Sustaining indigenous Maasai Alalili silvo-pastoral conservation systems for improved community livelihood and biodiversity conservation in East African rangelands

3.5 Correlation effects of Alalili size and age on livestock herd size A generalized estimation equation model revealed that the livestock herd size was positively correlated to both size and age of Alalili systems and the association was significant across the Alalili size but not significant along the age (Table 4). The livestock herd size was higher in the private Alalili systems compared to the reference category communal Alalili systems depicting a significant negative association between them (Table 4). On the other hand, the livestock herd size was higher and lower in the Alalili systems of the open areas and NCA respectively compared to Alalili systems of reference category GCA depicting a negative association. While the relationship of livestock herd size between Alalili systems in the NCA and GCA was Fig 8. Distribution of Alalili systems across land use and size: (a) Communal (b) Private. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0303649.g008 Table 3. Summary statistics of generalized estimation equation (GEE) model explaining associations between explanatory variables and the size of Alalili systems in the study area. Land use, class size, and type of Alalili were defined as factors whereby the baseline variables are GCA, large size, and communal Alalili respectively. Estimate Std. Error Wald Pr(>|W|) (Intercept) 3115.63 636.90 23.930 < 0.001 *** Land use-NCA -1081.51 183.00 34.925 < 0.001 *** Land use-OA -292.47 172.53 2.874 0.0900 Land use-WMA 53.45 293.42 0.033 0.8555 Types of Alalili-Private -1352.10 361.34 14.002 < 0.001 ***

Size-Medium -1795.52 615.46 8.511 0.0035 ** Size-Small -2538.84 639.66 15.754 < 0.001 *** Significant codes: * p < .05 ** p < .01 *** p < .001. Abbreviation: GCA, Game Controlled Areas; NCA Ngorongoro Conservation Area; OA, Open Areas; WMA, Wildlife Management Area. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0303649.t003 PLOS ONE Sustaining Alalili systems in rangelands of East Africa PLOS ONE | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0303649 May 16, 2024 15 / 24