Sample records for academic conservation biology

  1. One hundred questions of importance to the conservation of global biological diversity.

    PubMed

    Sutherland, W J; Adams, W M; Aronson, R B; Aveling, R; Blackburn, T M; Broad, S; Ceballos, G; Côté, I M; Cowling, R M; Da Fonseca, G A B; Dinerstein, E; Ferraro, P J; Fleishman, E; Gascon, C; Hunter, M; Hutton, J; Kareiva, P; Kuria, A; Macdonald, D W; Mackinnon, K; Madgwick, F J; Mascia, M B; McNeely, J; Milner-Gulland, E J; Moon, S; Morley, C G; Nelson, S; Osborn, D; Pai, M; Parsons, E C M; Peck, L S; Possingham, H; Prior, S V; Pullin, A S; Rands, M R W; Ranganathan, J; Redford, K H; Rodriguez, J P; Seymour, F; Sobel, J; Sodhi, N S; Stott, A; Vance-Borland, K; Watkinson, A R

    2009-06-01

    We identified 100 scientific questions that, if answered, would have the greatest impact on conservation practice and policy. Representatives from 21 international organizations, regional sections and working groups of the Society for Conservation Biology, and 12 academics, from all continents except Antarctica, compiled 2291 questions of relevance to conservation of biological diversity worldwide. The questions were gathered from 761 individuals through workshops, email requests, and discussions. Voting by email to short-list questions, followed by a 2-day workshop, was used to derive the final list of 100 questions. Most of the final questions were derived through a process of modification and combination as the workshop progressed. The questions are divided into 12 sections: ecosystem functions and services, climate change, technological change, protected areas, ecosystem management and restoration, terrestrial ecosystems, marine ecosystems, freshwater ecosystems, species management, organizational systems and processes, societal context and change, and impacts of conservation interventions. We anticipate that these questions will help identify new directions for researchers and assist funders in directing funds. ©2009 Society for Conservation Biology.

  2. Conservation businesses and conservation planning in a biological diversity hotspot.

    PubMed

    Di Minin, Enrico; Macmillan, Douglas Craig; Goodman, Peter Styan; Escott, Boyd; Slotow, Rob; Moilanen, Atte

    2013-08-01

    The allocation of land to biological diversity conservation competes with other land uses and the needs of society for development, food, and extraction of natural resources. Trade-offs between biological diversity conservation and alternative land uses are unavoidable, given the realities of limited conservation resources and the competing demands of society. We developed a conservation-planning assessment for the South African province of KwaZulu-Natal, which forms the central component of the Maputaland-Pondoland-Albany biological diversity hotspot. Our objective was to enhance biological diversity protection while promoting sustainable development and providing spatial guidance in the resolution of potential policy conflicts over priority areas for conservation at risk of transformation. The conservation-planning assessment combined spatial-distribution models for 646 conservation features, spatial economic-return models for 28 alternative land uses, and spatial maps for 4 threats. Nature-based tourism businesses were competitive with other land uses and could provide revenues of >US$60 million/year to local stakeholders and simultaneously help meeting conservation goals for almost half the conservation features in the planning region. Accounting for opportunity costs substantially decreased conflicts between biological diversity, agricultural use, commercial forestry, and mining. Accounting for economic benefits arising from conservation and reducing potential policy conflicts with alternative plans for development can provide opportunities for successful strategies that combine conservation and sustainable development and facilitate conservation action. © 2013 Society for Conservation Biology.

  3. On nonepistemic values in conservation biology.

    PubMed

    Baumgaertner, Bert; Holthuijzen, Wieteke

    2017-02-01

    Conservation biology is a uniquely interdisciplinary science with strong roots in ecology, but it also embraces a value-laden and mission-oriented framework. This combination of science and values causes conservation biology to be at the center of critique regarding the discipline's scientific credibility-especially the division between the realms of theory and practice. We identify this dichotomy between seemingly objective (fact-based) and subjective (value-laden) practices as the measure-value dichotomy, whereby measure refers to methods and analyses used in conservation biology (i.e., measuring biodiversity) and value refers to nonepistemic values. We reviewed and evaluated several landmark articles central to the foundation of conservation biology and concepts of biodiversity with respect to their attempts to separate measures and values. We argue that the measure-value dichotomy is false and that conservation biology can make progress in ways unavailable to other disciplines because its practitioners are tasked with engaging in both the realm of theory and the realm of practice. The entanglement of measures and values is by no means a weakness of conservation biology. Because central concepts such as biodiversity contain both factual and evaluative aspects, conservation biologists can make theoretical progress by examining, reviewing, and forming the values that are an integral part of those concepts. We suggest that values should be included and analyzed with respect to the methods, results, and conclusions of scientific work in conservation biology. © 2016 Society for Conservation Biology.

  4. Translational environmental biology: cell biology informing conservation.

    PubMed

    Traylor-Knowles, Nikki; Palumbi, Stephen R

    2014-05-01

    Typically, findings from cell biology have been beneficial for preventing human disease. However, translational applications from cell biology can also be applied to conservation efforts, such as protecting coral reefs. Recent efforts to understand the cell biological mechanisms maintaining coral health such as innate immunity and acclimatization have prompted new developments in conservation. Similar to biomedicine, we urge that future efforts should focus on better frameworks for biomarker development to protect coral reefs. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  5. Academe and the Threat of Biological Terrorism

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Atlas, Ronald M.; Weller, Richard E.

    1999-04-03

    A legally binding protocol to monitor compliance with Biological and Toxin Weapons Convention (BWC) could have a substantial impact on academia. This is because of the large number of academic sites, and the complexity of activities and business relationships found in academia. Several hundred academic institutions could be required to file declarations, depending upon the specific''triggers'' adopted by the Ad Hoc Group to the BWC. Activities at academic sites that might''trigger'' a requirement for declaration include: biological defense, working with listed agents or toxins, production capacity, biopesticide research, vaccine production, high (BL3) biological containment, and aerobiology. The management structure ofmore » academic institutions will make it difficult for them to scrupulously comply with declaration requirements. A major educational program will be required to ensure academic compliance with any mandatory measures adopted to strengthen the BWC.« less

  6. Googling trends in conservation biology.

    PubMed

    Proulx, Raphaël; Massicotte, Philippe; Pépino, Marc

    2014-02-01

    Web-crawling approaches, that is, automated programs data mining the internet to obtain information about a particular process, have recently been proposed for monitoring early signs of ecosystem degradation or for establishing crop calendars. However, lack of a clear conceptual and methodological framework has prevented the development of such approaches within the field of conservation biology. Our objective was to illustrate how Google Trends, a freely accessible web-crawling engine, can be used to track changes in timing of biological processes, spatial distribution of invasive species, and level of public awareness about key conservation issues. Google Trends returns the number of internet searches that were made for a keyword in a given region of the world over a defined period. Using data retrieved online for 13 countries, we exemplify how Google Trends can be used to study the timing of biological processes, such as the seasonal recurrence of pollen release or mosquito outbreaks across a latitudinal gradient. We mapped the spatial extent of results from Google Trends for 5 invasive species in the United States and found geographic patterns in invasions that are consistent with their coarse-grained distribution at state levels. From 2004 through 2012, Google Trends showed that the level of public interest and awareness about conservation issues related to ecosystem services, biodiversity, and climate change increased, decreased, and followed both trends, respectively. Finally, to further the development of research approaches at the interface of conservation biology, collective knowledge, and environmental management, we developed an algorithm that allows the rapid retrieval of Google Trends data. © 2013 Society for Conservation Biology.

  7. Conservation biology in Asia: the major policy challenges.

    PubMed

    McNeely, Jeffrey A; Kapoor-Vijay, Promila; Zhi, Lu; Olsvig-Whittaker, Linda; Sheikh, Kashif M; Smith, Andrew T

    2009-08-01

    With about half the world's human population and booming economies, Asia faces numerous challenges to its biodiversity. The Asia Section of the Society for Conservation Biology has identified some key policy issues in which significant progress can be made. These include developing new sources of funding for forest conservation; identifying potential impacts of energy alternatives on the conservation of biodiversity; curbing the trade in endangered species of plants and animals; a special focus on the conservation of mountain biodiversity; enhancing relevant research; ensuring that conservation biology contributes to major international conventions and funding mechanisms; using conservation biology to build a better understanding of zoonotic diseases; more effectively addressing human-animal conflicts; enhancing community-based conservation; and using conservation biology to help address the pervasive water-deficit problems in much of Asia. These challenges can be met through improved regional cooperation among the relevant stakeholders.

  8. Biosocial Conservation: Integrating Biological and Ethnographic Methods to Study Human-Primate Interactions.

    PubMed

    Setchell, Joanna M; Fairet, Emilie; Shutt, Kathryn; Waters, Siân; Bell, Sandra

    2017-01-01

    Biodiversity conservation is one of the grand challenges facing society. Many people interested in biodiversity conservation have a background in wildlife biology. However, the diverse social, cultural, political, and historical factors that influence the lives of people and wildlife can be investigated fully only by incorporating social science methods, ideally within an interdisciplinary framework. Cultural hierarchies of knowledge and the hegemony of the natural sciences create a barrier to interdisciplinary understandings. Here, we review three different projects that confront this difficulty, integrating biological and ethnographic methods to study conservation problems. The first project involved wildlife foraging on crops around a newly established national park in Gabon. Biological methods revealed the extent of crop loss, the species responsible, and an effect of field isolation, while ethnography revealed institutional and social vulnerability to foraging wildlife. The second project concerned great ape tourism in the Central African Republic. Biological methods revealed that gorilla tourism poses risks to gorillas, while ethnography revealed why people seek close proximity to gorillas. The third project focused on humans and other primates living alongside one another in Morocco. Incorporating shepherds in the coproduction of ecological knowledge about primates built trust and altered attitudes to the primates. These three case studies demonstrate how the integration of biological and social methods can help us to understand the sustainability of human-wildlife interactions, and thus promote coexistence. In each case, an integrated biosocial approach incorporating ethnographic data produced results that would not otherwise have come to light. Research that transcends conventional academic boundaries requires the openness and flexibility to move beyond one's comfort zone to understand and acknowledge the legitimacy of "other" kinds of knowledge. It is

  9. Some guiding concepts for conservation biology.

    PubMed

    Lindenmayer, David; Hunter, Malcolm

    2010-12-01

    The search for generalities in ecology has often been thwarted by contingency and ecological complexity that limit the development of predictive rules. We present a set of concepts that we believe succinctly expresses some of the fundamental ideas in conservation biology. (1) Successful conservation management requires explicit goals and objectives. (2) The overall goal of biodiversity management will usually be to maintain or restore biodiversity, not to maximize species richness. (3) A holistic approach is needed to solve conservation problems. (4) Diverse approaches to management can provide diverse environmental conditions and mitigate risk. (5) Using nature's template is important for guiding conservation management, but it is not a panacea. (6) Focusing on causes not symptoms enhances efficacy and efficiency of conservation actions. (7) Every species and ecosystem is unique, to some degree. (8) Threshold responses are important but not ubiquitous. (9) Multiple stressors often exert critical effects on species and ecosystems. (10) Human values are variable and dynamic and significantly shape conservation efforts. We believe most conservation biologists will broadly agree these concepts are important. That said, an important part of the maturation of conservation biology as a discipline is constructive debate about additional or alternative concepts to those we have proposed here. Therefore, we have established a web-based, online process for further discussion of the concepts outlined in this paper and developing additional ones. © 2010 Society for Conservation Biology.

  10. Introduction to Northeast Pacific Shark Biology, Ecology, and Conservation.

    PubMed

    Lowry, Dayv; Larson, Shawn E

    Sharks are iconic, sometimes apex, predators found in every ocean and, as a result, they have featured prominently in the mythology, history, and fisheries of diverse human cultures around the world. Because of their regional significance to fisheries and ecological role as predators, and as a result of concern over long-term stability of their populations, there has been an increasing amount of work focused on shark conservation in recent decades. This volume highlights the biodiversity and biological attributes of, and conservation efforts targeted at, populations of sharks that reside in the Northeast Pacific Ocean bordering the west coast of the United States and Canada, one of the most economically and ecologically important oceanic regions in the world. A companion volume addresses details of fisheries and ecotourism in the same region, as well as delving into the relationship between captive husbandry of sharks and education/outreach efforts aimed at fostering a conservation mindset in the public at large. Together, these volumes provide readers a detailed backdrop against which to consider their own actions, and those of resource managers, academics, and educators, as they relate to the long-term conservation of sharks and their relatives. © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  11. Practising Conservation Biology in a Virtual Rainforest World

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Schedlbauer, Jessica L.; Nadolny, Larysa; Woolfrey, Joan

    2016-01-01

    The interdisciplinary science of conservation biology provides undergraduate biology students with the opportunity to connect the biological sciences with disciplines including economics, social science and philosophy to address challenging conservation issues. Because of its complexity, students do not often have the opportunity to practise…

  12. "A mission-driven discipline": the growth of conservation biology.

    PubMed

    Meine, Curt; Soulé, Michael; Noss, Reed E

    2006-06-01

    Conservation biology emerged in the mid-1980s, drawing on established disciplines and integrating them in pursuit of a coherent goal: the protection and perpetuation of the Earth's biological diversity. Opportunistic in its borrowing and application of knowledge, conservation biology had its roots within the established biological sciences and resource management disciplines but has continually incorporated insights from the empirical experience of resource managers, from the social sciences and humanities, and from diverse cultural sources. The Society for Conservation Biology (SCB) has represented the field's core constituency, while expanding that constituency in keeping with the field's integrative spirit. Conservation Biology has served as SCB's flagship publication, promoting research, dialog, debate, and application of the field's essential concepts. Over the last 20 years the field, SCB, and the journal have evolved to meet changing conservation needs, to explore gaps in our knowledge base, to incorporate new information from related fields, to build professional capacity, and to provide expanded opportunities for international participation. In turn, the field, SCB, and journal have prompted change in related fields, organizations, and publications. In its dedication to advancing the scientific foundations of biodiversity conservation and placing that science at the service of society in a world whose variety, wildness, and beauty we care for conservation biology represents both a continuation and radical reconfiguration of the traditional relationship between science and conservation.

  13. A fungal perspective on conservation biology.

    PubMed

    Heilmann-Clausen, Jacob; Barron, Elizabeth S; Boddy, Lynne; Dahlberg, Anders; Griffith, Gareth W; Nordén, Jenni; Ovaskainen, Otso; Perini, Claudia; Senn-Irlet, Beatrice; Halme, Panu

    2015-02-01

    Hitherto fungi have rarely been considered in conservation biology, but this is changing as the field moves from addressing single species issues to an integrative ecosystem-based approach. The current emphasis on biodiversity as a provider of ecosystem services throws the spotlight on the vast diversity of fungi, their crucial roles in terrestrial ecosystems, and the benefits of considering fungi in concert with animals and plants. We reviewed the role of fungi in ecosystems and composed an overview of the current state of conservation of fungi. There are 5 areas in which fungi can be readily integrated into conservation: as providers of habitats and processes important for other organisms; as indicators of desired or undesired trends in ecosystem functioning; as indicators of habitats of conservation value; as providers of powerful links between human societies and the natural world because of their value as food, medicine, and biotechnological tools; and as sources of novel tools and approaches for conservation of megadiverse organism groups. We hope conservation professionals will value the potential of fungi, engage mycologists in their work, and appreciate the crucial role of fungi in nature. © 2014 Society for Conservation Biology.

  14. Educating Astronauts About Conservation Biology

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Robinson, Julie A.

    2001-01-01

    This article reviews the training of astronauts in the interdisciplinary work of conservation biology. The primary responsibility of the conservation biologist at NASA is directing and supporting the photography of the Earth and maintaining the complete database of the photographs. In order to perform this work, the astronauts who take the pictures must be educated in ecological issues.

  15. Evaluating children's conservation biology learning at the zoo.

    PubMed

    Jensen, Eric

    2014-08-01

    Millions of children visit zoos every year with parents or schools to encounter wildlife firsthand. Public conservation education is a requirement for membership in professional zoo associations. However, in recent years zoos have been criticized for failing to educate the public on conservation issues and related biological concepts, such as animal adaptation to habitats. I used matched pre- and postvisit mixed methods questionnaires to investigate the educational value of zoo visits for children aged 7-15 years. The questionnaires gathered qualitative data from these individuals, including zoo-related thoughts and an annotated drawing of a habitat. A content analysis of these qualitative data produced the quantitative data reported in this article. I evaluated the relative learning outcomes of educator-guided and unguided zoo visits at London Zoo, both in terms of learning about conservation biology (measured by annotated drawings) and changing attitudes toward wildlife conservation (measured using thought-listing data). Forty-one percent of educator-guided visits and 34% of unguided visits resulted in conservation biology-related learning. Negative changes in children's understanding of animals and their habitats were more prevalent in unguided zoo visits. Overall, my results show the potential educational value of visiting zoos for children. However, they also suggest that zoos' standard unguided interpretive materials are insufficient for achieving the best outcomes for visiting children. These results support a theoretical model of conservation biology learning that frames conservation educators as toolmakers who develop conceptual resources to enhance children's understanding of science. © 2014 Society for Conservation Biology.

  16. Utility of biological sensor tags in animal conservation.

    PubMed

    Wilson, A D M; Wikelski, M; Wilson, R P; Cooke, S J

    2015-08-01

    Electronic tags (both biotelemetry and biologging platforms) have informed conservation and resource management policy and practice by providing vital information on the spatial ecology of animals and their environments. However, the extent of the contribution of biological sensors (within electronic tags) that measure an animal's state (e.g., heart rate, body temperature, and details of locomotion and energetics) is less clear. A literature review revealed that, despite a growing number of commercially available state sensor tags and enormous application potential for such devices in animal biology, there are relatively few examples of their application to conservation. Existing applications fell under 4 main themes: quantifying disturbance (e.g., ecotourism, vehicular and aircraft traffic), examining the effects of environmental change (e.g., climate change), understanding the consequences of habitat use and selection, and estimating energy expenditure. We also identified several other ways in which sensor tags could benefit conservation, such as determining the potential efficacy of management interventions. With increasing sensor diversity of commercially available platforms, less invasive attachment techniques, smaller device sizes, and more researchers embracing such technology, we suggest that biological sensor tags be considered a part of the necessary toolbox for conservation. This approach can measure (in real time) the state of free-ranging animals and thus provide managers with objective, timely, relevant, and accurate data to inform policy and decision making. © 2015 Society for Conservation Biology.

  17. A glossary for avian conservation biology

    Treesearch

    Rolf R. Koford; John B. Dunning; Christine A. Ribic; Deborah M. Finch

    1994-01-01

    This glossary provides standard definitions for many of the terms used in avian conservation biology. We compiled these definitions to assist communication among researchers, managers, and others involved in the Neotropical Migratory Bird Conservation Program, also known as Partners in Flight. We used existing glossaries and recent literature to prepare this glossary....

  18. The crucial contribution of veterinarians to conservation biology.

    PubMed

    Reading, Richard P; Kenny, David E; Fitzgerald, Kevin T

    2013-11-01

    Conservation biology is a relatively new (began in the 1980s), value-based discipline predicated on the belief that biological diversity-from genes to populations to species to communities to ecosystems-is good and extinction is bad. Conservation biology grew from the recognition that the Earth has entered its sixth great extinction event, one that differs from previous great extinctions in that a single species-Homo sapiens-has caused this biodiversity crisis. A diverse, interacting set of variables drive current extinctions. As such, to succeed, conservation efforts usually require broad-based, interdisciplinary approaches. Conservationists increasingly recognize the importance of contributions by veterinary science, among many other disciplines, to collaborative efforts aimed at stemming the loss of biodiversity. We argue that, to improve success rates, many wildlife conservation programs must incorporate veterinarians as part of an interdisciplinary team to assess and address problems. Ideally, veterinarians who participate in conservation would receive specialized training and be willing to work as partners as part of a larger team of experts who effectively integrate their work rather than work independently (i.e., work as interdisciplinary, as opposed to multidisciplinary, teams, respectively). In our opinion, the most successful and productive projects involve interdisciplinary teams involving both biological and nonbiological specialists. Some researchers hold multiple degrees in biology and veterinary medicine or the biological and social sciences. These experts can often offer unique insight. We see at least 3 major areas in which veterinarians can immediately offer great assistance to conservation efforts: (1) participation in wildlife capture and immobilization, (2) leadership or assistance in addressing wildlife health issues, and (3) leadership or assistance in addressing wildlife disease issues, including using wildlife as sentinels to identify new

  19. Investigation of Pre-Service Science Teachers' Academic Self-Efficacy and Academic Motivation toward Biology

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Ates, Hüseyin; Saylan, Asli

    2015-01-01

    The purpose of this research was to examine pre-service science teachers' academic motivation and academic self-efficacy toward biology. The sample consisted of 369 pre-service science teachers who enrolled in the faculty of education of two universities in Turkey. Data were collected through Academic Motivation Scale (AMS) (Glynn & Koballa,…

  20. Integrating biological and social values when prioritizing places for biodiversity conservation.

    PubMed

    Whitehead, Amy L; Kujala, Heini; Ives, Christopher D; Gordon, Ascelin; Lentini, Pia E; Wintle, Brendan A; Nicholson, Emily; Raymond, Christopher M

    2014-08-01

    The consideration of information on social values in conjunction with biological data is critical for achieving both socially acceptable and scientifically defensible conservation planning outcomes. However, the influence of social values on spatial conservation priorities has received limited attention and is poorly understood. We present an approach that incorporates quantitative data on social values for conservation and social preferences for development into spatial conservation planning. We undertook a public participation GIS survey to spatially represent social values and development preferences and used species distribution models for 7 threatened fauna species to represent biological values. These spatially explicit data were simultaneously included in the conservation planning software Zonation to examine how conservation priorities changed with the inclusion of social data. Integrating spatially explicit information about social values and development preferences with biological data produced prioritizations that differed spatially from the solution based on only biological data. However, the integrated solutions protected a similar proportion of the species' distributions, indicating that Zonation effectively combined the biological and social data to produce socially feasible conservation solutions of approximately equivalent biological value. We were able to identify areas of the landscape where synergies and conflicts between different value sets are likely to occur. Identification of these synergies and conflicts will allow decision makers to target communication strategies to specific areas and ensure effective community engagement and positive conservation outcomes. © 2014 Society for Conservation Biology.

  1. Conservatives Just Aren't into Academe, Study Finds

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Wilson, Robin

    2008-01-01

    A professor whose conservatism places him in a distinct minority not only at his own institution, but in higher education generally, has conducted research that suggests conservatives may simply not be well suited to careers in academe. Matthew Woessner and April Kelly-Woessner have found that liberal students have values and interests that point…

  2. Conserving and enhancing biological control of nematodes.

    PubMed

    Timper, Patricia

    2014-06-01

    Conservation biological control is the modification of the environment or existing practices to protect and enhance antagonistic organisms to reduce damage from pests. This approach to biological control has received insufficient attention compared with inundative applications of microbial antagonists to control nematodes. This review provides examples of how production practices can enhance or diminish biological control of plant-parasitic nematodes and other soilborne pests. Antagonists of nematodes can be enhanced by providing supplementary food sources such as occurs when organic amendments are applied to soil. However, some organic amendments (e.g., manures and plants containing allelopathic compounds) can also be detrimental to nematode antagonists. Plant species and genotype can strongly influence the outcome of biological control. For instance, the susceptibility of the plant to the nematode can determine the effectiveness of control; good hosts will require greater levels of suppression than poor hosts. Plant genotype can also influence the degree of rhizosphere colonization and antibiotic production by antagonists, as well the expression of induced resistance by plants. Production practices such as crop rotation, fallow periods, tillage, and pesticide applications can directly disrupt populations of antagonistic organisms. These practices can also indirectly affect antagonists by reducing their primary nematode host. One of the challenges of conservation biological control is that practices intended to protect or enhance suppression of nematodes may not be effective in all field sites because they are dependent on indigenous antagonists. Ultimately, indicators will need to be identified, such as the presence of particular antagonists, which can guide decisions on where it is practical to use conservation biological control. Antagonists can also be applied to field sites in conjunction with conservation practices to improve the consistency, efficacy, and

  3. Conserving and Enhancing Biological Control of Nematodes

    PubMed Central

    Timper, Patricia

    2014-01-01

    Conservation biological control is the modification of the environment or existing practices to protect and enhance antagonistic organisms to reduce damage from pests. This approach to biological control has received insufficient attention compared with inundative applications of microbial antagonists to control nematodes. This review provides examples of how production practices can enhance or diminish biological control of plant-parasitic nematodes and other soilborne pests. Antagonists of nematodes can be enhanced by providing supplementary food sources such as occurs when organic amendments are applied to soil. However, some organic amendments (e.g., manures and plants containing allelopathic compounds) can also be detrimental to nematode antagonists. Plant species and genotype can strongly influence the outcome of biological control. For instance, the susceptibility of the plant to the nematode can determine the effectiveness of control; good hosts will require greater levels of suppression than poor hosts. Plant genotype can also influence the degree of rhizosphere colonization and antibiotic production by antagonists, as well the expression of induced resistance by plants. Production practices such as crop rotation, fallow periods, tillage, and pesticide applications can directly disrupt populations of antagonistic organisms. These practices can also indirectly affect antagonists by reducing their primary nematode host. One of the challenges of conservation biological control is that practices intended to protect or enhance suppression of nematodes may not be effective in all field sites because they are dependent on indigenous antagonists. Ultimately, indicators will need to be identified, such as the presence of particular antagonists, which can guide decisions on where it is practical to use conservation biological control. Antagonists can also be applied to field sites in conjunction with conservation practices to improve the consistency, efficacy, and

  4. Academic research training for a nonacademic workplace: a case study of graduate student alumni who work in conservation.

    PubMed

    Muir, Matthew J; Schwartz, Mark W

    2009-12-01

    Graduate education in conservation biology has been assailed as ineffective and inadequate to train the professionals needed to solve conservation problems. To identify how graduate education might better fit the needs of the conservation workplace, we surveyed practitioners and academics about the importance of particular skills on the job and the perceived importance of teaching those same skills in graduate school. All survey participants (n = 189) were alumni from the University of California Davis Graduate Group in Ecology and received thesis-based degrees from 1973 to 2008. Academic and practitioner respondents clearly differed in workplace skills, although there was considerably more agreement in training recommendations. On the basis of participant responses, skill sets particularly at risk of underemphasis in graduate programs are decision making and implementation of policy, whereas research skills may be overemphasized. Practitioners in different job positions, however, require a variety of skill sets, and we suggest that ever-increasing calls to broaden training to fit this multitude of jobs will lead to a trade-off in the teaching of other skills. Some skills, such as program management, may be best developed in on-the-job training or collaborative projects. We argue that the problem of graduate education in conservation will not be solved by restructuring academia alone. Conservation employers need to communicate their specific needs to educators, universities need to be more flexible with their opportunities, and students need to be better consumers of the skills offered by universities and other institutions.

  5. Conservation landmarks: bureau of biological survey and national biological service

    USGS Publications Warehouse

    Friend, M.

    1995-01-01

    A century separates the recent development of the National Biological Service (NBS) and an early predecessor, the Bureau of Biological Survey (BBS). Both organizations were established at critical crossroads for the conservation of the nation's living biological resources and are conservation landmarks of their times. The BBS of the 192()'s was described as 'a government Bureau of the first rank, handling affairs of great scientific, educational, social, and above all, economic importance throughout the United States and its outlying possessions'' (Cameron 1929:144-145). This stature was achieved at a time of great social, economic, and ecological change. BBS had the vision to pioneer new approaches that led to enhanced understanding of the relation between people, other living things, and the environment. The NBS faces similar challenges to address the issues of the 1990's and beyond.

  6. Biological science in conservation

    Treesearch

    David M. Johns

    2000-01-01

    Large-scale wildlands reserve systems offer one of the best hopes for slowing, if not reversing, the loss of biodiversity and wilderness. Establishing such reserves requires both sound biology and effective advocacy. Attempts by The Wildlands Project and its cooperators to meld science and advocacy in the service of conservation is working, but is not without some...

  7. Expectations and Realities in Academic Biology.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Nanney, David L.

    1988-01-01

    Provides a historical look at the development of academic biology. Attempts to project some presently recognized forces and organizational structures influencing the development of the field. Differentiates how the discipline is now as compared with the past. (TW)

  8. Taking the conservation biology perspective to secondary school classrooms.

    PubMed

    Wyner, Yael; Desalle, Rob

    2010-06-01

    The influence of conservation biology can be enhanced greatly if it reaches beyond undergraduate biology to students at the middle and high school levels. If a conservation perspective were taught in secondary schools, students who are not interested in biology could be influenced to pursue careers or live lifestyles that would reduce the negative impact of humans on the world. We use what we call the ecology-disrupted approach to transform the topics of conservation biology research into environmental-issue and ecology topics, the major themes of secondary school courses in environmental science. In this model, students learn about the importance and complexity of normal ecological processes by studying what goes wrong when people disrupt them (environmental issues). Many studies published in Conservation Biology are related in some way to the ecological principles being taught in secondary schools. Describing research in conservation biology in the language of ecology curricula in secondary schools can help bring these science stories to the classroom and give them a context in which they can be understood by students. Without this context in the curriculum, a science story can devolve into just another environmental issue that has no immediate effect on the daily lives of students. Nevertheless, if the research is placed in the context of larger ecological processes that are being taught, students can gain a better understanding of ecology and a better understanding of their effect on the world.

  9. Integrating paleobiology, archeology, and history to inform biological conservation.

    PubMed

    Rick, Torben C; Lockwood, Rowan

    2013-02-01

    The search for novel approaches to establishing ecological baselines (reference conditions) is constrained by the fact that most ecological studies span the past few decades, at most, and investigate ecosystems that have been substantially altered by human activities for decades, centuries, or more. Paleobiology, archeology, and history provide historical ecological context for biological conservation, remediation, and restoration. We argue that linking historical ecology explicitly with conservation can help unify related disciplines of conservation paleobiology, conservation archeobiology, and environmental history. Differences in the spatial and temporal resolution and extent (scale) of prehistoric, historic, and modern ecological data remain obstacles to integrating historical ecology and conservation biology, but the prolonged temporal extents of historical ecological data can help establish more complete baselines for restoration, document a historical range of ecological variability, and assist in determining desired future conditions. We used the eastern oyster (Crassostrea virginica) fishery of the Chesapeake Bay (U.S.A.) to demonstrate the utility of historical ecological data for elucidating oyster conservation and the need for an approach to conservation that transcends disciplinary boundaries. Historical ecological studies from the Chesapeake have documented dramatic declines (as much as 99%) in oyster abundance since the early to mid-1800 s, changes in oyster size in response to different nutrient levels from the sixteenth to nineteenth centuries, and substantial reductions in oyster accretion rates (from 10 mm/year to effectively 0 mm/year) from the Late Holocene to modern times. Better integration of different historical ecological data sets and increased collaboration between paleobiologists, geologists, archeologists, environmental historians, and ecologists to create standardized research designs and methodologies will help unify prehistoric

  10. Integration of ecological-biological thresholds in conservation decision making.

    PubMed

    Mavrommati, Georgia; Bithas, Kostas; Borsuk, Mark E; Howarth, Richard B

    2016-12-01

    In the Anthropocene, coupled human and natural systems dominate and only a few natural systems remain relatively unaffected by human influence. On the one hand, conservation criteria based on areas of minimal human impact are not relevant to much of the biosphere. On the other hand, conservation criteria based on economic factors are problematic with respect to their ability to arrive at operational indicators of well-being that can be applied in practice over multiple generations. Coupled human and natural systems are subject to economic development which, under current management structures, tends to affect natural systems and cross planetary boundaries. Hence, designing and applying conservation criteria applicable in real-world systems where human and natural systems need to interact and sustainably coexist is essential. By recognizing the criticality of satisfying basic needs as well as the great uncertainty over the needs and preferences of future generations, we sought to incorporate conservation criteria based on minimal human impact into economic evaluation. These criteria require the conservation of environmental conditions such that the opportunity for intergenerational welfare optimization is maintained. Toward this end, we propose the integration of ecological-biological thresholds into decision making and use as an example the planetary-boundaries approach. Both conservation scientists and economists must be involved in defining operational ecological-biological thresholds that can be incorporated into economic thinking and reflect the objectives of conservation, sustainability, and intergenerational welfare optimization. © 2016 Society for Conservation Biology.

  11. A Best-Practice Model for Academic Advising of University Biology Majors

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Heekin, Jonathan Ralph Calvin

    2013-01-01

    Biology faculty at an East Coast university believed their undergraduate students were not being well served by the existing academic advising program. The purpose of this mixed methods project study was to evaluate the effectiveness of the academic advising model in a biology department. Guided by system-based organizational theory, a learning…

  12. Academic Beliefs and Behaviors in On-Campus and Online General Education Biology Classes

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Noll, Christopher B.

    2015-01-01

    This study examined the effect of course delivery mode on academic help-seeking beliefs and behaviors, academic self-efficacy, and the levels of individual interest in biology of students in an entry-level General Education biology course. This intersection of online education, science courses, and academic success factors merits attention because…

  13. Determining environmental causes of biological effects: the need for a mechanistic physiological dimension in conservation biology.

    PubMed

    Seebacher, Frank; Franklin, Craig E

    2012-06-19

    The emerging field of Conservation Physiology links environmental change and ecological success by the application of physiological theory, approaches and tools to elucidate and address conservation problems. Human activity has changed the natural environment to a point where the viability of many ecosystems is now under threat. There are already many descriptions of how changes in biological patterns are correlated with environmental changes. The next important step is to determine the causative relationship between environmental variability and biological systems. Physiology provides the mechanistic link between environmental change and ecological patterns. Physiological research, therefore, should be integrated into conservation to predict the biological consequences of human activity, and to identify those species or populations that are most vulnerable.

  14. Innovation in academic chemical screening: filling the gaps in chemical biology.

    PubMed

    Hasson, Samuel A; Inglese, James

    2013-06-01

    Academic screening centers across the world have endeavored to discover small molecules that can modulate biological systems. To increase the reach of functional-genomic and chemical screening programs, universities, research institutes, and governments have followed their industrial counterparts in adopting high-throughput paradigms. As academic screening efforts have steadily grown in scope and complexity, so have the ideas of what is possible with the union of technology and biology. This review addresses the recent conceptual and technological innovation that has been propelling academic screening into its own unique niche. In particular, high-content and whole-organism screening are changing how academics search for novel bioactive compounds. Importantly, we recognize examples of successful chemical probe development that have punctuated the changing technology landscape. Published by Elsevier Ltd.

  15. TEACHING "MATH-LITE" CONSERVATION (BOOK REVIEW OF CONSERVATION BIOLOGY WITH RAMAS ECOLAB)

    EPA Science Inventory

    This book is designed to serve as a laboratory workbook for an undergraduate course in conservation biology, environmental science, or natural resource management. By integrating with RAMAS EcoLab software, the book provides instructors with hands-on computer exercises that can ...

  16. The impact of landsat satellite monitoring on conservation biology.

    PubMed

    Leimgruber, Peter; Christen, Catherine A; Laborderie, Alison

    2005-07-01

    Landsat 7's recent malfunctioning will result in significant gaps in long-term satellite monitoring of Earth, affecting not only the research of the Earth science community but also conservation users of these data. To determine whether or how important Landsat monitoring is for conservation and natural resource management, we reviewed the Landsat program's history with special emphasis on the development of user groups. We also conducted a bibliographic search to determine the extent to which conservation research has been based on Landsat data. Conservation biologists were not an early user group of Landsat data because a) biologists lacked technical capacity--computers and software--to analyze these data; b) Landsat's 1980s commercialization rendered images too costly for biologists' budgets; and c) the broad-scale disciplines of conservation biology and landscape ecology did not develop until the mid-to-late 1980s. All these conditions had changed by the 1990s and Landsat imagery became an important tool for conservation biology. Satellite monitoring and Landsat continuity are mandated by the Land Remote Sensing Act of 1992. This legislation leaves open commercial options. However, past experiments with commercial operations were neither viable nor economical, and severely reduced the quality of monitoring, archiving and data access for academia and the public. Future satellite monitoring programs are essential for conservation and natural resource management, must provide continuity with Landsat, and should be government operated.

  17. A glossary for avian conservation biology

    USGS Publications Warehouse

    Koford, Rolf R.; Dunning, J.B.; Ribic, C.A.; Finch, D.M.

    1994-01-01

    This glossary provides standard definitions for many of the terms used in avian conservation biology. We compiled these definitions to assist communication among researchers, managers, and others involved in the Neotropical Migratory Bird Conservation Program, also known as Partners in Flight. We used existing glossaries and recent literature to prepare this glossary. The cited sources were not necessarily the first ones to use the terms. Many definitions were taken verbatim from the cited source material. Others were modified slightly to clarify the meaning. Definitions that were modified to a greater extent are indicated as being adapted from the originals. Terms that have been used in more than one way by different authors are listed with numbered alternative definitions if the definitions differ substantially.

  18. Introduction to Northeast Pacific Shark Biology, Research, and Conservation, Part B.

    PubMed

    Larson, Shawn E; Lowry, Dayv

    Sharks are iconic, sometimes apex, predators found in every ocean. Because of their ecological role as predators and concern over the stability of their populations, there has been an increasing amount of work focused on shark conservation around the world in recent decades. The populations of sharks that reside in the Northeast Pacific (NEP) Ocean bordering the west coast of the United States reside in one of the most economically and ecologically important oceanic regions in the world. Volume 78 of Advances in Marine Biology (AMB) is a companion to Volume 77, which focused primarily on NEP shark biodiversity, organismal biology, and ecology. Volume 78 highlights fisheries and the conservation implications of fisheries management; shark population modelling and the conservation impacts of these models given that many life history metrics of NEP sharks necessary to accurately run these models are still unknown; the value of captive sharks to the biology, outreach, and conservation of NEP sharks; and the conservation value of citizen science and shark ecotourism. Together these volumes encapsulate the current state of the knowledge for sharks in the NEP and lay the foundation for protecting, managing, and learning from these species in the face evolving natural conditions and societal opinions. © 2017 Elsevier Ltd All rights reserved.

  19. Applications of landscape genetics in conservation biology: concepts and challenges

    Treesearch

    Gernot Segelbacher; Samuel A. Cushman; Bryan K. Epperson; Marie-Josee Fortin; Olivier Francois; Olivier J. Hardy; Rolf Holderegger; Stephanie Manel

    2010-01-01

    Landscape genetics plays an increasingly important role in the management and conservation of species. Here, we highlight some of the opportunities and challenges in using landscape genetic approaches in conservation biology. We first discuss challenges related to sampling design and introduce several recent methodological developments in landscape genetics (analyses...

  20. Hindrance of conservation biology by delays in the submission of manuscripts.

    PubMed

    O'Donnell, Ryan P; Supp, Sarah R; Cobbold, Stephanie M

    2010-04-01

    Timely dissemination of scientific findings depends not only on rapid publication of submitted manuscripts, a topic which has received much discussion, but also on rapid submission of research after the research is completed. We measured submission delay (time from the last date of data collection to the submission of a manuscript) for every paper from 14 journals in 2007 and compared these submission delays among four fields of biology (conservation, taxonomy, behavior, and evolution). Manuscripts published in leading journals in the field of conservation biology have the longest delays in publication of accepted manuscripts and the longest intervals between completion of research and submission of the manuscript. Delay in manuscript submission accounts for more than half of the total time from last date of data collection to publication. Across fields, the number of authors was significantly negatively correlated with submission delay, but conservation journals had the second highest number of authors and the greatest submission delay, so submission of conservation manuscripts was not hindered by a shortage of collaboration relative to other fields. Rejection rates were greater in conservation journals than in behavior and evolution, but rejection times were faster; thus, there were no obvious net differences among fields in the time papers spent waiting to be rejected. Publication delay has been reduced significantly in the last 7 years, but was still greater in conservation journals than in any of the other three fields we studied. Thus, the urgent field of conservation biology is hindered in both preparation and publication of manuscripts.

  1. Conserved noncoding sequences conserve biological networks and influence genome evolution.

    PubMed

    Xie, Jianbo; Qian, Kecheng; Si, Jingna; Xiao, Liang; Ci, Dong; Zhang, Deqiang

    2018-05-01

    Comparative genomics approaches have identified numerous conserved cis-regulatory sequences near genes in plant genomes. Despite the identification of these conserved noncoding sequences (CNSs), our knowledge of their functional importance and selection remains limited. Here, we used a combination of DNA methylome analysis, microarray expression analyses, and functional annotation to study these sequences in the model tree Populus trichocarpa. Methylation in CG contexts and non-CG contexts was lower in CNSs, particularly CNSs in the 5'-upstream regions of genes, compared with other sites in the genome. We observed that CNSs are enriched in genes with transcription and binding functions, and this also associated with syntenic genes and those from whole-genome duplications, suggesting that cis-regulatory sequences play a key role in genome evolution. We detected a significant positive correlation between CNS number and protein interactions, suggesting that CNSs may have roles in the evolution and maintenance of biological networks. The divergence of CNSs indicates that duplication-degeneration-complementation drives the subfunctionalization of a proportion of duplicated genes from whole-genome duplication. Furthermore, population genomics confirmed that most CNSs are under strong purifying selection and only a small subset of CNSs shows evidence of adaptive evolution. These findings provide a foundation for future studies exploring these key genomic features in the maintenance of biological networks, local adaptation, and transcription.

  2. Synthetic biology and conservation of nature: wicked problems and wicked solutions.

    PubMed

    Redford, Kent H; Adams, William; Mace, Georgina M

    2013-01-01

    So far, conservation scientists have paid little attention to synthetic biology; this is unfortunate as the technology is likely to transform the operating space within which conservation functions, and therefore the prospects for maintaining biodiversity into the future.

  3. Problem-based learning through field investigation: Boosting questioning skill, biological literacy, and academic achievement

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Suwono, Hadi; Wibowo, Agung

    2018-01-01

    Biology learning emphasizes problem-based learning as a learning strategy to develop students ability in identifying and solving problems in the surrounding environment. Problem identification skills are closely correlated with questioning skills. By holding this skill, students tend to deliver a procedural question instead of the descriptive one. Problem-based learning through field investigation is an instruction model which directly exposes the students to problems or phenomena that occur in the environment, and then the students design the field investigation activities to solve these problems. The purpose of this research was to describe the improvement of undergraduate biology students on questioning skills, biological literacy, and academic achievement through problem-based learning through field investigation (PBFI) compared with the lecture-based instruction (LBI). This research was a time series quasi-experimental design. The research was conducted on August - December 2015 and involved 26 undergraduate biology students at the State University of Malang on the Freshwater Ecology course. The data were collected during the learning with LBI and PBFI, in which questioning skills, biological literacy, and academic achievement were collected 3 times in each learning model. The data showed that the procedural correlative and causal types of questions are produced by the students to guide them in conducting investigations and problem-solving in PBFI. The biological literacy and academic achievement of the students at PBFI are significantly higher than those at LBI. The results show that PBFI increases the questioning skill, biological literacy, and the academic achievement of undergraduate biology students.

  4. PDB-wide identification of biological assemblies from conserved quaternary structure geometry.

    PubMed

    Dey, Sucharita; Ritchie, David W; Levy, Emmanuel D

    2018-01-01

    Protein structures are key to understanding biomolecular mechanisms and diseases, yet their interpretation is hampered by limited knowledge of their biologically relevant quaternary structure (QS). A critical challenge in inferring QS information from crystallographic data is distinguishing biological interfaces from fortuitous crystal-packing contacts. Here, we tackled this problem by developing strategies for aligning and comparing QS states across both homologs and data repositories. QS conservation across homologs proved remarkably strong at predicting biological relevance and is implemented in two methods, QSalign and anti-QSalign, for annotating homo-oligomers and monomers, respectively. QS conservation across repositories is implemented in QSbio (http://www.QSbio.org), which approaches the accuracy of manual curation and allowed us to predict >100,000 QS states across the Protein Data Bank. Based on this high-quality data set, we analyzed pairs of structurally conserved interfaces, and this analysis revealed a striking plasticity whereby evolutionary distant interfaces maintain similar interaction geometries through widely divergent chemical properties.

  5. Identifying the role of conservation biology for solving the environmental crisis.

    PubMed

    Dalerum, Fredrik

    2014-11-01

    Humans are altering their living environment to an extent that could cause environmental collapse. Promoting change into environmental sustainability is therefore urgent. Despite a rapid expansion in conservation biology, appreciation of underlying causes and identification of long-term solutions have largely been lacking. I summarized knowledge regarding the environmental crisis, and argue that the most important contributions toward solutions come from economy, political sciences, and psychology. Roles of conservation biology include providing environmental protection until sustainable solutions have been found, evaluating the effectiveness of implemented solutions, and providing societies with information necessary to align effectively with environmental values. Because of the potential disciplinary discrepancy between finding long-term solutions and short-term protection, we may face critical trade-offs between allocations of resources toward achieving sustainability. Since biological knowledge is required for such trade-offs, an additional role for conservation biologists may be to provide guidance toward finding optimal strategies in such trade-offs.

  6. Reproductive science as an essential component of conservation biology.

    PubMed

    Holt, William V; Brown, Janine L; Comizzoli, Pierre

    2014-01-01

    In this chapter we argue that reproductive science in its broadest sense has never been more important in terms of its value to conservation biology, which itself is a synthetic and multidisciplinary topic. Over recent years the place of reproductive science in wildlife conservation has developed massively across a wide and integrated range of cutting edge topics. We now have unprecedented insight into the way that environmental change affects basic reproductive functions such as ovulation, sperm production, pregnancy and embryo development through previously unsuspected influences such as epigenetic modulation of the genome. Environmental change in its broadest sense alters the quality of foodstuffs that all animals need for reproductive success, changes the synchrony between breeding seasons and reproductive events, perturbs gonadal and embryo development through the presence of pollutants in the environment and drives species to adapt their behaviour and phenotype. In this book we explore many aspects of reproductive science and present wide ranging and up to date accounts of the scientific and technological advances that are currently enabling reproductive science to support conservation biology.

  7. Using Nonfiction Scientific Literature for Conservation Biology Education: The "Tigerland" Effect

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Neff, Paula Kleintjes; Weiss, Nicole M.; Middlesworth, Laura; Wierich, Joseph; Beilke, Elizabeth; Lee, Jacqueline; Rohlinger, Spencer; Pletzer, Joshua

    2017-01-01

    Despite the volume of research published and pedagogy practiced in conservation biology, there is little assessment of the effectiveness of pedagogical techniques for improving undergraduate conservation literacy and student engagement. We evaluated student responses (2009-2011) to reading "Tigerland and Other Unintended Destinations" by…

  8. Biodiversity, conservation biology, and rational choice.

    PubMed

    Frank, David

    2014-03-01

    This paper critically discusses two areas of Sahotra Sarkar's recent work in environmental philosophy: biodiversity and conservation biology and roles for decision theory in incorporating values explicitly in the environmental policy process. I argue that Sarkar's emphasis on the practices of conservation biologists, and especially the role of social and cultural values in the choice of biodiversity constituents, restricts his conception of biodiversity to particular practical conservation contexts. I argue that life scientists have many reasons to measure many types of diversity, and that biodiversity metrics could be value-free. I argue that Sarkar's emphasis on the limitations of normative decision theory is in tension with his statement that decision theory can "put science and ethics together." I also challenge his claim that multi-criteria decision tools lacking axiomatic foundations in preference and utility theory are "without a rational basis," by presenting a case of a simple "outranking" multi-criteria decision rule that can violate a basic normative requirement of preferences (transitivity) and ask whether there may nevertheless be contexts in which such a procedure might assist decision makers. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  9. Insights from life history theory for an explicit treatment of trade-offs in conservation biology.

    PubMed

    Charpentier, Anne

    2015-06-01

    As economic and social contexts become more embedded within biodiversity conservation, it becomes obvious that resources are a limiting factor in conservation. This recognition is leading conservation scientists and practitioners to increasingly frame conservation decisions as trade-offs between conflicting societal objectives. However, this framing is all too often done in an intuitive way, rather than by addressing trade-offs explicitly. In contrast, the concept of trade-off is a keystone in evolutionary biology, where it has been investigated extensively. I argue that insights from evolutionary theory can provide methodological and theoretical support to evaluating and quantifying trade-offs in biodiversity conservation. I reviewed the diverse ways in which trade-offs have emerged within the context of conservation and how advances from evolutionary theory can help avoid the main pitfalls of an implicit approach. When studying both evolutionary trade-offs (e.g., reproduction vs. survival) and conservation trade-offs (e.g., biodiversity conservation vs. agriculture), it is crucial to correctly identify the limiting resource, hold constant the amount of this resource when comparing different scenarios, and choose appropriate metrics to quantify the extent to which the objectives have been achieved. Insights from studies in evolutionary theory also reveal how an inadequate selection of conservation solutions may result from considering suboptimal rather than optional solutions when examining whether a trade-off exits between 2 objectives. Furthermore, the shape of a trade-off curve (i.e., whether the relationship between 2 objectives follows a concave, convex, or linear form) is known to affect crucially the definition of optimal solutions in evolutionary biology and very likely affects decisions in biodiversity conservation planning too. This interface between evolutionary biology and biodiversity conservation can therefore provide methodological guidance to

  10. Academically At-Risk Students' Perceptions of a Constructivist High School Biology Pedagogy

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Sweeney, Heidi

    2010-01-01

    Successful completion of the Living Environment, one state's high school biology course, is a state graduation requirement. The academically at-risk students enrolled in one suburban public high school had been disproportionately unsuccessful at achieving a passing grade in this course. In response, a constructivist biology curriculum was created…

  11. Integrating economic costs and biological traits into global conservation priorities for carnivores.

    PubMed

    Loyola, Rafael Dias; Oliveira-Santos, Luiz Gustavo Rodrigues; Almeida-Neto, Mário; Nogueira, Denise Martins; Kubota, Umberto; Diniz-Filho, José Alexandre Felizola; Lewinsohn, Thomas Michael

    2009-08-27

    Prioritization schemes usually highlight species-rich areas, where many species are at imminent risk of extinction. To be ecologically relevant these schemes should also include species biological traits into area-setting methods. Furthermore, in a world of limited funds for conservation, conservation action is constrained by land acquisition costs. Hence, including economic costs into conservation priorities can substantially improve their conservation cost-effectiveness. We examined four global conservation scenarios for carnivores based on the joint mapping of economic costs and species biological traits. These scenarios identify the most cost-effective priority sets of ecoregions, indicating best investment opportunities for safeguarding every carnivore species, and also establish priority sets that can maximize species representation in areas harboring highly vulnerable species. We compared these results with a scenario that minimizes the total number of ecoregions required for conserving all species, irrespective of other factors. We found that cost-effective conservation investments should focus on 41 ecoregions highlighted in the scenario that consider simultaneously both ecoregion vulnerability and economic costs of land acquisition. Ecoregions included in priority sets under these criteria should yield best returns of investments since they harbor species with high extinction risk and have lower mean land cost. Our study highlights ecoregions of particular importance for the conservation of the world's carnivores defining global conservation priorities in analyses that encompass socioeconomic and life-history factors. We consider the identification of a comprehensive priority-set of areas as a first step towards an in-situ biodiversity maintenance strategy.

  12. Selecting islands and shoals for conservation based on biological and aesthetic criteria

    USGS Publications Warehouse

    Knutson, M.G.; Leopold, D.J.; Smardon, R.C.

    1993-01-01

    Consideration of biological quality has long been an important component of rating areas for conservation. Often these same areas are highly valued by people for aesthetic reasons, creating demands for housing and recreation that may conflict with protection plans for these habitats. Most methods of selecting land for conservation purposes use biological factors alone. For some land areas, analysis of aesthetic qualities is also important in describing the scenic value of undisturbed land. A method for prioritizing small islands and shoals based on both biological and visual quality factors is presented here. The study included 169 undeveloped islands and shoals a??0.8 ha in the Thousand Islands Region of the St. Lawrence River, New York. Criteria such as critical habitat for uncommon plant and animal species were considered together with visual quality and incorporated into a rating system that ranked the islands and shoals according to their priority for conservation management and protection from development. Biological factors were determined based on previous research and a field survey. Visual quality was determined by visual diagnostic criteria developed from public responses to photographs of a sample of islands. Variables such as elevation, soil depth, and type of plant community can be used to classify islands into different categories of visual quality but are unsuccessful in classifying islands into categories of overall biological quality.

  13. Integrating population genetics and conservation biology in the era of genomics.

    PubMed

    Ouborg, N Joop

    2010-02-23

    As one of the final activities of the ESF-CONGEN Networking programme, a conference entitled 'Integrating Population Genetics and Conservation Biology' was held at Trondheim, Norway, from 23 to 26 May 2009. Conference speakers and poster presenters gave a display of the state-of-the-art developments in the field of conservation genetics. Over the five-year running period of the successful ESF-CONGEN Networking programme, much progress has been made in theoretical approaches, basic research on inbreeding depression and other genetic processes associated with habitat fragmentation and conservation issues, and with applying principles of conservation genetics in the conservation of many species. Future perspectives were also discussed in the conference, and it was concluded that conservation genetics is evolving into conservation genomics, while at the same time basic and applied research on threatened species and populations from a population genetic point of view continues to be emphasized.

  14. Integrating Economic Costs and Biological Traits into Global Conservation Priorities for Carnivores

    PubMed Central

    Loyola, Rafael Dias; Oliveira-Santos, Luiz Gustavo Rodrigues; Almeida-Neto, Mário; Nogueira, Denise Martins; Kubota, Umberto; Diniz-Filho, José Alexandre Felizola; Lewinsohn, Thomas Michael

    2009-01-01

    Background Prioritization schemes usually highlight species-rich areas, where many species are at imminent risk of extinction. To be ecologically relevant these schemes should also include species biological traits into area-setting methods. Furthermore, in a world of limited funds for conservation, conservation action is constrained by land acquisition costs. Hence, including economic costs into conservation priorities can substantially improve their conservation cost-effectiveness. Methodology/Principal Findings We examined four global conservation scenarios for carnivores based on the joint mapping of economic costs and species biological traits. These scenarios identify the most cost-effective priority sets of ecoregions, indicating best investment opportunities for safeguarding every carnivore species, and also establish priority sets that can maximize species representation in areas harboring highly vulnerable species. We compared these results with a scenario that minimizes the total number of ecoregions required for conserving all species, irrespective of other factors. We found that cost-effective conservation investments should focus on 41 ecoregions highlighted in the scenario that consider simultaneously both ecoregion vulnerability and economic costs of land acquisition. Ecoregions included in priority sets under these criteria should yield best returns of investments since they harbor species with high extinction risk and have lower mean land cost. Conclusions/Significance Our study highlights ecoregions of particular importance for the conservation of the world's carnivores defining global conservation priorities in analyses that encompass socioeconomic and life-history factors. We consider the identification of a comprehensive priority-set of areas as a first step towards an in-situ biodiversity maintenance strategy. PMID:19710911

  15. Whole-genome sequencing approaches for conservation biology: Advantages, limitations and practical recommendations.

    PubMed

    Fuentes-Pardo, Angela P; Ruzzante, Daniel E

    2017-10-01

    Whole-genome resequencing (WGR) is a powerful method for addressing fundamental evolutionary biology questions that have not been fully resolved using traditional methods. WGR includes four approaches: the sequencing of individuals to a high depth of coverage with either unresolved or resolved haplotypes, the sequencing of population genomes to a high depth by mixing equimolar amounts of unlabelled-individual DNA (Pool-seq) and the sequencing of multiple individuals from a population to a low depth (lcWGR). These techniques require the availability of a reference genome. This, along with the still high cost of shotgun sequencing and the large demand for computing resources and storage, has limited their implementation in nonmodel species with scarce genomic resources and in fields such as conservation biology. Our goal here is to describe the various WGR methods, their pros and cons and potential applications in conservation biology. WGR offers an unprecedented marker density and surveys a wide diversity of genetic variations not limited to single nucleotide polymorphisms (e.g., structural variants and mutations in regulatory elements), increasing their power for the detection of signatures of selection and local adaptation as well as for the identification of the genetic basis of phenotypic traits and diseases. Currently, though, no single WGR approach fulfils all requirements of conservation genetics, and each method has its own limitations and sources of potential bias. We discuss proposed ways to minimize such biases. We envision a not distant future where the analysis of whole genomes becomes a routine task in many nonmodel species and fields including conservation biology. © 2017 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

  16. Developing High Quality Decision-Making Discussions about Biological Conservation in a Normal Classroom Setting

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Grace, Marcus

    2009-01-01

    The conservation of biodiversity is an important socio-scientific issue that is often regarded as a precondition to sustainable development. The foundation for citizens' understanding of conservation issues can be laid down in formal school education. This research focuses on decision-making discussions about biological conservation issues among…

  17. Conservation Physiology and Conservation Pathogens: White-Nose Syndrome and Integrative Biology for Host-Pathogen Systems.

    PubMed

    Willis, Craig K R

    2015-10-01

    Conservation physiology aims to apply an understanding of physiological mechanisms to management of imperiled species, populations, or ecosystems. One challenge for physiologists hoping to apply their expertise to conservation is connecting the mechanisms we study, often in the laboratory, with the vital rates of populations in the wild. There is growing appreciation that infectious pathogens can threaten populations and species, and represent an important issue for conservation. Conservation physiology has much to offer in terms of addressing the threat posed to some host species by infectious pathogens. At the same time, the well-developed theoretical framework of disease ecology could provide a model to help advance the application of physiology to a range of other conservation issues. Here, I use white-nose syndrome (WNS) in hibernating North American bats as an example of a conservation problem for which integrative physiological research has been a critical part of research and management. The response to WNS highlights the importance of a well-developed theoretical framework for the application of conservation physiology to a particular threat. I review what is known about physiological mechanisms associated with mortality from WNS and emphasize the value of combining a strong theoretical background with integrative physiological studies in order to connect physiological mechanisms with population processes and thereby maximize the potential benefits of conservation physiology. © The Author 2015. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Society for Integrative and Comparative Biology. All rights reserved. For permissions please email: journals.permissions@oup.com.

  18. Use of inverse spatial conservation prioritization to avoid biological diversity loss outside protected areas.

    PubMed

    Kareksela, Santtu; Moilanen, Atte; Tuominen, Seppo; Kotiaho, Janne S

    2013-12-01

    Globally expanding human land use sets constantly increasing pressure for maintenance of biological diversity and functioning ecosystems. To fight the decline of biological diversity, conservation science has broken ground with methods such as the operational model of systematic conservation planning (SCP), which focuses on design and on-the-ground implementation of conservation areas. The most commonly used method in SCP is reserve selection that focuses on the spatial design of reserve networks and their expansion. We expanded these methods by introducing another form of spatial allocation of conservation effort relevant for land-use zoning at the landscape scale that avoids negative ecological effects of human land use outside protected areas. We call our method inverse spatial conservation prioritization. It can be used to identify areas suitable for economic development while simultaneously limiting total ecological and environmental effects of that development at the landscape level by identifying areas with highest economic but lowest ecological value. Our method is not based on a priori targets, and as such it is applicable to cases where the effects of land use on, for example, individual species or ecosystem types are relatively small and would not lead to violation of regional or national conservation targets. We applied our method to land-use allocation to peat mining. Our method identified a combination of profitable production areas that provides the needed area for peat production while retaining most of the landscape-level ecological value of the ecosystem. The results of this inverse spatial conservation prioritization are being used in land-use zoning in the province of Central Finland. © 2013 Society for Conservation Biology.

  19. Mutual benefits of research collaborations between zoos and academic institutions.

    PubMed

    Fernandez, Eduardo J; Timberlake, William

    2008-11-01

    Zoos focus on welfare, conservation, education, and research related to animals they keep. Academic institutions emphasize description, experimentation, modeling, and teaching of general and specific animal biology and behavior through work in both laboratory and field. The considerable overlap in concerns and methods has increased interest in collaborative projects, but there is ample room for closer and more extensive interactions. The purpose of this article is to increase awareness of potential research collaborations in three areas: (1) control and analysis of behavior, (2) conservation and propagation of species, and (3) education of students and the general public. In each area, we outline (a) research in zoos, (b) research in academics, and (c) potential collaborative efforts. Zoo Biol 27:470-487, 2008. (c) 2008 Wiley-Liss, Inc.

  20. Academically at-risk students' perceptions of a constructivist high school biology pedagogy

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Sweeney, Heidi

    Successful completion of the Living Environment, one state's high school biology course, is a state graduation requirement. The academically at-risk students enrolled in one suburban public high school had been disproportionately unsuccessful at achieving a passing grade in this course. In response, a constructivist biology curriculum was created to address the needs of at-risk students in a heterogeneous ability classroom. There is a gap in current research on students' perceptions of their learning experiences; consequently, the purpose of this phenomenological study was to obtain at-risk students' perceptions of a constructivist-based curriculum and to clarify what aspects of the Living Environment course assisted in their success. Eight academically at-risk students who successfully passed the Living Environment course were surveyed to seek their perceptions of the curricular and pedagogical change. These data were analyzed using the typological method with the inclusion of both inductive and predetermined categories. The students stated a preference for group work and active engagement. They also found that the binder system introduced in the course kept them better organized and helped them increase academic performance. Students perceived that effort was required but was rewarding. Findings derived from this study may contribute to social change by assisting teachers in tailoring curriculum and pedagogical decisions. This study provided a voice for the academically at-risk student and, in doing so, may contribute to social change by providing insight to teachers and administrators that can help students succeed academically, increase graduation rates, and enhance employment opportunities.

  1. Biology and conservation of owls of the Northern Hemisphere: 2nd International symposium

    Treesearch

    James R. Duncan; David H. Johnson; Thomas H. Nicholls

    1997-01-01

    The proceeding contains 91 papers authored by 143 people from 13 countries covering biology, ecology, monitoring, habitat-use, status conservation, education, genetics, toxicology, diet, migration, mortality and related topics concerning owls of the Northern Hemisphere. Thirty-three owl species are discussed. Information presented will be useful in owl conservation,...

  2. An overview of raptor biology and conservation in Latin America

    USGS Publications Warehouse

    Ellis, D.H.

    1985-01-01

    Prior to the last decade, biological studies of raptorial birds in Latin America were, with a few exceptions, nonexistent. For many species all that was known was the general range and habitat type. While the logistical and political challenges are still present, the last few years has seen the opening of a door to what will almost surely be a flood of scientific investigations. From over 40,000 ground miles traveled in 16 countries, field contact with over two thirds of the raptor species, and interviews with conservation officers in 10 nations, I will report on some raptor concentration areas, identify topics for future research, and generalize on raptor conservation issues. I will also briefly mention some recent biological studies and touch briefly on the challenges awaiting the biologist who tries his or her hand at reaping the rewards that are present in abundance for those who engage in raptor studies in Latin America.

  3. Literature review of giant gartersnake (Thamnophis gigas) biology and conservation

    USGS Publications Warehouse

    Halstead, Brian J.; Wylie, Glenn D.; Casazza, Michael L.

    2015-08-03

    This report reviews the available literature on giant gartersnakes (Thamnophis gigas) to compile existing information on this species and identify knowledge gaps that, if addressed, would help to inform conservation efforts for giant gartersnakes.  Giant gartersnakes comprise a species of semi-aquatic snake precinctive to wetlands in the Central Valley of California.  The diversion of surface water and conversion of wetlands to agricultural and other land uses resulted in the loss of more than 90 percent of natural giant gartersnake habitats.  Because of this habitat loss, giant gartersnakes are now listed by the United States and California Endangered Species Acts as Threatened.  Most extant populations occur in the rice-growing regions of the Sacramento Valley, which comprises the northern portion of the giant gartersnake’s former range.  The huge demand for water in California for agriculture, industry, recreation, and other human consumption, combined with periodic severe drought, places remaining giant gartersnake habitats at increased risk of degradation and loss.  This literature review summarizes the available information on giant gartersnake distribution, habitat relations, behavior, demography, and other aspects of its biology relevant to conservation.  This information is then compiled into a graphical conceptual model that indicates the importance of different aspects of giant gartersnake biology for maintaining positive population growth, and identifies those areas for which important information relevant for conservation is lacking.  Directing research efforts toward these aspects of giant gartersnake ecology will likely result in improvements to conserving this unique species while meeting the high demands for water in California.

  4. [Radar as imaging tool in ecology and conservation biology].

    PubMed

    Matyjasiak, Piotr

    2017-01-01

    Migrations and dispersal are among the most important ecological processes that shape ecosystems and influence our economy, health and safety. Movements of birds, bats and insects occur in a large spatial scale - regional, continental, or intercontinental. However, studies of these phenomena using classic methods are usually local. Breakthrough came with the development of radar technology, which enabled researchers to study animal movements in the atmosphere in a large spatial and temporal scale. The aim of this article was to present the radar imaging methods used in the research of aerial movements of birds, bats and insects. The types of radars used in research are described, and examples of the use of radar in basic research and in conservation biology are discussed. Radar visualizations are used in studies on the effect of meteorological conditions on bird migration, on spatial and temporal dynamics of movements of birds, bats and insects, and on the mechanism of orientation of migrating birds and insects. In conservation biology research radars are used in the monitoring of endangered species of birds and bats, to monitor bird activity at airports, as well as in assessing the impact of high constructions on flying birds and bats.

  5. Conservation without borders: building communication and action across disciplinary boundaries for effective conservation.

    PubMed

    Margles, Shawn W; Peterson, Richard B; Ervin, Jamison; Kaplin, Beth A

    2010-01-01

    Interdisciplinary approaches to conservation research and environmental management continue to garner interest among practitioners, academics, and students. Yet, cases of practitioners and researchers from different disciplines successfully working in concert towards an integrated conservation approach are rare. What is preventing practitioners of multiple disciplines from harmoniously working together? Why are practitioners and academics struggling to apply their graduate training to real world conservation? What is preventing the benefits of cooperation and partnerships between different disciplines addressing conservation from being realized? This special issue "Conservation without Borders: Building Communication and Action across Disciplinary Boundaries for Effective Conservation" asks readers to consider the numerous interpretations and implications of the phrase "Conservation without Borders" and to reflect on how different academic and disciplinary lenses can contribute to a more integrated approach to tackling conservation challenges. The articles that comprise this special issue offer readers insights into the ways in which different disciplines view conservation work and interdisciplinary approaches to environmental problems. Bringing these perspectives and approaches together in one place is a step towards improving communication across disciplines for the purpose of achieving more successful biodiversity conservation.

  6. Compendium of Immune Signatures Identifies Conserved and Species-Specific Biology in Response to Inflammation.

    PubMed

    Godec, Jernej; Tan, Yan; Liberzon, Arthur; Tamayo, Pablo; Bhattacharya, Sanchita; Butte, Atul J; Mesirov, Jill P; Haining, W Nicholas

    2016-01-19

    Gene-expression profiling has become a mainstay in immunology, but subtle changes in gene networks related to biological processes are hard to discern when comparing various datasets. For instance, conservation of the transcriptional response to sepsis in mouse models and human disease remains controversial. To improve transcriptional analysis in immunology, we created ImmuneSigDB: a manually annotated compendium of ∼5,000 gene-sets from diverse cell states, experimental manipulations, and genetic perturbations in immunology. Analysis using ImmuneSigDB identified signatures induced in activated myeloid cells and differentiating lymphocytes that were highly conserved between humans and mice. Sepsis triggered conserved patterns of gene expression in humans and mouse models. However, we also identified species-specific biological processes in the sepsis transcriptional response: although both species upregulated phagocytosis-related genes, a mitosis signature was specific to humans. ImmuneSigDB enables granular analysis of transcriptomic data to improve biological understanding of immune processes of the human and mouse immune systems. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  7. How Academe Shortchanges Conservative Thinking

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Bauerlein, Mark

    2006-01-01

    Notwithstanding the outcome of the recent election, in one respect, the last few decades mark a breakthrough era for conservative intellectuals. Their visibility has soared. Thirty years ago, the only place to find conservatives on television was Firing Line, William F. Buckley's urbane talk show. Today they appear on Meet the Press and 60…

  8. Conservation of Dynamics Associated with Biological Function in an Enzyme Superfamily.

    PubMed

    Narayanan, Chitra; Bernard, David N; Bafna, Khushboo; Gagné, Donald; Chennubhotla, Chakra S; Doucet, Nicolas; Agarwal, Pratul K

    2018-03-06

    Enzyme superfamily members that share common chemical and/or biological functions also share common features. While the role of structure is well characterized, the link between enzyme function and dynamics is not well understood. We present a systematic characterization of intrinsic dynamics of over 20 members of the pancreatic-type RNase superfamily, which share a common structural fold. This study is motivated by the fact that the range of chemical activity as well as molecular motions of RNase homologs spans over 10 5 folds. Dynamics was characterized using a combination of nuclear magnetic resonance experiments and computer simulations. Phylogenetic clustering led to the grouping of sequences into functionally distinct subfamilies. Detailed characterization of the diverse RNases showed conserved dynamical traits for enzymes within subfamilies. These results suggest that selective pressure for the conservation of dynamical behavior, among other factors, may be linked to the distinct chemical and biological functions in an enzyme superfamily. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  9. Merging paleobiology with conservation biology to guide the future of terrestrial ecosystems.

    PubMed

    Barnosky, Anthony D; Hadly, Elizabeth A; Gonzalez, Patrick; Head, Jason; Polly, P David; Lawing, A Michelle; Eronen, Jussi T; Ackerly, David D; Alex, Ken; Biber, Eric; Blois, Jessica; Brashares, Justin; Ceballos, Gerardo; Davis, Edward; Dietl, Gregory P; Dirzo, Rodolfo; Doremus, Holly; Fortelius, Mikael; Greene, Harry W; Hellmann, Jessica; Hickler, Thomas; Jackson, Stephen T; Kemp, Melissa; Koch, Paul L; Kremen, Claire; Lindsey, Emily L; Looy, Cindy; Marshall, Charles R; Mendenhall, Chase; Mulch, Andreas; Mychajliw, Alexis M; Nowak, Carsten; Ramakrishnan, Uma; Schnitzler, Jan; Das Shrestha, Kashish; Solari, Katherine; Stegner, Lynn; Stegner, M Allison; Stenseth, Nils Chr; Wake, Marvalee H; Zhang, Zhibin

    2017-02-10

    Conservation of species and ecosystems is increasingly difficult because anthropogenic impacts are pervasive and accelerating. Under this rapid global change, maximizing conservation success requires a paradigm shift from maintaining ecosystems in idealized past states toward facilitating their adaptive and functional capacities, even as species ebb and flow individually. Developing effective strategies under this new paradigm will require deeper understanding of the long-term dynamics that govern ecosystem persistence and reconciliation of conflicts among approaches to conserving historical versus novel ecosystems. Integrating emerging information from conservation biology, paleobiology, and the Earth sciences is an important step forward on the path to success. Maintaining nature in all its aspects will also entail immediately addressing the overarching threats of growing human population, overconsumption, pollution, and climate change. Copyright © 2017, American Association for the Advancement of Science.

  10. National report on sustainable forests—2015: conservation of biological diversity

    Treesearch

    Mark D. Nelson; Curtis Flather; Kurt H. Riitters; Carolyn Sieg; James D. Garner

    2015-01-01

    The National Report on Sustainable Forests—2015 relies on Montrèal Process Criteria and Indicators (C&I) for Forest Sustainability to organize and present data relevant to U.S. forests. The 2015 report addresses seven criteria, the first of which is Conservation of Biological Diversity, which is organized into nine indicators that address three sub-criteria:...

  11. High-resolution satellite imagery is an important yet underutilized resource in conservation biology.

    PubMed

    Boyle, Sarah A; Kennedy, Christina M; Torres, Julio; Colman, Karen; Pérez-Estigarribia, Pastor E; de la Sancha, Noé U

    2014-01-01

    Technological advances and increasing availability of high-resolution satellite imagery offer the potential for more accurate land cover classifications and pattern analyses, which could greatly improve the detection and quantification of land cover change for conservation. Such remotely-sensed products, however, are often expensive and difficult to acquire, which prohibits or reduces their use. We tested whether imagery of high spatial resolution (≤5 m) differs from lower-resolution imagery (≥30 m) in performance and extent of use for conservation applications. To assess performance, we classified land cover in a heterogeneous region of Interior Atlantic Forest in Paraguay, which has undergone recent and dramatic human-induced habitat loss and fragmentation. We used 4 m multispectral IKONOS and 30 m multispectral Landsat imagery and determined the extent to which resolution influenced the delineation of land cover classes and patch-level metrics. Higher-resolution imagery more accurately delineated cover classes, identified smaller patches, retained patch shape, and detected narrower, linear patches. To assess extent of use, we surveyed three conservation journals (Biological Conservation, Biotropica, Conservation Biology) and found limited application of high-resolution imagery in research, with only 26.8% of land cover studies analyzing satellite imagery, and of these studies only 10.4% used imagery ≤5 m resolution. Our results suggest that high-resolution imagery is warranted yet under-utilized in conservation research, but is needed to adequately monitor and evaluate forest loss and conversion, and to delineate potentially important stepping-stone fragments that may serve as corridors in a human-modified landscape. Greater access to low-cost, multiband, high-resolution satellite imagery would therefore greatly facilitate conservation management and decision-making.

  12. Book review: Conservation biology of Hawaiian forest birds: Implications for island avifauna

    USGS Publications Warehouse

    Engstrom, R. Todd; van Riper, Charles

    2010-01-01

    Review info: Conservation Biology of Hawaiian Forest Birds: Implications for Island Avifauna. By Thane K. Pratt, Carter T. Atkinson, Paul C. Banko, James D. Jacobi, and Bethany L. Woodworth, Eds., 2009. ISBN 978-0300141085, 707 pp.

  13. Comprehensive Academic Library Preservation and Conservation Activities Survey for Fiscal Year 1988-1989. (A Sabbatical Leave Project).

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Lamb, Robert Scott, II

    This report describes and presents the results of a survey designed to obtain information on the preservation and conservation policies and procedures, staff, facilities, and expenditures of 18 academic libraries in Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio. The goals of the survey were to inform each library surveyed of its strengths and weaknesses in the…

  14. Introduction to symposium: Arthropods and wildlife conservation: synergy in complex biological systems

    USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

    The symposium will discuss the effects of arthropods and other stressors on wildlife conservation programs. Speakers with affiliations in wildlife biology, parasitology and entomology will be included in the program. Research of national and international interest will be presented....

  15. A Card-Sorting Activity to Engage Students in the Academic Language of Biology

    PubMed Central

    WALLON, ROBERT C.; JASTI, CHANDANA; HUG, BARBARA

    2017-01-01

    The activity described in this article is designed to provide biology students with opportunities to engage in a range of academic language as they learn the discipline-specific meanings of the terms “drug,” “poison,” “toxicant,” and “toxin.” Although intended as part of an introductory lesson in a comprehensive unit for the high school level, this approach to teaching academic language can be adapted for use with older or younger students and can be modified to teach other terms. PMID:29307894

  16. Applied Biology and Chemistry. Course Materials: Chemistry 111, 112, 113, 114. Seattle Tech Prep Applied Academics Project.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    South Seattle Community Coll., Washington.

    This publication contains materials for four courses in Applied Biology/Chemistry in the Applied Academics program at South Seattle Community College. It begins with the article, "Community College Applied Academics: The State of the Art?" (George B. Neff), which describes the characteristics, model, courses, and coordination activity…

  17. The effects of academic literacy instruction on engagement and conceptual understanding of biology of ninth-grade students

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Larson, Susan C.

    Academic language, discourse, vocabulary, motivation, and comprehension of complex texts and concepts are keys to learning subject-area content. The need for a disciplinary literacy approach in high school classrooms accelerates as students become increasing disengaged in school and as content complexity increases. In the present quasi-experimental mixed-method study, a ninth-grade biology unit was designed with an emphasis on promoting academic literacy skills, discourse, meaningful constructivist learning, interest development, and positive learning experiences in order to learn science content. Quantitative and qualitative analyses on a variety of measures completed by 222 students in two high schools revealed that those who received academic literacy instruction in science class performed at significantly higher levels of conceptual understanding of biology content, academic language and vocabulary use, reasoned thought, engagement, and quality of learning experience than control-group students receiving traditionally-organized instruction. Academic literacy was embedded into biology instruction to engage students in meaning-making discourses of science to promote learning. Academic literacy activities were organized according the phases of interest development to trigger and sustain interest and goal-oriented engagement throughout the unit. Specific methods included the Generative Vocabulary Matrix (GVM), scenario-based writing, and involvement in a variety of strategically-placed discourse activities to sustain or "boost" engagement for learning. Traditional instruction for the control group included teacher lecture, whole-group discussion, a conceptual organizer, and textbook reading. Theoretical foundations include flow theory, sociocultural learning theory, and interest theory. Qualitative data were obtained from field notes and participants' journals. Quantitative survey data were collected and analyzed using the Experience Sampling Method (ESM) to

  18. Academic Performance and Learning Style Self-Predictions by Second Language Students in an Introductory Biology Course

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Breckler, Jennifer; Teoh, Chia Shan; Role, Kemi

    2011-01-01

    Academic success in first-year college science coursework can strongly influence future career paths and usually includes a solid performance in introductory biology. We wanted to know whether factors affecting biology student performance might include learning style preferences and one's ability and confidence in self-assessing those learning…

  19. Information on black-footed ferret biology collected within the framework of ferret conservation

    USGS Publications Warehouse

    Biggins, Dean E.

    2012-01-01

    Once feared to be extinct, black-footed ferrets (Mustela nigripes) were rediscovered near Meeteetse, Wyoming, in 1981, resulting in renewed conservation and research efforts for this highly endangered species. A need for information directly useful to recovery has motivated much monitoring of ferrets since that time, but field activities have enabled collection of data relevant to broader biological themes. This special feature is placed in a context of similar books and proceedings devoted to ferret biology and conservation. Articles include general observations on ferrets, modeling of potential impacts of ferrets on prairie dogs (Cynomys spp.), discussions on relationships of ferrets to prairie dog habitats at several spatial scales (from individual burrows to patches of burrow systems) and a general treatise on the status of black-footed ferret recovery.

  20. A view of the global conservation job market and how to succeed in it.

    PubMed

    Lucas, Jane; Gora, Evan; Alonso, Alfonso

    2017-12-01

    The high demand for conservation work is creating a need for conservation-focused training of scientists. Although many people with postsecondary degrees in biology are finding careers outside academia, many programs and mentors continue to prepare students to follow-in-the-footsteps of their professors. Unfortunately, information regarding how to prepare for today's conservation-based job market is limited in detail and scope. This problem is complicated by the differing needs of conservation organizations in both economically developed and developing regions worldwide. To help scientists identify the tools needed for conservation positions worldwide, we reviewed the current global conservation job market and identified skills required for success in careers in academia, government, nonprofit, and for-profit organizations. We also interviewed conservation professionals across all conservation sectors. Positions in nonprofit organizations were the most abundant, whereas academic jobs were only 10% of the current job market. The most common skills required across sectors were a strong disciplinary background, followed by analytical and technical skills. Academic positions differed the most from other types of positions in that they emphasized teaching as a top skill. Nonacademic jobs emphasized the need for excellent written and oral communication, as well as project-management experience. Furthermore, we found distinct differences across job locations. Positions in developing countries emphasized language and interpersonal skills, whereas positions in countries with advanced economies focused on publication history and technical skills. Our results were corroborated by the conservation professionals we interviewed. Based on our results, we compiled a nondefinitive list of conservation-based training programs that are likely to provide training for the current job market. Using the results of this study, scientists may be better able to tailor their training to

  1. Impact of biology knowledge on the conservation and management of large pelagic sharks.

    PubMed

    Yokoi, Hiroki; Ijima, Hirotaka; Ohshimo, Seiji; Yokawa, Kotaro

    2017-09-06

    Population growth rate, which depends on several biological parameters, is valuable information for the conservation and management of pelagic sharks, such as blue and shortfin mako sharks. However, reported biological parameters for estimating the population growth rates of these sharks differ by sex and display large variability. To estimate the appropriate population growth rate and clarify relationships between growth rate and relevant biological parameters, we developed a two-sex age-structured matrix population model and estimated the population growth rate using combinations of biological parameters. We addressed elasticity analysis and clarified the population growth rate sensitivity. For the blue shark, the estimated median population growth rate was 0.384 with a range of minimum and maximum values of 0.195-0.533, whereas those values of the shortfin mako shark were 0.102 and 0.007-0.318, respectively. The maturity age of male sharks had the largest impact for blue sharks, whereas that of female sharks had the largest impact for shortfin mako sharks. Hypotheses for the survival process of sharks also had a large impact on the population growth rate estimation. Both shark maturity age and survival rate were based on ageing validation data, indicating the importance of validating the quality of these data for the conservation and management of large pelagic sharks.

  2. Book review: Biology and conservation of martens, sables, and fishers: A new synthesis

    USGS Publications Warehouse

    Jenkins, Kurt J.

    2013-01-01

    Review info: Biology and conservation of martens, sables, and fishers: A new synthesis. Edited by K.B. Aubry, W.J. Zielinski, M.G. Raphael, G. Proulx, and S.W. Buskirk, 2012. ISBN: 978-08014, 580pp.

  3. A 2018 Horizon Scan of Emerging Issues for Global Conservation and Biological Diversity.

    PubMed

    Sutherland, William J; Butchart, Stuart H M; Connor, Ben; Culshaw, Caroline; Dicks, Lynn V; Dinsdale, Jason; Doran, Helen; Entwistle, Abigail C; Fleishman, Erica; Gibbons, David W; Jiang, Zhigang; Keim, Brandon; Roux, Xavier Le; Lickorish, Fiona A; Markillie, Paul; Monk, Kathryn A; Mortimer, Diana; Pearce-Higgins, James W; Peck, Lloyd S; Pretty, Jules; Seymour, Colleen L; Spalding, Mark D; Tonneijck, Femke H; Gleave, Rosalind A

    2018-01-01

    This is our ninth annual horizon scan to identify emerging issues that we believe could affect global biological diversity, natural capital and ecosystem services, and conservation efforts. Our diverse and international team, with expertise in horizon scanning, science communication, as well as conservation science, practice, and policy, reviewed 117 potential issues. We identified the 15 that may have the greatest positive or negative effects but are not yet well recognised by the global conservation community. Themes among these topics include new mechanisms driving the emergence and geographic expansion of diseases, innovative biotechnologies, reassessments of global change, and the development of strategic infrastructure to facilitate global economic priorities. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  4. Biological conservation law as an emerging functionality in dynamical neuronal networks.

    PubMed

    Podobnik, Boris; Jusup, Marko; Tiganj, Zoran; Wang, Wen-Xu; Buldú, Javier M; Stanley, H Eugene

    2017-11-07

    Scientists strive to understand how functionalities, such as conservation laws, emerge in complex systems. Living complex systems in particular create high-ordered functionalities by pairing up low-ordered complementary processes, e.g., one process to build and the other to correct. We propose a network mechanism that demonstrates how collective statistical laws can emerge at a macro (i.e., whole-network) level even when they do not exist at a unit (i.e., network-node) level. Drawing inspiration from neuroscience, we model a highly stylized dynamical neuronal network in which neurons fire either randomly or in response to the firing of neighboring neurons. A synapse connecting two neighboring neurons strengthens when both of these neurons are excited and weakens otherwise. We demonstrate that during this interplay between the synaptic and neuronal dynamics, when the network is near a critical point, both recurrent spontaneous and stimulated phase transitions enable the phase-dependent processes to replace each other and spontaneously generate a statistical conservation law-the conservation of synaptic strength. This conservation law is an emerging functionality selected by evolution and is thus a form of biological self-organized criticality in which the key dynamical modes are collective.

  5. Biological conservation law as an emerging functionality in dynamical neuronal networks

    PubMed Central

    Podobnik, Boris; Tiganj, Zoran; Wang, Wen-Xu; Buldú, Javier M.

    2017-01-01

    Scientists strive to understand how functionalities, such as conservation laws, emerge in complex systems. Living complex systems in particular create high-ordered functionalities by pairing up low-ordered complementary processes, e.g., one process to build and the other to correct. We propose a network mechanism that demonstrates how collective statistical laws can emerge at a macro (i.e., whole-network) level even when they do not exist at a unit (i.e., network-node) level. Drawing inspiration from neuroscience, we model a highly stylized dynamical neuronal network in which neurons fire either randomly or in response to the firing of neighboring neurons. A synapse connecting two neighboring neurons strengthens when both of these neurons are excited and weakens otherwise. We demonstrate that during this interplay between the synaptic and neuronal dynamics, when the network is near a critical point, both recurrent spontaneous and stimulated phase transitions enable the phase-dependent processes to replace each other and spontaneously generate a statistical conservation law—the conservation of synaptic strength. This conservation law is an emerging functionality selected by evolution and is thus a form of biological self-organized criticality in which the key dynamical modes are collective. PMID:29078286

  6. Quantifying conservation biological control for management of Bemisia tabaci (Hemiptera: Aleyrodidae) in cotton

    USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

    Conservation biological control can be an effective tactic for minimizing insect-induced damage to agricultural production. The most effective manner of applying CBC is through an Integrated Pest Management (IPM) strategy, combining many tactics including cultural controls, pest sampling, the use of...

  7. Assesment of Perceived Academic and Incentive Needs of Senior Secondary School Biology Teachers in Kwara State, Nigeria

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Ahmed, Mulkah Adebisi; Moradeyo, Ismail; Abimbola, Isaac Olakanmi

    2016-01-01

    The study investigated the Assessment of perceived academic and incentive needs of senior secondary school biology teachers in Kwara State, Nigeria. Stratified random sampling technique was used to select two hundred and fifty (250) biology teachers from the three senatorial district of Kwara State. A questionnaire was prepared, validated and used…

  8. Ecological restoration as a strategy for conserving biological diversity

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Jordan, William R.; Peters, Robert L.; Allen, Edith B.

    1988-01-01

    Though the restoration of disturbed ecosystems has so far played a relatively modest role in the effort to conserve biological diversity, there are reasons to suspect that its role will increase and that its contribution to the maintenance of diversity will ultimately prove crucial as techniques are further refined and as pristine areas for preservation become scarcer and more expensive. It is now possible to restore a number of North American communities with some confidence. However, it should be noted that many current efforts to return degraded lands to productive use, like attempts to reclaim land disturbed by mining, try only for rehabilitation to a socially acceptable condition and fall considerably short of actually restoring a native ecological community. Possible uses for restoration in the conservation of biodiversity include not only the creation of habitat on derelict sites, but also techniques for enlarging and redesigning existing reserves. Restoration may even make it possible to move reserves entirely in response to long-term events, such as changes in climate. Restoration in the form of reintroduction of single species to preexisting or restored habitat is also a critical link in programs to conserve species ex situ in the expectation of eventually returning them to the wild. And restoration provides opportunities to increase diversity through activities as diverse as management of utility corridors, transportation rights-of-way, and parks.

  9. Practical recommendations to help students bridge the research-implementation gap and promote conservation.

    PubMed

    Pietri, Diana M; Gurney, Georgina G; Benitez-Vina, Nancy; Kuklok, Audrey; Maxwell, Sara M; Whiting, Libby; Vina, Michael A; Jenkins, Lekelia D

    2013-10-01

    Seasoned conservation researchers often struggle to bridge the research-implementation gap and promote the translation of their work into meaningful conservation actions. Graduate students face the same problems and must contend with obstacles such as limited opportunities for relevant interdisciplinary training and a lack of institutional support for application of research results. However, students also have a crucial set of opportunities (e.g., access to academic resources outside their degree programs and opportunities to design research projects promoting collaboration with stakeholders) at their disposal to address these problems. On the basis of results of breakout discussions at a symposium on the human dimensions of the ocean, a review of the literature, and our own experiences, we devised recommendations on how graduate students can create resources within their academic institutions, institutionalize resources, and engage with stakeholders to promote real-world conservation outcomes. Within their academic institutions, graduate students should foster links to practitioners and promote knowledge and skill sharing among students. To institutionalize resources, students should cultivate student leaders and faculty sponsors, systematically document their program activities, and engage in strategic planning to promote the sustainability of their efforts. While conducting research, students should create connections to and engage actively with stakeholders in their relevant study areas and disseminate research results both to stakeholders and the broader public. Our recommendations can serve as a template for graduate students wishing to bridge the research-implementation gap, both during their current studies and in their future careers as conservation researchers and practitioners. © 2013 Society for Conservation Biology.

  10. Environmental philosophy 2.0: ethics and conservation biology for the 21st century.

    PubMed

    Odenbaugh, Jay

    2014-03-01

    In this essay, I critically engage Sahotra Sarkar's Environmental Philosophy. The several topics include the conceptual foundations of conservation biology and traditional philosophy of science, naturalism and its implications, and ethical theory and specifically the status of human welfare. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  11. Contributions of Academic Labs to the Discovery and Development of Chemical Biology Tools

    PubMed Central

    Huryn, Donna M.; Resnick, Lynn O.; Wipf, Peter

    2013-01-01

    The academic setting provides an environment that may foster success in the discovery of certain types of small molecule tools, while proving less suitable in others. For example, small molecule probes for poorly understood systems, those that exploit a specific resident expertise, and those whose commercial return is not apparent are ideally suited to be pursued in a university setting. In this perspective, we highlight five projects that emanated from academic research groups and generated valuable tool compounds that have been used to interrogate biological phenomena: Reactive oxygen species (ROS) sensors, GPR30 agonists and antagonists, selective CB2 agonists, Hsp70 modulators and beta-amyloid PET imaging agents. By continuing to take advantage of the unique expertise resident in university settings, and the ability to pursue novel projects that may have great scientific value, but limited or no immediate commercial value, probes from academic research groups continue to provide useful tools and generate a long-term resource for biomedical researchers. PMID:23672690

  12. Contributions of academic laboratories to the discovery and development of chemical biology tools.

    PubMed

    Huryn, Donna M; Resnick, Lynn O; Wipf, Peter

    2013-09-26

    The academic setting provides an environment that may foster success in the discovery of certain types of small molecule tools while proving less suitable in others. For example, small molecule probes for poorly understood systems, those that exploit a specific resident expertise, and those whose commercial return is not apparent are ideally suited to be pursued in a university setting. In this review, we highlight five projects that emanated from academic research groups and generated valuable tool compounds that have been used to interrogate biological phenomena: reactive oxygen species (ROS) sensors, GPR30 agonists and antagonists, selective CB2 agonists, Hsp70 modulators, and β-amyloid PET imaging agents. By taking advantage of the unique expertise resident in university settings and the ability to pursue novel projects that may have great scientific value but with limited or no immediate commercial value, probes from academic research groups continue to provide useful tools and generate a long-term resource for biomedical researchers.

  13. Biology and conservation of Xantus's Murrelet: Discovery, taxonomy and distribution

    USGS Publications Warehouse

    Carter, Harry R.; Sealy, Spencer G.; Burkett, Esther E.; Piatt, John F.

    2005-01-01

    The biology of Xantus's Murrelets Synthliboramphus hypoleucus is similar in many respects to better-studied Ancient Murrelets S. antiquus, especially regarding morphology and the species' precocial mode of post-hatching development. It nests mainly in rock crevices but also under shrubs on islands in southern California, United States, and northwestern Baja California, Mexico (27oN to 34oN). The species was discovered in 1859 by Janos Xantus. Two subspecies (S. h. hypoleucus and S. h. scrippsi) are recognized that show limited evidence of interbreeding. At sea, closely related Craveri's Murrelets S. craveri co-occur with Xantus's Murrelets off California and western Baja California during half the year, but the former species has a discrete breeding range in the Gulf of California, Mexico. Breeding was documented at 13 island groups between 1863 and 1976. Post-breeding dispersal as far north as central British Columbia, Canada (c. 52oN) was observed in the 1940s to 1960s. A few Xantus's Murrelets disperse south of breeding colonies to Magdalena Bay, Baja California (c. 24oN). The southernmost record is the type specimen collected by Xantus near Cabo San Lucas, Baja California (c. 23oN). Chief threats to this species include introduced mammalian predators on breeding islands, heightened predation by natural predators in human-modified island habitats, and oil pollution. In January 2005, a Pacific Seabird Group special symposium, "Biology and conservation of the Xantus's Murrelet," highlighted conservation concerns and promoted publication of recent studies of this little-known alcid, with nine symposium papers published in this issue of Marine Ornithology. Much of what we know about Xantus's Murrelets has been learned in recent years, and many aspects of biology remain to be described.

  14. Niche conservatism as an emerging principle in ecology and conservation biology.

    PubMed

    Wiens, John J; Ackerly, David D; Allen, Andrew P; Anacker, Brian L; Buckley, Lauren B; Cornell, Howard V; Damschen, Ellen I; Jonathan Davies, T; Grytnes, John-Arvid; Harrison, Susan P; Hawkins, Bradford A; Holt, Robert D; McCain, Christy M; Stephens, Patrick R

    2010-10-01

    The diversity of life is ultimately generated by evolution, and much attention has focused on the rapid evolution of ecological traits. Yet, the tendency for many ecological traits to instead remain similar over time [niche conservatism (NC)] has many consequences for the fundamental patterns and processes studied in ecology and conservation biology. Here, we describe the mounting evidence for the importance of NC to major topics in ecology (e.g. species richness, ecosystem function) and conservation (e.g. climate change, invasive species). We also review other areas where it may be important but has generally been overlooked, in both ecology (e.g. food webs, disease ecology, mutualistic interactions) and conservation (e.g. habitat modification). We summarize methods for testing for NC, and suggest that a commonly used and advocated method (involving a test for phylogenetic signal) is potentially problematic, and describe alternative approaches. We suggest that considering NC: (1) focuses attention on the within-species processes that cause traits to be conserved over time, (2) emphasizes connections between questions and research areas that are not obviously related (e.g. invasives, global warming, tropical richness), and (3) suggests new areas for research (e.g. why are some clades largely nocturnal? why do related species share diseases?). 2010 Blackwell Publishing Ltd/CNRS.

  15. Brown spider (Loxosceles genus) venom toxins: Evaluation of biological conservation by immune cross-reactivity.

    PubMed

    Buch, Daniela Regina; Souza, Fernanda Nunes; Meissner, Gabriel Otto; Morgon, Adriano Marcelo; Gremski, Luiza Helena; Ferrer, Valéria Pereira; Trevisan-Silva, Dilza; Matsubara, Fernando Hitomi; Boia-Ferreira, Mariana; Sade, Youssef Bacila; Chaves-Moreira, Daniele; Gremski, Waldemiro; Veiga, Silvio Sanches; Chaim, Olga Meiri; Senff-Ribeiro, Andrea

    2015-12-15

    Loxosceles spiders are responsible for serious human envenomations worldwide. The collection of symptoms found in victims after accidents is called loxoscelism and is characterized by two clinical conditions: cutaneous loxoscelism and systemic loxocelism. The only specific treatment is serum therapy, in which an antiserum produced with Loxosceles venom is administered to the victims after spider accidents. Our aim was to improve our knowledge, regarding the immunological relationship among toxins from the most epidemiologic important species in Brazil (Loxosceles intermedia, Loxosceles gaucho and Loxosceles laeta). Immunoassays using spider venoms and L. intermedia recombinant toxins were performed and their cross-reactivity assessed. The biological conservation of the main Loxosceles toxins (Phospholipases-D, Astacin-like metalloproteases, Hyaluronidase, ICK-insecticide peptide and TCTP-histamine releasing factor) were investigated. An in silico analysis of the putative epitopes was performed and is discussed on the basis of the experimental results. Our data is an immunological investigation in light of biological conservation throughout the Loxosceles genus. The results bring out new insights on brown spider venom toxins for study, diagnosis and treatment of loxoscelism and putative biotechnological applications concerning immune conserved features in the toxins. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  16. A 2017 Horizon Scan of Emerging Issues for Global Conservation and Biological Diversity.

    PubMed

    Sutherland, William J; Barnard, Phoebe; Broad, Steven; Clout, Mick; Connor, Ben; Côté, Isabelle M; Dicks, Lynn V; Doran, Helen; Entwistle, Abigail C; Fleishman, Erica; Fox, Marie; Gaston, Kevin J; Gibbons, David W; Jiang, Zhigang; Keim, Brandon; Lickorish, Fiona A; Markillie, Paul; Monk, Kathryn A; Pearce-Higgins, James W; Peck, Lloyd S; Pretty, Jules; Spalding, Mark D; Tonneijck, Femke H; Wintle, Bonnie C; Ockendon, Nancy

    2017-01-01

    We present the results of our eighth annual horizon scan of emerging issues likely to affect global biological diversity, the environment, and conservation efforts in the future. The potential effects of these novel issues might not yet be fully recognized or understood by the global conservation community, and the issues can be regarded as both opportunities and risks. A diverse international team with collective expertise in horizon scanning, science communication, and conservation research, practice, and policy reviewed 100 potential issues and identified 15 that qualified as emerging, with potential substantial global effects. These issues include new developments in energy storage and fuel production, sand extraction, potential solutions to combat coral bleaching and invasive marine species, and blockchain technology. Copyright © 2016 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.

  17. From access to success in science: An academic-student affairs intervention for undergraduate freshmen biology students

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Aldridge, Jacqueline Nouvelle

    The first year experience is known to present an array of challenges for traditional college students. In particular, freshmen who major in a STEM discipline have their own unique set of challenges when they transition from high school science and math to college science and math; especially chemistry. As a result, students may encounter negative experiences which lower academic and social confidence. This project was designed as a pilot study intervention for a small group of freshmen biology students who were considered academically at-risk due their math SAT scores. The study occurred during the fall semester involving an enhanced active learning component based on the Peer-led Team Learning (PLTL) general chemistry supplemental pedagogy model, and a biology-focused First Year Experience (FYE). PLTL workshops took place in freshmen residence halls, creating a live-n-learn community environment. Mid-term and final chemistry grades and final math grades were collected to measure academic progress. Self-reporting surveys and journals were used to encourage participants to reconstruct their experiences and perceptions of the study. Descriptive analysis was performed to measure statistical significance between midterm and final grade performance, and a general inductive qualitative method was used to determine academic and social confidence as well as experiences and perceptions of the project. Findings of this project revealed a statistically significant improvement between chemistry midterm and final grades of the sample participants. Although academic confidence did not increase, results reveal that social confidence progressed as the majority of students developed a value for studying in groups.

  18. The effect of graphic organizers on students' attitudes and academic performance in undergraduate general biology

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Cleveland, Lacy

    High attrition among undergraduate Science Technology Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) majors has led national and business leaders in the United States to call for both research and educational reform within the collegiate STEM classrooms. Included among suggestions for reform are ideas to improve retention of first-year students and to improve critical thinking and depth of knowledge, instead of covering large quantities of materials. Past research on graphic organizers suggest these tools assist students in learning information and facilitate conceptual and critical thinking. Despite their widespread use in high school science departments, collegiate humanities departments, and even medical schools, their use is considerably less prevalent in the undergraduate biology classroom. In addition to their lack of use, little research has been conducted on their academic benefits in the collegiate classroom. Based on national calls for improving retention among undergraduate STEM majors and research suggesting that academic success during an individual first major's related course highly determine if that individual will continue on in their intended major, the researcher of this dissertation chose to conduct research on an introductory general biology class. Using both quantitative and qualitative methods, the research in this dissertation examines the effectiveness of graphic organizers in promoting academic success and also examines their influence on student attitudes. This research is grounded in the theories of constructivism and cognitive load theory. Constructivism suggests that individuals must build their knowledge from their personal experiences, while the cognitive load theory recognizes the limited nature of one's working memory and suggests that instructional practices minimize cognitive overload. The results of this dissertation suggest that the use of graphic organizers in an undergraduate general biology classroom can increase students' academic

  19. Prioritizing conservation effort through the use of biological soil crusts as ecosystem function indicators in an arid region

    USGS Publications Warehouse

    Bowker, M.A.; Miller, M.E.; Belnap, J.; Sisk, T.D.; Johnson, N.C.

    2008-01-01

    Conservation prioritization usually focuses on conservation of rare species or biodiversity, rather than ecological processes. This is partially due to a lack of informative indicators of ecosystem function. Biological soil crusts (BSCs) trap and retain soil and water resources in arid ecosystems and function as major carbon and nitrogen fixers; thus, they may be informative indicators of ecosystem function. We created spatial models of multiple indicators of the diversity and function of BSCs (species richness, evenness, functional diversity, functional redundancy, number of rare species, number of habitat specialists, nitrogen and carbon fixation indices, soil stabilization, and surface roughening) for the 800,000-ha Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument (Utah, U.S.A.). We then combined the indicators into a single BSC function map and a single BSC biodiversity map (2 alternative types of conservation value) with an unweighted averaging procedure and a weighted procedure derived from validations performance. We also modeled potential degradation with data from a rangeland assessment survey. To determine which areas on the landscape were the highest conservation priorities, we overlaid the function- and diversity-based conservation-value layers on the potential degradation layer. Different methods for ascribing conservation-value and conservation-priority layers all yielded strikingly similar results (r = 0.89-0.99), which suggests that in this case biodiversity and function can be conserved simultaneously. We believe BSCs can be used as indicators of ecosystem function in concert with other indicators (such as plant-community properties) and that such information can be used to prioritize conservation effort in drylands. ?? 2008 Society for Conservation Biology.

  20. Strategic Grassland Bird Conservation throughout the Annual Cycle: Linking Policy Alternatives, Landowner Decisions, and Biological Population Outcomes.

    PubMed

    Drum, Ryan G; Ribic, Christine A; Koch, Katie; Lonsdorf, Eric; Grant, Evan; Ahlering, Marissa; Barnhill, Laurel; Dailey, Thomas; Lor, Socheata; Mueller, Connie; Pavlacky, David C; Rideout, Catherine; Sample, David

    2015-01-01

    Grassland bird habitat has declined substantially in the United States. Remaining grasslands are increasingly fragmented, mostly privately owned, and vary greatly in terms of habitat quality and protection status. A coordinated strategic response for grassland bird conservation is difficult, largely due to the scope and complexity of the problem, further compounded by biological, sociological, and economic uncertainties. We describe the results from a collaborative Structured Decision Making (SDM) workshop focused on linking social and economic drivers of landscape change to grassland bird population outcomes. We identified and evaluated alternative strategies for grassland bird conservation using a series of rapid prototype models. We modeled change in grassland and agriculture cover in hypothetical landscapes resulting from different landowner decisions in response to alternative socio-economic conservation policy decisions. Resulting changes in land cover at all three stages of the annual cycle (breeding, wintering, and migration) were used to estimate changes in grassland bird populations. Our results suggest that successful grassland bird conservation may depend upon linkages with ecosystem services on working agricultural lands and grassland-based marketing campaigns to engage the public. With further development, spatial models that link landowner decisions with biological outcomes can be essential tools for making conservation policy decisions. A coordinated non-traditional partnership will likely be necessary to clearly understand and systematically respond to the many conservation challenges facing grassland birds.

  1. Strategic Grassland Bird Conservation throughout the Annual Cycle: Linking Policy Alternatives, Landowner Decisions, and Biological Population Outcomes

    PubMed Central

    Drum, Ryan G.; Ribic, Christine A.; Koch, Katie; Lonsdorf, Eric; Grant, Evan; Ahlering, Marissa; Barnhill, Laurel; Dailey, Thomas; Lor, Socheata; Mueller, Connie; Pavlacky, David C.; Rideout, Catherine; Sample, David

    2015-01-01

    Grassland bird habitat has declined substantially in the United States. Remaining grasslands are increasingly fragmented, mostly privately owned, and vary greatly in terms of habitat quality and protection status. A coordinated strategic response for grassland bird conservation is difficult, largely due to the scope and complexity of the problem, further compounded by biological, sociological, and economic uncertainties. We describe the results from a collaborative Structured Decision Making (SDM) workshop focused on linking social and economic drivers of landscape change to grassland bird population outcomes. We identified and evaluated alternative strategies for grassland bird conservation using a series of rapid prototype models. We modeled change in grassland and agriculture cover in hypothetical landscapes resulting from different landowner decisions in response to alternative socio-economic conservation policy decisions. Resulting changes in land cover at all three stages of the annual cycle (breeding, wintering, and migration) were used to estimate changes in grassland bird populations. Our results suggest that successful grassland bird conservation may depend upon linkages with ecosystem services on working agricultural lands and grassland-based marketing campaigns to engage the public. With further development, spatial models that link landowner decisions with biological outcomes can be essential tools for making conservation policy decisions. A coordinated non-traditional partnership will likely be necessary to clearly understand and systematically respond to the many conservation challenges facing grassland birds. PMID:26569108

  2. Strategic Grassland Bird Conservation throughout the annual cycle: Linking policy alternatives, landowner decisions, and biological population outcomes

    USGS Publications Warehouse

    Drum, Ryan G.; Ribic, Christine; Koch, Katie; Lonsdorf, Eric V.; Grant, Edward C.; Ahlering, Marissa; Barnhill, Laurel; Dailey, Thomas; Lor, Socheata; Mueller, Connie; Pavlacky, D.C.; Rideout, Catherine; Sample, David W.

    2015-01-01

    Grassland bird habitat has declined substantially in the United States. Remaining grasslands are increasingly fragmented, mostly privately owned, and vary greatly in terms of habitat quality and protection status. A coordinated strategic response for grassland bird conservation is difficult, largely due to the scope and complexity of the problem, further compounded by biological, sociological, and economic uncertainties. We describe the results from a collaborative Structured Decision Making (SDM) workshop focused on linking social and economic drivers of landscape change to grassland bird population outcomes. We identified and evaluated alternative strategies for grassland bird conservation using a series of rapid prototype models. We modeled change in grassland and agriculture cover in hypothetical landscapes resulting from different landowner decisions in response to alternative socio-economic conservation policy decisions. Resulting changes in land cover at all three stages of the annual cycle (breeding, wintering, and migration) were used to estimate changes in grassland bird populations. Our results suggest that successful grassland bird conservation may depend upon linkages with ecosystem services on working agricultural lands and grassland-based marketing campaigns to engage the public. With further development, spatial models that link landowner decisions with biological outcomes can be essential tools for making conservation policy decisions. A coordinated non-traditional partnership will likely be necessary to clearly understand and systematically respond to the many conservation challenges facing grassland birds.

  3. Dawning of Herpetological Conservation and Biology: A special welcome to your new journal

    USGS Publications Warehouse

    Bury, R. Bruce; McCallum, Malcolm L.; Trauth, Stanley E.; Saumure, Raymond A.

    2006-01-01

    Inception of a new journal in herpetology is a rare event. The first discussion of developing a journal with an emphasis on natural history and conservation occurred among a subset of us (McCallum, others), while at the 2005 joint annual meeting of the SSAR/HL/ASIH in Tampa, Florida. Some of the initial questions we posed for a new herpetological journal were as follows: (1) is there a need; (2) audience; and (3) support? If any one of these did not exist, then the concept should be abandoned or modified. We critically examined these questions through discussions with many individuals and informal surveys performed on the Partners in Amphibian and Reptile Conservation (PARC) listserver (parc@listserv.uga.edu) and other forums. Early on, it was obvious to us that there was strong demand for an outlet serving natural history, field ecology and conservation studies, especially descriptive investigations and management case studies that appeared to lack a home in other journals. The road traveled since those discussions has been fast paced, culminating in this 2006 launch of Herpetological Conservation and Biology (HCB).

  4. Conservation Compromises: The MAB and the Legacy of the International Biological Program, 1964-1974.

    PubMed

    Schleper, Simone

    2017-02-01

    This article looks at the International Biological Program (IBP) as the predecessor of UNESCO's well-known and highly successful Man and the Biosphere Programme (MAB). It argues that international conservation efforts of the 1970s, such as the MAB, must in fact be understood as a compound of two opposing attempts to reform international conservation in the 1960s. The scientific framework of the MAB has its origins in disputes between high-level conservationists affiliated with the International Union for the Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources (IUCN) about what the IBP meant for the future of conservation. Their respective visions entailed different ecological philosophies as much as diverging sets of political ideologies regarding the global implementation of conservation. Within the IBP's Conservation Section, one group propagated a universal systems approach to conservation with a centralized, technocratic management of nature and society by an elite group of independent scientific experts. Within IUCN, a second group based their notion of environmental expert roles on a more descriptive and local ecology of resource mapping as practiced by UNESCO. When the IBP came to an end in 1974, both groups' ecological philosophies played into the scientific framework underlying the MAB's World Network or Biosphere Reserves. The article argues that it is impossible to understand the course of conservation within the MAB without studying the dynamics and discourses between the two underlying expert groups and their respective visions for reforming conservation.

  5. Cost-effective scat-detection dogs: unleashing a powerful new tool for international mammalian conservation biology.

    PubMed

    Orkin, Joseph D; Yang, Yuming; Yang, Chunyan; Yu, Douglas W; Jiang, Xuelong

    2016-10-10

    Recently, detection dogs have been utilized to collect fecal samples from cryptic and rare mammals. Despite the great promise of this technique for conservation biology, its broader application has been limited by the high cost (tens to hundreds of thousands of dollars) and logistical challenges of employing a scat-detection dog team while conducting international, collaborative research. Through an international collaboration of primatologists and the Chinese Ministry of Public Security, we trained and used a detection dog to find scat from three species of unhabituated, free-ranging primates, for less than $3,000. We collected 137 non-human primate fecal samples that we confirmed by sequencing taxonomically informative genetic markers. Our detection dog team had a 92% accuracy rate, significantly outperforming our human-only team. Our results demonstrate that detection dogs can locate fecal samples from unhabituated primates with variable diets, locomotion, and grouping patterns, despite challenging field conditions. We provide a model for in-country training, while also building local capacity for conservation and genetic monitoring. Unlike previous efforts, our approach will allow for the wide adoption of scat-detection dogs in international conservation biology.

  6. Cost-effective scat-detection dogs: unleashing a powerful new tool for international mammalian conservation biology

    PubMed Central

    Orkin, Joseph D.; Yang, Yuming; Yang, Chunyan; Yu, Douglas W.; Jiang, Xuelong

    2016-01-01

    Recently, detection dogs have been utilized to collect fecal samples from cryptic and rare mammals. Despite the great promise of this technique for conservation biology, its broader application has been limited by the high cost (tens to hundreds of thousands of dollars) and logistical challenges of employing a scat-detection dog team while conducting international, collaborative research. Through an international collaboration of primatologists and the Chinese Ministry of Public Security, we trained and used a detection dog to find scat from three species of unhabituated, free-ranging primates, for less than $3,000. We collected 137 non-human primate fecal samples that we confirmed by sequencing taxonomically informative genetic markers. Our detection dog team had a 92% accuracy rate, significantly outperforming our human-only team. Our results demonstrate that detection dogs can locate fecal samples from unhabituated primates with variable diets, locomotion, and grouping patterns, despite challenging field conditions. We provide a model for in-country training, while also building local capacity for conservation and genetic monitoring. Unlike previous efforts, our approach will allow for the wide adoption of scat-detection dogs in international conservation biology. PMID:27721442

  7. A small-scale land-sparing approach to conserving biological diversity in tropical agricultural landscapes

    Treesearch

    Richard B. Chandler; David I. King; Raul Raudales; Richard Trubey; Carlin Chandler; Víctor Julio Arce Chávez

    2013-01-01

    Two contrasting strategies have been proposed for conserving biological diversity while meeting the increasing demand for agricultural products: land sparing and land sharing production systems. Land sparing involves increasing yield to reduce the amount of land needed for agriculture, whereas land-sharing agricultural practices incorporate elements of native...

  8. The Emory Chemical Biology Discovery Center: leveraging academic innovation to advance novel targets through HTS and beyond.

    PubMed

    Johns, Margaret A; Meyerkord-Belton, Cheryl L; Du, Yuhong; Fu, Haian

    2014-03-01

    The Emory Chemical Biology Discovery Center (ECBDC) aims to accelerate high throughput biology and translation of biomedical research discoveries into therapeutic targets and future medicines by providing high throughput research platforms to scientific collaborators worldwide. ECBDC research is focused at the interface of chemistry and biology, seeking to fundamentally advance understanding of disease-related biology with its HTS/HCS platforms and chemical tools, ultimately supporting drug discovery. Established HTS/HCS capabilities, university setting, and expertise in diverse assay formats, including protein-protein interaction interrogation, have enabled the ECBDC to contribute to national chemical biology efforts, empower translational research, and serve as a training ground for young scientists. With these resources, the ECBDC is poised to leverage academic innovation to advance biology and therapeutic discovery.

  9. Managing biological diversity

    USGS Publications Warehouse

    Samson, Fred B.; Knopf, Fritz L.

    1993-01-01

    Biological diversity is the variety of life and accompanying ecological processes (Off. Technol. Assess. 1987, Wilcove and Samson 1987, Keystone 1991). Conservation of biological diversity is a major environmental issue (Wilson 1988, Counc. Environ. Quality 1991). The health and future of the earth's ecological systems (Lubchenco et al. 1991), global climate change (Botkin 1990), and an ever-increasing rate in loss of species, communities, and ecological systems (Myers 1990) are among issues drawing biological diversity to the mainstream of conservation worldwide (Int. Union Conserv. Nat. and Nat. Resour. [IUCN] et al. 1991). The legal mandate for conserving biological diversity is now in place (Carlson 1988, Doremus 1991). More than 19 federal laws govern the use of biological resources in the United States (Rein 1991). The proposed National Biological Diversity Conservation and Environmental Research Act (H.R. 585 and S.58) notes the need for a national biological diversity policy, would create a national center for biological diversity research, and recommends a federal interagency strategy for ecosystem conservation. There are, however, hard choices ahead for the conservation of biological diversity, and biologists are grappling with how to set priorities in research and management (Roberts 1988). We sense disillusion among field biologists and managers relative to how to operationally approach the seemingly overwhelming charge of conserving biological diversity. Biologists also need to respond to critics like Hunt (1991) who suggest a tree farm has more biological diversity than an equal area of old-growth forest. At present, science has played only a minor role in the conservation of biological diversity (Weston 1992) with no unified approach available to evaluate strategies and programs that address the quality and quantity of biological diversity (Murphy 1990, Erwin 1992). Although actions to conserve biological diversity need to be clearly defined by

  10. An Analysis of the Relationship between High School Students' Self-Efficacy, Metacognitive Strategy Use and Their Academic Motivation for Learn Biology

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Aydin, Solmaz

    2016-01-01

    This study aimed to analyze the relationship between high school students' self-efficacy perceptions regarding biology, the metacognitive strategies they use in this course and their academic motivation for learn biology. The sample of the study included 286 high school students enrolled in three high schools who attended a biology course in Kars,…

  11. Predicting and setting conservation priorities for Bolivian mammals based on biological correlates of the risk of decline.

    PubMed

    Peñaranda, Diego A; Simonetti, Javier A

    2015-06-01

    The recognition that growing proportions of species worldwide are endangered has led to the development of comparative analyses to elucidate why some species are more prone to extinction than others. Understanding factors and patterns of species vulnerability might provide an opportunity to develop proactive conservation strategies. Such comparative analyses are of special concern at national scales because this is the scale at which most conservation initiatives take place. We applied powerful ensemble learning models to test for biological correlates of the risk of decline among the Bolivian mammals to understand species vulnerability at a national scale and to predict the population trend for poorly known species. Risk of decline was nonrandomly distributed: higher proportions of large-sized taxa were under decline, whereas small-sized taxa were less vulnerable. Body mass, mode of life (i.e., aquatic, terrestrial, volant), geographic range size, litter size, home range, niche specialization, and reproductive potential were strongly associated with species vulnerability. Moreover, we found interacting and nonlinear effects of key traits on the risk of decline of mammals at a national scale. Our model predicted 35 data-deficient species in decline on the basis of their biological vulnerability, which should receive more attention in order to prevent their decline. Our results highlight the relevance of comparative analysis at relatively narrow geographical scales, reveal previously unknown factors related to species vulnerability, and offer species-by-species outcomes that can be used to identify targets for conservation, especially for insufficiently known species. © 2015 Society for Conservation Biology.

  12. Reducing Unintentional Plagiarism amongst International Students in the Biological Sciences: An Embedded Academic Writing Development Programme

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Divan, Aysha; Bowman, Marion; Seabourne, Anna

    2015-01-01

    There is general agreement in the literature that international students are more likely to plagiarise compared to their native speaker peers and, in many instances, plagiarism is unintentional. In this article we describe the effectiveness of an academic writing development programme embedded into a Biological Sciences Taught Masters course…

  13. New opportunities for bird conservation research

    Treesearch

    Ellen Paul; Robert J. Cooper

    2005-01-01

    It is accepted and acknowledged that effective conservation requires a scientific basis, and it is accepted and acknowledged that scientific research benefits conservation. However, there has been little effort to bring together the resources of the research communities— both academic and government-based—with the conservation planning and...

  14. A Study on Simulation Methods in Academic Success with Reference to Teaching Biology for Education Students

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Sasikala, P.; Tanyong, Siriwan

    2016-01-01

    The main objective of this study is to determine the utility of simulation methods in biology teaching for nursing students and academic success. 100 students (50 control, 50 experimental) who studied at Srinivasa Teacher Training School, Kalikiri, Recognised by Sri Venkateswara University, Faculty of Education, Tirupati, AP, India, 2014-215…

  15. Effectiveness of Blended Cooperative Learning Environment in Biology Teaching: Classroom Community Sense, Academic Achievement and Satisfaction

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Yapici, I. Ümit

    2016-01-01

    The aim of this study was to examine the effect of Blended Cooperative Learning Environment (BCLE) in biology teaching on students' classroom community sense, their academic achievement and on their levels of satisfaction. In the study, quantitative and qualitative research methods were used together. The study was carried out with 30 students in…

  16. Graduate student's guide to necessary skills for nonacademic conservation careers.

    PubMed

    Blickley, Jessica L; Deiner, Kristy; Garbach, Kelly; Lacher, Iara; Meek, Mariah H; Porensky, Lauren M; Wilkerson, Marit L; Winford, Eric M; Schwartz, Mark W

    2013-02-01

    Graduate education programs in conservation science generally focus on disciplinary training and discipline-specific research skills. However, nonacademic conservation professionals often require an additional suite of skills. This discrepancy between academic training and professional needs can make it difficult for graduate students to identify the skills and experiences that will best prepare them for the conservation job market. We analyzed job advertisements for conservation-science positions and interviewed conservation professionals with experience hiring early-career conservation scientists to determine what skills employers of conservation professionals seek; whether the relative importance of skills varies by job sector (government, nonprofit, and private); and how graduate students interested in careers in conservation science might signal competency in key skills to potential employers. In job advertisements, disciplinary, interpersonal, and project-management skills were in the top 5 skills mentioned across all job sectors. Employers' needs for additional skills, like program leadership, conflict resolution and negotiation, and technical and information technology skills, varied across sectors. Our interview results demonstrated that some skills are best signaled to employers via experiences obtained outside thesis or dissertation work. Our findings suggest that graduate students who wish to be competitive in the conservation job market can benefit by gaining skills identified as important to the job sector in which they hope to work and should not necessarily expect to be competent in these skills simply by completing their chosen degree path. © 2012 Society for Conservation Biology.

  17. Wilderness biology and conservation: future directions

    Treesearch

    Reed F. Noss

    2000-01-01

    The new conservation movement—uniting scientists and activists—seeks to relook at the role of protected land. The result is a redefining of terms, the encompassing of the concept of ecosystems, incorporating both scientific and nonscientific approaches to conservation, and reconsidering management. This philosophical essay speculates on the future of wilderness and...

  18. One-dimensional nonlinear elastodynamic models and their local conservation laws with applications to biological membranes.

    PubMed

    Cheviakov, A F; Ganghoffer, J-F

    2016-05-01

    The framework of incompressible nonlinear hyperelasticity and viscoelasticity is applied to the derivation of one-dimensional models of nonlinear wave propagation in fiber-reinforced elastic solids. Equivalence transformations are used to simplify the resulting wave equations and to reduce the number of parameters. Local conservation laws and global conserved quantities of the models are systematically computed and discussed, along with other related mathematical properties. Sample numerical solutions are presented. The models considered in the paper are appropriate for the mathematical description of certain aspects of the behavior of biological membranes and similar structures. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  19. A small-scale land-sparing approach to conserving biological diversity in tropical agricultural landscapes.

    PubMed

    Chandler, Richard B; King, David I; Raudales, Raul; Trubey, Richard; Chandler, Carlin; Chávez, Víctor Julio Arce

    2013-08-01

    Two contrasting strategies have been proposed for conserving biological diversity while meeting the increasing demand for agricultural products: land sparing and land sharing production systems. Land sparing involves increasing yield to reduce the amount of land needed for agriculture, whereas land-sharing agricultural practices incorporate elements of native ecosystems into the production system itself. Although the conservation value of these systems has been extensively debated, empirical studies are lacking. We compared bird communities in shade coffee, a widely practiced land-sharing system in which shade trees are maintained within the coffee plantation, with bird communities in a novel, small-scale, land-sparing coffee-production system (integrated open canopy or IOC coffee) in which farmers obtain higher yields under little or no shade while conserving an area of forest equal to the area under cultivation. Species richness and diversity of forest-dependent birds were higher in the IOC coffee farms than in the shade coffee farms, and community composition was more similar between IOC coffee and primary forest than between shade coffee and primary forest. Our study represents the first empirical comparison of well-defined land sparing and land sharing production systems. Because IOC coffee farms can be established by allowing forest to regenerate on degraded land, widespread adoption of this system could lead to substantial increases in forest cover and carbon sequestration without compromising agricultural yield or threatening the livelihoods of traditional small farmers. However, we studied small farms (<5 ha); thus, our results may not generalize to large-scale land-sharing systems. Furthermore, rather than concluding that land sparing is generally superior to land sharing, we suggest that the optimal approach depends on the crop, local climate, and existing land-use patterns. © 2013 Society for Conservation Biology.

  20. Molecular identification of livestock breeds: a tool for modern conservation biology.

    PubMed

    Yaro, Mohammed; Munyard, Kylie A; Stear, Michael J; Groth, David M

    2017-05-01

    Global livestock genetic diversity includes all of the species, breeds and strains of domestic animals, and their variations. Although a recent census indicated that there were 40 species and over 8000 breeds of domestic animals; for the purpose of conservation biology the diversity between and within breeds rather than species is regarded to be of crucial importance. This domestic animal genetic diversity has developed through three main evolutionary events, from speciation (about 3 million years ago) through domestication (about 12000 years ago) to specialised breeding (starting about 200 years ago). These events and their impacts on global animal genetic resources have been well documented in the literature. The key importance of global domestic animal resources in terms of economic, scientific and cultural heritage has also been addressed. In spite of their importance, there is a growing number of reports on the alarming erosion of domestic animal genetic resources. This erosion of is happening in spite of several global conservation initiatives designed to mitigate it. Herein we discuss these conservation interventions and highlight their strengths and weaknesses. However, pivotal to the success of these conservation initiatives is the reliability of the genetic assignment of individual members to a target breed. Finally, we discuss the prospect of using improved breed identification methodologies to develop a reliable breed-specific molecular identification tool that is easily applicable to populations of livestock breeds in various ecosystems. These identification tools, when developed, will not only facilitate the regular monitoring of threatened or endangered breed populations, but also enhance the development of more efficient and sustainable livestock production systems. © 2016 Cambridge Philosophical Society.

  1. Effect of non-crop vegetation types on conservation biological control of pests in olive groves

    PubMed Central

    Cayuela, Luis; Gurr, Geoff M.; Campos, Mercedes

    2013-01-01

    Conservation biological control (CBC) is an environmentally sound potential alternative to the use of chemical insecticides. It involves modifications of the environment to promote natural enemy activity on pests. Despite many CBC studies increasing abundance of natural enemies, there are far fewer demonstrations of reduced pest density and very little work has been conducted in olive crops. In this study we investigated the effects of four forms of non-crop vegetation on the abundance of two important pests: the olive psyllid (Euphyllura olivina) and the olive moth (Prays oleae). Areas of herbaceous vegetation and areas of woody vegetation near olive crops, and smaller patches of woody vegetation within olive groves, decreased pest abundance in the crop. Inter-row ground covers that are known to increase the abundance of some predators and parasitoids had no effect on the pests, possibly as a result of lack of synchrony between pests and natural enemies, lack of specificity or intra-guild predation. This study identifies examples of the right types of diversity for use in conservation biological control in olive production systems. PMID:23904994

  2. [Book review] Seabirds of Hawaii: Natural history and conservation

    USGS Publications Warehouse

    Clapp, Roger B.

    1991-01-01

    This volume is a rather odd contribution, a hybrid between an academic work and a popular book, and both suffers and benefits from these attributes. The 18 chapters are divided into four parts that deal with the environment and humans (3 chapters and ca. 12% of the text), comparative biology of Hawaiian seabirds (5 chapters, 26%), treatments of Hawaiian seabird groups by family (7 chapters, 34%), and conservation (3 chapters, 16%). At the end of the book are an appendix of common and scientific names for plants, birds, mammals, fish, and a few invertebrates; a 6-page "selected" bibliography with pertinent references for each chapter; and an index.

  3. Few Conservatives but Many Centrists Teach in Academe

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Glenn, David

    2007-01-01

    Conservatives are a small minority within the American professoriate, according to a major study whose results were released this month. The study, arguably the best-designed survey of American faculty beliefs since the early 1970s, found that only 9.2 percent of college instructors are conservatives, and that only 20.4 percent voted for George W.…

  4. "Toward High School Biology": Helping Middle School Students Understand Chemical Reactions and Conservation of Mass in Nonliving and Living Systems

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Herrmann-Abell, Cari F.; Koppal, Mary; Roseman, Jo Ellen

    2016-01-01

    Modern biology has become increasingly molecular in nature, requiring students to understand basic chemical concepts. Studies show, however, that many students fail to grasp ideas about atom rearrangement and conservation during chemical reactions or the application of these ideas to biological systems. To help provide students with a better…

  5. Beyond biology: toward a more public ecology for conservation

    Treesearch

    David P. Robertson; R. Bruce Hull

    2001-01-01

    The ultimate purpose of conservation science is to inform and affect conservation policy. Therefore, conservation biologists and all the people who produce, review, and apply conservation research should evaluate the success of their knowledge according to its ability to influence conservation decisions. In addition to possessing conventional "scientific"...

  6. Relative Contributions of Selected Teachers' Variables and Students' Attitudes toward Academic Achievement in Biology among Senior Secondary School Students in Ondo State, Nigeria

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Gbore, L. O.; Daramola, C. A.

    2013-01-01

    This study investigated the relative contributions of selected teachers' variables and students' attitude towards academic achievement in biology among senior secondary schools in Ondo State, Nigeria. It involved descriptive survey research and ex-post facto research designs. The sample, 360 respondents which consists of 180 biology teachers and…

  7. Alignment of threat, effort, and perceived success in North American conservation translocations.

    PubMed

    Brichieri-Colombi, Typhenn A; Moehrenschlager, Axel

    2016-12-01

    The use of conservation translocations to mitigate human effects on biodiversity is increasing, but how these efforts are allocated remains unclear. Based on a comprehensive literature review and online author survey, we sought to determine the goals of translocation efforts, whether they focus on species and regions with high threat and likelihood of perceived success, and how success might be improved. We systematically searched the ISI Web of Knowledge and Academic Search Complete databases to determine the species and regions of conservation translocations and found 1863 articles on conservation translocations in the United States, Canada, Mexico, Central America, and Caribbean published from 1974 to 2013. We questioned 330 relevant authors to determine the motivation for translocations, how translocations were evaluated, and obstacles encountered. Conservation translocations in North America were geographically widespread (in 21 countries), increased in frequency over time for all animal classes (from 1 in 1974 to 84 in 2013), and included 279 different species. Reintroductions and reinforcements were more common in the United States than in Canada and Mexico, Central America, or the Caribbean, and their prevalence was correlated with the number of species at risk at national and state or provincial levels. Translocated species had a higher threat status at state and provincial levels than globally (International Union for Conservation of Nature Red List categorization), suggesting that translocations may have been motivated by regional priorities rather than global risk. Our survey of authors was consistent with these results; most translocations were requested, supported, or funded by government agencies and downlisting species at national or state or provincial levels was the main goal. Nonetheless, downlisting was the least reported measure of success, whereas survival and reproduction of translocated individuals were the most reported. Reported barriers

  8. Evaluating Effect of Students' Academic Achievement on Identified Difficult Concepts in Senior Secondary School Biology in Delta State

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Agboghoroma, Tim E.; Oyovwi, E. O.

    2015-01-01

    This study evaluated the effect of students' academic achievement on identified difficult concepts or topics in Senior Secondary School Biology in Delta State, Nigeria. The study was quasi-experimental and the design was a 2X2 factorial non-randomized pretest-posttest control group design. The sample was drawn from intact classes from four…

  9. Choosing natural enemies for conservation biological control: use of the prey detectability half-life to rank agroecosystem predators

    USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

    Agroecosystems are speciose, making selection of natural enemies for conservation biological control non-trivial. Molecular gut analysis enables ranking of predators by the incidence of pest remains in the gut. However, predators differ in digestive rates, and ranking by incidence favors those with ...

  10. [Role of academic social networks in disseminating the scientific production of researchers in biology/medicine: the example of ResearchGate].

    PubMed

    Boudry, Christophe; Bouchard, Aline

    2017-01-01

    Over time, academic social networks are more and more used by researchers, especially thanks to the possibilities of sharing articles they offer. The objective of the present study was to evaluate the proportion, the typology (pre-print, post-print author/publisher) and the legality of the full-text publications deposited by researchers on ResearchGate which is widely used by the medical and biological community, using a sample of 1,500 randomly selected articles in PubMed and published between 2013 and 2015. To compare, the access to the full-text of the 1500 articles via PubMed and PubMed Central has been assessed, putting into evidence the important role ResearchGate plays for providing full-texts of articles in biology/medicine. It also puts academic social networks into perspective in relation to open-access repositories and open access. © 2017 médecine/sciences – Inserm.

  11. Is It Time for Synthetic Biodiversity Conservation?

    PubMed

    Piaggio, Antoinette J; Segelbacher, Gernot; Seddon, Philip J; Alphey, Luke; Bennett, Elizabeth L; Carlson, Robert H; Friedman, Robert M; Kanavy, Dona; Phelan, Ryan; Redford, Kent H; Rosales, Marina; Slobodian, Lydia; Wheeler, Keith

    2017-02-01

    Evidence indicates that, despite some critical successes, current conservation approaches are not slowing the overall rate of biodiversity loss. The field of synthetic biology, which is capable of altering natural genomes with extremely precise editing, might offer the potential to resolve some intractable conservation problems (e.g., invasive species or pathogens). However, it is our opinion that there has been insufficient engagement by the conservation community with practitioners of synthetic biology. We contend that rapid, large-scale engagement of these two communities is urgently needed to avoid unintended and deleterious ecological consequences. To this point we describe case studies where synthetic biology is currently being applied to conservation, and we highlight the benefits to conservation biologists from engaging with this emerging technology. Published by Elsevier Ltd.

  12. Managing for Nature Conservation: from genes to ecosystems

    Treesearch

    Constance I. Millar; Lawrence D. Ford

    1988-01-01

    At many universities nationwide, the new discipline of conservation biology has sparked broad interest. Recently developed courses, like the field of conservation biology itself, have successfully brought together biologists from many disciplines, not just in one classroom, but united by an urgent goal–nature conservation.

  13. How experimental biology and ecology can support evidence-based decision-making in conservation: avoiding pitfalls and enabling application.

    PubMed

    Cooke, Steven J; Birnie-Gauvin, Kim; Lennox, Robert J; Taylor, Jessica J; Rytwinski, Trina; Rummer, Jodie L; Franklin, Craig E; Bennett, Joseph R; Haddaway, Neal R

    2017-01-01

    Policy development and management decisions should be based upon the best available evidence. In recent years, approaches to evidence synthesis, originating in the medical realm (such as systematic reviews), have been applied to conservation to promote evidence-based conservation and environmental management. Systematic reviews involve a critical appraisal of evidence, but studies that lack the necessary rigour (e.g. experimental, technical and analytical aspects) to justify their conclusions are typically excluded from systematic reviews or down-weighted in terms of their influence. One of the strengths of conservation physiology is the reliance on experimental approaches that help to more clearly establish cause-and-effect relationships. Indeed, experimental biology and ecology have much to offer in terms of building the evidence base that is needed to inform policy and management options related to pressing issues such as enacting endangered species recovery plans or evaluating the effectiveness of conservation interventions. Here, we identify a number of pitfalls that can prevent experimental findings from being relevant to conservation or would lead to their exclusion or down-weighting during critical appraisal in a systematic review. We conclude that conservation physiology is well positioned to support evidence-based conservation, provided that experimental designs are robust and that conservation physiologists understand the nuances associated with informing decision-making processes so that they can be more relevant.

  14. How experimental biology and ecology can support evidence-based decision-making in conservation: avoiding pitfalls and enabling application

    PubMed Central

    Birnie-Gauvin, Kim; Lennox, Robert J.; Taylor, Jessica J.; Rytwinski, Trina; Rummer, Jodie L.; Franklin, Craig E.; Bennett, Joseph R.; Haddaway, Neal R.

    2017-01-01

    Abstract Policy development and management decisions should be based upon the best available evidence. In recent years, approaches to evidence synthesis, originating in the medical realm (such as systematic reviews), have been applied to conservation to promote evidence-based conservation and environmental management. Systematic reviews involve a critical appraisal of evidence, but studies that lack the necessary rigour (e.g. experimental, technical and analytical aspects) to justify their conclusions are typically excluded from systematic reviews or down-weighted in terms of their influence. One of the strengths of conservation physiology is the reliance on experimental approaches that help to more clearly establish cause-and-effect relationships. Indeed, experimental biology and ecology have much to offer in terms of building the evidence base that is needed to inform policy and management options related to pressing issues such as enacting endangered species recovery plans or evaluating the effectiveness of conservation interventions. Here, we identify a number of pitfalls that can prevent experimental findings from being relevant to conservation or would lead to their exclusion or down-weighting during critical appraisal in a systematic review. We conclude that conservation physiology is well positioned to support evidence-based conservation, provided that experimental designs are robust and that conservation physiologists understand the nuances associated with informing decision-making processes so that they can be more relevant. PMID:28835842

  15. Conserving endangered marine organisms: causes, trends and challenges

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Ambariyanto

    2017-02-01

    Increasing demand for marine resources in recent decades for human needs has led to intensified exploitation. This increase accelerates the process of extinction of various marine resources. In order to avoid extinction, it requires conservation measures of marine resources appropriately. This paper provides an overview of causes of extinction, trends and challenges in the conservation of endangered marine organisms. The success of conservation measures is highly dependent on various stakeholders such as governments, communities, the private sector and academics. Differences of the interest of these parties often lead to the failure of conservation programs. In general there is an increasing public awareness of the importance of protecting the diversity of marine resources and avoiding extinction of marine organisms, especially endangered organisms. The existence of comprehensive actions, legislation and improved coordination among government, community, private sector, and academics will significantly improve the success in overcoming all the challenges.

  16. Drivers of extinction risk in African mammals: the interplay of distribution state, human pressure, conservation response and species biology.

    PubMed

    Di Marco, Moreno; Buchanan, Graeme M; Szantoi, Zoltan; Holmgren, Milena; Grottolo Marasini, Gabriele; Gross, Dorit; Tranquilli, Sandra; Boitani, Luigi; Rondinini, Carlo

    2014-01-01

    Although conservation intervention has reversed the decline of some species, our success is outweighed by a much larger number of species moving towards extinction. Extinction risk modelling can identify correlates of risk and species not yet recognized to be threatened. Here, we use machine learning models to identify correlates of extinction risk in African terrestrial mammals using a set of variables belonging to four classes: species distribution state, human pressures, conservation response and species biology. We derived information on distribution state and human pressure from satellite-borne imagery. Variables in all four classes were identified as important predictors of extinction risk, and interactions were observed among variables in different classes (e.g. level of protection, human threats, species distribution ranges). Species biology had a key role in mediating the effect of external variables. The model was 90% accurate in classifying extinction risk status of species, but in a few cases the observed and modelled extinction risk mismatched. Species in this condition might suffer from an incorrect classification of extinction risk (hence require reassessment). An increased availability of satellite imagery combined with improved resolution and classification accuracy of the resulting maps will play a progressively greater role in conservation monitoring.

  17. Using the Academic Skills Inventory to Assess the Biology Major

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Seifert, Kyle; Hurney, Carol A.; Wigtil, Clifton J.; Sundre, Donna L.

    2009-01-01

    The Academic Skills Inventory (Kruger and Zechmeister, 2001) was developed at Loyola University of Chicago and originally designed for use with psychology majors. It was later extended for use in a variety of academic programs. The Academic Skills Inventory (ASI) assesses student self-reports of behaviors in 10 skill areas: (1) written and oral…

  18. The Effect of the Use of Smart Board in the Biology Class on the Academic Achievement of Student

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Onder, Recep; Aydin, Halil

    2016-01-01

    The objective of this study is to reveal the effect of the use of smart board in the biology class at the tenth grade of the secondary education on the academic achievements of students. The study used the quasi-experimental model with pre-test and post-test control groups and semi-structured interviews were made with the students. The study group…

  19. Resource Conservation Glossary.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Soil Conservation Society of America, Ankeny, IA.

    This glossary is a composite of terms selected from 13 technologies, and is the expanded revision of the original 1952 edition of "The Soil and Water Conservation Glossary." The terms were selected from these areas: agronomy, biology, conservation, ecology, economics, engineering, forestry, geology, hydrology, range, recreation, soils, and…

  20. Conservation Evo-Devo: Preserving Biodiversity by Understanding Its Origins.

    PubMed

    Campbell, Calum S; Adams, Colin E; Bean, Colin W; Parsons, Kevin J

    2017-10-01

    Unprecedented rates of species extinction increase the urgency for effective conservation biology management practices. Thus, any improvements in practice are vital and we suggest that conservation can be enhanced through recent advances in evolutionary biology, specifically advances put forward by evolutionary developmental biology (i.e., evo-devo). There are strong overlapping conceptual links between conservation and evo-devo whereby both fields focus on evolutionary potential. In particular, benefits to conservation can be derived from some of the main areas of evo-devo research, namely phenotypic plasticity, modularity and integration, and mechanistic investigations of the precise developmental and genetic processes that determine phenotypes. Using examples we outline how evo-devo can expand into conservation biology, an opportunity which holds great promise for advancing both fields. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  1. Drivers of extinction risk in African mammals: the interplay of distribution state, human pressure, conservation response and species biology

    PubMed Central

    Di Marco, Moreno; Buchanan, Graeme M.; Szantoi, Zoltan; Holmgren, Milena; Grottolo Marasini, Gabriele; Gross, Dorit; Tranquilli, Sandra; Boitani, Luigi; Rondinini, Carlo

    2014-01-01

    Although conservation intervention has reversed the decline of some species, our success is outweighed by a much larger number of species moving towards extinction. Extinction risk modelling can identify correlates of risk and species not yet recognized to be threatened. Here, we use machine learning models to identify correlates of extinction risk in African terrestrial mammals using a set of variables belonging to four classes: species distribution state, human pressures, conservation response and species biology. We derived information on distribution state and human pressure from satellite-borne imagery. Variables in all four classes were identified as important predictors of extinction risk, and interactions were observed among variables in different classes (e.g. level of protection, human threats, species distribution ranges). Species biology had a key role in mediating the effect of external variables. The model was 90% accurate in classifying extinction risk status of species, but in a few cases the observed and modelled extinction risk mismatched. Species in this condition might suffer from an incorrect classification of extinction risk (hence require reassessment). An increased availability of satellite imagery combined with improved resolution and classification accuracy of the resulting maps will play a progressively greater role in conservation monitoring. PMID:24733953

  2. Academic Preparation in Biology and Advocacy for Teaching Evolution: Biology versus Non-Biology Teachers

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Nehm, Ross H.; Kim, Sun Young; Sheppard, Keith

    2009-01-01

    Despite considerable focus on evolution knowledge-belief relationships, little research has targeted populations with strong content backgrounds, such as undergraduate degrees in biology. This study (1) measured precertified biology and non-biology teachers' (n = 167) knowledge of evolution and the nature of science; (2) quantified teacher…

  3. Ten ways remote sensing can contribute to conservation.

    PubMed

    Rose, Robert A; Byler, Dirck; Eastman, J Ron; Fleishman, Erica; Geller, Gary; Goetz, Scott; Guild, Liane; Hamilton, Healy; Hansen, Matt; Headley, Rachel; Hewson, Jennifer; Horning, Ned; Kaplin, Beth A; Laporte, Nadine; Leidner, Allison; Leimgruber, Peter; Morisette, Jeffrey; Musinsky, John; Pintea, Lilian; Prados, Ana; Radeloff, Volker C; Rowen, Mary; Saatchi, Sassan; Schill, Steve; Tabor, Karyn; Turner, Woody; Vodacek, Anthony; Vogelmann, James; Wegmann, Martin; Wilkie, David; Wilson, Cara

    2015-04-01

    In an effort to increase conservation effectiveness through the use of Earth observation technologies, a group of remote sensing scientists affiliated with government and academic institutions and conservation organizations identified 10 questions in conservation for which the potential to be answered would be greatly increased by use of remotely sensed data and analyses of those data. Our goals were to increase conservation practitioners' use of remote sensing to support their work, increase collaboration between the conservation science and remote sensing communities, identify and develop new and innovative uses of remote sensing for advancing conservation science, provide guidance to space agencies on how future satellite missions can support conservation science, and generate support from the public and private sector in the use of remote sensing data to address the 10 conservation questions. We identified a broad initial list of questions on the basis of an email chain-referral survey. We then used a workshop-based iterative and collaborative approach to whittle the list down to these final questions (which represent 10 major themes in conservation): How can global Earth observation data be used to model species distributions and abundances? How can remote sensing improve the understanding of animal movements? How can remotely sensed ecosystem variables be used to understand, monitor, and predict ecosystem response and resilience to multiple stressors? How can remote sensing be used to monitor the effects of climate on ecosystems? How can near real-time ecosystem monitoring catalyze threat reduction, governance and regulation compliance, and resource management decisions? How can remote sensing inform configuration of protected area networks at spatial extents relevant to populations of target species and ecosystem services? How can remote sensing-derived products be used to value and monitor changes in ecosystem services? How can remote sensing be used to

  4. National and international conservation efforts and their relevance to plant conservation in the Southwest

    Treesearch

    Nancy R. Morin

    2001-01-01

    Plant conservation in the United States benefits directly and indirectly from national and international conservation initiatives. The United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity, which began in December 1993, serves as a guiding force for conservation in the United States even though the U.S. is not a party to the convention. An international meeting in 1998 of...

  5. Costs of integrating economics and conservation planning.

    PubMed

    Arponen, Anni; Cabeza, Mar; Eklund, Johanna; Kujala, Heini; Lehtomäki, Joona

    2010-10-01

    Recent literature on systematic conservation planning has focused strongly on economics. It is a necessary component of efficient conservation planning because the question is about effective resource allocation. Nevertheless, there is an increasing tendency toward economic factors overriding biological considerations. Focusing too narrowly on economic cost may lead us back toward solutions resembling those obtained by opportunistic choice of areas, the avoidance of which was the motivation for development of systematic approaches. Moreover, there are many overlooked difficulties in incorporating economic considerations reliably into conservation planning because available economic data and the free market are complex. For instance, economies based on free markets tend to be shortsighted, whereas biodiversity conservation aims far into the future. Although economic data are necessary, they should not be relied on too heavily or considered separately from other sociopolitical factors. We suggest focusing on development of more-comprehensive ecological-economic modeling, while not forgetting the importance of purely biological analyses that are needed as a point of reference for evaluating conservation outcomes. © 2010 Society for Conservation Biology.

  6. Profile of senior high school students’ creative thinking skills on biology material in low, medium, and high academic perspective

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Nurhamidah, D.; Masykuri, M.; Dwiastuti, S.

    2018-04-01

    Creative thinking is one of the most important skills of the 21st Century. Students are demanded not only be able to solve the cognitive problems but also to face the life problems. The aim of this study is to determine students’ creative thinking skills in biology class for XI grade of three Senior High Schools in Ngawi regency. The approach used to categorised the three schools into low, medium and high academic rank was a norm-referenced test. The study involved 92 students who completed a test. Guilford's alternative uses task was used to measure the level of students’ creative thinking skills. The results showed that in the school of high academic rank, 89,74% of students had low creative thinking skills and 10,25% of them are in moderate category. In the medium academic rank school, 85,71% of students had low creative thinking skills and 14,29% of them are moderate. In the school of low academic rank, 8% of students had very low creative thinking skills, 88% are low, and 4% are moderate. Based on the finding of the research, the creative thinking skills of students in the three school was categorised as low level, therefore the learning design should be developed which can improve the students’ creative thinking skills.

  7. Credibility and advocacy in conservation science.

    PubMed

    Horton, Cristi C; Peterson, Tarla Rai; Banerjee, Paulami; Peterson, Markus J

    2016-02-01

    Conservation policy sits at the nexus of natural science and politics. On the one hand, conservation scientists strive to maintain scientific credibility by emphasizing that their research findings are the result of disinterested observations of reality. On the other hand, conservation scientists are committed to conservation even if they do not advocate a particular policy. The professional conservation literature offers guidance on negotiating the relationship between scientific objectivity and political advocacy without damaging conservation science's credibility. The value of this guidance, however, may be restricted by limited recognition of credibility's multidimensionality and emergent nature: it emerges through perceptions of expertise, goodwill, and trustworthiness. We used content analysis of the literature to determine how credibility is framed in conservation science as it relates to apparent contradictions between science and advocacy. Credibility typically was framed as a static entity lacking dimensionality. Authors identified expertise or trustworthiness as important, but rarely mentioned goodwill. They usually did not identify expertise, goodwill, or trustworthiness as dimensions of credibility or recognize interactions among these 3 dimensions of credibility. This oversimplification may limit the ability of conservation scientists to contribute to biodiversity conservation. Accounting for the emergent quality and multidimensionality of credibility should enable conservation scientists to advance biodiversity conservation more effectively. © 2015 The Authors. Conservation Biology published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc. on behalf of Society for Conservation Biology.

  8. A conservation law for virus infection kinetics in vitro.

    PubMed

    Kakizoe, Yusuke; Morita, Satoru; Nakaoka, Shinji; Takeuchi, Yasuhiro; Sato, Kei; Miura, Tomoyuki; Beauchemin, Catherine A A; Iwami, Shingo

    2015-07-07

    Conservation laws are among the most important properties of a physical system, but are not commonplace in biology. We derived a conservation law from the basic model for viral infections which consists in a small set of ordinary differential equations. We challenged the conservation law experimentally for the case of a virus infection in a cell culture. We found that the derived, conserved quantity remained almost constant throughout the infection period, implying that the derived conservation law holds in this biological system. We also suggest a potential use for the conservation law in evaluating the accuracy of experimental measurements. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  9. Building Conservation Capacity in Southeast Asia: Outcomes of the ATBC 2015 Asia-Pacific Chapter Meeting Conservation Education Symposium

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Souter, Nicholas J.; Hughes, Alice C.; Savini, Tommaso; Rao, Madhu; Goodale, Eben; Van Nice, Amy; Huang, Natalia; Liu, Jing-Xin; Hunt, Matt P.; O'Connor, David A.; Heung-Lam, Anny Li; Gnuen, Gneb; Sun, Yoeung; Silva, Inês

    2017-01-01

    The "Building Capacity for Conservation in Southeast Asia" symposium was held at the 2015 Association for Tropical Biology and Conservation, Asia-Pacific Chapter meeting. The range of programs discussed fell into three categories: career development, project-specific activities and outreach, and delivering conservation information to…

  10. Understanding the effects of different social data on selecting priority conservation areas.

    PubMed

    Karimi, Azadeh; Tulloch, Ayesha I T; Brown, Greg; Hockings, Marc

    2017-12-01

    Conservation success is contingent on assessing social and environmental factors so that cost-effective implementation of strategies and actions can be placed in a broad social-ecological context. Until now, the focus has been on how to include spatially explicit social data in conservation planning, whereas the value of different kinds of social data has received limited attention. In a regional systematic conservation planning case study in Australia, we examined the spatial concurrence of a range of spatially explicit social values and land-use preferences collected using a public participation geographic information system and biological data. We used Zonation to integrate the social data with the biological data in a series of spatial-prioritization scenarios to determine the effect of the different types of social data on spatial prioritization compared with biological data alone. The type of social data (i.e., conservation opportunities or constraints) significantly affected spatial prioritization outcomes. The integration of social values and land-use preferences under different scenarios was highly variable and generated spatial prioritizations 1.2-51% different from those based on biological data alone. The inclusion of conservation-compatible values and preferences added relatively few new areas to conservation priorities, whereas including noncompatible economic values and development preferences as costs significantly changed conservation priority areas (48.2% and 47.4%, respectively). Based on our results, a multifaceted conservation prioritization approach that combines spatially explicit social data with biological data can help conservation planners identify the type of social data to collect for more effective and feasible conservation actions. © 2017 Society for Conservation Biology.

  11. Motivations for conserving urban biodiversity.

    PubMed

    Dearborn, Donald C; Kark, Salit

    2010-04-01

    In a time of increasing urbanization, the fundamental value of conserving urban biodiversity remains controversial. How much of a fixed budget should be spent on conservation in urban versus nonurban landscapes? The answer should depend on the goals that drive our conservation actions, yet proponents of urban conservation often fail to specify the motivation for protecting urban biodiversity. This is an important shortcoming on several fronts, including a missed opportunity to make a stronger appeal to those who believe conservation biology should focus exclusively on more natural, wilder landscapes. We argue that urban areas do offer an important venue for conservation biology, but that we must become better at choosing and articulating our goals. We explored seven possible motivations for urban biodiversity conservation: preserving local biodiversity, creating stepping stones to nonurban habitat, understanding and facilitating responses to environmental change, conducting environmental education, providing ecosystem services, fulfilling ethical responsibilities, and improving human well-being. To attain all these goals, challenges must be faced that are common to the urban environment, such as localized pollution, disruption of ecosystem structure, and limited availability of land. There are, however, also challenges specific only to particular goals, meaning that different goals will require different approaches and actions. This highlights the importance of specifying the motivations behind urban biodiversity conservation. If the goals are unknown, progress cannot be assessed.

  12. A study of the attitudes and academic achievement in biology of females in a single-sex school vs. a coeducational school in the Philadelphia Archdiocesan secondary schools

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Proach, John Ann

    2000-11-01

    There is proof that the educational system has conveyed unrealistic role expectations and has neglected to address the changing needs of girls. Children form attitudes about themselves and others based on the communications they get over time from parents, other adults, peers, and a variety of societal influences, including school. This study focused on two groups of tenth-grade high school, female, biology students in the Archdiocese of Philadelphia. The purpose was to compare attitude in science and academic achievement of females in a single-sex vs. a coeducational school. Data collection included three attitudinal surveys: Women in Science, Science Attitude Scale, and Perceptions of Science and Scientists, also the National Association of Biology Teachers/National Science Teachers High School Biology Examination Version B. administered as a pretest and posttest to measure academic achievement. These instruments were used to determine if the differences between attitudes and perceptions toward science and achievement in science were alike for females in a single-sex school and a coeducational school. The study also tested to see if females in a single-sex school would attain greater academic achievement in biology than girls in a coeducational school. The Chi-square statistic was used to analyze data in the three attitudinal surveys. The NABT/NSTA High School Biology Examination determined the students' initial and final competency levels in general biology. The mean science achievement of each of the two groups was tested for statistical significance using the t-test. In the two schools the t-test statistic showed significant difference between the pretest and a slight statistical difference on the posttest; the preferred analysis was an ANCOVA used to compare the posttest scores using the pretest as a covariate. The data implies that attitudes and perceptions are basically the same in both environments with minor differences. Results of these analyses suggest

  13. Hydrogen, metals, bifurcating electrons, and proton gradients: the early evolution of biological energy conservation.

    PubMed

    Martin, William F

    2012-03-09

    Life is a persistent, self-specified set of far from equilibrium chemical reactions. In modern microbes, core carbon and energy metabolism are what keep cells alive. In very early chemical evolution, the forerunners of carbon and energy metabolism were the processes of generating reduced carbon compounds from CO(2) and the mechanisms of harnessing energy as compounds capable of doing some chemical work. The process of serpentinization at alkaline hydrothermal vents holds promise as a model for the origin of early reducing power, because Fe(2+) in the Earth's crust reduces water to H(2) and inorganic carbon to methane. The overall geochemical process of serpentinization is similar to the biochemical process of methanogenesis, and methanogenesis is similar to acetogenesis in that both physiologies allow energy conservation from the reduction of CO(2) with electrons from H(2). Electron bifurcation is a newly recognized cytosolic process that anaerobes use generate low potential electrons, it plays an important role in some forms of methanogenesis and, via speculation, possibly in acetogenesis. Electron bifurcation likely figures into the early evolution of biological energy conservation. Copyright © 2011. Published by Elsevier B.V.

  14. Big biology meets microclimatology: defining thermal niches of ectotherms at landscape scales for conservation planning.

    PubMed

    Isaak, Daniel J; Wenger, Seth J; Young, Michael K

    2017-04-01

    Temperature profoundly affects ecology, a fact ever more evident as the ability to measure thermal environments increases and global changes alter these environments. The spatial structure of thermalscapes is especially relevant to the distribution and abundance of ectothermic organisms, but the ability to describe biothermal relationships at extents and grains relevant to conservation planning has been limited by small or sparse data sets. Here, we combine a large occurrence database of >23 000 aquatic species surveys with stream microclimate scenarios supported by an equally large temperature database for a 149 000-km mountain stream network to describe thermal relationships for 14 fish and amphibian species. Species occurrence probabilities peaked across a wide range of temperatures (7.0-18.8°C) but distinct warm- or cold-edge distribution boundaries were apparent for all species and represented environments where populations may be most sensitive to thermal changes. Warm-edge boundary temperatures for a native species of conservation concern were used with geospatial data sets and a habitat occupancy model to highlight subsets of the network where conservation measures could benefit local populations by maintaining cool temperatures. Linking that strategic approach to local estimates of habitat impairment remains a key challenge but is also an opportunity to build relationships and develop synergies between the research, management, and regulatory communities. As with any data mining or species distribution modeling exercise, care is required in analysis and interpretation of results, but the use of large biological data sets with accurate microclimate scenarios can provide valuable information about the thermal ecology of many ectotherms and a spatially explicit way of guiding conservation investments. © 2017 by the Ecological Society of America.

  15. Understanding conservationists' perspectives on the new-conservation debate.

    PubMed

    Holmes, George; Sandbrook, Chris; Fisher, Janet A

    2017-04-01

    A vibrant debate about the future direction of biodiversity conservation centers on the merits of the so-called new conservation. Proponents of the new conservation advocate a series of positions on key conservation ideas, such as the importance of human-dominated landscapes and conservation's engagement with capitalism. These have been fiercely contested in a debate dominated by a few high-profile individuals, and so far there has been no empirical exploration of existing perspectives on these issues among a wider community of conservationists. We used Q methodology to examine empirically perspectives on the new conservation held by attendees at the 2015 International Congress for Conservation Biology (ICCB). Although we identified a consensus on several key issues, 3 distinct positions emerged: in favor of conservation to benefit people but opposed to links with capitalism and corporations, in favor of biocentric approaches but with less emphasis on wilderness protection than prominent opponents of new conservation, and in favor of the published new conservation perspective but with less emphasis on increasing human well-being as a goal of conservation. Our results revealed differences between the debate on the new conservation in the literature and views held within a wider, but still limited, conservation community and demonstrated the existence of at least one viewpoint (in favor of conservation to benefit people but opposed to links with capitalism and corporations) that is almost absent from the published debate. We hope the fuller understanding we present of the variety of views that exist but have not yet been heard, will improve the quality and tone of debates on the subject. © 2016 The Authors. Conservation Biology published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc. on behalf of Society for Conservation Biology.

  16. Mainstreaming the social sciences in conservation.

    PubMed

    Bennett, Nathan J; Roth, Robin; Klain, Sarah C; Chan, Kai M A; Clark, Douglas A; Cullman, Georgina; Epstein, Graham; Nelson, Michael Paul; Stedman, Richard; Teel, Tara L; Thomas, Rebecca E W; Wyborn, Carina; Curran, Deborah; Greenberg, Alison; Sandlos, John; Veríssimo, Diogo

    2017-02-01

    conservation policy and practice. © 2016 The Authors. Conservation Biology published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc. on behalf of Society for Conservation Biology.

  17. A comparison of global conservation prioritization models with spatial spending patterns of conservation nongovernmental organizations.

    PubMed

    Holmes, George; Scholfield, Katherine; Brockington, Dan

    2012-08-01

    In recent decades, various conservation organizations have developed models to prioritize locations for conservation. Through a survey of the spending patterns of 281 conservation nongovernmental organizations (NGOs), we examined the relation between 2 such models and spatial patterns of spending by conservation NGOs in 44 countries in sub-Saharan Africa. We tested whether, at the country level, the proportion of a country designated as a conservation priority was correlated with where NGOs spent money. For one model (the combination of Conservation International's hotspots and High Biodiversity Wilderness Areas, which are areas of high endemism with high or low levels of vegetation loss respectively), there was no relation between the proportion of a country designated as a priority and levels of NGO spending, including by the NGO associated with the model. In the second model (Global 200), the proportion of a country designated as a priority and the amount of money spent by NGOs were significantly and positively related. Less money was spent in countries in northern and western sub-Saharan Africa than countries in southern and eastern Africa, relative to the proportion of the country designated as a conservation priority. We suggest that on the basis of our results some NGOs consider increasing their spending on the areas designated as of conservation priority which are currently relatively underfunded, although there are economic, political, cultural, historical, biological, and practical reasons why current spending patterns may not align with priority sites. ©2012 Society for Conservation Biology.

  18. Achieving open access to conservation science.

    PubMed

    Fuller, Richard A; Lee, Jasmine R; Watson, James E M

    2014-12-01

    Conservation science is a crisis discipline in which the results of scientific enquiry must be made available quickly to those implementing management. We assessed the extent to which scientific research published since the year 2000 in 20 conservation science journals is publicly available. Of the 19,207 papers published, 1,667 (8.68%) are freely downloadable from an official repository. Moreover, only 938 papers (4.88%) meet the standard definition of open access in which material can be freely reused providing attribution to the authors is given. This compares poorly with a comparable set of 20 evolutionary biology journals, where 31.93% of papers are freely downloadable and 7.49% are open access. Seventeen of the 20 conservation journals offer an open access option, but fewer than 5% of the papers are available through open access. The cost of accessing the full body of conservation science runs into tens of thousands of dollars per year for institutional subscribers, and many conservation practitioners cannot access pay-per-view science through their workplace. However, important initiatives such as Research4Life are making science available to organizations in developing countries. We urge authors of conservation science to pay for open access on a per-article basis or to choose publication in open access journals, taking care to ensure the license allows reuse for any purpose providing attribution is given. Currently, it would cost $51 million to make all conservation science published since 2000 freely available by paying the open access fees currently levied to authors. Publishers of conservation journals might consider more cost effective models for open access and conservation-oriented organizations running journals could consider a broader range of options for open access to nonmembers such as sponsorship of open access via membership fees. © 2014 The Authors. Conservation Biology published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc., on behalf of the Society for

  19. Postdoctoral Training Aligned with the Academic Professoriate

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Rybarczyk, Brian; Lerea, Leslie; Lund, P. Kay; Whittington, Dawayne; Dykstra, Linda

    2011-01-01

    Postdoctoral training in the biological sciences continues to be an important credential for academic careers. Traditionally, this training is focused on an independent research experience. In this article, we describe a postdoctoral training program designed to prepare postdoctoral scholars for the responsibilities of an academic career that…

  20. Conservation Biological Control of Pests in the Molecular Era: New Opportunities to Address Old Constraints

    PubMed Central

    Gurr, Geoff M.; You, Minsheng

    2016-01-01

    Biological control has long been considered a potential alternative to pesticidal strategies for pest management but its impact and level of use globally remain modest and inconsistent. A rapidly expanding range of molecular – particularly DNA-related – techniques is currently revolutionizing many life sciences. This review identifies a series of constraints on the development and uptake of conservation biological control and considers the contemporary and likely future influence of molecular methods on these constraints. Molecular approaches are now often used to complement morphological taxonomic methods for the identification and study of biological control agents including microbes. A succession of molecular techniques has been applied to ‘who eats whom’ questions in food-web ecology. Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) approaches have largely superseded immunological approaches such as enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) and now – in turn – are being overtaken by next generation sequencing (NGS)-based approaches that offer unparalleled power at a rapidly diminishing cost. There is scope also to use molecular techniques to manipulate biological control agents, which will be accelerated with the advent of gene editing tools, the CRISPR/Cas9 system in particular. Gene editing tools also offer unparalleled power to both elucidate and manipulate plant defense mechanisms including those that involve natural enemy attraction to attacked plants. Rapid advances in technology will allow the development of still more novel pest management options for which uptake is likely to be limited chiefly by regulatory hurdles. PMID:26793225

  1. How long is too long in contemporary peer review? Perspectives from authors publishing in conservation biology journals.

    PubMed

    Nguyen, Vivian M; Haddaway, Neal R; Gutowsky, Lee F G; Wilson, Alexander D M; Gallagher, Austin J; Donaldson, Michael R; Hammerschlag, Neil; Cooke, Steven J

    2015-01-01

    Delays in peer reviewed publication may have consequences for both assessment of scientific prowess in academics as well as communication of important information to the knowledge receptor community. We present an analysis on the perspectives of authors publishing in conservation biology journals regarding their opinions on the importance of speed in peer-review as well as how to improve review times. Authors were invited to take part in an online questionnaire, of which the data was subjected to both qualitative (open coding, categorizing) and quantitative analyses (generalized linear models). We received 637 responses to a total of 6,547 e-mail invitations sent. Peer-review speed was generally perceived as slow, with authors experiencing a typical turnaround time of 14 weeks while their perceived optimal review time is six weeks. Male and younger respondents seem to have higher expectations of review speed than females and older respondents. Majority of participants attributed lengthy review times to the 'stress' on the peer-review system (i.e., reviewer and editor fatigue), while editor persistence and journal prestige were believed to speed up the review process. Negative consequences of lengthy review times appear to be greater for early career researchers and can also have impact on author morale (e.g. motivation or frustration). Competition among colleagues were also of concern to respondents. Incentivizing peer review was among the top suggested alterations to the system along with training graduate students in peer review, increased editorial persistence, and changes to the norms of peer-review such as opening the peer-review process to the public. It is clear that authors surveyed in this study view the peer-review system as under stress and we encourage scientists and publishers to push the envelope for new peer review models.

  2. Fixism and conservation science.

    PubMed

    Robert, Alexandre; Fontaine, Colin; Veron, Simon; Monnet, Anne-Christine; Legrand, Marine; Clavel, Joanne; Chantepie, Stéphane; Couvet, Denis; Ducarme, Frédéric; Fontaine, Benoît; Jiguet, Frédéric; le Viol, Isabelle; Rolland, Jonathan; Sarrazin, François; Teplitsky, Céline; Mouchet, Maud

    2017-08-01

    The field of biodiversity conservation has recently been criticized as relying on a fixist view of the living world in which existing species constitute at the same time targets of conservation efforts and static states of reference, which is in apparent disagreement with evolutionary dynamics. We reviewed the prominent role of species as conservation units and the common benchmark approach to conservation that aims to use past biodiversity as a reference to conserve current biodiversity. We found that the species approach is justified by the discrepancy between the time scales of macroevolution and human influence and that biodiversity benchmarks are based on reference processes rather than fixed reference states. Overall, we argue that the ethical and theoretical frameworks underlying conservation research are based on macroevolutionary processes, such as extinction dynamics. Current species, phylogenetic, community, and functional conservation approaches constitute short-term responses to short-term human effects on these reference processes, and these approaches are consistent with evolutionary principles. © 2016 Society for Conservation Biology.

  3. A global assessment of the social and conservation outcomes of protected areas.

    PubMed

    Oldekop, J A; Holmes, G; Harris, W E; Evans, K L

    2016-02-01

    Protected areas (PAs) are a key strategy for protecting biological resources, but they vary considerably in their effectiveness and are frequently reported as having negative impacts on local people. This has contributed to a divisive and unresolved debate concerning the compatibility of environmental and socioeconomic development goals. Elucidating the relationship between positive and negative social impacts and conservation outcomes of PAs is key for the development of more effective and socially just conservation. We conducted a global meta-analysis on 165 PAs using data from 171 published studies. We assessed how PAs affect the well-being of local people, the factors associated with these impacts, and crucially the relationship between PAs' conservation and socioeconomic outcomes. Protected areas associated with positive socioeconomic outcomes were more likely to report positive conservation outcomes. Positive conservation and socioeconomic outcomes were more likely to occur when PAs adopted comanagement regimes, empowered local people, reduced economic inequalities, and maintained cultural and livelihood benefits. Whereas the strictest regimes of PA management attempted to exclude anthropogenic influences to achieve biological conservation objectives, PAs that explicitly integrated local people as stakeholders tended to be more effective at achieving joint biological conservation and socioeconomic development outcomes. Strict protection may be needed in some circumstances, yet our results demonstrate that conservation and development objectives can be synergistic and highlight management strategies that increase the probability of maximizing both conservation performance and development outcomes of PAs. © 2015 The Authors. Conservation Biology published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc. on behalf of Society for Conservation Biology.

  4. ENCORE: Energy Conservation Resources for Education.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Texas A and M Univ., College Station. Dept. of Industrial Education.

    This publication contains the energy education materials for middle schools from project ENCORE (Energy Conservation Resources for Education). These modules were originally field tested in Texas schools during the 1976-77 academic year. The revised materials in this publication are organized into four major units and thirteen chapters. The…

  5. Adapting the bioblitz to meet conservation needs.

    PubMed

    Parker, Sophie S; Pauly, Gregory B; Moore, James; Fraga, Naomi S; Knapp, John J; Principe, Zachary; Brown, Brian V; Randall, John M; Cohen, Brian S; Wake, Thomas A

    2018-03-01

    When conservation strategies require new, field-based information, practitioners must find the best ways to rapidly deliver high-quality survey data. To address this challenge, several rapid-assessment approaches have been developed since the early 1990s. These typically involve large areas, take many months to complete, and are not appropriate when conservation-relevant survey data are urgently needed for a specific locale. In contrast, bioblitzes are designed for quick collection of site-specific survey data. Although bioblitzes are commonly used to achieve educational or public-engagement goals, conservation practitioners are increasingly using a modified bioblitz approach to generate conservation-relevant data while simultaneously enhancing research capacity and building working partnerships focused on conservation concerns. We term these modified events expert bioblitzes. Several expert bioblitzes have taken place on lands of conservation concern in Southern California and have involved collaborative efforts of government agencies, nonprofit organizations, botanic gardens, museums, and universities. The results of expert bioblitzes directly informed on-the-ground conservation and decision-making; increased capacity for rapid deployment of expert bioblitzes in the future; and fostered collaboration and communication among taxonomically and institutionally diverse experts. As research and conservation funding becomes increasingly scarce, expert bioblitzes can play an increasingly important role in biodiversity conservation. © 2018 The Authors. Conservation Biology published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc. on behalf of Society for Conservation Biology.

  6. Teachers' Utilization of School Facilities and Academic Achievement of Student Nurses in Human Biology in Schools of Nursing in Akwa Ibom State, Nigeria

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Usen, Onodiong Mfreke

    2016-01-01

    The study examined the relationship between teachers' utilization of school facilities and academic achievement of student nurses in Human Biology in schools of Nursing in Akwa Ibom State. Four (4) specific objectives, four (4) research questions and four (4) null hypotheses were formulated to guide the study. Ex-post facto survey design was…

  7. Physiology, behavior, and conservation.

    PubMed

    Cooke, Steven J; Blumstein, Daniel T; Buchholz, Richard; Caro, Tim; Fernández-Juricic, Esteban; Franklin, Craig E; Metcalfe, Julian; O'Connor, Constance M; St Clair, Colleen Cassady; Sutherland, William J; Wikelski, Martin

    2014-01-01

    Many animal populations are in decline as a result of human activity. Conservation practitioners are attempting to prevent further declines and loss of biodiversity as well as to facilitate recovery of endangered species, and they often rely on interdisciplinary approaches to generate conservation solutions. Two recent interfaces in conservation science involve animal behavior (i.e., conservation behavior) and physiology (i.e., conservation physiology). To date, these interfaces have been considered separate entities, but from both pragmatic and biological perspectives, there is merit in better integrating behavior and physiology to address applied conservation problems and to inform resource management. Although there are some institutional, conceptual, methodological, and communication-oriented challenges to integrating behavior and physiology to inform conservation actions, most of these barriers can be overcome. Through outlining several successful examples that integrate these disciplines, we conclude that physiology and behavior can together generate meaningful data to support animal conservation and management actions. Tangentially, applied conservation and management problems can, in turn, also help advance and reinvigorate the fundamental disciplines of animal physiology and behavior by providing advanced natural experiments that challenge traditional frameworks.

  8. Global priorities for conservation across multiple dimensions of mammalian diversity

    PubMed Central

    Graham, Catherine H.; Costa, Gabriel C.; Hedges, S. Blair; Penone, Caterina; Radeloff, Volker C.; Rondinini, Carlo; Davidson, Ana D.

    2017-01-01

    Conservation priorities that are based on species distribution, endemism, and vulnerability may underrepresent biologically unique species as well as their functional roles and evolutionary histories. To ensure that priorities are biologically comprehensive, multiple dimensions of diversity must be considered. Further, understanding how the different dimensions relate to one another spatially is important for conservation prioritization, but the relationship remains poorly understood. Here, we use spatial conservation planning to (i) identify and compare priority regions for global mammal conservation across three key dimensions of biodiversity—taxonomic, phylogenetic, and traits—and (ii) determine the overlap of these regions with the locations of threatened species and existing protected areas. We show that priority areas for mammal conservation exhibit low overlap across the three dimensions, highlighting the need for an integrative approach for biodiversity conservation. Additionally, currently protected areas poorly represent the three dimensions of mammalian biodiversity. We identify areas of high conservation priority among and across the dimensions that should receive special attention for expanding the global protected area network. These high-priority areas, combined with areas of high priority for other taxonomic groups and with social, economic, and political considerations, provide a biological foundation for future conservation planning efforts. PMID:28674013

  9. Global priorities for conservation across multiple dimensions of mammalian diversity.

    PubMed

    Brum, Fernanda T; Graham, Catherine H; Costa, Gabriel C; Hedges, S Blair; Penone, Caterina; Radeloff, Volker C; Rondinini, Carlo; Loyola, Rafael; Davidson, Ana D

    2017-07-18

    Conservation priorities that are based on species distribution, endemism, and vulnerability may underrepresent biologically unique species as well as their functional roles and evolutionary histories. To ensure that priorities are biologically comprehensive, multiple dimensions of diversity must be considered. Further, understanding how the different dimensions relate to one another spatially is important for conservation prioritization, but the relationship remains poorly understood. Here, we use spatial conservation planning to ( i ) identify and compare priority regions for global mammal conservation across three key dimensions of biodiversity-taxonomic, phylogenetic, and traits-and ( ii ) determine the overlap of these regions with the locations of threatened species and existing protected areas. We show that priority areas for mammal conservation exhibit low overlap across the three dimensions, highlighting the need for an integrative approach for biodiversity conservation. Additionally, currently protected areas poorly represent the three dimensions of mammalian biodiversity. We identify areas of high conservation priority among and across the dimensions that should receive special attention for expanding the global protected area network. These high-priority areas, combined with areas of high priority for other taxonomic groups and with social, economic, and political considerations, provide a biological foundation for future conservation planning efforts.

  10. Evaluation of airborne methyl salicylate for improved conservation biological control of two-spotted spider mite and hop aphid in Oregon hop yards

    USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

    The use of synthetic herbivore-induced plant volatiles (HIPV) to attract natural enemies has received interest as a tool to enhance conservation biological control (CBC). Methyl salicylate (MeSA) is a HIPV that is attractive to several key predators of two-spotted spider mite, Tetranychus urticae K...

  11. Evaluation of airborne methyl salicylate for improved conservation biological control of two-spotted spider mites and hop aphid in Oregon hop yards

    USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

    The use of synthetic herbivore-induced plant volatiles (HIPV) to attract natural enemies has received interest as a tool to enhance conservation biological control (CBC). Methyl salicylate (MeSA) is a HIPV that is attractive to several key predators of two-spotted spider mite, Tetranychus urticae K...

  12. Federal Funds: Fuel Conservation Fellowship Program

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Bobowski, Rita Cipalla

    1977-01-01

    To train individuals who might design and implement plans for developing alternative sources of energy like solar or geothermal power, the Office of Education supports graduate fellowships in mining, mineral, and mineral fuel conservation. Describes three projects funded by the fellowship program during the 1976-77 academic year. (Author/RK)

  13. G‐LoSA: An efficient computational tool for local structure‐centric biological studies and drug design

    PubMed Central

    2016-01-01

    Abstract Molecular recognition by protein mostly occurs in a local region on the protein surface. Thus, an efficient computational method for accurate characterization of protein local structural conservation is necessary to better understand biology and drug design. We present a novel local structure alignment tool, G‐LoSA. G‐LoSA aligns protein local structures in a sequence order independent way and provides a GA‐score, a chemical feature‐based and size‐independent structure similarity score. Our benchmark validation shows the robust performance of G‐LoSA to the local structures of diverse sizes and characteristics, demonstrating its universal applicability to local structure‐centric comparative biology studies. In particular, G‐LoSA is highly effective in detecting conserved local regions on the entire surface of a given protein. In addition, the applications of G‐LoSA to identifying template ligands and predicting ligand and protein binding sites illustrate its strong potential for computer‐aided drug design. We hope that G‐LoSA can be a useful computational method for exploring interesting biological problems through large‐scale comparison of protein local structures and facilitating drug discovery research and development. G‐LoSA is freely available to academic users at http://im.compbio.ku.edu/GLoSA/. PMID:26813336

  14. G-LoSA: An efficient computational tool for local structure-centric biological studies and drug design.

    PubMed

    Lee, Hui Sun; Im, Wonpil

    2016-04-01

    Molecular recognition by protein mostly occurs in a local region on the protein surface. Thus, an efficient computational method for accurate characterization of protein local structural conservation is necessary to better understand biology and drug design. We present a novel local structure alignment tool, G-LoSA. G-LoSA aligns protein local structures in a sequence order independent way and provides a GA-score, a chemical feature-based and size-independent structure similarity score. Our benchmark validation shows the robust performance of G-LoSA to the local structures of diverse sizes and characteristics, demonstrating its universal applicability to local structure-centric comparative biology studies. In particular, G-LoSA is highly effective in detecting conserved local regions on the entire surface of a given protein. In addition, the applications of G-LoSA to identifying template ligands and predicting ligand and protein binding sites illustrate its strong potential for computer-aided drug design. We hope that G-LoSA can be a useful computational method for exploring interesting biological problems through large-scale comparison of protein local structures and facilitating drug discovery research and development. G-LoSA is freely available to academic users at http://im.compbio.ku.edu/GLoSA/. © 2016 The Protein Society.

  15. Population Biology, Conservation Biology, and the Future of Humanity.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Ehrlich, Paul R.

    1987-01-01

    Recounts some of the progress that has been made in the field of population biology. Presents some of the important advances made in the field, along with some of their applications to societal problems. Calls for more cooperation between population scientists and social scientists, and more environmental education for the public. (TW)

  16. De-extinction and Barriers to the Application of New Conservation Tools.

    PubMed

    Seddon, Philip J

    2017-07-01

    Decades of globally coordinated work in conservation have failed to slow the loss of biodiversity. To do better-even if that means nothing more than failing less spectacularly-bolder thinking is necessary. One of the first possible conservation applications of synthetic biology to be debated is the use of genetic tools to resurrect once-extinct species. Since the currency of conservation is biodiversity and the discipline of conservation biology was formed around the prevention of species extinctions, the prospect of reversing extinctions might have been expected to generate unreserved enthusiasm. But it was not universal acclaim that greeted the coming-out party for "de-extinction" that was the TEDx conference and accompanying National Geographic feature in 2013. Why the concern, the skepticism, even the hostility among many conservationists about the idea of restoring lost species? And how does this professional concern relate to public perception and support for conservation? This essay explores the barriers to the acceptance of risky new genomic-based conservation tools by considering five key areas and associated questions that could be addressed in relation to any new conservation tool. I illustrate these using the specific example of de-extinction, and in doing so, I consider whether de-extinction would necessarily be the best first point of engagement between conservation biology and synthetic biology. © 2017 The Hastings Center.

  17. Biological function in the twilight zone of sequence conservation.

    PubMed

    Ponting, Chris P

    2017-08-16

    Strong DNA conservation among divergent species is an indicator of enduring functionality. With weaker sequence conservation we enter a vast 'twilight zone' in which sequence subject to transient or lower constraint cannot be distinguished easily from neutrally evolving, non-functional sequence. Twilight zone functional sequence is illuminated instead by principles of selective constraint and positive selection using genomic data acquired from within a species' population. Application of these principles reveals that despite being biochemically active, most twilight zone sequence is not functional.

  18. Profiling conserved biological pathways in Autosomal Dominant Polycystic Kidney Disorder (ADPKD) to elucidate key transcriptomic alterations regulating cystogenesis: A cross-species meta-analysis approach.

    PubMed

    Chatterjee, Shatakshee; Verma, Srikant Prasad; Pandey, Priyanka

    2017-09-05

    Initiation and progression of fluid filled cysts mark Autosomal Dominant Polycystic Kidney Disease (ADPKD). Thus, improved therapeutics targeting cystogenesis remains a constant challenge. Microarray studies in single ADPKD animal models species with limited sample sizes tend to provide scattered views on underlying ADPKD pathogenesis. Thus we aim to perform a cross species meta-analysis to profile conserved biological pathways that might be key targets for therapy. Nine ADPKD microarray datasets on rat, mice and human fulfilled our study criteria and were chosen. Intra-species combined analysis was performed after considering removal of batch effect. Significantly enriched GO biological processes and KEGG pathways were computed and their overlap was observed. For the conserved pathways, biological modules and gene regulatory networks were observed. Additionally, Gene Set Enrichment Analysis (GSEA) using Molecular Signature Database (MSigDB) was performed for genes found in conserved pathways. We obtained 28 modules of significantly enriched GO processes and 5 major functional categories from significantly enriched KEGG pathways conserved in human, mice and rats that in turn suggest a global transcriptomic perturbation affecting cyst - formation, growth and progression. Significantly enriched pathways obtained from up-regulated genes such as Genomic instability, Protein localization in ER and Insulin Resistance were found to regulate cyst formation and growth whereas cyst progression due to increased cell adhesion and inflammation was suggested by perturbations in Angiogenesis, TGF-beta, CAMs, and Infection related pathways. Additionally, networks revealed shared genes among pathways e.g. SMAD2 and SMAD7 in Endocytosis and TGF-beta. Our study suggests cyst formation and progression to be an outcome of interplay between a set of several key deregulated pathways. Thus, further translational research is warranted focusing on developing a combinatorial therapeutic

  19. Conservation of biological diversity: all things considered

    Treesearch

    Jonathan Thompson; Martin Raphael; Randy Molina; Bruce Marcot; Deanna Olson

    2008-01-01

    Most ecosystems contain a few common species and many rare ones. By virtue of being rare, these species are often poorly understood and difficult to manage. Scientists at the PNW Research Station have recently published a landmark book that chronicles what is known and what they've recently learned about conserving cryptic biodiversity. For the past decade,...

  20. Conservation Reasoning Ability and Performance on BSCS Blue Version Examinations

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Lawson, Anton E.; Nordland, Floyd H.

    1977-01-01

    Twenty-three high school biology students using the Biological Sciences Curriculum Study (BSCS) Blue Textbook were administered a weight conservation and two volume conservation tasks. A majority performed below formal-operational level, indicating that these students would be likely to encounter difficuluty with BSCS Blue Version materials. (MLH)

  1. Animal models and conserved processes

    PubMed Central

    2012-01-01

    Background The concept of conserved processes presents unique opportunities for using nonhuman animal models in biomedical research. However, the concept must be examined in the context that humans and nonhuman animals are evolved, complex, adaptive systems. Given that nonhuman animals are examples of living systems that are differently complex from humans, what does the existence of a conserved gene or process imply for inter-species extrapolation? Methods We surveyed the literature including philosophy of science, biological complexity, conserved processes, evolutionary biology, comparative medicine, anti-neoplastic agents, inhalational anesthetics, and drug development journals in order to determine the value of nonhuman animal models when studying conserved processes. Results Evolution through natural selection has employed components and processes both to produce the same outcomes among species but also to generate different functions and traits. Many genes and processes are conserved, but new combinations of these processes or different regulation of the genes involved in these processes have resulted in unique organisms. Further, there is a hierarchy of organization in complex living systems. At some levels, the components are simple systems that can be analyzed by mathematics or the physical sciences, while at other levels the system cannot be fully analyzed by reducing it to a physical system. The study of complex living systems must alternate between focusing on the parts and examining the intact whole organism while taking into account the connections between the two. Systems biology aims for this holism. We examined the actions of inhalational anesthetic agents and anti-neoplastic agents in order to address what the characteristics of complex living systems imply for inter-species extrapolation of traits and responses related to conserved processes. Conclusion We conclude that even the presence of conserved processes is insufficient for inter

  2. Geography of conservation spending, biodiversity, and culture.

    PubMed

    McClanahan, T R; Rankin, P S

    2016-10-01

    We used linear and multivariate models to examine the associations between geography, biodiversity, per capita economic output, national spending on conservation, governance, and cultural traits in 55 countries. Cultural traits and social metrics of modernization correlated positively with national spending on conservation. The global distribution of this spending culture was poorly aligned with the distribution of biodiversity. Specifically, biodiversity was greater in the tropics where cultures tended to spend relatively less on conservation and tended to have higher collectivism, formalized and hierarchical leadership, and weaker governance. Consequently, nations lacking social traits frequently associated with modernization, environmentalism, and conservation spending have the largest component of Earth's biodiversity. This has significant implications for setting policies and priorities for resource management given that biological diversity is rapidly disappearing and cultural traits change slowly. Therefore, we suggest natural resource management adapt to and use characteristics of existing social organization rather than wait for or promote social values associated with conservation spending. Supporting biocultural traditions, engaging leaders to increase conservation commitments, cross-national efforts that complement attributes of cultures, and avoiding interference with nature may work best to conserve nature in collective and hierarchical societies. Spending in modernized nations may be a symbolic response to a symptom of economic development and environmental degradation, and here conservation actions need to ensure that biodiversity is not being lost. © 2016 Society for Conservation Biology.

  3. The case for policy-relevant conservation science.

    PubMed

    Rose, David C

    2015-06-01

    Drawing on the "evidence-based" (Sutherland et al. 2013) versus "evidence-informed" debate (Adams & Sandbrook 2013), which has become prominent in conservation science, I argue that science can be influential if it holds a dual reference (Lentsch & Weingart 2011) that contributes to the needs of policy makers whilst maintaining technical rigor. In line with such a strategy, conservation scientists are increasingly recognizing the usefulness of constructing narratives through which to enhance the influence of their evidence (Leslie et al. 2013; Lawton & Rudd 2014). Yet telling stories alone is rarely enough to influence policy; instead, these narratives must be policy relevant. To ensure that evidence is persuasive alongside other factors in a complex policy-making process, conservation scientists could follow 2 steps: reframe within salient political contexts and engage more productively in boundary work, which is defined as the ways in which scientists "construct, negotiate, and defend the boundary between science and policy" (Owens et al. 2006:640). These will both improve the chances of evidence-informed conservation policy. © 2015 The Authors. Conservation Biology published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc., on behalf of Society for Conservation Biology.

  4. Conservation of diversity in forest ecosystems

    Treesearch

    C. I. Millar; F. T. Ledig; L. A. Riggs

    1990-01-01

    The symposium from which the papers in this issue derive was organized to foster an awareness among forest managers of the issues surrounding biological diversity. Forest geneticists have been calling for conservation of diversity for many years (Anonymous, 1975). Since they were geneticists, they naturally called this gene conservation. Forest geneticists often sold...

  5. Scientists' opinions on the global status and management of biological diversity.

    PubMed

    Rudd, Murray A

    2011-12-01

    The large investments needed if loss of biological diversity is to be stemmed will likely lead to increased public and political scrutiny of conservation strategies and the science underlying them. It is therefore crucial to understand the degree of consensus or divergence among scientists on core scientific perceptions and strategies most likely to achieve given objectives. I developed an internet survey designed to elucidate the opinions of conservation scientists. Conservation scientists (n =583) were unanimous (99.5%) in their view that a serious loss of biological diversity is likely, very likely, or virtually certain. Scientists' agreement that serious loss is very likely or virtually certain ranged from 72.8% for Western Europe to 90.9% for Southeast Asia. Tropical coral ecosystems were perceived as the most seriously affected by loss of biological diversity; 88.0% of respondents familiar with that ecosystem type agreed that a serious loss is very likely or virtually certain. With regard to conservation strategies, scientists most often viewed understanding how people and nature interact in certain contexts and the role of biological diversity in maintaining ecosystem function as their priorities. Protection of biological diversity for its cultural and spiritual values and because of its usefulness to humans were low priorities, which suggests that many scientists do not fully support the utilitarian concept of ecosystem services. Many scientists expressed a willingness to consider conservation triage, engage in active conservation interventions, and consider reframing conservation goals and measures of success for conservation of biological diversity in an era of climate change. Although some heterogeneity of opinion is evident, results of the survey show a clear consensus within the scientific community on core issues of the extent and geographic scope of loss of biological diversity and on elements that may contribute to successful conservation strategies

  6. Conservation endocrinology

    USGS Publications Warehouse

    McCormick, Stephen; Romero, L. Michael

    2017-01-01

    Endocrinologists can make significant contributions to conservation biology by helping to understand the mechanisms by which organisms cope with changing environments. Field endocrine techniques have advanced rapidly in recent years and can provide substantial information on the growth, stress, and reproductive status of individual animals, thereby providing insight into current and future responses of populations to changes in the environment. Environmental stressors and reproductive status can be detected nonlethally by measuring a number of endocrine-related endpoints, including steroids in plasma, living and nonliving tissue, urine, and feces. Information on the environmental or endocrine requirements of individual species for normal growth, development, and reproduction will provide critical information for species and ecosystem conservation. For many taxa, basic information on endocrinology is lacking, and advances in conservation endocrinology will require approaches that are both “basic” and “applied” and include integration of laboratory and field approaches.

  7. Research Priorities from Animal Behaviour for Maximising Conservation Progress.

    PubMed

    Greggor, Alison L; Berger-Tal, Oded; Blumstein, Daniel T; Angeloni, Lisa; Bessa-Gomes, Carmen; Blackwell, Bradley F; St Clair, Colleen Cassady; Crooks, Kevin; de Silva, Shermin; Fernández-Juricic, Esteban; Goldenberg, Shifra Z; Mesnick, Sarah L; Owen, Megan; Price, Catherine J; Saltz, David; Schell, Christopher J; Suarez, Andrew V; Swaisgood, Ronald R; Winchell, Clark S; Sutherland, William J

    2016-12-01

    Poor communication between academic researchers and wildlife managers limits conservation progress and innovation. As a result, input from overlapping fields, such as animal behaviour, is underused in conservation management despite its demonstrated utility as a conservation tool and countless papers advocating its use. Communication and collaboration across these two disciplines are unlikely to improve without clearly identified management needs and demonstrable impacts of behavioural-based conservation management. To facilitate this process, a team of wildlife managers and animal behaviour researchers conducted a research prioritisation exercise, identifying 50 key questions that have great potential to resolve critical conservation and management problems. The resulting agenda highlights the diversity and extent of advances that both fields could achieve through collaboration. Copyright © 2016 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.

  8. Reasons to Conserve Nature.

    PubMed

    Pearson, Richard G

    2016-05-01

    Is it sufficient to base arguments for conservation on the intrinsic value of nature, regardless of the services and economic benefits that biodiversity provides for humans? This question underlies much recent debate that has been at times acrimonious and has led to calls for a more inclusive approach to conservation. Yet melding different ideologies within a unified conceptual framework has proven difficult. Here I describe an approach that recognizes the importance of the level of biological organization and spatial extent in determining the strength of alternative arguments for why we should conserve nature. I argue that the framework helps reconcile contrasting viewpoints and brings clarity to when different conservation management approaches (for instance, regulation versus monetary valuation) are most appropriate. Copyright © 2016 The Author. Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.

  9. Guidelines and incentives for conservation development in local land-use regulations.

    PubMed

    Reed, Sarah E; Hilty, Jodi A; Theobald, David M

    2014-02-01

    Effective conservation of biological diversity on private lands will require changes in land-use policy and development practice. Conservation development (CD) is an alternative form of residential development in which homes are built on smaller lots and clustered together and the remainder of the property is permanently protected for conservation purposes. We assessed the degree to which CD is permitted and encouraged by local land-use regulations in 414 counties in the western United States. Thirty-two percent of local planning jurisdictions have adopted CD ordinances, mostly within the past 10 years. CD ordinances were adopted in counties with human population densities that were 3.0 times greater and in counties with 2.5 times more land use at urban, suburban, and exurban densities than counties without CD ordinances. Despite strong economic incentives for CD (e.g., density bonuses, which allow for a mean of 66% more homes to be built per subdivision area), several issues may limit the effectiveness of CD for biological diversity conservation. Although most CD ordinances required a greater proportion of the site area be protected than in a typical residential development, just 13% (n = 17) of the ordinances required an ecological site analysis to identify and map features that should be protected. Few CD ordinances provided guidelines regarding the design and configuration of the protected lands, including specifying a minimum size for protected land parcels or encouraging contiguity with other protected lands within or near to the site. Eight percent (n =11) of CD ordinances encouraged consultation with a biological expert or compliance with a conservation plan. We recommend that conservation scientists help to improve the effectiveness of CD by educating planning staff and government officials regarding biological diversity conservation, volunteering for their local planning boards, or consulting on development reviews. © 2013 Society for Conservation

  10. Drug Development and Conservation of Biodiversity in West and Central Africa.

    DTIC Science & Technology

    1998-10-01

    identifications. A topography map has been created for the first 25-ha. Many researhers within the project have traveled to collaborate on plot work, data entry...over 50 papers on tropical forest dynamics, diversity, stand distribution, canopy biology , reproductive biology , conservation, and management. The...Climate Change", followed by a reception. The panel was co-sponsored by Smithsonian’s Institute of Conservation Biology and CTFS. The panelist

  11. Building robust conservation plans.

    PubMed

    Visconti, Piero; Joppa, Lucas

    2015-04-01

    Systematic conservation planning optimizes trade-offs between biodiversity conservation and human activities by accounting for socioeconomic costs while aiming to achieve prescribed conservation objectives. However, the most cost-efficient conservation plan can be very dissimilar to any other plan achieving the set of conservation objectives. This is problematic under conditions of implementation uncertainty (e.g., if all or part of the plan becomes unattainable). We determined through simulations of parallel implementation of conservation plans and habitat loss the conditions under which optimal plans have limited chances of implementation and where implementation attempts would fail to meet objectives. We then devised a new, flexible method for identifying conservation priorities and scheduling conservation actions. This method entails generating a number of alternative plans, calculating the similarity in site composition among all plans, and selecting the plan with the highest density of neighboring plans in similarity space. We compared our method with the classic method that maximizes cost efficiency with synthetic and real data sets. When implementation was uncertain--a common reality--our method provided higher likelihood of achieving conservation targets. We found that χ, a measure of the shortfall in objectives achieved by a conservation plan if the plan could not be implemented entirely, was the main factor determining the relative performance of a flexibility enhanced approach to conservation prioritization. Our findings should help planning authorities prioritize conservation efforts in the face of uncertainty about future condition and availability of sites. © 2014 Society for Conservation Biology.

  12. Focusing ecological research for conservation.

    PubMed

    Cristescu, Bogdan; Boyce, Mark S

    2013-11-01

    Ecologists are increasingly actively involved in conservation. We identify five key topics from a broad sweep of ecology that merit research attention to meet conservation needs. We examine questions from landscape ecology, behavioral ecology, ecosystem dynamics, community ecology, and nutrient cycling related to key topics. Based on literature review and publication trend assessment, consultation with colleagues, and roundtable discussions at the 24th International Congress for Conservation Biology, focused research on the following topics could benefit conservation while advancing ecological understanding: 1. Carbon sequestration, requiring increased linkages to biodiversity conservation; 2. Ecological invasiveness, challenging our ability to find solutions to ecological aliens; 3. Individual variation, having applications in the conservation of rare species; 4. Movement of organisms, integrating ecological processes across landscapes and scales and addressing habitat fragmentation; and 5. Trophic-level interactions, driving ecological dynamics at the ecosystem-level. Addressing these will require cross-disciplinary research under the overarching framework of conservation ecology.

  13. Criterion 1: Conservation of biological diversity

    Treesearch

    Stephen R. Shifley; Francisco X. Aguilar; Nianfu Song; Susan I. Stewart; David J. Nowak; Dale D. Gormanson; W. Keith Moser; Sherri Wormstead; Eric J. Greenfield

    2012-01-01

    Biological diversity, or biodiversity, is the variety of life. It encompasses the variability among living organisms and includes diversity within species, among species, and among ecosystems. High biodiversity enables a forest ecosystem to respond to external influences, absorb and recover from disturbances, and still maintain essential ecosystem processes such as...

  14. Conservation reaches new heights.

    PubMed

    Pepall, J; Khanal, P

    1992-10-01

    The conservation program with the management assistance of the Woodlands Mountain Institute in 2 contiguous parks, the Mount Everest National Park in Nepal and the Qomolangma Nature Reserve in China, in 2 countries is described. The focus is on conservation of the complex ecosystem with sustainable development by showing local people how to benefit from the park without environmental damage. Cultural diversity is as important as biological diversity. The area has been designated by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site with the "last pure ecological seed" of the Himalayas. The regional geography and culture are presented. Population growth has impacted natural resources through overgrazing, cultivation of marginal land, and deforestation; future plans to build a dam and road bordering the nature reserve pose other threats. Proposed management plans for the Makalu-Barun Nature Park (established in November 1991) and Conservation Area include a division of the park into nature reserve areas free of human activity, protected areas which permit traditional land use, and special sites and trail for tourists and religious pilgrims. The conservation area will act as a buffer for the park and provide economic opportunities; further subdivisions include land use for biodiversity protection, community forest and pasture, agroforestry, and agriculture and settlement. Efforts will be made to increase the welfare of women and local people; proposed projects include the introduction of higher milk-producing animals for stall feeding. Also proposed is a cultural and natural history museum. 70% of the project's resources will be directed to local community participation in consultation and park maintenance. The project is a model of how conservation and protection of natural resources can coexist with local economic development and participation; an integration of preservation of biological diversity, mountain wisdom, and the value of local people as resources for conservation.

  15. Applied reproductive technologies and genetic resource banking for amphibian conservation.

    PubMed

    Kouba, Andrew J; Vance, Carrie K

    2009-01-01

    As amphibian populations continue to decline, both government and non-government organisations are establishing captive assurance colonies to secure populations deemed at risk of extinction if left in the wild. For the most part, little is known about the nutritional ecology, reproductive biology or husbandry needs of the animals placed into captive breeding programs. Because of this lack of knowledge, conservation biologists are currently facing the difficult task of maintaining and reproducing these species. Academic and zoo scientists are beginning to examine different technologies for maintaining the genetic diversity of founder populations brought out of the wild before the animals become extinct from rapidly spreading epizootic diseases. One such technology is genetic resource banking and applied reproductive technologies for species that are difficult to reproduce reliably in captivity. Significant advances have been made in the last decade for amphibian assisted reproduction including the use of exogenous hormones for induction of spermiation and ovulation, in vitro fertilisation, short-term cold storage of gametes and long-term cryopreservation of spermatozoa. These scientific breakthroughs for a select few species will no doubt serve as models for future assisted breeding protocols and the increasing number of amphibians requiring conservation intervention. However, the development of specialised assisted breeding protocols that can be applied to many different families of amphibians will likely require species-specific modifications considering their wide range of reproductive modes. The purpose of this review is to summarise the current state of knowledge in the area of assisted reproduction technologies and gene banking for the conservation of amphibians.

  16. Conservation law for self-paced movements.

    PubMed

    Huh, Dongsung; Sejnowski, Terrence J

    2016-08-02

    Optimal control models of biological movements introduce external task factors to specify the pace of movements. Here, we present the dual to the principle of optimality based on a conserved quantity, called "drive," that represents the influence of internal motivation level on movement pace. Optimal control and drive conservation provide equivalent descriptions for the regularities observed within individual movements. For regularities across movements, drive conservation predicts a previously unidentified scaling law between the overall size and speed of various self-paced hand movements in the absence of any external tasks, which we confirmed with psychophysical experiments. Drive can be interpreted as a high-level control variable that sets the overall pace of movements and may be represented in the brain as the tonic levels of neuromodulators that control the level of internal motivation, thus providing insights into how internal states affect biological motor control.

  17. Defining conservation targets on a landscape-scale

    USGS Publications Warehouse

    Benscoter, A.M.; Romañach, Stephanie; Brandt, Laura A.

    2015-01-01

    Conservation planning, the process of deciding how to protect, conserve, enhance and(or) minimize loss of natural and cultural resources, is a fundamental process to achieve conservation success in a time of rapid environmental change. Conservation targets, the measurable expressions of desired resource conditions, are an important tool in biological planning to achieve effective outcomes. Conservation targets provide a focus for planning, design, conservation action, and collaborative monitoring of environmental trends to guide landscape-scale conservation to improve the quality and quantity of key ecological and cultural resources. It is essential to have an iterative and inclusive method to define conservation targets that is replicable and allows for the evaluation of the effectiveness of conservation targets over time. In this document, we describe a process that can be implemented to achieve landscape-scale conservation, which includes defining conservation targets. We also describe what has been accomplished to date (September 2015) through this process for the Peninsular Florida Landscape Conservation Cooperative (PFLCC).

  18. Applying the dark diversity concept to nature conservation.

    PubMed

    Lewis, Rob J; de Bello, Francesco; Bennett, Jonathan A; Fibich, Pavel; Finerty, Genevieve E; Götzenberger, Lars; Hiiesalu, Inga; Kasari, Liis; Lepš, Jan; Májeková, Maria; Mudrák, Ondřej; Riibak, Kersti; Ronk, Argo; Rychtecká, Terezie; Vitová, Alena; Pärtel, Meelis

    2017-02-01

    Linking diversity to biological processes is central for developing informed and effective conservation decisions. Unfortunately, observable patterns provide only a proportion of the information necessary for fully understanding the mechanisms and processes acting on a particular population or community. We suggest conservation managers use the often overlooked information relative to species absences and pay particular attention to dark diversity (i.e., a set of species that are absent from a site but that could disperse to and establish there, in other words, the absent portion of a habitat-specific species pool). Together with existing ecological metrics, concepts, and conservation tools, dark diversity can be used to complement and further develop conservation prioritization and management decisions through an understanding of biodiversity relativized by its potential (i.e., its species pool). Furthermore, through a detailed understanding of the population, community, and functional dark diversity, the restoration potential of degraded habitats can be more rigorously assessed and so to the likelihood of successful species invasions. We suggest the application of the dark diversity concept is currently an underappreciated source of information that is valuable for conservation applications ranging from macroscale conservation prioritization to more locally scaled restoration ecology and the management of invasive species. © 2016 Society for Conservation Biology.

  19. Sequencing Conservation Actions Through Threat Assessments in the Southeastern United States

    Treesearch

    Robert D. Sutter; Christopher C. Szell

    2006-01-01

    The identification of conservation priorities is one of the leading issues in conservation biology. We present a project of The Nature Conservancy, called Sequencing Conservation Actions, which prioritizes conservation areas and identifies foci for crosscutting strategies at various geographic scales. We use the term “Sequencing” to mean an ordering of actions over...

  20. Practitioner and scientist perceptions of successful amphibian conservation.

    PubMed

    Meredith, Helen M R; St John, Freya A V; Collen, Ben; Black, Simon A; Griffiths, Richard A

    2018-04-01

    Conservation requires successful outcomes. However, success is perceived in many different ways depending on the desired outcome. Through a questionnaire survey, we examined perceptions of success among 355 scientists and practitioners working on amphibian conservation from over 150 organizations in more than 50 countries. We also sought to identify how different types of conservation actions and respondent experience and background influenced perceptions. Respondents identified 4 types of success: species and habitat improvements (84% of respondents); effective program management (36%); outreach initiatives such as education and public engagement (25%); and the application of science-based conservation (15%). The most significant factor influencing overall perceived success was reducing threats. Capacity building was rated least important. Perceptions were influenced by experience, professional affiliation, involvement in conservation practice, and country of residence. More experienced practitioners associated success with improvements to species and habitats and less so with education and engagement initiatives. Although science-based conservation was rated as important, this factor declined in importance as the number of programs a respondent participated in increased, particularly among those from less economically developed countries. The ultimate measure of conservation success-population recovery-may be difficult to measure in many amphibians; difficult to relate to the conservation actions intended to drive it; and difficult to achieve within conventional funding time frames. The relaunched Amphibian Conservation Action Plan provides a framework for capturing lower level processes and outcomes, identifying gaps, and measuring progress. © 2017 The Authors. Conservation Biology published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc. on behalf of Society for Conservation Biology.

  1. Brownfield redevelopment: a hidden opportunity for conservation biology

    Treesearch

    Lynne M. Westphal; Jeffery M. Levengood; Alaka Wali; David Soucek; Douglas F. Stotz

    2005-01-01

    Brownfields - lands that are idle due to concerns about contamination - are often prominent features of urban areas. Conservation in an urbanizing world must take brownfields into consideration because regions of heavy industry can harbor areas of ecological significance. The Calumet region of northwest Indiana and northeast Illinois is one such place, where the...

  2. Ecology and conservation of the Marbled Murrelet

    Treesearch

    C. John Ralph; George L. Hunt; Martin G. Raphael; John F. Piatt

    1995-01-01

    This report on the Marbled Murrelet (Brachyramphus marmoratus) was compiled and editied by the interagency Marbled Murrelet Conservation Assessment Core Team. The 37 Chapters cover both original studies and literature reviews of many aspects of the species’ biology, ecology, and conservation needs. It includes new information on the forest habitat...

  3. Transforming conservation science and practice for a postnormal world.

    PubMed

    Colloff, Matthew J; Lavorel, Sandra; van Kerkhoff, Lorrae E; Wyborn, Carina A; Fazey, Ioan; Gorddard, Russell; Mace, Georgina M; Foden, Wendy B; Dunlop, Michael; Prentice, I Colin; Crowley, John; Leadley, Paul; Degeorges, Patrick

    2017-10-01

    We examine issues to consider when reframing conservation science and practice in the context of global change. New framings of the links between ecosystems and society are emerging that are changing peoples' values and expectations of nature, resulting in plural perspectives on conservation. Reframing conservation for global change can thus be regarded as a stage in the evolving relationship between people and nature rather than some recent trend. New models of how conservation links with transformative adaptation include how decision contexts for conservation can be reframed and integrated with an adaptation pathways approach to create new options for global-change-ready conservation. New relationships for conservation science and governance include coproduction of knowledge that supports social learning. New processes for implementing adaptation for conservation outcomes include deliberate practices used to develop new strategies, shift world views, work with conflict, address power and intergenerational equity in decisions, and build consciousness and creativity that empower agents to act. We argue that reframing conservation for global change requires scientists and practitioners to implement approaches unconstrained by discipline and sectoral boundaries, geopolitical polarities, or technical problematization. We consider a stronger focus on inclusive creation of knowledge and the interaction of this knowledge with societal values and rules is likely to result in conservation science and practice that meets the challenges of a postnormal world. © 2017 The Authors. Conservation Biology published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc. on behalf of Society for Conservation Biology.

  4. Use of a business excellence model to improve conservation programs.

    PubMed

    Black, Simon; Groombridge, Jim

    2010-12-01

    The current shortfall in effectiveness within conservation biology is illustrated by increasing interest in "evidence-based conservation," whose proponents have identified the need to benchmark conservation initiatives against actions that lead to proven positive effects. The effectiveness of conservation policies, approaches, and evaluation is under increasing scrutiny, and in these areas models of excellence used in business could prove valuable. Typically, conservation programs require years of effort and involve rigorous long-term implementation processes. Successful balance of long-term efforts alongside the achievement of short-term goals is often compromised by management or budgetary constraints, a situation also common in commercial businesses. "Business excellence" is an approach many companies have used over the past 20 years to ensure continued success. Various business excellence evaluations have been promoted that include concepts that could be adapted and applied in conservation programs. We describe a conservation excellence model that shows how scientific processes and results can be aligned with financial and organizational measures of success. We applied the model to two well-documented species conservation programs. In the first, the Po'ouli program, several aspects of improvement were identified, such as more authority for decision making in the field and better integration of habitat management and population recovery processes. The second example, the black-footed ferret program, could have benefited from leadership effort to reduce bureaucracy and to encourage use of best-practice species recovery approaches. The conservation excellence model enables greater clarity in goal setting, more-effective identification of job roles within programs, better links between technical approaches and measures of biological success, and more-effective use of resources. The model could improve evaluation of a conservation program's effectiveness and may be

  5. DNA marker technology for wildlife conservation

    PubMed Central

    Arif, Ibrahim A.; Khan, Haseeb A.; Bahkali, Ali H.; Al Homaidan, Ali A.; Al Farhan, Ahmad H.; Al Sadoon, Mohammad; Shobrak, Mohammad

    2011-01-01

    Use of molecular markers for identification of protected species offers a greater promise in the field of conservation biology. The information on genetic diversity of wildlife is necessary to ascertain the genetically deteriorated populations so that better management plans can be established for their conservation. Accurate classification of these threatened species allows understanding of the species biology and identification of distinct populations that should be managed with utmost care. Molecular markers are versatile tools for identification of populations with genetic crisis by comparing genetic diversities that in turn helps to resolve taxonomic uncertainties and to establish management units within species. The genetic marker analysis also provides sensitive and useful tools for prevention of illegal hunting and poaching and for more effective implementation of the laws for protection of the endangered species. This review summarizes various tools of DNA markers technology for application in molecular diversity analysis with special emphasis on wildlife conservation. PMID:23961128

  6. Targeted gene flow for conservation.

    PubMed

    Kelly, Ella; Phillips, Ben L

    2016-04-01

    Anthropogenic threats often impose strong selection on affected populations, causing rapid evolutionary responses. Unfortunately, these adaptive responses are rarely harnessed for conservation. We suggest that conservation managers pay close attention to adaptive processes and geographic variation, with an eye to using them for conservation goals. Translocating pre-adapted individuals into recipient populations is currently considered a potentially important management tool in the face of climate change. Targeted gene flow, which involves moving individuals with favorable traits to areas where these traits would have a conservation benefit, could have a much broader application in conservation. Across a species' range there may be long-standing geographic variation in traits or variation may have rapidly developed in response to a threatening process. Targeted gene flow could be used to promote natural resistance to threats to increase species resilience. We suggest that targeted gene flow is a currently underappreciated strategy in conservation that has applications ranging from the management of invasive species and their impacts to controlling the impact and virulence of pathogens. © 2015 Society for Conservation Biology.

  7. Conservation biological control and pest performance in lawn turf: does mowing height matter?

    PubMed

    Dobbs, Emily K; Potter, Daniel A

    2014-03-01

    With >80 million United States households engaged in lawn and gardening activities, increasing sustainability of lawn care is important. Mowing height is an easily manipulated aspect of lawn management. We tested the hypothesis that elevated mowing of tall fescue lawn grass promotes a larger, more diverse community of arthropod natural enemies which in turn provides stronger biological control services, and the corollary hypothesis that doing so also renders the turf itself less suitable for growth of insect pests. Turf-type tall fescue was mowed low (6.4 cm) or high (10.2 cm) for two growing seasons, natural enemy populations were assessed by vacuum sampling, pitfall traps, and ant baits, and predation and parasitism were evaluated with sentinel prey caterpillars, grubs, and eggs. In addition, foliage-feeding caterpillars and root-feeding scarab grubs were confined in the turf to evaluate their performance. Although some predatory groups (e.g., rove beetles and spiders) were more abundant in high-mowed grass, predation rates were uniformly high because ants, the dominant predators, were similarly abundant regardless of mowing height. Lower canopy temperatures in high-mowed grass were associated with slower growth of grass-feeding caterpillars. Higher lawn mowing reduces fuel consumption and yard waste, and promotes a deep, robust root system that reduces need for water and chemical inputs. Although in this study elevated mowing height did not measurably increase the already-high levels of predation, it did suggest additional ways through which bottom-up effects on insect pest growth might interact with natural enemies to facilitate conservation biological control.

  8. Conservation Biological Control and Pest Performance in Lawn Turf: Does Mowing Height Matter?

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Dobbs, Emily K.; Potter, Daniel A.

    2014-03-01

    With >80 million United States households engaged in lawn and gardening activities, increasing sustainability of lawn care is important. Mowing height is an easily manipulated aspect of lawn management. We tested the hypothesis that elevated mowing of tall fescue lawn grass promotes a larger, more diverse community of arthropod natural enemies which in turn provides stronger biological control services, and the corollary hypothesis that doing so also renders the turf itself less suitable for growth of insect pests. Turf-type tall fescue was mowed low (6.4 cm) or high (10.2 cm) for two growing seasons, natural enemy populations were assessed by vacuum sampling, pitfall traps, and ant baits, and predation and parasitism were evaluated with sentinel prey caterpillars, grubs, and eggs. In addition, foliage-feeding caterpillars and root-feeding scarab grubs were confined in the turf to evaluate their performance. Although some predatory groups (e.g., rove beetles and spiders) were more abundant in high-mowed grass, predation rates were uniformly high because ants, the dominant predators, were similarly abundant regardless of mowing height. Lower canopy temperatures in high-mowed grass were associated with slower growth of grass-feeding caterpillars. Higher lawn mowing reduces fuel consumption and yard waste, and promotes a deep, robust root system that reduces need for water and chemical inputs. Although in this study elevated mowing height did not measurably increase the already-high levels of predation, it did suggest additional ways through which bottom-up effects on insect pest growth might interact with natural enemies to facilitate conservation biological control.

  9. Classification of climate-change-induced stresses on biological diversity.

    PubMed

    Geyer, Juliane; Kiefer, Iris; Kreft, Stefan; Chavez, Veronica; Salafsky, Nick; Jeltsch, Florian; Ibisch, Pierre L

    2011-08-01

    Conservation actions need to account for and be adapted to address changes that will occur under global climate change. The identification of stresses on biological diversity (as defined in the Convention on Biological Diversity) is key in the process of adaptive conservation management. We considered any impact of climate change on biological diversity a stress because such an effect represents a change (negative or positive) in key ecological attributes of an ecosystem or parts of it. We applied a systemic approach and a hierarchical framework in a comprehensive classification of stresses to biological diversity that are caused directly by global climate change. Through analyses of 20 conservation sites in 7 countries and a review of the literature, we identified climate-change-induced stresses. We grouped the identified stresses according to 3 levels of biological diversity: stresses that affect individuals and populations, stresses that affect biological communities, and stresses that affect ecosystem structure and function. For each stress category, we differentiated 3 hierarchical levels of stress: stress class (thematic grouping with the coarsest resolution, 8); general stresses (thematic groups of specific stresses, 21); and specific stresses (most detailed definition of stresses, 90). We also compiled an overview of effects of climate change on ecosystem services using the categories of the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment and 2 additional categories. Our classification may be used to identify key climate-change-related stresses to biological diversity and may assist in the development of appropriate conservation strategies. The classification is in list format, but it accounts for relations among climate-change-induced stresses. © 2011 Society for Conservation Biology.

  10. The value of virtual conferencing for ecology and conservation.

    PubMed

    Fraser, Hannah; Soanes, Kylie; Jones, Stuart A; Jones, Chris S; Malishev, Matthew

    2017-06-01

    The objectives of conservation science and dissemination of its research create a paradox: Conservation is about preserving the environment, yet scientists spread this message at conferences with heavy carbon footprints. Ecology and conservation science depend on global knowledge exchange-getting the best science to the places it is most needed. However, conference attendance from developed countries typically outweighs that from developing countries that are biodiversity and conservation hotspots. If any branch of science should be trying to maximize participation while minimizing carbon emissions, it is conservation. Virtual conferencing is common in other disciplines, such as education and humanities, but it is surprisingly underused in ecology and conservation. Adopting virtual conferencing entails a number of challenges, including logistics and unified acceptance, which we argue can be overcome through planning and technology. We examined 4 conference models: a pure-virtual model and 3 hybrid hub-and-node models, where hubs stream content to local nodes. These models collectively aim to mitigate the logistical and administrative challenges of global knowledge transfer. Embracing virtual conferencing addresses 2 essential prerequisites of modern conferences: lowering carbon emissions and increasing accessibility for remote, time- and resource-poor researchers, particularly those from developing countries. © 2017 The Authors. Conservation Biology published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc. on behalf of Society for Conservation Biology.

  11. Defining the demands and meeting the challenges of integrated bird conservation

    Treesearch

    Charles K. Baxter

    2005-01-01

    Understanding the demands of integration bird conservation begins with a critical assessment of the North American Bird Conservation Initiative's (NABCI) goal."Regionally-based, biologically-driven, landscape oriented partnerships delivering the full spectrum of bird conservation across the entirety of North America."

  12. Optimal fire histories for biodiversity conservation.

    PubMed

    Kelly, Luke T; Bennett, Andrew F; Clarke, Michael F; McCarthy, Michael A

    2015-04-01

    Fire is used as a management tool for biodiversity conservation worldwide. A common objective is to avoid population extinctions due to inappropriate fire regimes. However, in many ecosystems, it is unclear what mix of fire histories will achieve this goal. We determined the optimal fire history of a given area for biological conservation with a method that links tools from 3 fields of research: species distribution modeling, composite indices of biodiversity, and decision science. We based our case study on extensive field surveys of birds, reptiles, and mammals in fire-prone semi-arid Australia. First, we developed statistical models of species' responses to fire history. Second, we determined the optimal allocation of successional states in a given area, based on the geometric mean of species relative abundance. Finally, we showed how conservation targets based on this index can be incorporated into a decision-making framework for fire management. Pyrodiversity per se did not necessarily promote vertebrate biodiversity. Maximizing pyrodiversity by having an even allocation of successional states did not maximize the geometric mean abundance of bird species. Older vegetation was disproportionately important for the conservation of birds, reptiles, and small mammals. Because our method defines fire management objectives based on the habitat requirements of multiple species in the community, it could be used widely to maximize biodiversity in fire-prone ecosystems. © 2014 Society for Conservation Biology.

  13. Conservation of Mexican wetlands: role of the North American Wetlands Conservation Act

    USGS Publications Warehouse

    Wilson, M.H.; Ryan, D.A.

    1997-01-01

    Mexico's wetlands support a tremendous biological diversity and provide significant natural resource benefits to local communities. Because they are also critical stopover and wintering grounds for much of North America's waterfowl and other migratory birds, Mexico has become an important participant in continental efforts to conserve these resources through the North American Wetlands Conservation Act. Funding from the Act has supported partnerships in a number of Mexico's priority wetlands to conduct data analyses and dissemination, mapping, environmental education, wetland restoration, development of sustainable economic alternatives for local people, and reserve planning and management. These partnerships, with the close involvement of Mexico's Federal Government authority, the Instituto Nacional de Ecologia, have advanced conservation in a uniquely Mexican model that differs from that employed in the United States and Canada.

  14. Conservation Action Planning: Lessons learned from the St. Marys River watershed biodiversity conservation planning process

    USGS Publications Warehouse

    Patterson, Tamatha A.; Grundel, Ralph

    2014-01-01

    Conservation Action Planning (CAP) is an adaptive management planning process refined by The Nature Conservancy (TNC) and embraced worldwide as the Open Standards for the Practice of Conservation. The CAP process facilitates open, multi-institutional collaboration on a common conservation agenda through organized actions and quantified results. While specifically designed for conservation efforts, the framework is adaptable and flexible to multiple scales and can be used for any collaborative planning effort. The CAP framework addresses inception; design and development of goals, measures, and strategies; and plan implementation and evaluation. The specific components of the CAP include defining the project scope and conservation targets; assessing the ecological viability; ascertaining threats and surrounding situation; identifying opportunities and designing strategies for action; and implementing actions and monitoring results. In 2007, TNC and a multidisciplinary graduate student team from the University of Michigan's School of Natural Resources and Environment initiated a CAP for the St. Marys River, the connecting channel between Lake Superior and Lake Huron, and its local watershed. The students not only gained experience in conservation planning, but also learned lessons that notably benefited the CAP process and were valuable for any successful collaborative effort—a dedicated core team improved product quality, accelerated the timeline, and provided necessary support for ongoing efforts; an academic approach in preparation for engagement in the planning process brought applicable scientific research to the forefront, enhanced workshop facilitation, and improved stakeholder participation; and early and continuous interactions with regional stakeholders improved cooperation and built a supportive network for collaboration.

  15. Undergraduate medical academic performance is improved by scientific training.

    PubMed

    Zhang, Lili; Zhang, Wei; Wu, Chong; Liu, Zhongming; Cai, Yunfei; Cao, Xingguo; He, Yushan; Liu, Guoxiang; Miao, Hongming

    2017-09-01

    The effect of scientific training on course learning in undergraduates is still controversial. In this study, we investigated the academic performance of undergraduate students with and without scientific training. The results show that scientific training improves students' test scores in general medical courses, such as biochemistry and molecular biology, cell biology, physiology, and even English. We classified scientific training into four levels. We found that literature reading could significantly improve students' test scores in general courses. Students who received scientific training carried out experiments more effectively and published articles performed better than their untrained counterparts in biochemistry and molecular biology examinations. The questionnaire survey demonstrated that the trained students were more confident of their course learning, and displayed more interest, motivation and capability in course learning. In summary, undergraduate academic performance is improved by scientific training. Our findings shed light on the novel strategies in the management of undergraduate education in the medical school. © 2017 by The International Union of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, 45(5):379-384, 2017. © 2017 The International Union of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology.

  16. Gila River Basin Native Fishes Conservation Program

    Treesearch

    Doug Duncan; Robert W. Clarkson

    2013-01-01

    The Gila River Basin Native Fishes Conservation Program was established to conserve native fishes and manage against nonnative fishes in response to several Endangered Species Act biological opinions between the Bureau of Reclamation and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service on Central Arizona Project (CAP) water transfers to the Gila River basin. Populations of some Gila...

  17. A Study of the Association of Attitudes to the Philosophy of Science with Classroom Contexts, Academic Qualification and Professional Training, amongst A-Level Biology Teachers in Harare, Zimbabwe.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Gwimbi, Eric; Monk, Martin

    2003-01-01

    Investigates the association between attitude towards the philosophy of science and academic qualification professional training. Analyzes responses from 33 A-level biology teachers to a questionnaire and reports from teachers in Harare on their school contexts. Suggests that the differential distribution of facilities and resources across school…

  18. Improving conservation outcomes with insights from local experts and bureaucracies.

    PubMed

    Haenn, Nora; Schmook, Birgit; Reyes, Yol; Calmé, Sophie

    2014-08-01

    We describe conservation built on local expertise such that it constitutes a hybrid form of traditional and bureaucratic knowledge. Researchers regularly ask how local knowledge might be applied to programs linked to protected areas. By examining the production of conservation knowledge in southern Mexico, we assert local expertise is already central to conservation. However, bureaucratic norms and social identity differences between lay experts and conservation practitioners prevent the public valuing of traditional knowledge. We make this point by contrasting 2 examples. The first is a master's thesis survey of local experts regarding the biology of the King Vulture (Sarcoramphus papa) in which data collection took place in communities adjacent to the Calakmul Biosphere Reserve. The second is a workshop sponsored by the same reserve that instructed farmers on how to monitor endangered species, including the King Vulture. In both examples, conservation knowledge would not have existed without traditional knowledge. In both examples, this traditional knowledge is absent from scientific reporting. On the basis of these findings, we suggest conservation outcomes may be improved by recognizing the knowledge contributions local experts already make to conservation programming. © 2014 Society for Conservation Biology.

  19. Conserving Earth's Biodiversity. [CD-ROM and] Instructor's Manual.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    2000

    This CD-ROM is designed as an interactive learning tool to support teaching in highly interdisciplinary fields such as conservation of biodiversity. Topics introduced in the software include the impact of humans on natural landscapes, threats to biodiversity, methods and theories of conservation biology, environmental laws, and relevant economic…

  20. Academic and non-academic predictors of success on the Nottingham undergraduate medical course 1970-1995.

    PubMed

    James, D; Chilvers, C

    2001-11-01

    To identify academic and non-academic predictors of success of entrants to the Nottingham medical course over the first 25 completed years of the course's existence. SETTING, DESIGN AND MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Retrospective study of academic and non-academic characteristics of 2270 entrants between 1970 and 1990, and their subsequent success. Analyses were undertaken of two cohorts (entrants between 1970 and 1985 and entrants between 1986 and 1990). Overall, 148 of 2270 (6.5%) entrants left the course, with the highest proportion being from the first 6 years (10.7%). Of the 148 leavers, 58 (39.2%) did so after obtaining their BMedSci degree. Concerning non-academic factors, in the 1970-85 cohort, applicants from the later years and those not taking a year out were more successful. However, these two factors had no influence on outcome in 1986-90. In contrast, ethnicity and gender were highly significant predictors of success in obtaining honours at BMBS in 1986-90 but at no other exam nor in the earlier years. Older, mature or graduate entrants were more successful at obtaining a first-class degree at BMedSci for the whole 21 years. However, they were less likely to be successful at passing the BMBS. With regard to academic factors, overall, A grades at Ordinary level/General Certificate of Secondary Education (O-Level/GCSE) were inconsistent independent predictors of success. However, for 1986-90, high grades at O-Level/GCSE chemistry and biology were strong independent predictors of success at BMedSci and BMBS. Very few Advanced level (A-Level) criteria were independent predictors of success for 1970-85. In contrast, for 1986-90 entrants, achieving a high grade at A-Level chemistry predicted success at obtaining a first-class degree at BMedSci, and a high grade at A-Level biology predicted success at BMBS. Over the 21 years, the majority of entrants achieved significantly lower grades at A-Level than predicted. General Studies A-Level was a poor predictor of

  1. Plant blindness and the implications for plant conservation.

    PubMed

    Balding, Mung; Williams, Kathryn J H

    2016-12-01

    Plant conservation initiatives lag behind and receive considerably less funding than animal conservation projects. We explored a potential reason for this bias: a tendency among humans to neither notice nor value plants in the environment. Experimental research and surveys have demonstrated higher preference for, superior recall of, and better visual detection of animals compared with plants. This bias has been attributed to perceptual factors such as lack of motion by plants and the tendency of plants to visually blend together but also to cultural factors such as a greater focus on animals in formal biological education. In contrast, ethnographic research reveals that many social groups have strong bonds with plants, including nonhierarchical kinship relationships. We argue that plant blindness is common, but not inevitable. If immersed in a plant-affiliated culture, the individual will experience language and practices that enhance capacity to detect, recall, and value plants, something less likely to occur in zoocentric societies. Therefore, conservation programs can contribute to reducing this bias. We considered strategies that might reduce this bias and encourage plant conservation behavior. Psychological research demonstrates that people are more likely to support conservation of species that have human-like characteristics and that support for conservation can be increased by encouraging people to practice empathy and anthropomorphism of nonhuman species. We argue that support for plant conservation may be garnered through strategies that promote identification and empathy with plants. © 2016 Society for Conservation Biology.

  2. Quantifying progress toward a conservation assessment for all plants.

    PubMed

    Bachman, Steven P; Nic Lughadha, Eimear M; Rivers, Malin C

    2018-06-01

    The Global Strategy for Plant Conservation (GSPC) set an ambitious target to achieve a conservation assessment for all known plant species by 2020. We consolidated digitally available plant conservation assessments and reconciled their scientific names and assessment status to predefined standards to provide a quantitative measure of progress toward this target. The 241,919 plant conservation assessments generated represent 111,824 accepted land plant species (vascular plants and bryophytes, not algae). At least 73,081 and up to 90,321 species have been assessed at the global scale, representing 21-26% of known plant species. Of these plant species, at least 27,148 and up to 32,542 are threatened. Eighty plant families, including some of the largest, such as Asteraceae, Orchidaceae, and Rubiaceae, are underassessed and should be the focus of assessment effort if the GSPC target is to be met by 2020. Our data set is accessible online (ThreatSearch) and is a baseline that can be used to directly support other GSPC targets and plant conservation action. Although around one-quarter of a million plant assessments have been compiled, the majority of plants are still unassessed. The challenge now is to build on this progress and redouble efforts to document conservation status of unassessed plants to better inform conservation decisions and conserve the most threatened species. © 2017 The Authors. Conservation Biology published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc. on behalf of Society for Conservation Biology.

  3. Are Australasian academic physicians an endangered species?

    PubMed

    Wilson, A

    2007-11-01

    It has been stated that academic medicine is in a worldwide crisis. Is this decline in hospital academic practice a predictable consequence of modern clinical practice with its emphasis on community and outpatient-based services as well as a corporate health-care ethos or does it relate to innate problems in the training process and career structure for academic clinicians? A better understanding of the barriers to involvement in academic practice, including the effect of gender, the role and effect of overseas training, expectation of further research degrees and issues pertaining to the Australian academic workplace will facilitate recruitment and retention of the next generation of academic clinicians. Physician-scientists remain highly relevant as medical practice and education evolves in the 21st century. Hospital-based academics carry out a critical role in the ongoing mentoring of trainees and junior colleagues, whose training is still largely hospital based in most specialty programmes. Academic clinicians are uniquely placed to translate the rapid advances in medical biology into the clinical sphere, by guiding and carrying out translational research as well as leading clinical studies. Academic physicians also play key leadership in relations with government and industry, in professional groups and medical colleges. Thus, there is a strong case to assess the problems facing recruitment and retention of physician-scientists in academic practice and to develop workable solutions.

  4. Digital innovation through partnership between nature conservation organisations and academia: a qualitative impact assessment.

    PubMed

    Galán-Díaz, Carlos; Edwards, Peter; Nelson, John D; van der Wal, René

    2015-11-01

    Nature conservation organisations increasingly turn to new digital technologies to help deliver conservation objectives. This has led to collaborative forms of working with academia to spearhead digital innovation. Through in-depth interviews with three UK research-council-funded case studies, we show that by working with academics conservation organisations can receive positive and negative impacts, some of which cut across their operations. Positive impacts include new ways of engaging with audiences, improved data workflows, financial benefits, capacity building and the necessary digital infrastructure to help them influence policy. Negative impacts include the time and resources required to learn new skills and sustain new technologies, managing different organisational objectives and shifts in working practices as a result of the new technologies. Most importantly, collaboration with academics was shown to bring the opportunity of a profound change in perspectives on technologies with benefits to the partner organisations and individuals therein.

  5. Evolving from academic to academic entrepreneur: overcoming barriers to scientific progress and finance.

    PubMed

    Miller, Andrew D

    2016-07-01

    The overall goal of my career as an academic chemist has always been the design and creation of advanced therapeutics and diagnostics that address unmet medical need in the management of chronic diseases. Realising this goal has been an immensely difficult process involving multidisciplinary problem-driven research at the chemistry-biology-medicine interfaces. With success in the laboratory, I started seriously to question the value of remaining an academic whose career is spent in the pursuit of knowledge and understanding alone without making any significant effort to translate knowledge and understanding gained into products of genuine utility for public benefit. Therefore, I elected by choice to become an academic entrepreneur, seeking opportunities wherever possible for the translation of the best of my personal and collaborative academic research work into potentially valuable and useful products. This choice has brought with it many unexpected difficulties and challenges. Nevertheless, progress bas been made and sufficient learnt to suggest that this would be an appropriate moment to take stock and provide some personal reflections on what it takes to design and create advanced therapeutics and diagnostics in the laboratory then seek to develop, innovate and translate the best towards market.

  6. Impact of Simulation Based Education on Biology Student's Academic Achievement in DNA Replication

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Reddy, M. Vijaya Bhaskara; Mint, Phyu Phyu

    2017-01-01

    The aim of this study is to determine the effect of simulation methods in teaching Science on education students' academic achievement. 70 students (35 control, 35 experimental) who studied at Srinivasa College of education, SV University in the Department of Education. 2015-2016 academic year students were participated in this simulation based…

  7. Jamaica's Critically Endangered Butterfly: A Review of the Biology and Conservation Status of the Homerus Swallowtail (Papilio (Pterourus) homerus Fabricius).

    PubMed

    Lehnert, Matthew S; Kramer, Valerie R; Rawlins, John E; Verdecia, Vanessa; Daniels, Jaret C

    2017-07-10

    The Homerus swallowtail, Papilio ( Pterourus ) homerus Fabricius, is listed as an endangered species and is endemic to the Caribbean island of Jamaica. The largest butterfly in the Western Hemisphere, P. homerus once inhabited seven of Jamaica's 14 parishes and consisted of at least three populations; however, now only two stronghold populations remain, a western population in the rugged Cockpit Country and an eastern population in the Blue and John Crow Mountains. Despite numerous studies of its life history, much about the population biology, including estimates of total numbers of individuals in each population, remains unknown. In addition, a breeding program is needed to establish an experimental population, which could be used to augment wild populations and ensure the continued survival of the species. Here, we present a review of the biology of P. homerus and recommendations for a conservation plan.

  8. How research-prioritization exercises affect conservation policy.

    PubMed

    Rudd, Murray A

    2011-10-01

    Conservation scientists are concerned about the apparent lack of impact their research is having on policy. By better aligning research with policy needs, conservation science might become more relevant to policy and increase its real-world salience in the conservation of biological diversity. Consequently, some conservation scientists have embarked on a variety of exercises to identify research questions that, if answered, would provide the evidence base with which to develop and implement effective conservation policies. I synthesized two existing approaches to conceptualizing research impacts. One widely used approach classifies the impacts of research as conceptual, instrumental, and symbolic. Conceptual impacts occur when policy makers are sensitized to new issues and change their beliefs or thinking. Instrumental impacts arise when scientific research has a direct effect on policy decisions. The use of scientific research results to support established policy positions are symbolic impacts. The second approach classifies research issues according to whether scientific knowledge is developed fully and whether the policy issue has been articulated clearly. I believe exercises to identify important research questions have objectives of increasing the clarity of policy issues while strengthening science-policy interactions. This may facilitate the transmission of scientific knowledge to policy makers and, potentially, accelerate the development and implementation of effective conservation policy. Other, similar types of exercises might also be useful. For example, identification of visionary science questions independent of current policy needs, prioritization of best practices for transferring scientific knowledge to policy makers, and identification of questions about human values and their role in political processes could all help advance real-world conservation science. It is crucial for conservation scientists to understand the wide variety of ways in which

  9. The Effects of Individual versus Cooperative Testing in a Flipped Classroom on the Academic Achievement, Motivation toward Science, and Study Time for 9th Grade Biology Students

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    McCall, Megan O'Neill

    2017-01-01

    This study examined the effects of cooperative testing versus traditional or individual testing and the impacts on academic achievement, motivation toward science, and study time for 9th grade biology students. Research questions centered on weekly quizzes given in a flipped classroom format for a period of 13 weeks. The study used a mixed methods…

  10. Local understandings of conservation in southeastern Mexico and their implications for community-based conservation as an alternative paradigm.

    PubMed

    Reyes-Garcia, Victoria; Ruiz-Mallen, Isabel; Porter-Bolland, Luciana; Garcia-Frapolli, Eduardo; Ellis, Edward A; Mendez, Maria-Elena; Pritchard, Diana J; Sanchez-Gonzalez, María-Consuelo

    2013-08-01

    Since the 1990s national and international programs have aimed to legitimize local conservation initiatives that might provide an alternative to the formal systems of state-managed or otherwise externally driven protected areas. We used discourse analysis (130 semistructured interviews with key informants) and descriptive statistics (679 surveys) to compare local perceptions of and experiences with state-driven versus community-driven conservation initiatives. We conducted our research in 6 communities in southeastern Mexico. Formalization of local conservation initiatives did not seem to be based on local knowledge and practices. Although interviewees thought community-based initiatives generated less conflict than state-managed conservation initiatives, the community-based initiatives conformed to the biodiversity conservation paradigm that emphasizes restricted use of and access to resources. This restrictive approach to community-based conservation in Mexico, promoted through state and international conservation organizations, increased the area of protected land and had local support but was not built on locally relevant and multifunctional landscapes, a model that community-based conservation is assumed to advance. © 2013 Society for Conservation Biology.

  11. Multi-level biological responses in Ucides cordatus (Linnaeus, 1763) (Brachyura, Ucididae) as indicators of conservation status in mangrove areas from the western atlantic.

    PubMed

    Duarte, Luis Felipe de Almeida; Souza, Caroline Araújo de; Nobre, Caio Rodrigues; Pereira, Camilo Dias Seabra; Pinheiro, Marcelo Antonio Amaro

    2016-11-01

    There is a global lack of knowledge on tropical ecotoxicology, particularly in terms of mangrove areas. These areas often serve as nurseries or homes for several animal species, including Ucides cordatus (the uçá crab). This species is widely distributed, is part of the diet of human coastal communities, and is considered to be a sentinel species due to its sensitivity to toxic xenobiotics in natural environments. Sublethal damages to benthic populations reveal pre-pathological conditions, but discussions of the implications are scarce in the literature. In Brazil, the state of São Paulo offers an interesting scenario for ecotoxicology and population studies: it is easy to distinguish between mangroves that are well preserved and those which are significantly impacted by human activity. The objectives of this study were to provide the normal baseline values for the frequency of Micronucleated cells (MN‰) and for neutral red retention time (NRRT) in U. cordatus at pristine locations, as well to indicate the conservation status of different mangrove areas using a multi-level biological response approach in which these biomarkers and population indicators (condition factor and crab density) are applied in relation to environmental quality indicators (determined via information in the literature and solid waste volume). A mangrove area with no effects of impact (areas of reference or pristine areas) presented a mean value of MN‰<3 and NRRT>120min, values which were assumed as baseline values representing genetic and physiological normality. A significant correlation was found between NRRT and MN, with both showing similar and effective results for distinguishing between different mangrove areas according to conservation status. Furthermore, crab density was lower in more impacted mangrove areas, a finding which also reflects the effects of sublethal damage; this finding was not determined by condition factor measurements. Multi-level biological responses were

  12. Early integration of the individual student in academic activities: a novel classroom concept for graduate education in molecular biophysics and structural biology

    PubMed Central

    2014-01-01

    Background A key challenge in interdisciplinary research is choosing the best approach from a large number of techniques derived from different disciplines and their interfaces. Results To address this challenge in the area of Biophysics and Structural Biology, we have designed a graduate level course to teach students insightful use of experimental biophysical approaches in relationship to addressing biological questions related to biomolecular interactions and dynamics. A weekly seminar and data and literature club are used to compliment the training in class. The course contains wet-laboratory experimental demonstration and real-data analysis as well as lectures, grant proposal preparation and assessment, and student presentation components. Active student participation is mandatory in all aspects of the class. Students prepare materials for the class receiving individual and iterative feedback from course directors and local experts generating high quality classroom presentations. Conclusions The ultimate goal of the course is to teach students the skills needed to weigh different experimental approaches against each other in addressing a specific biological question by thinking and executing academic tasks like faculty. PMID:25132964

  13. Early integration of the individual student in academic activities: a novel classroom concept for graduate education in molecular biophysics and structural biology.

    PubMed

    Leuba, Sanford H; Carney, Sean M; Dahlburg, Elizabeth M; Eells, Rebecca J; Ghodke, Harshad; Yanamala, Naveena; Schauer, Grant; Klein-Seetharaman, Judith

    2014-01-01

    A key challenge in interdisciplinary research is choosing the best approach from a large number of techniques derived from different disciplines and their interfaces. To address this challenge in the area of Biophysics and Structural Biology, we have designed a graduate level course to teach students insightful use of experimental biophysical approaches in relationship to addressing biological questions related to biomolecular interactions and dynamics. A weekly seminar and data and literature club are used to compliment the training in class. The course contains wet-laboratory experimental demonstration and real-data analysis as well as lectures, grant proposal preparation and assessment, and student presentation components. Active student participation is mandatory in all aspects of the class. Students prepare materials for the class receiving individual and iterative feedback from course directors and local experts generating high quality classroom presentations. The ultimate goal of the course is to teach students the skills needed to weigh different experimental approaches against each other in addressing a specific biological question by thinking and executing academic tasks like faculty.

  14. Contributions of paraecologists and parataxonomists to research, conservation, and social development.

    PubMed

    Schmiedel, Ute; Araya, Yoseph; Bortolotto, Maria Ieda; Boeckenhoff, Linda; Hallwachs, Winnie; Janzen, Daniel; Kolipaka, Shekhar S; Novotny, Vojtech; Palm, Matilda; Parfondry, Marc; Smanis, Athanasios; Toko, Pagi

    2016-06-01

    stakeholders to international academia. © 2016 The Authors. Conservation Biology published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc. on behalf of Society for Conservation Biology.

  15. The tiger beetles (Coleoptera, Cicindelidae) of the southern Levant and adjacent territories: from cybertaxonomy to conservation biology.

    PubMed

    Assmann, Thorsten; Boutaud, Estève; Buse, Jörn; Gebert, Jörg; Drees, Claudia; Friedman, Ariel-Leib-Leonid; Khoury, Fares; Marcus, Tamar; Orbach, Eylon; Ittai Renan; Schmidt, Constantin; Zumstein, Pascale

    2018-01-01

    The tiger beetles of the southern Levant (Egypt: Sinai, Israel, Jordan) and adjacent regions of the neighboring countries Lebanon, Syria, Iraq, Saudi Arabia and Egypt are reviewed in terms of species taxonomy, ecological and distributional traits and conservation biology. An illustrated dichotomous identification key from the species of this region is provided. Based on the classical identification key, we developed a digital identification application for smartphones and tablets. The species status of Calomera aulicoides (J.R. Sahlberg, 1913) is (re-) established (stat. rest.) as this taxon can be found sympatrically and parapatrically together with Calomera littoralis winkleri (Mandl, 1934). Morphological character states are discussed to identify Cicindela javetii Chaudoir, 1861 and C. herbacea Klug, 1832. Calomera aphrodisia (Baudi di Selve, 1864) is recorded for the first time from Israel. The presence of Calomera aulica (Dejean, 1831) and Grammognatha euphratica (Dejean, 1822) is confirmed by new records. At least five taxa are threatened or extinct in Israel. For one of these species, Israel has a national responsibility for the conservation as the main part of the distribution range is within this country. The application TIGER BEETLE ID for Android devices can be freely downloaded at https://doi.org/10.3897/zookeys.734.21989.suppl1. See also disclaimer of warranties.

  16. The tiger beetles (Coleoptera, Cicindelidae) of the southern Levant and adjacent territories: from cybertaxonomy to conservation biology

    PubMed Central

    Assmann, Thorsten; Boutaud, Estève; Buse, Jörn; Gebert, Jörg; Drees, Claudia; Friedman, Ariel-Leib-Leonid; Khoury, Fares; Marcus, Tamar; Orbach, Eylon; Ittai Renan; Schmidt, Constantin; Zumstein, Pascale

    2018-01-01

    Abstract The tiger beetles of the southern Levant (Egypt: Sinai, Israel, Jordan) and adjacent regions of the neighboring countries Lebanon, Syria, Iraq, Saudi Arabia and Egypt are reviewed in terms of species taxonomy, ecological and distributional traits and conservation biology. An illustrated dichotomous identification key from the species of this region is provided. Based on the classical identification key, we developed a digital identification application for smartphones and tablets. The species status of Calomera aulicoides (J.R. Sahlberg, 1913) is (re-) established (stat. rest.) as this taxon can be found sympatrically and parapatrically together with Calomera littoralis winkleri (Mandl, 1934). Morphological character states are discussed to identify Cicindela javetii Chaudoir, 1861 and C. herbacea Klug, 1832. Calomera aphrodisia (Baudi di Selve, 1864) is recorded for the first time from Israel. The presence of Calomera aulica (Dejean, 1831) and Grammognatha euphratica (Dejean, 1822) is confirmed by new records. At least five taxa are threatened or extinct in Israel. For one of these species, Israel has a national responsibility for the conservation as the main part of the distribution range is within this country. Availability: The application TIGER BEETLE ID for Android devices can be freely downloaded at https://doi.org/10.3897/zookeys.734.21989.suppl1. See also disclaimer of warranties. PMID:29674855

  17. Biology Notes.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    School Science Review, 1980

    1980-01-01

    Describes equipment, activities, and experiments useful in biology and environmental education instruction, including, among others, sampling in ecology using an overhead projector, the slide finder as an aid to microscopy, teaching kidney function, and teaching wildlife conservation-sand dune systems. (SK)

  18. Niche Specialization and Conservation Biology of Cicindela Nevadica Lincolniana

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Brosius, Tierney R.

    2010-01-01

    As with many organisms across the globe, "Cicindela nevadica lincolniana" is threatened with extinction. Understanding ecological factors that contribute to extinction vulnerability and what methods aid in the recovery of those species is essential in developing successful conservation programs. Here we examine behavioral mechanisms for niche…

  19. Integrating gene flow, crop biology, and farm management in on-farm conservation of avocado (Persea americana, Lauraceae).

    PubMed

    Birnbaum, Kenneth; Desalle, Rob; Peters, Charles M; Benfey, Philip N

    2003-11-01

    Maintaining crop diversity on farms where cultivars can evolve is a conservation goal, but few tools are available to assess the long-term maintenance of genetic diversity on farms. One important issue for on-farm conservation is gene flow from crops with a narrow genetic base into related populations that are genetically diverse. In a case study of avocado (Persea americana var. americana) in one of its centers of diversity (San Jerónimo, Costa Rica), we used 10 DNA microsatellite markers in a parentage analysis to estimate gene flow from commercialized varieties into a traditional crop population. Five commercialized genotypes comprised nearly 40% of orchard trees, but they contributed only about 14.5% of the gametes to the youngest cohort of trees. Although commercialized varieties and the diverse population were often planted on the same farm, planting patterns appeared to keep the two types of trees separated on small scales, possibly explaining the limited gene flow. In a simulation that combined gene flow estimates, crop biology, and graft tree management, loss of allelic diversity was less than 10% over 150 yr, and selection was effective in retaining desirable alleles in the diverse subpopulation. Simulations also showed that, in addition to gene flow, managing the genetic makeup and life history traits of the invasive commercialized varieties could have a significant impact on genetic diversity in the target population. The results support the feasibility of on-farm crop conservation, but simulations also showed that higher levels of gene flow could lead to severe losses of genetic diversity even if farmers continue to plant diverse varieties.

  20. Community motivations to engage in conservation behavior to conserve the Sumatran orangutan.

    PubMed

    Nilsson, Danielle; Gramotnev, Galina; Baxter, Greg; Butler, James R A; Wich, Serge A; McAlpine, Clive A

    2016-08-01

    implementation of community-based conservation programs. © 2016 Society for Conservation Biology.

  1. The Trajectory of Dispersal Research in Conservation Biology. Systematic Review

    PubMed Central

    Driscoll, Don A.; Banks, Sam C.; Barton, Philip S.; Ikin, Karen; Lentini, Pia; Lindenmayer, David B.; Smith, Annabel L.; Berry, Laurence E.; Burns, Emma L.; Edworthy, Amanda; Evans, Maldwyn J.; Gibson, Rebecca; Heinsohn, Rob; Howland, Brett; Kay, Geoff; Munro, Nicola; Scheele, Ben C.; Stirnemann, Ingrid; Stojanovic, Dejan; Sweaney, Nici; Villaseñor, Nélida R.; Westgate, Martin J.

    2014-01-01

    Dispersal knowledge is essential for conservation management, and demand is growing. But are we accumulating dispersal knowledge at a pace that can meet the demand? To answer this question we tested for changes in dispersal data collection and use over time. Our systematic review of 655 conservation-related publications compared five topics: climate change, habitat restoration, population viability analysis, land planning (systematic conservation planning) and invasive species. We analysed temporal changes in the: (i) questions asked by dispersal-related research; (ii) methods used to study dispersal; (iii) the quality of dispersal data; (iv) extent that dispersal knowledge is lacking, and; (v) likely consequences of limited dispersal knowledge. Research questions have changed little over time; the same problems examined in the 1990s are still being addressed. The most common methods used to study dispersal were occupancy data, expert opinion and modelling, which often provided indirect, low quality information about dispersal. Although use of genetics for estimating dispersal has increased, new ecological and genetic methods for measuring dispersal are not yet widely adopted. Almost half of the papers identified knowledge gaps related to dispersal. Limited dispersal knowledge often made it impossible to discover ecological processes or compromised conservation outcomes. The quality of dispersal data used in climate change research has increased since the 1990s. In comparison, restoration ecology inadequately addresses large-scale process, whilst the gap between knowledge accumulation and growth in applications may be increasing in land planning. To overcome apparent stagnation in collection and use of dispersal knowledge, researchers need to: (i) improve the quality of available data using new approaches; (ii) understand the complementarities of different methods and; (iii) define the value of different kinds of dispersal information for supporting management

  2. The trajectory of dispersal research in conservation biology. Systematic review.

    PubMed

    Driscoll, Don A; Banks, Sam C; Barton, Philip S; Ikin, Karen; Lentini, Pia; Lindenmayer, David B; Smith, Annabel L; Berry, Laurence E; Burns, Emma L; Edworthy, Amanda; Evans, Maldwyn J; Gibson, Rebecca; Heinsohn, Rob; Howland, Brett; Kay, Geoff; Munro, Nicola; Scheele, Ben C; Stirnemann, Ingrid; Stojanovic, Dejan; Sweaney, Nici; Villaseñor, Nélida R; Westgate, Martin J

    2014-01-01

    Dispersal knowledge is essential for conservation management, and demand is growing. But are we accumulating dispersal knowledge at a pace that can meet the demand? To answer this question we tested for changes in dispersal data collection and use over time. Our systematic review of 655 conservation-related publications compared five topics: climate change, habitat restoration, population viability analysis, land planning (systematic conservation planning) and invasive species. We analysed temporal changes in the: (i) questions asked by dispersal-related research; (ii) methods used to study dispersal; (iii) the quality of dispersal data; (iv) extent that dispersal knowledge is lacking, and; (v) likely consequences of limited dispersal knowledge. Research questions have changed little over time; the same problems examined in the 1990s are still being addressed. The most common methods used to study dispersal were occupancy data, expert opinion and modelling, which often provided indirect, low quality information about dispersal. Although use of genetics for estimating dispersal has increased, new ecological and genetic methods for measuring dispersal are not yet widely adopted. Almost half of the papers identified knowledge gaps related to dispersal. Limited dispersal knowledge often made it impossible to discover ecological processes or compromised conservation outcomes. The quality of dispersal data used in climate change research has increased since the 1990s. In comparison, restoration ecology inadequately addresses large-scale process, whilst the gap between knowledge accumulation and growth in applications may be increasing in land planning. To overcome apparent stagnation in collection and use of dispersal knowledge, researchers need to: (i) improve the quality of available data using new approaches; (ii) understand the complementarities of different methods and; (iii) define the value of different kinds of dispersal information for supporting management

  3. Paradigms for parasite conservation.

    PubMed

    Dougherty, Eric R; Carlson, Colin J; Bueno, Veronica M; Burgio, Kevin R; Cizauskas, Carrie A; Clements, Christopher F; Seidel, Dana P; Harris, Nyeema C

    2016-08-01

    an uncertain environmental future. © 2015 Society for Conservation Biology.

  4. The utility of transcriptomics in fish conservation.

    PubMed

    Connon, Richard E; Jeffries, Ken M; Komoroske, Lisa M; Todgham, Anne E; Fangue, Nann A

    2018-01-29

    There is growing recognition of the need to understand the mechanisms underlying organismal resilience (i.e. tolerance, acclimatization) to environmental change to support the conservation management of sensitive and economically important species. Here, we discuss how functional genomics can be used in conservation biology to provide a cellular-level understanding of organismal responses to environmental conditions. In particular, the integration of transcriptomics with physiological and ecological research is increasingly playing an important role in identifying functional physiological thresholds predictive of compensatory responses and detrimental outcomes, transforming the way we can study issues in conservation biology. Notably, with technological advances in RNA sequencing, transcriptome-wide approaches can now be applied to species where no prior genomic sequence information is available to develop species-specific tools and investigate sublethal impacts that can contribute to population declines over generations and undermine prospects for long-term conservation success. Here, we examine the use of transcriptomics as a means of determining organismal responses to environmental stressors and use key study examples of conservation concern in fishes to highlight the added value of transcriptome-wide data to the identification of functional response pathways. Finally, we discuss the gaps between the core science and policy frameworks and how thresholds identified through transcriptomic evaluations provide evidence that can be more readily used by resource managers. © 2018. Published by The Company of Biologists Ltd.

  5. Maximizing species conservation in continental Ecuador: a case of systematic conservation planning for biodiverse regions

    PubMed Central

    Lessmann, Janeth; Muñoz, Jesús; Bonaccorso, Elisa

    2014-01-01

    Ecuador has the largest number of species by area worldwide, but also a low representation of species within its protected areas. Here, we applied systematic conservation planning to identify potential areas for conservation in continental Ecuador, with the aim of increasing the representation of terrestrial species diversity in the protected area network. We selected 809 terrestrial species (amphibians, birds, mammals, and plants), for which distributions were estimated via species distribution models (SDMs), using Maxent. For each species we established conservation goals based on conservation priorities, and estimated new potential protected areas using Marxan conservation planning software. For each selected area, we determined their conservation priority and feasibility of establishment, two important aspects in the decision-making processes. We found that according to our conservation goals, the current protected area network contains large conservation gaps. Potential areas for conservation almost double the surface area of currently protected areas. Most of the newly proposed areas are located in the Coast, a region with large conservation gaps and irreversible changes in land use. The most feasible areas for conservation were found in the Amazon and Andes regions, which encompass more undisturbed habitats, and already harbor most of the current reserves. Our study allows defining a viable strategy for preserving Ecuador's biodiversity, by combining SDMs, GIS-based decision-support software, and priority and feasibility assessments of the selected areas. This approach is useful for complementing protected area networks in countries with great biodiversity, insufficient biological information, and limited resources for conservation. PMID:25360277

  6. The diamondback terrapin: The biology, ecology, cultural history, and conservation status of an obligate estuarine turtle

    USGS Publications Warehouse

    Hart, K.M.; Lee, D.S.; ,

    2006-01-01

    Ranging from Cape Cod to nearly the Texas-Mexico border, the diamondback terrapin (Malaclemys terrapin) is the only species of North American turtle restricted to estuarine systems. Despite this extensive distribution, its zone of occurrence is very linear, and in places fragmented, resulting in a relatively small total area of occupancy. On a global scale, excluding marine species, few turtles even venture into brackish water on a regular basis, and only two Asian species approach the North American terrapin's dependency on estuarine habitats. Here we describe some of the biological and behavioral adaptations of terrapins that allow them to live in the rather harsh estuarine environment. In this chapter we review the natural and cultural history of this turtle, discuss conservation issues, and provide information on the types of research needed to make sound management decisions for terrapin populations in peril.

  7. Vocational and Academic Teachers Work Together.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Beck, Robert H.; And Others

    1991-01-01

    In a recent project involving two midwestern high schools, vocational and academic teachers participated in a project promoting interaction and mutual reinforcement. Innovative matches were found in agriculture and biology exchange classes, a technology outreach program, a study of world protein distribution, and a furniture marketing project. The…

  8. Geographic bias in citation rates of conservation research.

    PubMed

    Meijaard, Erik; Cardillo, Marcel; Meijaard, Emily M; Possingham, Hugh P

    2015-06-01

    We investigated whether the impact of conservation science is greater for research conducted in countries with more pressing conservation problems. We quantified research impact for 231 countries based on 2 citation metrics (mean cites per paper and h index) and fitted models predicting research impact based on number of threatened bird and mammal species (as a measure of conservation importance of a country) and a range of demographic variables. Citation rates of conservation research increased as a country's conservation need increased and as human population, quality of governance, and wealth increased. Even after accounting for these factors, citation rates among regions and countries within regions varied significantly. The conservation research community needs to consider ways to begin addressing the entrenched disadvantages some countries have when it comes to initiating projects and producing high-quality research. © 2015 Society for Conservation Biology.

  9. Facilitating collaboration among academic generalist disciplines: a call to action.

    PubMed

    Kutner, Jean S; Westfall, John M; Morrison, Elizabeth H; Beach, Mary Catherine; Jacobs, Elizabeth A; Rosenblatt, Roger A

    2006-01-01

    To meet its population's health needs, the United States must have a coherent system to train and support primary care physicians. This goal can be achieved only though genuine collaboration between academic generalist disciplines. Academic general pediatrics, general internal medicine, and family medicine may be hampering this effort and their own futures by lack of collaboration. This essay addresses the necessity of collaboration among generalist physicians in research, medical education, clinical care, and advocacy. Academic generalists should collaborate by (1) making a clear decision to collaborate, (2) proactively discussing the flow of money, (3) rewarding collaboration, (4) initiating regular generalist meetings, (5) refusing to tolerate denigration of other generalist disciplines, (6) facilitating strategic planning for collaboration among generalist disciplines, and (7) learning from previous collaborative successes and failures. Collaboration among academic generalists will enhance opportunities for trainees, primary care research, and advocacy; conserve resources; and improve patient care.

  10. Jamaica’s Critically Endangered Butterfly: A Review of the Biology and Conservation Status of the Homerus Swallowtail (Papilio (Pterourus) homerus Fabricius)

    PubMed Central

    Kramer, Valerie R.; Rawlins, John E.; Verdecia, Vanessa; Daniels, Jaret C.

    2017-01-01

    The Homerus swallowtail, Papilio (Pterourus) homerus Fabricius, is listed as an endangered species and is endemic to the Caribbean island of Jamaica. The largest butterfly in the Western Hemisphere, P. homerus once inhabited seven of Jamaica’s 14 parishes and consisted of at least three populations; however, now only two stronghold populations remain, a western population in the rugged Cockpit Country and an eastern population in the Blue and John Crow Mountains. Despite numerous studies of its life history, much about the population biology, including estimates of total numbers of individuals in each population, remains unknown. In addition, a breeding program is needed to establish an experimental population, which could be used to augment wild populations and ensure the continued survival of the species. Here, we present a review of the biology of P. homerus and recommendations for a conservation plan. PMID:28698508

  11. A Conceptual Examination of College Athletes' Role Conflict through the Lens of Conservation of Resources Theory

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Wendling, Elodie; Kellison, Timothy B.; Sagas, Michael

    2018-01-01

    In this conceptual article, we seek to extend the domain of the conservation of resources (COR) theory to the collegiate student-athlete population in the context of academic-athletic role conflict and stress. Aside from reviewing the direct effects academic-athletic role conflict may have on psychological strain, this conceptual study also…

  12. Conservation biology for suites of species: Demographic modeling for Pacific island kingfishers

    USGS Publications Warehouse

    Kesler, D.C.; Haig, S.M.

    2007-01-01

    Conservation practitioners frequently extrapolate data from single-species investigations when managing critically endangered populations. However, few researchers initiate work with the intent of making findings useful to conservation efforts for other species. We presented and explored the concept of conducting conservation-oriented research for suites of geographically separated populations with similar natural histories, resource needs, and extinction threats. An example was provided in the form of an investigation into the population demography of endangered Micronesian kingfishers (Todiramphus cinnamominus). We provided the first demographic parameter estimates for any of the 12 endangered Pacific Todiramphus species, and used results to develop a population projection matrix model for management throughout the insular Pacific. Further, we used the model for elasticity and simulation analyses with demographic values that randomly varied across ranges that might characterize congener populations. Results from elasticity and simulation analyses indicated that changes in breeding adult survival exerted the greatest magnitude of influence on population dynamics. However, changes in nestling survival were more consistently correlated with population dynamics as demographic rates were randomly altered. We concluded that conservation practitioners working with endangered Pacific kingfishers should primarily focus efforts on factors affecting nestling and breeder survival, and secondarily address fledgling juveniles and helpers. Further, we described how the generalized base model might be changed to focus on individual populations and discussed the potential application of multi-species models to other conservation situations. ?? 2007 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  13. Interactions among ecosystem stressors and their importance in conservation

    PubMed Central

    Darling, Emily S.; Brown, Christopher J.

    2016-01-01

    Interactions between multiple ecosystem stressors are expected to jeopardize biological processes, functions and biodiversity. The scientific community has declared stressor interactions—notably synergies—a key issue for conservation and management. Here, we review ecological literature over the past four decades to evaluate trends in the reporting of ecological interactions (synergies, antagonisms and additive effects) and highlight the implications and importance to conservation. Despite increasing popularity, and ever-finer terminologies, we find that synergies are (still) not the most prevalent type of interaction, and that conservation practitioners need to appreciate and manage for all interaction outcomes, including antagonistic and additive effects. However, it will not be possible to identify the effect of every interaction on every organism's physiology and every ecosystem function because the number of stressors, and their potential interactions, are growing rapidly. Predicting the type of interactions may be possible in the near-future, using meta-analyses, conservation-oriented experiments and adaptive monitoring. Pending a general framework for predicting interactions, conservation management should enact interventions that are robust to uncertainty in interaction type and that continue to bolster biological resilience in a stressful world. PMID:26865306

  14. Designing large-scale conservation corridors for pattern and process.

    PubMed

    Rouget, Mathieu; Cowling, Richard M; Lombard, Amanda T; Knight, Andrew T; Kerley, Graham I H

    2006-04-01

    A major challenge for conservation assessments is to identify priority areas that incorporate biological patterns and processes. Because large-scale processes are mostly oriented along environmental gradients, we propose to accommodate them by designing regional-scale corridors to capture these gradients. Based on systematic conservation planning principles such as representation and persistence, we identified large tracts of untransformed land (i.e., conservation corridors) for conservation that would achieve biodiversity targets for pattern and process in the Subtropical Thicket Biome of South Africa. We combined least-cost path analysis with a target-driven algorithm to identify the best option for capturing key environmental gradients while considering biodiversity targets and conservation opportunities and constraints. We identified seven conservation corridors on the basis of subtropical thicket representation, habitat transformation and degradation, wildlife suitability, irreplaceability of vegetation types, protected area networks, and future land-use pressures. These conservation corridors covered 21.1% of the planning region (ranging from 600 to 5200 km2) and successfully achieved targets for biological processes and to a lesser extent for vegetation types. The corridors we identified are intended to promote the persistence of ecological processes (gradients and fixed processes) and fulfill half of the biodiversity pattern target. We compared the conservation corridors with a simplified corridor design consisting of a fixed-width buffer along major rivers. Conservation corridors outperformed river buffers in seven out of eight criteria. Our corridor design can provide a tool for quantifying trade-offs between various criteria (biodiversity pattern and process, implementation constraints and opportunities). A land-use management model was developed to facilitate implementation of conservation actions within these corridors.

  15. Conservation status of crayfishes of the United States and Canada

    Treesearch

    Christopher A. Taylor; Melvin L. Warren; J. F. Fitzpatrick; Horton H. Hobbs; Raymond F. Jezerinac; William L. Pflieger; Henry W. Robinson

    1996-01-01

    The American Fisheries Society (AFS) Endangered Species Committee herein provides a list of all crayfishes (families and Cambaridae) in the United States and Canada that includes state provincial distributions; a comprehensive review of the conservation status of all taxa; and references on biology, conservation, and...

  16. Exceptional responders in conservation.

    PubMed

    Post, Gerald; Geldmann, Jonas

    2017-08-30

    Conservation operates within complex systems with incomplete knowledge of the system and the interventions utilized. This frequently results in the inability to find generally applicable methods to alleviate threats to Earth's vanishing wildlife. One approach used in medicine and the social sciences has been to develop a deeper understanding of positive outliers. Where such outliers share similar characteristics, they may be considered exceptional responders. We devised a 4-step framework for identifying exceptional responders in conservation: identification of the study system, identification of the response structure, identification of the threshold for exceptionalism, and identification of commonalities among outliers. Evaluation of exceptional responders provides additional information that is often ignored in randomized controlled trials and before-after control-intervention experiments. Interrogating the contextual factors that contribute to an exceptional outcome allow exceptional responders to become valuable pieces of information leading to unexpected discoveries and novel hypotheses. © 2017 Society for Conservation Biology.

  17. Leadership: a new frontier in conservation science.

    PubMed

    Manolis, Jim C; Chan, Kai M; Finkelstein, Myra E; Stephens, Scott; Nelson, Cara R; Grant, Jacqualine B; Dombeck, Michael P

    2009-08-01

    Leadership is a critical tool for expanding the influence of conservation science, but recent advances in leadership concepts and practice remain underutilized by conservation scientists. Furthermore, an explicit conceptual foundation and definition of leadership in conservation science are not available in the literature. Here we drew on our diverse leadership experiences, our reading of leadership literature, and discussions with selected conservation science leaders to define conservation-science leadership, summarize an exploratory set of leadership principles that are applicable to conservation science, and recommend actions to expand leadership capacity among conservation scientists and practitioners. We define 2 types of conservation-science leadership: shaping conservation science through path-breaking research, and advancing the integration of conservation science into policy, management, and society at large. We focused on the second, integrative type of leadership because we believe it presents the greatest opportunity for improving conservation effectiveness. We identified 8 leadership principles derived mainly from the "adaptive leadership" literature: recognize the social dimension of the problem; cycle frequently through action and reflection; get and maintain attention; combine strengths of multiple leaders; extend your reach through networks of relationships; strategically time your effort; nurture productive conflict; and cultivate diversity. Conservation scientists and practitioners should strive to develop themselves as leaders, and the Society for Conservation Biology, conservation organizations, and academia should support this effort through professional development, mentoring, teaching, and research.

  18. It's a wonderful life: a career as an academic scientist.

    PubMed

    Vale, Ronald D

    2010-01-01

    Many years of training are required to obtain a job as an academic scientist. Is this investment of time and effort worthwhile? My answer is a resounding "yes." Academic scientists enjoy tremendous freedom in choosing their research and career path, experience unusual camaraderie in their lab, school, and international community, and can contribute to and enjoy being part of this historical era of biological discovery. In this essay, I further elaborate by listing my top ten reasons why an academic job is a desirable career for young people who are interested in the life sciences.

  19. Aligning science and policy to achieve evolutionarily enlightened conservation.

    PubMed

    Cook, Carly N; Sgrò, Carla M

    2017-06-01

    There is increasing recognition among conservation scientists that long-term conservation outcomes could be improved through better integration of evolutionary theory into management practices. Despite concerns that the importance of key concepts emerging from evolutionary theory (i.e., evolutionary principles and processes) are not being recognized by managers, there has been little effort to determine the level of integration of evolutionary theory into conservation policy and practice. We assessed conservation policy at 3 scales (international, national, and provincial) on 3 continents to quantify the degree to which key evolutionary concepts, such as genetic diversity and gene flow, are being incorporated into conservation practice. We also evaluated the availability of clear guidance within the applied evolutionary biology literature as to how managers can change their management practices to achieve better conservation outcomes. Despite widespread recognition of the importance of maintaining genetic diversity, conservation policies provide little guidance about how this can be achieved in practice and other relevant evolutionary concepts, such as inbreeding depression, are mentioned rarely. In some cases the poor integration of evolutionary concepts into management reflects a lack of decision-support tools in the literature. Where these tools are available, such as risk-assessment frameworks, they are not being adopted by conservation policy makers, suggesting that the availability of a strong evidence base is not the only barrier to evolutionarily enlightened management. We believe there is a clear need for more engagement by evolutionary biologists with policy makers to develop practical guidelines that will help managers make changes to conservation practice. There is also an urgent need for more research to better understand the barriers to and opportunities for incorporating evolutionary theory into conservation practice. © 2016 Society for Conservation

  20. 76 FR 45606 - Desert Renewable Energy Conservation Plan, Habitat Conservation Plan and Possible Land Use Plan...

    Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

    2011-07-29

    ... than would a project-by-project, species-by-species review; and Identify and incorporate climate change... environmental justice, outdoor recreation, visual resources, induced growth, climate change and greenhouse gases... biological resource conservation across the Mojave and Colorado Desert regions of southern California. The...

  1. Reputation-based collaborative network biology.

    PubMed

    Binder, Jean; Boue, Stephanie; Di Fabio, Anselmo; Fields, R Brett; Hayes, William; Hoeng, Julia; Park, Jennifer S; Peitsch, Manuel C

    2015-01-01

    A pilot reputation-based collaborative network biology platform, Bionet, was developed for use in the sbv IMPROVER Network Verification Challenge to verify and enhance previously developed networks describing key aspects of lung biology. Bionet was successful in capturing a more comprehensive view of the biology associated with each network using the collective intelligence and knowledge of the crowd. One key learning point from the pilot was that using a standardized biological knowledge representation language such as BEL is critical to the success of a collaborative network biology platform. Overall, Bionet demonstrated that this approach to collaborative network biology is highly viable. Improving this platform for de novo creation of biological networks and network curation with the suggested enhancements for scalability will serve both academic and industry systems biology communities.

  2. Marine Biology and Human Affairs

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Russell, F. S.

    1976-01-01

    Marine biology has become an important area for study throughout the world. The author of this article discusses some of the important discoveries and fields of research in marine biology that are useful for mankind. Topics include food from the sea, fish farming, pesticides, pollution, and conservation. (MA)

  3. Determinants of bird conservation-action implementation and associated population trends of threatened species.

    PubMed

    Luther, David A; Brooks, Thomas M; Butchart, Stuart H M; Hayward, Matt W; Kester, Marieke E; Lamoreux, John; Upgren, Amy

    2016-12-01

    Conservation actions, such as habitat protection, attempt to halt the loss of threatened species and help their populations recover. The efficiency and the effectiveness of actions have been examined individually. However, conservation actions generally occur simultaneously, so the full suite of implemented conservation actions should be assessed. We used the conservation actions underway for all threatened and near-threatened birds of the world (International Union for Conservation of Nature Red List of Threatened Species) to assess which biological (related to taxonomy and ecology) and anthropogenic (related to geoeconomics) factors were associated with the implementation of different classes of conservation actions. We also assessed which conservation actions were associated with population increases in the species targeted. Extinction-risk category was the strongest single predictor of the type of conservation actions implemented, followed by landmass type (continent, oceanic island, etc.) and generation length. Species targeted by invasive nonnative species control or eradication programs, ex situ conservation, international legislation, reintroduction, or education, and awareness-raising activities were more likely to have increasing populations. These results illustrate the importance of developing a predictive science of conservation actions and the relative benefits of each class of implemented conservation action for threatened and near-threatened birds worldwide. © 2016 Society for Conservation Biology.

  4. A multispecies framework for landscape conservation planning.

    PubMed

    Schwenk, W Scott; Donovan, Therese M

    2011-10-01

    Rapidly changing landscapes have spurred the need for quantitative methods for conservation assessment and planning that encompass large spatial extents. We devised and tested a multispecies framework for conservation planning to complement single-species assessments and ecosystem-level approaches. Our framework consisted of 4 elements: sampling to effectively estimate population parameters, measuring how human activity affects landscapes at multiple scales, analyzing the relation between landscape characteristics and individual species occurrences, and evaluating and comparing the responses of multiple species to landscape modification. We applied the approach to a community of terrestrial birds across 25,000 km(2) with a range of intensities of human development. Human modification of land cover, road density, and other elements of the landscape, measured at multiple spatial extents, had large effects on occupancy of the 67 species studied. Forest composition within 1 km of points had a strong effect on occupancy of many species and a range of negative, intermediate, and positive associations. Road density within 1 km of points, percent evergreen forest within 300 m, and distance from patch edge were also strongly associated with occupancy for many species. We used the occupancy results to group species into 11 guilds that shared patterns of association with landscape characteristics. Our multispecies approach to conservation planning allowed us to quantify the trade-offs of different scenarios of land-cover change in terms of species occupancy. Conservation Biology © 2011 Society for Conservation Biology. No claim to original US government works.

  5. Academic interventions for students in introductory biology while concurrently enrolled in developmental courses: An action research study

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Barnes, William D.

    Each fall semester, approximately half of the students enrolled in the introductory biology course of a small rural college are concurrently enrolled in at least one developmental education math or English course. The resulting grades of D, F and Withdraw for this cohort will be as high as 50% for those enrolled in one developmental course and 65% for those enrolled in two. The purpose of this study was to provide academic interventions such as use of online supplemental learning materials and resources, as well as to emphasize the Campus Tutoring and Learning Center (CTLC) as a resource, for students in the introductory biology course in order to analyze the impact on the learning outcomes of the developmental students. The approach used was an action research model utilizing a pretest-posttest experimental design with the treatment group receiving weekly reminders regarding the availability and value of utilizing the CTLC and the control group receiving only an initial invitation to visit the CTLC. The results found a statistically significant effect ( p < .05) on student use of the CTLC in the treatment group as compared to the control. This suggests that faculty emphasis of campus learning resources can have a positive impact on student behavior. The effect of online supplemental learning materials and resources, including use of the CTLC, on student learning outcomes was found to be statistically insignificant ( p > .05).

  6. A process for selection and implementation of conservation approaches

    Treesearch

    Martin G. Raphael; Randy Molina; Curtis H. Flather; Richard S. Holthausen; Richard L. Johnson; Bruce G. Marcot; Deanna H. Olson; John D. Peine; Carolyn Hull Sieg; Cindy S. Swanson

    2007-01-01

    In this book, we have described a variety of approaches designed to achieve biological conservation objectives for both rare and little-known species. Resource managers are usually most concerned, for practical reasons, with approaches that conserve large-bodied and better-known taxa. Because we know so little about population status and life history requirements of...

  7. Bibliometry of Costa Rica biodiversity studies published in the Revista de Biología Tropical/International Journal of Tropical Biology and Conservation (2000-2010): the content and importance of a leading tropical biology journal in its 60th anniversary.

    PubMed

    Nielsen-Muñoz, Vanessa; Azofeifa-Mora, Ana Beatriz; Monge-Nájera, Julián

    2012-12-01

    Central America is recognized as a mega diverse "hot-spot" and one of its smaller countries, Costa Rica, as one of the world's leaders in the study and conservation of tropical biodiversity. For this study, inspired by the 60th anniversary of the journal Revista de Biología Tropical, we tabulated all the scientific production on Costa Rican biodiversity published in Revista de Biología Tropical between 2000 and 2010. Most articles are zoological (62%) and 67% of authors had only one publication in the jounal within that period. A 54% of articles were published in English and 46% in Spanish. A 41% of articles were written in collaboration among Costa Rican institutions and 36% in collaboration with foreign institutions. The Collaboration Index was 2.53 signatures per article. Visibility in American sources was 56% in Google Scholar and 42.66% in the Web of Science, but the real visibility and impact are unknown because these sources exclude the majority of tropical journals. Revista de Biología Tropical is the main output channel for Costa Rican biology and despite its small size, Costa Rica occupies the 10th. place in productivity among Latin American countries, with productivity and impact levels that compare favorably with larger countries such as Brazil, Mexico, Argentina and Chile.

  8. Effect of monitoring technique on quality of conservation science.

    PubMed

    Jewell, Zoe

    2013-06-01

    Monitoring free-ranging animals in their natural habitat is a keystone of ecosystem conservation and increasingly important in the context of current rates of loss of biological diversity. Data collected from individuals of endangered species inform conservation policies. Conservation professionals assume that these data are reliable-that the animals from whom data are collected are representative of the species in their physiology, ecology, and behavior and of the populations from which they are drawn. In the last few decades, there has been an enthusiastic adoption of invasive techniques for gathering ecological and conservation data. Although these can provide impressive quantities of data, and apparent insights into animal ranges and distributions, there is increasing evidence that these techniques can result in animal welfare problems, through the wide-ranging physiological effects of acute and chronic stress and through direct or indirect injuries or compromised movement. Much less commonly, however, do conservation scientists consider the issue of how these effects may alter the behavior of individuals to the extent that the data they collect could be unreliable. The emerging literature on the immediate and longer-term effects of capture and handling indicate it can no longer be assumed that a wild animal's survival of the process implies the safety of the procedure, that the procedure is ethical, or the scientific validity of the resulting data. I argue that conservation professionals should routinely assess study populations for negative effects of their monitoring techniques and adopt noninvasive approaches for best outcomes not only for the animals, but also for conservation science. © 2013 Society for Conservation Biology.

  9. Land market feedbacks can undermine biodiversity conservation

    PubMed Central

    Armsworth, Paul R.; Daily, Gretchen C.; Kareiva, Peter; Sanchirico, James N.

    2006-01-01

    The full or partial purchase of land has become a cornerstone of efforts to conserve biodiversity in countries with strong private property rights. Methods used to target areas for acquisition typically ignore land market dynamics. We show how conservation purchases affect land prices and generate feedbacks that can undermine conservation goals, either by displacing development toward biologically valuable areas or by accelerating its pace. The impact of these market feedbacks on the effectiveness of conservation depends on the ecological value of land outside nature reserves. Traditional, noneconomic approaches to site prioritization should perform adequately in places where land outside reserves supports little biodiversity. However, these approaches will perform poorly in locations where the countryside surrounding reserves is important for species’ persistence. Conservation investments can sometimes even be counterproductive, condemning more species than they save. Conservation is most likely to be compromised in the absence of accurate information on species distributions, which provides a strong argument for improving inventories of biodiversity. Accounting for land market dynamics in conservation planning is crucial for making smart investment decisions. PMID:16554375

  10. Land market feedbacks can undermine biodiversity conservation.

    PubMed

    Armsworth, Paul R; Daily, Gretchen C; Kareiva, Peter; Sanchirico, James N

    2006-04-04

    The full or partial purchase of land has become a cornerstone of efforts to conserve biodiversity in countries with strong private property rights. Methods used to target areas for acquisition typically ignore land market dynamics. We show how conservation purchases affect land prices and generate feedbacks that can undermine conservation goals, either by displacing development toward biologically valuable areas or by accelerating its pace. The impact of these market feedbacks on the effectiveness of conservation depends on the ecological value of land outside nature reserves. Traditional, noneconomic approaches to site prioritization should perform adequately in places where land outside reserves supports little biodiversity. However, these approaches will perform poorly in locations where the countryside surrounding reserves is important for species' persistence. Conservation investments can sometimes even be counterproductive, condemning more species than they save. Conservation is most likely to be compromised in the absence of accurate information on species distributions, which provides a strong argument for improving inventories of biodiversity. Accounting for land market dynamics in conservation planning is crucial for making smart investment decisions.

  11. Estimating climate resilience for conservation across geophysical settings.

    PubMed

    Anderson, Mark G; Clark, Melissa; Sheldon, Arlene Olivero

    2014-08-01

    Conservationists need methods to conserve biological diversity while allowing species and communities to rearrange in response to a changing climate. We developed and tested such a method for northeastern North America that we based on physical features associated with ecological diversity and site resilience to climate change. We comprehensively mapped 30 distinct geophysical settings based on geology and elevation. Within each geophysical setting, we identified sites that were both connected by natural cover and that had relatively more microclimates indicated by diverse topography and elevation gradients. We did this by scoring every 405 ha hexagon in the region for these two characteristics and selecting those that scored >SD 0.5 above the mean combined score for each setting. We hypothesized that these high-scoring sites had the greatest resilience to climate change, and we compared them with sites selected by The Nature Conservancy for their high-quality rare species populations and natural community occurrences. High-scoring sites captured significantly more of the biodiversity sites than expected by chance (p < 0.0001): 75% of the 414 target species, 49% of the 4592 target species locations, and 53% of the 2170 target community locations. Calcareous bedrock, coarse sand, and fine silt settings scored markedly lower for estimated resilience and had low levels of permanent land protection (average 7%). Because our method identifies-for every geophysical setting-sites that are the most likely to retain species and functions longer under a changing climate, it reveals natural strongholds for future conservation that would also capture substantial existing biodiversity and correct the bias in current secured lands. © 2014 The Authors. Conservation Biology published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc., on behalf of the Society for Conservation Biology.

  12. Conservation physiology across scales: insights from the marine realm

    PubMed Central

    Cooke, Steven J.; Killen, Shaun S.; Metcalfe, Julian D.; McKenzie, David J.; Mouillot, David; Jørgensen, Christian; Peck, Myron A.

    2014-01-01

    As the field of conservation physiology develops and becomes increasingly integrated with ecology and conservation science, the fundamental concept of scale is being recognized as important, particularly for ensuring that physiological knowledge is contextualized in a manner most relevant to policy makers, conservation practitioners and stakeholders. Failure to consider the importance of scale in conservation physiology—both the challenges and the opportunities that it creates—will impede the ability of this discipline to generate the scientific understanding needed to contribute to meaningful conservation outcomes. Here, we have focused on five aspects of scale: biological, spatial, temporal, allometric and phylogenetic. We also considered the scale of policy and policy application relevant to those five types of scale as well as the merits of upscaling and downscaling to explore and address conservation problems. Although relevant to all systems (e.g. freshwater, terrestrial) we have used examples from the marine realm, with a particular emphasis on fishes, given the fact that there is existing discourse regarding scale and its relevance for marine conservation and management. Our synthesis revealed that all five aspects of scale are relevant to conservation physiology, with many aspects inherently linked. It is apparent that there are both opportunities and challenges afforded by working across scales but, to understand mechanisms underlying conservation problems, it is essential to consider scale of all sorts and to work across scales to the greatest extent possible. Moreover, given that the scales in biological processes will often not match policy and management scales, conservation physiology needs to show how it is relevant to aspects at different policy/management scales, change the scales at which policy/management intervention is applied or be prepared to be ignored. PMID:27293645

  13. A Classroom Teaching and Resource Guide in Conservation Education.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Barnhart, William M.

    In this teaching guide the natural and social sciences are integrated with an emphasis on conservation and ecology. The guide contains ten teaching units dealing with various physical and biological aspects of the environment. Unit one deals with the question of what is conservation. Unit two is concerned with the question of what is a natural…

  14. [Application of case-based learning in clinical internship teaching of conservative dentistry and endodontics].

    PubMed

    Liu, Sheng-bo; Peng, Bin; Song, Ya-ling; Xu, Qing-an

    2013-12-01

    To investigate the education effect of case-based learning (CBL) pattern on clinical internship of conservative dentistry and endodontics. Forty-one undergraduates were randomly assigned into CBL group and traditional teaching group. After clinical internship in the department of conservative dentistry and endodontics for 11 weeks, each student in the 2 groups underwent comprehensive examinations including medical record writing, case analysis, academic knowledge, professional skills and the ability of winning the trust of the patients. The scores were compared between the 2 groups using SPSS 13.0 software package. There was no significant difference between the 2 groups with regard to the scores of academic knowledge and profession skills (P>0.05). However, the results of medical record writing, case analysis and the ability of winning the trust of the patients showed significant difference between the 2 groups(P<0.05). Proper application of CBL in clinical internship of conservative dentistry and endodontics contributes to improve students' ability of clinical thinking, synthetical analysis and adaptability to different patients.

  15. Conservation, management, and restoration of coral reefs.

    PubMed

    Chavanich, Suchana; Soong, Keryea; Zvuloni, Assaf; Rinkevich, Baruch; Alino, Porfirio

    2015-04-01

    The 8th International Conference on Coelenterate Biology (ICCB 8) was held in Eilat, Israel from December 1st to 5th 2013. The conference included 15 sessions, one of which discussed the latest information on the conservation, management, and restoration of Coelenterata in different parts of the world. A total of 16 oral presentations and 5 posters were presented in this session. Of these 21 papers, 11 were related to conservation issues, 7 described management, and 3 discussed restoration. This session provided insights on the current conservation, management, and restoration of coelenterates in different parts of the world. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier GmbH. All rights reserved.

  16. Why social values cannot be changed for the sake of conservation.

    PubMed

    Manfredo, Michael J; Bruskotter, Jeremy T; Teel, Tara L; Fulton, David; Schwartz, Shalom H; Arlinghaus, Robert; Oishi, Shigehiro; Uskul, Ayse K; Redford, Kent; Kitayama, Shinobu; Sullivan, Leeann

    2017-08-01

    The hope for creating widespread change in social values has endured among conservation professionals since early calls by Aldo Leopold for a "land ethic." However, there has been little serious attention in conservation to the fields of investigation that address values, how they are formed, and how they change. We introduce a social-ecological systems conceptual approach in which values are seen not only as motivational goals people hold but also as ideas that are deeply embedded in society's material culture, collective behaviors, traditions, and institutions. Values define and bind groups, organizations, and societies; serve an adaptive role; and are typically stable across generations. When abrupt value changes occur, they are in response to substantial alterations in the social-ecological context. Such changes build on prior value structures and do not result in complete replacement. Given this understanding of values, we conclude that deliberate efforts to orchestrate value shifts for conservation are unlikely to be effective. Instead, there is an urgent need for research on values with a multilevel and dynamic view that can inform innovative conservation strategies for working within existing value structures. New directions facilitated by a systems approach will enhance understanding of the role values play in shaping conservation challenges and improve management of the human component of conservation. © 2016 The Authors. Conservation Biology published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc. on behalf of Society for Conservation Biology.

  17. Conservation Reasoning Ability and Performance on BSCS Blue Version Examinations.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Lawson, Anton E.; Nordland, Floyd H.

    Twenty-three high school biology students were individually administered three conservation tasks (weight, volume, volume displacement). During one semester, they were examined over the course material using published Biological Sciences Curriculum Study (BSCS) Blue Version examination questions which were previously classified as requiring either…

  18. Weeds of Hawaii’s lands devoted to watershed protection and biodiversity conservation: Role of biological control as the missing piece in an integrated pest management strategy

    USGS Publications Warehouse

    Medeiros, Arthur C.; Loope, L.L.

    2011-01-01

    Despite Hawaii’s reputation as an extinction icon, significant biological resources remain, especially in watersheds, natural areas, and specialized edaphic sites (e.g., lava dry forest, coastal). While direct habitat destruction by humans continues, human-facilitated biological invaders are currently the primary agents of continuing degradation. The ability of invasive plants to have prolific seed production, efficient dispersal systems, and to become established in dense vegetation, complicated by Hawaii’s rugged topography, appears to render mechanical and chemical control as mere holding actions. Costly, ‘environmentally unfriendly’, and often ineffective, strategies using chemical and mechanical control on a large scale, despite the most valiant of efforts, can be viewed simply as attempts to buy time. Without increased levels of safely tested biological control, the seemingly inevitable result is the landscape level transformation of native forests, with potentially catastrophic consequences to cultural, biological, water, and economic resources. Increased levels of effective biological control for certain intractable invasive species appear to comprise a conspicuous ‘missing piece’ in our efforts to protect Hawaiian watersheds and other conservation lands.

  19. Multispecies genetic objectives in spatial conservation planning.

    PubMed

    Nielsen, Erica S; Beger, Maria; Henriques, Romina; Selkoe, Kimberly A; von der Heyden, Sophie

    2017-08-01

    Growing threats to biodiversity and global alteration of habitats and species distributions make it increasingly necessary to consider evolutionary patterns in conservation decision making. Yet, there is no clear-cut guidance on how genetic features can be incorporated into conservation-planning processes, despite multiple molecular markers and several genetic metrics for each marker type to choose from. Genetic patterns differ between species, but the potential tradeoffs among genetic objectives for multiple species in conservation planning are currently understudied. We compared spatial conservation prioritizations derived from 2 metrics of genetic diversity (nucleotide and haplotype diversity) and 2 metrics of genetic isolation (private haplotypes and local genetic differentiation) in mitochondrial DNA of 5 marine species. We compared outcomes of conservation plans based only on habitat representation with plans based on genetic data and habitat representation. Fewer priority areas were selected for conservation plans based solely on habitat representation than on plans that included habitat and genetic data. All 4 genetic metrics selected approximately similar conservation-priority areas, which is likely a result of prioritizing genetic patterns across a genetically diverse array of species. Largely, our results suggest that multispecies genetic conservation objectives are vital to creating protected-area networks that appropriately preserve community-level evolutionary patterns. © 2016 Society for Conservation Biology.

  20. Academic Blogging: Academic Practice and Academic Identity

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Kirkup, Gill

    2010-01-01

    This paper describes a small-scale study which investigates the role of blogging in professional academic practice in higher education. It draws on interviews with a sample of academics (scholars, researchers and teachers) who have blogs and on the author's own reflections on blogging to investigate the function of blogging in academic practice…

  1. Climate Change Denial Books and Conservative Think Tanks

    PubMed Central

    Jacques, Peter J.

    2013-01-01

    The conservative movement and especially its think tanks play a critical role in denying the reality and significance of anthropogenic global warming (AGW), especially by manufacturing uncertainty over climate science. Books denying AGW are a crucial means of attacking climate science and scientists, and we examine the links between conservative think tanks (CTTs) and 108 climate change denial books published through 2010. We find a strong link, albeit noticeably weaker for the growing number of self-published denial books. We also examine the national origins of the books and the academic backgrounds of their authors or editors, finding that with the help of American CTTs climate change denial has spread to several other nations and that an increasing portion of denial books are produced by individuals with no scientific training. It appears that at least 90% of denial books do not undergo peer review, allowing authors or editors to recycle scientifically unfounded claims that are then amplified by the conservative movement, media, and political elites. PMID:24098056

  2. Prioritizing Social and Moral Learning Amid Conservative Curriculum Trends: Spaces of Possibility

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Keddie, Amanda

    2015-01-01

    Conservative trends across western schooling contexts are signalling an explicit devaluing of social and moral learning within their official curriculum mandates. These mandates are increasingly privileging the "academic rigour" of traditional subject disciplines. This paper draws on interview and observation data from a case study of a…

  3. Conservation and the 4 Rs, which are rescue, rehabilitation, release, and research.

    PubMed

    Pyke, Graham H; Szabo, Judit K

    2018-02-01

    Vertebrate animals can be injured or threatened with injury through human activities, thus warranting their "rescue." Details of wildlife rescue, rehabilitation, release, and associated research (our 4 Rs) are often recorded in large databases, resulting in a wealth of available information. This information has huge research potential and can contribute to understanding of animal biology, anthropogenic impacts on wildlife, and species conservation. However, such databases have been little used, few studies have evaluated factors influencing success of rehabilitation and/or release, recommended actions to conserve threatened species have rarely arisen, and direct benefits for species conservation are yet to be demonstrated. We therefore recommend that additional research be based on data from rescue, rehabilitation, and release of animals that is broader in scope than previous research and would have community support. © 2017 Society for Conservation Biology.

  4. Conservation assessment for the Siskiyou Mountains salamander and Scott Bar salamander in northern California.

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Vinikour, W. S.; LaGory, K. E.; Adduci, J. J.

    2006-10-20

    The purpose of this conservation assessment is to summarize existing knowledge regarding the biology and ecology of the Siskiyou Mountains salamander and Scott Bar salamander, identify threats to the two species, and identify conservation considerations to aid federal management for persistence of the species. The conservation assessment will serve as the basis for a conservation strategy for the species.

  5. Spin-offs from laser ablation in art conservation

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Asmus, J.; Elford, J.; Parfenov, V.

    2013-05-01

    In 1973 The Center for Art Conservation Studies (CASS) was established at the University of California, San Diego (UCSD). This was in response to demonstrations that were conducted during January-March 1972 in Venice for UNESCO, Venice in Peril, International Fund for Monuments, and the Italian Petroleum Institute (ENI). The feasibility investigation explored in-situ pulsed holography, holographic interferometry, and laser ablation divestment for applications in art conservation practice. During subsequent decades scores of UCSD graduate and undergraduate students as well as conservators, conservation scientists, academics, and engineers who resided in CASS as "Visiting Scholars" contributed to advancing the understanding and performance of radiation technologies in the arts. Several technologies in addition to those involving optical wavelengths were also investigated to aid in art conservation and conservation science. Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) and Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR) were employed to detect and map moisture within masonry. Lead isotopic analyses revealed authenticity and provenance of Benin bronzes. Inside-out x-ray radiography facilitated the detection of defects in stone. Ultrasonic imaging was introduced for the mapping of fresco strata. Photoacoustic Spectroscopy (PAS) was used to characterize varnish layers on paintings. Digital image processing was introduced in order to detect and visualize pentimenti within paintings as well as to perform virtual restoration and provide interactive museum displays. Holographic images were employed as imaginary theater sets. In the years that followed the graduation of students and the visits of professional collaborators, numerous other applications of radiation ablation began appearing in a wide variety of other fields such as aircraft maintenance, ship maintenance, toxic chemical remediation, biological sterilization, food processing, industrial fabrication, industrial maintenance, nuclear

  6. Core concepts of spatial prioritisation in systematic conservation planning.

    PubMed

    Kukkala, Aija S; Moilanen, Atte

    2013-05-01

    Systematic conservation planning (SCP) is a field of conservation biology concerned with delivering on-the-ground actions that achieve conservation goals. It describes a set of operational models that cover both design and implementation of conservation, with a strong focus on mobilising the collective action typically required to implement conservation. SCP, as it was originally described, was composed of six different stages: collection of data, identification of conservation goals, evaluation of the existing protected area network, design of expansions, implementation of conservation action, and long-term maintenance of biodiversity in the network. Since then, the operational model has been expanded into several different variants. Conservation actions applied inside SCP include establishment and expansion of reserve networks and allocation of habitat restoration and management. Within the broader context of SCP, there is a fundamental biogeographic-economic analysis frequently called spatial conservation prioritisation or conservation assessment, which is used for identifying where important areas for biodiversity are and how conservation goals might be achieved efficiently. Here, we review the usage and meaning of the 12 biogeographic-economic core concepts of SCP: adequacy, complementarity, comprehensiveness, effectiveness, efficiency, flexibility, irreplaceability, replacement cost, representation, representativeness, threat, and vulnerability. Some of the concepts have clear definitions whereas others may have alternative and possibly conflicting definitions. With a comprehensive literature review literature, we elucidate the historical backgrounds of these concepts, the first definitions and usages, alternative later definitions, key applications, and prior reviews. This review reduces linguistic uncertainty in the application of SCP. Since SCP is a global activity with a multitude of different stakeholders involved, it is vital that those involved can

  7. Climate Velocity Can Inform Conservation in a Warming World.

    PubMed

    Brito-Morales, Isaac; García Molinos, Jorge; Schoeman, David S; Burrows, Michael T; Poloczanska, Elvira S; Brown, Christopher J; Ferrier, Simon; Harwood, Tom D; Klein, Carissa J; McDonald-Madden, Eve; Moore, Pippa J; Pandolfi, John M; Watson, James E M; Wenger, Amelia S; Richardson, Anthony J

    2018-06-01

    Climate change is shifting the ranges of species. Simple predictive metrics of range shifts such as climate velocity, that do not require extensive knowledge or data on individual species, could help to guide conservation. We review research on climate velocity, describing the theory underpinning the concept and its assumptions. We highlight how climate velocity has already been applied in conservation-related research, including climate residence time, climate refugia, endemism, historic and projected range shifts, exposure to climate change, and climate connectivity. Finally, we discuss ways to enhance the use of climate velocity in conservation through tailoring it to be more biologically meaningful, informing design of protected areas, conserving ocean biodiversity in 3D, and informing conservation actions. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  8. Biological Control of Southern Pine Beetle

    Treesearch

    Fred M. Stephen; C. Wayne Berisford

    2011-01-01

    Exotic invasive forest insects are frequently managed through classical biological control, which involves searching for, introducing, and establishing their exotic natural enemies. Biological control of native bark beetles, including the southern pine beetle (SPB), has been primarily attempted by conserving and manipulating their natural enemies. Knowledge of the role...

  9. Case study of building of conservation coalitions to conserve ecological interactions.

    PubMed

    Chen, Gao; Luo, Shihong; Mei, Nianshu; Shen, Dingfang; Sun, Weibang

    2015-12-01

    We engaged experts in various fields of study (pollination ecology, chemical ecology, and ethnobotany), invited community participation, and provided environmental education in an effort to conserve an endangered birthwort (Aristolochia delavayi) and a vulnerable pipevine swallowtail (Byasa daemonius). Scientists studied the uptake and sequestration of the secondary metabolites aristolochic acids from A. delavayi leaves by different stages of pipevine swallowtail as a defense mechanism; low fruit set of the myophilous A. delavayi due to pollinator limitation; and the emission of chemical signals that attract parasitic wasps by the prepupae of B. daemonius. The results of these studies were part of an education program delivered by personnel of non-governmental organizations. The program was devised to deliver information to the public about the health risks of consuming A. delavayi individuals (aristolochic-acid-associated cancers) and to establish a bridge between the public and scientific research. Following delivery of the program, the behavior of residents changed considerably. Community residents were involved in management activities, including participation in a program to promote understanding of ecological interactions between A. delavayi and B. daemonius; designing an in situ conservation site; monitoring A. delavayi and B. daemonius individuals; and promoting the natural fruit set of A. delavayi by scattering animal excrement to attract fly pollinators. The integration of scientific information and community participation appears to have resulted in an increase in abundance of threatened A. delavayi and B. daemonius populations. We believe the involvement of local people in conservation is necessary for successful species conservation. © 2015 Society for Conservation Biology.

  10. Bibliometry of the Revista de Biología Tropical / International Journal of Tropical Biology and Conservation: document types, languages, countries, institutions, citations and article lifespan.

    PubMed

    Monge-Nájera, Julián; Ho, Yuh-Shan

    2016-09-01

    The Revista de Biología Tropical / International Journal of Tropical Biology and Conservation, founded in 1953, publishes feature articles about tropical nature and is considered one of the leading journals in Latin America. This article analyzes document type, language, countries, institutions, citations and for the first time article lifespan, from 1976 through 2014. We analyzed 3 978 documents from the Science Citation Index Expanded. Articles comprised 88 % of the total production and had 3.7 citations on average, lower than reviews. Spanish and English articles were nearly equal in numbers and citation for English articles was only slightly higher. Costa Rica, Mexico, and the USA are the countries with more articles, and the leading institutions were Universidad de Costa Rica, Universidad Nacional, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de Mexico and Universidad de Oriente (Venezuela). The citation lifespan of articles is long, around 37 years. It is not surprising that Costa Rica, Mexico, and Venezuela lead in productivity and cooperation, because they are mostly covered by tropical ecosystems and share a common culture and a tradition of scientific cooperation. The same applies to the leading institutions, which are among the largest Spanish language universities in the neotropical region. American output can be explained by the regional presence of the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute and the Organization for Tropical Studies. Tropical research does not have the rapid change typical of medical research, and for this reason, the impact factor misses most of citations for the Revista, which are made after the two-year window used by the Web of Science. This issue is especially damaging for the Revista because most journals that deal with tropical biology are never checked when citations are counted for by the Science Citation Index.

  11. Conservation of hot regions in protein-protein interaction in evolution.

    PubMed

    Hu, Jing; Li, Jiarui; Chen, Nansheng; Zhang, Xiaolong

    2016-11-01

    The hot regions of protein-protein interactions refer to the active area which formed by those most important residues to protein combination process. With the research development on protein interactions, lots of predicted hot regions can be discovered efficiently by intelligent computing methods, while performing biology experiments to verify each every prediction is hardly to be done due to the time-cost and the complexity of the experiment. This study based on the research of hot spot residue conservations, the proposed method is used to verify authenticity of predicted hot regions that using machine learning algorithm combined with protein's biological features and sequence conservation, though multiple sequence alignment, module substitute matrix and sequence similarity to create conservation scoring algorithm, and then using threshold module to verify the conservation tendency of hot regions in evolution. This research work gives an effective method to verify predicted hot regions in protein-protein interactions, which also provides a useful way to deeply investigate the functional activities of protein hot regions. Copyright © 2016. Published by Elsevier Inc.

  12. 77 FR 9260 - Establishment of Dakota Grassland Conservation Area, North Dakota and South Dakota

    Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

    2012-02-16

    ... DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR Fish and Wildlife Service [FWS-R6-R-2011-N212; FF06R06000...: Fish and Wildlife Service, Interior. ACTION: Notice. SUMMARY: This notice advises the public that the U... conservation. SHC entails strategic biological planning and conservation design, integrated conservation...

  13. Utilizing social media for informal ocean conservation and education: The BioOceanography Project

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Payette, J.

    2016-02-01

    Science communication through the use of social media is a rapidly evolving and growing pursuit in academic and scientific circles. Online tools and social media are being used in not only scientific communication but also scientific publication, education, and outreach. Standards and usage of social media as well as other online tools for communication, networking, outreach, and publication are always in development. Caution and a conservative attitude towards these novel "Science 2.0" tools is understandable because of their rapidly changing nature and the lack of professional standards for using them. However there are some key benefits and unique ways social media, online systems, and other Open or Open Source technologies, software, and "Science 2.0" tools can be utilized for academic purposes such as education and outreach. Diverse efforts for ocean conservation and education will continue to utilize social media for a variety of purposes. The BioOceanography project is an informal communication, education, outreach, and conservation initiative created for enhancing knowledge related to Oceanography and Marine Science with an unbiased yet conservation-minded approach and in an Open Source format. The BioOceanography project is ongoing and still evolving, but has already contributed to ocean education and conservation communication in key ways through a concerted web presence since 2013, including a curated Twitter account @_Oceanography and BioOceanography blog style website. Social media tools like those used in this project, if used properly can be highly effective and valuable for encouraging students, networking with researchers, and educating the general public in Oceanography.

  14. Linking School Biology and Community in Developing Countries.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Knamiller, Gary W.

    1984-01-01

    Explores the role of biological education in placing the school in its own local community and the real social-economic environment that surrounds it. Particular reference is made to issue-based biological education in schools as an attempt to bridge the gap between purely academic schooling and education for relevance. (Author)

  15. Conservation paleobiology: putting the dead to work.

    PubMed

    Dietl, Gregory P; Flessa, Karl W

    2011-01-01

    Geohistorical data and analyses are playing an increasingly important role in conservation biology practice and policy. In this review, we discuss examples of how the near-time and deep-time fossil record can be used to understand the ecological and evolutionary responses of species to changes in their environment. We show that beyond providing crucial baseline data, the conservation paleobiology perspective helps us to identify which species will be most vulnerable and what kinds of responses will be most common. We stress that inclusion of geohistorical data in our decision-making process provides a more scientifically robust basis for conservation policies than those dependent on short-term observations alone. © 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  16. Catalyzing sustainability: Cornell University's field practicum in conservation and sustainable development

    Treesearch

    John Schelhas

    2000-01-01

    Human society is increasingly facing a variety of complex, intertwined environmental conservation and rural development issues. For example, national park objectives have expanded from the conservation of biological diversity to also include contributing to the livelihood and development needs of local people. Human settlements in fragile uplands create conflicts...

  17. The Biology of Emergency Medicine: what have 30 years meant for Rosen's original concepts?

    PubMed

    Zink, Brian J

    2011-03-01

    In 1979 Peter Rosen, MD, a leading academic figure in the developing field of emergency medicine (EM), wrote an article, "The Biology of Emergency Medicine," in response to criticism from other specialties and medical leaders that there was no unique biology of EM that would qualify it as a legitimate medical specialty. This essay received much attention at the time and served as rallying cry for emergency physicians (EPs) who were trying to find their places in the house of medicine and especially in medical schools and academic teaching hospitals. Thirty years later, the opposition that prompted many of Rosen's strongly worded impressions and observations on the biology of EM, clinical emergency department (ED) practice, education, and research has largely faded. Many of Rosen's predictions on the eventual success of EM have come true. However, core issues that existed then continue to present challenges for academic EM and clinical emergency practice. © 2011 by the Society for Academic Emergency Medicine.

  18. Changes in Biology Self-Efficacy during a First-Year University Course

    PubMed Central

    Ainscough, Louise; Foulis, Eden; Colthorpe, Kay; Zimbardi, Kirsten; Robertson-Dean, Melanie; Chunduri, Prasad; Lluka, Lesley

    2016-01-01

    Academic self-efficacy encompasses judgments regarding one’s ability to perform academic tasks and is correlated with achievement and persistence. This study describes changes in biology self-efficacy during a first-year course. Students (n = 614) were given the Biology Self-Efficacy Scale at the beginning and end of the semester. The instrument consisted of 21 questions ranking confidence in performing biology-related tasks on a scale from 1 (not at all confident) to 5 (totally confident). The results demonstrated that students increased in self-efficacy during the semester. High school biology and chemistry contributed to self-efficacy at the beginning of the semester; however, this relationship was lost by the end of the semester, when experience within the course became a significant contributing factor. A proportion of high- and low- achieving (24 and 40%, respectively) students had inaccurate self-efficacy judgments of their ability to perform well in the course. In addition, female students were significantly less confident than males overall, and high-achieving female students were more likely than males to underestimate their academic ability. These results suggest that the Biology Self-Efficacy Scale may be a valuable resource for tracking changes in self-efficacy in first-year students and for identifying students with poorly calibrated self-efficacy perceptions. PMID:27193290

  19. Conservation and management of eastern big-eared bats: a symposium

    Treesearch

    Susan C. Loeb; Michael J. Lacki; Darren A. Miller

    2011-01-01

    Big-eared bats (genus Corynorhinus) in the Eastern United States are species of special conservation concern. These species are at risk due to many factors, including lack of knowledge about their basic biology, population numbers or trends, and distribution. This volume contains five synthesis papers on the status, ecology, and conservation of eastern big-eared bats...

  20. Political transition and emergent forest-conservation issues in Myanmar.

    PubMed

    Prescott, Graham W; Sutherland, William J; Aguirre, Daniel; Baird, Matthew; Bowman, Vicky; Brunner, Jake; Connette, Grant M; Cosier, Martin; Dapice, David; De Alban, Jose Don T; Diment, Alex; Fogerite, Julia; Fox, Jefferson; Hlaing, Win; Htun, Saw; Hurd, Jack; LaJeunesse Connette, Katherine; Lasmana, Felicia; Lim, Cheng Ling; Lynam, Antony; Maung, Aye Chan; McCarron, Benjamin; McCarthy, John F; McShea, William J; Momberg, Frank; Mon, Myat Su; Myint, Than; Oberndorf, Robert; Oo, Thaung Naing; Phelps, Jacob; Rao, Madhu; Schmidt-Vogt, Dietrich; Speechly, Hugh; Springate-Baginski, Oliver; Steinmetz, Robert; Talbott, Kirk; Than, Maung Maung; Thaung, Tint Lwin; Thawng, Salai Cung Lian; Thein, Kyaw Min; Thein, Shwe; Tizard, Robert; Whitten, Tony; Williams, Guy; Wilson, Trevor; Woods, Kevin; Ziegler, Alan D; Zrust, Michal; Webb, Edward L

    2017-12-01

    Political and economic transitions have had substantial impacts on forest conservation. Where transitions are underway or anticipated, historical precedent and methods for systematically assessing future trends should be used to anticipate likely threats to forest conservation and design appropriate and prescient policy measures to counteract them. Myanmar is transitioning from an authoritarian, centralized state with a highly regulated economy to a more decentralized and economically liberal democracy and is working to end a long-running civil war. With these transitions in mind, we used a horizon-scanning approach to assess the 40 emerging issues most affecting Myanmar's forests, including internal conflict, land-tenure insecurity, large-scale agricultural development, demise of state timber enterprises, shortfalls in government revenue and capacity, and opening of new deforestation frontiers with new roads, mines, and hydroelectric dams. Averting these threats will require, for example, overhauling governance models, building capacity, improving infrastructure- and energy-project planning, and reforming land-tenure and environmental-protection laws. Although challenges to conservation in Myanmar are daunting, the political transition offers an opportunity for conservationists and researchers to help shape a future that enhances Myanmar's social, economic, and environmental potential while learning and applying lessons from other countries. Our approach and results are relevant to other countries undergoing similar transitions. © 2017 The Authors. Conservation Biology published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc. on behalf of Society for Conservation Biology.

  1. The conservation and management of tunas and their relatives: setting life history research priorities.

    PubMed

    Juan-Jordá, Maria José; Mosqueira, Iago; Freire, Juan; Dulvy, Nicholas K

    2013-01-01

    Scombrids (tunas, bonitos, Spanish mackerels and mackerels) support important fisheries in tropical, subtropical and temperate waters around the world, being one of the most economically- and socially-important marine species globally. Their sustainable exploitation, management and conservation depend on accurate life history information for the development of quantitative fisheries stock assessments, and in the fishery data-poor situations for the identification of vulnerable species. Here, we assemble life history traits (maximum size, growth, longevity, maturity, fecundity, spawning duration and spawning interval) for the 51 species of scombrids globally. We identify major biological gaps in knowledge and prioritize life history research needs in scombrids based on their biological gaps in knowledge, the importance of their fisheries and their current conservation status according to the International Union for Conservation of Nature Red List. We find that the growth and reproductive biology of tunas and mackerel species have been more extensively studied than for Spanish mackerels and bonitos, although there are notable exceptions in all groups. We also reveal that reproductive biology of species, particular fecundity, is the least studied biological aspect in scombrids. We identify two priority groups, including 32 species of scombrids, and several populations of principal market tunas, for which life history research should be prioritized following the species-specific life history gaps identified in this study in the coming decades. By highlighting the important gaps in biological knowledge and providing a priority setting for life history research in scombrid species this study provides guidance for management and conservation and serves as a guide for biologists and resource managers interested in the biology, ecology, and management of scombrid species.

  2. The Conservation and Management of Tunas and Their Relatives: Setting Life History Research Priorities

    PubMed Central

    Juan-Jordá, Maria José; Mosqueira, Iago; Freire, Juan; Dulvy, Nicholas K.

    2013-01-01

    Scombrids (tunas, bonitos, Spanish mackerels and mackerels) support important fisheries in tropical, subtropical and temperate waters around the world, being one of the most economically- and socially-important marine species globally. Their sustainable exploitation, management and conservation depend on accurate life history information for the development of quantitative fisheries stock assessments, and in the fishery data-poor situations for the identification of vulnerable species. Here, we assemble life history traits (maximum size, growth, longevity, maturity, fecundity, spawning duration and spawning interval) for the 51 species of scombrids globally. We identify major biological gaps in knowledge and prioritize life history research needs in scombrids based on their biological gaps in knowledge, the importance of their fisheries and their current conservation status according to the International Union for Conservation of Nature Red List. We find that the growth and reproductive biology of tunas and mackerel species have been more extensively studied than for Spanish mackerels and bonitos, although there are notable exceptions in all groups. We also reveal that reproductive biology of species, particular fecundity, is the least studied biological aspect in scombrids. We identify two priority groups, including 32 species of scombrids, and several populations of principal market tunas, for which life history research should be prioritized following the species-specific life history gaps identified in this study in the coming decades. By highlighting the important gaps in biological knowledge and providing a priority setting for life history research in scombrid species this study provides guidance for management and conservation and serves as a guide for biologists and resource managers interested in the biology, ecology, and management of scombrid species. PMID:23950930

  3. Practical implications of understanding the influence of motivations on commitment to voluntary urban conservation stewardship

    Treesearch

    Stanley T. Asah; Dale J. Blahna

    2013-01-01

    Although the word commitment is prevalent in conservation biology literature and despite the importance of people’s commitment to the success of conservation initiatives, commitment as a psychological phenomenon and its operation in specific conservation behaviors remains unexplored. Despite increasing calls for conservation psychology to play a greater role in meeting...

  4. Establishing an academic laboratory: mentoring as a business model

    PubMed Central

    Greco, Valentina

    2014-01-01

    It is a tremendous honor for my group and me to receive the recognition of the 2014 Women in Cell Biology Junior Award. I would like to take the opportunity of this essay to describe my scientific journey, discuss my philosophy about running a group, and propose what I think is a generalizable model to efficiently establish an academic laboratory. This essay is about my view on the critical components that go into establishing a highly functional academic laboratory during the current tough, competitive times. PMID:25360043

  5. Overview on the Role of Advance Genomics in Conservation Biology of Endangered Species.

    PubMed

    Khan, Suliman; Nabi, Ghulam; Ullah, Muhammad Wajid; Yousaf, Muhammad; Manan, Sehrish; Siddique, Rabeea; Hou, Hongwei

    2016-01-01

    In the recent era, due to tremendous advancement in industrialization, pollution and other anthropogenic activities have created a serious scenario for biota survival. It has been reported that present biota is entering a "sixth" mass extinction, because of chronic exposure to anthropogenic activities. Various ex situ and in situ measures have been adopted for conservation of threatened and endangered plants and animal species; however, these have been limited due to various discrepancies associated with them. Current advancement in molecular technologies, especially, genomics, is playing a very crucial role in biodiversity conservation. Advance genomics helps in identifying the segments of genome responsible for adaptation. It can also improve our understanding about microevolution through a better understanding of selection, mutation, assertive matting, and recombination. Advance genomics helps in identifying genes that are essential for fitness and ultimately for developing modern and fast monitoring tools for endangered biodiversity. This review article focuses on the applications of advanced genomics mainly demographic, adaptive genetic variations, inbreeding, hybridization and introgression, and disease susceptibilities, in the conservation of threatened biota. In short, it provides the fundamentals for novice readers and advancement in genomics for the experts working for the conservation of endangered plant and animal species.

  6. Global research priorities for sea turtles: Informing management and conservation in the 21st century

    USGS Publications Warehouse

    Hamann, M.; Godfrey, M.H.; Seminoff, J.A.; Barata, P.C.R.; Bjorndal, K.A.; Bolten, A.B.; Broderick, A.C.; Campbell, L.M.; Carreras, C.; Casale, P.; Chaloupka, M.; Chan, S.-K.; Coyne, M.; Crowder, L.B.; Diez, C.E.; Dutton, P.H.; Epperly, S.P.; FitzSimmons, N.N.; Formia, A.; Girondot, M.; Hays, G.C.; Cheng, I.J.; Kaska, Y.; Lewison, R.; Mortimer, J.A.; Nichols, W.J.; Reina, R.D.; Shanker, K.; Spotila, J.R.; Tomás, J.; Wallace, B.P.; Work, Thierry M.; Zbinden, N.; Godley, B.J.

    2010-01-01

    Over the past 3 decades, the status of sea turtles and the need for their protection to aid population recovery have increasingly captured the interest of government agencies, non-governmental organisations (NGOs) and the general public worldwide. This interest has been matched by increased research attention, focusing on a wide variety of topics relating to sea turtle biology and ecology, together with the interrelations of sea turtles with the physical and natural environments. Although sea turtles have been better studied than most other marine fauna, management actions and their evaluation are often hindered by the lack of data on turtle biology, human–turtle interactions, turtle population status and threats. In an effort to inform effective sea turtle conservation a list of priority research questions was assembled based on the opinions of 35 sea turtle researchers from 13 nations working in fields related to turtle biology and/or conservation. The combined experience of the contributing researchers spanned the globe as well as many relevant disciplines involved in conservation research. An initial list of more than 200 questions gathered from respondents was condensed into 20 metaquestions and classified under 5 categories: reproductive biology, biogeography, population ecology, threats and conservation strategies.

  7. A systems biology model of the regulatory network in Populus leaves reveals interacting regulators and conserved regulation

    PubMed Central

    2011-01-01

    Background Green plant leaves have always fascinated biologists as hosts for photosynthesis and providers of basic energy to many food webs. Today, comprehensive databases of gene expression data enable us to apply increasingly more advanced computational methods for reverse-engineering the regulatory network of leaves, and to begin to understand the gene interactions underlying complex emergent properties related to stress-response and development. These new systems biology methods are now also being applied to organisms such as Populus, a woody perennial tree, in order to understand the specific characteristics of these species. Results We present a systems biology model of the regulatory network of Populus leaves. The network is reverse-engineered from promoter information and expression profiles of leaf-specific genes measured over a large set of conditions related to stress and developmental. The network model incorporates interactions between regulators, such as synergistic and competitive relationships, by evaluating increasingly more complex regulatory mechanisms, and is therefore able to identify new regulators of leaf development not found by traditional genomics methods based on pair-wise expression similarity. The approach is shown to explain available gene function information and to provide robust prediction of expression levels in new data. We also use the predictive capability of the model to identify condition-specific regulation as well as conserved regulation between Populus and Arabidopsis. Conclusions We outline a computationally inferred model of the regulatory network of Populus leaves, and show how treating genes as interacting, rather than individual, entities identifies new regulators compared to traditional genomics analysis. Although systems biology models should be used with care considering the complexity of regulatory programs and the limitations of current genomics data, methods describing interactions can provide hypotheses about

  8. Conservation biology: lion attacks on humans in Tanzania.

    PubMed

    Packer, Craig; Ikanda, Dennis; Kissui, Bernard; Kushnir, Hadas

    2005-08-18

    Large carnivores inspire opposition to conservation efforts owing to their impact on livestock and human safety. Here we analyse the pattern of lion attacks over the past 15 years on humans in Tanzania, which has the largest population of lions in Africa, and find that they have killed more than 563 Tanzanians since 1990 and injured at least 308. Attacks have increased dramatically during this time: they peak at harvest time each year and are most frequent in areas with few prey apart from bush pigs (Potamochoerus larvatus), the most common nocturnal crop pest. Our findings provide an important starting point for devising strategies to reduce the risk to rural Tanzanians of lion attacks.

  9. Academic drug discovery: current status and prospects.

    PubMed

    Everett, Jeremy R

    2015-01-01

    The contraction in pharmaceutical drug discovery operations in the past decade has been counter-balanced by a significant rise in the number of academic drug discovery groups. In addition, pharmaceutical companies that used to operate in completely independent, vertically integrated operations for drug discovery, are now collaborating more with each other, and with academic groups. We are in a new era of drug discovery. This review provides an overview of the current status of academic drug discovery groups, their achievements and the challenges they face, together with perspectives on ways to achieve improved outcomes. Academic groups have made important contributions to drug discovery, from its earliest days and continue to do so today. However, modern drug discovery and development is exceedingly complex, and has high failure rates, principally because human biology is complex and poorly understood. Academic drug discovery groups need to play to their strengths and not just copy what has gone before. However, there are lessons to be learnt from the experiences of the industrial drug discoverers and four areas are highlighted for attention: i) increased validation of targets; ii) elimination of false hits from high throughput screening (HTS); iii) increasing the quality of molecular probes; and iv) investing in a high-quality informatics infrastructure.

  10. Australian and U.S. news media portrayal of sharks and their conservation.

    PubMed

    Muter, Bret A; Gore, Meredith L; Gledhill, Katie S; Lamont, Christopher; Huveneers, Charlie

    2013-02-01

    Investigation of the social framing of human-shark interactions may provide useful strategies for integrating social, biological, and ecological knowledge into national and international policy discussions about shark conservation. One way to investigate social opinion and forces related to sharks and their conservation is through the media's coverage of sharks. We conducted a content analysis of 300 shark-related articles published in 20 major Australian and U.S. newspapers from 2000 to 2010. Shark attacks were the emphasis of over half the articles analyzed, and shark conservation was the primary topic of 11% of articles. Significantly more Australian articles than U.S. articles treated shark attacks (χ(2) = 3.862; Australian 58% vs. U.S. 47%) and shark conservation issues (χ(2) = 6.856; Australian 15% vs. U.S. 11%) as the primary article topic and used politicians as the primary risk messenger (i.e., primary person or authority sourced in the article) (χ(2) = 7.493; Australian 8% vs. U.S. 1%). However, significantly more U.S. articles than Australian articles discussed sharks as entertainment (e.g., subjects in movies, books, and television; χ(2) = 15.130; U.S. 6% vs. Australian 1%) and used scientists as the primary risk messenger (χ(2) = 5.333; U.S. 25% vs. Australian 15%). Despite evidence that many shark species are at risk of extinction, we found that most media coverage emphasized the risks sharks pose to people. To the extent that media reflects social opinion, our results highlight problems for shark conservation. We suggest that conservation professionals purposefully and frequently engage with the media to highlight the rarity of shark attacks, discuss preventative measures water users can take to reduce their vulnerability to shark encounters, and discuss conservation issues related to local and threatened species of sharks. When integrated with biological and ecological data, social-science data may help generate a more comprehensive perspective

  11. Selection platforms for directed evolution in synthetic biology

    PubMed Central

    Tizei, Pedro A.G.; Csibra, Eszter; Torres, Leticia; Pinheiro, Vitor B.

    2016-01-01

    Life on Earth is incredibly diverse. Yet, underneath that diversity, there are a number of constants and highly conserved processes: all life is based on DNA and RNA; the genetic code is universal; biology is limited to a small subset of potential chemistries. A vast amount of knowledge has been accrued through describing and characterizing enzymes, biological processes and organisms. Nevertheless, much remains to be understood about the natural world. One of the goals in Synthetic Biology is to recapitulate biological complexity from simple systems made from biological molecules–gaining a deeper understanding of life in the process. Directed evolution is a powerful tool in Synthetic Biology, able to bypass gaps in knowledge and capable of engineering even the most highly conserved biological processes. It encompasses a range of methodologies to create variation in a population and to select individual variants with the desired function–be it a ligand, enzyme, pathway or even whole organisms. Here, we present some of the basic frameworks that underpin all evolution platforms and review some of the recent contributions from directed evolution to synthetic biology, in particular methods that have been used to engineer the Central Dogma and the genetic code. PMID:27528765

  12. Marine molecular biology: an emerging field of biological sciences.

    PubMed

    Thakur, Narsinh L; Jain, Roopesh; Natalio, Filipe; Hamer, Bojan; Thakur, Archana N; Müller, Werner E G

    2008-01-01

    An appreciation of the potential applications of molecular biology is of growing importance in many areas of life sciences, including marine biology. During the past two decades, the development of sophisticated molecular technologies and instruments for biomedical research has resulted in significant advances in the biological sciences. However, the value of molecular techniques for addressing problems in marine biology has only recently begun to be cherished. It has been proven that the exploitation of molecular biological techniques will allow difficult research questions about marine organisms and ocean processes to be addressed. Marine molecular biology is a discipline, which strives to define and solve the problems regarding the sustainable exploration of marine life for human health and welfare, through the cooperation between scientists working in marine biology, molecular biology, microbiology and chemistry disciplines. Several success stories of the applications of molecular techniques in the field of marine biology are guiding further research in this area. In this review different molecular techniques are discussed, which have application in marine microbiology, marine invertebrate biology, marine ecology, marine natural products, material sciences, fisheries, conservation and bio-invasion etc. In summary, if marine biologists and molecular biologists continue to work towards strong partnership during the next decade and recognize intellectual and technological advantages and benefits of such partnership, an exciting new frontier of marine molecular biology will emerge in the future.

  13. Soil microbial community restoration in conservation reserve program semi-arid grasslands

    USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

    The Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) in the Southern High Plains (SHP) is known to play a crucial role in maintaining ecosystem health by reducing soil erosion. However, the restoration of its soil biological health (biological community and its function) over time have not been clearly elucidated...

  14. Successes and challenges from formation to implementation of eleven broad-extent conservation programs.

    PubMed

    Beever, Erik A; Mattsson, Brady J; Germino, Matthew J; Burg, Max Post Van Der; Bradford, John B; Brunson, Mark W

    2014-04-01

    Integration of conservation partnerships across geographic, biological, and administrative boundaries is increasingly relevant because drivers of change, such as climate shifts, transcend these boundaries. We explored successes and challenges of established conservation programs that span multiple watersheds and consider both social and ecological concerns. We asked representatives from a diverse set of 11 broad-extent conservation partnerships in 29 countries 17 questions that pertained to launching and maintaining partnerships for broad-extent conservation, specifying ultimate management objectives, and implementation and learning. Partnerships invested more funds in implementing conservation actions than any other aspect of conservation, and a program's context (geographic extent, United States vs. other countries, developed vs. developing nation) appeared to substantially affect program approach. Despite early successes of these organizations and benefits of broad-extent conservation, specific challenges related to uncertainties in scaling up information and to coordination in the face of diverse partner governance structures, conflicting objectives, and vast uncertainties regarding future system dynamics hindered long-term success, as demonstrated by the focal organizations. Engaging stakeholders, developing conservation measures, and implementing adaptive management were dominant challenges. To inform future research on broad-extent conservation, we considered several challenges when we developed detailed questions, such as what qualities of broad-extent partnerships ensure they complement, integrate, and strengthen, rather than replace, local conservation efforts and which adaptive management processes yield actionable conservation strategies that account explicitly for dynamics and uncertainties regarding multiscale governance, environmental conditions, and knowledge of the system? © 2014 Society for Conservation Biology.

  15. Establishing an academic laboratory: mentoring as a business model.

    PubMed

    Greco, Valentina

    2014-11-01

    It is a tremendous honor for my group and me to receive the recognition of the 2014 Women in Cell Biology Junior Award. I would like to take the opportunity of this essay to describe my scientific journey, discuss my philosophy about running a group, and propose what I think is a generalizable model to efficiently establish an academic laboratory. This essay is about my view on the critical components that go into establishing a highly functional academic laboratory during the current tough, competitive times. © 2014 Greco.

  16. Overview on the Role of Advance Genomics in Conservation Biology of Endangered Species

    PubMed Central

    Khan, Suliman; Nabi, Ghulam; Ullah, Muhammad Wajid; Yousaf, Muhammad; Manan, Sehrish; Siddique, Rabeea

    2016-01-01

    In the recent era, due to tremendous advancement in industrialization, pollution and other anthropogenic activities have created a serious scenario for biota survival. It has been reported that present biota is entering a “sixth” mass extinction, because of chronic exposure to anthropogenic activities. Various ex situ and in situ measures have been adopted for conservation of threatened and endangered plants and animal species; however, these have been limited due to various discrepancies associated with them. Current advancement in molecular technologies, especially, genomics, is playing a very crucial role in biodiversity conservation. Advance genomics helps in identifying the segments of genome responsible for adaptation. It can also improve our understanding about microevolution through a better understanding of selection, mutation, assertive matting, and recombination. Advance genomics helps in identifying genes that are essential for fitness and ultimately for developing modern and fast monitoring tools for endangered biodiversity. This review article focuses on the applications of advanced genomics mainly demographic, adaptive genetic variations, inbreeding, hybridization and introgression, and disease susceptibilities, in the conservation of threatened biota. In short, it provides the fundamentals for novice readers and advancement in genomics for the experts working for the conservation of endangered plant and animal species. PMID:28025636

  17. Academic performance of bachelor students in medical doctor and physiotherapy determined by predictive analysis.

    PubMed

    Aguilar, María Esther Urrutia; Rosas, Efrén Raúl Ponce; León, Silvia Ortiz; Ochoa, Laura Peñaloza; Guzmán, Rosalinda Guevara

    2017-01-01

    To identify and compare the predictive agents associated with medical students´ academic performance that are undertaking cellular biology and human histology, as well as those physiotherapists that take molecular, cellular and tissue biology. An academic follow up was carried out during school. Tools on previous knowledge, vocation, psychological and confrontational means were applied at the beginning of the school year; and the last two were applied two more times afterwards. Data were analyzed considering descriptive, comparative, correlational and predictive statistics. The students´ participation was voluntary and data confidentiality was looked after. Copyright: © 2017 SecretarÍa de Salud

  18. Toward High School Biology: Helping Middle School Students Understand Chemical Reactions and Conservation of Mass in Nonliving and Living Systems.

    PubMed

    Herrmann-Abell, Cari F; Koppal, Mary; Roseman, Jo Ellen

    2016-01-01

    Modern biology has become increasingly molecular in nature, requiring students to understand basic chemical concepts. Studies show, however, that many students fail to grasp ideas about atom rearrangement and conservation during chemical reactions or the application of these ideas to biological systems. To help provide students with a better foundation, we used research-based design principles and collaborated in the development of a curricular intervention that applies chemistry ideas to living and nonliving contexts. Six eighth grade teachers and their students participated in a test of the unit during the Spring of 2013. Two of the teachers had used an earlier version of the unit the previous spring. The other four teachers were randomly assigned either to implement the unit or to continue teaching the same content using existing materials. Pre- and posttests were administered, and the data were analyzed using Rasch modeling and hierarchical linear modeling. The results showed that, when controlling for pretest score, gender, language, and ethnicity, students who used the curricular intervention performed better on the posttest than the students using existing materials. Additionally, students who participated in the intervention held fewer misconceptions. These results demonstrate the unit's promise in improving students' understanding of the targeted ideas. © 2016 C. F. Herrmann-Abell et al. CBE—Life Sciences Education © 2016 The American Society for Cell Biology. This article is distributed by The American Society for Cell Biology under license from the author(s). It is available to the public under an Attribution–Noncommercial–Share Alike 3.0 Unported Creative Commons License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0).

  19. Incorporating surrogate species and seascape connectivity to improve marine conservation outcomes.

    PubMed

    Olds, Andrew D; Connolly, Rod M; Pitt, Kylie A; Maxwell, Paul S; Aswani, Shankar; Albert, Simon

    2014-08-01

    Conservation focuses on maintaining biodiversity and ecosystem functioning, but gaps in our knowledge of species biology and ecological processes often impede progress. For this reason, focal species and habitats are used as surrogates for multispecies conservation, but species-based approaches are not widely adopted in marine ecosystems. Reserves in the Solomon Islands were designed on the basis of local ecological knowledge to conserve bumphead parrotfish (Bolbometopon muricatum) and to protect food security and ecosystem functioning. Bumphead parrotfish are an iconic threatened species and may be a useful surrogate for multispecies conservation. They move across tropical seascapes throughout their life history, in a pattern of habitat use that is shared with many other species. We examined their value as a conservation surrogate and assessed the importance of seascape connectivity (i.e., the physical connectedness of patches in the seascape) among reefs, mangroves, and seagrass to marine reserve performance. Reserves were designed for bumphead parrotfish, but also enhanced the abundance of other species. Integration of local ecological knowledge and seascape connectivity enhanced the abundance of 17 other harvested fish species in local reserves. This result has important implications for ecosystem functioning and local villagers because many of these species perform important ecological processes and provide the foundation for extensive subsistence fisheries. Our findings suggest greater success in maintaining and restoring marine ecosystems may be achieved when they are managed to conserve surrogate species and preserve functional seascape connections. © 2014 Society for Conservation Biology.

  20. Carbon payments and low-cost conservation.

    PubMed

    Crossman, Neville D; Bryan, Brett A; Summers, David M

    2011-08-01

    A price on carbon is expected to generate demand for carbon offset schemes. This demand could drive investment in tree-based monocultures that provide higher carbon yields than diverse plantings of native tree and shrub species, which sequester less carbon but provide greater variation in vegetation structure and composition. Economic instruments such as species conservation banking, the creation and trading of credits that represent biological-diversity values on private land, could close the financial gap between monocultures and more diverse plantings by providing payments to individuals who plant diverse species in locations that contribute to conservation and restoration goals. We studied a highly modified agricultural system in southern Australia that is typical of many temperate agriculture zones globally (i.e., has a high proportion of endangered species, high levels of habitat fragmentation, and presence of non-native species). We quantified the economic returns from agriculture and from carbon plantings (monoculture and mixed tree and shrubs) under six carbon-price scenarios. We also identified high-priority locations for restoration of cleared landscapes with mixed tree and shrub carbon plantings. Depending on the price of carbon, direct annual payments to landowners of AU$7/ha/year to $125/ha/year (US$6-120/ha/year) may be sufficient to augment economic returns from a carbon market and encourage tree plantings that contribute more to the restoration of natural systems and endangered species habitats than monocultures. Thus, areas of high priority for conservation and restoration may be restored relatively cheaply in the presence of a carbon market. Overall, however, less carbon is sequestered by mixed native tree and shrub plantings. © 2011 Society for Conservation Biology.

  1. Setting conservation priorities for migratory networks under uncertainty.

    PubMed

    Dhanjal-Adams, Kiran L; Klaassen, Marcel; Nicol, Sam; Possingham, Hugh P; Chadès, Iadine; Fuller, Richard A

    2017-06-01

    Conserving migratory species requires protecting connected habitat along the pathways they travel. Despite recent improvements in tracking animal movements, migratory connectivity remains poorly resolved at a population level for the vast majority of species, thus conservation prioritization is hampered. To address this data limitation, we developed a novel approach to spatial prioritization based on a model of potential connectivity derived from empirical data on species abundance and distance traveled between sites during migration. We applied the approach to migratory shorebirds of the East Asian-Australasian Flyway. Conservation strategies that prioritized sites based on connectivity and abundance metrics together maintained larger populations of birds than strategies that prioritized sites based only on abundance metrics. The conservation value of a site therefore depended on both its capacity to support migratory animals and its position within the migratory pathway; the loss of crucial sites led to partial or total population collapse. We suggest that conservation approaches that prioritize sites supporting large populations of migrants should, where possible, also include data on the spatial arrangement of sites. © 2016 Society for Conservation Biology.

  2. Value-focused framework for defining landscape-scale conservation targets

    USGS Publications Warehouse

    Romañach, Stephanie; Benscoter, Allison M.; Brandt, Laura A.

    2016-01-01

    Conservation of natural resources can be challenging in a rapidly changing world and require collaborative efforts for success. Conservation planning is the process of deciding how to protect, conserve, and enhance or minimize loss of natural and cultural resources. Establishing conservation targets (also called indicators or endpoints), the measurable expressions of desired resource conditions, can help with site-specific up to landscape-scale conservation planning. Using conservation targets and tracking them through time can deliver benefits such as insight into ecosystem health and providing early warnings about undesirable trends. We describe an approach using value-focused thinking to develop statewide conservation targets for Florida. Using such an approach allowed us to first identify stakeholder objectives and then define conservation targets to meet those objectives. Stakeholders were able to see how their shared efforts fit into the broader conservation context, and also anticipate the benefits of multi-agency and -organization collaboration. We developed an iterative process for large-scale conservation planning that included defining a shared framework for the process, defining the conservation targets themselves, as well as developing management and monitoring strategies for evaluation of their effectiveness. The process we describe is applicable to other geographies where multiple parties are seeking to implement collaborative, large-scale biological planning.

  3. Quantifying species recovery and conservation success to develop an IUCN Green List of Species.

    PubMed

    Akçakaya, H Resit; Bennett, Elizabeth L; Brooks, Thomas M; Grace, Molly K; Heath, Anna; Hedges, Simon; Hilton-Taylor, Craig; Hoffmann, Michael; Keith, David A; Long, Barney; Mallon, David P; Meijaard, Erik; Milner-Gulland, E J; Rodrigues, Ana S L; Rodriguez, Jon Paul; Stephenson, P J; Stuart, Simon N; Young, Richard P

    2018-03-26

    Stopping declines in biodiversity is critically important, but it is only a first step toward achieving more ambitious conservation goals. The absence of an objective and practical definition of species recovery that is applicable across taxonomic groups leads to inconsistent targets in recovery plans and frustrates reporting and maximization of conservation impact. We devised a framework for comprehensively assessing species recovery and conservation success. We propose a definition of a fully recovered species that emphasizes viability, ecological functionality, and representation; and use counterfactual approaches to quantify degree of recovery. This allowed us to calculate a set of 4 conservation metrics that demonstrate impacts of conservation efforts to date (conservation legacy); identify dependence of a species on conservation actions (conservation dependence); quantify expected gains resulting from conservation action in the medium term (conservation gain); and specify requirements to achieve maximum plausible recovery over the long term (recovery potential). These metrics can incentivize the establishment and achievement of ambitious conservation targets. We illustrate their use by applying the framework to a vertebrate, an invertebrate, and a woody and an herbaceous plant. Our approach is a preliminary framework for an International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Green List of Species, which was mandated by a resolution of IUCN members in 2012. Although there are several challenges in applying our proposed framework to a wide range of species, we believe its further development, implementation, and integration with the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species will help catalyze a positive and ambitious vision for conservation that will drive sustained conservation action. © 2018 The Authors. Conservation Biology published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc. on behalf of Society for Conservation Biology.

  4. The value of flexibility in conservation financing.

    PubMed

    Lennox, Gareth D; Fargione, Joseph; Spector, Sacha; Williams, Gwyn; Armsworth, Paul R

    2017-06-01

    Land-acquisition strategies employed by conservation organizations vary in their flexibility. Conservation-planning theory largely fails to reflect this by presenting models that are either extremely inflexible-parcel acquisitions are irreversible and budgets are fixed-or extremely flexible-previously acquired parcels can readily be sold. This latter approach, the selling of protected areas, is infeasible or problematic in many situations. We considered the value to conservation organizations of increasing the flexibility of their land-acquisition strategies through their approach to financing deals. Specifically, we modeled 2 acquisition-financing methods commonly used by conservation organizations: borrowing and budget carry-over. Using simulated data, we compared results from these models with those from an inflexible fixed-budget model and an extremely flexible selling model in which previous acquisitions could be sold to fund new acquisitions. We then examined 3 case studies of how conservation organizations use borrowing and budget carry-over in practice. Model comparisons showed that borrowing and budget carry-over always returned considerably higher rewards than the fixed-budget model. How they performed relative to the selling model depended on the relative conservation value of past acquisitions. Both the models and case studies showed that incorporating flexibility through borrowing or budget carry-over gives conservation organizations the ability to purchase parcels of higher conservation value than when budgets are fixed without the problems associated with the selling of protected areas. © 2016 Society for Conservation Biology.

  5. Poultry genetic resource conservation using primordial germ cells

    PubMed Central

    NAKAMURA, Yoshiaki

    2016-01-01

    The majority of poultry genetic resources are maintained in situ in living populations. However, in situ conservation of poultry genetic resources always carries the risk of loss owing to pathogen outbreaks, genetic problems, breeding cessation, or natural disasters. Cryobanking of germplasm in birds has been limited to the use of semen, preventing conservation of the W chromosome and mitochondrial DNA. A further challenge is posed by the structure of avian eggs, which restricts the cryopreservation of ova and fertilized embryos, a technique widely used for mammalian species. By using a unique biological property and accessibility of avian primordial germ cells (PGCs), precursor cells for gametes, which temporally circulate in the vasculature during early development, an avian PGC transplantation technique has been established. To date, several techniques for PGC manipulation including purification, cryopreservation, depletion, and long-term culture have been developed in chickens. PGC transplantation combined with recent advanced PGC manipulation techniques have enabled ex situ conservation of poultry genetic resources in their complete form. Here, the updated technologies for avian PGC manipulation are introduced, and then the concept of a poultry PGC-bank is proposed by considering the biological properties of avian PGCs. PMID:27210834

  6. How and why should we implement genomics into conservation?

    PubMed Central

    McMahon, Barry J; Teeling, Emma C; Höglund, Jacob

    2014-01-01

    Conservation genetics has provided important information into the dynamics of endangered populations. The rapid development of genomic methods has posed an important question, namely where do genetics and genomics sit in relation to their application in the conservation of species? Although genetics can answer a number of relevant questions related to conservation, the argument for the application of genomics is not yet fully exploited. Here, we explore the transition and rationale for the move from genetic to genomic research in conservation biology and the utility of such research. We explore the idea of a ‘conservation prior’ and how this can be determined by genomic data and used in the management of populations. We depict three different conservation scenarios and describe how genomic data can drive management action in each situation. We conclude that the most effective applications of genomics will be to inform stakeholders with the aim of avoiding ‘emergency room conservation’. PMID:25553063

  7. Chapter 11. Conservation status of boreal owls in the United States

    Treesearch

    Gregory D. Hayward

    1994-01-01

    Previous chapters outlined the biology and ecology of boreal owls as well as the ecology of important vegetation communities based on literature from North America and Europe. That technical review provides the basis to assess the current conservation status of boreal owls in the United States. By conservation status, we mean the demographic condition of the species as...

  8. Conservation of North American rallids

    USGS Publications Warehouse

    Eddleman, William R.; Knopf, Fritz L.; Manley, Brooke; Reid, Frederic A.; Zembal, Richard

    1988-01-01

    The Rallidae are a diverse group in their habitat selection, yet most North American species occur in or near wetlands As a consequence, most species are subject to habitat enhancement or perturbation from waterfowl management programs. The overall effects of these management programs relative to rallid conservation have been assessed for few species, and there is a need for synthesis of such information. In the cases of some species or raves, population status is not known, and suggested directions for conservation and management are needed. Rare, endangered, or status undetermined species or races often occur in areas where related species are classified as game birds, and the effects of such hunting on rarer forms are not known. Their generally secretive nature, the endangered status of several races and populations, and continued loss of habitat and threats to present habitat, warrant an examination of the conservation status of the North American taxa in this group. In 1977, a committee of the International Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies summarized available information on management and biology of American Coots (Fulica americana), rails, and gallinules in North America (Holliman 1977). That summary was intended to provide relatively complete information on conservation of these species, and also to provide guidance for research within the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's (FWS) Accelerated Research Program for Webless Migratory Shore and Upland Game Birds (ARP). Subsequently, a number of rallid studies were funded under this program. The program was eliminated in 1982, following substantial research activities on North American rallids. Since the demise of the ARP, additional research on rallids in North America has focused on an area the International Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies report failed to cover in detail--that of endangered rallids in the U.S. and their possessions. Most of these studies have been of threatened and endangered

  9. Field Trip - Conservation of Carnivores in Namibia

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Gibson, Amanda

    2017-04-01

    Field trips are a key component of our curriculum at ISWB. Classroom teaching is invaluable but field trips provide pupils with a tangible connection to pertinent issues of conservation. ISWB realises the importance of out of the classroom learning in field trips and to this end our students have an opportunity to partake in a number of 3-5 day field trips per academic year. In 2016, several Year 8, 9, 10, 11 and 12 students visited the AfriCat Foundation on Okonjima in central Namibia for 4 days to learn about the conservation of the predator population in Namibia. The trips were very successful and another trip this year to AfriCat North close to Etosha National Park, where the students will work closely with the local farming communities, is planned. AfriCat provides Environmental Education programmes for the youth of Namibia giving them a greater understanding of the importance of wildlife conservation. Their main objective is promoting predator and environmental awareness amongst the youth of Namibia. AfriCat Environmental Education Programme is based on 1997 UNESCO-UNEP Environmental Education objectives. "Attitudes: To raise concern about problems, values, personal responsibility and willingness to participate/act. In the end, we conserve only what we love. We will love only what we understand. We will understand only what we are taught."

  10. DNA barcoding and traditional taxonomy: an integrated approach for biodiversity conservation.

    PubMed

    Sheth, Bhavisha P; Thaker, Vrinda S

    2017-07-01

    Biological diversity is depleting at an alarming rate. Additionally, a vast amount of biodiversity still remains undiscovered. Taxonomy has been serving the purpose of describing, naming, and classifying species for more than 250 years. DNA taxonomy and barcoding have accelerated the rate of this process, thereby providing a tool for conservation practice. DNA barcoding and traditional taxonomy have their own inherent merits and demerits. The synergistic use of both methods, in the form of integrative taxonomy, has the potential to contribute to biodiversity conservation in a pragmatic timeframe and overcome their individual drawbacks. In this review, we discuss the basics of both these methods of biological identification (traditional taxonomy and DNA barcoding), the technical advances in integrative taxonomy, and future trends. We also present a comprehensive compilation of published examples of integrative taxonomy that refer to nine topics within biodiversity conservation. Morphological and molecular species limits were observed to be congruent in ∼41% of the 58 source studies. The majority of the studies highlighted the description of cryptic diversity through the use of molecular data, whereas research areas like endemism, biological invasion, and threatened species were less discussed in the literature.

  11. A national geographic framework for guiding conservation on a landscape scale

    USGS Publications Warehouse

    Millard, Michael J.; Czarnecki, Craig A.; Morton, John M.; Brandt, Laura A.; Briggs, Jennifer S.; Shipley, Frank S.; Sayre, Roger G.; Sponholtz, Pamela J.; Perkins, David; Simpkins, Darin G.; Taylor, Janith

    2012-01-01

    The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, along with the global conservation community, has recognized that the conservation challenges of the 21st century far exceed the responsibilities and footprint of any individual agency or program. The ecological effects of climate change and other anthropogenic stressors do not recognize geopolitical boundaries and, as such, demand a national geographic framework to provide structure for cross-jurisdictional and landscape-scale conservation strategies. In 2009, a new map of ecologically based conservation regions in which to organize capacity and implement strategic habitat conservation was developed using rapid prototyping and expert elicitation by an interagency team of U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and U.S. Geological Survey scientists and conservation professionals. Incorporating Bird Conservation Regions, Freshwater Ecoregions, and U.S. Geological Survey hydrologic unit codes, the new geographic framework provides a spatial template for building conservation capacity and focusing biological planning and conservation design efforts. The Department of Interior's Landscape Conservation Cooperatives are being organized in these new conservation regions as multi-stakeholder collaborations for improved conservation science and management.

  12. An Annotated List of Disciplines and Sub-Disciplines in the Biological Sciences

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    McDonald, Brandon

    2008-01-01

    Biology has become a large and diversified science. Current biological research areas transgress academic and professional boundaries to such a degree that the biological sciences could arguably be referred to as "all encompassing." In this article, the author describes how he compiled information on currently recognised disciplines and…

  13. Conservation status of the freshwater mussels of the United States and Canada

    Treesearch

    James D. Williams; Melvin L. Warren; Kevin S. Cummings; John L. Harris; Richard J. Neves

    1992-01-01

    The American Fisheries Society (AFS) herein provides a list of all native freshwater mussels (families Margaritiferidae and Unionidae) in the United States and Canada. This report also provides state and provincial distributions; a comprehensive review of the conservation status of all taxa; and references on biology, conservation, and distribution of freshwater...

  14. How the Conservative Restoration is Justified: Leadership and Subordination in Educational Policy.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Apple, Michael W.

    1998-01-01

    Neo-liberal and neo-conservative groups have become allies committed to redefining our ideas about democracy, equality, and the common good. This article examines how moral and biological arguments are being used to justify conservative policies in education and the larger society. Alternative progressive models are advocated. (26 references) (MLH)

  15. Botanic gardens science for conservation and global change.

    PubMed

    Donaldson, John S

    2009-11-01

    The contributions of botanic gardens to conservation biology and global-change research need to be understood within the context of the traditional strengths of such gardens in herbarium collections, living collections and interactions with the public. Here, I propose that research in conservation planning, modelling species responses to climate change, conservation of threatened species and experimental tests of global change build on the core strengths of botanic gardens. However, there are limits to what can be achieved through traditional gardens-based programs, and some botanic gardens have adapted their research to include studies of threatening processes and to monitor and verify global-change impacts. There is an opportunity for botanic gardens to use their living collections more effectively in global-change research and for them to have a role in linking biodiversity conservation with benefits derived from ecosystem services.

  16. Putting people on the map through an approach that integrates social data in conservation planning.

    PubMed

    Stephanson, Sheri L; Mascia, Michael B

    2014-10-01

    Conservation planning is integral to strategic and effective operations of conservation organizations. Drawing upon biological sciences, conservation planning has historically made limited use of social data. We offer an approach for integrating data on social well-being into conservation planning that captures and places into context the spatial patterns and trends in human needs and capacities. This hierarchical approach provides a nested framework for characterizing and mapping data on social well-being in 5 domains: economic well-being, health, political empowerment, education, and culture. These 5 domains each have multiple attributes; each attribute may be characterized by one or more indicators. Through existing or novel data that display spatial and temporal heterogeneity in social well-being, conservation scientists, planners, and decision makers may measure, benchmark, map, and integrate these data within conservation planning processes. Selecting indicators and integrating these data into conservation planning is an iterative, participatory process tailored to the local context and planning goals. Social well-being data complement biophysical and threat-oriented social data within conservation planning processes to inform decisions regarding where and how to conserve biodiversity, provide a structure for exploring socioecological relationships, and to foster adaptive management. Building upon existing conservation planning methods and insights from multiple disciplines, this approach to putting people on the map can readily merge with current planning practices to facilitate more rigorous decision making. © 2014 Society for Conservation Biology.

  17. Accounting for the impact of conservation on human well-being.

    PubMed

    Milner-Gulland, E J; McGregor, J A; Agarwala, M; Atkinson, G; Bevan, P; Clements, T; Daw, T; Homewood, K; Kumpel, N; Lewis, J; Mourato, S; Palmer Fry, B; Redshaw, M; Rowcliffe, J M; Suon, S; Wallace, G; Washington, H; Wilkie, D

    2014-10-01

    Conservationists are increasingly engaging with the concept of human well-being to improve the design and evaluation of their interventions. Since the convening of the influential Sarkozy Commission in 2009, development researchers have been refining conceptualizations and frameworks to understand and measure human well-being and are starting to converge on a common understanding of how best to do this. In conservation, the term human well-being is in widespread use, but there is a need for guidance on operationalizing it to measure the impacts of conservation interventions on people. We present a framework for understanding human well-being, which could be particularly useful in conservation. The framework includes 3 conditions; meeting needs, pursuing goals, and experiencing a satisfactory quality of life. We outline some of the complexities involved in evaluating the well-being effects of conservation interventions, with the understanding that well-being varies between people and over time and with the priorities of the evaluator. Key challenges for research into the well-being impacts of conservation interventions include the need to build up a collection of case studies so as to draw out generalizable lessons; harness the potential of modern technology to support well-being research; and contextualize evaluations of conservation impacts on well-being spatially and temporally within the wider landscape of social change. Pathways through the smog of confusion around the term well-being exist, and existing frameworks such as the Well-being in Developing Countries approach can help conservationists negotiate the challenges of operationalizing the concept. Conservationists have the opportunity to benefit from the recent flurry of research in the development field so as to carry out more nuanced and locally relevant evaluations of the effects of their interventions on human well-being. © 2014 The Authors. Conservation Biology published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc

  18. Selection platforms for directed evolution in synthetic biology.

    PubMed

    Tizei, Pedro A G; Csibra, Eszter; Torres, Leticia; Pinheiro, Vitor B

    2016-08-15

    Life on Earth is incredibly diverse. Yet, underneath that diversity, there are a number of constants and highly conserved processes: all life is based on DNA and RNA; the genetic code is universal; biology is limited to a small subset of potential chemistries. A vast amount of knowledge has been accrued through describing and characterizing enzymes, biological processes and organisms. Nevertheless, much remains to be understood about the natural world. One of the goals in Synthetic Biology is to recapitulate biological complexity from simple systems made from biological molecules-gaining a deeper understanding of life in the process. Directed evolution is a powerful tool in Synthetic Biology, able to bypass gaps in knowledge and capable of engineering even the most highly conserved biological processes. It encompasses a range of methodologies to create variation in a population and to select individual variants with the desired function-be it a ligand, enzyme, pathway or even whole organisms. Here, we present some of the basic frameworks that underpin all evolution platforms and review some of the recent contributions from directed evolution to synthetic biology, in particular methods that have been used to engineer the Central Dogma and the genetic code. © 2016 The Author(s).

  19. The conservation and restoration of wild bees.

    PubMed

    Winfree, Rachael

    2010-05-01

    Bees pollinate most of the world's wild plant species and provide economically valuable pollination services to crops; yet knowledge of bee conservation biology lags far behind other taxa such as vertebrates and plants. There are few long-term data on bee populations, which makes their conservation status difficult to assess. The best-studied groups are the genus Bombus (the bumble bees), and bees in the EU generally; both of these are clearly declining. However, it is not known to what extent these groups represent the approximately 20,000 species of bees globally. As is the case for insects in general, bees are underrepresented in conservation planning and protection efforts. For example, only two bee species are on the global IUCN Red List, and no bee is listed under the U.S. Endangered Species Act, even though many bee species are known to be in steep decline or possibly extinct. At present, bee restoration occurs mainly in agricultural contexts, funded by government programs such as agri-environment schemes (EU) and the Farm Bill (USA). This is a promising approach given that many bee species can use human-disturbed habitats, and bees provide valuable pollination services to crops. However, agricultural restorations only benefit species that persist in agricultural landscapes, and they are more expensive than preserving natural habitat elsewhere. Furthermore, such restorations benefit bees in only about half of studied cases. More research is greatly needed in many areas of bee conservation, including basic population biology, bee restoration in nonagricultural contexts, and the identification of disturbance-sensitive bee species.

  20. Last name analysis of mobility, gender imbalance, and nepotism across academic systems

    PubMed Central

    2017-01-01

    In biology, last names have been used as proxy for genetic relatedness in pioneering studies of neutral theory and human migrations. More recently, analyzing the last name distribution of Italian academics has raised the suspicion of nepotism, with faculty hiring their relatives for academic posts. Here, we analyze three large datasets containing the last names of all academics in Italy, researchers from France, and those working at top public institutions in the United States. Through simple randomizations, we show that the US academic system is geographically well-mixed, whereas Italian academics tend to work in their native region. By contrasting maiden and married names, we can detect academic couples in France. Finally, we detect the signature of nepotism in the Italian system, with a declining trend. The claim that our tests detect nepotism as opposed to other effects is supported by the fact that we obtain different results for the researchers hired after 2010, when an antinepotism law was in effect. PMID:28673985

  1. Last name analysis of mobility, gender imbalance, and nepotism across academic systems.

    PubMed

    Grilli, Jacopo; Allesina, Stefano

    2017-07-18

    In biology, last names have been used as proxy for genetic relatedness in pioneering studies of neutral theory and human migrations. More recently, analyzing the last name distribution of Italian academics has raised the suspicion of nepotism, with faculty hiring their relatives for academic posts. Here, we analyze three large datasets containing the last names of all academics in Italy, researchers from France, and those working at top public institutions in the United States. Through simple randomizations, we show that the US academic system is geographically well-mixed, whereas Italian academics tend to work in their native region. By contrasting maiden and married names, we can detect academic couples in France. Finally, we detect the signature of nepotism in the Italian system, with a declining trend. The claim that our tests detect nepotism as opposed to other effects is supported by the fact that we obtain different results for the researchers hired after 2010, when an antinepotism law was in effect.

  2. Learning from conservation planning for the U.S. National Wildlife Refuges.

    PubMed

    Meretsky, Vicky J; Fischman, Robert L

    2014-10-01

    effectiveness. Excellent examples of all recommended practices exist within the CCPs we examined; sharing best planning practices would improve planning efficiency within the refuge system. © 2014 The Authors. Conservation Biology published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc., on behalf of the Society for Conservation Biology.

  3. Complementary benefits of tourism and hunting to communal conservancies in Namibia.

    PubMed

    Naidoo, Robin; Weaver, L Chris; Diggle, Richard W; Matongo, Greenwell; Stuart-Hill, Greg; Thouless, Chris

    2016-06-01

    , and possibly other parts of Africa. © 2016 The Authors. Conservation Biology published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc. on behalf of Society for Conservation Biology.

  4. Requirements for effective academic leadership in Iran: A Nominal Group Technique exercise

    PubMed Central

    Bikmoradi, Ali; Brommels, Mats; Shoghli, Alireza; Sohrabi, Zohreh; Masiello, Italo

    2008-01-01

    Background During the last two decades, medical education in Iran has shifted from elite to mass education, with a considerable increase in number of schools, faculties, and programs. Because of this transformation, it is a good case now to explore academic leadership in a non-western country. The objective of this study was to explore the views on effective academic leadership requirements held by key informants in Iran's medical education system. Methods A nominal group study was conducted by strategic sampling in which participants were requested to discuss and report on requirements for academic leadership, suggestions and barriers. Written notes from the discussions were transcribed and subjected to content analysis. Results Six themes of effective academic leadership emerged: 1)shared vision, goal, and strategy, 2) teaching and research leadership, 3) fair and efficient management, 4) mutual trust and respect, 5) development and recognition, and 6) transformational leadership. Current Iranian academic leadership suffers from lack of meritocracy, conservative leaders, politicization, bureaucracy, and belief in misconceptions. Conclusion The structure of the Iranian medical university system is not supportive of effective academic leadership. However, participants' views on effective academic leadership are in line with what is also found in the western literature, that is, if the managers could create the premises for a supportive and transformational leadership, they could generate mutual trust and respect in academia and increase scientific production. PMID:18430241

  5. Requirements for effective academic leadership in Iran: a nominal group technique exercise.

    PubMed

    Bikmoradi, Ali; Brommels, Mats; Shoghli, Alireza; Sohrabi, Zohreh; Masiello, Italo

    2008-04-22

    During the last two decades, medical education in Iran has shifted from elite to mass education, with a considerable increase in number of schools, faculties, and programs. Because of this transformation, it is a good case now to explore academic leadership in a non-western country. The objective of this study was to explore the views on effective academic leadership requirements held by key informants in Iran's medical education system. A nominal group study was conducted by strategic sampling in which participants were requested to discuss and report on requirements for academic leadership, suggestions and barriers. Written notes from the discussions were transcribed and subjected to content analysis. Six themes of effective academic leadership emerged: 1)shared vision, goal, and strategy, 2) teaching and research leadership, 3) fair and efficient management, 4) mutual trust and respect, 5) development and recognition, and 6) transformational leadership. Current Iranian academic leadership suffers from lack of meritocracy, conservative leaders, politicization, bureaucracy, and belief in misconceptions. The structure of the Iranian medical university system is not supportive of effective academic leadership. However, participants' views on effective academic leadership are in line with what is also found in the western literature, that is, if the managers could create the premises for a supportive and transformational leadership, they could generate mutual trust and respect in academia and increase scientific production.

  6. Preferred conservation policies of shark researchers.

    PubMed

    Shiffman, David S; Hammerschlag, Neil

    2016-08-01

    resources management tools versus limit-based conservation tools. They also suggest that closer communication between the scientific and environmental NGO communities may be needed to recognize and reconcile differing values and objectives between these groups. © 2016 Society for Conservation Biology.

  7. Conserving forest biological diversity: How the Montreal Process helps achieve sustainability

    Treesearch

    Mark Nelson; Guy Robertson; Kurt Riitters

    2015-01-01

    Forests support a variety of ecosystems, species and genes — collectively referred to as biological diversity — along with important processes that tie these all together. With the growing recognition that biological diversity contributes to human welfare in a number of important ways such as providing food, medicine and fiber (provisioning services...

  8. Options for Online Undergraduate Courses in Biology at American Colleges and Universities

    PubMed Central

    Varty, Alison K.

    2016-01-01

    I aimed to document the online undergraduate course supply in biology to evaluate how well biology educators are serving the diverse and growing population of online students. I documented online biology course offerings in the 2015–2016 academic year at 96 American colleges and universities. I quantified differences in variety, extent, and availability of courses offered by different kinds of academic institutions and characterized 149 online biology courses offered. Although there was no relationship between an institution’s enrollment size and any measure of its online biology offerings, I found significantly more online biology course options at 2-year public compared with 4-year public and 4-year private schools. Courses offered for nonmajors, including students pursuing healthcare-related degrees, were three times as common as those intended for biology majors, who were more likely to be offered hybrid courses with face-to-face laboratories. These data indicate some deficiencies in online biology course options; options for students majoring in biology are limited at all types of institutions examined with a minority of 4-year institutions having any online options in biology. Significant investment of institutional resources in faculty training and technological support are necessary to develop online biology courses that will benefit a larger student population. PMID:27856546

  9. Predicting species distributions for conservation decisions

    PubMed Central

    Guisan, Antoine; Tingley, Reid; Baumgartner, John B; Naujokaitis-Lewis, Ilona; Sutcliffe, Patricia R; Tulloch, Ayesha I T; Regan, Tracey J; Brotons, Lluis; McDonald-Madden, Eve; Mantyka-Pringle, Chrystal; Martin, Tara G; Rhodes, Jonathan R; Maggini, Ramona; Setterfield, Samantha A; Elith, Jane; Schwartz, Mark W; Wintle, Brendan A; Broennimann, Olivier; Austin, Mike; Ferrier, Simon; Kearney, Michael R; Possingham, Hugh P; Buckley, Yvonne M

    2013-01-01

    Species distribution models (SDMs) are increasingly proposed to support conservation decision making. However, evidence of SDMs supporting solutions for on-ground conservation problems is still scarce in the scientific literature. Here, we show that successful examples exist but are still largely hidden in the grey literature, and thus less accessible for analysis and learning. Furthermore, the decision framework within which SDMs are used is rarely made explicit. Using case studies from biological invasions, identification of critical habitats, reserve selection and translocation of endangered species, we propose that SDMs may be tailored to suit a range of decision-making contexts when used within a structured and transparent decision-making process. To construct appropriate SDMs to more effectively guide conservation actions, modellers need to better understand the decision process, and decision makers need to provide feedback to modellers regarding the actual use of SDMs to support conservation decisions. This could be facilitated by individuals or institutions playing the role of ‘translators’ between modellers and decision makers. We encourage species distribution modellers to get involved in real decision-making processes that will benefit from their technical input; this strategy has the potential to better bridge theory and practice, and contribute to improve both scientific knowledge and conservation outcomes. PMID:24134332

  10. Cost-effectiveness of alternative conservation strategies with application to the Pacific leatherback turtle.

    PubMed

    Gjertsen, Heidi; Squires, Dale; Dutton, Peter H; Eguchi, Tomoharu

    2014-02-01

    Although holistic conservation addressing all sources of mortality for endangered species or stocks is the preferred conservation strategy, limited budgets require a criterion to prioritize conservation investments. We compared the cost-effectiveness of nesting site and at-sea conservation strategies for Pacific leatherback turtles (Dermochelys coriacea). We sought to determine which conservation strategy or mix of strategies would produce the largest increase in population growth rate per dollar. Alternative strategies included protection of nesters and their eggs at nesting beaches in Indonesia, gear changes, effort restrictions, and caps on turtle takes in the Hawaiian (U.S.A.) longline swordfish fishery, and temporal and area closures in the California (U.S.A.) drift gill net fishery. We used a population model with a biological metric to measure the effects of conservation alternatives. We normalized all effects by cost to prioritize those strategies with the greatest biological effect relative to its economic cost. We used Monte Carlo simulation to address uncertainty in the main variables and to calculate probability distributions for cost-effectiveness measures. Nesting beach protection was the most cost-effective means of achieving increases in leatherback populations. This result creates the possibility of noncompensatory bycatch mitigation, where high-bycatch fisheries invest in protecting nesting beaches. An example of this practice is U.S. processors of longline tuna and California drift gill net fishers that tax themselves to finance low-cost nesting site protection. Under certain conditions, fisheries interventions, such as technologies that reduce leatherback bycatch without substantially decreasing target species catch, can be cost-effective. Reducing bycatch in coastal areas where bycatch is high, particularly adjacent to nesting beaches, may be cost-effective, particularly, if fisheries in the area are small and of little commercial value.

  11. Conservation challenges for the Austral and Neotropical America section.

    PubMed

    Ceballos, Gerardo; Vale, Mariana M; Bonacic, Cristian; Calvo-Alvarado, Julio; List, Rurik; Bynum, Nora; Medellín, Rodrigo A; Simonetti, Javier A; Rodríguez, Jon Paul

    2009-08-01

    The Austral and Neotropical America (ANA) section of the Society for Conservation Biology includes a vast territory with some of the largest relatively pristine ecosystems in the world. With more than 573 million people, the economic growth of the region still depends strongly on natural resource exploitation and still has high rates of environmental degradation and biodiversity loss. A survey among the ANA section membership, with more than 700 members, including most of the section's prominent ecologists and conservationists, indicates that lack of capacity building for conservation, corruption, and threats such as deforestation and illegal trade of species, are among the most urgent problems that need to be addressed to improve conservation in the region. There are, however, strong universities and ecology groups taking the lead in environmental research and conservation, a most important issue to enhance the ability of the region to solve conservation and development conflicts.

  12. Managing forest ecosystems to conserve fungus diversity and sustain wild mushroom harvests.

    Treesearch

    D. Pilz; R. Molina

    1996-01-01

    Ecosystem management is the dominant paradigm for managing the forests of the Pacific Northwest. It integrates biological, ecological, geophysical, and silvicultural information to develop adaptive management practices that conserve biological diversity and maintain ecosystem functioning while meeting human needs for the sustainable production of forest products. Fungi...

  13. Climate-Driven Reshuffling of Species and Genes: Potential Conservation Roles for Species Translocations and Recombinant Hybrid Genotypes

    PubMed Central

    Scriber, Jon Mark

    2013-01-01

    Comprising 50%–75% of the world’s fauna, insects are a prominent part of biodiversity in communities and ecosystems globally. Biodiversity across all levels of biological classifications is fundamentally based on genetic diversity. However, the integration of genomics and phylogenetics into conservation management may not be as rapid as climate change. The genetics of hybrid introgression as a source of novel variation for ecological divergence and evolutionary speciation (and resilience) may generate adaptive potential and diversity fast enough to respond to locally-altered environmental conditions. Major plant and herbivore hybrid zones with associated communities deserve conservation consideration. This review addresses functional genetics across multi-trophic-level interactions including “invasive species” in various ecosystems as they may become disrupted in different ways by rapid climate change. “Invasive genes” (into new species and populations) need to be recognized for their positive creative potential and addressed in conservation programs. “Genetic rescue” via hybrid translocations may provide needed adaptive flexibility for rapid adaptation to environmental change. While concerns persist for some conservationists, this review emphasizes the positive aspects of hybrids and hybridization. Specific implications of natural genetic introgression are addressed with a few examples from butterflies, including transgressive phenotypes and climate-driven homoploid recombinant hybrid speciation. Some specific examples illustrate these points using the swallowtail butterflies (Papilionidae) with their long-term historical data base (phylogeographical diversity changes) and recent (3-decade) climate-driven temporal and genetic divergence in recombinant homoploid hybrids and relatively recent hybrid speciation of Papilio appalachiensis in North America. Climate-induced “reshuffling” (recombinations) of species composition, genotypes, and genomes

  14. Climate-Driven Reshuffling of Species and Genes: Potential Conservation Roles for Species Translocations and Recombinant Hybrid Genotypes.

    PubMed

    Scriber, Jon Mark

    2013-12-24

    Comprising 50%-75% of the world's fauna, insects are a prominent part of biodiversity in communities and ecosystems globally. Biodiversity across all levels of biological classifications is fundamentally based on genetic diversity. However, the integration of genomics and phylogenetics into conservation management may not be as rapid as climate change. The genetics of hybrid introgression as a source of novel variation for ecological divergence and evolutionary speciation (and resilience) may generate adaptive potential and diversity fast enough to respond to locally-altered environmental conditions. Major plant and herbivore hybrid zones with associated communities deserve conservation consideration. This review addresses functional genetics across multi-trophic-level interactions including "invasive species" in various ecosystems as they may become disrupted in different ways by rapid climate change. "Invasive genes" (into new species and populations) need to be recognized for their positive creative potential and addressed in conservation programs. "Genetic rescue" via hybrid translocations may provide needed adaptive flexibility for rapid adaptation to environmental change. While concerns persist for some conservationists, this review emphasizes the positive aspects of hybrids and hybridization. Specific implications of natural genetic introgression are addressed with a few examples from butterflies, including transgressive phenotypes and climate-driven homoploid recombinant hybrid speciation. Some specific examples illustrate these points using the swallowtail butterflies (Papilionidae) with their long-term historical data base (phylogeographical diversity changes) and recent (3-decade) climate-driven temporal and genetic divergence in recombinant homoploid hybrids and relatively recent hybrid speciation of Papilio appalachiensis in North America. Climate-induced "reshuffling" (recombinations) of species composition, genotypes, and genomes may become

  15. Multivariate ordination identifies vegetation types associated with spider conservation in brassica crops

    PubMed Central

    Saqib, Hafiz Sohaib Ahmed; You, Minsheng

    2017-01-01

    Conservation biological control emphasizes natural and other non-crop vegetation as a source of natural enemies to focal crops. There is an unmet need for better methods to identify the types of vegetation that are optimal to support specific natural enemies that may colonize the crops. Here we explore the commonality of the spider assemblage—considering abundance and diversity (H)—in brassica crops with that of adjacent non-crop and non-brassica crop vegetation. We employ spatial-based multivariate ordination approaches, hierarchical clustering and spatial eigenvector analysis. The small-scale mixed cropping and high disturbance frequency of southern Chinese vegetation farming offered a setting to test the role of alternate vegetation for spider conservation. Our findings indicate that spider families differ markedly in occurrence with respect to vegetation type. Grassy field margins, non-crop vegetation, taro and sweetpotato harbour spider morphospecies and functional groups that are also present in brassica crops. In contrast, pumpkin and litchi contain spiders not found in brassicas, and so may have little benefit for conservation biological control services for brassicas. Our findings also illustrate the utility of advanced statistical approaches for identifying spatial relationships between natural enemies and the land uses most likely to offer alternative habitats for conservation biological control efforts that generates testable hypotheses for future studies. PMID:29085741

  16. Student Response to Tuition Increase by Academic Majors: Empirical Grounds for a Cost-Related Tuition Policy

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Shin, Jung Cheol; Milton, Sande

    2008-01-01

    This study explored the responses of students in different academic majors to tuition increase, with a particular focus on the relationship between tuition increase, and future earnings and college expenditures. We analyzed effects of tuition increase on enrollment in six academic majors--Engineering, Physics, Biology, Mathematics, Business, and…

  17. Changes in Biology Self-Efficacy during a First-Year University Course.

    PubMed

    Ainscough, Louise; Foulis, Eden; Colthorpe, Kay; Zimbardi, Kirsten; Robertson-Dean, Melanie; Chunduri, Prasad; Lluka, Lesley

    2016-01-01

    Academic self-efficacy encompasses judgments regarding one's ability to perform academic tasks and is correlated with achievement and persistence. This study describes changes in biology self-efficacy during a first-year course. Students (n = 614) were given the Biology Self-Efficacy Scale at the beginning and end of the semester. The instrument consisted of 21 questions ranking confidence in performing biology-related tasks on a scale from 1 (not at all confident) to 5 (totally confident). The results demonstrated that students increased in self-efficacy during the semester. High school biology and chemistry contributed to self-efficacy at the beginning of the semester; however, this relationship was lost by the end of the semester, when experience within the course became a significant contributing factor. A proportion of high- and low- achieving (24 and 40%, respectively) students had inaccurate self-efficacy judgments of their ability to perform well in the course. In addition, female students were significantly less confident than males overall, and high-achieving female students were more likely than males to underestimate their academic ability. These results suggest that the Biology Self-Efficacy Scale may be a valuable resource for tracking changes in self-efficacy in first-year students and for identifying students with poorly calibrated self-efficacy perceptions. © 2016 L. Ainscough et al. CBE—Life Sciences Education © 2016 The American Society for Cell Biology. This article is distributed by The American Society for Cell Biology under license from the author(s). It is available to the public under an Attribution–Noncommercial–Share Alike 3.0 Unported Creative Commons License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0).

  18. The Synthetic Biology Open Language (SBOL) provides a community standard for communicating designs in synthetic biology.

    PubMed

    Galdzicki, Michal; Clancy, Kevin P; Oberortner, Ernst; Pocock, Matthew; Quinn, Jacqueline Y; Rodriguez, Cesar A; Roehner, Nicholas; Wilson, Mandy L; Adam, Laura; Anderson, J Christopher; Bartley, Bryan A; Beal, Jacob; Chandran, Deepak; Chen, Joanna; Densmore, Douglas; Endy, Drew; Grünberg, Raik; Hallinan, Jennifer; Hillson, Nathan J; Johnson, Jeffrey D; Kuchinsky, Allan; Lux, Matthew; Misirli, Goksel; Peccoud, Jean; Plahar, Hector A; Sirin, Evren; Stan, Guy-Bart; Villalobos, Alan; Wipat, Anil; Gennari, John H; Myers, Chris J; Sauro, Herbert M

    2014-06-01

    The re-use of previously validated designs is critical to the evolution of synthetic biology from a research discipline to an engineering practice. Here we describe the Synthetic Biology Open Language (SBOL), a proposed data standard for exchanging designs within the synthetic biology community. SBOL represents synthetic biology designs in a community-driven, formalized format for exchange between software tools, research groups and commercial service providers. The SBOL Developers Group has implemented SBOL as an XML/RDF serialization and provides software libraries and specification documentation to help developers implement SBOL in their own software. We describe early successes, including a demonstration of the utility of SBOL for information exchange between several different software tools and repositories from both academic and industrial partners. As a community-driven standard, SBOL will be updated as synthetic biology evolves to provide specific capabilities for different aspects of the synthetic biology workflow.

  19. Data Basin: Expanding Access to Conservation Data, Tools, and People

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Comendant, T.; Strittholt, J.; Frost, P.; Ward, B. C.; Bachelet, D. M.; Osborne-Gowey, J.

    2009-12-01

    Mapping and spatial analysis are a fundamental part of problem solving in conservation science, yet spatial data are widely scattered, difficult to locate, and often unavailable. Valuable time and resources are wasted locating and gaining access to important biological, cultural, and economic datasets, scientific analysis, and experts. As conservation problems become more serious and the demand to solve them grows more urgent, a new way to connect science and practice is needed. To meet this need, an open-access, web tool called Data Basin (www.databasin.org) has been created by the Conservation Biology Institute in partnership with ESRI and the Wilburforce Foundation. Users of Data Basin can gain quick access to datasets, experts, groups, and tools to help solve real-world problems. Individuals and organizations can perform essential tasks such as exploring and downloading from a vast library of conservation datasets, uploading existing datasets, connecting to other external data sources, create groups, and produce customized maps that can be easily shared. Data Basin encourages sharing and publishing, but also provides privacy and security for sensitive information when needed. Users can publish projects within Data Basin to tell more complete and rich stories of discovery and solutions. Projects are an ideal way to publish collections of datasets, maps and other information on the internet to reach wider audiences. Data Basin also houses individual centers that provide direct access to data, maps, and experts focused on specific geographic areas or conservation topics. Current centers being developed include the Boreal Information Centre, the Data Basin Climate Center, and proposed Aquatic and Forest Conservation Centers.

  20. Academic self-concept of ability and cortisol reactivity.

    PubMed

    Minkley, N; Westerholt, D M; Kirchner, W H

    2014-05-01

    The present study aimed to clarify the relationship between a school-specific trait (academic self-concept of ability [ASCA]) and hormonal stress response by using a trait-compatible stressor (test). First, we determined 52 students' ASCA scores for biology and measured their salivary cortisol concentration before and after a biology test (experimental group, n=28) or a free writing task (control group, n=24). For participants who took the test, statistical analysis indicated a significant negative correlation between ASCA score and cortisol response. In contrast, the control group showed a decrease in cortisol concentrations between test times and no correlation between cortisol concentration and ASCA scores were found. These findings indicated an interaction between ASCA scores and hormonal stress response when an academic-related stressor is present. Furthermore, these variables might influence each other adversely: high cortisol concentrations during a test situation may lead to greater feelings of insecurity, resulting in low ASCA scores and awareness of these low scores may lead to a further increase in cortisol, creating a vicious cycle.

  1. Academic Entitlement and Academic Performance in Graduating Pharmacy Students

    PubMed Central

    Barclay, Sean M.; Stolte, Scott K.

    2014-01-01

    Objectives. To determine a measurable definition of academic entitlement, measure academic entitlement in graduating doctor of pharmacy (PharmD) students, and compare the academic performance between students identified as more or less academically entitled. Methods. Graduating students at a private health sciences institution were asked to complete an electronic survey instrument that included demographic data, academic performance, and 2 validated academic entitlement instruments. Results. One hundred forty-one of 243 students completed the survey instrument. Fourteen (10%) students scored greater than the median total points possible on 1 or both of the academic entitlement instruments and were categorized as more academically entitled. Less academically entitled students required fewer reassessments and less remediation than more academically entitled students. The highest scoring academic entitlement items related to student perception of what professors should do for them. Conclusion. Graduating pharmacy students with lower levels of academic entitlement were more academically successful than more academically entitled students. Moving from an expert opinion approach to evidence-based decision-making in the area of academic entitlement will allow pharmacy educators to identify interventions that will decrease academic entitlement and increase academic success in pharmacy students. PMID:25147388

  2. Options for Online Undergraduate Courses in Biology at American Colleges and Universities

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Varty, Alison K.

    2016-01-01

    I aimed to document the online undergraduate course supply in biology to evaluate how well biology educators are serving the diverse and growing population of online students. I documented online biology course offerings in the 2015-2016 academic year at 96 American colleges and universities. I quantified differences in variety, extent, and…

  3. Chapter 7: Information needs and a research strategy for conserving forest carnivores

    Treesearch

    Leonard F. Ruggiero; Steven W. Buskirk; Keith B. Aubry; L. Jack Lyon; William J. Zielinski

    1994-01-01

    This forest carnivore conservation assessment summarizes what is known about the biology and ecology of the American marten, fisher, lynx, and wolverine. It is the first step in ascertaining what information we need to develop a scientifically sound strategy for species conservation. Although this assessment implies that we know what information we need to prescribe...

  4. The Use of Avian Focal Species for Conservation Planning in California

    Treesearch

    Mary K. Chase; Geoffrey R. Geupel

    2005-01-01

    Conservationists often try to facilitate the complex task of protecting biological diversity by choosing a subset of species from a larger community to help them plan their conservation objectives. Biological knowledge about these species then is used to plan reserve systems or to guide habitat restoration and management efforts, with the assumption that the...

  5. Global Conservation Priorities for Marine Turtles

    PubMed Central

    Wallace, Bryan P.; DiMatteo, Andrew D.; Bolten, Alan B.; Chaloupka, Milani Y.; Hutchinson, Brian J.; Abreu-Grobois, F. Alberto; Mortimer, Jeanne A.; Seminoff, Jeffrey A.; Amorocho, Diego; Bjorndal, Karen A.; Bourjea, Jérôme; Bowen, Brian W.; Briseño Dueñas, Raquel; Casale, Paolo; Choudhury, B. C.; Costa, Alice; Dutton, Peter H.; Fallabrino, Alejandro; Finkbeiner, Elena M.; Girard, Alexandre; Girondot, Marc; Hamann, Mark; Hurley, Brendan J.; López-Mendilaharsu, Milagros; Marcovaldi, Maria Angela; Musick, John A.; Nel, Ronel; Pilcher, Nicolas J.; Troëng, Sebastian; Witherington, Blair; Mast, Roderic B.

    2011-01-01

    Where conservation resources are limited and conservation targets are diverse, robust yet flexible priority-setting frameworks are vital. Priority-setting is especially important for geographically widespread species with distinct populations subject to multiple threats that operate on different spatial and temporal scales. Marine turtles are widely distributed and exhibit intra-specific variations in population sizes and trends, as well as reproduction and morphology. However, current global extinction risk assessment frameworks do not assess conservation status of spatially and biologically distinct marine turtle Regional Management Units (RMUs), and thus do not capture variations in population trends, impacts of threats, or necessary conservation actions across individual populations. To address this issue, we developed a new assessment framework that allowed us to evaluate, compare and organize marine turtle RMUs according to status and threats criteria. Because conservation priorities can vary widely (i.e. from avoiding imminent extinction to maintaining long-term monitoring efforts) we developed a “conservation priorities portfolio” system using categories of paired risk and threats scores for all RMUs (n = 58). We performed these assessments and rankings globally, by species, by ocean basin, and by recognized geopolitical bodies to identify patterns in risk, threats, and data gaps at different scales. This process resulted in characterization of risk and threats to all marine turtle RMUs, including identification of the world's 11 most endangered marine turtle RMUs based on highest risk and threats scores. This system also highlighted important gaps in available information that is crucial for accurate conservation assessments. Overall, this priority-setting framework can provide guidance for research and conservation priorities at multiple relevant scales, and should serve as a model for conservation status assessments and priority-setting for

  6. Status and progress in large-scale assessment of biological diversity in the United States

    Treesearch

    S. R. Shifley; C. H. Flather; W. B. Smith; K. H. Riitters; C. H. Sieg

    2010-01-01

    Conservation of biological diversity is one of seven criteria used to evaluate forest sustainability in the United States. The status of biological diversity is characterized by nine indicators that report area, protected status, and fragmentation of forest habitats; number and conservation status of forest-associated species; range and abundance of forest species to...

  7. Common and conflicting interests in the engagements between conservation organizations and corporations.

    PubMed

    Robinson, John G

    2012-12-01

    The conservation community increasingly views the corporate sector as a positive force for conservation. Collaborations between corporations and nongovernmental conservation organizations (NGOs) seek to mitigate the negative effects of corporate activities and augment positive conservation outcomes. I reviewed the establishment of corporate social responsibility (CSR) policies by corporations; the emerging focus on environmental practices and sustainability; and the history of engagement between corporations and nongovernmental organizations. I considered the ethical and reputation vulnerabilities of these collaborations, which depend especially on the financial nature of the relationship and reviewed how CSR approaches have influenced corporate practices. I concluded that whereas CSR practices can act to mitigate negative environmental impact, to date they have had limited positive effect on biodiversity conservation. ©2012 Society for Conservation Biology.

  8. Considering connections between Hollywood and biodiversity conservation.

    PubMed

    Silk, Matthew J; Crowley, Sarah L; Woodhead, Anna J; Nuno, Ana

    2018-06-01

    Cinema offers a substantial opportunity to share messages with a wide audience. However, there is little research or evidence about the potential benefits and risks of cinema for conservation. Given their global reach, cinematic representations could be important in raising awareness of conservation issues and species of concern, as well as encouraging greater audience engagement due to their heightened emotional impact on viewers. Yet there are also risks associated with increased exposure, including heightened visitor pressure to environmentally sensitive areas or changes to consumer demand for endangered species. Conservationists can better understand and engage with the film industry by studying the impact of movies on audience awareness and behavior, identifying measurable impacts on conservation outcomes, and engaging directly with the movie industry, for example, in an advisory capacity. This improved understanding and engagement can harness the industry's potential to enhance the positive impacts of movies featuring species, sites, and issues of conservation concern and to mitigate any negative effects. A robust evidence base for evaluating and planning these engagements, and for informing related policy and management decisions, needs to be built. © 2017 Society for Conservation Biology.

  9. Reductions in global biodiversity loss predicted from conservation spending.

    PubMed

    Waldron, Anthony; Miller, Daniel C; Redding, Dave; Mooers, Arne; Kuhn, Tyler S; Nibbelink, Nate; Roberts, J Timmons; Tobias, Joseph A; Gittleman, John L

    2017-11-16

    Halting global biodiversity loss is central to the Convention on Biological Diversity and United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, but success to date has been very limited. A critical determinant of success in achieving these goals is the financing that is committed to maintaining biodiversity; however, financing decisions are hindered by considerable uncertainty over the likely impact of any conservation investment. For greater effectiveness, we need an evidence-based model that shows how conservation spending quantitatively reduces the rate of biodiversity loss. Here we demonstrate such a model, and empirically quantify how conservation investment reduced biodiversity loss in 109 countries (signatories to the Convention on Biological Diversity and Sustainable Development Goals), by a median average of 29% per country between 1996 and 2008. We also show that biodiversity changes in signatory countries can be predicted with high accuracy, using a dual model that balances the effects of conservation investment against those of economic, agricultural and population growth (human development pressures). Decision-makers can use this model to forecast the improvement that any proposed biodiversity budget would achieve under various scenarios of human development pressure, and then compare these forecasts to any chosen policy target. We find that the impact of spending decreases as human development pressures grow, which implies that funding may need to increase over time. The model offers a flexible tool for balancing the Sustainable Development Goals of human development and maintaining biodiversity, by predicting the dynamic changes in conservation finance that will be needed as human development proceeds.

  10. Reductions in global biodiversity loss predicted from conservation spending

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Waldron, Anthony; Miller, Daniel C.; Redding, Dave; Mooers, Arne; Kuhn, Tyler S.; Nibbelink, Nate; Roberts, J. Timmons; Tobias, Joseph A.; Gittleman, John L.

    2017-11-01

    Halting global biodiversity loss is central to the Convention on Biological Diversity and United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, but success to date has been very limited. A critical determinant of success in achieving these goals is the financing that is committed to maintaining biodiversity; however, financing decisions are hindered by considerable uncertainty over the likely impact of any conservation investment. For greater effectiveness, we need an evidence-based model that shows how conservation spending quantitatively reduces the rate of biodiversity loss. Here we demonstrate such a model, and empirically quantify how conservation investment between 1996 and 2008 reduced biodiversity loss in 109 countries (signatories to the Convention on Biological Diversity and Sustainable Development Goals), by a median average of 29% per country. We also show that biodiversity changes in signatory countries can be predicted with high accuracy, using a dual model that balances the effects of conservation investment against those of economic, agricultural and population growth (human development pressures). Decision-makers can use this model to forecast the improvement that any proposed biodiversity budget would achieve under various scenarios of human development pressure, and then compare these forecasts to any chosen policy target. We find that the impact of spending decreases as human development pressures grow, which implies that funding may need to increase over time. The model offers a flexible tool for balancing the Sustainable Development Goals of human development and maintaining biodiversity, by predicting the dynamic changes in conservation finance that will be needed as human development proceeds.

  11. The Three Domains of Conservation Genetics: Case Histories from Hawaiian Waters

    PubMed Central

    2016-01-01

    The scientific field of conservation biology is dominated by 3 specialties: phylogenetics, ecology, and evolution. Under this triad, phylogenetics is oriented towards the past history of biodiversity, conserving the divergent branches in the tree of life. The ecological component is rooted in the present, maintaining the contemporary life support systems for biodiversity. Evolutionary conservation (as defined here) is concerned with preserving the raw materials for generating future biodiversity. All 3 domains can be documented with genetic case histories in the waters of the Hawaiian Archipelago, an isolated chain of volcanic islands with 2 types of biodiversity: colonists, and new species that arose from colonists. This review demonstrates that 1) phylogenetic studies have identified previously unknown branches in the tree of life that are endemic to Hawaiian waters; 2) population genetic surveys define isolated marine ecosystems as management units, and 3) phylogeographic analyses illustrate the pathways of colonization that can enhance future biodiversity. Conventional molecular markers have advanced all 3 domains in conservation biology over the last 3 decades, and recent advances in genomics are especially valuable for understanding the foundations of future evolutionary diversity. PMID:27001936

  12. Living in interesting times: Selected implications of landscape ecology for conservation science

    Treesearch

    John Shultis

    2007-01-01

    The phrase ‘May you live in interesting times’ links well with the sub-discipline of landscape ecology. Recent research in landscape ecology and associated disciplines (for example, conservation biology) provides significant challenges to the traditional conceptions of wilderness and conservation science, and may in part reflect upon our view of contemporary society as...

  13. Threats to intact tropical peatlands and opportunities for their conservation.

    PubMed

    Roucoux, K H; Lawson, I T; Baker, T R; Del Castillo Torres, D; Draper, F C; Lähteenoja, O; Gilmore, M P; Honorio Coronado, E N; Kelly, T J; Mitchard, E T A; Vriesendorp, C F

    2017-12-01

    Large, intact areas of tropical peatland are highly threatened at a global scale by the expansion of commercial agriculture and other forms of economic development. Conserving peatlands on a landscape scale, with their hydrology intact, is of international conservation importance to preserve their distinctive biodiversity and ecosystem services and maintain their resilience to future environmental change. We explored threats to and opportunities for conserving remaining intact tropical peatlands; thus, we excluded peatlands of Indonesia and Malaysia, where extensive deforestation, drainage, and conversion to plantations means conservation in this region can protect only small fragments of the original ecosystem. We focused on a case study, the Pastaza-Marañón Foreland Basin (PMFB) in Peru, which is among the largest known intact tropical peatland landscapes in the world and is representative of peatland vulnerability. Maintenance of the hydrological conditions critical for carbon storage and ecosystem function of peatlands is, in the PMFB, primarily threatened by expansion of commercial agriculture linked to new transport infrastructure that is facilitating access to remote areas. There remain opportunities in the PMFB and elsewhere to develop alternative, more sustainable land-use practices. Although some of the peatlands in the PMFB fall within existing legally protected areas, this protection does not include the most carbon-dense (domed pole forest) areas. New carbon-based conservation instruments (e.g., REDD+, Green Climate Fund), developing markets for sustainable peatland products, transferring land title to local communities, and expanding protected areas offer pathways to increased protection for intact tropical peatlands in Amazonia and elsewhere, such as those in New Guinea and Central Africa which remain, for the moment, broadly beyond the frontier of commercial development. © 2017 The Authors. Conservation Biology published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc

  14. A role for molecular genetics in biological conservation.

    PubMed Central

    O'Brien, S J

    1994-01-01

    The recognition of recent accelerated depletion of species as a consequence of human industrial development has spawned a wide interest in identifying threats to endangered species. In addition to ecological and demographic perils, it has become clear that small populations that narrowly survive demographic contraction may undergo close inbreeding, genetic drift, and loss of overall genomic variation due to allelic loss or reduction to homozygosity. I review here the consequences of such genetic depletion revealed by applying molecular population genetic analysis to four endangered mammals: African cheetah, lion, Florida panther, and humpback whale. The accumulated genetic results, combined with physiological, ecological, and ethological data, provide a multifaceted perspective of the process of species diminution. An emerging role of population genetics, phylogenetics, and phylogeography as indicators of a population's natural history and its future prognosis provides valuable data of use in the development of conservation management plans for endangered species. PMID:7912434

  15. On the Brink of Extinction: Conserving the Diversity of Life. Worldwatch Paper 78.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Wolf, Edward C.

    Concerns associated with biological diversity and the extinction of species are addressed in this report. Major topic areas examined include: (1) historical records of extinctions; (2) conservation biology and tropical ecology; (3) human-management regeneration potentials; (4) restoration ecology; (5) experimental restoration efforts; (6)…

  16. Population and geographic range dynamics: implications for conservation planning

    PubMed Central

    Mace, Georgina M.; Collen, Ben; Fuller, Richard A.; Boakes, Elizabeth H.

    2010-01-01

    Continuing downward trends in the population sizes of many species, in the conservation status of threatened species, and in the quality, extent and connectedness of habitats are of increasing concern. Identifying the attributes of declining populations will help predict how biodiversity will be impacted and guide conservation actions. However, the drivers of biodiversity declines have changed over time and average trends in abundance or distributional change hide significant variation among species. While some populations are declining rapidly, the majority remain relatively stable and others are increasing. Here we dissect out some of the changing drivers of population and geographic range change, and identify biological and geographical correlates of winners and losers in two large datasets covering local population sizes of vertebrates since 1970 and the distributions of Galliform birds over the last two centuries. We find weak evidence for ecological and biological traits being predictors of local decline in range or abundance, but stronger evidence for the role of local anthropogenic threats and environmental change. An improved understanding of the dynamics of threat processes and how they may affect different species will help to guide better conservation planning in a continuously changing world. PMID:20980321

  17. Practical implications of understanding the influence of motivations on commitment to voluntary urban conservation stewardship.

    PubMed

    Asah, Stanley T; Blahna, Dale J

    2013-08-01

    Although the word commitment is prevalent in conservation biology literature and despite the importance of people's commitment to the success of conservation initiatives, commitment as a psychological phenomenon and its operation in specific conservation behaviors remains unexplored. Despite increasing calls for conservation psychology to play a greater role in meeting conservation goals, applications of the psychological sciences to specific conservation behaviors, illustrating their utility to conservation practice, are rare. We examined conservation volunteers' motivations and commitment to urban conservation volunteering. We interviewed key informant volunteers and used interview findings to develop psychometric scales that we used to assess motivations and commitment to volunteer. We surveyed 322 urban conservation volunteers and used factor analysis to reveal how volunteers structure their motivations and commitment to volunteer for urban conservation activities. Six categories of motivations and 2 categories of commitment emerged from factor analysis. Volunteers were motivated by desires to help the environment, defend and enhance the ego, career and learning opportunities, escape and exercise, social interactions, and community building. Two forms of commitment, affective and normative commitment, psychologically bind people to urban conservation volunteerism. We used linear-regression models to examine how these categories of motivations influence volunteers' commitment to conservation volunteerism. Volunteers' tendency to continue to volunteer for urban conservation, even in the face of fluctuating counter urges, was motivated by personal, social, and community functions more than environmental motivations. The environment, otherwise marginally important, was a significant motivator of volunteers' commitment only when volunteering met volunteers' personal, social, and community-building goals. Attention to these personal, social, and community

  18. Conservatives Anticipate and Experience Stronger Emotional Reactions to Negative Outcomes.

    PubMed

    Joel, Samantha; Burton, Caitlin M; Plaks, Jason E

    2014-02-01

    The present work examined whether conservatives and liberals differ in their anticipation of their own emotional reactions to negative events. In two studies, participants imagined experiencing positive or negative outcomes in domains that do not directly concern politics. In Study 1, 190 American participants recruited online (64 male, Mage  = 32 years) anticipated their emotional responses to romantic relationship outcomes. In Study 2, 97 Canadian undergraduate students (26 male, Mage  = 21 years) reported on their anticipated and experienced emotional responses to academic outcomes. In both studies, more conservative participants predicted they would feel stronger negative emotions following negative outcomes than did more liberal participants. Furthermore, a longitudinal follow-up of Study 2 participants revealed that more conservative participants actually felt worse than more liberal participants after receiving a lower-than-desired exam grade. These effects remained even when controlling for the Big Five traits, prevention focus, and attachment style (Study 1), and optimism (Study 2). We discuss how the relationship between political orientation and anticipated affect likely contributes to differences between conservatives and liberals in styles of decision and policy choices. © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

  19. [Modeling the academic performance of medical students in basic sciences and pre-clinical courses: a longitudinal study].

    PubMed

    Zúñiga, Denisse; Mena, Beltrán; Oliva, Rose; Pedrals, Nuria; Padilla, Oslando; Bitran, Marcela

    2009-10-01

    The study of predictors of academic performance is relevant for medical education. Most studies of academic performance use global ratings as outcome measure, and do not evaluate the influence of the assessment methods. To model by multivariate analysis, the academic performance of medical considering, besides academic and demographic variables, the methods used to assess students' learning and their preferred modes of information processing. Two hundred seventy two students admitted to the medical school of the Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile from 2000 to 2003. Six groups of variables were studied to model the students' performance in five basic science courses (Anatomy, Biology, Calculus, Chemistry and Physics) and two pre-clinical courses (Integrated Medical Clinic I and IT). The assessment methods examined were multiple choice question tests, Objective Structured Clinical Examination and tutor appraisal. The results of the university admission tests (high school grades, mathematics and biology tests), the assessment methods used, the curricular year and previous application to medical school, were predictors of academic performance. The information processing modes influenced academic performance, but only in interaction with other variables. Perception (abstract or concrete) interacted with the assessment methods, and information use (active or reflexive), with sex. The correlation between the real and predicted grades was 0.7. In addition to the academic results obtained prior to university entrance, the methods of assessment used in the university and the information processing modes influence the academic performance of medical students in basic and preclinical courses.

  20. Effectiveness of amphibians as biodiversity surrogates in pond conservation.

    PubMed

    Ilg, Christiane; Oertli, Beat

    2017-04-01

    Amphibian decline has led to worldwide conservation efforts, including the identification and designation of sites for their protection. These sites could also play an important role in the conservation of other freshwater taxa. In 89 ponds in Switzerland, we assessed the effectiveness of amphibians as a surrogate for 4 taxonomic groups that occur in the same freshwater ecosystems as amphibians: dragonflies, aquatic beetles, aquatic gastropods, and aquatic plants. The ponds were all of high value for amphibian conservation. Cross-taxon correlations were tested for species richness and conservation value, and Mantel tests were used to investigate community congruence. Species richness, conservation value, and community composition of amphibians were weakly congruent with these measures for the other taxonomic groups. Paired comparisons for the 5 groups considered showed that for each metric, amphibians had the lowest degree of congruence. Our results imply that site designation for amphibian conservation will not necessarily provide protection for freshwater biodiversity as a whole. To provide adequate protection for freshwater species, we recommend other taxonomic groups be considered in addition to amphibians in the prioritization and site designation process. © 2016 Society for Conservation Biology.

  1. Academic freedom and academic-industry relationships in biotechnology.

    PubMed

    Streiffer, Robert

    2006-06-01

    Commercial academic-industry relationships (AIRs) are widespread in biotechnology and have resulted in a wide array of restrictions on academic research. Objections to such restrictions have centered on the charge that they violate academic freedom. I argue that these objections are almost invariably unsuccessful. On a consequentialist understanding of the value of academic freedom, they rely on unfounded empirical claims about the overall effects that AIRs have on academic research. And on a rights-based understanding of the value of academic freedom, they rely on excessively lavish assumptions about the kinds of activities that academic freedom protects.

  2. Limitations of outsourcing on-the-ground biodiversity conservation.

    PubMed

    Iacona, Gwenllian D; Bode, Michael; Armsworth, Paul R

    2016-12-01

    costs of achieving conservation targets. © 2016 Society for Conservation Biology.

  3. Toward High School Biology: Helping Middle School Students Understand Chemical Reactions and Conservation of Mass in Nonliving and Living Systems

    PubMed Central

    Herrmann-Abell, Cari F.; Koppal, Mary; Roseman, Jo Ellen

    2016-01-01

    Modern biology has become increasingly molecular in nature, requiring students to understand basic chemical concepts. Studies show, however, that many students fail to grasp ideas about atom rearrangement and conservation during chemical reactions or the application of these ideas to biological systems. To help provide students with a better foundation, we used research-based design principles and collaborated in the development of a curricular intervention that applies chemistry ideas to living and nonliving contexts. Six eighth grade teachers and their students participated in a test of the unit during the Spring of 2013. Two of the teachers had used an earlier version of the unit the previous spring. The other four teachers were randomly assigned either to implement the unit or to continue teaching the same content using existing materials. Pre- and posttests were administered, and the data were analyzed using Rasch modeling and hierarchical linear modeling. The results showed that, when controlling for pretest score, gender, language, and ethnicity, students who used the curricular intervention performed better on the posttest than the students using existing materials. Additionally, students who participated in the intervention held fewer misconceptions. These results demonstrate the unit’s promise in improving students’ understanding of the targeted ideas. PMID:27909024

  4. A highly conserved N-terminal sequence for teleost vitellogenin with potential value to the biochemistry, molecular biology and pathology of vitellogenesis

    USGS Publications Warehouse

    Folmar, L.D.; Denslow, N.D.; Wallace, R.A.; LaFleur, G.; Gross, T.S.; Bonomelli, S.; Sullivan, C.V.

    1995-01-01

    N-terminal amino acid sequences for vitellogenin (Vtg) from six species of teleost fish (striped bass, mummichog, pinfish, brown bullhead, medaka, yellow perch and the sturgeon) are compared with published N-terminal Vtg sequences for the lamprey, clawed frog and domestic chicken. Striped bass and mummichog had 100% identical amino acids between positions 7 and 21, while pinfish, brown bullhead, sturgeon, lamprey, Xenopus and chicken had 87%, 93%, 60%, 47%, 47-60%) for four transcripts and had 40% identical, respectively, with striped bass for the same positions. Partial sequences obtained for medaka and yellow perch were 100% identical between positions 5 to 10. The potential utility of this conserved sequence for studies on the biochemistry, molecular biology and pathology of vitellogenesis is discussed.

  5. Impending conservation crisis for Southeast Asian amphibians.

    PubMed

    Rowley, Jodi; Brown, Rafe; Bain, Raoul; Kusrini, Mirza; Inger, Robert; Stuart, Bryan; Wogan, Guin; Thy, Neang; Chan-Ard, Tanya; Trung, Cao Tien; Diesmos, Arvin; Iskandar, Djoko T; Lau, Michael; Ming, Leong Tzi; Makchai, Sunchai; Truong, Nguyen Quang; Phimmachak, Somphouthone

    2010-06-23

    With an understudied amphibian fauna, the highest deforestation rate on the planet and high harvesting pressures, Southeast Asian amphibians are facing a conservation crisis. Owing to the overriding threat of habitat loss, the most critical conservation action required is the identification and strict protection of habitat assessed as having high amphibian species diversity and/or representing distinctive regional amphibian faunas. Long-term population monitoring, enhanced survey efforts, collection of basic biological and ecological information, continued taxonomic research and evaluation of the impact of commercial trade for food, medicine and pets are also needed. Strong involvement of regional stakeholders, students and professionals is essential to accomplish these actions.

  6. Impending conservation crisis for Southeast Asian amphibians

    PubMed Central

    Rowley, Jodi; Brown, Rafe; Bain, Raoul; Kusrini, Mirza; Inger, Robert; Stuart, Bryan; Wogan, Guin; Thy, Neang; Chan-ard, Tanya; Trung, Cao Tien; Diesmos, Arvin; Iskandar, Djoko T.; Lau, Michael; Ming, Leong Tzi; Makchai, Sunchai; Truong, Nguyen Quang; Phimmachak, Somphouthone

    2010-01-01

    With an understudied amphibian fauna, the highest deforestation rate on the planet and high harvesting pressures, Southeast Asian amphibians are facing a conservation crisis. Owing to the overriding threat of habitat loss, the most critical conservation action required is the identification and strict protection of habitat assessed as having high amphibian species diversity and/or representing distinctive regional amphibian faunas. Long-term population monitoring, enhanced survey efforts, collection of basic biological and ecological information, continued taxonomic research and evaluation of the impact of commercial trade for food, medicine and pets are also needed. Strong involvement of regional stakeholders, students and professionals is essential to accomplish these actions. PMID:20007165

  7. Evolution and Conservation of Plant NLR Functions

    PubMed Central

    Jacob, Florence; Vernaldi, Saskia; Maekawa, Takaki

    2013-01-01

    In plants and animals, nucleotide-binding domain and leucine-rich repeats (NLR)-containing proteins play pivotal roles in innate immunity. Despite their similar biological functions and protein architecture, comparative genome-wide analyses of NLRs and genes encoding NLR-like proteins suggest that plant and animal NLRs have independently arisen in evolution. Furthermore, the demonstration of interfamily transfer of plant NLR functions from their original species to phylogenetically distant species implies evolutionary conservation of the underlying immune principle across plant taxonomy. In this review we discuss plant NLR evolution and summarize recent insights into plant NLR-signaling mechanisms, which might constitute evolutionarily conserved NLR-mediated immune mechanisms. PMID:24093022

  8. Investigating the Role of an Inquiry-Based Biology Lab Course on Student Attitudes and Views toward Science.

    PubMed

    Jeffery, Erica; Nomme, Kathy; Deane, Thomas; Pollock, Carol; Birol, Gülnur

    2016-01-01

    Students' academic experiences can influence their conceptualization of science. In contrast experts hold particular beliefs, perceptions, opinions, and attitudes about science that are often absent in first-year undergraduate students. Shifts toward more expert-like attitudes and views have been linked to improved student engagement, critical-thinking ability, conceptual understanding, and academic performance. In this study, we investigate shifts in attitudes and views toward science by students in four biology classes with differences in student enrollment, academic support, and instruction. We observe significant, positive effects of enrollment in a guided-inquiry lab course and academic performance on the percentage of expert-like student attitudes and views at the end of term. We also identify variation in two aspects of student attitudes and views: 1) confidence and interest and 2) understanding and acceptance. In particular, enrollment in the lab course boosts student confidence and interest in scientific inquiry in the short term, even for students with low academic performance or little English-language experience. Our results suggest that low-performing students in particular may require additional opportunities for experiential learning or greater academic support to develop expert-like perceptions of biology as a science. © 2016 E. Jeffery et al. CBE—Life Sciences Education © 2016 The American Society for Cell Biology. This article is distributed by The American Society for Cell Biology under license from the author(s). It is available to the public under an Attribution–Noncommercial–Share Alike 3.0 Unported Creative Commons License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0).

  9. Academic Manager or Managed Academic? Academic Identity Schisms in Higher Education

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Winter, Richard

    2009-01-01

    The relationship between values and academic identity has received scant attention in the higher education literature with some notable exceptions (Churchman, 2006; Harley, 2002; Henkel, 2005). This paper contends that the perceived need to align all academics around corporate values and goals has given rise to academic identity schisms in higher…

  10. Into the field: naturalistic education and the future of conservation.

    PubMed

    Hayes, Mark A

    2009-10-01

    Some educational psychologists and researchers have argued that there are multiple ways of being intelligent. In the early 1980s, Howard Gardner presented a theory of multiple intelligences by proposing that humans can be described not by a single kind of intelligence, or intelligence quotient score, but rather by a variety of kinds of intelligence. This idea of considering multiple views of intelligence has helped educators look at intelligence from a less rigid, more expansive perspective. I considered how the relatively new concept of naturalistic intelligence, which is the cognitive potential to process information that is exhibited by expert naturalists, might influence the design of undergraduate biology curricula. Naturalistic intelligence can be fostered in undergraduate biology students by emphasizing the need for well-rounded scientific naturalists; developing curricula that involves students in outdoor inquiry-based projects; and helping students learn how to observe both the natural world and their own learning, skills that are essential to developing expert naturalistic knowledge. Professors, graduate students, and administrators can improve the naturalistic intelligence of undergraduate biology students by giving these students opportunities to be involved in outdoor research. Time spent outdoors alone and among people with expertise in natural history, ecology, and conservation biology will have important influences on the knowledge and skills biology undergraduates learn, the careers they pursue, and the contributions they make to conserving Earth's biodiversity.

  11. Equity trade-offs in conservation decision making.

    PubMed

    Law, Elizabeth A; Bennett, Nathan J; Ives, Christopher D; Friedman, Rachel; Davis, Katrina J; Archibald, Carla; Wilson, Kerrie A

    2018-04-01

    Conservation decisions increasingly involve multiple environmental and social objectives, which result in complex decision contexts with high potential for trade-offs. Improving social equity is one such objective that is often considered an enabler of successful outcomes and a virtuous ideal in itself. Despite its idealized importance in conservation policy, social equity is often highly simplified or ill-defined and is applied uncritically. What constitutes equitable outcomes and processes is highly normative and subject to ethical deliberation. Different ethical frameworks may lead to different conceptions of equity through alternative perspectives of what is good or right. This can lead to different and potentially conflicting equity objectives in practice. We promote a more transparent, nuanced, and pluralistic conceptualization of equity in conservation decision making that particularly recognizes where multidimensional equity objectives may conflict. To help identify and mitigate ethical conflicts and avoid cases of good intentions producing bad outcomes, we encourage a more analytical incorporation of equity into conservation decision making particularly during mechanistic integration of equity objectives. We recommend that in conservation planning motivations and objectives for equity be made explicit within the problem context, methods used to incorporate equity objectives be applied with respect to stated objectives, and, should objectives dictate, evaluation of equity outcomes and adaptation of strategies be employed during policy implementation. © 2017 Society for Conservation Biology.

  12. Conservation education in Madagascar: three case studies in the biologically diverse island-continent.

    PubMed

    Dolins, Francine L; Jolly, Alison; Rasamimanana, Hantanirina; Ratsimbazafy, Jonah; Feistner, Anna T C; Ravoavy, Florent

    2010-05-01

    Few Malagasy children and adults are aware of the rare and unique fauna and flora indigenous to their island-continent, including flagship lemur species. Even the Malagasy ancestral proverbs never mentioned lemurs, but these same proverbs talked about the now extinct hippopotamus. Madagascar's geography, history, and economic constraints contribute to severe biodiversity loss. Deforestation on Madagascar is reported to be over 100,000 ha/year, with only 10-15% of the island retaining natural forest [Green & Sussman, 1990]. Educating children, teacher-training, and community projects about environmental and conservation efforts to protect the remaining natural habitats of endangered lemur species provide a basis for long-term changes in attitudes and practices. Case studies of three conservation education projects located in different geographical regions of Madagascar, Centre ValBio, Madagacar Wildlife Conservation Alaotra Comic Book Project, and The Ako Book Project, are presented together with their ongoing stages of development, assessment, and outcomes. We argue that while nongovernmental organizational efforts are and will be very important, the Ministry of Education urgently needs to incorporate biodiversity education in the curriculum at all levels, from primary school to university. (c) 2009 Wiley-Liss, Inc.

  13. Ten ways remote sensing can contribute to conservation

    USGS Publications Warehouse

    Rose, Robert A.; Byler, Dirck; Eastman, J. Ron; Fleishman, Erica; Geller, Gary; Goetz, Scott; Guild, Liane; Hamilton, Healy; Hansen, Matt; Headley, Rachel; Hewson, Jennifer; Horning, Ned; Kaplin, Beth A.; Laporte, Nadine; Leidner, Allison K.; Leimgruber, Peter; Morisette, Jeffrey T.; Musinsky, John; Pintea, Lilian; Prados, Ana; Radeloff, Volker C.; Rowen, Mary; Saatchi, Sassan; Schill, Steve; Tabor, Karyn; Turner, Woody; Vodacek, Anthony; Vogelmann, James; Wegmann, Martin; Wilkie, David; Wilson, Cara

    2014-01-01

    In an effort to increase conservation effectiveness through the use of Earth observation technologies, a group of remote sensing scientists affiliated with government and academic institutions and conservation organizations identified 10 questions in conservation for which the potential to be answered would be greatly increased by use of remotely sensed data and analyses of those data. Our goals were to increase conservation practitioners’ use of remote sensing to support their work, increase collaboration between the conservation science and remote sensing communities, identify and develop new and innovative uses of remote sensing for advancing conservation science, provide guidance to space agencies on how future satellite missions can support conservation science, and generate support from the public and private sector in the use of remote sensing data to address the 10 conservation questions. We identified a broad initial list of questions on the basis of an email chain-referral survey. We then used a workshop-based iterative and collaborative approach to whittle the list down to these final questions (which represent 10 major themes in conservation): How can global Earth observation data be used to model species distributions and abundances? How can remote sensing improve the understanding of animal movements? How can remotely sensed ecosystem variables be used to understand, monitor, and predict ecosystem response and resilience to multiple stressors? How can remote sensing be used to monitor the effects of climate on ecosystems? How can near real-time ecosystem monitoring catalyze threat reduction, governance and regulation compliance, and resource management decisions? How can remote sensing inform configuration of protected area networks at spatial extents relevant to populations of target species and ecosystem services? How can remote sensing-derived products be used to value and monitor changes in ecosystem services? How can remote sensing be used to

  14. High-impact conservation: invasive mammal eradications from the islands of western México.

    PubMed

    Aguirre-Muñoz, Alfonso; Croll, Donald A; Donlan, C Josh; Henry, R William; Hermosillo, Miguel Angel; Howald, Gregg R; Keitt, Bradford S; Luna-Mendoza, Luciana; Rodríguez-Malagón, Marlenne; Salas-Flores, Luz María; Samaniego-Herrera, Araceli; Sanchez-Pacheco, Jose Angel; Sheppard, Jacob; Tershy, Bernie R; Toro-Benito, Jorge; Wolf, Shaye; Wood, Bill

    2008-03-01

    Islands harbor a disproportionate amount of the earth's biodiversity, but a significant portion has been lost due in large part to the impacts of invasive mammals. Fortunately, invasive mammals can be routinely removed from islands, providing a powerful tool to prevent extinctions and restore ecosystems. Given that invasive mammals are still present on more than 80% of the world's major islands groups and remain a premier threat to the earth's biodiversity, it is important to disseminate replicable, scaleable models to eradicate invasive mammals from islands. We report on a successful model from western México during the past decade. A collaborative effort between nongovernmental organizations, academic biologists, Mexican government agencies, and local individuals has resulted in major restoration efforts in three island archipelagos. Forty-two populations of invasive mammals have been eradicated from 26 islands. For a cost of USD 21,615 per colony and USD 49,370 per taxon, 201 seabird colonies and 88 endemic terrestrial taxa have been protected, respectively. These conservation successes are a result of an operational model with three main components: i) a tri-national collaboration that integrates research, prioritization, financing, public education, policy work, capacity building, conservation action, monitoring, and evaluation; ii) proactive and dedicated natural resource management agencies; and iii) effective partnerships with academic researchers in Mexico and the United States. What is now needed is a detailed plan to eradicate invasive mammals from the remaining islands in the region that integrates the needed additional financing, capacity, technical advances, and policy issues. Island conservation in western Mexico provides an effective approach that can be readily applied to other archipelagos where conservation efforts have been limited.

  15. Management of the spotted owl: a case history in conservation biology

    Treesearch

    B.R. Noon; K.S. McKelvey

    1996-01-01

    Official conservation efforts for the northern spotted owl began in the United States in 1975 when it was declared “threatened” in the state of Oregon; efforts continued in a sporadic and unsystematic way through the 1980s. In 1989 the Interagency Scientific Committee (ISC) was established by Congress and charged with the development of a scientifically defensible...

  16. Science Learning Motivation as Correlate of Students' Academic Performances

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Libao, Nhorvien Jay P.; Sagun, Jessie John B.; Tamangan, Elvira A.; Pattalitan, Agaton P., Jr.; Dupa, Maria Elena D.; Bautista, Romiro G.

    2016-01-01

    This study was designed to analyze the relationship of students' learning motivation and their academic performances in science. The study made use of 21 junior and senior Biological Science students to conclude on the formulated research problems. The respondents had a good to very good motivation in learning science. In general, the extent of…

  17. cisprimertool: software to implement a comparative genomics strategy for the development of conserved intron scanning (CIS) markers.

    PubMed

    Jayashree, B; Jagadeesh, V T; Hoisington, D

    2008-05-01

    The availability of complete, annotated genomic sequence information in model organisms is a rich resource that can be extended to understudied orphan crops through comparative genomic approaches. We report here a software tool (cisprimertool) for the identification of conserved intron scanning regions using expressed sequence tag alignments to a completely sequenced model crop genome. The method used is based on earlier studies reporting the assessment of conserved intron scanning primers (called CISP) within relatively conserved exons located near exon-intron boundaries from onion, banana, sorghum and pearl millet alignments with rice. The tool is freely available to academic users at http://www.icrisat.org/gt-bt/CISPTool.htm. © 2007 ICRISAT.

  18. High school and college biology: A multi-level model of the effects of high school biology courses on student academic performance in introductory college biology courses

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Loehr, John Francis

    The issue of student preparation for college study in science has been an ongoing concern for both college-bound students and educators of various levels. This study uses a national sample of college students enrolled in introductory biology courses to address the relationship between high school biology preparation and subsequent introductory college biology performance. Multi-Level Modeling was used to investigate the relationship between students' high school science and mathematics experiences and college biology performance. This analysis controls for student demographic and educational background factors along with factors associated with the college or university attended. The results indicated that high school course-taking and science instructional experiences have the largest impact on student achievement in the first introductory college biology course. In particular, enrollment in courses, such as high school Calculus and Advanced Placement (AP) Biology, along with biology course content that focuses on developing a deep understanding of the topics is found to be positively associated with student achievement in introductory college biology. On the other hand, experiencing high numbers of laboratory activities, demonstrations, and independent projects along with higher levels of laboratory freedom are associated with negative achievement. These findings are relevant to high school biology teachers, college students, their parents, and educators looking beyond the goal of high school graduation.

  19. Fine-resolution conservation planning with limited climate-change information.

    PubMed

    Shah, Payal; Mallory, Mindy L; Ando, Amy W; Guntenspergen, Glenn R

    2017-04-01

    Climate-change induced uncertainties in future spatial patterns of conservation-related outcomes make it difficult to implement standard conservation-planning paradigms. A recent study translates Markowitz's risk-diversification strategy from finance to conservation settings, enabling conservation agents to use this diversification strategy for allocating conservation and restoration investments across space to minimize the risk associated with such uncertainty. However, this method is information intensive and requires a large number of forecasts of ecological outcomes associated with possible climate-change scenarios for carrying out fine-resolution conservation planning. We developed a technique for iterative, spatial portfolio analysis that can be used to allocate scarce conservation resources across a desired level of subregions in a planning landscape in the absence of a sufficient number of ecological forecasts. We applied our technique to the Prairie Pothole Region in central North America. A lack of sufficient future climate information prevented attainment of the most efficient risk-return conservation outcomes in the Prairie Pothole Region. The difference in expected conservation returns between conservation planning with limited climate-change information and full climate-change information was as large as 30% for the Prairie Pothole Region even when the most efficient iterative approach was used. However, our iterative approach allowed finer resolution portfolio allocation with limited climate-change forecasts such that the best possible risk-return combinations were obtained. With our most efficient iterative approach, the expected loss in conservation outcomes owing to limited climate-change information could be reduced by 17% relative to other iterative approaches. © 2016 Society for Conservation Biology.

  20. Conserving and managing the subnivium.

    PubMed

    Zuckerberg, Benjamin; Pauli, Jonathan N

    2018-02-08

    In regions where snowfall historically has been a defining seasonal characteristic of the landscape, warming winters have reduced the depth, duration, and extent of snowpack. However, most management and conservation has focused on how aboveground wildlife will be affected by altered snow conditions, even though the majority of species that persist through the winter do so under the snowpack in a thermally stable refugium: the subnivium. Shortened winters, forest management practices, and winter recreation can alter subnivium conditions by increasing snow compaction and compromising thermal stability at the soil-snow interface. To help slow the loss of the subnivium in the face of rapidly changing winter conditions, we suggest managers adopt regional conservation plans for identifying threatened snow-covered environments; measure and predict the effects land cover and habitat management has on local subnivium conditions; and control the timing and distribution of activities that disturb and compact snow cover (e.g., silvicultural practices, snow recreation, and road and trail maintenance). As a case study, we developed a spatially explicit model of subnivium presence in a working landscape of the Chequamegon National Forest, Wisconsin. We identified landscapes where winter recreation and management practices could threaten potentially important areas for subnivium persistence. Similar modeling approaches could inform management decisions related to subnivium conservation. Current climate projections predict that snow seasons will change rapidly in many regions, and as result, we advocate for the immediate recognition, conservation, and management of the subnivium and its dependent species. © 2018 Society for Conservation Biology.

  1. An Exploratory Study of Female Master of Divinity Students in a Conservative West Coast Evangelical Seminary

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Clemen, Valerie A.

    2009-01-01

    Issues surrounding female participation in graduate theological education are complex and multifaceted. One important problem concerning female theological students is the lack of research exploring the experiences and unique challenges faced by conservative evangelical female Master of Divinity (M. Div.) students as they pursue academic and…

  2. Imagine...Opportunities and Resources for Academically Talented Youth, 1997-1998.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Hartman, Melissa E., Ed.

    1997-01-01

    This document consists of the five consecutive issues of the journal "Imagine..." published during volume year 5. Typical journal articles cover teaching academically talented secondary students in the following focus areas: (1) biological science and medicine; (2) literature, language, and linguistics; (3) public service and politics; (4)…

  3. Motivational Systems Theory and the Academic Performance of College Students

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Campbell, Michael M.

    2007-01-01

    This study explored the validity of the Motivational Systems Theory (MST) as a measure of performance of college students pursuing business degrees and the level of academic performance attained across gender and race lines. This goal is achieved by investigating the relationships between motivational strategies, biological factors, responsive…

  4. Factors in seventh grade academics associated with performance levels on the tenth grade biology end of course test in selected middle and high schools in northwest Georgia

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Ward, Jennifer Henry

    This study attempted to identify factors in seventh grade academics that are associated with overall success in tenth grade biology. The study addressed the following research questions: Are there significant differences in performance levels in seventh grade Criterion Referenced Competency Test (CRCT) scores in science, math, reading, and language arts associated with performance categories in tenth grade biology End of Course Test (EOCT) and the following demographic variables : gender, ethnicity, socioeconomic status, disability category, and English language proficiency level? Is there a relationship among the categorical variables on the tenth grade biology EOCT and the same five demographic variables? Retrospective causal comparative research was used on a representative sample from the middle schools in three North Georgia counties who took the four CRCTs in the 2006-2007 school year, and took the biology EOCT in the 2009-2010 school year. Chi square was used to determine the relationships of the various demographic variables on three biology EOCT performance categories. Twoway ANOVA determined relationships between the seventh grade CRCT scores of students in the various demographic groups and their performance levels on the biology EOCT. Students' performance levels on the biology EOCT matched their performance levels on the seventh grade CRCTs consistently. Females performed better than males on all seventh grade CRCTs. Black and Hispanic students did worse than White and Asian/Asian Indian students on the math CRCT. Students living in poverty did worse on reading and language arts CRCTs than students who were better off. Special education students did worse on science, reading, and language arts CRCTs than students not receiving special education services. English language learners did worse than native English speakers on all seventh grade CRCTs. These findings suggest that remedial measures may be taken in the seventh grade that could impact

  5. Using perceptions as evidence to improve conservation and environmental management.

    PubMed

    Bennett, Nathan James

    2016-06-01

    The conservation community is increasingly focusing on the monitoring and evaluation of management, governance, ecological, and social considerations as part of a broader move toward adaptive management and evidence-based conservation. Evidence is any information that can be used to come to a conclusion and support a judgment or, in this case, to make decisions that will improve conservation policies, actions, and outcomes. Perceptions are one type of information that is often dismissed as anecdotal by those arguing for evidence-based conservation. In this paper, I clarify the contributions of research on perceptions of conservation to improving adaptive and evidence-based conservation. Studies of the perceptions of local people can provide important insights into observations, understandings and interpretations of the social impacts, and ecological outcomes of conservation; the legitimacy of conservation governance; and the social acceptability of environmental management. Perceptions of these factors contribute to positive or negative local evaluations of conservation initiatives. It is positive perceptions, not just objective scientific evidence of effectiveness, that ultimately ensure the support of local constituents thus enabling the long-term success of conservation. Research on perceptions can inform courses of action to improve conservation and governance at scales ranging from individual initiatives to national and international policies. Better incorporation of evidence from across the social and natural sciences and integration of a plurality of methods into monitoring and evaluation will provide a more complete picture on which to base conservation decisions and environmental management. © 2016 Society for Conservation Biology.

  6. Economic value of biological control in integrated pest management of managed plant systems.

    PubMed

    Naranjo, Steven E; Ellsworth, Peter C; Frisvold, George B

    2015-01-07

    Biological control is an underlying pillar of integrated pest management, yet little focus has been placed on assigning economic value to this key ecosystem service. Setting biological control on a firm economic foundation would help to broaden its utility and adoption for sustainable crop protection. Here we discuss approaches and methods available for valuation of biological control of arthropod pests by arthropod natural enemies and summarize economic evaluations in classical, augmentative, and conservation biological control. Emphasis is placed on valuation of conservation biological control, which has received little attention. We identify some of the challenges of and opportunities for applying economics to biological control to advance integrated pest management. Interaction among diverse scientists and stakeholders will be required to measure the direct and indirect costs and benefits of biological control that will allow farmers and others to internalize the benefits that incentivize and accelerate adoption for private and public good.

  7. Biology 20-30: Program of Studies.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Alberta Dept. of Education, Edmonton. Curriculum Branch.

    Presented in English and French, Biology 20-30 is an academic program that helps students in Alberta, Canada, better understand and apply fundamental concepts and skills. The major goals of the program are: (1) to develop in students an understanding of the interconnecting ideas and principles that transcend and unify the natural science…

  8. Challenges in global biodiversity conservation and solutions that cross sociology, politics, economics and ecology

    PubMed Central

    Hoban, Sean; Vernesi, Cristiano

    2012-01-01

    The study and practice of conservation biology is inherently interdisciplinary, addresses short and long time-scales and occurs within complex human–natural interfaces. Zoos and aquaria, in partnership with researchers, other non-government organizations, government, industry and educators, are combining knowledge of species and ecosystems with economics, psychology and law to create solutions for conserving biodiversity. From 22 to 25 May, the Conservation Forum of the European Association of Zoos and Aquaria was a venue for discussing conservation research, education and interventions, from the scale of villages to global policy. PMID:22832128

  9. Challenges in global biodiversity conservation and solutions that cross sociology, politics, economics and ecology.

    PubMed

    Hoban, Sean; Vernesi, Cristiano

    2012-12-23

    The study and practice of conservation biology is inherently interdisciplinary, addresses short and long time-scales and occurs within complex human-natural interfaces. Zoos and aquaria, in partnership with researchers, other non-government organizations, government, industry and educators, are combining knowledge of species and ecosystems with economics, psychology and law to create solutions for conserving biodiversity. From 22 to 25 May, the Conservation Forum of the European Association of Zoos and Aquaria was a venue for discussing conservation research, education and interventions, from the scale of villages to global policy.

  10. Conservation of biodiversity through taxonomy, data publication, and collaborative infrastructures.

    PubMed

    Costello, Mark J; Vanhoorne, Bart; Appeltans, Ward

    2015-08-01

    Taxonomy is the foundation of biodiversity science because it furthers discovery of new species. Globally, there have never been so many people involved in naming species new to science. The number of new marine species described per decade has never been greater. Nevertheless, it is estimated that tens of thousands of marine species, and hundreds of thousands of terrestrial species, are yet to be discovered; many of which may already be in specimen collections. However, naming species is only a first step in documenting knowledge about their biology, biogeography, and ecology. Considering the threats to biodiversity, new knowledge of existing species and discovery of undescribed species and their subsequent study are urgently required. To accelerate this research, we recommend, and cite examples of, more and better communication: use of collaborative online databases; easier access to knowledge and specimens; production of taxonomic revisions and species identification guides; engagement of nonspecialists; and international collaboration. "Data-sharing" should be abandoned in favor of mandated data publication by the conservation science community. Such a step requires support from peer reviewers, editors, journals, and conservation organizations. Online data publication infrastructures (e.g., Global Biodiversity Information Facility, Ocean Biogeographic Information System) illustrate gaps in biodiversity sampling and may provide common ground for long-term international collaboration between scientists and conservation organizations. © 2015 Society for Conservation Biology.

  11. Phylogeny, extinction and conservation: embracing uncertainties in a time of urgency

    PubMed Central

    Forest, Félix; Crandall, Keith A.; Chase, Mark W.; Faith, Daniel P.

    2015-01-01

    Evolutionary studies have played a fundamental role in our understanding of life, but until recently, they had only a relatively modest involvement in addressing conservation issues. The main goal of the present discussion meeting issue is to offer a platform to present the available methods allowing the integration of phylogenetic and extinction risk data in conservation planning. Here, we identify the main knowledge gaps in biodiversity science, which include incomplete sampling, reconstruction biases in phylogenetic analyses, partly known species distribution ranges, and the difficulty in producing conservation assessments for all known species, not to mention that much of the effective biological diversity remains to be discovered. Given the impact that human activities have on biodiversity and the urgency with which we need to address these issues, imperfect assumptions need to be sanctioned and surrogates used in the race to salvage as much as possible of our natural and evolutionary heritage. We discuss some aspects of the uncertainties found in biodiversity science, such as the ideal surrogates for biodiversity, the gaps in our knowledge and the numerous available phylogenetic diversity-based methods. We also introduce a series of cases studies that demonstrate how evolutionary biology can effectively contribute to biodiversity conservation science. PMID:25561663

  12. The Three Domains of Conservation Genetics: Case Histories from Hawaiian Waters.

    PubMed

    Bowen, Brian W

    2016-07-01

    The scientific field of conservation biology is dominated by 3 specialties: phylogenetics, ecology, and evolution. Under this triad, phylogenetics is oriented towards the past history of biodiversity, conserving the divergent branches in the tree of life. The ecological component is rooted in the present, maintaining the contemporary life support systems for biodiversity. Evolutionary conservation (as defined here) is concerned with preserving the raw materials for generating future biodiversity. All 3 domains can be documented with genetic case histories in the waters of the Hawaiian Archipelago, an isolated chain of volcanic islands with 2 types of biodiversity: colonists, and new species that arose from colonists. This review demonstrates that 1) phylogenetic studies have identified previously unknown branches in the tree of life that are endemic to Hawaiian waters; 2) population genetic surveys define isolated marine ecosystems as management units, and 3) phylogeographic analyses illustrate the pathways of colonization that can enhance future biodiversity. Conventional molecular markers have advanced all 3 domains in conservation biology over the last 3 decades, and recent advances in genomics are especially valuable for understanding the foundations of future evolutionary diversity. © The American Genetic Association. 2016. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com.

  13. Effects of Zero Tillage (No-Till) Conservation Agriculture on soil physical and biological properties and their contributions to sustainability

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Landers, John N.; Rass, Gerard; de Freitas, Pedro L.; Basch, Gottlieb; González Sanchez, Emilio J.; Tabaglio, Vincenzo; Kassan, Amir; Derpsch, Rolf; Friedrich, Theodor; Giupponi, Luca

    2013-04-01

    Not cultivating soil, rotating crops over the years, and leaving crop residues on the surface in the practice of zero tillage/conservation agriculture (ZT/CA) reverses the historically accelerating degradation of soil organic matter (SOM) and soil structure, while increasing soil biological activity by a factor of 2 to 4. The results of this are many: (a) not cultivating reduces soil compaction, leaving old root holes to facilitate internal drainage, averts the pulverization of soil aggregates and formation of pans, reduces draft power for planting and gives shelter, winter food and nesting sites for fauna, (b) crop residues on the surface practically eliminate wind and water erosion, reduce soil moisture loss through the mulch effect, slow spring warm-up (possibly offset by a lower specific heat demand with less water retention in surface soil) and act as a reserve of organically-compounded nutrients (as they decompose to humus), (c) more SOM means higher available water and nutrient retention, higher biological activity year round (enhancing biological controls), higher levels of water-stable aggregates and a positive carbon sink in incremental SOM. The positive impacts for society are: (i) more and cheaper food, (ii) reduced flood and drought-induced famine risks, (iii) a positive carbon sink in SOM and possible reductions in NO2 emissions, (iv) cleaner water and greater aquifer recharge due to reduced runoff, (v) cleaner air through effective elimination of dust as a product of cultivation (vi) less water pollution and greater aquifer recharge from reduced rainfall runoff, (vii) farm diesel consumption halved, (viii) reduced demand for (tropical) de-forestation, by permitting crop expansion on steeper lands, (ix) increased wildlife populations (skylarks, plovers, partridge and peccaries) and (x) an improved conservation mindset in farmers. It is notable that, in spite of successful practitioners in all European countries, mainstream adoption is still to come

  14. Who perceives they are smarter? Exploring the influence of student characteristics on student academic self-concept in physiology.

    PubMed

    Cooper, Katelyn M; Krieg, Anna; Brownell, Sara E

    2018-06-01

    Academic self-concept is one's perception of his or her ability in an academic domain and is formed by comparing oneself to other students. As college biology classrooms transition from lecturing to active learning, students interact more with each other and are likely comparing themselves more to other students in the class. Student characteristics can impact students' academic self-concept; however, this has been unexplored in the context of undergraduate biology. In this study, we explored whether student characteristics can affect academic self-concept in the context of an active learning college physiology course. Using a survey, students self-reported how smart they perceived themselves to be in the context of physiology relative to the whole class and relative to their groupmate, the student with whom they worked most closely in class. Using linear regression, we found that men and native English speakers had significantly higher academic self-concept relative to the whole class compared with women and nonnative English speakers. Using logistic regression, we found that men had significantly higher academic self-concept relative to their groupmate compared with women. Using constant comparison methods, we identified nine factors that students reported influenced how they determined whether they were more or less smart than their groupmate. Finally, we found that students were more likely to report participating more than their groupmate if they had a higher academic self-concept. These findings suggest that student characteristics can influence students' academic self-concept, which in turn may influence their participation in small-group discussion and their academic achievement in active learning classes.

  15. Incorporating geodiversity into conservation decisions.

    PubMed

    Comer, Patrick J; Pressey, Robert L; Hunter, Malcolm L; Schloss, Carrie A; Buttrick, Steven C; Heller, Nicole E; Tirpak, John M; Faith, Daniel P; Cross, Molly S; Shaffer, Mark L

    2015-06-01

    adaptation will be required to ensure that conservation efforts fully consider the value of geodiversity for supporting biodiversity in the face of a changing climate. © 2015 Society for Conservation Biology.

  16. The academic majors of students taking American soil science classes: 2004-2005 to 2013-2014 academic years

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Brevik, Eric C.; Vaughan, Karen L.; Parikh, Sanjai J.; Dolliver, Holly; Lindbo, David; Steffan, Joshua J.; Weindorf, David; McDaniel, Paul; Mbila, Monday; Edinger-Marshall, Susan

    2017-04-01

    Many papers have been written in recent years discussing the interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary aspects of soil science. Therefore, it would make sense that soil science courses would be taken by students in a wide array of academic majors. To investigate this, we collected data from eight different American universities on the declared academic majors of students enrolled in soil science courses over a 10 year time period (2004-2005 to 2013-2014 academic years). Data was collected for seven different classes taught at the undergraduate level: introduction to soil science, soil fertility, soil management, pedology, soil biology/microbiology, soil chemistry, and soil physics. Overall trends and trends for each class were evaluated. Generally, environmental science and crop science/horticulture/agronomy students were enrolled in soil science courses in the greatest numbers. Environmental science and engineering students showed rapid increases in enrollment over the 10 years of the study, while the number of crop science/ horticulture/ agronomy students declined. In the introduction to soil science classes, environmental science and crop science/ horticulture/ agronomy students were enrolled in the greatest numbers, while declared soil science majors only made up 6.6% of the average enrollment. The highest enrollments in soil fertility were crop science/ horticulture/ agronomy students and other agricultural students (all agricultural majors except crop science, horticulture, agronomy, or soil science). In both the soil management and pedology classes, environmental science and other agricultural students were the largest groups enrolled. Other agricultural students and students from other majors (all majors not otherwise expressly investigated) were the largest enrolled groups in soil biology/microbiology courses, and environmental science and soil science students were the largest enrolled groups in soil chemistry classes. Soil physics was the only class

  17. Fishers' knowledge and seahorse conservation in Brazil

    PubMed Central

    Rosa, Ierecê ML; Alves, Rômulo RN; Bonifácio, Kallyne M; Mourão, José S; Osório, Frederico M; Oliveira, Tacyana PR; Nottingham, Mara C

    2005-01-01

    From a conservationist perspective, seahorses are threatened fishes. Concomitantly, from a socioeconomic perspective, they represent a source of income to many fishing communities in developing countries. An integration between these two views requires, among other things, the recognition that seahorse fishers have knowledge and abilities that can assist the implementation of conservation strategies and of management plans for seahorses and their habitats. This paper documents the knowledge held by Brazilian fishers on the biology and ecology of the longsnout seahorse Hippocampus reidi. Its aims were to explore collaborative approaches to seahorse conservation and management in Brazil; to assess fishers' perception of seahorse biology and ecology, in the context evaluating potential management options; to increase fishers' involvement with seahorse conservation in Brazil. Data were obtained through questionnaires and interviews made during field surveys conducted in fishing villages located in the States of Piauí, Ceará, Paraíba, Maranhão, Pernambuco and Pará. We consider the following aspects as positive for the conservation of seahorses and their habitats in Brazil: fishers were willing to dialogue with researchers; although captures and/or trade of brooding seahorses occurred, most interviewees recognized the importance of reproduction to the maintenance of seahorses in the wild (and therefore of their source of income), and expressed concern over population declines; fishers associated the presence of a ventral pouch with reproduction in seahorses (regardless of them knowing which sex bears the pouch), and this may facilitate the construction of collaborative management options designed to eliminate captures of brooding specimens; fishers recognized microhabitats of importance to the maintenance of seahorse wild populations; fishers who kept seahorses in captivity tended to recognize the condtions as poor, and as being a cause of seahorse mortality. PMID

  18. Fishers' knowledge and seahorse conservation in Brazil.

    PubMed

    Rosa, Ierecê Ml; Alves, Rômulo Rn; Bonifácio, Kallyne M; Mourão, José S; Osório, Frederico M; Oliveira, Tacyana Pr; Nottingham, Mara C

    2005-12-08

    From a conservationist perspective, seahorses are threatened fishes. Concomitantly, from a socioeconomic perspective, they represent a source of income to many fishing communities in developing countries. An integration between these two views requires, among other things, the recognition that seahorse fishers have knowledge and abilities that can assist the implementation of conservation strategies and of management plans for seahorses and their habitats. This paper documents the knowledge held by Brazilian fishers on the biology and ecology of the longsnout seahorse Hippocampus reidi. Its aims were to explore collaborative approaches to seahorse conservation and management in Brazil; to assess fishers' perception of seahorse biology and ecology, in the context evaluating potential management options; to increase fishers' involvement with seahorse conservation in Brazil. Data were obtained through questionnaires and interviews made during field surveys conducted in fishing villages located in the States of Piauí, Ceará, Paraíba, Maranhão, Pernambuco and Pará. We consider the following aspects as positive for the conservation of seahorses and their habitats in Brazil: fishers were willing to dialogue with researchers; although captures and/or trade of brooding seahorses occurred, most interviewees recognized the importance of reproduction to the maintenance of seahorses in the wild (and therefore of their source of income), and expressed concern over population declines; fishers associated the presence of a ventral pouch with reproduction in seahorses (regardless of them knowing which sex bears the pouch), and this may facilitate the construction of collaborative management options designed to eliminate captures of brooding specimens; fishers recognized microhabitats of importance to the maintenance of seahorse wild populations; fishers who kept seahorses in captivity tended to recognize the condtions as poor, and as being a cause of seahorse mortality.

  19. Improving effectiveness of systematic conservation planning with density data.

    PubMed

    Veloz, Samuel; Salas, Leonardo; Altman, Bob; Alexander, John; Jongsomjit, Dennis; Elliott, Nathan; Ballard, Grant

    2015-08-01

    Systematic conservation planning aims to design networks of protected areas that meet conservation goals across large landscapes. The optimal design of these conservation networks is most frequently based on the modeled habitat suitability or probability of occurrence of species, despite evidence that model predictions may not be highly correlated with species density. We hypothesized that conservation networks designed using species density distributions more efficiently conserve populations of all species considered than networks designed using probability of occurrence models. To test this hypothesis, we used the Zonation conservation prioritization algorithm to evaluate conservation network designs based on probability of occurrence versus density models for 26 land bird species in the U.S. Pacific Northwest. We assessed the efficacy of each conservation network based on predicted species densities and predicted species diversity. High-density model Zonation rankings protected more individuals per species when networks protected the highest priority 10-40% of the landscape. Compared with density-based models, the occurrence-based models protected more individuals in the lowest 50% priority areas of the landscape. The 2 approaches conserved species diversity in similar ways: predicted diversity was higher in higher priority locations in both conservation networks. We conclude that both density and probability of occurrence models can be useful for setting conservation priorities but that density-based models are best suited for identifying the highest priority areas. Developing methods to aggregate species count data from unrelated monitoring efforts and making these data widely available through ecoinformatics portals such as the Avian Knowledge Network will enable species count data to be more widely incorporated into systematic conservation planning efforts. © 2015, Society for Conservation Biology.

  20. A system to evaluate the scientific quality of biological and restoration objectives using National Wildlife Refuge Comprehensive Conservation Plans as a case study

    USGS Publications Warehouse

    Schroeder, R.L.

    2006-01-01

    It is widely accepted that plans for restoration projects should contain specific, measurable, and science-based objectives to guide restoration efforts. The United States Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) is in the process of developing Comprehensive Conservation Plans (CCPs) for more than 500 units in the National Wildlife Refuge System (NWRS). These plans contain objectives for biological and ecosystem restoration efforts on the refuges. Based on USFWS policy, a system was developed to evaluate the scientific quality of such objectives based on three critical factors: (1) Is the objective specific, measurable, achievable, results-oriented, and time-fixed? (2) What is the extent of the rationale that explains the assumptions, logic, and reasoning for the objective? (3) How well was available science used in the development of the objective? The evaluation system scores each factor on a scale of 1 (poor) to 4 (excellent) according to detailed criteria. The biological and restoration objectives from CCPs published as of September 2004 (60 total) were evaluated. The overall average score for all biological and restoration objectives was 1.73. Average scores for each factor were: Factor 1-1.97; Factor 2-1.86; Factor 3-1.38. The overall scores increased from 1997 to 2004. Future restoration efforts may benefit by using this evaluation system during the process of plan development, to ensure that biological and restoration objectives are of the highest scientific quality possible prior to the implementation of restoration plans, and to allow for improved monitoring and adaptive management.

  1. Beginning to Teach Chemistry: How personal and academic characteristics of pre-service science teachers compare with their understandings of basic chemical ideas

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Kind, Vanessa; Morten Kind, Per

    2011-10-01

    Around 150 pre-service science teachers (PSTs) participated in a study comparing academic and personal characteristics with their misconceptions about basic chemical ideas taught to 11-16-year-olds, such as particle theory, change of state, conservation of mass, chemical bonding, mole calculations, and combustion reactions. Data, collected by questionnaire, indicate that despite all PSTs being regarded technically as 'academically well-qualified' for science teaching, biology and physics specialists have more extensive misconceptions than chemists. Two personal characteristics, PSTs' preferences for teaching as a subject 'specialist' or as a 'generalist' teaching all sciences and their self-confidence for working in these two domains, were assessed by responses to Likert-scale statements. Proportionately more biologists tend to be 'super-confident' generalists, while more physicists were specialists anxious about outside specialism teaching. No statistically significant relationships between personal characteristics and misconceptions were found, suggesting that chemistry may be being taught by confident PSTs with poor understandings of basic ideas. Furthermore, these data suggest that attending to PSTs' personal characteristics alongside other components of a teacher's professional knowledge base may contribute to creating more effective science teachers. The paper presents a novel way of considering PSTs' qualities for teaching that offers potential for further research and initial teacher training course development.

  2. Spatial education: improving conservation delivery through space-structured decision making

    USGS Publications Warehouse

    Moore, Clinton T.; Shaffer, Terry L.; Gannon, Jill J.

    2013-01-01

    Adaptive management is a form of structured decision making designed to guide management of natural resource systems when their behaviors are uncertain. Where decision making can be replicated across units of a landscape, learning can be accelerated, and biological processes can be understood in a larger spatial context. Broad-based partnerships among land management agencies, exemplified by Landscape Conservation Cooperatives (conservation partnerships created through the U.S. Department of the Interior), are potentially ideal environments for implementing spatially structured adaptive management programs.

  3. Accommodating those Most at Risk. Responding to a Mismatch in Programme Selection Criteria and Foundation Biology Performance

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Kirby, Nicola F.; Dempster, Edith R.

    2015-12-01

    In South Africa, foundation programmes are a well-established alternative access route to tertiary science study for educationally disadvantaged students. Student access to, and performance in, one such foundation programme has been researched by the authors seeking opportunities to improve student retention. The biology module in particular has been recognised to place students at risk of failing the foundation programme, thereby reducing throughput into mainstream science programmes. This study uses decision tree analysis to provide a detailed description of foundation biology student performance so that points of weakness and opportunities for remedial action may be pinpointed. While students' alternative-entry selection scores have previously been found to most effectively account for performance in the programme as a whole, no similar positive relationship was identified for any subgroup of students in the foundation biology module. Conversely, academic language proficiency in the medium of instruction (English), formerly found to play no role in overall student performance, was revealed as primary in explaining achievement in foundation biology, most adversely affecting students rendered particularly vulnerable by an additional academic and/or socio-economic disadvantage. A pass in the stand-alone foundation academic literacy module did not necessarily correspond to a pass in biology. Compromised by educational disadvantage, compounded by a mismatch in programme selection criteria and inadequate academic literacy support, discipline-specific, fundamental literacy development in the biology curriculum is proposed to enable students towards epistemic access in the module. Pending this intervention, formal access to mainstream study is unlikely for the foundation students most at risk of failure.

  4. Academic Capitalism and Academic Culture: A Case Study

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Mendoza, Pilar; Berger, Joseph B.

    2008-01-01

    This case study investigated the impact of academic capitalism on academic culture by examining the perspectives of faculty members in an American academic department with significant industrial funding. The results of this study indicate that faculty members believe that the broad integrity of the academic culture remains unaffected in this…

  5. An Interdisciplinary Education Initiative to Promote Blood Conservation in Cardiac Surgery.

    PubMed

    Goda, Tamara S; Sherrod, Brad; Kindell, Linda

    Transfusion practices vary extensively for patients undergoing cardiac surgical procedures, leading to high utilization of blood products despite evidence that transfusions negatively impact outcomes. An important factor affecting transfusion practice is recognition of the importance of teams in cardiac surgery care delivery. This article reports an evidenced-based practice (EBP) initiative constructed using the Society of Thoracic Surgery (STS) 2011 Blood Conservation Clinical Practice Guidelines (CPGs) to standardize transfusion practice across the cardiac surgery team at a large academic medical center. Project outcomes included: a) Improvement in clinician knowledge related to the STS Blood Conservation CPGs; and b) Decreased blood product utilization for patients undergoing cardiac surgical procedures. Participants' scores reflected an improvement in the overall knowledge of the STS CPGs noting a 31.1% (p = 0.012) increase in the number of participants whose practice reflected the Blood Conservation CPGs post intervention. Additionally, there was a reduction in overall blood product utilization for all patients undergoing cardiac surgery procedures post intervention (p = 0.005). Interdisciplinary education based on the STS Blood Conservation CPGs is an effective way to reduce transfusion practice variability and decrease utilization of blood products during cardiac surgery.

  6. The effectiveness of surrogate taxa to conserve freshwater biodiversity.

    PubMed

    Stewart, David R; Underwood, Zachary E; Rahel, Frank J; Walters, Annika W

    2018-02-01

    Establishing protected areas has long been an effective conservation strategy and is often based on readily surveyed species. The potential of any freshwater taxa to be a surrogate for other aquatic groups has not been explored fully. We compiled occurrence data on 72 species of freshwater fishes, amphibians, mussels, and aquatic reptiles for the Great Plains, Wyoming (U.S.A.). We used hierarchical Bayesian multispecies mixture models and MaxEnt models to describe species' distributions and the program Zonation to identify areas of conservation priority for each aquatic group. The landscape-scale factors that best characterized aquatic species' distributions differed among groups. There was low agreement and congruence among taxa-specific conservation priorities (<20%), meaning no surrogate priority areas would include or protect the best habitats of other aquatic taxa. Common, wideranging aquatic species were included in taxa-specific priority areas, but rare freshwater species were not included. Thus, the development of conservation priorities based on a single freshwater aquatic group would not protect all species in the other aquatic groups. © 2017 Society for Conservation Biology.

  7. Giant panda conservation science: how far we have come.

    PubMed

    Swaisgood, Ronald R; Wei, Fuwen; Wildt, David E; Kouba, Andrew J; Zhang, Zejun

    2010-04-23

    The giant panda is a conservation icon, but science has been slow to take up its cause in earnest. In the past decade, researchers have been making up for lost time, as reflected in the flurry of activity reported at the symposium Conservation Science for Giant Pandas and Their Habitat at the 2009 International Congress for Conservation Biology (ICCB) in Beijing. In reports addressing topics ranging from spatial ecology to molecular censusing, from habitat recovery in newly established reserves to earthquake-induced habitat loss, from new insights into factors limiting carrying capacity to the uncertain effects of climate change, this symposium displayed the vibrant and blossoming application of science to giant panda conservation. Collectively, we find that we have come a long way, but we also reach an all-too-familiar conclusion: the more we know, the more challenges are revealed. While many earlier findings are supported, many of our assumptions are debatable. Here we discuss recent advancements in conservation science for giant pandas and suggest that the way forward is more direct application of emerging science to management and policy.

  8. Official opening remarks: bird conservation in Canada

    Treesearch

    Michael S. W. Bradstreet

    1997-01-01

    It is my pleasure, as Executive Director of Bird Studies Canada (BSC), to take part in the opening ceremonies of the Second International Symposium: Biology and Conservation of Owls of the Northern Hemisphere. It is entirely appropriate that this symposium should take place in one of the colder cities in the Northern Hemisphere, in mid-winter, and it is fitting that...

  9. A Survey on Energy Conserving Mechanisms for the Internet of Things: Wireless Networking Aspects.

    PubMed

    Abbas, Zeeshan; Yoon, Wonyong

    2015-09-25

    The Internet of Things (IoT) is an emerging key technology for future industries and everyday lives of people, where a myriad of battery operated sensors, actuators, and smart objects are connected to the Internet to provide services such as mobile healthcare, intelligent transport system, environmental monitoring, etc. Since energy efficiency is of utmost importance to these battery constrained IoT devices, IoT-related standards and research works have focused on the device energy conserving issues. This paper presents a comprehensive survey on energy conserving issues and solutions in using diverse wireless radio access technologies for IoT connectivity, e.g., the 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) machine type communications, IEEE 802.11ah, Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE), and Z-Wave. We look into the literature in broad areas of standardization, academic research, and industry development, and structurally summarize the energy conserving solutions based on several technical criteria. We also propose future research directions regarding energy conserving issues in wireless networking-based IoT.

  10. Industrial methodology for process verification in research (IMPROVER): toward systems biology verification

    PubMed Central

    Meyer, Pablo; Hoeng, Julia; Rice, J. Jeremy; Norel, Raquel; Sprengel, Jörg; Stolle, Katrin; Bonk, Thomas; Corthesy, Stephanie; Royyuru, Ajay; Peitsch, Manuel C.; Stolovitzky, Gustavo

    2012-01-01

    Motivation: Analyses and algorithmic predictions based on high-throughput data are essential for the success of systems biology in academic and industrial settings. Organizations, such as companies and academic consortia, conduct large multi-year scientific studies that entail the collection and analysis of thousands of individual experiments, often over many physical sites and with internal and outsourced components. To extract maximum value, the interested parties need to verify the accuracy and reproducibility of data and methods before the initiation of such large multi-year studies. However, systematic and well-established verification procedures do not exist for automated collection and analysis workflows in systems biology which could lead to inaccurate conclusions. Results: We present here, a review of the current state of systems biology verification and a detailed methodology to address its shortcomings. This methodology named ‘Industrial Methodology for Process Verification in Research’ or IMPROVER, consists on evaluating a research program by dividing a workflow into smaller building blocks that are individually verified. The verification of each building block can be done internally by members of the research program or externally by ‘crowd-sourcing’ to an interested community. www.sbvimprover.com Implementation: This methodology could become the preferred choice to verify systems biology research workflows that are becoming increasingly complex and sophisticated in industrial and academic settings. Contact: gustavo@us.ibm.com PMID:22423044

  11. The Colorado Plateau IV: shaping conservation through science and management

    USGS Publications Warehouse

    Wakeling, Brian F.; Sisk, Thomas D.; van Riper, Charles

    2010-01-01

    Roughly centered on the Four Corners region of the southwestern United States, the Colorado Plateau covers some 130,000 square miles of sparsely vegetated plateaus, mesas, canyons, arches, and cliffs in Arizona, Utah, Colorado, and New Mexico. With elevations ranging from 3,000 to 14,000 feet, the natural systems found within the plateau are dramatically varied, from desert to alpine conditions. This book focuses on the integration of science and resource management issues in this unique and highly varied environment. Broken into three subsections, this volume addresses conservation biology, biophysical resources, and inventory and monitoring concerns. The chapters range in content, addressing conservation issues–past, present, and future–on the Colorado Plateau, measurement of human impacts on resources, grazing and wildland-urban interfaces, and tools and methods for monitoring habitats and species. An informative read for people interested in the conservation and natural history of the region, the book will also serve as a valuable reference for those people engaged in the management of cultural and biological resources of the Colorado Plateau, as well as scientists interested in methods and tools for land and resource management throughout the West.

  12. Identifying taxonomic and functional surrogates for spring biodiversity conservation.

    PubMed

    Jyväsjärvi, Jussi; Virtanen, Risto; Ilmonen, Jari; Paasivirta, Lauri; Muotka, Timo

    2018-02-27

    Surrogate approaches are widely used to estimate overall taxonomic diversity for conservation planning. Surrogate taxa are frequently selected based on rarity or charisma, whereas selection through statistical modeling has been applied rarely. We used boosted-regression-tree models (BRT) fitted to biological data from 165 springs to identify bryophyte and invertebrate surrogates for taxonomic and functional diversity of boreal springs. We focused on these 2 groups because they are well known and abundant in most boreal springs. The best indicators of taxonomic versus functional diversity differed. The bryophyte Bryum weigelii and the chironomid larva Paratrichocladius skirwithensis best indicated taxonomic diversity, whereas the isopod Asellus aquaticus and the chironomid Macropelopia spp. were the best surrogates of functional diversity. In a scoring algorithm for priority-site selection, taxonomic surrogates performed only slightly better than random selection for all spring-dwelling taxa, but they were very effective in representing spring specialists, providing a distinct improvement over random solutions. However, the surrogates for taxonomic diversity represented functional diversity poorly and vice versa. When combined with cross-taxon complementarity analyses, surrogate selection based on statistical modeling provides a promising approach for identifying groundwater-dependent ecosystems of special conservation value, a key requirement of the EU Water Framework Directive. © 2018 Society for Conservation Biology.

  13. The biogeography of globally threatened seabirds and island conservation opportunities.

    PubMed

    Spatz, Dena R; Newton, Kelly M; Heinz, Reina; Tershy, Bernie; Holmes, Nick D; Butchart, Stuart H M; Croll, Donald A

    2014-10-01

    Seabirds are the most threatened group of marine animals; 29% of species are at some risk of extinction. Significant threats to seabirds occur on islands where they breed, but in many cases, effective island conservation can mitigate these threats. To guide island-based seabird conservation actions, we identified all islands with extant or extirpated populations of the 98 globally threatened seabird species, as recognized on the International Union for Conservation of Nature Red List, and quantified the presence of threatening invasive species, protected areas, and human populations. We matched these results with island attributes to highlight feasible island conservation opportunities. We identified 1362 threatened breeding seabird populations on 968 islands. On 803 (83%) of these islands, we identified threatening invasive species (20%), incomplete protected area coverage (23%), or both (40%). Most islands with threatened seabirds are amenable to island-wide conservation action because they are small (57% were <1 km(2) ), uninhabited (74%), and occur in high- or middle-income countries (96%). Collectively these attributes make islands with threatened seabirds a rare opportunity for effective conservation at scale. © 2014 Society for Conservation Biology.

  14. Extrafloral nectar in an apple ecosystem to enhance biological control

    USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

    A common goal of conservation biological control is to enhance biodiversity to increase abundance and effectiveness of predators and parasitoids. Although many studies report an increase in abundance of natural enemies, it has been difficult to document increases in rates of biological control. To...

  15. Status, ecology, and conservation of the southwestern willow flycatcher

    Treesearch

    Deborah M. Finch; Scott H. Stoleson

    2000-01-01

    This publication was prepared in response to a need expressed by southwestern agencies and organizations for a comprehensive assessment of the population status, history, biology, ecology, habitats, threats, and conservation of the southwestern willow flycatcher (Empidonax traillii extimus). The southwestern willow flycatcher was federally listed as...

  16. Looking for robust properties in the growth of an academic network: the case of the Uruguayan biological research community.

    PubMed

    Cabana, Alvaro; Mizraji, Eduardo; Pomi, Andrés; Valle-Lisboa, Juan Carlos

    2008-04-01

    Graph-theoretical methods have recently been used to analyze certain properties of natural and social networks. In this work, we have investigated the early stages in the growth of a Uruguayan academic network, the Biology Area of the Programme for the Development of Basic Science (PEDECIBA). This transparent social network is a territory for the exploration of the reliability of clustering methods that can potentially be used when we are confronted with opaque natural systems that provide us with a limited spectrum of observables (happens in research on the relations between brain, thought and language). From our social net, we constructed two different graph representations based on the relationships among researchers revealed by their co-participation in Master's thesis committees. We studied these networks at different times and found that they achieve connectedness early in their evolution and exhibit the small-world property (i.e. high clustering with short path lengths). The data seem compatible with power law distributions of connectivity, clustering coefficients and betweenness centrality. Evidence of preferential attachment of new nodes and of new links between old nodes was also found in both representations. These results suggest that there are topological properties observed throughout the growth of the network that do not depend on the representations we have chosen but reflect intrinsic properties of the academic collective under study. Researchers in PEDECIBA are classified according to their specialties. We analysed the community structure detected by a standard algorithm in both representations. We found that much of the pre-specified structure is recovered and part of the mismatches can be attributed to convergent interests between scientists from different sub-disciplines. This result shows the potentiality of some clustering methods for the analysis of partially known natural systems.

  17. Biological Dual-Use Research and Synthetic Biology of Yeast.

    PubMed

    Cirigliano, Angela; Cenciarelli, Orlando; Malizia, Andrea; Bellecci, Carlo; Gaudio, Pasquale; Lioj, Michele; Rinaldi, Teresa

    2017-04-01

    In recent years, the publication of the studies on the transmissibility in mammals of the H5N1 influenza virus and synthetic genomes has triggered heated and concerned debate within the community of scientists on biological dual-use research; these papers have raised the awareness that, in some cases, fundamental research could be directed to harmful experiments, with the purpose of developing a weapon that could be used by a bioterrorist. Here is presented an overview regarding the dual-use concept and its related international agreements which underlines the work of the Australia Group (AG) Export Control Regime. It is hoped that the principles and activities of the AG, that focuses on export control of chemical and biological dual-use materials, will spread and become well known to academic researchers in different countries, as they exchange biological materials (i.e. plasmids, strains, antibodies, nucleic acids) and scientific papers. To this extent, and with the aim of drawing the attention of the scientific community that works with yeast to the so called Dual-Use Research of Concern, this article reports case studies on biological dual-use research and discusses a synthetic biology applied to the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae, namely the construction of the first eukaryotic synthetic chromosome of yeast and the use of yeast cells as a factory to produce opiates. Since this organism is considered harmless and is not included in any list of biological agents, yeast researchers should take simple actions in the future to avoid the sharing of strains and advanced technology with suspicious individuals.

  18. Landscape simplification reduces classical biological control and crop yield.

    PubMed

    Grab, Heather; Danforth, Bryan; Poveda, Katja; Loeb, Greg

    2018-03-01

    Agricultural intensification resulting in the simplification of agricultural landscapes is known to negatively impact the delivery of key ecosystem services such as the biological control of crop pests. Both conservation and classical biological control may be influenced by the landscape context in which they are deployed; yet studies examining the role of landscape structure in the establishment and success of introduced natural enemies and their interactions with native communities are lacking. In this study, we investigated the relationship between landscape simplification, classical and conservation biological control services and importantly, the outcome of these interactions for crop yield. We showed that agricultural simplification at the landscape scale is associated with an overall reduction in parasitism rates of crop pests. Additionally, only introduced parasitoids were identified, and no native parasitoids were found in crop habitat, irrespective of agricultural landscape simplification. Pest densities in the crop were lower in landscapes with greater proportions of semi-natural habitats. Furthermore, farms with less semi-natural cover in the landscape and consequently, higher pest numbers, had lower yields than farms in less agriculturally dominated landscapes. Our study demonstrates the importance of landscape scale agricultural simplification in mediating the success of biological control programs and highlights the potential risks to native natural enemies in classical biological control programs against native insects. Our results represent an important contribution to an understanding of the landscape-mediated impacts on crop yield that will be essential to implementing effective policies that simultaneously conserve biodiversity and ecosystem services. © 2018 by the Ecological Society of America.

  19. Retrovirus purification: method that conserves envelope glycoprotein and maximizes infectivity.

    PubMed Central

    McGrath, M; Witte, O; Pincus, T; Weissman, I L

    1978-01-01

    A Sepharose 4B chromatographic method for purification of retroviruses is described which was less time consuming, increased purified virus yields, conserved viral glycoprotein, and increased recovery of biological infectivity in comparison with conventional sucrose gradient ultracentrifugation techniques. Images PMID:205680

  20. Conservation genomics of threatened animal species.

    PubMed

    Steiner, Cynthia C; Putnam, Andrea S; Hoeck, Paquita E A; Ryder, Oliver A

    2013-01-01

    The genomics era has opened up exciting possibilities in the field of conservation biology by enabling genomic analyses of threatened species that previously were limited to model organisms. Next-generation sequencing (NGS) and the collection of genome-wide data allow for more robust studies of the demographic history of populations and adaptive variation associated with fitness and local adaptation. Genomic analyses can also advance management efforts for threatened wild and captive populations by identifying loci contributing to inbreeding depression and disease susceptibility, and predicting fitness consequences of introgression. However, the development of genomic tools in wild species still carries multiple challenges, particularly those associated with computational and sampling constraints. This review provides an overview of the most significant applications of NGS and the implications and limitations of genomic studies in conservation.

  1. Effects of preference heterogeneity among landowners on spatial conservation prioritization.

    PubMed

    Nielsen, Anne Sofie Elberg; Strange, Niels; Bruun, Hans Henrik; Jacobsen, Jette Bredahl

    2017-06-01

    The participation of private landowners in conservation is crucial to efficient biodiversity conservation. This is especially the case in settings where the share of private ownership is large and the economic costs associated with land acquisition are high. We used probit regression analysis and historical participation data to examine the likelihood of participation of Danish forest owners in a voluntary conservation program. We used the results to spatially predict the likelihood of participation of all forest owners in Denmark. We merged spatial data on the presence of forest, cadastral information on participation contracts, and individual-level socioeconomic information about the forest owners and their households. We included predicted participation in a probability model for species survival. Uninformed and informed (included land owner characteristics) models were then incorporated into a spatial prioritization for conservation of unmanaged forests. The choice models are based on sociodemographic data on the entire population of Danish forest owners and historical data on their participation in conservation schemes. Inclusion in the model of information on private landowners' willingness to supply land for conservation yielded at intermediate budget levels up to 30% more expected species coverage than the uninformed prioritization scheme. Our landowner-choice model provides an example of moving toward more implementable conservation planning. © 2016 Society for Conservation Biology.

  2. Typology of public outreach for biodiversity conservation projects in Spain.

    PubMed

    Jiménez, Amanda; Iniesta-Arandia, Irene; Muñoz-Santos, Maria; Martín-López, Berta; Jacobson, Susan K; Benayas, Javier

    2014-06-01

    Conservation education and outreach programs are a key approach to promote public understanding of the importance of biodiversity conservation. We reviewed 85 biodiversity conservation projects supported by the Spanish Ministry of Environment's Biodiversity Foundation. Through content analysis and descriptive statistics, we examined how the projects carried out communication, education, and public awareness and participation (CEPA) actions. We also used multivariate statistical analysis to develop a typology of 4 classes of biodiversity conservation projects on the basis of CEPA implementation. The classifications were delineated by purpose of CEPA, level of integration of CEPA actions, type of CEPA goals, main CEPA stakeholders, and aim of conservation. Our results confirm the existence of 2 key positions: CEPA has intrinsic value (i.e., they supposed the implementation of any CEPA action indirectly supported conservation) and CEPA is an instrument for achieving conservation goals. We also found that most CEPA actions addressed general audiences and school children, ignored minority groups and women, and did not include evaluation. The characteristics of the 4 types of projects and their frequency of implementation in the sample reflect the need for better integration of different types of actions (communication, education, and participation) and improved fostering of participation of multiple stakeholders in developing policy and implementing management strategies. © 2014 Society for Conservation Biology.

  3. Integrating habitat status, human population pressure, and protection status into biodiversity conservation priority setting

    USGS Publications Warehouse

    Shi, Hua; Singh, Ashbindu; Kant, S.; Zhu, Zhiliang; Waller, E.

    2005-01-01

    Priority setting is an essential component of biodiversity conservation. Existing methods to identify priority areas for conservation have focused almost entirely on biological factors. We suggest a new relative ranking method for identifying priority conservation areas that integrates both biological and social aspects. It is based on the following criteria: the habitat's status, human population pressure, human efforts to protect habitat, and number of endemic plant and vertebrate species. We used this method to rank 25 hotspots, 17 megadiverse countries, and the hotspots within each megadiverse country. We used consistent, comprehensive, georeferenced, and multiband data sets and analytical remote sensing and geographic information system tools to quantify habitat status, human population pressure, and protection status. The ranking suggests that the Philippines, Atlantic Forest, Mediterranean Basin, Caribbean Islands, Caucasus, and Indo-Burma are the hottest hotspots and that China, the Philippines, and India are the hottest megadiverse countries. The great variation in terms of habitat, protected areas, and population pressure among the hotspots, the megadiverse countries, and the hotspots within the same country suggests the need for hotspot- and country-specific conservation policies.

  4. Who Perceives They Are Smarter? Exploring the Influence of Student Characteristics on Student Academic Self-Concept in Physiology

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Cooper, Katelyn M.; Krieg, Anna; Brownell, Sara E.

    2018-01-01

    Academic self-concept is one's perception of his or her ability in an academic domain and is formed by comparing oneself to other students. As college biology classrooms transition from lecturing to active learning, students interact more with each other and are likely comparing themselves more to other students in the class. Student…

  5. Emerging issues in biodiversity & conservation management: The need for a palaeoecological perspective

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Froyd, C. A.; Willis, K. J.

    2008-09-01

    The study of Quaternary environmental change is directly applicable to on-going issues of global conservation. Palaeoecological research techniques provide the tools to address some of the key questions presently being asked by conservation ecologists and land management organizations. But is this type of analysis currently being utilized to its full potential? Are the results of palaeoenvironmental analyses routinely applied to practical issues of natural resource management, and if not what can be done to expand the application of this research within the conservation community? This paper reviews recent developments in the application of the analysis of late Quaternary environmental change to key environmental issues of biodiversity and conservation management and examines areas which could be strengthened in the future including: (i) determination of baselines and natural ecosystem variability; (ii) understanding ecological thresholds and resilience; (iii) climate change conservation strategies; (iv) biological invasions; and (v) conservation and culture.

  6. Conserving tropical biodiversity via market forces and spatial targeting

    PubMed Central

    Bateman, Ian J.; Coombes, Emma; Fitzherbert, Emily; Binner, Amy; Bad’ura, Tomáš; Carbone, Chris; Fisher, Brendan; Naidoo, Robin; Watkinson, Andrew R.

    2015-01-01

    The recent report from the Secretariat of the Convention on Biological Diversity [(2010) Global Biodiversity Outlook 3] acknowledges that ongoing biodiversity loss necessitates swift, radical action. Protecting undisturbed lands, although vital, is clearly insufficient, and the key role of unprotected, private land owned is being increasingly recognized. Seeking to avoid common assumptions of a social planner backed by government interventions, the present work focuses on the incentives of the individual landowner. We use detailed data to show that successful conservation on private land depends on three factors: conservation effectiveness (impact on target species), private costs (especially reductions in production), and private benefits (the extent to which conservation activities provide compensation, for example, by enhancing the value of remaining production). By examining the high-profile issue of palm-oil production in a major tropical biodiversity hotspot, we show that the levels of both conservation effectiveness and private costs are inherently spatial; varying the location of conservation activities can radically change both their effectiveness and private cost implications. We also use an economic choice experiment to show that consumers' willingness to pay for conservation-grade palm-oil products has the potential to incentivize private producers sufficiently to engage in conservation activities, supporting vulnerable International Union for Conservation of Nature Red Listed species. However, these incentives vary according to the scale and efficiency of production and the extent to which conservation is targeted to optimize its cost-effectiveness. Our integrated, interdisciplinary approach shows how strategies to harness the power of the market can usefully complement existing—and to-date insufficient—approaches to conservation. PMID:26077906

  7. Conserving tropical biodiversity via market forces and spatial targeting.

    PubMed

    Bateman, Ian J; Coombes, Emma; Fitzherbert, Emily; Binner, Amy; Bad'ura, Tomáš; Carbone, Chris; Fisher, Brendan; Naidoo, Robin; Watkinson, Andrew R

    2015-06-16

    The recent report from the Secretariat of the Convention on Biological Diversity [(2010) Global Biodiversity Outlook 3] acknowledges that ongoing biodiversity loss necessitates swift, radical action. Protecting undisturbed lands, although vital, is clearly insufficient, and the key role of unprotected, private land owned is being increasingly recognized. Seeking to avoid common assumptions of a social planner backed by government interventions, the present work focuses on the incentives of the individual landowner. We use detailed data to show that successful conservation on private land depends on three factors: conservation effectiveness (impact on target species), private costs (especially reductions in production), and private benefits (the extent to which conservation activities provide compensation, for example, by enhancing the value of remaining production). By examining the high-profile issue of palm-oil production in a major tropical biodiversity hotspot, we show that the levels of both conservation effectiveness and private costs are inherently spatial; varying the location of conservation activities can radically change both their effectiveness and private cost implications. We also use an economic choice experiment to show that consumers' willingness to pay for conservation-grade palm-oil products has the potential to incentivize private producers sufficiently to engage in conservation activities, supporting vulnerable International Union for Conservation of Nature Red Listed species. However, these incentives vary according to the scale and efficiency of production and the extent to which conservation is targeted to optimize its cost-effectiveness. Our integrated, interdisciplinary approach shows how strategies to harness the power of the market can usefully complement existing--and to-date insufficient--approaches to conservation.

  8. Comparative Effectiveness on Cognitive Asthma Outcomes of the SHARP Academic Asthma Health Education and Counseling Program and a Non-Academic Program

    PubMed Central

    Kintner, Eileen; Cook, Gwendolyn; Marti, C. Nathan; Stoddard, Debbie; Gomes, Melissa; Harmon, Phyllis; Van Egeren, Laurie A.

    2018-01-01

    Asthma morbidity and mortality is higher among older school-age children and early adolescents than other age groups across the lifespan. NIH recommended expanding asthma education to schools and community settings to meet cognitive outcomes that have an impact on morbidity and mortality. Guided by the acceptance of asthma model, an evidence-guided, comprehensive school-based academic health education and counseling program, Staying Healthy—Asthma Responsible & Prepared™ (SHARP), was developed. The program complements existing school curricula by integrating biology, psychology, and sociology content with related spelling, math, and reading and writing assignments. Feasibility, benefits, and efficacy have been established. We compared the effectiveness of SHARP to a non-academic program, Open Airways for Schools, in improving asthma knowledge and reasoning about symptom management. A two-group, cluster-randomized, single-blinded design was used with a sample of 205 students in grades 4–5 with asthma and their caregivers. Schools were matched prior to randomization. The unit of analysis was the student. Certified elementary school teachers delivered the programs during instructional time. Data were collected from student/caregiver dyads at baseline and at 1, 12, and 24 months after the intervention. In multilevel modeling, students enrolled in the academic SHARP program demonstrated significant (p<.001) improvement in asthma knowledge and reasoning over students enrolled in the non-academic program. Knowledge advantages were retained at 24 months. Findings support delivery in schools of the SHARP academic health education program for students with asthma. PMID:26296595

  9. Comparative Effectiveness on Cognitive Asthma Outcomes of the SHARP Academic Asthma Health Education and Counseling Program and a Non-Academic Program.

    PubMed

    Kintner, Eileen; Cook, Gwendolyn; Marti, C Nathan; Stoddard, Debbie; Gomes, Melissa; Harmon, Phyllis; Van Egeren, Laurie A

    2015-12-01

    Asthma morbidity and mortality is higher among older school-age children and early adolescents than other age groups across the lifespan. NIH recommended expanding asthma education to schools and community settings to meet cognitive outcomes that have an impact on morbidity and mortality. Guided by the acceptance of asthma model, an evidence-guided, comprehensive school-based academic health education and counseling program, Staying Healthy-Asthma Responsible & Prepared™ (SHARP), was developed. The program complements existing school curricula by integrating biology, psychology, and sociology content with related spelling, math, and reading and writing assignments. Feasibility, benefits, and efficacy have been established. We compared the effectiveness of SHARP to a non-academic program, Open Airways for Schools, in improving asthma knowledge and reasoning about symptom management. A two-group, cluster-randomized, single-blinded design was used with a sample of 205 students in grades 4-5 with asthma and their caregivers. Schools were matched prior to randomization. The unit of analysis was the student. Certified elementary school teachers delivered the programs during instructional time. Data were collected from student/caregiver dyads at baseline and at 1, 12, and 24 months after the intervention. In multilevel modeling, students enrolled in the academic SHARP program demonstrated significant (p< .001) improvement in asthma knowledge and reasoning over students enrolled in the non-academic program. Knowledge advantages were retained at 24 months. Findings support delivery in schools of the SHARP academic health education program for students with asthma. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

  10. Research priorities for conservation and natural resource management in Oceania's small-island developing states.

    PubMed

    Weeks, R; Adams, V M

    2018-02-01

    For conservation science to effectively inform management, research must focus on creating the scientific knowledge required to solve conservation problems. We identified research questions that, if answered, would increase the effectiveness of conservation and natural resource management practice and policy in Oceania's small-island developing states. We asked conservation professionals from academia, governmental, and nongovernmental organizations across the region to propose such questions and then identify which were of high priority in an online survey. We compared the high-priority questions with research questions identified globally and for other regions. Of 270 questions proposed by respondents, 38 were considered high priority, including: What are the highest priority areas for conservation in the face of increasing resource demand and climate change? How should marine protected areas be networked to account for connectivity and climate change? What are the most effective fisheries management policies that contribute to sustainable coral reef fisheries? High-priority questions related to the particular challenges of undertaking conservation on small-island developing states and the need for a research agenda that is responsive to the sociocultural context of Oceania. Research priorities for Oceania relative to elsewhere were broadly similar but differed in specific issues relevant to particular conservation contexts. These differences emphasize the importance of involving local practitioners in the identification of research priorities. Priorities were reasonably well aligned among sectoral groups. Only a few questions were widely considered answered, which may indicate a smaller-than-expected knowledge-action gap. We believe these questions can be used to strengthen research collaborations between scientists and practitioners working to further conservation and natural resource management in this region. © 2017 The Authors. Conservation Biology

  11. Scenario Analysis of Soil and Water Conservation in Xiejia Watershed Based on Improved CSLE Model

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Liu, Jieying; Yu, Ming; Wu, Yong; Huang, Yao; Nie, Yawen

    2018-01-01

    According to the existing research results and related data, use the scenario analysis method, to evaluate the effects of different soil and water conservation measures on soil erosion in a small watershed. Based on the analysis of soil erosion scenarios and model simulation budgets in the study area, it is found that all scenarios simulated soil erosion rates are lower than the present situation of soil erosion in 2013. Soil and water conservation measures are more effective in reducing soil erosion than soil and water conservation biological measures and soil and water conservation tillage measures.

  12. The influence of pre-admission tracks on students' academic performance in a medical programme: Universiti Sains Malaysia.

    PubMed

    Arzuman, H; Ja'afar, R; Fakri, N M R M

    2012-11-01

    An aim of medical schools is to select the most suitable candidates who are more likely to become good doctors, fulfilling societal expectations. It is imperative to better understand the influence of 'selection' variables on students' academic performance. We conducted a retrospective record review (3R) to examine the predictive power of pre-admission tracks on academic performance in the medical programme at the Universiti Sains Malaysia. Data were collected on medical graduates' of the university for the years 2003 through 2007. This represented 805 graduates after exclusion of 42 for incomplete and inconsistent data related to the analysis. A total of 95% of the graduates were included in this analysis; 67% were female. Of the 805 graduates, 75% were from the Matriculation course track, 22% from the High School Certificate (HSC) course and 1% from other pre-admission tracks. There was 2% missing information. The majority (79%) were Biology majors and 13% were Physics majors. Graduates from the HSC course and with a Biology background demonstrated a strong correlation with positive academic performance (P < 0.05) compared with other groups. The HSC track and Biology background may be helpful for the medical school in selecting future students.

  13. Designing systematic conservation assessments that promote effective implementation: best practice from South Africa.

    PubMed

    Knight, Andrew T; Driver, Amanda; Cowling, Richard M; Maze, Kristal; Desmet, Philip G; Lombard, Amanda T; Rouget, Mathieu; Botha, Mark A; Boshoff, Andre F; Castley, J Guy; Goodman, Peter S; Mackinnon, Kathy; Pierce, Shirley M; Sims-Castley, Rebecca; Stewart, Warrick I; von Hase, Amrei

    2006-06-01

    Systematic conservation assessment and conservation planning are two distinct fields of conservation science often confused as one and the same. Systematic conservation assessment is the technical, often computer-based, identification of priority areas for conservation. Conservation planning is composed of a systematic conservation assessment coupled with processes for development of an implementation strategy and stakeholder collaboration. The peer-reviewed conservation biology literature abounds with studies analyzing the performance of assessments (e.g., area-selection techniques). This information alone, however can never deliver effective conservation action; it informs conservation planning. Examples of how to translate systematic assessment outputs into knowledge and then use them for "doing" conservation are rare. South Africa has received generous international and domestic funding for regional conservation planning since the mid-1990s. We reviewed eight South African conservation planning processes and identified key ingredients of best practice for undertaking systematic conservation assessments in a way that facilitates implementing conservation action. These key ingredients include the design of conservation planning processes, skills for conservation assessment teams, collaboration with stakeholders, and interpretation and mainstreaming of products (e.g., maps) for stakeholders. Social learning institutions are critical to the successful operationalization of assessments within broader conservation planning processes and should include not only conservation planners but also diverse interest groups, including rural landowners, politicians, and government employees.

  14. Expanding Kenya's protected areas under the Convention on Biological Diversity to maximize coverage of plant diversity.

    PubMed

    Scherer, Laura; Curran, Michael; Alvarez, Miguel

    2017-04-01

    Biodiversity is highly valuable and critically threatened by anthropogenic degradation of the natural environment. In response, governments have pledged enhanced protected-area coverage, which requires scarce biological data to identify conservation priorities. To assist this effort, we mapped conservation priorities in Kenya based on maximizing alpha (species richness) and beta diversity (species turnover) of plant communities while minimizing economic costs. We used plant-cover percentages from vegetation surveys of over 2000 plots to build separate models for each type of diversity. Opportunity and management costs were based on literature data and interviews with conservation organizations. Species richness was predicted to be highest in a belt from Lake Turkana through Mount Kenya and in a belt parallel to the coast, and species turnover was predicted to be highest in western Kenya and along the coast. Our results suggest the expanding reserve network should focus on the coast and northeastern provinces of Kenya, where new biological surveys would also fill biological data gaps. Meeting the Convention on Biological Diversity target of 17% terrestrial coverage by 2020 would increase representation of Kenya's plant communities by 75%. However, this would require about 50 times more funds than Kenya has received thus far from the Global Environment Facility. © 2016 Society for Conservation Biology.

  15. Invasion Ecology and School Biology--Part II.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Wells, R. V.

    1981-01-01

    Suggests that invasion biology can supply subject matter for teaching evolution, genetics, ecological relationships, and conservation. Describes flowering and non-flowering plant invaders, vertebrates and invertebrates, and two ecological invasions on the southern coast of England. (JN)

  16. Integration of land-sharing and land-sparing conservation strategies through regional networking: the Mesoamerican Biological Corridor as a lifeline for carnivores in El Salvador.

    PubMed

    Crespin, Silvio J; García-Villalta, Jorge E

    2014-10-01

    Nations with little remaining natural habitat and small extent are challenged when trying to achieve biodiversity targets. We show that the Central American nation of El Salvador cannot viably sustain populations of 87 % of its extant carnivores, especially in the case of large-bodied species with low population densities. Current land-sparing strategies will not suffice; therefore we propose that land-sharing strategies be implemented in tandem with protected areas to expand current conservation efforts via new regional networks. In Central America such a network can be established by linking international protected area systems in a way that implements the existing vision for the Mesoamerican Biological Corridor. Specifically, we propose a re-envisioning of the Mesoamerican Biological Corridor in which land-sharing practices are adopted throughout the agricultural matrix while ensuring formal protection of the remaining natural habitat. Such an integration of land-sparing and land-sharing could result in the creation of an effective network of protected areas, thereby increasing the probability of safeguarding species with populations that overlap national borders.

  17. Science Ideals and Science Careers in a University Biology Department

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Long, David E.

    2014-01-01

    In an ethnographic study set within a biology department of a public university in the United States, incongruity between the ideals and practice of science education are investigated. Against the background of religious conservative students' complaints about evolution in the curriculum, biology faculty describe their political intents for…

  18. The role of genomics in conservation and reproductive sciences.

    PubMed

    Johnson, Warren E; Koepfli, Klaus

    2014-01-01

    Genomics, the study of an organism's genome through DNA analyses, is a central part of the biological sciences and is rapidly changing approaches to animal conservation. The genomes of thousands of organisms, including vertebrates, invertebrates, and plants have been sequenced and the results annotated, augmented and refined through the application of new approaches in transcriptomics, proteomics, and metabolomics that enhance the characterization of messenger RNA, proteins, and metabolites. The same computational advances that are catalyzing "-omic" technologies and novel approaches to address fundamental research questions are facilitating bioinformatic analysis and enabling access of primary and derivative data and results in public and private databases (Zhao and Grant. Curr Pharm Biotechnol 12:293-305, 2011). These tools will be used to provide fundamental advances in our understanding of reproductive biology across vertebrate species and promise to revolutionize our approach to conservation biology.The vulnerability of animal populations and their genetic diversity is well documented, as are the myriad of causes and threats to their persistence, including habitat degradation and loss, overexploitation, pollution, invasive alien species, and climate change. Of the 64,283 vertebrates assessed by the International Union for Conservation of Nature in their 2012 Red List of Threatened Species, 7,250 or ~11 % are threatened with extinction, a percentage that has been increasing steadily for at least the last decade ( www.iucnredlist.org ). Among many of these species, important genetic diversity has been lost, thereby increasing their vulnerability as genetically diverse populations have higher fitness, generally are more resilient to environmental challenges, and have more adaptive potential (Reed and Frankham Conserv Biol 17:230-237, 2003; Luikart et al. Nat Rev Genet 4:981-994, 2003). In turn, genetic variation within and among populations may be essential to

  19. Rethinking 'academic' drug discovery: the Manchester Institute perspective.

    PubMed

    Jordan, Allan M; Waddell, Ian D; Ogilvie, Donald J

    2015-05-01

    The contraction in research within pharma has seen a renaissance in drug discovery within the academic setting. Often, groups grow organically from academic research laboratories, exploiting a particular area of novel biology or new technology. However, increasingly, new groups driven by industrial staff are emerging with demonstrable expertise in the delivery of medicines. As part of a strategic review by Cancer Research UK (CR-UK), the drug discovery team at the Manchester Institute was established to translate novel research from the Manchester cancer research community into drug discovery programmes. From a standing start, we have taken innovative approaches to solve key issues faced by similar groups, such as hit finding and target identification. Herein, we share our lessons learnt and successful strategies. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  20. NASA Workshop on Biological Adaptation

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Morey-Holton, Emily (Editor); Tischler, Marc (Editor)

    1988-01-01

    A workshop was convened to review the current program in Space Biology Biological Adaptation Research and its objectives and to identify future research directions. Two research areas emerged from these deliberations: gravitational effects on structures and biomineralization and gravity affected regulatory mechanisms. The participants also recommended that research concentrate on rapidly growing animals, since gravity effects may be more pronounced during growth and development. Both research areas were defined and future research directions were identified. The recommendations of the workshop will assist the Life Sciences Division of NASA in it assessment and long-range planning of these areas of space biology. Equally important, the workshop was intended to stimulate thought and research among those attending so that they would, in turn, interest, excite, and involve other members of the academic community in research efforts relevant to these programs.

  1. Academic Productivity as Perceived by Malaysian Academics

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Hassan, Aminuddin; Tymms, Peter; Ismail, Habsah

    2008-01-01

    The purpose of this research is to explore the perspectives of Malaysian academics in relation to academic productivity and some factors affecting it. A large scale online questionnaire was used to gather information from six public universities. The most productive role in the eyes of the academics was found to be teaching, with research and…

  2. The Academic Structure in Japan: Institutional Hierarchy and Academic Mobility.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Arimoto, Akira

    The characteristics of the Japanese academic structure are examined with attention to the evolution of institutional hierarchy, the closed academic structure, and the effects of the academic structure upon academic research. The evolution of Japan's institutional hierarchy in academics has been tightly related to factors of nationalism,…

  3. Using a systematic approach to select flagship species for bird conservation.

    PubMed

    Veríssimo, Diogo; Pongiluppi, Tatiana; Santos, Maria Cintia M; Develey, Pedro F; Fraser, Iain; Smith, Robert J; MacMilan, Douglas C

    2014-02-01

    Conservation marketing campaigns that focus on flagship species play a vital role in biological diversity conservation because they raise funds and change people's behavior. However, most flagship species are selected without considering the target audience of the campaign, which can hamper the campaign's effectiveness. To address this problem, we used a systematic and stakeholder-driven approach to select flagship species for a conservation campaign in the Serra do Urubu in northeastern Brazil. We based our techniques on environmental economic and marketing methods. We used choice experiments to examine the species attributes that drive preference and latent-class models to segment respondents into groups by preferences and socioeconomic characteristics. We used respondent preferences and information on bird species inhabiting the Serra do Urubu to calculate a flagship species suitability score. We also asked respondents to indicate their favorite species from a set list to enable comparison between methods. The species' traits that drove audience preference were geographic distribution, population size, visibility, attractiveness, and survival in captivity. However, the importance of these factors differed among groups and groups differed in their views on whether species with small populations and the ability to survive in captivity should be prioritized. The popularity rankings of species differed between approaches, a result that was probably related to the different ways in which the 2 methods measured preference. Our new approach is a transparent and evidence-based method that can be used to refine the way stakeholders are engaged in the design of conservation marketing campaigns. © 2013 Society for Conservation Biology.

  4. Molecular contributions to conservation

    USGS Publications Warehouse

    Haig, Susan M.

    1998-01-01

    Recent advances in molecular technology have opened a new chapter in species conservation efforts, as well as population biology. DNA sequencing, MHC (major histocompatibility complex), minisatellite, microsatellite, and RAPD (random amplified polymorphic DNA) procedures allow for identification of parentage, more distant relatives, founders to new populations, unidentified individuals, population structure, effective population size, population-specific markers, etc. PCR (polymerase chain reaction) amplification of mitochondrial DNA, nuclear DNA, ribosomal DNA, chloroplast DNA, and other systems provide for more sophisticated analyses of metapopulation structure, hybridization events, and delineation of species, subspecies, and races, all of which aid in setting species recovery priorities. Each technique can be powerful in its own right but is most credible when used in conjunction with other molecular techniques and, most importantly, with ecological and demographic data collected from the field. Surprisingly few taxa of concern have been assayed with any molecular technique. Thus, rather than showcasing exhaustive details from a few well-known examples, this paper attempts to present a broad range of cases in which molecular techniques have been used to provide insight into conservation efforts.

  5. Demographic and habitat requirements for conservation of bull trout

    Treesearch

    Bruce E. Rieman; John D. Mclntyre

    1993-01-01

    Elements in bull trout biology, population dynamics, habitat, and biotic interactions important to conservation of the species are identified. Bull trout appear to have more specific habitat requirements than other salmonids, but no critical thresholds of acceptable habitat condition were found. Size, temporal variation, and spatial distribution are likely to influence...

  6. Conservation and monitoring of a persecuted African lion population by Maasai warriors.

    PubMed

    Dolrenry, Stephanie; Hazzah, Leela; Frank, Laurence G

    2016-06-01

    Although Africa has many threatened species and biological hot spots, there are few citizen science schemes, particularly in rural communities, and there has been limited evaluation of existing programs. We engaged traditional Maasai warriors (pastoralist men aged 15 to 35) in community-based conservation and demographic monitoring of a persecuted African lion (Panthera leo) population. Through direct engagement, we investigated whether a citizen science approach employing local warriors, who had no formal education, could produce reliable data on the demographics, predation, and movements of a species with which their communities have been in conflict for generations. Warriors were given benefits such as literacy training and skill enhancement and engaged in the monitoring of the lions. The trained warriors reported on lion sign across an area nearly 4000 km(2) . Scientists worked together with the warriors to verify their reports and gather observations on the lion population. Using the verified reports and collected observations, we examined our scientific knowledge relative to the lion population preceding and during the citizen science program. Our observations showed that data quality and quantity improved with the involvement and training of the participants. Furthermore, because they engaged in conservation and gained personal benefits, the participants came to appreciate a species that was traditionally their foe. We believe engaging other local communities in biodiversity conservation and monitoring may be an effective conservation approach in rural Africa. © 2016 Society for Conservation Biology.

  7. Productive procrastination: academic procrastination style predicts academic and alcohol outcomes.

    PubMed

    Westgate, Erin C; Wormington, Stephanie V; Oleson, Kathryn C; Lindgren, Kristen P

    2017-03-01

    Productive procrastination replaces one adaptive behavior with another adaptive-albeit less important-behavior (e.g., organizing notes instead of studying for an exam). We identified adaptive and maladaptive procrastination styles associated with academic and alcohol outcomes in 1106 college undergraduates. Cluster analysis identified five academic procrastination styles- non-procrastinators , academic productive procrastinators , non-academic productive procrastinators, non-academic procrastinators , and classic procrastinators . Procrastination style differentially predicted alcohol-related problems, cravings, risk of alcohol use disorders, and GPA (all ps < .01). Non-procrastination and academic productive procrastination were most adaptive overall; non-academic productive procrastination, non-academic procrastination, and classic procrastination were least adaptive. Productive procrastination differed from other procrastination strategies, and maladaptive procrastination styles may be a useful risk indicator for preventative and intervention efforts.

  8. Productive procrastination: academic procrastination style predicts academic and alcohol outcomes

    PubMed Central

    Westgate, Erin C.; Wormington, Stephanie V.; Oleson, Kathryn C.; Lindgren, Kristen P.

    2017-01-01

    Productive procrastination replaces one adaptive behavior with another adaptive—albeit less important—behavior (e.g., organizing notes instead of studying for an exam). We identified adaptive and maladaptive procrastination styles associated with academic and alcohol outcomes in 1106 college undergraduates. Cluster analysis identified five academic procrastination styles—non-procrastinators, academic productive procrastinators, non-academic productive procrastinators, non-academic procrastinators, and classic procrastinators. Procrastination style differentially predicted alcohol-related problems, cravings, risk of alcohol use disorders, and GPA (all ps < .01). Non-procrastination and academic productive procrastination were most adaptive overall; non-academic productive procrastination, non-academic procrastination, and classic procrastination were least adaptive. Productive procrastination differed from other procrastination strategies, and maladaptive procrastination styles may be a useful risk indicator for preventative and intervention efforts. PMID:28804158

  9. Dynamic conservation of forest genetic resources in 33 European countries.

    PubMed

    Lefèvre, François; Koskela, Jarkko; Hubert, Jason; Kraigher, Hojka; Longauer, Roman; Olrik, Ditte C; Schüler, Silvio; Bozzano, Michele; Alizoti, Paraskevi; Bakys, Remigijus; Baldwin, Cathleen; Ballian, Dalibor; Black-Samuelsson, Sanna; Bednarova, Dagmar; Bordács, Sándor; Collin, Eric; de Cuyper, Bart; de Vries, Sven M G; Eysteinsson, Thröstur; Frýdl, Josef; Haverkamp, Michaela; Ivankovic, Mladen; Konrad, Heino; Koziol, Czesław; Maaten, Tiit; Notivol Paino, Eduardo; Oztürk, Hikmet; Pandeva, Ivanova Denitsa; Parnuta, Gheorghe; Pilipovič, Andrej; Postolache, Dragos; Ryan, Cathal; Steffenrem, Arne; Varela, Maria Carolina; Vessella, Federico; Volosyanchuk, Roman T; Westergren, Marjana; Wolter, Frank; Yrjänä, Leena; Zariŋa, Inga

    2013-04-01

    Dynamic conservation of forest genetic resources (FGR) means maintaining the genetic diversity of trees within an evolutionary process and allowing generation turnover in the forest. We assessed the network of forests areas managed for the dynamic conservation of FGR (conservation units) across Europe (33 countries). On the basis of information available in the European Information System on FGR (EUFGIS Portal), species distribution maps, and environmental stratification of the continent, we developed ecogeographic indicators, a marginality index, and demographic indicators to assess and monitor forest conservation efforts. The pan-European network has 1967 conservation units, 2737 populations of target trees, and 86 species of target trees. We detected a poor coincidence between FGR conservation and other biodiversity conservation objectives within this network. We identified 2 complementary strategies: a species-oriented strategy in which national conservation networks are specifically designed for key target species and a site-oriented strategy in which multiple-target units include so-called secondary species conserved within a few sites. The network is highly unbalanced in terms of species representation, and 7 key target species are conserved in 60% of the conservation units. We performed specific gap analyses for 11 tree species, including assessment of ecogeographic, demographic, and genetic criteria. For each species, we identified gaps, particularly in the marginal parts of their distribution range, and found multiple redundant conservation units in other areas. The Mediterranean forests and to a lesser extent the boreal forests are underrepresented. Monitoring the conservation efficiency of each unit remains challenging; however, <2% of the conserved populations seem to be at risk of extinction. On the basis of our results, we recommend combining species-oriented and site-oriented strategies. © 2012 Society for Conservation Biology.

  10. Options for Online Undergraduate Courses in Biology at American Colleges and Universities.

    PubMed

    Varty, Alison K

    I aimed to document the online undergraduate course supply in biology to evaluate how well biology educators are serving the diverse and growing population of online students. I documented online biology course offerings in the 2015-2016 academic year at 96 American colleges and universities. I quantified differences in variety, extent, and availability of courses offered by different kinds of academic institutions and characterized 149 online biology courses offered. Although there was no relationship between an institution's enrollment size and any measure of its online biology offerings, I found significantly more online biology course options at 2-year public compared with 4-year public and 4-year private schools. Courses offered for nonmajors, including students pursuing healthcare-related degrees, were three times as common as those intended for biology majors, who were more likely to be offered hybrid courses with face-to-face laboratories. These data indicate some deficiencies in online biology course options; options for students majoring in biology are limited at all types of institutions examined with a minority of 4-year institutions having any online options in biology. Significant investment of institutional resources in faculty training and technological support are necessary to develop online biology courses that will benefit a larger student population. © 2016 A. K. Varty. CBE—Life Sciences Education © 2016 The American Society for Cell Biology. This article is distributed by The American Society for Cell Biology under license from the author(s). It is available to the public under an Attribution–Noncommercial–Share Alike 3.0 Unported Creative Commons License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0).

  11. Academic Hospitality

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Phipps, Alison; Barnett, Ronald

    2007-01-01

    Academic hospitality is a feature of academic life. It takes many forms. It takes material form in the hosting of academics giving papers. It takes epistemological form in the welcome of new ideas. It takes linguistic form in the translation of academic work into other languages, and it takes touristic form through the welcome and generosity with…

  12. Island biology: looking towards the future

    PubMed Central

    Kueffer, Christoph; Drake, Donald R.; Fernández-Palacios, José María

    2014-01-01

    Oceanic islands are renowned for the profound scientific insights that their fascinating biotas have provided to biologists during the past two centuries. Research presented at Island Biology 2014—an international conference, held in Honolulu, Hawaii (7–11 July 2014), which attracted 253 presenters and 430 participants from at least 35 countries1—demonstrated that islands are reclaiming a leading role in ecology and evolution, especially for synthetic studies at the intersections of macroecology, evolution, community ecology and applied ecology. New dynamics in island biology are stimulated by four major developments. We are experiencing the emergence of a truly global and comprehensive island research community incorporating previously neglected islands and taxa. Macroecology and big-data analyses yield a wealth of global-scale synthetic studies and detailed multi-island comparisons, while other modern research approaches such as genomics, phylogenetic and functional ecology, and palaeoecology, are also dispersing to islands. And, increasingly tight collaborations between basic research and conservation management make islands places where new conservation solutions for the twenty-first century are being tested. Islands are home to a disproportionate share of the world's rare (and extinct) species, and there is an urgent need to develop increasingly collaborative and innovative research to address their conservation requirements. PMID:25339655

  13. Who Wants a Job in Biology? Student Aspirations and Perceptions

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Henderson, Danielle; Stanisstreet, Martin; Boyes, Edward

    2007-01-01

    This paper describes the results of a questionnaire survey of UK Year 3 biology undergraduates' career aspirations, and their perceptions of employment in teaching, research and conservation. Although most students sought material benefits in their potential careers, even more wished to gain job satisfaction. None of the careers in biology was…

  14. Parental academic involvement in adolescence, academic achievement over the life course and allostatic load in middle age: a prospective population-based cohort study.

    PubMed

    Westerlund, Hugo; Gustafsson, Per E; Theorell, Töres; Janlert, Urban; Hammarström, Anne

    2013-06-01

    Parental involvement in their children's studies, particularly in terms of academic socialisation, has been shown to predict academic achievement, and is thus a candidate modifiable factor influencing life course socioeconomic circumstances. Socioeconomic disadvantage is thought to impact on health over the life course partly by allostatic load, that is, cumulative biological risk. We sought to elucidate the role of parental involvement at age 16 on the life course development of allostatic load. In a population-based cohort (365 women and 352 men, 67% of the eligible participants), we examined the association between parental involvement in their offspring's studies, measured by teacher and pupil ratings at age 16 and an allostatic load index summarising 12 physiological risk markers at age 43. Mediation through life course academic and occupational achievement was assessed by entering school grades, adult educational achievement and socioeconomic position at age 43 in a linear regression analysis in a stepwise manner and testing for mediation. Parental interest in their offspring's studies during the last year of compulsory school-rather than the parent's social class or availability of practical academic support-was found to predict adult allostatic load (β=-0.12, 95% CI -0.20 to -0.05). Further adjustments indicated that academic achievement over the life course mediated a large part of the effect of parental interest on allostatic load. Parental interest in their offspring's studies may have protective effects by decreasing the likelihood of a chain of risk involving low academic achievement, low socioeconomic position and high accumulated physiological stress.

  15. Assessing ecological correlates of marine bird declines to inform marine conservation.

    PubMed

    Vilchis, L Ignacio; Johnson, Christine K; Evenson, Joseph R; Pearson, Scott F; Barry, Karen L; Davidson, Peter; Raphael, Martin G; Gaydos, Joseph K

    2015-02-01

    Identifying drivers of ecosystem change in large marine ecosystems is central for their effective management and conservation. This is a sizable challenge, particularly in ecosystems transcending international borders, where monitoring and conservation of long-range migratory species and their habitats are logistically and financially problematic. Here, using tools borrowed from epidemiology, we elucidated common drivers underlying species declines within a marine ecosystem, much in the way epidemiological analyses evaluate risk factors for negative health outcomes to better inform decisions. Thus, we identified ecological traits and dietary specializations associated with species declines in a community of marine predators that could be reflective of ecosystem change. To do so, we integrated count data from winter surveys collected in long-term marine bird monitoring programs conducted throughout the Salish Sea--a transboundary large marine ecosystem in North America's Pacific Northwest. We found that decadal declines in winter counts were most prevalent among pursuit divers such as alcids (Alcidae) and grebes (Podicipedidae) that have specialized diets based on forage fish, and that wide-ranging species without local breeding colonies were more prone to these declines. Although a combination of factors is most likely driving declines of diving forage fish specialists, we propose that changes in the availability of low-trophic prey may be forcing wintering range shifts of diving birds in the Salish Sea. Such a synthesis of long-term trends in a marine predator community not only provides unique insights into the types of species that are at risk of extirpation and why, but may also inform proactive conservation measures to counteract threats--information that is paramount for species-specific and ecosystem-wide conservation. © 2014 The Authors. Conservation Biology published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc., on behalf of the Society for Conservation Biology.

  16. Academic Self-Perception and Its Relationship to Academic Performance

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Stringer, Ronald W.; Heath, Nancy

    2008-01-01

    One hundred and fifty-five students (average age, 10 years 7 months) were initially tested on reading, arithmetic, and academic self-perception. One year later they were tested again. Initial academic scores accounted for a large proportion of the variance in later academic scores. The children's self-perceptions of academic competence accounted…

  17. [THERMAL STABILITY AS A PROGNOSTIC INDICATOR OF CONSERVATION OF LIVE EMBRYONIC SMALLPOX VACCINE (TEOVAC) DURING STORAGE].

    PubMed

    Zhukov, V A; Kokorev, S V; Rogozhkina, S V; Melnikov, D G; Terentiev, A I; Kovalchuk, E A; Vakhnov, E Yu; Borisevich, S V

    2016-01-01

    Determination of values of coefficients of thermal stability of TEOVac for prognosis of conservation of the vaccine (specific biological activity) during the process of warranty period storage. TEOVac (masticatory tablets) in primary packaging was kept at increased temperature (accelerated and stress-tests) and at the conditions established by PAP for the preparation (long-term tests). Biological activity of the vaccine was determined by titration on 12-day chicken embryos. A correlation between the value of coefficients of thermal stability and conservation of the prepared series of the condition preparation at the final date of storage was experimentally established. Coefficients of thermal stability could be used as a prognostic indicator of quality of the produced pelleted formulation of the preparation for evaluation of conservation of the vaccine during warranty period storage.

  18. A systematic survey of the integration of animal behavior into conservation

    USGS Publications Warehouse

    Berger-Tal, Oded; Blumstein, Daniel T.; Carroll, Scott; Fisher, Robert N.; Mesnick, Sarah L.; Owen, Megan A.; Saltz, David; St. Claire, Colleen Cassady; Swaisgood, Ronald R.

    2016-01-01

    The role of behavioral ecology in improving wildlife conservation and management has been the subject of much recent debate. We aim to answer two foundational questions about the current use of behavioral knowledge in conservation: 1. To what extent is behavioral knowledge used in wildlife conservation and management? 2. How does the use of behavior differ among conservation fields in both frequency and types of use? To answer these questions, we searched the literature for intersections between key fields of animal behavior and conservation biology and created a systematic ‘heat’ map to visualize relative efforts. Our analysis challenges previous suggestions that there is little association between the fields of behavioral ecology and conservation and reveals tremendous variation in the use of different behaviors in conservation. For instance, some behaviors, such as foraging and dispersal, are commonly considered, but other behaviors such as learning, social or anti-predatory behaviors are hardly considered. Our analysis suggests that in many cases awareness of the importance of behavior does not translate into applicable management tools. We recommend that researchers should focus on developing research in underutilized intersections of behavior and conservation themes for which preliminary work show a potential for improving conservation and management, on translating behavioral theory into applicable and testable predictions, and on creating systematic reviews to summarize the behavioral evidence within the behavior-conservation intersections for which many studies exist.

  19. A comparative approach to assess drivers of success in mammalian conservation recovery programs.

    PubMed

    Crees, Jennifer J; Collins, Amy C; Stephenson, P J; Meredith, Helen M R; Young, Richard P; Howe, Caroline; Price, Mark R Stanley; Turvey, Samuel T

    2016-08-01

    The outcomes of species recovery programs have been mixed; high-profile population recoveries contrast with species-level extinctions. Each conservation intervention has its own challenges, but to inform more effective management it is imperative to assess whether correlates of wider recovery program success or failure can be identified. To contribute to evidence-based improvement of future conservation strategies, we conducted a global quantitative analysis of 48 mammalian recovery programs. We reviewed available scientific literature and conducted semistructured interviews with conservation professionals involved in different recovery programs to investigate ecological, management, and political factors associated with population recoveries or declines. Identifying and removing threats was significantly associated with increasing population trend and decreasing conservation dependence, emphasizing that populations are likely to continue to be compromised in the absence of effective threat mitigation and supporting the need for threat monitoring and adaptive management in response to new and potential threats. Lack of habitat and small population size were cited as limiting factors in 56% and 42% of recovery programs, respectively, and both were statistically associated with increased longer term dependence on conservation intervention, demonstrating the importance of increasing population numbers quickly and restoring and protecting habitat. Poor stakeholder coordination and management were also regularly cited by respondents as key weaknesses in recovery programs, indicating the importance of effective leadership and shared goals and management plans. Project outcomes were not influenced by biological or ecological variables such as body mass or habitat, which suggests that these insights into correlates of conservation success and failure are likely to be generalizable across mammals. © 2016 Society for Conservation Biology.

  20. Minimizing species extinctions through strategic planning for conservation fencing.

    PubMed

    Ringma, Jeremy L; Wintle, Brendan; Fuller, Richard A; Fisher, Diana; Bode, Michael

    2017-10-01

    Conservation fences are an increasingly common management action, particularly for species threatened by invasive predators. However, unlike many conservation actions, fence networks are expanding in an unsystematic manner, generally as a reaction to local funding opportunities or threats. We conducted a gap analysis of Australia's large predator-exclusion fence network by examining translocation of Australian mammals relative to their extinction risk. To address gaps identified in species representation, we devised a systematic prioritization method for expanding the conservation fence network that explicitly incorporated population viability analysis and minimized expected species' extinctions. The approach was applied to New South Wales, Australia, where the state government intends to expand the existing conservation fence network. Existing protection of species in fenced areas was highly uneven; 67% of predator-sensitive species were unrepresented in the fence network. Our systematic prioritization yielded substantial efficiencies in that it reduced expected number of species extinctions up to 17 times more effectively than ad hoc approaches. The outcome illustrates the importance of governance in coordinating management action when multiple projects have similar objectives and rely on systematic methods rather than expanding networks opportunistically. © 2017 Society for Conservation Biology.

  1. Efficacy of two lion conservation programs in Maasailand, Kenya.

    PubMed

    Hazzah, Leela; Dolrenry, Stephanie; Naughton-Treves, Lisa; Naughton, Lisa; Edwards, Charles T T; Mwebi, Ogeto; Kearney, Fiachra; Frank, Laurence

    2014-06-01

    Lion (Panthera leo) populations are in decline throughout most of Africa. The problem is particularly acute in southern Kenya, where Maasai pastoralists have been spearing and poisoning lions at a rate that will ensure near term local extinction. We investigated 2 approaches for improving local tolerance of lions: compensation payments for livestock lost to predators and Lion Guardians, which draws on local cultural values and knowledge to mitigate livestock-carnivore conflict and monitor carnivores. To gauge the overall influence of conservation intervention, we combined both programs into a single conservation treatment variable. Using 8 years of lion killing data, we applied Manski's partial identification approach with bounded assumptions to investigate the effect of conservation treatment on lion killing in 4 contiguous areas. In 3 of the areas, conservation treatment was positively associated with a reduction in lion killing. We then applied a generalized linear model to assess the relative efficacy of the 2 interventions. The model estimated that compensation resulted in an 87-91% drop in the number of lions killed, whereas Lion Guardians (operating in combination with compensation and alone) resulted in a 99% drop in lion killing. © 2014 Society for Conservation Biology.

  2. Change is necessary in a biological engineering curriculum.

    PubMed

    Johnson, Arthur T; Montas, Hubert; Shirmohammadi, Adel; Wheaton, Fredrick W

    2006-01-01

    Success of a Biological Engineering undergraduate educational program can be measured in a number of ways, but however it is measured, a presently successful program can translate into an unsuccessful program if it cannot adjust to different conditions posed by technical advances, student characteristics, and academic pressures. Described in this paper is a Biological Engineering curriculum that has changed significantly since its transformation from Agricultural Engineering in 1993. As a result, student numbers have continued to climb, specific objectives have emerged, and unique courses have been developed. The Biological Resources Engineering program has evolved into a program that emphasizes breadth, fundamentals, communications skills, diversity, and practical engineering judgment.

  3. Investigating the Role of an Inquiry-Based Biology Lab Course on Student Attitudes and Views toward Science

    PubMed Central

    Jeffery, Erica; Nomme, Kathy; Deane, Thomas; Pollock, Carol; Birol, Gülnur

    2016-01-01

    Students’ academic experiences can influence their conceptualization of science. In contrast experts hold particular beliefs, perceptions, opinions, and attitudes about science that are often absent in first-year undergraduate students. Shifts toward more expert-like attitudes and views have been linked to improved student engagement, critical-thinking ability, conceptual understanding, and academic performance. In this study, we investigate shifts in attitudes and views toward science by students in four biology classes with differences in student enrollment, academic support, and instruction. We observe significant, positive effects of enrollment in a guided-inquiry lab course and academic performance on the percentage of expert-like student attitudes and views at the end of term. We also identify variation in two aspects of student attitudes and views: 1) confidence and interest and 2) understanding and acceptance. In particular, enrollment in the lab course boosts student confidence and interest in scientific inquiry in the short term, even for students with low academic performance or little English-language experience. Our results suggest that low-performing students in particular may require additional opportunities for experiential learning or greater academic support to develop expert-like perceptions of biology as a science. PMID:27856549

  4. Considering the needs of indigenous and local populations in conservation programs.

    PubMed

    Kohler, Florent; Brondizio, Eduardo S

    2017-04-01

    Local rural and indigenous communities have assumed increasing responsibility for conservation within and between areas buffering the impacts of agricultural or resource-extraction zones and protected areas. Empowering local communities as central partners in conservation and climate-change mitigation has allowed many people to gain access to land and citizenship rights but has provided limited improvements in access to social services and economic opportunities even as expectation about their role as environmental stewards grows. These expectations, however, are inconsistent with reality. We conducted multiple field studies in Brazil since the mid-1980s to illustrate the discrepancies between conservation programs and local conditions and expectations. We suggest that public policies and conservation programs should not delegate responsibility for managing protected areas to local and indigenous communities without considering local needs and expectations and locals' attitudes toward conservation. In other words, behavior that maintains or improves the environment should not be treated as traditional based on the expectations of outsiders. Framing local populations as traditional environmentalists creates contradictions and frustrations for local populations and for conservation professionals and policy makers. © 2016 Society for Conservation Biology.

  5. Application of the anthropogenic allee effect model to trophy hunting as a conservation tool.

    PubMed

    Harris, Richard B; Cooney, Rosie; Leader-Williams, Nigel

    2013-10-01

    Trophy hunting can provide economic incentives to conserve wild species, but it can also involve risk when rare species are hunted. The anthropogenic Allee effect (AAE) is a conceptual model that seeks to explain how rarity may spread the seeds of further endangerment. The AAE model has increasingly been invoked in the context of trophy hunting, increasing concerns that such hunting may undermine rather than enhance conservation efforts. We question the appropriateness of uncritically applying the AAE model to trophy hunting for 4 reasons. First, the AAE assumes an open-access resource, which is a poor characterization of most trophy-hunting programs and obscures the potential for state, communal, or private-property use rights to generate positive incentives for conservation. Second, study results that show the price of hunting increases as the rarity of the animal increases are insufficient to indicate the presence of AAE. Third, AAE ignores the existence of biological and behavioral factors operating in most trophy-hunting contexts that tend to regulate the effect of hunting. We argue that site-specific data, rather than aggregated hunting statistics, are required to demonstrate that patterns of unsustainable exploitation can be well explained by an AAE model. Instead, we suggest that conservation managers seeking to investigate and identify constraints that limit the potential conservation role of trophy hunting, should focus on the critical governance characteristics that shape the potential conservation role of trophy hunting, such as corruption, insecure property rights, and inadequate sharing of benefits with local people. © 2013 Society for Conservation Biology.

  6. Improving supplementary feeding in species conservation.

    PubMed

    Ewen, John G; Walker, Leila; Canessa, Stefano; Groombridge, Jim J

    2015-04-01

    Supplementary feeding is often a knee-jerk reaction to population declines, and its application is not critically evaluated, leading to polarized views among managers on its usefulness. Here, we advocate a more strategic approach to supplementary feeding so that the choice to use it is clearly justified over, or in combination with, other management actions and the predicted consequences are then critically assessed following implementation. We propose combining methods from a set of specialist disciplines that will allow critical evaluation of the need, benefit, and risks of food supplementation. Through the use of nutritional ecology, population ecology, and structured decision making, conservation managers can make better choices about what and how to feed by estimating consequences on population recovery across a range of possible actions. This structured approach also informs targeted monitoring and more clearly allows supplementary feeding to be integrated in recovery plans and reduces the risk of inefficient decisions. In New Zealand, managers of the endangered Hihi (Notiomystis cincta) often rely on supplementary feeding to support reintroduced populations. On Kapiti island the reintroduced Hihi population has responded well to food supplementation, but the logistics of providing an increasing demand recently outstretched management capacity. To decide whether and how the feeding regime should be revised, managers used a structured decision making approach informed by population responses to alternative feeding regimes. The decision was made to reduce the spatial distribution of feeders and invest saved time in increasing volume of food delivered into a smaller core area. The approach used allowed a transparent and defendable management decision in regard to supplementary feeding, reflecting the multiple objectives of managers and their priorities. © 2014 The Authors. Conservation Biology published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc., on behalf of Society for

  7. Core concepts of spatial prioritisation in systematic conservation planning

    PubMed Central

    Kukkala, Aija S; Moilanen, Atte

    2013-01-01

    Systematic conservation planning (SCP) is a field of conservation biology concerned with delivering on-the-ground actions that achieve conservation goals. It describes a set of operational models that cover both design and implementation of conservation, with a strong focus on mobilising the collective action typically required to implement conservation. SCP, as it was originally described, was composed of six different stages: collection of data, identification of conservation goals, evaluation of the existing protected area network, design of expansions, implementation of conservation action, and long-term maintenance of biodiversity in the network. Since then, the operational model has been expanded into several different variants. Conservation actions applied inside SCP include establishment and expansion of reserve networks and allocation of habitat restoration and management. Within the broader context of SCP, there is a fundamental biogeographic-economic analysis frequently called spatial conservation prioritisation or conservation assessment, which is used for identifying where important areas for biodiversity are and how conservation goals might be achieved efficiently. Here, we review the usage and meaning of the 12 biogeographic-economic core concepts of SCP: adequacy, complementarity, comprehensiveness, effectiveness, efficiency, flexibility, irreplaceability, replacement cost, representation, representativeness, threat, and vulnerability. Some of the concepts have clear definitions whereas others may have alternative and possibly conflicting definitions. With a comprehensive literature review literature, we elucidate the historical backgrounds of these concepts, the first definitions and usages, alternative later definitions, key applications, and prior reviews. This review reduces linguistic uncertainty in the application of SCP. Since SCP is a global activity with a multitude of different stakeholders involved, it is vital that those involved can

  8. State of the interface between conservation and physiology: a bibliometric analysis

    PubMed Central

    Lennox, Robert; Cooke, Steven J.

    2014-01-01

    Contemporary conservation science benefits from the perspectives of a variety of different disciplines, including a recent synergy with physiology, an interface known as ‘conservation physiology’. To evaluate the degree of interaction between conservation and animal/plant physiology, we conducted three bibliometric analyses. We first pursued the use of the term ‘conservation physiology’ since its first definition in 2006 to determine how frequently it has been used and in which publications. Secondly, we evaluated the occurrence of conservation terms in animal and plant physiology journals, physiological terms in conservation journals, and a combination of terms in ecology journals. Thirdly, we explored trends in a subset of conservation physiology articles published between 2006 and 2012. We identified a surge in the use of the term ‘conservation physiology’ in 2012, after only a slow increase in usage between 2006 and 2011. Conservation journals tend to have been significantly more active in publishing conservation physiology than animal physiology, plant physiology or ecology journals. However, we found evidence that ecology and animal physiology journals began to incorporate more conservation physiology after 2006, while conservation- and plant physiology-themed journals did not. Among 299 conservation physiology articles that we identified, vertebrate taxa have been over-represented in conservation physiology compared with their relative taxonomic abundance, invertebrate taxa have been under-represented, and plants have been represented in proportion to their relative taxonomic abundance; however, those findings are reasonably consistent with publication trends in conservation biology. Diffuse distribution of conservation physiology papers throughout the literature may have been a barrier to the growth of the subdiscipline when the interface was emerging. The introduction of the focused journal Conservation Physiology in 2013 may address that

  9. State of the interface between conservation and physiology: a bibliometric analysis.

    PubMed

    Lennox, Robert; Cooke, Steven J

    2014-01-01

    Contemporary conservation science benefits from the perspectives of a variety of different disciplines, including a recent synergy with physiology, an interface known as 'conservation physiology'. To evaluate the degree of interaction between conservation and animal/plant physiology, we conducted three bibliometric analyses. We first pursued the use of the term 'conservation physiology' since its first definition in 2006 to determine how frequently it has been used and in which publications. Secondly, we evaluated the occurrence of conservation terms in animal and plant physiology journals, physiological terms in conservation journals, and a combination of terms in ecology journals. Thirdly, we explored trends in a subset of conservation physiology articles published between 2006 and 2012. We identified a surge in the use of the term 'conservation physiology' in 2012, after only a slow increase in usage between 2006 and 2011. Conservation journals tend to have been significantly more active in publishing conservation physiology than animal physiology, plant physiology or ecology journals. However, we found evidence that ecology and animal physiology journals began to incorporate more conservation physiology after 2006, while conservation- and plant physiology-themed journals did not. Among 299 conservation physiology articles that we identified, vertebrate taxa have been over-represented in conservation physiology compared with their relative taxonomic abundance, invertebrate taxa have been under-represented, and plants have been represented in proportion to their relative taxonomic abundance; however, those findings are reasonably consistent with publication trends in conservation biology. Diffuse distribution of conservation physiology papers throughout the literature may have been a barrier to the growth of the subdiscipline when the interface was emerging. The introduction of the focused journal Conservation Physiology in 2013 may address that deficiency

  10. Results of efforts by the Convention on Biological Diversity to describe ecologically or biologically significant marine areas.

    PubMed

    Bax, Nicholas J; Cleary, Jesse; Donnelly, Ben; Dunn, Daniel C; Dunstan, Piers K; Fuller, Mike; Halpin, Patrick N

    2016-06-01

    greater importance for biodiversity it is their importance for biodiversity itself not conservation as process explicitly excluded management issues than their surroundings. This comes at a critical juncture in negotiations at the UN that will consider developing a new implementation agreement under UN Convention of the Law of the Sea to support the conservation and sustainable use of marine biological diversity beyond areas of national jurisdiction. The EBSA description process is a good example of how to bring the international community together to build a shared understanding of which ocean areas are particularly valuable to biodiversity. © 2015 The Authors. Conservation Biology published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc. on behalf of Society for Conservation Biology.

  11. Academic interventions for academic procrastination: A review of the literature.

    PubMed

    Zacks, Shlomo; Hen, Meirav

    2018-01-01

    Procrastination is a widespread phenomenon in academic settings. It has been studied from many different theoretical angles, and a variety of causes and consequences have been suggested. Recent studies support the notion that academic procrastination can be seen from a situational perspective and as a failure in learning self-regulation. It suggests that interventions should address situational as well as deficits in self-regulation to help students overcome their procrastinating tendencies. The present review examined the recent literature on causes and consequences of academic procrastination and the limited number of studies of academic interventions for academic procrastination. Findings of this review strengthen the need to further study the topic of academic interventions for academic procrastination and to develop effective interventions. At the end of this review, several suggestions for the development of academic interventions are outlined.

  12. Gene family size conservation is a good indicator of evolutionary rates.

    PubMed

    Chen, Feng-Chi; Chen, Chiuan-Jung; Li, Wen-Hsiung; Chuang, Trees-Juen

    2010-08-01

    The evolution of duplicate genes has been a topic of broad interest. Here, we propose that the conservation of gene family size is a good indicator of the rate of sequence evolution and some other biological properties. By comparing the human-chimpanzee-macaque orthologous gene families with and without family size conservation, we demonstrate that genes with family size conservation evolve more slowly than those without family size conservation. Our results further demonstrate that both family expansion and contraction events may accelerate gene evolution, resulting in elevated evolutionary rates in the genes without family size conservation. In addition, we show that the duplicate genes with family size conservation evolve significantly more slowly than those without family size conservation. Interestingly, the median evolutionary rate of singletons falls in between those of the above two types of duplicate gene families. Our results thus suggest that the controversy on whether duplicate genes evolve more slowly than singletons can be resolved when family size conservation is taken into consideration. Furthermore, we also observe that duplicate genes with family size conservation have the highest level of gene expression/expression breadth, the highest proportion of essential genes, and the lowest gene compactness, followed by singletons and then by duplicate genes without family size conservation. Such a trend accords well with our observations of evolutionary rates. Our results thus point to the importance of family size conservation in the evolution of duplicate genes.

  13. Testing the feasibility of a hypothetical whaling-conservation permit market in Norway.

    PubMed

    Huang, Biao; Abbott, Joshua K; Fenichel, Eli P; Muneepeerakul, Rachata; Perrings, Charles; Gerber, Leah R

    2017-08-01

    A cap-and-trade system for managing whale harvests represents a potentially useful approach to resolve the current gridlock in international whale management. The establishment of whale permit markets, open to both whalers and conservationists, could reveal the strength of conservation demand, about which little is known. This lack of knowledge makes it difficult to predict the outcome of a hypothetical whale permit market. We developed a bioeconomic model to evaluate the influence of economic uncertainty about demand for whale conservation or harvest. We used simulations over a wide range of parameterizations of whaling and conservation demands to examine the potential ecological consequences of the establishment of a whale permit market in Norwegian waters under bounded (but substantial) economic uncertainty. Uncertainty variables were slope of whaling and conservation demand, participation level of conservationists and their willingness to pay for whale conservation, and functional forms of demand, including linear, quadratic, and log-linear forms. A whale-conservation market had the potential to yield a wide range of conservation and harvest outcomes, the most likely outcomes were those in which conservationists bought all whale permits. © 2017 Society for Conservation Biology.

  14. A Survey on Energy Conserving Mechanisms for the Internet of Things: Wireless Networking Aspects

    PubMed Central

    Abbas, Zeeshan; Yoon, Wonyong

    2015-01-01

    The Internet of Things (IoT) is an emerging key technology for future industries and everyday lives of people, where a myriad of battery operated sensors, actuators, and smart objects are connected to the Internet to provide services such as mobile healthcare, intelligent transport system, environmental monitoring, etc. Since energy efficiency is of utmost importance to these battery constrained IoT devices, IoT-related standards and research works have focused on the device energy conserving issues. This paper presents a comprehensive survey on energy conserving issues and solutions in using diverse wireless radio access technologies for IoT connectivity, e.g., the 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) machine type communications, IEEE 802.11ah, Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE), and Z-Wave. We look into the literature in broad areas of standardization, academic research, and industry development, and structurally summarize the energy conserving solutions based on several technical criteria. We also propose future research directions regarding energy conserving issues in wireless networking-based IoT. PMID:26404275

  15. Estimating Landholders’ Probability of Participating in a Stewardship Program, and the Implications for Spatial Conservation Priorities

    PubMed Central

    Adams, Vanessa M.; Pressey, Robert L.; Stoeckl, Natalie

    2014-01-01

    The need to integrate social and economic factors into conservation planning has become a focus of academic discussions and has important practical implications for the implementation of conservation areas, both private and public. We conducted a survey in the Daly Catchment, Northern Territory, to inform the design and implementation of a stewardship payment program. We used a choice model to estimate the likely level of participation in two legal arrangements - conservation covenants and management agreements - based on payment level and proportion of properties required to be managed. We then spatially predicted landholders’ probability of participating at the resolution of individual properties and incorporated these predictions into conservation planning software to examine the potential for the stewardship program to meet conservation objectives. We found that the properties that were least costly, per unit area, to manage were also the least likely to participate. This highlights a tension between planning for a cost-effective program and planning for a program that targets properties with the highest probability of participation. PMID:24892520

  16. Conservation genetics and genomics of amphibians and reptiles.

    PubMed

    Shaffer, H Bradley; Gidiş, Müge; McCartney-Melstad, Evan; Neal, Kevin M; Oyamaguchi, Hilton M; Tellez, Marisa; Toffelmier, Erin M

    2015-01-01

    Amphibians and reptiles as a group are often secretive, reach their greatest diversity often in remote tropical regions, and contain some of the most endangered groups of organisms on earth. Particularly in the past decade, genetics and genomics have been instrumental in the conservation biology of these cryptic vertebrates, enabling work ranging from the identification of populations subject to trade and exploitation, to the identification of cryptic lineages harboring critical genetic variation, to the analysis of genes controlling key life history traits. In this review, we highlight some of the most important ways that genetic analyses have brought new insights to the conservation of amphibians and reptiles. Although genomics has only recently emerged as part of this conservation tool kit, several large-scale data sources, including full genomes, expressed sequence tags, and transcriptomes, are providing new opportunities to identify key genes, quantify landscape effects, and manage captive breeding stocks of at-risk species.

  17. The effect of scientific evidence on conservation practitioners' management decisions.

    PubMed

    Walsh, Jessica C; Dicks, Lynn V; Sutherland, William J

    2015-02-01

    outcomes. © 2014 The Authors. Conservation Biology published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc. on behalf of Society for Conservation Biology.

  18. Biology and conservation of the common murre in California, Oregon, Washington, and British Columbia: Vol. 1, Natural history and population trends

    USGS Publications Warehouse

    Manuwal, David Allen; Carter, Harry R.; Zimmerman, Tara; Orthmeyer, Dennis L.

    2001-01-01

    Over the past 30 years, the common murre (Uria aalge californica) has been recognized as a prominent indicator of marine conservation issues in California, Oregon, Washington, and British Columbia, especially regarding oil pollution, certain fisheries, and human disturbance. To assist the effective management of the common murre and the marine environments in which they live, this summary of available information on the biology and regional status of the common murre has been sponsored by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Division of Migratory Bird Management). In Volume 1 (Chapter 1), the natural history of the common murre is summarized, drawing heavily on breeding studies from the South Farallon Islands, California, plus a host of detailed breeding studies from the North Atlantic Ocean. Population trends of the common murre are summarized in Volume 1 (Chapter 2), focusing on changes in whole-colony counts determined from aerial photographs between the late 1970s and 1995 in California, Oregon and Washington. Historical data and human impacts to murre colonies since the early nineteenth century are also summarized. Volume 2 will summarize population threats, conservation, and management.Information presented in Volume 1 has been obtained and recorded by a large number of researchers and natural historians over two centuries. From the 1960s to 1995, most work in California, Oregon, and Washington was sponsored by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Minerals Management Service, and California Department of Fish and Game. Important breeding biology studies were conducted at the South Farallon Islands (Farallon National Wildlife Refuge) by the Point Reyes Bird Observatory, in coordination with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (San Francisco Bay National Wildlife Refuge). Colony surveys in California were conducted mainly by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (San Francisco Bay National Wildlife Refuge), U.S. Geological Survey (Western Ecological Research Center

  19. A review of the biology, fisheries and conservation of the whale shark Rhincodon typus.

    PubMed

    Rowat, D; Brooks, K S

    2012-04-01

    Although the whale shark Rhincodon typus is the largest extant fish, it was not described until 1828 and by 1986 there were only 320 records of this species. Since then, growth in tourism and marine recreation globally has lead to a significant increase in the number of sightings and several areas with annual occurrences have been identified, spurring a surge of research on the species. Simultaneously, there was a great expansion in targeted R. typus fisheries to supply the Asian restaurant trade, as well as a largely un-quantified by-catch of the species in purse-seine tuna fisheries. Currently R. typus is listed by the IUCN as vulnerable, due mainly to the effects of targeted fishing in two areas. Photo-identification has shown that R. typus form seasonal size and sex segregated feeding aggregations and that a large proportion of fish in these aggregations are philopatric in the broadest sense, tending to return to, or remain near, a particular site. Somewhat conversely, satellite tracking studies have shown that fish from these aggregations can migrate at ocean-basin scales and genetic studies have, to date, found little graphic differentiation globally. Conservation approaches are now informed by observational and environmental studies that have provided insight into the feeding habits of the species and its preferred habitats. Notwithstanding these advances, there remain notable gaps in the knowledge of this species particularly with respect to the life history of neonates and adults who are not found in the feeding aggregations. © 2012 The Authors. Journal of Fish Biology © 2012 The Fisheries Society of the British Isles.

  20. Academic procrastination and academic performance: An initial basis for intervention.

    PubMed

    Goroshit, Marina

    2018-01-01

    Academic procrastination is a prevalent phenomenon with a range of negative outcomes. Many studies focused on causes and correlates of academic procrastination; however, the study of interventions for academic procrastination is scarce. The present study is an initial effort to study the relationship between academic procrastination, online course participation, and achievement, as a basis for developing an intervention for academic procrastination. Findings indicated that studying procrastination was negatively associated with final exam grade as well as with the three online course participation measures. Final exam grade was positively associated with two of the online course participation measures, and they positively correlated with each other. In addition, results indicated that studying procrastination, in combination with online course participation measures, explained about 50% of variance in final exam's grade. Frequency of activities in course Web site had the strongest positive effect on final exam's grade. These findings strengthen the notion that studying procrastination is an impediment to students' academic performance and outcomes and clarifies the need to develop and study academic interventions for academic procrastination as a means to decrease its prevalence in academic settings.