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Site occupancy and habitat selection of cheetahs Acinonyx jubatus (Shreber, 1775) in a human-influenced landscape in Mozambique
Dissertation (MSc (Wildlife Management))--University of Pretoria, 2013.
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| Format: | Thesis |
| Language: | English |
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University of Pretoria
2021
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| _version_ | 1867613509413502976 |
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| access_status_str | Open Access |
| author2 | Somers, Michael J. |
| author_browse | Somers, Michael J. |
| author_facet | Somers, Michael J. |
| collection | Thesis |
| dc_rights_str_mv | © 2020 University of Pretoria. All rights reserved. The copyright in this work vests in the University of Pretoria. No part of this work may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, without the prior written permission of the University of Pretoria. |
| description | Dissertation (MSc (Wildlife Management))--University of Pretoria, 2013. |
| format | Thesis |
| id | oai:repository.up.ac.za:2263/79231 |
| institution | University of Pretoria (South Africa) |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2026-06-10T12:37:16.787Z |
| license_str | Other — see source repository |
| provenance_str_mv | Harvested via OAI-PMH from UPSpace — University of Pretoria Institutional Repository |
| publishDate | 2021 |
| publishDateRange | 2021 |
| publishDateSort | 2021 |
| publisher | University of Pretoria |
| publisherStr | University of Pretoria |
| record_format | dspace |
| source_str | UPSpace — University of Pretoria Institutional Repository |
| spelling | oai:repository.up.ac.za:2263/79231 Site occupancy and habitat selection of cheetahs Acinonyx jubatus (Shreber, 1775) in a human-influenced landscape in Mozambique Somers, Michael J. wildedens@gmail.com Andresen, Leah UCTD Dissertation (MSc (Wildlife Management))--University of Pretoria, 2013. The cheetah (Acinonyx jubatus) has suffered dramatic range contractions and population declines as a result of habitat degradation, prey depletion and conflict with humans. Of further concern is that many of Africa’s remaining cheetah populations persist in human-dominated and highly fragmented landscapes, where their ecology is poorly understood and population data are lacking. Presence-absence surveys may be a practical means to collect these data, however, failing to account for detection error can lead to biased estimates and misleading inferences; potentially having deleterious consequences for species conservation. The goal of this study was to identify how an occupancy modelling technique that explicitly accounts for detectability could be used for quantifying cheetah status in human-impacted landscapes. Replicated camera-trap and track surveys of 100 km2 sample units were used to estimate the proportion of area occupied by cheetah and to determine the survey effort required to inform conservation planning. Based on our results, 16 km (±SE = 12-22) of walking or 193 camera-trap nights (±SE = 141-292) are required to confirm cheetah absence at a given 100 km2 grid cell (with 95% certainty). Accounting for detection resulted in an overall cheetah occurrence estimate of 0.40 (±SE = 0.13), which is 16% higher than the traditional presence-absence estimate that ignores detection error. We test a priori hypotheses to investigate factors limiting cheetah using an occurrence probability model of their preferred prey. The results show that both cheetah and their prey were strongly negatively influenced by human settlements. Our study provides an unbiased estimate of occurrence that can be used to compare status across different sites and as a basis for longterm monitoring. Based on our results, we suggest that track and/or camera-trap surveys coupled with site occupancy models may be useful for targeted monitoring of cheetah across their distribution. Animal and Wildlife Sciences MSc (Wildlife Management) Unrestricted 2021-04-06T07:22:19Z 2021-04-06T07:22:19Z 2014/04/01 2013 Dissertation Andresen, L 2013, Site occupancy and habitat selection of cheetahs Acinonyx jubatus (Shreber, 1775) in a human-influenced landscape in Mozambique, MSc Dissertation, University of Pretoria, Pretoria, viewed yymmdd <http://hdl.handle.net/2263/79231> M14/9/137 http://hdl.handle.net/2263/79231 en © 2020 University of Pretoria. All rights reserved. The copyright in this work vests in the University of Pretoria. No part of this work may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, without the prior written permission of the University of Pretoria. application/pdf University of Pretoria |
| spellingShingle | UCTD Site occupancy and habitat selection of cheetahs Acinonyx jubatus (Shreber, 1775) in a human-influenced landscape in Mozambique |
| title | Site occupancy and habitat selection of cheetahs Acinonyx jubatus (Shreber, 1775) in a human-influenced landscape in Mozambique |
| title_full | Site occupancy and habitat selection of cheetahs Acinonyx jubatus (Shreber, 1775) in a human-influenced landscape in Mozambique |
| title_fullStr | Site occupancy and habitat selection of cheetahs Acinonyx jubatus (Shreber, 1775) in a human-influenced landscape in Mozambique |
| title_full_unstemmed | Site occupancy and habitat selection of cheetahs Acinonyx jubatus (Shreber, 1775) in a human-influenced landscape in Mozambique |
| title_short | Site occupancy and habitat selection of cheetahs Acinonyx jubatus (Shreber, 1775) in a human-influenced landscape in Mozambique |
| title_sort | site occupancy and habitat selection of cheetahs acinonyx jubatus shreber 1775 in a human influenced landscape in mozambique |
| topic | UCTD |
| url | http://hdl.handle.net/2263/79231 |