Serengeti III

Serengeti National Park is one of the world's most diverse ecosystems, a natural laboratory for ecology, evolution, and conservation, with a history that dates back at least four million years to the beginnings of human evolution. The third book of a ground- breaking series,Serengeti IIIis the result of a long-term integrated research project that documents changes to this unique ecosystem every ten years. Bringing together researchers from a wide range of disciplinesecologists, paleontologists, economists, social scientists, mathematicians, and disease specialists this volume focuses on the interactions between the natural system and the human-dominated agricultural system. By examining how changes in rainfall, wildebeest numbers, commodity prices, and human populations have impacted the Serengeti ecosystem, the authors conclude that changes in the natural system have affected human welfare just as changes in the human system have impacted the natural world. To promote both the conservation of biota and the sustainability of human welfare, the authors recommend community-based conservation and protected-area conservation.Serengeti IIIpresents a timely and provocative look at the conservation status of one of earth's most renowned ecosystems.

A. R. E. Sinclair is professor in the Biodiversity Research Centre at the University of British Columbia. Craig Packer is professor of Ecology, Evolution, and Behavior at the University of Minnesota. Simon A. R. Mduma is director of the Tanzania Wildlife Research Institute. John M. Fryxell is professor of integrative biology at the University of Guelph.