Nature and Faune, vol. 23, no.1

Nature and Faune, vol. 23, no.1

Descripción

Human activities in tropical forests are disruptive processes and can trigger numerous, yet not completely understood, mechanisms or effects which will in turn alter, in a more or less significant way, the overall function, structure and composition of the ecosystem. Plant regeneration (loss of pollinators, seed dispersers and seed predators), food webs (loss of top predators or of their prey), and plant diversity (change in herbivory patterns, increased pests) are amongst the various processes dependent upon the presence of wild fauna. Some species or functional groups matter more than others in maintaining ecosystem processes and integrity. “Keystone species”, “ecosystem engineers” or organisms with high “community importance values” refer to species whose loss has a disproportionate impact on the ecosystem when compared to the loss of other species. Conventional wisdom predicts that the reduction or extirpation of these animals will result in dramatic changes to the ecosystems. The importance of considering these keystone species in forest management is illustrated by the many examples. Large cats’ extirpation triggers an uncontrolled growth of the prey population which in turn dramatically increases browsing or grazing intensity to the point where forest regeneration can be totally prevented. Although the broad idea conveyed by this special edition of Nature & Faune magazine is putting wildlife management squarely into forest management in Africa, this theme e xpands to include topics such as collaborative efforts between wildlife and forestry practitioners. It reviews what is going on in Wildlife and Protected Areas management in Africa and how this relates to forest management; as well as appraisal of the extent of involvement of rural people in conservation.