integrating livestock and wildlife in an African savanna

AU - Keesing, Felicia

AU - Ostfeld, Richard S.

AU - Okanga, Sharon

AU - Huckett, Steven

AU - Bayles, Brett R.

AU - Chaplin-Kramer, Rebecca

AU - Fredericks, L. Page

AU - Hedlund, Tyler

AU - Kowal, Virginia

AU - Tallis, Heather

AU - Warui, Charles M.

AU - Wood, Spencer A.

AU - Allan, Brian F.

N1 - Funding Information: We thank H. Kiai, K. Age, A. Mariki, J. Keesing Ostfeld and numerous enumerators for assistance with data collection, and V. Obiero for assistance with data entry. We extend our great appreciation to the owners, managers, staff members and residents of the properties we surveyed for allowing us to work on their land, and for welcoming and assisting us. We thank the management and staff of Ol Pejeta Conservancy, Lewa Wildlife Conservancy, Mpala Research Centre and Laikipia Wildlife Foundation for their hospitality and for their facilitation of this work. This research was supported by the United States National Science Foundation (Coupled Natural and Human Systems award 1313822). Publisher Copyright: © 2018, The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Nature Limited.

PY - 2018/10/1

Y1 - 2018/10/1

N2 - Globally, most wildlife lives outside of protected areas, creating potential conflicts between the needs of wildlife and the needs of humans. East African savannas epitomize this challenge, providing habitat for wildlife such as giraffes and elephants as well as for people and their livestock. Conflicts over land use are common, leading to the assumption of a necessary trade-off between wildlife and livestock management. Here, we show that the integration of livestock and wildlife in a large region of central Kenya can have ecological benefits, reducing the abundance of ticks and improving forage. These ecological benefits can be complemented by economic ones when property owners derive income both from wildlife through tourism and from livestock through meat and dairy production. Our results suggest that under specific ecological, economic and social conditions, integrating livestock with wildlife can provide benefits for the environment and for human well-being in African savannas.

AB - Globally, most wildlife lives outside of protected areas, creating potential conflicts between the needs of wildlife and the needs of humans. East African savannas epitomize this challenge, providing habitat for wildlife such as giraffes and elephants as well as for people and their livestock. Conflicts over land use are common, leading to the assumption of a necessary trade-off between wildlife and livestock management. Here, we show that the integration of livestock and wildlife in a large region of central Kenya can have ecological benefits, reducing the abundance of ticks and improving forage. These ecological benefits can be complemented by economic ones when property owners derive income both from wildlife through tourism and from livestock through meat and dairy production. Our results suggest that under specific ecological, economic and social conditions, integrating livestock with wildlife can provide benefits for the environment and for human well-being in African savannas.

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85055095585&partnerID=8YFLogxK

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=85055095585&partnerID=8YFLogxK

U2 - 10.1038/s41893-018-0149-2

DO - 10.1038/s41893-018-0149-2

M3 - Article

AN - SCOPUS:85055095585

SN - 2398-9629

VL - 1

SP - 566

EP - 573

JO - Nature Sustainability

JF - Nature Sustainability

IS - 10

ER -

Consequences of integrating livestock and wildlife in an African savanna

Abstract

Bibliographical note

UN SDGs

Access

OpenUrl availability

Other files and links

Fingerprint

Cite this