Livestock Settlement Research Articles

Serological Survey of Leptospira spp. in Livestock and Rodents from Different Settlements in the Kilombero Wetland, Tanzania

Background: The circulation of Leptospira has been linked to various occupational activities globally. This study investigated the seroprevalence of Leptospira spp. in rodents and livestock (cattle and goats) in three settlements/villages involved in agriculture, livestock keeping, and mixed agriculture and livestock in the Kilombero district, Tanzania. Methods: Data were collected during the wet and dry seasons. A total of 179 rodents were live-captured from selected habitats. Livestock samples were collected from 80 cattle in a livestock settlement and 120 goats from both livestock and mixed agricultural–livestock settlements. The microscopic agglutination test was utilized to identify Leptospira serovars. Results: The seroprevalence of Leptospira spp. was 17.3% in rodents (21.7% in Mastomys natalensis and 3.9% in Rattus rattus) and 8.3% in livestock (13.5% in cattle and 12.6% in goats). The prevalence among rodents and livestock differed between settlements (p = 0.01). A higher prevalence was observed among rodents in the agricultural settlement relative to the other settlements. A higher prevalence of antibodies in livestock was observed in the livestock settlement compared with the mixed agricultural–livestock settlement. The Leptospira serovars Sokoine (serogroup Icterohaemorrhagiae) and Hebdomadis (serogroup Hebdomadis) were detected in both rodents and livestock. The serovars Hardjo (serogroup Sejroe) and Gripothyphosa (serogroup Gripothyphosa) were found exclusively in cattle, whereas the serovars Pomona (serogroup Pomona) and Lora (serogroup Australis) were identified in rodents. Leptospira antibodies were found to be elevated during the rainy season compared with the dry season (p = 0.05) in all settlements, with the exception of rodents in the mixed agricultural–livestock settlement. Conclusions: This study demonstrates the presence of anti-Leptospira antibodies in rodents and livestock related to occupational activities in human settlements. It further demonstrates that wild animals (rodents) and livestock are reservoirs of Leptospira and are important in the epidemiology of leptospirosis. Management and control strategies should target both rodents and livestock.

Relationships between land-use intensity, woody species diversity, and carbon storage in an arid woodland ecosystem

Forest ecosystems play a key role in providing multiple ecosystem services, such as carbon fixation and storage, but face pressures from human development that jeopardize their integrity and functioning. Accurately understanding the relationships between land use-intensity, biodiversity, and carbon storage is important for developing viable strategies to promote carbon sequestration. Here, we analyzed the effect of land-use intensity on the relationship between woody plant functional diversity and carbon storage in Prosopis woodlands of the central Monte desert of Argentina. We worked in sixteen 900 m2 square plots along disturbance gradients, eight located in highly disturbed woodlands close to livestock settlements and eight in slightly disturbed woodlands ca. 2 km away from settlements. We measured woody plant taxonomic and functional diversity and dominance metrics, and estimated carbon stocks in biomass, necromass and soil organic compartments. Our study shows that increasing land-use intensity erodes taxonomic and functional diversities and, ultimately, carbon storage. We found that lower carbon stocks around livestock settlements were driven by shrubs, trees, roots, litter, and dead plants, but were unaffected by the herb, woody debris, and soil compartments. Furthermore, positive relationships among woody species richness and functional trait diversity seem more important than the existence of few highly dominant species in determining carbon storage, providing stronger evidence for niche complementary than for mass ratio effects. We hope our study contributes to the understanding how livestock management practices influence carbon storage in Prosopis woodlands.

Localized impact of livestock settlements on vegetation patterns in fir forests of Kashmir Himalaya

Among the many global drivers of ecosystem degradation, the long-term impact of livestock settlements on vegetation patterns and composition, and is one of the greatest hurdles to successful forest ecosystem restoration. In order to identify the ecological implications of human land use changes on vegetation patterns and composition, the current study was conducted for the first time in Fir Forests of Kashmir Himalaya, to illustrate how vegetation responds to livestock settlements. We took samples from forest types both near and far from livestock settlements (ALS and NLS, respectively). To collect data on forest types, we employed a systematic random sampling strategy. After evaluation of the important value index (henceforth IVI) for each plant species along with anthropogenic data of forests, we analyzed data using ordination and cluster analysis techniques. On comparative analysis, the lesser values for diversity indices have been found for at the forest types near livestock settlement. It was discovered that 36% species were unique to away from livestock settlements forest type and 18% species in near to livestock settlements forest type, but that maximum 46% of species were common to all forest types studied. Species composition was unevenly distributed along with various anthropogenic factors, according to the canonical correspondence analysis. Forests near livestock settlements were also discovered to affect species abundance and diversity by promoting the growth of weedy species. The abundant growth of weedy flora such as Cirsium falconeri, Polygonum aviculare, and Urtica dioica around livestock settlement, results in alterations of plant community composition. The findings revealed that cut trees contributed 16% of reported density at ALS forest type and considerably higher values 35% at NLS forest type, respectively. Findings of the study could be used to develop effective livelihood options and management policies for long-term forest harvest impacts in the Himalayas, resulting in the sustainable use of local forest reserves.

Coexistence in an African pastoral landscape: Evidence that livestock and wildlife temporally partition water resources

AbstractAfrican rangelands support substantial wildlife populations alongside pastoralists and livestock. Recent wildlife declines are often attributed to competition with livestock over water and grazing, in part because livestock are thought to spatially displace wildlife. However, more evidence is needed to understand this interaction and inform rangeland management. Here, we analysed the temporal overlap between wildlife and livestock at water points in a community‐governed area of Kenya's South Rift Valley, which is a dry season refuge where Maasai pastoralists, livestock and wildlife co‐occur. We used camera traps to capture images at water points in two time periods: first, when nearby settlements were unoccupied, and second, as people and their herds moved into the area. We measured wildlife activity (independent detections per hour) and the difference in temporal overlap between livestock and wildlife. We found no evidence that daily wildlife activity declined despite increased human and livestock settlement. However, temporal partitioning between livestock and wildlife at watering points increased with wildlife using water resources more at night. Maasai corral livestock overnight to protect them from predation, allowing wildlife to persist in a livestock‐dominated landscape. Our study demonstrates humans and wildlife co‐adapting to mitigate competition for shared water resources, thereby facilitating spatial coexistence.

Sensitivity of groundwater levels and chemistry to partial removal of vegetation in Prosopis woodlands of the Monte Desert, Argentina

Land use changes affecting ecological and hydrological processes often shape the biogeochemistry of deserts. As highly productive hotspots, Prosopis flexuosa woodlands located in interdune lowlands of the Monte Desert are subject to intense transformations by humans and livestock, and offer a unique opportunity to understand how phreatophyte vegetation, groundwater, rainfall variability, and vertical solute fluxes connect with each other. In this ecosystem, we evaluated the consequences of heavy disturbance by livestock settlements (partial tree removal, intense grazing) on shallow (7–15 m deep) groundwater recharge/discharge dynamics and vertical solute (nutrients and salts) transport. We compared three relatively undisturbed woodlands with three paired livestock stations in the Telteca Reserve (Mendoza, Argentina). At these locations we monitored groundwater levels and chemical and isotopic compositions during six years (2011–2017). Seasonal groundwater level fluctuations reflected shifts in water demand (lower in the cold season) rather than rainfall (high in the warm season), as shown by fall-winter rises and spring-summer declines. These seasonal fluctuations were more intense in undisturbed woodlands than in livestock stations. At a shorter time scale, intense rainfall events were associated to groundwater level raises, suggesting a partial decoupling of phreatophyte vegetation from the free aquifer and, less likely, recharge episodes. Livestock stations also affected groundwater chemistry by locally increasing chloride and nitrate concentrations, and salinity, suggesting higher water percolation and nitrate leaching to the aquifer in livestock stations than in control woodlands. This study addressed ecohydrological processes, which are necessary to understand the coupling between phreatophyte vegetation and groundwater, and its relationships with human and livestock activities.

Livestock settlement affects shrub abundance via plant functional diversity but not species richness in arid environments

Recent theoretical and empirical studies have assumed that livestock grazing acts as a biotic filter favouring plant species with functional traits that confer resistance to herbivory. Considering that plant functional traits affect the species abundance and persistence in a community, alterations in functional diversity would result in changes in species richness, evenness or growth form composition. However, empirical tests of the intermediary role of functional diversity among livestock pressure, climate and species diversity and composition remain rare. We evaluated if functional diversity acts as an intermediary between livestock pressure and several components of taxonomical diversity in plant communities located along an aridity gradient in central-western Argentina. We estimated functional diversity using four plant traits that are expected to reflect trade-offs between resource-use strategies and grazing resistance. We found that livestock pressure increased shrub abundance by negatively affecting functional diversity, and this effect was amplified by increases in aridity. On the other hand, aridity promoted declines in species richness by reductions in functional diversity. Overall, our results suggest that functional diversity acts as intermediary component between livestock pressure and growth form composition; and also between aridity and species richness. Finally, our findings highlight that livestock grazing may be considered as a biotic filter affecting growth form composition but not species richness and evenness.

Time series analysis of vegetation-cover response to environmental factors and residential development in a dryland region

Land-use changes as a result of residential development often lead to degradation and alter vegetation cover (VC). Although these are worldwide phenomena, sufficient knowledge about anthropogenic effects caused by various populated areas in dryland ecosystems is lacking. This study explored anthropogenic development in rural areas and its effects on the conservation of protected areas in drylands, focusing on the change in VC, the reasons, extent, and the drivers of change. We propose a novel framework for exploring VC change (VCC) as a function of environmental and human-driven factors including different types of populated areas in drylands. As a case study, we used a 30-year time series of Landsat satellite images over the arid region of Israel to analyze spatiotemporal VCC. The temporal analysis involved the Contextual Mann-Kendall significance test and spatial analysis to model clustering of VCC. A Gradient Boosted Regression machine learning algorithm was applied to study the relative influence of environmental and human-driven factors on VCC. In addition, we used ANOVA to examine differences between the effects of three types of populated areas on the spatiotemporal trends of VC. The results show that the most influential environmental variable on VCC was elevation (relative contribution of 17%), followed by slope (14.8%) and distance from populated areas (14.6%). Moreover, different types of populated areas affected VC differently with varying distances from residential centroids. The nature reserves increased VC positively and significantly, while livestock settlements had a negative effect. Change in vegetation was mostly confined to the stream network and occurred in lower elevations. The study demonstrates how different land-use practices alter the landscape in terms of VC and differ in their extents, patterns, and effects. With the expected growth in population and residential development worldwide, the proposed framework may assist conservation managements and policy makers in minimizing environmental degradation in drylands.

Livestock Settlement Dynamics in Drylands: Model application in the Monte desert (Mendoza, Argentina)

Human settlements in arid environments are becoming widespread due to population growth, and without planning, they may alter vegetation and ecosystem processes, compromising sustainability. We hypothesize that in an arid region of the central Monte desert (Mendoza, Argentina), surface and groundwater availability are the primary factors controlling livestock settlements establishment and success as productive units, which affect patterns of degradation in the landscape. To evaluate this hypothesis we simulated settlement dynamics using a Monte Carlo based model of Settlement Dynamics in Drylands (SeDD), which calculates probabilities on a gridded region based on six environmental factors: groundwater depth, vegetation type, proximity to rivers, paved road, old river beds, and existing settlements. A parameter sweep, including millions of simulations, was run to identify the most relevant factors controlling settlements. Results indicate that distances to rivers and the presence of old river beds are critical to explain the current distribution of settlements, while vegetation, paved roads, and water table depth were not as relevant to explain settlement distribution. Far from surface water sources, most settlements were established at random, suggesting that pressures to settle in unfavorable places control settlement dynamics in those isolated areas. The simulated vegetation, which considers degradation around livestock settlements, generally matched the spatial distribution of remotely sensed vegetation classes, although with a higher cover of extreme vegetation classes. The model could be a useful tool to evaluate effects of land use changes, such as water provision or changes on river flows, on settlement distribution and vegetation degradation in arid environments.

Occurrence of Ticks in Cattle in the New Pastoral Farming Areas in Rufiji District, Tanzania.

Ticks and tick-borne diseases plus trypanosomosis are a constraint to cattle rearing in Tanzania. Rufiji district was not known for important ticks infesting cattle because inhabitants were not engaged in keeping livestock. Not only has settlement of pastoralists and cattle in Rufiji increased the number of cattle but also cattle have been the source of bringing in and spreading of ticks. This study investigated tick species that have been introduced and managed to establish themselves in the new livestock farming areas in cattle in Rufiji. Tick distribution study was undertaken in three villages of Chumbi ward seasonally in 2009, 2011, and 2012. The identified ticks were Amblyomma variegatum (56.10%), Rhipicephalus evertsi (10.25%), R. microplus (27.40%), and R. appendiculatus (6.19%) out of 12940 ticks. Results indicate that ticks are present in the new livestock settlement areas. The occurrence of ticks is correlated with the recent settlement of cattle in the district.

Spatial patterns of soil resources under different land use in Prosopis woodlands of the Monte desert

Changes in the spatial distribution of resources constitute an indicator of degradation of arid grazing lands. In arid and semi-arid ecosystems, the distribution of soil resources has been commonly associated with the structure and the spatial arrangements of the vegetation. Although the formation of “fertile islands” beneath vegetation patches is well documented, much less is known about the changes induced by grazing systems on the distribution of soil resources. We examine how pastoralist settlements are affecting the spatial distribution of soil resources and the soil nutrient balance in central-western woodlands of Argentina. We analyzed the distribution of soil water, chloride, nitrate, total nitrogen, and organic matter at increasing distances from livestock corrals and in undisturbed woodlands, at different soil depths. We also calculated variation indexes of soil organic matter and total nitrogen produced by livestock settlements, as an indicator of degree of deterioration or improvement of the soils. The transects located in pastoralist settlements demonstrated an increasing centripetal gradient in availability of soil water and nutrients compared to transects outside of these disturbed areas. Livestock corrals create local hotspots of nutrient enrichment, but when we analyzed the effects of livestock settlements at a higher spatial scale, we found net losses of soil organic matter and total nitrogen. We conclude that the coupling between nutrient and patch dynamics is disrupted by the pastoralist settlements, which caused a redistribution of soil resources, controlled by the location from the livestock corrals. The processes that promote nutrient losses, such as ammonium volatilization, denitrification, nitrate leaching, organic matter oxidation, manure exports, and soil erosion, are relatively higher than the extra inputs of dung and urine. Therefore, this study emphasizes the role of grazing systems as modulators of water and nutrient fluxes, and soil nutrient balance.

Human–wildlife conflict, benefit sharing and the survival of lions in pastoralist community‐based conservancies

Summary Like many wildlife populations across Africa, recent analyses indicate that African lions are declining rapidly outside of small fenced areas. Community conservancies – privately protected areas that engage community members in conservation – may potentially maintain wildlife populations in unfenced pastoralist regions, but their effectiveness in conserving large carnivores has been largely unknown until now. We identify drivers of lion survival in community conservancies within the Masai Mara ecosystem, Kenya, applying mark–recapture analyses to continuous sight–resight surveys. We use the number of livestock and human settlements as proxies for potential human–lion conflict whilst controlling for environmental variables and lion socioecology. Average lion densities within the Mara conservancies between 2008 and 2013 (11·87 lions 100 km−2) were 2·6 times higher than those previously reported in 2003. Survival rates varied amongst prides and were highest for lions utilizing central regions of conservancies. The number of livestock settlements (bomas [corrals] and manyattas) that were not members of a conservancy, and that fell within a pride home‐range, had a large negative effect on female survival and was the most influential external predictor in models. These non‐conservancy settlements accounted for 37·2% of total observed variation in survival, whereas conservancy settlements, which benefit financially from wildlife through their membership, had no effect on lion survival. Internal drivers of survival agreed with known ecology and social behaviour including age plus a negative effect of male takeovers on cub survival <6 months. Vegetation cover, prey availability and the density of grazing livestock within a pride's range did not explain patterns in lion survival. Synthesis and applications. We show that lion densities have increased substantially within the Mara conservancies over the last decade and suggest that the creation of community conservancies has benefitted their survival. This suggests that lions can survive outside of fenced areas within pastoral regions if communities gain benefits from wildlife. We highlight the importance of expanding existing conservancies beyond their current geographical and political scope and forming buffer zones if wildlife ranges outside them. We suggest that changing attitudes to predators should be a key goal of community‐based conservancies. Further work is recommended to identify what specific aspects of conservancy membership promote lion survival.

Prevalence of adenovirus respiratory tract and hiv co-infections in patients attending the University of Ilorin, teaching hospital, Ilorin, Nigeria.

BackgroundAdenovirus co-infections in HIV patients cause wide-spread morbidity in sub-Saharan Africa, but little research has documented the burden and distribution of these pathogens. This study was conducted between December, 2010 and March, 2011 to investigate the prevalence of Adenovirus Respiratory Tract and HIV co-infections in Patients attending the University of Ilorin Teaching Hospital Ilorin, Nigeria.MethodOne Hundred and Eighty Four (184) patients were recruited with confirmed HIV positive status. Investigation was done by serology using the Human Adenovirus IgG ELISA Kit to test for the presence of the Immunoglobulin G (antibody) against the virus. This was conducted and juxtaposed simultaneously with responses received from the questionnaires provided to each participant to correlate the relationship of the co-infections to their socio-demographic factors (Age, Gender, Occupation and location of residence), risk factors (Average hours of exposure per day (time spent outdoor daily), proximity of their apartments to livestock settlements), recent occurrence of respiratory tract infections/conjunctivitis and their ART status.ResultsThis study recorded a prevalent rate of 38% (70 patients) to the co-infections. Nevertheless, 62% (114 patients) tested negative to the co-infections.ConclusionThere was statistical significance between the ages of HIV patients and Adenovirus co-infection (p < 0.05). However, there was no significance with respect to gender of the subjects (p > 0.05). The findings also showed that there were statistical significance for all the risk factors; Occupation, Location and Proximity to Livestock settlement, recent respiratory tract infection/conjunctivitis, and ART status in relation to Adenovirus and HIV co-infections (p < 0.05).Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (doi:10.1186/1756-0500-7-870) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

Heterogeneous spatial distribution of traditional livestock settlements and their effects on vegetation cover in arid groundwater coupled ecosystems in the Monte Desert (Argentina)

The growing population and land-use pressures in arid areas demands a better understanding of the interactions between humans and the environment. Patterns of human occupation are linked to natural resources, such as water and forest resources. In the Monte Desert, shallow groundwater sustains phreatophyte forests and extensive livestock settlements. This study aims to detect environmental factors (i.e., water availability, roads) that affect settlement distribution, estimate the area of influence of individual settlements on surrounding vegetation, and the impact of settlement densities on vegetation cover at a regional scale, using spatial analysis, remote sensing, and vegetation surveys. We found a heterogeneous and aggregated spatial distribution of settlements, with higher densities near rivers and an old-river bed. We detected vegetation changes associated with land-use with the spectral vegetation index SATVI (soil adjusted total vegetation index), which were not detected with NDVI and SAVI (normalized difference vegetation index and soil adjusted vegetation index, respectively). Vegetation was reduced within 2 km of settlements, outside a fenced reserve, and in areas with high settlement densities. Our study suggests that future changes on water availability may affect livestock settlement spatial distribution, densities, and vegetation, pointing to the need of integrated land-use management.

The role of abandoned pastoral settlements in the dynamics of African large herbivore communities

A number of studies have begun to show the large impact that pastoralism has on African savanna ecosystems. Here we look at the impact of abandoned settlements on the distribution of the large ungulates of Amboseli, Kenya.Monthly dung counts show that all 9 species studied are attracted by settlements for up to a century after abandonment. Densities increased in the first two decades of vegetation succession, when plant biomass is the highest, then declines steadily to background levels as plant biomass. The pattern of herbivore use varied among species in the course of succession, with grazers dominant in early successional stages and browsers later stages, when shrubs and trees began to replace grasses. The densities of both grazers and browsers correlated positively with herbaceous and woody biomass respectively. We conclude that the additional biomass and higher quality forage produced by heavy dung deposits in livestock settlements are a major factor governing the distribution and movement of large herbivore in the savannas. The abandonment of seasonal migrations and construction of permanent settlements under way in African savannas is likely to restrict wildlife movements and reduce habitat patchiness and species richness of large ungulates.