María Piquer-Rodríguez

Rapid declines of large mammal populations after the collapse of the Soviet Union

Anecdotal evidence suggests that socioeconomic shocks strongly affect wildlife populations, but quantitative evidence is sparse. The collapse of socialism in Russia in 1991 caused a major socioeconomic shock, including a sharp increase in poverty. We analyzed population trends of 8 large mammals in Russia from 1981 to 2010 (i.e., before and after the collapse). We hypothesized that the collapse would first cause population declines, primarily due to overexploitation, and then population increases due to adaptation of wildlife to new environments following the collapse. The long-term Database of the Russian Federal Agency of Game Mammal Monitoring, consisting of up to 50,000 transects that are monitored annually, provided an exceptional data set for investigating these population trends. Three species showed strong declines in population growth rates in the decade following the collapse, while grey wolf (Canis lupus) increased by more than 150%. After 2000 some trends reversed. For example, roe deer (Capreolus spp.) abundance in 2010 was the highest of any period in our study. Likely reasons for the population declines in the 1990s include poaching and the erosion of wildlife protection enforcement. The rapid increase of the grey wolf populations is likely due to the cessation of governmental population control. In general, the widespread declines in wildlife populations after the collapse of the Soviet Union highlight the magnitude of the effects that socioeconomic shocks can have on wildlife populations and the possible need for special conservation efforts during such times.

Forest conservation: Remember Gran Chaco

TROPICAL AND SUBTROPICAL dry forests around the globe are experiencing rapid clearing and concomitant biodiversity loss ([ 1 ][1]). In their Research Article “Plant diversity patterns in neotropical dry forests and their conservation implications” (23 September 2016, p. [1383][2]), DRYFLOR et al

Land-Use Competition in the South American Chaco

The dry forests of the Chaco in South America are under great land conversion pressure, mostly for establishing pastures and soybean fields. Taking recent estimates into account, the rates at which forests are disappearing are similar to those of the Amazon, but compared to the Amazon, the Chaco remains fairly understudied. The land transformations during the past decades went along with a substantial change in the type of actors dominating the Chaco landscape. In this chapter, we discuss the land changes in the Chaco during the past 30 years with emphasis on the actors driving these changes, as outlined in the conceptual chapter of this book section. In the Chaco, it appears that the competition over land is a competition in which the actors are endowed with varying degrees of power, resulting in highly unbalanced competition. This chapter highlights these differences and discusses the potential role of the state as an actor in the competition for land that may help to slow down deforestation in the area and guide the Chaco toward more sustainable land-use futures.