A researcher in the College of Arts and Sciences (A&S) has confirmed that Africa’s Serengeti-Mara ecosystem—one of the largest, most protected on Earth—may be imperiled, due to increased human activity at its border.
A researcher in the College of Arts and Sciences (A&S) has confirmed that Africa’s Serengeti-Mara ecosystem—one of the largest, most protected on Earth—may be imperiled, due to increased human activity at its border.
Biology Professor Mark Ritchie is part of an international study monitoring human activity, wildlife populations, vegetation and soils in and around the iconic ecosystem, which covers more than 40,000 square miles and includes the Serengeti National Park in northern Tanzania and the Maasai Mara National Reserve in East Africa.
Drawing on more than 40 years of data from the area, he and the team have observed a 400-percent spike in the human population in some areas and up to a 75-percent drop in larger wildlife species populations, particularly on the Kenyan side.
Their findings are the subject of an article in the journal Science (American Association for the Advancement of Science, 2019).
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Photo: Professor Mark Ritchie (far right) in Serengeti National Park. Credit: Syracuse University
