Spatio-Temporal Changes in Wildlife Habitat Quality in the Greater Serengeti Ecosystem

Habitat quality in the Greater Serengeti Ecosystem has significantly deteriorated from 1975 to 2015, with the most severe declines occurring in unprotected and human-dominated buffer areas. This study, the first of its kind for this ecosystem, used the InVEST model to quantify changes across four habitat quality classes (poor, low, medium, high). Findings reveal that anthropogenic activities and land use policy shifts drove degradation, with the least impact observed in the highly protected Serengeti National Park. The research underscores the critical need for adaptive legal frameworks and institutional arrangements to mitigate these trends amid rapid population growth.

Kija, H. K., Ogutu, J. O., Mangewa, L. J., Bukombe, J., Verones, F., Graae, B. J., Kideghesho, J. R., Said, M. Y., & Nzunda, E. F. (2020). Spatio-Temporal Changes in Wildlife Habitat Quality in the Greater Serengeti Ecosystem. Sustainability, 12(6), 2440. https://doi.org/10.3390/su12062440