University of Chicago Press Serengeti IV – Sustaining Biodiversity in a Coupled Humannatural System

The vast savannas and great migrations of the Serengeti conjure impressions of a harmonious and balanced ecosystem. But in reality, the history of the Serengeti is rife with battles between human and non-human nature. Serengeti IV, the latest installment in a long-standing series on the region's ecology and biodiversity, explores our species' role as a source of both discord and balance in Serengeti ecosystem dynamics. Through chapters charting the complexities of infectious disease transmission across populations, agricultural expansion, and the many challenges of managing this ecosystem today, this book shows how the people and landscapes surrounding crucial protected areas like Serengeti National Park can and must contribute to Serengeti conservation. In order to succeed, conservation efforts must also focus on the welfare of indigenous peoples, allowing them both to sustain their agricultural practices and benefit from the natural resources provided by protected areas - an undertaking that will require the strengthening of government and education systems and, as such, will present one of the greatest conservation challenges of the next century.