Research shows accelerating degradation of vegetation in the Mara ecosystem
The Mara ecosystem is heavily threatened, but conservation management can counteract negative trends. This is one of the conclusions of the newly published research article by an international team of researchers, all members of the research network of the Maasai Mara Science and Development Initiative.
- The article Accelerating savanna degradation threatens the Maasai Mara socio-ecological system was published in January 2020 in Science Direct.
Highlights
Massive and accelerating degradation and fragmentation of natural vegetation with the expansion of bare ground was observed in the unprotected land in Mara ecosystem. Directional change was minimal in the fully protected national reserve. Vegetation resistance to drought was lowest on unprotected land, intermediate under community-based conservation and highest under full protection. The Mara ecosystem is heavily threatened, but conservation management can counteract negative trends. Semi-protected community-based land-sharing conservation offers clear, partial buffering against degradation.
Authors are:
Postdoc Wang Li, BIOCHANGE, Aarhus University and associated with the State Key Laboratory of Remote Sensing Science, Aerospace Information Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Sciences
Associate Professor Robert Buitenwerf, BIOCHANGE, Aarhus University.
PhD student Michael Munk, BIOCHANGE, Aarhus University.
CEO, PhD Irene Amoke, Kenya Wildlife Trust
GIS expert Peder Klith Bøcher , BIOCHANGE, Aarhus University.
Professor Jens-Christian Svenning, BIOCHANGE, Aarhus University.