Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Central-place analysis and modeling of landscape-scale resource use in an East African agropastoral system

  • Published:
Landscape Ecology Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Most spatial models of grazing assume a global search; that is, the entire paddock or landscape is available to grazers. These `unconstrained' models characterize landscape patches based on absolute properties (i.e., without regard for how individual grazers are situated within them). In most of East Africa cattle are herded and must start and end each day's grazing at their enclosure. Thus, global search is not a realistic assumption. This implies that the relative location of a patch may be more important than its absolute properties because its quality depends not only on the properties of the patch itself, but also on its location relative to home and to water. Using data from 73 full-day herd follows among a group of agropastoralists in western Tanzania, I build and test an unconstrained model and compare its analytical utility and predictive power to a `central-place' model that defines the landscape relative to herders' homes (the central place) and dry season water. The central-place model provides analytical insights into the grazing system that are not apparent when using an unconstrained model, and it explains more of the variance in grazing intensity. Because many types of resources are collected around a focal point, central-place models should have wide applicability for analyzing and modeling many kinds of resource use, particularly in the developing world.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Abrahams, R. G. 1967. The Peoples of Greater Unyamwezi, Tanzania. International African Institute, London, UK.

    Google Scholar 

  • Anderson, D. C. 1996. A Spatially-Explicit Model of Search Path and Soil Disturbance by a Fossorial Herbivore. Ecological Modelling 89: 99–108.

    Google Scholar 

  • Århem, K. 1985. Pastoral Man in the Garden of Eden: The Maasai of the Ngorongoro Conservation Area, Tanzania. University of Uppsala, Uppsala, Sweden.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bailey, D. W., J. E. Gross, E. A. Laca, L. R. Rittenhouse, M. B. Coughenour, D. M. Swift and P. L. Sims. 1996. Mechanisms that Result in Larger Herbivore Grazing Distribution Patterns. Journal of Range Management 49: 386–400.

    Google Scholar 

  • Baker, W. L. 1995. Longterm Response of Disturbance Landscapes to Human Intervention and Global Change. Landscape Ecology 10: 143–159.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bettinger, R. L., R. Malhi and H. McCarthy. 1997. Central place models of acorn and mussel processing. Journal of Archaeological Science 24: 887–899.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bignal, E. M. 1998. Using an ecological understanding of farmland to reconcile nature conservation requirements, EU agriculture policy and world trade agreements. Journal of Applied Ecology 35: 949–954.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bird, D. W. and R. L. Bliege Bird. 1997. Contemporary Shell-fish Gathering Strategies among the Meriam of the Torres Strait Islands, Australia: Testing the Predictions of a Central Place Foraging Model. Journal of Archaeological Science 24: 39–63.

    Google Scholar 

  • Borner, M. 1984. The Increasing Isolation of Tarangire National Park. Oryx 19: 91–96.

    Google Scholar 

  • Brandon, K. 1998. Perils to Parks: The Social Context of Threats. in Parks in peril: people, politics, and protected areas. Pp. 415–439. Edited by K. Brandon, K. H. Redford and S. E. Sanderson. Island Press, Nature Conservancy, Washington, D.C., USA.

    Google Scholar 

  • Brandström, P. 1985. The Agro-Pastoral Dilemma: Underutilization or Overexploitation of Land Among Sukuma of Tanzania. African Studies Programme, University of Uppsala, Uppsala, Sweden.

    Google Scholar 

  • Broten, M. D. and M. Said. 1995. Population trends of ungulates in and around Kenya's Masai Mara Reserve. in Serengeti II: Dynamics, Management and Conservation of an Ecosystem. Pp. 169–193. Edited by A. R. E. Sinclair and P. Arcese. University of Chicago Press, Chicago.

    Google Scholar 

  • Brown, L. H. 1971. The Biology of Pastoral Man as a Factor in Conservation. Biological Conservation 3: 93–100.

    Google Scholar 

  • Burkey, T. V. 1995. Faunal Collapse in East African Game Reserves Revisited. Biological Conservation 71: 107–110.

    Google Scholar 

  • Campbell, K. and H. Hofer. 1995. People and Wildlife: Spatial Dynamics and Zones of Interaction. in Serengeti II Dynamics, Management and Conservation of an Ecosystem. Pp. 534–570. Edited by A. R. E. Sinclair and P. Arcese. University of Chicago Press, Chicago.

    Google Scholar 

  • Caro, T. M. 1999a. Abundance and distribution of mammals in Katavi National Park, Tanzania. African Journal of Ecology 37: 305–313.

    Google Scholar 

  • Caro, T. M. 1999b. Densities of mammals in partially protected areas: The Katavi ecosystem of western Tanzania. Journal of Applied Ecology 36: 205–217.

    Google Scholar 

  • Casimir, M. J. and A. Rao. 1998. Sustainable herd management and the tragedy of no man's land: An analysis of west Himalayan pastures using remote sensing techniques. Human Ecology 26: 113–134.

    Google Scholar 

  • Clayton, L., M. Keeling and E. J. Milner Gulland. 1997. Bringing home the bacon: A spatial model of wild pig hunting in Sulawesi, Indonesia. Ecological Applications 7: 642–652.

    Google Scholar 

  • Conant, F. P. 1982. Thorns Paired, Sharply Recurved: Cultural Controls and Rangeland Quality in East Africa. in Desertification and Development. Dryland Ecology in Social Perspective. Edited by S. B. and H. S. Mann. Academic Press, London, UK.

    Google Scholar 

  • Coppock, D. L., J. E. Ellis and D. M. Swift. 1986. Livestock Feeding Ecology and Resource Utilization in a Nomadic Pastoral Ecosystem. Journal of Applied Ecology 23: 573–583.

    Google Scholar 

  • Coppolillo, P. B. 2000. The landscape ecology of pastoral herding: Spatial analysis of land use and livestock production in East Africa. Human Ecology: 28: 527–560.

    Google Scholar 

  • Coughenour, M. B. 1991. Spatial Components of Plant-Herbivore Interactions in Pastoral, Ranching, and Native Ungulate Ecosystems. Journal of Range Management 44: 530–542.

    Google Scholar 

  • Coughenour, M. B., J. E. Ellis, D. M. Swift, D. L. Coppock, K. Galvin, J. T. McCabe and T. C. Hart. 1985. Energy Extraction and Use in a Nomadic Pastoral Ecosystem. Science 230: 619–625.

    Google Scholar 

  • Covich, A. P. 1976. Analyzing Shapes of Foraging Areas: Some Ecological and Economic Theories. Annual Review of Ecology and Systematics 7: 235–257.

    Google Scholar 

  • Cuthill, I. C. and A. Kacelnik. 1990. Central Place foraging: A Reappraisal of the ‘Loading Effect’. Animal Behavior 40: 1087–1101.

    Google Scholar 

  • Dahl, G. and A. Hjort. 1976. Having Herds. Pastoral Herd Growth and Household Economy. University of Stockholm, Stockholm, Sweden.

    Google Scholar 

  • DeAngelis, D. L., J. C. Waterhouse, W. M. Post and R. V. O'Neill. 1985. Ecological Modelling and Disturbance Evaluation. Ecological Modelling 29: 399–419.

    Google Scholar 

  • Dodd, J. L. 1994. Desertification and Degradation in Sub-Saharan Africa Livestock. Bioscience 44: 28–34.

    Google Scholar 

  • du Toit, J. T. and D. H. M. Cumming. 1999. Functional Significance of Ungulate Diversity in African Savannas and the Ecological Implications of the Spread of Pastoralism. Biodiversity and Conservation 8: 1643–1661.

    Google Scholar 

  • East, R. 1981. Species-Area Curves and Populations of LargeMammals in African Savanna Reserves. Biological Conservation 21: 111–126.

    Google Scholar 

  • Eldridge, J. D. and J. P. Jones. 1991. Warped Space – a Geography of Distance Decay. Professional Geographer 43: 500–511.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ellis, J. E. and M. B. Coughenour. 1996. The Savanna Integrated Modeling System. International Workshop on Sustainable Use of Rangelands and Desertification Control, Jeddah, Soudi Arabia.

  • Ellis, J. E. and D. M. Swift. 1988. Stability of African Pastoral Ecosystems: Alternate Paradigms and Implications for Development. Journal of Range Management 41: 450–459.

    Google Scholar 

  • Eltringham, S. K., I. A. Cooksey, W. J. B. Dixon, N. E. Raine, C. J. Sheldrick, N. C. McWilliam and M. J. Packer. 1998. Large Mammals of Mkomazi. in Mkomazi: The Ecology, Biodiversity and Conservation of a Tanzanian Savanna. Pp. 485–504. Edited by M. Coe, N. C. McWilliam, G. Stone and M. J. Packer. Royal Geographic Society (with The Institute of British Geographers), London, UK.

    Google Scholar 

  • Enghoff, M. 1990. Wildlife Conservation, Ecological Strategies and Pastoral Communities. Nomadic Peoples 25–27: 93–107.

    Google Scholar 

  • Estes, R. D. 1991. The Behavior Guide To African Mammals. University of California Press, Berkeley, USA.

    Google Scholar 

  • Fernandez-Gimenez, M. E. 1999. Reconsidering the role of absentee herd owners: A view from Mongolia. Human Ecology 27: 1–27.

    Google Scholar 

  • Forman, R. T. T. 1995. Land mosaics: the ecology of landscapes and regions. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge/New York.

    Google Scholar 

  • Forman, R. T. T. and S. K. Collinge. 1997. Nature conserved in changing landscapes with and without spatial planning. Landscape and Urban Planning 37: 129–135.

    Google Scholar 

  • Fox, J., P. Yonzon and N. Podger. 1996. Mapping Conflicts Between Biodiversity and Human Needs in Lantang National Park, Nepal. Conservation Biology 10: 562–569.

    Google Scholar 

  • Galaty, J. G. 1988. Pastoral and Agropastoral Migration in Tanzania: Factors of Economy, Ecology and Demography in Cultural Perspective. in Production and Autonomy. Pp. 163–183. Edited by Bennett, J. W. and Bower, J. R. Lanham: University Press of America: Society for Economic Anthropology, 1988.

    Google Scholar 

  • Galaty, J. G. and D. L. Johnson. 1990. Introduction: Pastoral Systems in Global Perspective. in The World of Pastoralism: Herding Systems in a Global Perspective. Edited by J. G. Galaty and D. L. Johnson. Belhaven Press, New York, NY, USA.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hackel, J. D. 1999. Community conservation and the future of Africa's wildlife. Conservation Biology 13: 726–734.

    Google Scholar 

  • Haggett, P., A. E. Frey and A. D. Cliff. 1977. Locational analysis in human geography. Arnold, London, UK.

    Google Scholar 

  • Haynes, K. E. and A. S. Fotheringham. 1984. Gravity and Spatial Interaction Models. Sage Publications, Beverly Hills, CA, USA.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hill, D. H. 1995. The Cattle and Buffalo of Africa: Management. Outlook on Agriculture 24: 155–161.

    Google Scholar 

  • Homewood, K. M. and W. A. Rodgers. 1984. Pastoralism and Conservation. Human Ecology 12: 431–441.

    Google Scholar 

  • Homewood, K. M. and W. A. Rodgers. 1991. Maasailand Ecology: Pastoralist Development and Wildlife Conservation in Ngorongoro, Tanzania. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kacelnik, A. 1984. Central Place Foraging in Starlings (Sturnus vulgaris): Patch Residence Time. Journal of Animal Ecology 53: 283–299.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kahurananga, J. and F. Silkiluwasha. 1997. The migration of zebra and wildebeest between Tarangire National Park and Simanjiro Plains, northern Tanzania, in 1972 and recent trends. African Journal of Ecology 35: 179–185.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kepe, T. and I. Scoones. 1999. Creating grasslands: Social institutions and environmental change in Mkambati area, South Africa. Human Ecology 27: 29–53.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kremen, C., A. M. Merenlender and D. D. Murphy. 1994. Ecological Monitoring – a Vital Need For Integrated Conservation and Development Programs in the Tropics. Conservation Biology 8: 388–397.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kremen, C., I. Raymond and K. Lance. 1998. An Interdisciplinary Tool for Monitoring Conservation Impacts in Madagascar. Conservation Biology 12: 549–563.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lamprey, H. F. 1964. Estimation of the Large Mammal Densities, Biomass and Energy Exchange in the Taringire Game Reserve and Masai Steppe in Tanzania. East African Wildlife Journal 1: 1–46.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lawrence, D., D. R. Peart and M. Leighton. 1998. The Impact of Shifting Cultivation on a Rainforest Landscape inWest Kalimantan: Spatial and Temporal Dynamics. Landscape Ecology 13: 135–148.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lewis, D. M. 1995. Importance of GIS to Community-Based Management of Wildlife: Lessons From Zambia. Ecological Applications 5: 861–871.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lindsay, W. K. 1989. Integrating Parks and Pastoralists: Some Lessons from Amboseli. in Conservation in Africa. Pp. 149–167. Edited by Anderson, D. and Grove, R. Cambridge University Press, New York, USA.

    Google Scholar 

  • Little, P. D. 1996. Pastoralism, Biodiversity, and the Shaping of Savanna Landscapes in East Africa. Africa 66: 37–51.

    Google Scholar 

  • McCabe, J. T. 1990. Turkana Pastoralism: A Case Against the Tragedy of the Commons. Human Ecology 18: 81–103.

    Google Scholar 

  • McCabe, J. T., S. Perkin and C. Schofield. 1992. Can Conservation and Development Be Coupled Among Pastoral People: An Examination of the Maasai of Ngorongoro Crater, Tanzania. Human Organization 51: 353–366.

    Google Scholar 

  • McIntyre, S. and R. Hobbs. 1999. A Framework for Conceptualizing Human Effects on Landscapes and Its Relevance to Management and Research Models. Conservation Biology 13: 1282–1292.

    Google Scholar 

  • Meir, A. and H. Tsoar. 1996. International Borders and Range Ecology – the Case of Grazing. Human Ecology 24: 39–64.

    Google Scholar 

  • Metcalfe, D. and K. R. Barlow. 1992. A Model For Exploring the Optimal Trade-Off Between Field Processing and Transport. American Anthropologist 94: 340–356.

    Google Scholar 

  • Miller, R. I. and L. D. Harris. 1977. Isolation and Extirpations in Wildlife Reserves. Biological Conservation 12: 311–315.

    Google Scholar 

  • Mishra, C. 1997. Livestock depredation by large carnivores in the Indian trans-Himalaya: conflict perceptions and conservation prospects. Environmental Conservation 24: 338–343.

    Google Scholar 

  • Moen, R., J. Pastor and Y. Cohen. 1997. A Spatially Explicit Model of Moose Foraging and Energetics. Ecology 78: 505–521.

    Google Scholar 

  • Mwalyosi, R. B. B. 1992. Influence of Livestock Grazing On Range Condition in South-West Masailand, Northern Tanzania. Journal of Applied Ecology 29: 581–588.

    Google Scholar 

  • Newmark, W. D. 1996. Insularization of Tanzanian parks and the local extinction of large mammals. Conservation Biology 10: 1549–1556.

    Google Scholar 

  • Nyerges, A. E. 1980. Traditional Pastoralism and Patterns of Rangeland Degradation. in Browse in Africa. The Current State of Knowledge. Pp. 465–471. Edited by H. N. Le Houérou. International Livestock Center for Africa, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.

    Google Scholar 

  • Obot, E. A., M. Oyatogun and M. Wari. 1989. Response of Woody Vegetation of Nweri Grazing Reserve to Utilization by Nomadic Livestock. Environmental Conservation 16: 165–169.

    Google Scholar 

  • Orians, G. H. and N. E. Pearson. 1979. On the Theory of Central Place Foraging. in Analysis of Ecological Systems. Edited by D. J. Horn, R. D. Mitchell and C. R. Stairs. Ohio State University Press, Columbus, OH, USA.

    Google Scholar 

  • Peden, D. G. 1987. Livestock and Wildlife Population Distributions in Relation to Aridity and Human Populations in Kenya. Journal of Range Management 40: 67–71.

    Google Scholar 

  • Percival, S. M., W. J. Sutherland and P. R. Evans. 1996. A spatial depletion model of the responses of grazing wildfowl to the availability of intertidal vegetation. Journal of Applied Ecology 33: 979–992.

    Google Scholar 

  • Pickup, G. 1994. Modelling Patterns of Defoliation by Grazing Animals in Rangelands. Journal of Applied Ecology 31: 231–246.

    Google Scholar 

  • Pickup, G. and G. N. Bastin. 1997. Spatial distribution of cattle in arid rangelands as detected by patterns of change in vegetation cover. Journal of Applied Ecology 34: 657–667.

    Google Scholar 

  • Pratt, D. J., P. J. Greenway and M. D. Gwynne. 1966. A Classification of East African Rangeland. Journal of Applied Ecology 3: 369–382.

    Google Scholar 

  • Preston, R. E. 1992. Christallers Research On the Geography of Administrative Areas. Progress in Human Geography 16: 523–539.

    Google Scholar 

  • Prins, H. H. T. 1992. The Pastoral Road to Extinction: Competition BetweenWildlife and Traditional Pastoralism in East Africa. Environmental Conservation 19: 117–123.

    Google Scholar 

  • Runyoro, V. A., H. Hofer, E. B. Chausi and P. D. Moehlman. 1995. Long Term Trends in the Herbivore Poplulations of the Ngorongoro Crater, Tanzania. in Serengeti II: Dynamics, Management and Conservation of an Ecosystem. Pp. 146–168. Edited by A. R. E. Sinclair and P. Arscese. University of Chicago Press, Chicago, IL, USA.

    Google Scholar 

  • Saberwal, V. K. 1996. Pastoral Politics: Gaddi Grazing, Degradation and Biodiversity Conservation in Himachal Pradesh, India. Conservation Biology 10: 741–749.

    Google Scholar 

  • Schoener, T.W. 1983. Simple Models of Optimal Feeding-Territory Size: A Reconcilliation. The American Naturalist 121: 608–629.

    Google Scholar 

  • Senft, R. L., L. R. Rittenhouse and R. G. Woodmansee. 1983. The Use of Regression Models to Predict Spatial Patterns of Cattle Behavior. Journal of Range Management 36: 553–557.

    Google Scholar 

  • Senft, R. L., L. R. Rittenhouse and R. G. Woodmansee. 1985a. Factors Influencing Patterns of Cattle Grazing Behavior on Shortgrass Steppe. Journal of Range Management 38: 82–87.

    Google Scholar 

  • Senft, R. L., L. R. Rittenhouse and R. G. Woodmansee. 1985b. Factors Influencing Selection of Resting Sites by Cattle on Shortgrass Steppe. Journal of Range Management 38: 295–299.

    Google Scholar 

  • Shaffer, R. 1989. Community Economics: Economic Structure and Change in Smaller Communities. Iowa State University Press, Ames, Iowa, USA.

    Google Scholar 

  • Shugart, H. H. 1998. Terrestrial ecosystems in changing environments. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK.

    Google Scholar 

  • Sinclair, A. R. E. and J. M. Fryxell. 1985. The Sahel of Africa: Ecology of a Disaster. Canadian Journal of Zoology 63: 987–994.

    Google Scholar 

  • Soule, M. E., B. A. Wilcox and C. Holtby. 1979. Benign Neglect: A Model of Faunal Collapse in the Game Reserves of East Africa. Biological Conservation 15: 259–272.

    Google Scholar 

  • Spencer, P. 1973. Nomads in Alliance. Symbiosis and Growth Among the Rendille and Samburu of Kenya. Oxford University Press, London, UK.

    Google Scholar 

  • Stafford Smith, M. 1988. Modeling: Three Approaches to Predicting How Herbivore Impact is Distributed in Rangelands. New Mexico Agricultural Experiment Station, Las Cruces.

    Google Scholar 

  • Stevens, S., Ed. 1997. Conservation Through Cultural Survival: Indigenous Peoples and Protected Areas. Island Press, Washington D.C., USA.

  • Terman, M. R. 1997. Natural links: naturalistic golf courses as wildlife habitat. Landscape and Urban Planning 38: 183–197.

    Google Scholar 

  • Turner, M. D. 1998a. Long-term effects of daily grazing orbits on nutrient availability in Sahelian West Africa: 2. Effects of a phosphorus gradient on spatial patterns of annual grassland production. Journal of Biogeography 25: 683–694.

    Google Scholar 

  • Turner, M. D. 1998b. Long-term effects of daily grazing orbits on nutrient availability in Sahelian West Africa: I. Gradients in the chemical composition of rangeland soils and vegetation. Journal of Biogeography 25: 669–682.

    Google Scholar 

  • Turner, M. G., Y. Wu, W. H. Romme and L. L. Wallace. 1993. A Landscape Simulation Model of Winter Foraging by Large Ungulates. Ecological Modelling 69: 163–184.

    Google Scholar 

  • TWCM. 1992. Katavi-Rukwa census, November 1991, Tanzania Wildlife Conservation Monitoring, Arusha, Tanzani.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ward, D., B. T. Ngairorue, J. Kathena, R. Samuels and Y. Ofran. 1998. Land degradation is not a necessary outcome of communal pastoralism in arid Namibia. Journal of Arid Environments 40: 357–371.

    Google Scholar 

  • Weber, G. E., F. Jeltsch, N. Van Rooyen and S. J. Milton. 1998. Simulated Long-Term Vegetation Response to Grazing Heterogeneity in Semi-Arid Rangelands. Journal of Applied Ecology 35: 687–699.

    Google Scholar 

  • Western, D. 1975. Water Availability and Its Influence on the Structure and Dynamics of a Savannah Mammal Community. East African Wildlife Journal 13: 265–286.

    Google Scholar 

  • Western, D. 1994. Ecosystem Conservation and Rural Development: The Case of Amboseli. in Natural connections: perspectives in community-based conservation. Pp. 15–52. Edited by D. Western, R. M. Wright and S. C. Strum. Island Press, Washington D.C., USA.

    Google Scholar 

  • Western, D. and T. Dunne. 1979. Environmental Aspects of Settlement Site Decisions among Pastoral Maasai. Human Ecology 7: 75–98.

    Google Scholar 

  • Western, D. and J. Ssemakula. 1981. The Future of the Savanna Ecosystems: Ecological Islands or Faunal Enclaves? African Journal of Ecology 19: 7–19.

    Google Scholar 

  • Western, D., R. M. Wright and S. C. Strum. 1994. Natural connections: perspectives in community-based conservation. Island Press, Washington D.C., USA.

    Google Scholar 

  • Wetterer, J. K. 1989. Central Place Foraging Theory: When Load Size Affects Travel Time. Theoretical Population Biology 36: 267–280.

    Google Scholar 

  • Zavala, M. A. and T. V. Burkey. 1997. Application of ecological models to landscape planning: the case of the Mediterranean basin. Landscape and Urban Planning 38: 213–227.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Author notes

  1. Peter B. Coppolillo

    Present address: Living Landscapes Program International Conservation Wildlife Conservation Society, 2300 Southern Blvd, Bronx, 10460-1090, U.S.A.

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Ecology Graduate Group, Department of Anthropology, University of California, Davis, 1 Shields Ave. Davis, CA, 95616-8522, USA

    Peter B. Coppolillo

Authors
  1. Peter B. Coppolillo
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Coppolillo, P.B. Central-place analysis and modeling of landscape-scale resource use in an East African agropastoral system. Landscape Ecology 16, 205–219 (2001). https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1011148503303

Download citation

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1011148503303

Search

Navigation