Prioritizing landscapes for longleaf pine conservation

USGS Publications Warehouse

Grand, James B.; Kleiner, Kevin J.

2016-01-01

We developed a spatially explicit model and map, as a decision support tool (DST), to aid conservation agencies creating or maintaining open pine ecosystems. The tool identified areas that are likely to provide the greatest benefit to focal bird populations based on a comprehensive landscape analysis. We used NLCD 2011, SSURGO, and SEGAP data to map the density of desired resources for open pine ecosystems and six focal species of birds and 2 reptiles within the historic range of longleaf pine east of the Mississippi River. Binary rasters were created of sites with desired characteristics such as land form, hydrology, land use and land cover, soils, potential habitat for focal species, and putative source populations of focal species. Each raster was smoothed using a kernel density estimator. Rasters were combined and scaled to map priority locations for the management of each focal species. Species’ rasters were combined and scaled to provide maps of overall priority for birds and for birds and reptiles. The spatial data can be used to identify high priority areas for conservation or to compare areas under consideration for maintenance or creation of open pine ecosystems.

50 CFR 660.70 - Groundfish conservation areas.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-10-01

... points for the RCAs. (1) Trawl (Limited Entry and Open Access Nongroundfish Trawl Gears) Rockfish....71 through 660.74. (2) Non-Trawl (Limited Entry Fixed Gear and Open Access Non-trawl Gears) Rockfish...

What Data to Use for Forest Conservation Planning? A Comparison of Coarse Open and Detailed Proprietary Forest Inventory Data in Finland

PubMed Central

Lehtomäki, Joona; Tuominen, Sakari; Toivonen, Tuuli; Leinonen, Antti

2015-01-01

The boreal region is facing intensifying resource extraction pressure, but the lack of comprehensive biodiversity data makes operative forest conservation planning difficult. Many countries have implemented forest inventory schemes and are making extensive and up-to-date forest databases increasingly available. Some of the more detailed inventory databases, however, remain proprietary and unavailable for conservation planning. Here, we investigate how well different open and proprietary forest inventory data sets suit the purpose of conservation prioritization in Finland. We also explore how much priorities are affected by using the less accurate but open data. First, we construct a set of indices for forest conservation value based on quantitative information commonly found in forest inventories. These include the maturity of the trees, tree species composition, and site fertility. Secondly, using these data and accounting for connectivity between forest types, we investigate the patterns in conservation priority. For prioritization, we use Zonation, a method and software for spatial conservation prioritization. We then validate the prioritizations by comparing them to known areas of high conservation value. We show that the overall priority patterns are relatively consistent across different data sources and analysis options. However, the coarse data cannot be used to accurately identify the high-priority areas as it misses much of the fine-scale variation in forest structures. We conclude that, while inventory data collected for forestry purposes may be useful for forest conservation purposes, it needs to be detailed enough to be able to account for more fine-scaled features of high conservation value. These results underline the importance of making detailed inventory data publicly available. Finally, we discuss how the prioritization methodology we used could be integrated into operative forest management, especially in countries in the boreal zone. PMID:26317227

What Data to Use for Forest Conservation Planning? A Comparison of Coarse Open and Detailed Proprietary Forest Inventory Data in Finland.

PubMed

Lehtomäki, Joona; Tuominen, Sakari; Toivonen, Tuuli; Leinonen, Antti

2015-01-01

The boreal region is facing intensifying resource extraction pressure, but the lack of comprehensive biodiversity data makes operative forest conservation planning difficult. Many countries have implemented forest inventory schemes and are making extensive and up-to-date forest databases increasingly available. Some of the more detailed inventory databases, however, remain proprietary and unavailable for conservation planning. Here, we investigate how well different open and proprietary forest inventory data sets suit the purpose of conservation prioritization in Finland. We also explore how much priorities are affected by using the less accurate but open data. First, we construct a set of indices for forest conservation value based on quantitative information commonly found in forest inventories. These include the maturity of the trees, tree species composition, and site fertility. Secondly, using these data and accounting for connectivity between forest types, we investigate the patterns in conservation priority. For prioritization, we use Zonation, a method and software for spatial conservation prioritization. We then validate the prioritizations by comparing them to known areas of high conservation value. We show that the overall priority patterns are relatively consistent across different data sources and analysis options. However, the coarse data cannot be used to accurately identify the high-priority areas as it misses much of the fine-scale variation in forest structures. We conclude that, while inventory data collected for forestry purposes may be useful for forest conservation purposes, it needs to be detailed enough to be able to account for more fine-scaled features of high conservation value. These results underline the importance of making detailed inventory data publicly available. Finally, we discuss how the prioritization methodology we used could be integrated into operative forest management, especially in countries in the boreal zone.

Conservation in metropolitan regions: assessing trends and threats of urban development and climate change

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Thorne, J. H.; Santos, M. J.; Bjorkman, J.

2011-12-01

Two global challenges to successful conservation are urban expansion and climate change. Rapid urban growth threatens biodiversity and associated ecosystem services, while climate change may make currently protected areas unsuitable for species that exist within them. We examined three measures of landscape change for 8800 km2 of the San Francisco Bay metropolitan region over 80 years past and future: urban growth, protected area establishment, and natural vegetation type extents. The Bay Area is a good test bed for conservation assessment of the impacts of temporal and spatial of urban growth and land cover change. The region is geographically rather small, with over 40% of its lands already dedicated to protected park and open space lands, they are well-documented, and, the area has had extensive population growth in the past and is projected to continue to grow. The ten-county region within which our study area is a subset has grown from 1.78 million people in 1930, to 6.97 million in 2000 and is estimated to grow to 10.94 million by 2050. With such an influx of people into a small geographic area, it is imperative to both examine the past urban expansion and estimate how the future population will be accommodated into the landscape. We quantify these trends to assess conservation 'success' through time. We used historical and current landcover maps to assess trend, and a GIS-based urban modeling (UPlan) to assess future urban growth impacts in the region, under three policy scenarios- business as usual, smart growth, and urban redevelopment. Impacts are measured by the amount of open space targeted by conservation planners in the region that will be urbanized under each urban growth policy. Impacts are also measured by estimates of the energy consumption projected for each of the scenarios on household and business unit level. The 'business as usual' and 'smart growth' scenarios differed little in their impacts to targeted conservation lands, because so little open space remains to accommodate the expected population growth. Redevelopment conserved more naturally vegetated open space. The redevelopment scenario also permits the lowest increase in energy demand because buildings taken out in the process are reconfigured to higher levels of energy efficiency. However, redevelopment requires substantial increases in residential densities to confine the spatial footprint of the expected future urban growth. These three urban growth scenario footprints differ in their impact to natural vegetation and open space. To incorporate the influence of climate change on remaining natural ecosystems in this urbanizing landscape, we projected the stability of existing, mapped, vegetation types in the region under future climates by examining where projected ranges of the dominant plant species comprising each California Wildlife Habitat Relationship type will all remain together, and where they will begin to dis-associate due to biogeographic response to changing climate. This permits identification of stable and unstable zones of vegetation. The combination of climate stable, high conservation priority and likelihood of urban development provides a way to prioritize conservation land acquisitions.

Balancing housing growth and land conservation: Conservation development preserves private lands near protected areas

Treesearch

Miranda H. Mockrin; Sarah E. Reed; Liba Pejchar; Jessica Salo

2017-01-01

Housing development has emerged as a primary driver of land-use change around the world. In the United States, there is particular concern about low-density residential development on rural lands, which often occurs in places with abundant natural amenities. Conservation development (CD), housing development that incorporates protected open space, has emerged as a tool...

Success and Design of Local Referenda for Land Conservation

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Banzhaf, H. Spencer; Oates, Wallace E.; Sanchirico, James N.

2010-01-01

From 1998 to 2006, over three-quarters of the more than 1,550 U.S. referenda targeting open space passed. We analyze the success of the conservation movement at holding referenda in areas with greater ecological value and greater likelihood of supporting conservation. To do so, we first analyze the patterns in where referenda are held and in which…

7 CFR 1491.22 - Conservation easement deeds.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-01-01

..., population density, the ratio of open prime other important farmland versus impervious surfaces on the...) Impervious surfaces will not exceed 2 percent of the FRPP easement area, excluding NRCS-approved conservation practices. The State Conservationist may waive the 2 percent impervious surface limitation on a parcel-by...

7 CFR 1491.22 - Conservation easement deeds.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-01-01

..., population density, the ratio of open prime other important farmland versus impervious surfaces on the...) Impervious surfaces will not exceed 2 percent of the FRPP easement area, excluding NRCS-approved conservation practices. The State Conservationist may waive the 2 percent impervious surface limitation on a parcel-by...

Intra-Operational Area Coordination: The Zone EOC Concept

DTIC Science & Technology

2015-09-01

Coastside County Water District, Granada Community Services District, Highlands Recreation District, Mid-peninsula Regional Open Space District...District, San Mateo County Resource Conservation District, and the unincorporated area communities of El Granada , Highlands-Bay Wood Park, Kings

Effects of Hurricane Surge Barrier on Hydraulic Environment, Jamaica Bay, New York; Hydraulic Model Investigation

DTIC Science & Technology

1976-09-01

the New York Harbor area and especially the Jamaica Bay complex was used to determine the effects of 13 different hurricane surge barrier plans on...vary directly with the total cross-sectional area of the naviga- tion opening and tidal openings. d. barrier plans B, C-l, C-2, and C-3 would have... plan C-1 with a conservative dye source seaward of the barrier indicated that average dye concentrations will be increased slightly in most areas in

[Resolving characteristic of CDOM by excitation-emission matrix spectroscopy combined with parallel factor analysis in the seawater of outer Yangtze Estuary in Autumn in 2010].

PubMed

Yan, Li-Hong; Chen, Xue-Jun; Su, Rong-Guo; Han, Xiu-Rong; Zhang, Chuan-Song; Shi, Xiao-Yong

2013-01-01

The distribution and estuarine behavior of fluorescent components of chromophoric dissolved organic matter in the seawater of outer Yangtze Estuary were determined by fluorescence excitation emission matrix spectra combined with parallel factor analysis. Six individual fluorescent components were identified by PARAFAC models, including three terrestrial humic-like components C1 [330 nm/390(430) nm], C2 (390 nm/480 nm), C3 (360 nm/440 nm), marine biological production component C5 (300 nm/400 nm) and protein-like components C4 (290 nm/350 nm) and C6 (275 nm/300 nm). The results indicated that C1, C2, and C3 showed a conservative mixing behavior in the whole estuarine region, especially in high-salinity region. And the fluorescence intensity proportion of C1 and C3 decreased with increase of salinity and fluorescence intensity proportion of C2 kept constant with increase of salinity in the whole estuarine region. While C4 showed conservative mixing behavior in low-salinity region and non-conservative mixing behavior in high-salinity region, and fluorescence intensity proportion of C4 increased with increase of salinity. However, C5 and C6 showed a non-conservative mixing behavior and fluorescence intensity proportion increased with increase of salinity in high-salinity region. Significantly spatial difference was recorded for CDOM absorption coefficient in the coastal region and in the open water areas with the highest value in coastal region and the lowest value in the open water areas. The scope of absorption coefficient and absorption slope was higher in coastal region than that in the open water areas. Significantly positive correlations were found between CDOM absorption coefficient and the fluorescence intensities of C1, C2, C3, and C4, but no significant correlation was found between C5 and C6, suggesting that the river inputs contributed to the coastal areas, while CDOM in the open water areas was affected by terrestrial inputs and phytoplankton degradation.

Mapping the World's Marine Protected and Managed Areas - Promoting Awareness, Compliance, and Enforcement via Open Data and Tools.

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Vincent, T.; Zetterlind, V.; Tougher, B.

2016-12-01

Marine Protected and Managed Areas (MPAs) are a cornerstone of coastal and ocean conservation efforts and reflect years of dedicated effort to protect species and habitats through science-based regulation. When they are effective, biomass increases dramatically, and up to 14 fold and play a significant role in conserving biodiversity. Effective MPAs have enforcement. Enforcement cannot occur without awareness of their location among ocean stakeholders and the general public. The Anthropocene Institute, in partnership with the NOAA Marine Protected Area Center, is creating an actively managed, free and open, worldwide database of MPAs, including normalized metadata and regulation summaries, full GIS boundaries, revision history, and public facing interactive web maps. This project employs 2 full-time lawyers that first comb the relevant regulation; 2 full-time geographers and a full-time GIS database/web engineer.

PAD-US: National Inventory of Protected Areas

USGS Publications Warehouse

Gergely, Kevin J.; McKerrow, Alexa

2013-11-12

The Gap Analysis Program produces data and tools that help meet critical national challenges such as biodiversity conservation, renewable energy development, climate change adaptation, and infrastructure investment. The Protected Areas Database of the United States (PAD-US) is the official inventory of protected open space in the United States. With over 715 million acres in thousands of holdings, the spatial data in PAD-US include public lands held in trust by national, State, and some local governments, and by some nonprofit conservation organizations.

Impact of Canopy Openness on Spider Communities: Implications for Conservation Management of Formerly Coppiced Oak Forests

PubMed Central

Košulič, Ondřej; Michalko, Radek; Hula, Vladimír

2016-01-01

Traditional woodland management created a mosaic of differently aged patches providing favorable conditions for a variety of arthropods. After abandonment of historical ownership patterns and traditional management and the deliberate transformation to high forest after World War II, large forest areas became darker and more homogeneous. This had significant negative consequences for biodiversity. An important question is whether even small-scale habitat structures maintained by different levels of canopy openness in abandoned coppiced forest may constitute conditions suitable for forest as well as open habitat specialists. We investigated the effect of canopy openness in former traditionally coppiced woodlands on the species richness, functional diversity, activity density, conservation value, and degree of rareness of epigeic spiders. In each of the eight studied locations, 60-m-long transect was established consisting of five pitfall traps placed at regular 15 m intervals along the gradient. Spiders were collected from May to July 2012. We recorded 90 spider species, including high proportions of xeric specialists (40%) and red-listed threatened species (26%). The peaks of conservation indicators, as well as spider community abundance, were shifted toward more open canopies. On the other hand, functional diversity peaked at more closed canopies followed by a rapid decrease with increasing canopy openness. Species richness was highest in the middle of the canopy openness gradient, suggesting an ecotone effect. Ordinations revealed that species of conservation concern tended to be associated with sparse and partly opened canopy. The results show that the various components of biodiversity peaked at different levels of canopy openness. Therefore, the restoration and suitable forest management of such conditions will retain important diversification of habitats in formerly coppiced oak forest stands. We indicate that permanent presence of small-scale improvements could be suitable conservation tools to prevent the general decline of woodland biodiversity in the intensified landscape of Central Europe. PMID:26845431

Low effect of young afforestations on bird communities inhabiting heterogeneous Mediterranean cropland

PubMed Central

Rey Benayas, José M.; Carrascal, Luis M.

2015-01-01

Afforestation programs such as the one promoted by the EU Common Agricultural Policy have spread tree plantations on former cropland. These afforestations attract generalist forest and ubiquitous species but may cause severe damage to open habitat species, especially birds of high conservation value. We investigated the effects of young (<20 yr) tree plantations dominated by pine P. halepensis on bird communities inhabiting the adjacent open farmland habitat in central Spain. We hypothesize that pine plantations located at shorter distances from open fields and with larger surface would affect species richness and conservation value of bird communities. Regression models controlling for the influence of land use types around plantations revealed positive effects of higher distance to pine plantation edge on community species richness in winter, and negative effects on an index of conservation concern (SPEC) during the breeding season. However, plantation area did not have any effect on species richness or community conservation value. Our results indicate that the effects of pine afforestation on bird communities inhabiting Mediterranean cropland are diluted by heterogeneous agricultural landscapes. PMID:26664801

Reserve selection with minimum contiguous area restrictions: An application to open space protection planning in suburban Chicago

Treesearch

Sandor F. Toth; Robert Haight; Stephanie A. Snyder; Sonney George; James R. Miller; Mark S. Gregory; Adam M. Skibbe

2009-01-01

Conservation efforts often require site or parcel selection strategies that lead to spatially cohesive reserves. Although habitat contiguity is thought to be conducive to the persistence of many sensitive species, availability of funding and suitable land may restrict the extent to which this spatial attribute can be pursued in land management or conservation. Using...

Past and predicted future effects of housing growth on open space conservation opportunity areas and habitat connectivity around National Wildlife Refuges

USGS Publications Warehouse

Hamilton, Christopher M.; Baumann, Matthias; Pidgeon, Anna M.; Helmers, David P.; Thogmartin, Wayne E.; Heglund, Patricia J.; Radeloff, Volker C.

2016-01-01

ContextHousing growth can alter suitability of matrix habitats around protected areas, strongly affecting movements of organisms and, consequently, threatening connectivity of protected area networks.ObjectivesOur goal was to quantify distribution and growth of housing around the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service National Wildlife Refuge System. This is important information for conservation planning, particularly given promotion of habitat connectivity as a climate change adaptation measure.MethodsWe quantified housing growth from 1940 to 2000 and projected future growth to 2030 within three distances from refuges, identifying very low housing density open space, “opportunity areas” (contiguous areas with <6.17 houses/km2), both nationally and by USFWS administrative region. Additionally, we quantified number and area of habitat corridors within these opportunity areas in 2000.ResultsOur results indicated that the number and area of open space opportunity areas generally decreased with increasing distance from refuges and with the passage of time. Furthermore, total area in habitat corridors was much lower than in opportunity areas. In addition, the number of corridors sometimes exceeded number of opportunity areas as a result of habitat fragmentation, indicating corridors are likely vulnerable to land use change. Finally, regional differences were strong and indicated some refuges may have experienced so much housing growth already that they are effectively too isolated to adapt to climate change, while others may require extensive habitat restoration work.ConclusionsWildlife refuges are increasingly isolated by residential housing development, potentially constraining the movement of wildlife and, therefore, their ability to adapt to a changing climate.

Focused feasibility study for surface soil at the main pits and pushout area, J-field toxic burning pits area, Aberdeen Proving Ground, Maryland

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

Patton, T.; Benioff, P.; Biang, C.

1996-06-01

The Environmental Management Division of Aberdeen Proving Ground (APG), Maryland, is conducting a remedial investigation and feasibility study of the J-Field area at APG pursuant to the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act, as amended (CERCLA). J-Field is located within the Edgewood Area of APG in Harford County, Maryland. Since World War II, activities in the Edgewood Area have included the development, manufacture, testing, and destruction of chemical agents and munitions. These materials were destroyed at J-Field by open burning/open detonation. Portions of J-Field continue to be used for the detonation and disposal of unexploded ordnance (UXO) by openmore » burning/open detonation under authority of the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act.« less

Phylogenetic diversity meets conservation policy: small areas are key to preserving eucalypt lineages.

PubMed

Pollock, Laura J; Rosauer, Dan F; Thornhill, Andrew H; Kujala, Heini; Crisp, Michael D; Miller, Joseph T; McCarthy, Michael A

2015-02-19

Evolutionary and genetic knowledge is increasingly being valued in conservation theory, but is rarely considered in conservation planning and policy. Here, we integrate phylogenetic diversity (PD) with spatial reserve prioritization to evaluate how well the existing reserve system in Victoria, Australia captures the evolutionary lineages of eucalypts, which dominate forest canopies across the state. Forty-three per cent of remaining native woody vegetation in Victoria is located in protected areas (mostly national parks) representing 48% of the extant PD found in the state. A modest expansion in protected areas of 5% (less than 1% of the state area) would increase protected PD by 33% over current levels. In a recent policy change, portions of the national parks were opened for development. These tourism development zones hold over half the PD found in national parks with some species and clades falling entirely outside of protected zones within the national parks. This approach of using PD in spatial prioritization could be extended to any clade or area that has spatial and phylogenetic data. Our results demonstrate the relevance of PD to regional conservation policy by highlighting that small but strategically located areas disproportionally impact the preservation of evolutionary lineages.

The Importance of Rotational Crops for Biodiversity Conservation in Mediterranean Areas.

PubMed

Chiatante, Gianpasquale; Meriggi, Alberto

2016-01-01

Nowadays we are seeing the largest biodiversity loss since the extinction of the dinosaurs. To conserve biodiversity it is essential to plan protected areas using a prioritization approach, which takes into account the current biodiversity value of the sites. Considering that in the Mediterranean Basin the agro-ecosystems are one of the most important parts of the landscape, the conservation of crops is essential to biodiversity conservation. In the framework of agro-ecosystem conservation, farmland birds play an important role because of their representativeness, and because of their steady decline in the last Century in Western Europe. The main aim of this research was to define if crop dominated landscapes could be useful for biodiversity conservation in a Mediterranean area in which the landscape was modified by humans in the last thousand years and was affected by the important biogeographical phenomenon of peninsula effect. To assess this, we identify the hotspots and the coldspots of bird diversity in southern Italy both during the winter and in the breeding season. In particular we used a scoring method, defining a biodiversity value for each cell of a 1-km grid superimposed on the study area, using data collected by fieldwork following a stratified random sampling design. This value was analysed by a multiple linear regression analysis and was predicted in the whole study area. Then we defined the hotspots and the coldspots of the study area as 15% of the cells with higher and lower value of biodiversity, respectively. Finally, we used GAP analysis to compare hotspot distribution with the current network of protected areas. This study showed that the winter hotspots of bird diversity were associated with marshes and water bodies, shrublands, and irrigated crops, whilst the breeding hotspots were associated with more natural areas (e.g. transitional wood/shrubs), such as open areas (natural grasslands, pastures and not irrigated crops). Moreover, the results underlined the negative effects of permanent crops, such as vineyards, olive groves, and orchards, in particular during the winter season. This research highlights the importance of farmland areas mainly for wintering species and the importance of open areas for breeding species in the Mediterranean Basin. This may be true even when the species' spatial distribution could be affected by biogeography. An important result showed that the hotspots for breeding species cannot be used as a surrogate for the wintering species, which were often not considered in the planning of protected areas.

The Importance of Rotational Crops for Biodiversity Conservation in Mediterranean Areas

PubMed Central

Chiatante, Gianpasquale; Meriggi, Alberto

2016-01-01

Nowadays we are seeing the largest biodiversity loss since the extinction of the dinosaurs. To conserve biodiversity it is essential to plan protected areas using a prioritization approach, which takes into account the current biodiversity value of the sites. Considering that in the Mediterranean Basin the agro-ecosystems are one of the most important parts of the landscape, the conservation of crops is essential to biodiversity conservation. In the framework of agro-ecosystem conservation, farmland birds play an important role because of their representativeness, and because of their steady decline in the last Century in Western Europe. The main aim of this research was to define if crop dominated landscapes could be useful for biodiversity conservation in a Mediterranean area in which the landscape was modified by humans in the last thousand years and was affected by the important biogeographical phenomenon of peninsula effect. To assess this, we identify the hotspots and the coldspots of bird diversity in southern Italy both during the winter and in the breeding season. In particular we used a scoring method, defining a biodiversity value for each cell of a 1-km grid superimposed on the study area, using data collected by fieldwork following a stratified random sampling design. This value was analysed by a multiple linear regression analysis and was predicted in the whole study area. Then we defined the hotspots and the coldspots of the study area as 15% of the cells with higher and lower value of biodiversity, respectively. Finally, we used GAP analysis to compare hotspot distribution with the current network of protected areas. This study showed that the winter hotspots of bird diversity were associated with marshes and water bodies, shrublands, and irrigated crops, whilst the breeding hotspots were associated with more natural areas (e.g. transitional wood/shrubs), such as open areas (natural grasslands, pastures and not irrigated crops). Moreover, the results underlined the negative effects of permanent crops, such as vineyards, olive groves, and orchards, in particular during the winter season. This research highlights the importance of farmland areas mainly for wintering species and the importance of open areas for breeding species in the Mediterranean Basin. This may be true even when the species’ spatial distribution could be affected by biogeography. An important result showed that the hotspots for breeding species cannot be used as a surrogate for the wintering species, which were often not considered in the planning of protected areas. PMID:26918960

Spatial and Temporal Habitat Use of an Asian Elephant in Sumatra

PubMed Central

Sitompul, Arnold F.; Griffin, Curtice R.; Rayl, Nathaniel D.; Fuller, Todd K.

2013-01-01

Simple Summary A wild Sumatran elephant radio-monitored near a conservation center from August 2007–May 2008 used medium- and open-canopy land cover more than expected, but closed canopy forests were used more during the day than at night. When in closed canopy forests, elephants spent more time near the forest edge. Effective elephant conservation strategies in Sumatra need to focus on forest restoration of cleared areas and providing a forest matrix that includes various canopy types. Abstract Increasingly, habitat fragmentation caused by agricultural and human development has forced Sumatran elephants into relatively small areas, but there is little information on how elephants use these areas and thus, how habitats can be managed to sustain elephants in the future. Using a Global Positioning System (GPS) collar and a land cover map developed from TM imagery, we identified the habitats used by a wild adult female elephant (Elephas maximus sumatranus) in the Seblat Elephant Conservation Center, Bengkulu Province, Sumatra during 2007–2008. The marked elephant (and presumably her 40–60 herd mates) used a home range that contained more than expected medium canopy and open canopy land cover. Further, within the home range, closed canopy forests were used more during the day than at night. When elephants were in closed canopy forests they were most often near the forest edge vs. in the forest interior. Effective elephant conservation strategies in Sumatra need to focus on forest restoration of cleared areas and providing a forest matrix that includes various canopy types. PMID:26479527

Subdivision design and stewardship affect bird and mammal use of conservation developments.

PubMed

Farr, Cooper M; Pejchar, Liba; Reed, Sarah E

2017-06-01

Developing effective tools for conservation on private lands is increasingly important for global biodiversity conservation; private lands are located in more productive and biologically diverse areas, and they face accelerated rates of land conversion. One strategy is conservation development (CD) subdivisions, which cluster houses in a small portion of a property and preserve the remaining land as protected open space. Despite widespread use, the characteristics that make CD more or less effective at achieving biodiversity conservation are not well understood. We investigated CD's ability to successfully protect animal populations by examining bird and mammal occurrences in 14 CD subdivisions and four undeveloped areas (range: 14-432 ha) in northern Colorado, USA. Using point count and camera trap data in an occupancy modeling framework, we evaluated the relative importance of nine subdivision design factors (e.g., housing density, proportion of CD protected) and 14 stewardship factors (e.g., presence of livestock, percent native vegetation cover) in influencing the overall community composition and the probability of use by 16 birds and six mammals. We found that habitat use by 75% of birds and 83% of mammals was associated with design characteristics that maximized the natural or undisturbed land area both within and near the development (e.g., proportion of CD protected, total area of protected open space, proportion of natural land cover in the surrounding landscape). These factors were also associated with an increasing dominance of human-sensitive bird species, larger-bodied mammals, and mammals with larger home ranges. Habitat use by birds was also influenced by local land use composition and quality, and use by several bird and mammal species decreased with increased localized disturbances. We found few differences in habitat use between sampling sites in undeveloped areas and in CD subdivisions. These similarities indicate that, if CDs are large enough or located within a matrix of undeveloped land, they can provide habitat that supports similar use patterns as protected areas without housing development. By incorporating characteristics that promote the persistence of sensitive birds and mammals on private lands, CDs have potential to preserve native biodiversity in areas threatened by expanding residential development. © 2017 by the Ecological Society of America.

Neocortical arealization: evolution, mechanisms, and open questions.

PubMed

Alfano, Christian; Studer, Michèle

2013-06-01

The mammalian neocortex is a structure with no equals in the vertebrates and is the seat of the highest cerebral functions, such as thoughts and consciousness. It is radially organized into six layers and tangentially subdivided into functional areas deputed to the elaboration of sensory information, association between different stimuli, and selection and triggering of voluntary movements. The process subdividing the neocortical field into several functional areas is called "arealization". Each area has its own cytoarchitecture, connectivity, and peculiar functions. In the last century, several neuroscientists have investigated areal structure and the mechanisms that have led during evolution to the rising of the neocortex and its organization. The extreme conservation in the positioning and wiring of neocortical areas among different mammalian families suggests a conserved genetic program orchestrating neocortical patterning. However, the impressive plasticity of the neocortex, which is able to rewire and reorganize areal structures and connectivity after impairments of sensory pathways, argues for a more complex scenario. Indeed, even if genetics and molecular biology helped in identifying several genes involved in the arealization process, the logic underlying the neocortical bauplan is still beyond our comprehension. In this review, we will introduce the present knowledge and hypotheses on the ontogenesis and evolution of neocortical areas. Then, we will focus our attention on some open issues, which are still unresolved, and discuss some recent studies that might open new directions to be explored in the next few years. Copyright © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

China Report, Economic Affairs, Energy: Status and Development -- XXVI

DTIC Science & Technology

1984-04-09

better technology for open-cut mining; — renovating 9 railway trunk lines while building 8 new ones, bringing the total number in the area up to 20 and...CSO: 4013/119 91 SUPPLEMENTAL SOURCES CHINA’S SOLAR ENERGY RESOURCE DISTRIBUTION ANALYZED Beijing TAIYANGNENG XUEBAO [ACTA ENERGIAE SOLARIS...Calculation in Our Country, TAIYANGNENG XUEBAO [ACTA ENERGIAE SOLARIS SINICA], Vol 1, 1980 pp 1-9. 12553 CSO: 4013/19 102 CONSERVATION CONSERVATION

The potential of military training areas for bird conservation in a central European landscape

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bušek, Ondřej; Reif, Jiří

2017-10-01

European biodiversity has suffered from serious declines during the past few decades, with alterations of land use practices resulting in a loss of fine-scale habitat heterogeneity being a dominant driver. This heterogeneity was maintained by extensive landscape management, which has gradually been replaced by either intensive exploitation or land abandonment. It has been suggested that military training can generate habitat heterogeneity that may support the existence of species of conservation concern, but studies rigorously testing the real importance of military training areas for biodiversity are lacking. Here we address this issue by analyses of two datasets. First, we compared land cover classes between all large military training areas (MTAs) and surrounding control areas (CAs) of the same size in the Czech Republic using multivariate redundancy analysis. We found that the difference in land cover between MTAs and CAs was significant and represented the strongest gradient in land cover classes: from various farmland and artificial habitats typical for CAs to forest and scrubland-grassland mosaic typical for MTAs. Second, we selected one of these areas and compared bird species richness between the MTA and the nearby CA using generalized linear mixed effects models. We found that the number of species of conservation concern was significantly higher in the MTA than in the CA. With respect to habitats, bird species richness was significantly higher in the MTA than in the CA for open habitats, but not for forest habitats. Our results are thus consistent with the view that military training creates areas that are different from the surrounding landscape in terms of land cover, and that this difference translates to a suitability for species of conservation concern. It is remarkable that the positive influence of military training is confined to open habitats, which are subject to the most intensive military activities and also suffer the highest degree of deterioration in European landscapes.

Solutions for ecosystem-level protection of ocean systems under climate change.

PubMed

Queirós, Ana M; Huebert, Klaus B; Keyl, Friedemann; Fernandes, Jose A; Stolte, Willem; Maar, Marie; Kay, Susan; Jones, Miranda C; Hamon, Katell G; Hendriksen, Gerrit; Vermard, Youen; Marchal, Paul; Teal, Lorna R; Somerfield, Paul J; Austen, Melanie C; Barange, Manuel; Sell, Anne F; Allen, Icarus; Peck, Myron A

2016-12-01

The Paris Conference of Parties (COP21) agreement renewed momentum for action against climate change, creating the space for solutions for conservation of the ocean addressing two of its largest threats: climate change and ocean acidification (CCOA). Recent arguments that ocean policies disregard a mature conservation research field and that protected areas cannot address climate change may be oversimplistic at this time when dynamic solutions for the management of changing oceans are needed. We propose a novel approach, based on spatial meta-analysis of climate impact models, to improve the positioning of marine protected areas to limit CCOA impacts. We do this by estimating the vulnerability of ocean ecosystems to CCOA in a spatially explicit manner and then co-mapping human activities such as the placement of renewable energy developments and the distribution of marine protected areas. We test this approach in the NE Atlantic considering also how CCOA impacts the base of the food web which supports protected species, an aspect often neglected in conservation studies. We found that, in this case, current regional conservation plans protect areas with low ecosystem-level vulnerability to CCOA, but disregard how species may redistribute to new, suitable and productive habitats. Under current plans, these areas remain open to commercial extraction and other uses. Here, and worldwide, ocean conservation strategies under CCOA must recognize the long-term importance of these habitat refuges, and studies such as this one are needed to identify them. Protecting these areas creates adaptive, climate-ready and ecosystem-level policy options for conservation, suitable for changing oceans. © 2016 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

75 FR 55599 - Little River National Wildlife Refuge, McCurtain County, OK; Revised Comprehensive Conservation...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2010-09-13

... hardwood forests. The Refuge is approximately 96 percent forested with small areas of open water, shrub... buttonbush shrub swamps. The canopy trees are roughly 50-70 years old with scattered patches of much older...

78 FR 59713 - Notice of Availability of the North Dakota Greater Sage-Grouse Draft Resource Management Plan...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2013-09-27

...)--Areas identified as having the highest conservation value to maintaining sustainable GRSG populations... FR 77008), and ended on March 23, 2012. The BLM held one scoping open house in North Dakota in...

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 Conservation Biology.

Effects of Ethnic Settlements and Land Management Status on Species Distribution Patterns: A Case Study of Endangered Musk Deer (Moschus spp.) in Northwest Yunnan, China.

PubMed

Li, Xueyou; Bleisch, William V; Jiang, Xuelong

2016-01-01

Understanding the status and spatial distribution of endangered species in biologically and ethnologically diverse areas is important to address correlates of cultural and biological diversity. We developed models for endangered musk deer (Moschus spp.) abundance indices in and around protected areas inhabited by different ethnic groups in northwest Yunnan China to address different anthropogenic and management-related questions. We found that prediction of relative abundance of musk deer was best accomplished using ethnicity of settlements, conservation status and poaching pressure in an area. Musk deer were around 5 times more abundant in Tibetan regions relative to Lisu regions. We found no significant negative correlates of gathering and transhumance activities on musk deer abundance. Hunting pressure showed no significant differences between protected and non-protected areas, but showed significant differences among ethnic groups. Hunting pressures in areas adjacent to Lisu settlements was 7.1 times more than in areas adjacent to Tibetan settlements. Our findings indicate protected areas in southwest China are not fully effective in deterring human disturbance caused by traditional practices. We suggest that conservation and management strategies should engage traditional culture and practices with a positive conservation impact. Better understanding of indigenous culture may open up new opportunities for species conservation in much wider tracts of unprotected and human-dominated lands. Traditional practices that are not destructive to biodiversity should be allowed as a way of providing a link between the local communities and protected areas thereby creating incentives for conservation.

Conserving old-growth forest diversity in disturbance-prone landscapes.

PubMed

Spies, Thomas A; Hemstrom, Miles A; Youngblood, Andrew; Hummel, Susan

2006-04-01

A decade after its creation, the Northwest Forest Plan is contributing to the conservation of old-growth forests on federal land. However the success and outlook for the plan are questionable in the dry provinces, where losses of old growth to wildfire have been relatively high and risks of further loss remain. We summarize the state of knowledge of old-growth forests in the plan area, identify challenges to conserve them, and suggest some conservation approaches that might better meet the goals of the plan. Historically, old-growth forests in these provinces ranged from open, patchy stands, maintained by frequent low-severity fire, to a mosaic of dense and open stands maintained by mixed-severity fires. Old-growth structure and composition were spatially heterogeneous, varied strongly with topography and elevation, and were shaped by a complex disturbance regime of fire, insects, and disease. With fire suppression and cutting of large pines (Pinus spp.) and Douglas-firs (Pseudotsuga menziesii [Mirbel] Franco), old-growth diversity has declined and dense understories have developed across large areas. Challenges to conserving these forests include a lack of definitions needed for planning of fire-dependent old-growth stands and landscapes, and conflicts in conservation goals that can be resolved only at the landscape level. Fire suppression has increased the area of the dense, older forest favored by Northern Spotted Owls (Strix occidentalis caurina) but increased the probability of high-severity fire. The plan allows for fuel reduction in late-successional reserves; fuel treatments, however apparently have not happened at a high enough rate or been applied in a landscape-level approach. Landscape-level strategies are needed that prioritize fuel treatments by vegetation zones, develop shaded fuel breaks in strategic positions, and thin and apply prescribed fire to reduce ladder fuels around remaining old trees. Evaluations of the current and alternative strategies are needed to determine whether the current reserve-matrix approach is the best strategy to meet plan goals in these dynamic landscapes.

Social traditionalism and economic conservatism: two conservative political ideologies in the United States.

PubMed

Johnson, S D; Tamney, J B

2001-04-01

The authors surveyed by telephone a random sample of voters in the 1996 presidential election from the Standard Metropolitan Statistical Area of Muncie, IN ("Middletown"; R. Lynd & H. Lynd, 1929) to test a model describing the nature of 2 conservative political ideologies--social traditionalism and economic conservatism. The model, based on functions of attitudes theory, predicted (a) that the 2 political ideologies would appeal to 2 rather distinct constituency groups--the former, to conservative Protestants; the latter, to people of higher incomes--and (b) that social traditionalists would be more dogmatic and economic conservatives would be more open-minded in their respective views. The findings were consistent with those predictions.

Establishment, management, and maintenance of the phoenix islands protected area.

PubMed

Rotjan, Randi; Jamieson, Regen; Carr, Ben; Kaufman, Les; Mangubhai, Sangeeta; Obura, David; Pierce, Ray; Rimon, Betarim; Ris, Bud; Sandin, Stuart; Shelley, Peter; Sumaila, U Rashid; Taei, Sue; Tausig, Heather; Teroroko, Tukabu; Thorrold, Simon; Wikgren, Brooke; Toatu, Teuea; Stone, Greg

2014-01-01

The Republic of Kiribati's Phoenix Islands Protected Area (PIPA), located in the equatorial central Pacific, is the largest and deepest UNESCO World Heritage site on earth. Created in 2008, it was the first Marine Protected Area (MPA) of its kind (at the time of inception, the largest in the world) and includes eight low-lying islands, shallow coral reefs, submerged shallow and deep seamounts and extensive open-ocean and ocean floor habitat. Due to their isolation, the shallow reef habitats have been protected de facto from severe exploitation, though the surrounding waters have been continually fished for large pelagics and whales over many decades. PIPA was created under a partnership between the Government of Kiribati and the international non-governmental organizations-Conservation International and the New England Aquarium. PIPA has a unique conservation strategy as the first marine MPA to use a conservation contract mechanism with a corresponding Conservation Trust established to be both a sustainable financing mechanism and a check-and-balance to the oversight and maintenance of the MPA. As PIPA moves forward with its management objectives, it is well positioned to be a global model for large MPA design and implementation in similar contexts. The islands and shallow reefs have already shown benefits from protection, though the pending full closure of PIPA (and assessments thereof) will be critical for determining success of the MPA as a refuge for open-ocean pelagic and deep-sea marine life. As global ocean resources are continually being extracted to support a growing global population, PIPA's closure is both timely and of global significance.

36 CFR 331.12 - Vehicles.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-07-01

... GOVERNING THE PROTECTION, USE AND MANAGEMENT OF THE FALLS OF THE OHIO NATIONAL WILDLIFE CONSERVATION AREA... proper and effective exhaust muffler, or with an exhaust muffler cutout open, or in any other manner which renders the exhaust muffler ineffective in muffling the sound of engine exhaust. ...

36 CFR 331.12 - Vehicles.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-07-01

... GOVERNING THE PROTECTION, USE AND MANAGEMENT OF THE FALLS OF THE OHIO NATIONAL WILDLIFE CONSERVATION AREA... proper and effective exhaust muffler, or with an exhaust muffler cutout open, or in any other manner which renders the exhaust muffler ineffective in muffling the sound of engine exhaust. ...

78 FR 67186 - Notice of Availability of the Lewistown Field Office Greater Sage-Grouse Draft Land Use Plan...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2013-11-08

... Habitat (PPH)--Areas identified as having the highest conservation value to maintaining sustainable GRSG... Federal Register to extend the scoping period until March 19, 2012. The BLM held a scoping open house on...

78 FR 70571 - Notice of Availability of the Oregon Greater Sage-Grouse Draft Land Use Plan Amendments and Draft...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2013-11-26

...)--Areas identified as having the highest conservation value for maintaining sustainable GRSG populations... the Federal Register (76 FR 77008) and ended on March 23, 2012. The BLM held scoping open houses in...

Postbreeding resource selection by adult black-footed ferrets in the Conata Basin, South Dakota

USGS Publications Warehouse

Eads, D.A.; Millspaugh, J.J.; Biggins, D.E.; Livieri, T.M.; Jachowski, D.S.

2011-01-01

We investigated postbreeding resource selection by adult black-footed ferrets (Mustela nigripes) on a 452-ha black-tailed prairie dog (Cynomys ludovicianus) colony in the Conata Basin of South Dakota during 20072008. We used resource selection functions (RSFs) to evaluate relationships between numbers of ferret locations and numbers of prairie dog burrow openings (total or active), distances to colony edges, and connectivity of patches of burrow openings. In both years ferrets selected areas near edges of the prairie dog colony where active burrow openings were abundant. In the interior of the colony ferrets selected areas with low abundance of active burrow openings. At times, prairie dog productivity (i.e., pup abundance) might be greatest at colony edges often characterized by grasses; ferrets are likely to select areas where refuge and vulnerable prey are abundant. Ferrets could have used interior areas with few active burrow openings as corridors between edge areas with many active burrow openings. Also, in areas with few active burrow openings ferrets spend more time aboveground during movements and, thus, are likely to be more easily detected. These results complement previous studies demonstrating importance of refuge and prey in fine-scale resource selection by ferrets and provide insight into factors that might influence edge effects on ferret space use. Conservation and restoration of colonies with areas with high densities of burrow openings and prairie dogs, and corridors between such areas, are needed for continued recovery of the black-footed ferret. RSFs could complement coarse-scale habitat evaluations by providing finer-scale assessments of habitat for the black-footed ferret. ?? 2011 American Society of Mammalogists.

Mediterranean banks in EBSA area: Hotspots of biodiversity under threat.

PubMed

Altobelli, Chiara; Perzia, Patrizia; Falautano, Manuela; Consoli, Pierpaolo; Canese, Simonepietro; Romeo, Teresa; Andaloro, Franco

2017-10-01

This study demonstrates that, in the Central Mediterranean Sea, the Graham, Nereo and Pantelleria Vecchia Banks of the Strait of Sicily represent, in the wide and diversified 'Sicily Channel' Ecological or Biological Significant Area, unknown hot spots of biodiversity threatened by human activities. The investigated banks show an high ecological and biological value (EBV), assessed through presence/absence of specific indicators. The ecological groups of Graham Bank show the maximum EBV; the same as Nereo and Pantelleria Vecchia, except for the benthic component. All three banks are highly threatened, mainly the benthic and benthopelagic ecological groups. However, these Banks still have wide pristine areas to protect and can be considered eligible sites for the imposition of area-based management measures of conservation. This study represent also a support for decision makers involved in protection of the Mediterranean open sea areas, to pinpoint other priority conservation banks. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Fragmentation and matrix contrast favor understory plants through negative cascading effects on a strong competitor palm.

PubMed

Hernández-Ruedas, Manuel A; Arroyo-Rodríguez, Víctor; Morante-Filho, José Carlos; Meave, Jorge A; Martínez-Ramos, Miguel

2018-05-04

Understanding the patterns and processes driving biodiversity maintenance in fragmented tropical forests is urgently needed for conservation planning, especially in species-rich forest reserves. Of particular concern are the effects that habitat modifications at the landscape scale may have on forest regeneration and ecosystem functioning: a topic that has received limited attention. Here, we assessed the effects of landscape structure (i.e., forest cover, open area matrices, forest fragmentation, and mean inter-patch isolation distance) on understory plant assemblages in the Los Tuxtlas Biosphere Reserve, Mexico. Previous studies suggest that the demographic burst of the strong competitor palm Astrocaryum mexicanum in the core area of this reserve limits plant recruitment and imperils biodiversity conservation within this protected area. Yet, the local and landscape predictors of this palm, and its impact on tree recruitment at a regional scale are unknown. Thus, we used structural equation modeling to assess the direct and cascading effects of landscape structure on stem and species density in the understory of 20 forest sites distributed across this biodiversity hotspot. Indirect paths included the effect of landscape structure on tree basal area (a proxy of local disturbance), and the effects of these variables on A. mexicanum. Density of A. mexicanum mainly increased with decreasing both fragmentation and open areas in the matrix (matrix contrast, hereafter), and such an increase in palm density negatively affected stem and species density in the understory. The negative direct effect of matrix contrast on stem density was overridden by the indirect positive effects (i.e., through negative cascading effects on A. mexicanum), resulting in a weak effect of matrix contrast on stem density. These findings suggest that dispersal limitation and negative edge effects in more fragmented landscapes dominated by open areas prevent the proliferation of this palm species, enhancing the diversity and abundance of understory trees. This "positive" news adds to an increasing line of evidence suggesting that fragmentation may have some positive effects on biodiversity, in this case by preventing the proliferation of species that can jeopardize biodiversity conservation within tropical reserves. © 2018 by the Ecological Society of America.

Using modeling tools for implementing feasible land use and nature conservation governance systems in small islands - The Pico Island (Azores) case-study.

PubMed

Fernandes, J P; Freire, M; Guiomar, N; Gil, A

2017-03-15

The present study deals with the development of systematic conservation planning as management instrument in small oceanic islands, ensuring open systems of governance, and able to integrate an informed and involved participation of the stakeholders. Marxan software was used to define management areas according a set of alternative land use scenarios considering different conservation and management paradigms. Modeled conservation zones were interpreted and compared with the existing protected areas allowing more fused information for future trade-outs and stakeholder's involvement. The results, allowing the identification of Target Management Units (TMU) based on the consideration of different development scenarios proved to be consistent with a feasible development of evaluation approaches able to support sound governance systems. Moreover, the detailed geographic identification of TMU seems to be able to support participated policies towards a more sustainable management of the entire island. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Size, age, and habitat determine effectiveness of Palau's Marine Protected Areas

PubMed Central

Golbuu, Yimnang; Ballesteros, Enric; Caselle, Jennifer E.; Gouezo, Marine; Olsudong, Dawnette; Sala, Enric

2017-01-01

Palau has a rich heritage of conservation that has evolved from the traditional moratoria on fishing, or “bul”, to more western Marine Protected Areas (MPAs), while still retaining elements of customary management and tenure. In 2003, the Palau Protected Areas Network (PAN) was created to conserve Palau’s unique biodiversity and culture, and is the country’s mechanism for achieving the goals of the Micronesia Challenge (MC), an initiative to conserve ≥30% of near-shore marine resources within the region by 2020. The PAN comprises a network of numerous MPAs within Palau that vary in age, size, level of management, and habitat, which provide an excellent opportunity to test hypotheses concerning MPA design and function using multiple discreet sampling units. Our sampling design provided a robust space for time comparison to evaluate the relative influence of potential drivers of MPA efficacy. Our results showed that no-take MPAs had, on average, nearly twice the biomass of resource fishes (i.e. those important commercially, culturally, or for subsistence) compared to nearby unprotected areas. Biomass of non-resource fishes showed no differences between no-take areas and areas open to fishing. The most striking difference between no-take MPAs and unprotected areas was the more than 5-fold greater biomass of piscivorous fishes in the MPAs compared to fished areas. The most important determinates of no-take MPA success in conserving resource fish biomass were MPA size and years of protection. Habitat and distance from shore had little effect on resource fish biomass. The extensive network of MPAs in Palau likely provides important conservation and tourism benefits to the Republic, and may also provide fisheries benefits by protecting spawning aggregation sites, and potentially through adult spillover. PMID:28358910

Environmental gradients explain species richness and community composition of coastal breeding birds in the Baltic Sea.

PubMed

Nord, Maria; Forslund, Pär

2015-01-01

Scientifically-based systematic conservation planning for reserve design requires knowledge of species richness patterns and how these are related to environmental gradients. In this study, we explore a large inventory of coastal breeding birds, in total 48 species, sampled in 4646 1 km2 squares which covered a large archipelago in the Baltic Sea on the east coast of Sweden. We analysed how species richness (α diversity) and community composition (β diversity) of two groups of coastal breeding birds (specialists, i.e. obligate coastal breeders; generalists, i.e. facultative coastal breeders) were affected by distance to open sea, land area, shoreline length and archipelago width. The total number of species per square increased with increasing shoreline length, but increasing land area counteracted this effect in specialists. The number of specialist bird species per square increased with decreasing distance to open sea, while the opposite was true for the generalists. Differences in community composition between squares were associated with differences in land area and distance to open sea, both when considering all species pooled and each group separately. Fourteen species were nationally red-listed, and showed similar relationships to the environmental gradients as did all species, specialists and generalists. We suggest that availability of suitable breeding habitats, and probably also proximity to feeding areas, explain much of the observed spatial distributions of coastal birds in this study. Our findings have important implications for systematic conservation planning of coastal breeding birds. In particular, we provide information on where coastal breeding birds occur and which environments they seem to prefer. Small land areas with long shorelines are highly valuable both in general and for red-listed species. Thus, such areas should be prioritized for protection against human disturbance and used by management in reserve selection.

Environmental Gradients Explain Species Richness and Community Composition of Coastal Breeding Birds in the Baltic Sea

PubMed Central

Nord, Maria; Forslund, Pär

2015-01-01

Scientifically-based systematic conservation planning for reserve design requires knowledge of species richness patterns and how these are related to environmental gradients. In this study, we explore a large inventory of coastal breeding birds, in total 48 species, sampled in 4646 1 km2 squares which covered a large archipelago in the Baltic Sea on the east coast of Sweden. We analysed how species richness (α diversity) and community composition (β diversity) of two groups of coastal breeding birds (specialists, i.e. obligate coastal breeders; generalists, i.e. facultative coastal breeders) were affected by distance to open sea, land area, shoreline length and archipelago width. The total number of species per square increased with increasing shoreline length, but increasing land area counteracted this effect in specialists. The number of specialist bird species per square increased with decreasing distance to open sea, while the opposite was true for the generalists. Differences in community composition between squares were associated with differences in land area and distance to open sea, both when considering all species pooled and each group separately. Fourteen species were nationally red-listed, and showed similar relationships to the environmental gradients as did all species, specialists and generalists. We suggest that availability of suitable breeding habitats, and probably also proximity to feeding areas, explain much of the observed spatial distributions of coastal birds in this study. Our findings have important implications for systematic conservation planning of coastal breeding birds. In particular, we provide information on where coastal breeding birds occur and which environments they seem to prefer. Small land areas with long shorelines are highly valuable both in general and for red-listed species. Thus, such areas should be prioritized for protection against human disturbance and used by management in reserve selection. PMID:25714432

Evaluation of the effectiveness of a semi-finished occlusal appliance – a randomized, controlled clinical trial

PubMed Central

2013-01-01

Introduction Painful temporomandibular disorders (TMDs) are usually treated with physiotherapy, self-exercises, medication-based therapy and splint therapy. For splint therapy different types of splints are available. Therefore this randomized controlled study compared the effectiveness of a semi-finished occlusal appliance (SB) with a laboratory-made occlusal appliance (SS) in myofascial pain patients. Method The trial subjects allocated to the experimental groups with the (SB) occlusal appliance and those provided with a laboratory-made occlusal appliance (SS) did, in addition, receive conservative treatment (self-exercises, drug-based and manual therapy). The control group was given conservative therapy (CO) only. Overall, a total of 63 patients participated in the study with each group consisting of 21 subjects. Results When the first follow-up examination took place (14 days after splint insertion) mouth opening within the SB group was significantly enlarged. When the second examination was conducted (2.5 months after splint insertion) mouth opening was significantly enlarged in both splint groups when compared with the initial value. In the control group, no significant enlargement of mouth opening was detected. At no point there was a significant reduction in the number of pressure-sensitive areas of the TMJ. On palpation of the masticatory muscles however, a significant reduction in the number of pressure-sensitive areas could be observed within the CO group and the SS group after 2.5 months. When comparing pain reduction (muscle/joint pain) and mouth opening, no significant differences could be detected between the treatments. Conclusion The results suggest that TMD should be treated conservatively. In cases of restricted mouth opening, the additional use of occlusal appliances can eliminate the patient’s discomfort more quickly. In this context, the tested, semi-finished occlusal appliance appears to offer an immediately available, temporary alternative to laboratory-made splints. PMID:23351923

Interim Status Closure Plan Open Burning Treatment Unit Technical Area 16-399 Burn Tray

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

Vigil-Holterman, Luciana R.

2012-05-07

This closure plan describes the activities necessary to close one of the interim status hazardous waste open burning treatment units at Technical Area (TA) 16 at the Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL or the Facility), hereinafter referred to as the 'TA-16-399 Burn Tray' or 'the unit'. The information provided in this closure plan addresses the closure requirements specified in the Code of Federal Regulations (CFR), Title 40, Part 265, Subparts G and P for the thermal treatment units operated at the Facility under the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) and the New Mexico Hazardous Waste Act. Closure of themore » open burning treatment unit will be completed in accordance with Section 4.1 of this closure plan.« less

Large expansion of oil industry in the Ecuadorian Amazon: biodiversity vulnerability and conservation alternatives.

PubMed

Lessmann, Janeth; Fajardo, Javier; Muñoz, Jesús; Bonaccorso, Elisa

2016-07-01

Ecuador will experience a significant expansion of the oil industry in its Amazonian region, one of the most biodiverse areas of the world. In view of the changes that are about to come, we explore the conflicts between oil extraction interests and biodiversity protection and apply systematic conservation planning to identify priority areas that should be protected in different oil exploitation scenarios. First, we quantified the current extent of oil blocks and protected zones and their overlap with two biodiversity indicators: 25 ecosystems and 745 species (whose distributions were estimated via species distribution models). With the new scheme of oil exploitation, oil blocks cover 68% (68,196 km(2)) of the Ecuadorian Amazon; half of it occupied by new blocks open for bids in the southern Amazon. This region is especially vulnerable to biodiversity losses, because peaks of species diversity, 19 ecosystems, and a third of its protected zones coincide spatially with oil blocks. Under these circumstances, we used Marxan software to identify priority areas for conservation outside oil blocks, but their coverage was insufficient to completely represent biodiversity. Instead, priority areas that include southern oil blocks provide a higher representation of biodiversity indicators. Therefore, preserving the southern Amazon becomes essential to improve the protection of Amazonian biodiversity in Ecuador, and avoiding oil exploitation in these areas (33% of the extent of southern oil blocks) should be considered a conservation alternative. Also, it is highly recommended to improve current oil exploitation technology to reduce environmental impacts in the region, especially within five oil blocks that we identified as most valuable for the conservation of biodiversity. The application of these and other recommendations depends heavily on the Ecuadorian government, which needs to find a better balance between the use of the Amazon resources and biodiversity conservation.

Modeling climate change, urbanization, and fire effects on Pinus palustris ecosystems of the southeastern U.S.

USGS Publications Warehouse

Costanza, Jennifer; Terando, Adam J.; McKerrow, Alexa; Collazo, Jaime A.

2015-01-01

Managing ecosystems for resilience and sustainability requires understanding how they will respond to future anthropogenic drivers such as climate change and urbanization. In fire-dependent ecosystems, predicting this response requires a focus on how these drivers will impact fire regimes. Here, we use scenarios of climate change, urbanization and management to simulate the future dynamics of the critically endangered and fire-dependent longleaf pine (Pinus palustris) ecosystem. We investigated how climate change and urbanization will affect the ecosystem, and whether the two conservation goals of a 135% increase in total longleaf area and a doubling of fire-maintained open-canopy habitat can be achieved in the face of these drivers. Our results show that while climatic warming had little effect on the wildfire regime, and thus on longleaf pine dynamics, urban growth led to an 8% reduction in annual wildfire area. The management scenarios we tested increase the ecosystem's total extent by up to 62% and result in expansion of open-canopy longleaf by as much as 216%, meeting one of the two conservation goals for the ecosystem. We find that both conservation goals for this ecosystem, which is climate-resilient but vulnerable to urbanization, are only attainable if a greater focus is placed on restoration of non-longleaf areas as opposed to maintaining existing longleaf stands. Our approach demonstrates the importance of accounting for multiple relevant anthropogenic threats in an ecosystem-specific context in order to facilitate more effective management actions.

Land-Cover Change Within the Peatlands Along the Rocky Mountain Front, Montana: 1937-2009

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Klene, A. E.; Milbrath, J. T.; Shelly, J. S.

2013-12-01

While peatlands are globally abundant, the fens of the Rocky Mountain Front (RMF), are the eastern-most, rich, peatlands in Montana, and are unique wetland habitats in this region of semi-arid continental climate. The peatlands provide critical riparian connectivity between the mountains and the plains and are habitat for grizzly bears, wolves, and within just the 450 ha Pine Butte Fen at least 93 species of vascular plants, including seven of Montana's Plant Species of Concern. Aerial photographs of the nine peatlands along the RMF in Montana were analyzed in a GIS. The boundary of each wetland was hand-digitized and the area within was classified into land-cover types: total area, open fen, open water, woody vegetation, and non-wetland/agriculture. Changes in wetland extent and land-cover categories were evaluated from the earliest available imagery in 1937 to the last available imagery in 2009. Images prior to 1995 were orthorectified, and all georectified. Climate change, wildlife, and agriculture were examined as potential drivers of land-cover change at these sites. Results indicate little change in overall peatland area between 1937 and 2009 despite increasing air temperatures in the region. Approximately 16% of these peatlands is 'open fen' and that proportion remained stable over the last seventy years. Area of open water quadrupled and the number of ponds which could be delineated tripled over the study period, reflecting a recovering beaver population. The non-wetland/agricultural area halved over the course of the study, primarily due to declines in agriculture within the three largest remaining peatlands: Pine Butte Fen, McDonald Swamp, and the Blackleaf Creek wetland complex. Most of the first two fens were purchased outright by the Nature Conservancy (TNC) and they hold a conservation easement on the third (as well as two other fens), all of which have been been put in place since the late 1970s. One fen is owned by the State of Montana and another is located within the Lewis and Clark National Forest and is in a protected Research Natural Area. Conversely almost all of the once sprawling Theboe Lake wetland has been heavily cultivated since prior to 1937 and two-thirds of the Bynum wetland was heavily impacted since the middle of the study period. Together these represent a loss of ~27% of the total peatlands on the RMF in the early 1900s. This study quantified the impacts of changing management and conservation practices during the twentieth century in these critical peatlands.

Evaluating perceived benefits of ecoregional assessments.

PubMed

Bottrill, Madeleine C; Mills, Morena; Pressey, Robert L; Game, Edward T; Groves, Craig

2012-10-01

The outcomes of systematic conservation planning (process of assessing, implementing, and managing conservation areas) are rarely reported or measured formally. A lack of consistent or rigorous evaluation in conservation planning has fueled debate about the extent to which conservation assessment (identification, design, and prioritization of potential conservation areas) ultimately influences actions on the ground. We interviewed staff members of a nongovernmental organization, who were involved in 5 ecoregional assessments across North and South America and the Asia-Pacific region. We conducted 17 semistructured interviews with open and closed questions about the perceived purpose, outputs, and outcomes of the ecoregional assessments in which respondents were involved. Using qualitative data collected from those interviews, we investigated the types and frequency of benefits perceived to have emerged from the ecoregional assessments and explored factors that might facilitate or constrain the flow of benefits. Some benefits reflected the intended purpose of ecoregional assessments. Other benefits included improvements in social interactions, attitudes, and institutional knowledge. Our results suggest the latter types of benefits enable ultimate benefits of assessments, such as guiding investments by institutional partners. Our results also showed a clear divergence between the respondents' expectations and perceived outcomes of implementation of conservation actions arising from ecoregional assessments. Our findings suggest the need for both a broader perspective on the contribution of assessments to planning goals and further evaluation of conservation assessments. ©2012 Society for Conservation Biology.

Increased parasitism of limpets by a trematode metacercaria in fisheries management areas of central Chile: effects on host growth and reproduction : management areas and parasitism.

PubMed

Aldana, Marcela; Pulgar, José M; Orellana, Nathalie; Patricio Ojeda, F; García-Huidobro, M Roberto

2014-06-01

The rapid increase in body size and abundance of most species inside Management and Exploitations Areas for Benthic Resources (MEABRs) has led to the proposal of these areas as a good complement for achieving the conservation objectives of Marine Protected Areas (MPAs). However, when evaluating MEABRs and MPAs as conservation and/or management tools, their impact upon parasite populations has rarely been considered, despite the fact that epidemiological theory suggests an increased susceptibility to parasitism under high population abundance. We evaluated the effects of MEABRs on the parasite abundance of Proctoeces lintoni and its impact on the growth of the host limpet Fissurella crassa in central Chile. Parasitic magnitude was higher inside MEABRs than in Open-Access Areas, and parasitized limpets showed a greater shell length, muscular foot biomass, and gonadosomatic index compared to non-parasitized limpets of the same age. Our results suggest that the life cycle of P. lintoni and, consequently, its trophic links have been strengthened inside MEABRs. The increased growth rate could reduce the time required to reach the minimum catch size and increase the reproductive and muscular output of the host population. Thus, parasitism should be considered in the conservation and management of economically important mollusk hosts.

Multi-level discrepancies with sharing data on protected areas: what we have and what we need for the global village.

PubMed

Bertzky, Monika; Stoll-Kleemann, Susanne

2009-01-01

Protected areas present a global heritage. Assessing conservation achievements in protected areas is of crucial importance with respect to the on-time delivery of international biodiversity conservation targets. However, monitoring data from publicly accessible databases for comparative studies of conservation achievements in the protected areas of the world are very scarce, if not non-existent. At first glance this is surprising because, with regards to protected areas, at least according to well established protected area management guidelines and widely accepted public mandates, a great deal of monitoring work and data gathering is to be conducted. This would imply that data on changes of biodiversity in protected areas could be expected to exist, and the constant progress in information technologies and Web tools engenders hope that some of it might even be available online for the global public. This review article presents the results of an extensive online search and review of existing monitoring data from freely accessible online databases for its use in an assessment of conservation achievements in a larger sample of protected areas. Results show two contrary sides to the status quo of accessible data from the World Wide Web for conservation science: data overkill and data scarcity with poor metadata provision. While ever more research is, in fact, based on open-access online data, such as extrapolations of species ranges used in conservation management and planning, it remains almost impossible to obtain a basic set of information for an assessment of conservation achievements within a larger number of protected areas. This awareness has triggered a detailed discussion about the discrepancies in sharing data at the level of protected areas; mismatching relationships between expected activities in protected areas and the capacity for delivering these requirements are certainly among the main challenges. In addition, the fear of data misuse potentially resulting in harm for nature, careers, and competencies still seems to be a critical barrier strictly controlling the willingness to share data. Various initiatives aimed at tackling technical and cultural obstacles are introduced and discussed to reach the goal of a modern resource management based on adaptive management using digital opportunities of the new millennium for a sustainable global village.

[Open repair of gluteus medius and minimus tendons tears with double-row technique : Clinical and radiological results].

PubMed

Schröder, J H; Geßlein, M; Schütz, M; Perka, C; Krüger, D

2018-03-01

Operative refixation is a new therapeutic option in cases of failed conservative treatment for trochanteric pain syndrome (TPS) and lesions of the hip abductors in magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). Evaluation of the clinical and radiological results after open gluteus medius and minimus tendon reconstruction with a double-row technique was carried out. Patients with failed conservative treatment for TPS and confirmed lesions of the hip abductors in MRI were treated by open hip abductor tendon reconstruction with a double-row technique. The patients were evaluated preoperatively and postoperatively (minimum follow-up 12 months) using the modified Harris hip score (mHHS) and a subjective score (subjective hip value, SHV). Preoperative and postoperative MRI evaluation included measurement of hip abductor muscle diameter and cross-sectional area as well as fatty degeneration. In this study 12 consecutive cases of open reconstruction of the hip abductor tendons were included. There was a significant improvement in the mHHS. In one case the patient showed an atraumatic rupture in the proximal anchor row. The MRI showed a significant improvement in muscle diameter and cross-sectional area for the gluteus medius muscle of the affected and the contralateral side, while the degree of fatty degeneration did not improve. The fatty degeneration showed a significant correlation with the postoperative results in the mHHS and the SHV. Operative reconstruction of lesions in the hip abductor tendons is a therapy option with significant improvement of patient satisfaction and functional scores as well as muscle diameter and cross-sectional area for the gluteus medius. The degree of fatty degeneration and possible differential diagnoses need to be taken into consideration.

3 CFR 8856 - Proclamation 8856 of August 31, 2012. National Wilderness Month, 2012

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-01-01

... world to begin new lives and develop thriving communities on our lands. Today, our wilderness areas... jobs in tourism and recreation. Our open spaces are more precious today than ever before, and it is... foundation for a comprehensive, community-driven conservation strategy that continues to engage Americans in...

77 FR 71612 - Minor Boundary Revision of Saratoga National Historical Park

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2012-12-03

..., owned respectively by Open Space Conservancy, Inc., and the State of New York, will be donated to the... DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR National Park Service [NPS-NER-SARA-11235; 4901-726] Minor Boundary... make minor boundary revisions to areas of the National Park System. The Committees have been so...

75 FR 7624 - Notice of Availability of the Draft Environmental Impact Statement/Staff Assessment for the...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2010-02-22

... and concentrate solar energy onto the solar receiver of the PCU. The project also includes an... Stirling Energy Systems Solar Two Project and Possible California Desert Conservation Area Plan Amendment... for the Stirling Energy Systems (SES) Solar Two Project and by this notice are announcing the opening...

75 FR 7515 - Notice of Availability of the Draft Environmental Impact Statement/Staff Assessment for the...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2010-02-19

... and concentrate solar energy onto the solar receiver of the PCU. The project also includes an... Stirling Energy Systems Solar Two Project and Possible California Desert Conservation Area Plan Amendment... for the Stirling Energy Systems (SES) Solar Two Project and by this notice are announcing the opening...

A cellular automata model of land cover change to integrate urban growth with open space conservation

EPA Science Inventory

The preservation of riparian zones and other environmentally sensitive areas has long been recognized as one of the most cost-effective methods of managing stormwater and providing a broad range of ecosystem services. In this research, a cellular automata (CA)—Markov chain model ...

Conservation value of clustered housing developments.

PubMed

Lenth, Buffy A; Knight, Richard L; Gilgert, Wendell C

2006-10-01

Traditionally, exurban lands in Colorado have been subdivided into a grid of parcels ranging from 2 to 16 ha. From an ecological perspective, this dispersed pattern of development effectively maximizes the individual influence of each home on the land. Clustered housing developments, designed to maximize open space, are assumed to benefit plant and wildlife communities of conservation interest. They have become a popular alternative for rural development despite the lack of empirical evidence demonstrating their conservation benefits. To better inform rural land-use planning, we evaluated clustered housing developments by comparing their spatial pattern with that of dispersed housing developments and by comparing their conservation value with that of both dispersed housing developments and undeveloped areas in Boulder County, Colorado. We used four indicators to assess conservation value: (1) densities of songbirds, (2) nest density and survival of ground-nesting birds, (3) presence of mammals, and (4) percent cover and proportion of native and non-native plant species. Clustered and dispersed housing developments did not differ on the majority of variables we examined. Both types of housing development had significantly higher densities of non-native and human-commensal species and significantly lower densities of native and human-sensitive species than undeveloped areas. More rigorous ecological guidelines and planning on a regional scale may help create clustered developments with higher conservation value.

Using genetic profiles of African forest elephants to infer population structure, movements, and habitat use in a conservation and development landscape in Gabon.

PubMed

Eggert, L S; Buij, R; Lee, M E; Campbell, P; Dallmeier, F; Fleischer, R C; Alonso, A; Maldonado, J E

2014-02-01

Conservation of wide-ranging species, such as the African forest elephant (Loxodonta cyclotis), depends on fully protected areas and multiple-use areas (MUA) that provide habitat connectivity. In the Gamba Complex of Protected Areas in Gabon, which includes 2 national parks separated by a MUA containing energy and forestry concessions, we studied forest elephants to evaluate the importance of the MUA to wide-ranging species. We extracted DNA from elephant dung samples and used genetic information to identify over 500 individuals in the MUA and the parks. We then examined patterns of nuclear microsatellites and mitochondrial control-region sequences to infer population structure, movement patterns, and habitat use by age and sex. Population structure was weak but significant, and differentiation was more pronounced during the wet season. Within the MUA, males were more strongly associated with open habitats, such as wetlands and savannas, than females during the dry season. Many of the movements detected within and between seasons involved the wetlands and bordering lagoons. Our results suggest that the MUA provides year-round habitat for some elephants and additional habitat for others whose primary range is in the parks. With the continuing loss of roadless wilderness areas in Central Africa, well-managed MUAs will likely be important to the conservation of wide-ranging species. © 2013 Society for Conservation Biology.

77 FR 27478 - Notice of Availability of the Draft Environmental Impact Statement and Draft Proposed California...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2012-05-10

...In accordance with the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969, as amended, and the Federal Land Policy and Management Act of 1976, as amended, the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) has prepared a Draft Proposed California Desert Conservation Area (CDCA) Plan Amendment and a Draft Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) for the Haiwee Geothermal Leasing Area (HGLA), Inyo County, California, and by this notice is announcing the opening of the comment period.

The structure of Mediterranean rocky reef ecosystems across environmental and human gradients, and conservation implications

USGS Publications Warehouse

Sala, Enric; Ballesteros, Enric; Dendrinos, Panagiotis; Di Franco, Antonio; Ferretti, Francesco; Foley, David; Fraschetti, Simonetta; Friedlander, Alan M.; Garrabou, Joaquim; Guclusoy, Harun; Guidetti, Paolo; Halpern, Benjamin S.; Hereu, Bernat; Karamanlidis, Alexandros A.; Kizilkaya, Zafer; Macpherson, Enrique; Mangialajo, Luisa; Mariani, Simone; Micheli, Fiorenza; Pais, Antonio; Riser, Kristin; Rosenberg, Andrew A.; Sales, Marta; Selkoe, Kimberly A.; Starr, Rick; Tomas, Fiona; Zabala, Mikel

2012-01-01

Historical exploitation of the Mediterranean Sea and the absence of rigorous baselines makes it difficult to evaluate the current health of the marine ecosystems and the efficacy of conservation actions at the ecosystem level. Here we establish the first current baseline and gradient of ecosystem structure of nearshore rocky reefs at the Mediterranean scale. We conducted underwater surveys in 14 marine protected areas and 18 open access sites across the Mediterranean, and across a 31-fold range of fish biomass (from 3.8 to 118 g m-2). Our data showed remarkable variation in the structure of rocky reef ecosystems. Multivariate analysis showed three alternative community states: (1) large fish biomass and reefs dominated by non-canopy algae, (2) lower fish biomass but abundant native algal canopies and suspension feeders, and (3) low fish biomass and extensive barrens, with areas covered by turf algae. Our results suggest that the healthiest shallow rocky reef ecosystems in the Mediterranean have both large fish and algal biomass. Protection level and primary production were the only variables significantly correlated to community biomass structure. Fish biomass was significantly larger in well-enforced no-take marine reserves, but there were no significant differences between multi-use marine protected areas (which allow some fishing) and open access areas at the regional scale. The gradients reported here represent a trajectory of degradation that can be used to assess the health of any similar habitat in the Mediterranean, and to evaluate the efficacy of marine protected areas.

The structure of Mediterranean rocky reef ecosystems across environmental and human gradients, and conservation implications.

PubMed

Sala, Enric; Ballesteros, Enric; Dendrinos, Panagiotis; Di Franco, Antonio; Ferretti, Francesco; Foley, David; Fraschetti, Simonetta; Friedlander, Alan; Garrabou, Joaquim; Güçlüsoy, Harun; Guidetti, Paolo; Halpern, Benjamin S; Hereu, Bernat; Karamanlidis, Alexandros A; Kizilkaya, Zafer; Macpherson, Enrique; Mangialajo, Luisa; Mariani, Simone; Micheli, Fiorenza; Pais, Antonio; Riser, Kristin; Rosenberg, Andrew A; Sales, Marta; Selkoe, Kimberly A; Starr, Rick; Tomas, Fiona; Zabala, Mikel

2012-01-01

Historical exploitation of the Mediterranean Sea and the absence of rigorous baselines makes it difficult to evaluate the current health of the marine ecosystems and the efficacy of conservation actions at the ecosystem level. Here we establish the first current baseline and gradient of ecosystem structure of nearshore rocky reefs at the Mediterranean scale. We conducted underwater surveys in 14 marine protected areas and 18 open access sites across the Mediterranean, and across a 31-fold range of fish biomass (from 3.8 to 118 g m(-2)). Our data showed remarkable variation in the structure of rocky reef ecosystems. Multivariate analysis showed three alternative community states: (1) large fish biomass and reefs dominated by non-canopy algae, (2) lower fish biomass but abundant native algal canopies and suspension feeders, and (3) low fish biomass and extensive barrens, with areas covered by turf algae. Our results suggest that the healthiest shallow rocky reef ecosystems in the Mediterranean have both large fish and algal biomass. Protection level and primary production were the only variables significantly correlated to community biomass structure. Fish biomass was significantly larger in well-enforced no-take marine reserves, but there were no significant differences between multi-use marine protected areas (which allow some fishing) and open access areas at the regional scale. The gradients reported here represent a trajectory of degradation that can be used to assess the health of any similar habitat in the Mediterranean, and to evaluate the efficacy of marine protected areas.

Window Treatment Phase I and Other Energy II Conservation Measures.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Donohue, Philip E.

Six different energy-saving treatments for large window areas were tested by Tompkins-Cortland Community College (TCCC) to coordinate energy saving with building design. The TCCC building has an open space design with 33,000 square feet of external glass and other features causing heating problems and high energy costs. Phase I of the…

LOWER COLUMBIA RIVER ESTUARY PROGRAM COMPREHENSIVE CONSERVATION AND MANAGEMENT PLAN

EPA Science Inventory

An estuary is the area where the fresh water of a river meets the salt water of an ocean. In the Columbia River system, this occurs in the lower 46 river miles. In an estuary, the river has a direct, natural connection with the open sea. This transition from fresh to salt water c...

Does the Lagoa do peixe sandbar opening influence the macrophyte richness and composition in Southern Brazil wetlands?

PubMed

Rolon, Ana Silvia; Rocha, Odete; Maltchik, Leonardo

2013-03-01

The Lagoa do Peixe has its connection with the sea artificially opened every year at the end of winter. However, this management has been carried out without the evaluation of the impact of this opening in the aquatic biodiversity. This information is crucial for the management of the natural resources of the Lagoa do Peixe National Park, the unique Ramsar site in Southern Brazil. The following questions were analyzed: (1) Do richness and composition of aquatic macrophytes from Lagoa do Peixe floodplain varies temporarily according to the sandbar opening and closing? (2) Does the variation pattern of the macrophyte community changed according to the sandbar opening and closing? A set of eight sampling sites of 1ha were selected over the Lagoa do Peixe floodplain: four sites not influenced by the artificial sandbar opening and four sites influenced by this event, being two sites closer to the sandbar opening and the two sites distant to the sandbar opening. The samplings were carried out between November 2007 and October 2009. The results show that although the artificial sandbar breaching does not affect the aquatic macrophyte richness at the floodplain, it affects the dynamics of species composition. The hydrological variation related to this management can be the main factor of the continuous change in the species composition in the floodplain, especially in the Southern portion. In order to avoid impacts in the macrophyte conservation, the artificial sandbar opening should be considered carefully, since the area of study is one of the most important conservation units to wetland systems in Southern Brazil.

A spatial approach to combatting wildlife crime.

PubMed

Faulkner, S C; Stevens, M C A; Romañach, S S; Lindsey, P A; Le Comber, S C

2018-06-01

Poaching can have devastating impacts on animal and plant numbers, and in many countries has reached crisis levels, with illegal hunters employing increasingly sophisticated techniques. We used data from an 8-year study in Savé Valley Conservancy, Zimbabwe, to show how geographic profiling-a mathematical technique originally developed in criminology and recently applied to animal foraging and epidemiology-can be adapted for use in investigations of wildlife crime. The data set contained information on over 10,000 incidents of illegal hunting and the deaths of 6,454 wild animals. We used a subset of data for which the illegal hunters' identities were known. Our model identified the illegal hunters' home villages based on the spatial locations of the hunting incidences (e.g., snares). Identification of the villages was improved by manipulating the probability surface inside the conservancy to reflect the fact that although the illegal hunters mostly live outside the conservancy, the majority of hunting occurs inside the conservancy (in criminology terms, commuter crime). These results combined with rigorous simulations showed for the first time how geographic profiling can be combined with GIS data and applied to situations with more complex spatial patterns, for example, where landscape heterogeneity means some parts of the study area are less likely to be used (e.g., aquatic areas for terrestrial animals) or where landscape permeability differs (e.g., forest bats tend not to fly over open areas). More broadly, these results show how geographic profiling can be used to target antipoaching interventions more effectively and more efficiently and to develop management strategies and conservation plans in a range of conservation scenarios. © 2017 Society for Conservation Biology.

AmeriFlux US-Oho Oak Openings

DOE Data Explorer

Chen, Jiquan [University of Toledo / Michigan State University

2016-01-01

This is the AmeriFlux version of the carbon flux data for the site US-Oho Oak Openings. Site Description - The Ohio Oak Openings site is located within the Oak Openings Preserve Metropark of northwest Ohio, one of the few remaining oak woodlands/savanna/prairie complexes in the Midwest. Declared one of the "One of America's Last Great Places" by the Nature Conservancy the area consists of four main vegetation types: Oak Woodlands, Oak Savanna, Floodplain Forests and Wet Prairies. The stand surrounding the tower is mainly Oak Woodlands dominated by red, white and black oaks with a relatively abundant population of red maples indicating high soil moisture retention and a history of limited fire disturbances. Most of the area was cleared for agriculture at the time of Euro-American settlements in the mid to late-19th century. A large fraction of the cleared land was later abandoned due to the poor sandy soils. These areas reverted to Oak Savannas and in cases where fire was limited progressively made the transition to Oak Woodlands. Today patches of the forest are burned every few years as part of prescribed burning cycle to control stand density.

Management decision making for fisher populations informed by occupancy modeling

USGS Publications Warehouse

Fuller, Angela K.; Linden, Daniel W.; Royle, J. Andrew

2016-01-01

Harvest data are often used by wildlife managers when setting harvest regulations for species because the data are regularly collected and do not require implementation of logistically and financially challenging studies to obtain the data. However, when harvest data are not available because an area had not previously supported a harvest season, alternative approaches are required to help inform management decision making. When distribution or density data are required across large areas, occupancy modeling is a useful approach, and under certain conditions, can be used as a surrogate for density. We collaborated with the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (NYSDEC) to conduct a camera trapping study across a 70,096-km2 region of southern New York in areas that were currently open to fisher (Pekania [Martes] pennanti) harvest and those that had been closed to harvest for approximately 65 years. We used detection–nondetection data at 826 sites to model occupancy as a function of site-level landscape characteristics while accounting for sampling variation. Fisher occupancy was influenced positively by the proportion of conifer and mixed-wood forest within a 15-km2 grid cell and negatively associated with road density and the proportion of agriculture. Model-averaged predictions indicated high occupancy probabilities (>0.90) when road densities were low (<1 km/km2) and coniferous and mixed forest proportions were high (>0.50). Predicted occupancy ranged 0.41–0.67 in wildlife management units (WMUs) currently open to trapping, which could be used to guide a minimum occupancy threshold for opening new areas to trapping seasons. There were 5 WMUs that had been closed to trapping but had an average predicted occupancy of 0.52 (0.07 SE), and above the threshold of 0.41. These areas are currently under consideration by NYSDEC for opening a conservative harvest season. We demonstrate the use of occupancy modeling as an aid to management decision making when harvest-related data are unavailable and when budgetary constraints do not allow for capture–recapture studies to directly estimate density.

The push and pull of land use policy: reconstructing 150 years of development and conservation land acquisition.

PubMed

Santos, Maria João; Watt, Terry; Pincetl, Stephanie

2014-01-01

The growth of human populations and their resource needs have stressed the conservation of natural land resources. Many policies and programs have been implemented to address the pressures on land resources and notwithstanding this pressure, significant acquisition of land for conservation has occurred throughout history in the U.S., and internationally. Here we assess the on-the-ground result of the evolution of land use policies in California as a pioneer forerunner, in the form of acquisition of land for conservation (i.e. Open Space), and its impact on the rest of the U.S. and beyond. To this end we describe the timeline and spatial representation of the growth of California's conservation network over the last 150 years, and link it to the history of land use policies. We then assess whether conservation land acquisition has consistently grown through time or occurred in specific decades. About ¼ of the state is now designated Open Space. Fewer and larger areas conserved and acquired at the beginning of the 20th century; the conservation network was complemented with a larger number of smaller sized properties. Despite acquisition of land in every decade, the process was uneven (E = 0.3 for California, E = 0.14 ± 0.08 average for the state's counties), mostly due to the large acquisitions and land set asides in the 1900s, followed by 1930s and 1940s. This process was a result of a comprehensive set of legislation that evolved through time, and resulted from the competing needs for development and conservation. Even with the impressive 174,000 km2 of public lands in California, the future of California's natural infrastructure and natural heritage cannot rely solely on these public lands, nor public agencies and their resources. Critically a future course of land preservation relying on the purchase of new lands - in California and beyond - for conservation is tremendously expensive.

The role of the Wetland Reserve Program in conservation efforts in the Mississippi River Alluvial Valley

USGS Publications Warehouse

King, Sammy L.; Twedt, Daniel J.; Wilson, R. Randy

2006-01-01

The Mississippi River Alluvial Valley includes the floodplain of the Mississippi River from Cairo, Illinois, USA, to the Gulf of Mexico. Originally this region supported about 10 million ha of bottomland hardwood forests, but only about 2.8 million ha remain today. Furthermore, most of the remaining bottomland forest is highly fragmented with altered hydrologic processes. During the 1990s landscape-scale conservation planning efforts were initiated for migratory birds and the threatened Louisiana black bear (Ursus americanus luteolus). These plans call for large-scale reforestation and restoration efforts in the region, particularly on private lands. In 1990 the Food, Agriculture, Conservation and Trade Act authorized the Wetlands Reserve Program (WRP). The WRP is a voluntary program administered by the United States Department of Agriculture that provides eligible landowners with financial incentives to restore wetlands and retire marginal farmlands from agricultural production. As of 30 September 2005, over 275,700 ha have been enrolled in the program in the Mississippi River Alluvial Valley, with the greatest concentration in Louisiana, Arkansas, and Mississippi, USA. Hydrologic restoration is common on most sites, with open-water wetlands, such as moist-soil units and sloughs, constituting up to 30% of a given tract. Over 33,200 ha of open-water wetlands have been created, potentially providing over 115,000,000 duck-use days. Twenty-three of 87 forest-bird conservation areas have met or exceed core habitat goals for migratory songbirds and another 24 have met minimum area requirements. The WRP played an integral role in the fulfillment of these goals. Although some landscape goals have been attained, the young age of the program and forest stands, and the lack of monitoring, has limited evaluations of the program's impact on wildlife populations.

The Integrated Hardwood Range Management Program: Education and Research as a Conservation Strategy

Treesearch

Richard B. Standiford; James W. Bartolome

1997-01-01

California’s hardwood rangelands cover 10 million acres, providing wildlife habitat, esthetics, recreation, and watershed protection. About 85 percent of the area is privately owned, and private ranchers supply most of these open space values. The important public values from these privately-owned wildlands has created pressure for the state to regulate oak harvest and...

Emergent Macrophytes Support Zooplankton in a Shallow Tropical Lake: A Basis for Wetland Conservation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gebrehiwot, Mesfin; Kifle, Demeke; Triest, Ludwig

2017-12-01

Understanding the biodiversity value of littoral zones of lakes is a priority for aquatic biodiversity conservation. However, less emphasis has been given to the littoral part of tropical African lakes, with many of the previous researches focusing only on the open water side. The aim of the present study was, therefore, to investigate the impact of the littoral zone of a shallow freshwater tropical lake (Ziway, Ethiopia), dominated by two emergent macrophytes, on zooplankton community structure. We hypothesized that the wetland vegetation serves as a preferred microhabitat for zooplankton communities. A lake with substantial coverage of emergent macrophytes was monitored monthly from January to August, 2016. The monitoring included the measurements of physical, chemical, and biological parameters. Sampling sites were selected to represent areas of the macrophyte vegetation ( Typha latifolia and Phragmites australis) and the open water part of the lake. Sites with macrophyte vegetation were found to be the home of more dense and diverse zooplankton community. However, during the period of high vegetation loss, the density of crustacean zooplankton showed significant reduction within the patches of macrophytes. From biodiversity conservation perspective, it was concluded that the preservation of such small areas of macrophytes covering the littoral zone of lakes could be as important as protecting the whole lake. However, the rapid degradation of wetland vegetation by human activities is a real threat to the lake ecosystem. In the not-too-far future, it could displace and evict riparian vegetation and the biota it supports.

Resource protection for waterbirds in Chesapeake Bay

USGS Publications Warehouse

Erwin, R.M.; Haramis, G.M.; Krementz, D.G.; Funderburk, S.L.

1993-01-01

Many living resources in the Chesapeake Bay estuary have deteriorated over the past 50 years. As a result, many governmental committees, task forces, and management plans have been established. Most of the recommendations for implementing a bay cleanup focus on reducing sediments and nutrient flow into the watershed. We emphasize that habitat requirements other than water quality are necessary for the recovery of much of the bay's avian wildlife, and we use a waterbird example as illustration. Some of these needs are: (1) protection of fast-eroding islands, or creation of new ones by dredge deposition to improve nesting habitat for American black ducks(Anas rubripes), great blue herons(Ardea herodias), and other associated wading birds; (2) conservation of remaining brackish marshes, especially near riparian areas, for feeding black ducks, wading birds, and wood ducks(Aix sponsa); (3) establishment of sanctuaries in open-water, littoral zones to protect feeding and/or roosting areas for diving ducks such as canvasbacks(Aythya valisineria) and redheads(Aythya americana), and for bald eagles(Haliaeetus leucocephalus); and (4) limitation of disturbance by boaters around nesting islands and open-water feeding areas. Land (or water) protection measures for waterbirds need to include units at several different spatial scales, ranging from ?points? (e.g., a colony site) to large-area resources (e.g., a marsh or tributary for feeding). Planning to conserve large areas of both land and water can be achieved following a biosphere reserve model. Existing interagency committees in the Chesapeake Bay Program could be more effective in developing such a model for wildlife and fisheries resources.

Resource protection for waterbirds in Chesapeake bay

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Erwin, R. Michael; Haramis, G. Michael; Krementz, David G.; Funderburk, Steven L.

1993-09-01

Many living resources in the Chesapeake Bay estuary have deteriorated over the past 50 years. As a result, many governmental committees, task forces, and management plans have been established. Most of the recommendations for implementing a bay cleanup focus on reducing sediments and nutrient flow into the watershed. We emphasize that habitat requirements other than water quality are necessary for the recovery of much of the bay's avian wildlife, and we use a waterbird example as illustration. Some of these needs are: (1) protection of fast-eroding islands, or creation of new ones by dredge deposition to improve nesting habitat for American black ducks (Anas rubripes), great blue herons (Ardea herodias), and other associated wading birds; (2) conservation of remaining brackish marshes, especially near riparian areas, for feeding black ducks, wading birds, and wood ducks (Aix sponsa); (3) establishment of sanctuaries in open-water, littoral zones to protect feeding and/or roosting areas for diving ducks such as canvasbacks (Aythya valisineria) and redheads (Aythya americana), and for bald eagles (Haliaeetus leucocephalus); and (4) limitation of disturbance by boaters around nesting islands and open-water feeding areas. Land (or water) protection measures for waterbirds need to include units at several different spatial scales, ranging from “points” (e.g., a colony site) to large-area resources (e.g., a marsh or tributary for feeding). Planning to conserve large areas of both land and water can be achieved following a biosphere reserve model. Existing interagency committees in the Chesapeake Bay Program could be more effective in developing such a model for wildlife and fisheries resources.

The Structure of Mediterranean Rocky Reef Ecosystems across Environmental and Human Gradients, and Conservation Implications

PubMed Central

Sala, Enric; Ballesteros, Enric; Dendrinos, Panagiotis; Di Franco, Antonio; Ferretti, Francesco; Foley, David; Fraschetti, Simonetta; Friedlander, Alan; Garrabou, Joaquim; Güçlüsoy, Harun; Guidetti, Paolo; Halpern, Benjamin S.; Hereu, Bernat; Karamanlidis, Alexandros A.; Kizilkaya, Zafer; Macpherson, Enrique; Mangialajo, Luisa; Mariani, Simone; Micheli, Fiorenza; Pais, Antonio; Riser, Kristin; Rosenberg, Andrew A.; Sales, Marta; Selkoe, Kimberly A.; Starr, Rick; Tomas, Fiona; Zabala, Mikel

2012-01-01

Historical exploitation of the Mediterranean Sea and the absence of rigorous baselines makes it difficult to evaluate the current health of the marine ecosystems and the efficacy of conservation actions at the ecosystem level. Here we establish the first current baseline and gradient of ecosystem structure of nearshore rocky reefs at the Mediterranean scale. We conducted underwater surveys in 14 marine protected areas and 18 open access sites across the Mediterranean, and across a 31-fold range of fish biomass (from 3.8 to 118 g m−2). Our data showed remarkable variation in the structure of rocky reef ecosystems. Multivariate analysis showed three alternative community states: (1) large fish biomass and reefs dominated by non-canopy algae, (2) lower fish biomass but abundant native algal canopies and suspension feeders, and (3) low fish biomass and extensive barrens, with areas covered by turf algae. Our results suggest that the healthiest shallow rocky reef ecosystems in the Mediterranean have both large fish and algal biomass. Protection level and primary production were the only variables significantly correlated to community biomass structure. Fish biomass was significantly larger in well-enforced no-take marine reserves, but there were no significant differences between multi-use marine protected areas (which allow some fishing) and open access areas at the regional scale. The gradients reported here represent a trajectory of degradation that can be used to assess the health of any similar habitat in the Mediterranean, and to evaluate the efficacy of marine protected areas. PMID:22393445

Wild versus domestic prey in the diet of reintroduced tigers (Panthera tigris) in the livestock-dominated multiple-use forests of Panna Tiger Reserve, India.

PubMed

Kolipaka, S S; Tamis, W L M; van 't Zelfde, M; Persoon, G A; de Iongh, H H

2017-01-01

Grazing livestock in openly accessible areas is a common practice in the multiple-use forests of India; however, its compatibility with the reintroduction of tigers to these areas requires examination. Here, we investigated the diet of tigers in a livestock-dominated multiple-use buffer zone of the Panna Tiger Reserve, India. We hypothesised that the presence of feral cattle, along with open-access grazing practices in multiple-use forests, would increase the incidence of predation on livestock by tigers, even when wild prey are available. We used generalised linear models to test whether predation of livestock versus wild animals was influenced by (1) the sex and age class of tigers, (2) season, and (3) the distance of prey from the core-zone boundary of the reserve. Overall, sub-adult tigers and male tigers killed more livestock than wild prey, even when wild prey was available. In the winter and rainy seasons livestock were killed in higher numbers in the buffer zone than in summers, this may be because of the seasonally changing livestock herding patterns in the area. Further, with increasing distance from the core-zone boundary, all tigers killed more livestock, possibly because livestock were more easily accessible than wild prey. Our results show that open-access and unregulated livestock grazing is not currently compatible with large carnivore conservation in the same landscape. Such practices will lead to an increase in negative tiger-human-livestock interactions. In conclusion, we suggest the need to encourage locals to corral valuable cattle, leaving feral/unwanted livestock for tigers. This simple strategy would benefit both local inhabitants and tiger conservation in the multiple-use forests of India.

Wild versus domestic prey in the diet of reintroduced tigers (Panthera tigris) in the livestock-dominated multiple-use forests of Panna Tiger Reserve, India

PubMed Central

Tamis, W. L. M.; van ‘t Zelfde, M.; Persoon, G. A.; de Iongh, H. H.

2017-01-01

Grazing livestock in openly accessible areas is a common practice in the multiple-use forests of India; however, its compatibility with the reintroduction of tigers to these areas requires examination. Here, we investigated the diet of tigers in a livestock-dominated multiple-use buffer zone of the Panna Tiger Reserve, India. We hypothesised that the presence of feral cattle, along with open-access grazing practices in multiple-use forests, would increase the incidence of predation on livestock by tigers, even when wild prey are available. We used generalised linear models to test whether predation of livestock versus wild animals was influenced by (1) the sex and age class of tigers, (2) season, and (3) the distance of prey from the core-zone boundary of the reserve. Overall, sub-adult tigers and male tigers killed more livestock than wild prey, even when wild prey was available. In the winter and rainy seasons livestock were killed in higher numbers in the buffer zone than in summers, this may be because of the seasonally changing livestock herding patterns in the area. Further, with increasing distance from the core-zone boundary, all tigers killed more livestock, possibly because livestock were more easily accessible than wild prey. Our results show that open-access and unregulated livestock grazing is not currently compatible with large carnivore conservation in the same landscape. Such practices will lead to an increase in negative tiger-human-livestock interactions. In conclusion, we suggest the need to encourage locals to corral valuable cattle, leaving feral/unwanted livestock for tigers. This simple strategy would benefit both local inhabitants and tiger conservation in the multiple-use forests of India. PMID:28379997

Local habitat and landscape influence predation of bird nests on afforested Mediterranean cropland

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sánchez-Oliver, J. S.; Rey Benayas, J. M.; Carrascal, L. M.

2014-07-01

Afforestation programs such as the one promoted by the EU Common Agrarian Policy have contributed to spread tree plantations on former cropland. Nevertheless these afforestations may cause severe damage to open habitat species, especially birds of high conservation value. We investigated predation of artificial bird nests at young tree plantations and at the open farmland habitat adjacent to the tree plantations in central Spain. Predation rates were very high at both tree plantations (95.6%) and open farmland habitat (94.2%) after two and three week exposure. Plantation edge/area ratio and development of the tree canopy decreased predation rates and plantation area and magpie (Pica pica) abundance increased predation rates within tree plantations, which were also affected by land use types around plantations. The area of nearby tree plantations (positive effect), distance to the tree plantation edge (negative effect), and habitat type (mainly attributable to the location of nests in vineyards) explained predation rates at open farmland habitat. We conclude that predation rates on artificial nests were particularly high and rapid at or nearby large plantations, with high numbers of magpies and low tree development, and located in homogenous landscapes dominated by herbaceous crops and pastures with no remnants of semi-natural woody vegetation. Landscape planning should not favour tree plantations as the ones studied here in Mediterranean agricultural areas that are highly valuable for ground-nesting bird species.

Value of oak woodlands and open space on private property values in southern California

Treesearch

Richard B. Standiford; Thomas Scott

2002-01-01

Rapid urbanization of California's oak woodlands is having a pronounced effect on its ecological values. These areas are sought out for new residential sites to a large degree because of their amenity values. In response to this rapid exurban migration, there has been an increase in use of conservation easements and purchase of development rights by land trusts...

Opening remarks presented to the Western Forest and Conservation Nursery Association Conference

Treesearch

Carl Masaki

2002-01-01

Aloha Kakahiaka, Buenos Dias, Guten Morgan or however you may say good morning. It's so wonderful to see so many of you, especially those that have traveled from foreign countries to be here to learn and share your experiences in the nursery area. On behalf of Mike Buck, Division of Forestry and Wildlife (DOFAW) Administrator, welcome to the Western Forest and...

Final Finding of No Significant Impact Munitions Storage Area at Tyndall Air Force Base, Florida

DTIC Science & Technology

2004-02-11

Medica] Clinic, medical storage Open Space Conservation area, buffer space, undeveloped land Outdoor Recreation Outdoor courts and fields, swimming...tl A FR. TI1.; reh:renc-ed proJe<l i:-. :;uhjet:t to re\\ ie\\\\ b~ Lhc St:ltt. of florida under U1c t \\’󈧑S!nl Zone \\1ttrlunctm.-nt \\cL lb U.S.C. 1451...The Executive Office of the Governor (EOG) coordinates the review of the SCl ’ biennially and, ifneeded, submits revision recommendations to the

The potential of volunteered geographic information to investigate peri-urbanization in the conservation zone of Mexico City.

PubMed

Heider, Katharina; Lopez, Juan Miguel Rodriguez; Scheffran, Jürgen

2018-03-14

Due to the availability of Web 2.0 technologies, volunteered geographic information (VGI) is on the rise. This new type of data is available on many topics and on different scales. Thus, it has become interesting for research. This article deals with the collective potential of VGI and remote sensing to detect peri-urbanization in the conservation zone of Mexico City. On the one hand, remote sensing identifies horizontal urban expansion, and on the other hand, VGI of ecological complaints provides data about informal settlements. This enables the combination of top-down approaches (remote sensing) and bottom-up approaches (ecological complaints). Within the analysis, we identify areas of high urbanization as well as complaint densities and bring them together in a multi-scale analysis using Geographic Information Systems (GIS). Furthermore, we investigate the influence of settlement patterns and main roads on the peri-urbanization process in Mexico City using OpenStreetMap. Peri-urbanization is detected especially in the transition zone between the urban and rural (conservation) area and near main roads as well as settlements.

Ecological adaptation of wild peach palm, its in situ conservation and deforestation-mediated extinction in southern Brazilian Amazonia.

PubMed

Clement, Charles R; Santos, Ronaldo P; Desmouliere, Sylvain J M; Ferreira, Evandro J L; Neto, João Tomé Farias

2009-01-01

The Arc of Fire across southern Amazonia seasonally attracts worldwide attention as forests are cut and burned for agricultural expansion. These forests contain numerous wild relatives of native South American crops, such as peach palm. Our prospecting expeditions examined critical areas for wild peach palm in the Arc of Fire in Mato Grosso, Pará, Maranhão and Tocantins, as well as areas not previously examined in Amazonas and Amapá states. Recent digitization of the RADAM Brasil project permitted comparison among RADAM's parataxonomists' observations, previous botanical collections and our prospecting. Mapping on soils and vegetation types enabled us to hypothesize a set of ecological preferences. Wild peach palm is best adapted to Ultisols (Acrisols) in open forests across the Arc of Fire and westward into the more humid western Amazonia. Populations are generally small (fewer than 10 plants) on slopes above watercourses. In northern Mato Grosso and southern Pará soybean fields and pastures now occupy numerous areas where RADAM identified wild peach palm. The controversial BR-163 Highway is already eroding wild peach palm as deforestation expands. Many of these populations are now isolated by increasing forest fragmentation, which will lead to decreased reproduction via inbreeding depression and eventual extinction even without complete deforestation. Federal conservation areas are less numerous in the Arc of Fire than in other parts of Brazilian Amazonia, although there are indigenous lands; these conservation areas contain viable populations of wild peach palm and require better protection than they are currently receiving. Ex situ conservation of these populations is not viable given the relative lack of importance of domesticated peach palm and the difficulty of maintaining even economically interesting genetic resources.

Ecological Adaptation of Wild Peach Palm, Its In Situ Conservation and Deforestation-Mediated Extinction in Southern Brazilian Amazonia

PubMed Central

Clement, Charles R.; Santos, Ronaldo P.; Desmouliere, Sylvain J. M.; Ferreira, Evandro J. L.; Neto, João Tomé Farias

2009-01-01

Background The Arc of Fire across southern Amazonia seasonally attracts worldwide attention as forests are cut and burned for agricultural expansion. These forests contain numerous wild relatives of native South American crops, such as peach palm. Methodology/Principal Findings Our prospecting expeditions examined critical areas for wild peach palm in the Arc of Fire in Mato Grosso, Pará, Maranhão and Tocantins, as well as areas not previously examined in Amazonas and Amapá states. Recent digitization of the RADAM Brasil project permitted comparison among RADAM's parataxonomists' observations, previous botanical collections and our prospecting. Mapping on soils and vegetation types enabled us to hypothesize a set of ecological preferences. Wild peach palm is best adapted to Ultisols (Acrisols) in open forests across the Arc of Fire and westward into the more humid western Amazonia. Populations are generally small (fewer than 10 plants) on slopes above watercourses. In northern Mato Grosso and southern Pará soybean fields and pastures now occupy numerous areas where RADAM identified wild peach palm. The controversial BR-163 Highway is already eroding wild peach palm as deforestation expands. Conclusions/Significance Many of these populations are now isolated by increasing forest fragmentation, which will lead to decreased reproduction via inbreeding depression and eventual extinction even without complete deforestation. Federal conservation areas are less numerous in the Arc of Fire than in other parts of Brazilian Amazonia, although there are indigenous lands; these conservation areas contain viable populations of wild peach palm and require better protection than they are currently receiving. Ex situ conservation of these populations is not viable given the relative lack of importance of domesticated peach palm and the difficulty of maintaining even economically interesting genetic resources. PMID:19238213

Connectivity of the habitat-forming kelp, Ecklonia radiata within and among estuaries and open coast.

PubMed

Coleman, Melinda A

2013-01-01

With marine protected areas being established worldwide there is a pressing need to understand how the physical setting in which these areas are placed influences patterns of dispersal and connectivity of important marine organisms. This is particularly critical for dynamic and complex nearshore marine environments where patterns of genetic structure of organisms are often chaotic and uncoupled from broad scale physical processes. This study determines the influence of habitat heterogeneity (presence of estuaries) on patterns of genetic structure and connectivity of the common kelp, Ecklonia radiata. There was no genetic differentiation of kelp between estuaries and the open coast and the presence of estuaries did not increase genetic differentiation among open coast populations. Similarly, there were no differences in level of inbreeding or genetic diversity between estuarine and open coast populations. The presence of large estuaries along rocky coastlines does not appear to influence genetic structure of this kelp and factors other than physical heterogeneity of habitat are likely more important determinants of regional connectivity. Marine reserves are currently lacking in this bioregion and may be designated in the future. Knowledge of the factors that influence important habitat forming organisms such as kelp contribute to informed and effective marine protected area design and conservation initiatives to maintain resilience of important marine habitats.

Designing non-Hermitian dynamics for conservative state evolution on the Bloch sphere

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yu, Sunkyu; Piao, Xianji; Park, Namkyoo

2018-03-01

An evolution on the Bloch sphere is the fundamental state transition, including optical polarization controls and qubit operations. Conventional evolution of a polarization state or qubit is implemented within a closed system that automatically satisfies energy conservation from the Hermitian formalism. Although particular forms of static non-Hermitian Hamiltonians, such as parity-time-symmetric Hamiltonians, allow conservative states in an open system, the criteria for the energy conservation in a dynamical open system have not been fully explored. Here, we derive the condition of conservative state evolution in open-system dynamics and its inverse design method, by developing the non-Hermitian modification of the Larmor precession equation. We show that the geometrically designed locus on the Bloch sphere can be realized by different forms of dynamics, leading to the isolocus family of non-Hermitian dynamics. This increased degree of freedom allows the complementary phenomena of error-robust and highly sensitive evolutions on the Bloch sphere, which could be applicable to stable polarizers, quantum gates, and optimized sensors in dynamical open systems.

75 FR 41102 - Energy Conservation Program: Re-Opening of the Public Comment Period for Commercial Refrigeration...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2010-07-15

... Conservation Program: Re-Opening of the Public Comment Period for Commercial Refrigeration Equipment AGENCY... document for commercial refrigeration equipment and provide notice of a public meeting. The NOPM provided... the framework document for commercial refrigeration equipment is to be re-opened from July 15, 2010 to...

Planning of Agro-Tourism Development, Specific Location in Green Open Space Sarbagita Area, Bali Province

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lanya, I.; Subadiyasa, N.; Sardiana, K.; Ratna Adi, G. P.

2018-02-01

Tourism development has a negative impact on agricultural land in Bali, resulted in the transfer of rice field of 800 ha/year. Subak rice field area as a world cultural heritage, requires conservation strategy, increasing economic and environmental value, through integrated agriculture development with tourism. Tourism destination planning in the form of tourist destination (TD) and tourism object (TO) by raising local genius, at specific location, is expected to preserve nature and culture, as well as the economic value of the region. Research Methods: (1) identification of agrarian cultures, (2) field survey, (3) mapping of site specific TD/TO plans, and (4) compile documents of agro-tourism road map based on local genius. Seven subak areas in the green open space area have the potential to develop new TD/TO, namely: (1) Gedon2Subak in Tanah Lot area, is developed for the preservation of agriculture, the implementation of the zoning plan of the sacred, madya and nista areas, (2) the Kerdung and Penatih Subak areas, developed for urban farming in Denpasar City, (3) Cangi south Subak area, built for agro-tourism plasmanutfah banana and Cemagi Let Subak area developed agro-tourism food crops and horticulture, (4) Erjeruk Subak area, developed tourism plasmanutfah coconut.

The Impact of Trampling on Reef Macrobenthos in Northeastern Brazil: How Effective are Current Conservation Strategies?

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Santos, Gleice S.; Burgos, Douglas C.; Lira, Simone M. A.; Schwamborn, Ralf

2015-10-01

Tropical reefs are used for intensive tourism in various parts of the world. However, few studies have investigated the effect of regular trampling on these fragile ecosystems. The aim of this study was to assess the effect of different conservation strategies (open access, partial protection, and total long-term closure) on intertidal reef tops in Porto de Galinhas and Tamandaré, Pernambuco State, Brazil. Analysis of the macrobenthic community was performed with photo transects and image analysis (CPCe). Twenty-seven transects were surveyed from January to August 2012, in intensively impacted (I) open-access sites, in partially protected (P) sites with occasional, illegal trampling, and in a permanently closed (C) site. In I sites, total live cover was half the cover found in adjacent P sites. The area of bare rock averaged 53.6 and 25.0 % in I and P sites, respectively. In the C site, the area of bare rock was only 19.8 %. In I and P sites, macroalgae ( Palisada perforata) were dominating, while in the C site, the zoanthid Zoanthus sociatus was most abundant. Shell-bearing vermetids ( Petaloconchus varians) and bivalves ( Isognomon bicolor) were more abundant at the C site, being possible bioindicators for areas with zero or little trampling. Twelve years of total closure produced near-pristine communities in the C site, dominated by zoanthids and fragile mollusks. This study showed that trampling has severe and long-lasting consequences for the structure of these ecosystems.

The Impact of Trampling on Reef Macrobenthos in Northeastern Brazil: How Effective are Current Conservation Strategies?

PubMed

Santos, Gleice S; Burgos, Douglas C; Lira, Simone M A; Schwamborn, Ralf

2015-10-01

Tropical reefs are used for intensive tourism in various parts of the world. However, few studies have investigated the effect of regular trampling on these fragile ecosystems. The aim of this study was to assess the effect of different conservation strategies (open access, partial protection, and total long-term closure) on intertidal reef tops in Porto de Galinhas and Tamandaré, Pernambuco State, Brazil. Analysis of the macrobenthic community was performed with photo transects and image analysis (CPCe). Twenty-seven transects were surveyed from January to August 2012, in intensively impacted (I) open-access sites, in partially protected (P) sites with occasional, illegal trampling, and in a permanently closed (C) site. In I sites, total live cover was half the cover found in adjacent P sites. The area of bare rock averaged 53.6 and 25.0% in I and P sites, respectively. In the C site, the area of bare rock was only 19.8%. In I and P sites, macroalgae (Palisada perforata) were dominating, while in the C site, the zoanthid Zoanthus sociatus was most abundant. Shell-bearing vermetids (Petaloconchus varians) and bivalves (Isognomon bicolor) were more abundant at the C site, being possible bioindicators for areas with zero or little trampling. Twelve years of total closure produced near-pristine communities in the C site, dominated by zoanthids and fragile mollusks. This study showed that trampling has severe and long-lasting consequences for the structure of these ecosystems.

A spatial approach to combatting wildlife crime

USGS Publications Warehouse

Faulkner, Sally C.; Stevens, Michael C.A.; Romañach, Stephanie; Lindsey, Peter A.; LeComber, Steven C.

2018-01-01

Poaching can have devastating impacts on animal and plant numbers, and in many countries has reached crisis levels, with illegal hunters employing increasingly sophisticated techniques. Here, we show how geographic profiling – a mathematical technique originally developed in criminology and recently applied to animal foraging and epidemiology – can be adapted for use in investigations of wildlife crime, using data from an eight-year study in Savé Valley Conservancy, Zimbabwe that in total includes more than 10,000 incidents of illegal hunting and the deaths of 6,454 wild animals. Using a subset of these data for which the illegal hunters’ identities are known, we show that the model can successfully identify the illegal hunters’ home villages using the spatial locations of hunting incidences (for example, snares) as input, and show how this can be improved by manipulating the probability surface inside the Conservancy to reflect the fact that – although the illegal hunters mostly live outside the Conservancy, the majority of hunting occurs inside (in criminology, ‘commuter crime’). The results of this analysis – combined with rigorous simulations – show for the first time how geographic profiling can be combined with GIS data and applied to situations with more complex spatial patterns – for example, where landscape heterogeneity means that some parts of the study area are unsuitable (e.g. aquatic areas for terrestrial animals, or vice versa), or where landscape permeability differs (for example, forest bats tending not to fly over open areas). More broadly, these results show how geographic profiling can be used to target anti-poaching interventions more effectively and more efficiently, with important implications for the development of management strategies and conservation plans in a range of conservation scenarios.

78 FR 30870 - Nomination of Existing Marine Protected Areas to the National System of Marine Protected Areas

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2013-05-23

... Reserve Big Flat State Marine Conservation Area Big River Estuary State Marine Conservation Area Bird Rock... Conservation Area Navarro River Estuary State Marine Conservation Area Painted Cave (Santa Cruz Island) State... Marine Conservation Area Ten Mile Estuary State Marine Conservation Area Ten Mile State Marine Reserve...

Lagrangian analysis of multi-satellite data in support of open ocean Marine Protected Area design

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Della Penna, Alice; Koubbi, Philippe; Cotté, Cedric; Bon, Cécile; Bost, Charles-André; d'Ovidio, Francesco

2017-06-01

Compared to ecosystem conservation in territorial seas, protecting the open ocean has peculiar geopolitical, economic and scientific challenges. One of the major obstacle is defining the boundary of an open ocean Marine Protected Area (MPA). In contrast to coastal ecosystems, which are mostly constrained by topographic structures fixed in time, the life of marine organisms in the open ocean is entrained by fluid dynamical structures like eddies and fronts, whose lifetime occurs on ecologically-relevant timescales. The position of these highly dynamical structures can vary interannually by hundreds of km, and so too will regions identified as ecologically relevant such as the foraging areas of marine predators. Thus, the expected foraging locations suggested from tracking data cannot be directly extrapolated beyond the year in which the data were collected. Here we explore the potential of Lagrangian methods applied to multisatellite data as a support tool for a MPA proposal by focusing on the Crozet archipelago oceanic area (Indian Sector of the Southern Ocean). By combining remote sensing with biologging information from a key marine top predator (Eudyptes chrysolophus, or Macaroni penguin) of the Southern Ocean foodweb, we identify a highly dynamic branch of the Subantarctic front as a foraging hotspot. By tracking this feature in historical satellite data (1993-2012) we are able to extrapolate the position of this foraging ground beyond the years in which tracking data are available and study its spatial variability.

An integrated and open source GIS environmental management system for a protected area in the south of Portugal

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Teodoro, A.; Duarte, L.; Sillero, N.; Gonçalves, J. A.; Fonte, J.; Gonçalves-Seco, L.; Pinheiro da Luz, L. M.; dos Santos Beja, N. M. R.

2015-10-01

Herdade da Contenda (HC), located in Moura municipality, Beja district (Alentejo province) in the south of Portugal (southwestern Iberia Peninsula), is a national hunting area with 5270ha. The development of an integrated system that aims to make the management of the natural and cultural heritage resources will be very useful for an effective management of this area. This integrated system should include the physical characterization of the territory, natural conservation, land use and land management themes, as well the cultural heritage resources. This paper presents a new tool for an integrated environmental management system of the HC, which aims to produce maps under a GIS open source environment (QGIS). The application is composed by a single button which opens a window. The window is composed by twelve menus (File, DRASTIC, Forest Fire Risk, Revised Universal Soil Loss Equation (RUSLE), Bioclimatic Index, Cultural Heritage, Fauna and Flora, Ortofoto, Normalizes Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI), Digital Elevation Model (DEM), Land Use Land Cover Cover (LULC) and Help. Several inputs are requires to generate these maps, e.g. DEM, geologic information, soil map, hydraulic conductivity information, LULC map, vulnerability and economic information, NDVI. Six buttons were added to the toolbar which allows to manipulate the information in the map canvas: Zoom in, Zoom out, Pan, Print/Layout and Clear. This integrated and open source GIS environment management system was developed for the HC area, but could be easily adapted to other natural or protected area. Despite the lack of data, the methodology presented fulfills the objectives.

Regional Assessment of Urban Impacts on Landcover and Open Space Finds a Smart Urban Growth Policy Performs Little Better than Business as Usual

PubMed Central

Thorne, James H.; Santos, Maria J.; Bjorkman, Jacquelyn H.

2013-01-01

Assessment of landscape change is critical for attainment of regional sustainability goals. Urban growth assessments are needed because over half the global population now lives in cities, which impact biodiversity, ecosystem structure and ecological processes. Open space protection is needed to preserve these attributes, and provide the resources humans need. The San Francisco Bay Area, California, is challenged to accommodate a population increase of 3.07 million while maintaining the region’s ecosystems and biodiversity. Our analysis of 9275 km2 in the Bay Area links historic trends for three measures: urban growth, protected open space, and landcover types over the last 70 years to future 2050 projections of urban growth and open space. Protected open space totaled 348 km2 (3.7% of the area) in 1940, and expanded to 2221 km2 (20.2%) currently. An additional 1038 km2 of protected open space is targeted (35.1%). Urban area historically increased from 396.5 km2 to 2239 km2 (24.1% of the area). Urban growth during this time mostly occurred at the expense of agricultural landscapes (62.9%) rather than natural vegetation. Smart Growth development has been advanced as a preferred alternative in many planning circles, but we found that it conserved only marginally more open space than Business-as-usual when using an urban growth model to portray policies for future urban growth. Scenarios to 2050 suggest urban development on non-urban lands of 1091, 956, or 179 km2, under Business-as-usual, Smart Growth and Infill policy growth scenarios, respectively. The Smart Growth policy converts 88% of natural lands and agriculture used by Business-as-usual, while Infill used only 40% of those lands. Given the historic rate of urban growth, 0.25%/year, and limited space available, the Infill scenario is recommended. While the data may differ, the use of an historic and future framework to track these three variables can be easily applied to other metropolitan areas. PMID:23755204

Regional assessment of urban impacts on landcover and open space finds a smart urban growth policy performs little better than business as usual.

PubMed

Thorne, James H; Santos, Maria J; Bjorkman, Jacquelyn H

2013-01-01

Assessment of landscape change is critical for attainment of regional sustainability goals. Urban growth assessments are needed because over half the global population now lives in cities, which impact biodiversity, ecosystem structure and ecological processes. Open space protection is needed to preserve these attributes, and provide the resources humans need. The San Francisco Bay Area, California, is challenged to accommodate a population increase of 3.07 million while maintaining the region's ecosystems and biodiversity. Our analysis of 9275 km² in the Bay Area links historic trends for three measures: urban growth, protected open space, and landcover types over the last 70 years to future 2050 projections of urban growth and open space. Protected open space totaled 348 km² (3.7% of the area) in 1940, and expanded to 2221 km² (20.2%) currently. An additional 1038 km² of protected open space is targeted (35.1%). Urban area historically increased from 396.5 km² to 2239 km² (24.1% of the area). Urban growth during this time mostly occurred at the expense of agricultural landscapes (62.9%) rather than natural vegetation. Smart Growth development has been advanced as a preferred alternative in many planning circles, but we found that it conserved only marginally more open space than Business-as-usual when using an urban growth model to portray policies for future urban growth. Scenarios to 2050 suggest urban development on non-urban lands of 1091, 956, or 179 km², under Business-as-usual, Smart Growth and Infill policy growth scenarios, respectively. The Smart Growth policy converts 88% of natural lands and agriculture used by Business-as-usual, while Infill used only 40% of those lands. Given the historic rate of urban growth, 0.25%/year, and limited space available, the Infill scenario is recommended. While the data may differ, the use of an historic and future framework to track these three variables can be easily applied to other metropolitan areas.

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.

To what extent does urbanisation affect fragmented grassland functioning?

PubMed

van der Walt, L; Cilliers, S S; Kellner, K; Du Toit, M J; Tongway, D

2015-03-15

Urbanisation creates altered environments characterised by increased human habitation, impermeable surfaces, artificial structures, landscape fragmentation, habitat loss, resulting in different resource loss pathways. The vulnerable Rand Highveld Grassland vegetation unit in the Tlokwe Municipal area, South Africa, has been extensively affected and transformed by urbanisation, agriculture, and mining. Grassland fragments in urban areas are often considered to be less species rich and less functional than in the more untransformed or "natural" exurban environments, and are therefore seldom a priority for conservation. Furthermore, urban grassland fragments are often being more intensely managed than exurban areas, such as consistent mowing in open urban areas. Four urbanisation measures acting as indicators for patterns and processes associated with urban areas were calculated for matrix areas surrounding each selected grassland fragment to quantify the position of each grassland remnant along an urbanisation gradient. The grassland fragments were objectively classified into two classes of urbanisation, namely "exurban" and "urban" based on the urbanisation measure values. Grazing was recorded in some exurban grasslands and mowing in some urban grassland fragments. Unmanaged grassland fragments were present in both urban and exurban areas. Fine-scale biophysical landscape function was determined by executing the Landscape Function Analysis (LFA) method. LFA assesses fine-scale landscape patchiness (entailing resource conserving potential and erosion resistance) and 11 soil surface indicators to produce three main LFA parameters (stability, infiltration, and nutrient cycling), which indicates how well a system is functioning in terms of fine-scale biophysical soil processes and characteristics. The aim of this study was to determine the effects of urbanisation and associated management practices on fine-scale biophysical landscape function of urban and exurban grassland fragments, as well as to determine the potential for the use of LFA in decision-making involving the conservation of grassland fragments. The results indicated that the occurrence, size and characteristics of vegetated patches, and especially the presence of litter abundances, were the main factors determining differences in the LFA indices. Furthermore, mowing resulted in the overall fine-scale biophysical indices being higher for some of the urban grassland fragments. This implied that it is not necessarily the influence of urbanisation entailing high or low resource conserving patchiness and patch quality, but rather the management practices associated with urban and exurban areas. Therefore, from a conservation point of view, the grassland fragments in the City of Potchefstroom are just as conservable (on a biophysical function level involving soil processes) than the more "natural" exurban grassland fragments. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

GLOBIL: WWF's Global Observation and Biodiversity Information Portal

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Shapiro, A. C.; Nijsten, L.; Schmitt, S.; Tibaldeschi, P.

2015-04-01

Despite ever increasing availability of satellite imagery and spatial data, conservation managers, decision makers and planners are often unable to analyze data without special knowledge or software. WWF is bridging this gap by putting extensive spatial data into an easy to use online mapping environment, to allow visualization, manipulation and analysis of large data sets by any user. Consistent, reliable and repeatable ecosystem monitoring information for priority eco-regions is needed to increase transparency in WWF's global conservation work, to measure conservation impact, and to provide communications with the general public and organization members. Currently, much of this monitoring and evaluation data is isolated, incompatible, or inaccessible and not readily usable or available for those without specialized software or knowledge. Launched in 2013 by WWF Netherlands and WWF Germany, the Global Observation and Biodiversity Information Portal (GLOBIL) is WWF's new platform to unite, centralize, standardize and visualize geo-spatial data and information from more than 150 active GIS users worldwide via cloud-based ArcGIS Online. GLOBIL is increasing transparency, providing baseline data for monitoring and evaluation while communicating impacts and conservation successes to the public. GLOBIL is currently being used in the worldwide marine campaign as an advocacy tool for establishing more marine protected areas, and a monitoring interface to track the progress towards ocean protection goals. In the Kavango-Zambezi (KAZA) Transfrontier Conservation area, local partners are using the platform to monitor land cover changes, barriers to species migrations, potential human-wildlife conflict and local conservation impacts in vast wildlife corridor. In East Africa, an early warning system is providing conservation practitioners with real-time alerts of threats particularly to protected areas and World Heritage Sites by industrial extractive activities. And for globally consistent baseline ecosystem monitoring, MODIS-derived data are being combined with local information to provide visible advocacy for conservation. As GLOBIL is built up through the WWF network, the worldwide organization is able to provide open access to its data on biodiversity and remote sensing, spatial analysis and projects to support goal setting, monitoring and evaluation, and fundraising activities.

Measuring deforestation using remote sensing and its implication for conservation in Gunung Palung National Park, West Kalimantan, Indonesia

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Fawzi, N. I.; Husna, V. N.; Helms, J. A.

2018-05-01

Gunung Palung National Park (1,080 km2, 1°3’ – 1°22’ S, 109°54’ – 110°28’ E) was first protected in 1937 and is now one of the largest remaining primary lowland mixed dipterocarp forests on Borneo. To help inform conservation efforts, we measured forest cover change in the protected area using 11 multi-temporal Landsat series images with path/row 121/61. Annual deforestation rates have declined since measurement began in 1989, to around 68 hectares per year in 2011 and 112 hectares per year in 2017. Halting deforestation in this protected area requires to tackle its underlying economic and social causes, and find ways for communities to meet their needs without resorting to forest clearing. Community empowerment, forest rehabilitation, and health care incentives as payment for ecosystem services can help reduce deforestation in Gunung Palung National Park. This becomes a positive trend which we must continue to always work in forest conservation. Future forest monitoring will be dependency with remote sensing analysis and open source remote sensing data such as Landsat and Sentinel data remain an important data source for historical forest change monitoring.

Sacroiliac tuberculosis – A neglected differential in refractory low back pain – Our series of 35 patients

PubMed Central

Prakash, Jatin

2014-01-01

Introduction Osteo-articular tuberculosis accounts for 1–3% of which 5–8% involves sacro-illiac joint. Isolated sacroiliac involvement is very rare. It usually presents as vague back pain. Plain radiographs are often inconclusive. Due to rarity of lesion, vague symptoms and non-conclusive X-rays the diagnosis is further delayed. We present a series of 35 patients presented with sacroiliac tuberculosis. Methods 35 patients were diagnosed of sacroiliac tuberculosis from January 2008 to December 2011. After a thorough history and clinical examination, patients were taken up for X-rays and MRI scans. Ultrasound guided needle aspiration was done from suspected area. After histological confirmation of the diagnosis, patients were treated with anti tubercular therapy. Results Persistent low back pain and difficulty with walking were noted in all patients. There were 21 males (60%) and 14 females and the age ranged from 22 to 55 years (mean: 27 years). Most of the patients (91.4%) had unilateral disease (32 patients). Results of conservative management were good. 21 (60%) of our patients achieved bony ankylosis at the end of study. 9 patients did not respond to conservative management where surgical debridement was done. 4 of these cases had MDR tuberculosis. Conclusion Sacroiliac tuberculosis must be kept as a differential in all refractory low back pain particularly in endemic areas. MRI is very helpful in early diagnosis of disease. In the early stages of the infection aspiration using a closed needle biopsy is recommended. An open biopsy is essential when the aspirate yields no growth. Open debridement should be done in those not responding to conservative management. PMID:25983488

Coupling movement and landscape ecology for animal conservation in production landscapes.

PubMed

Doherty, Tim S; Driscoll, Don A

2018-01-10

Habitat conversion in production landscapes is among the greatest threats to biodiversity, not least because it can disrupt animal movement. Using the movement ecology framework, we review animal movement in production landscapes, including areas managed for agriculture and forestry. We consider internal and external drivers of altered animal movement and how this affects navigation and motion capacities and population dynamics. Conventional management approaches in fragmented landscapes focus on promoting connectivity using structural changes in the landscape. However, a movement ecology perspective emphasizes that manipulating the internal motivations or navigation capacity of animals represents untapped opportunities to improve movement and the effectiveness of structural connectivity investments. Integrating movement and landscape ecology opens new opportunities for conservation management in production landscapes. © 2018 The Authors.

Machine Learning Model Analysis of Breeding Habitats for the Black-necked Crane in Central Asian Uplands under Anthropogenic Pressures.

PubMed

Han, Xuesong; Guo, Yumin; Mi, Chunrong; Huettmann, Falk; Wen, Lijia

2017-07-21

The black-necked crane (Grus nigricollis) is the only alpine crane species and is endemic to the Tibetan Plateau. The breeding habitats of this species are poorly understood, which greatly hampers practical research and conservation work. Using machine learning methods and the best-available data from our 7,000-kilometer mega-transect survey and open access data, we built the first species distribution model (SDM) to analyze the black-necked crane's breeding habitats. Our model showed that current conservation gaps account for 26.7% of its predicted breeding habitats. Specifically, the northern parts of the Hengduan Mountains and the southeastern Tibet Valley, the northern side of the middle Kunlun Mountains, parts of the Pamir Plateau, the northern Pakistan Highlands and the western Hindu Kush should be considered as its main potential breeding areas. Additionally, our model suggested that the crane prefers to breed in alpine meadows at an elevation over 2,800 m, a maximum temperature of the warmest month below 20.5 °C, and a temperature seasonality above 7,800 units. The identified conservation gaps and potential breeding areas can aid in clearly prioritizing future conservation and research, but more attention and study should be directed to the unassessed Western Development of China to secure this endangered crane lineage and other wildlife on the Tibetan Plateau.

Soil, water and nutrient conservation in mountain farming systems: case-study from the Sikkim Himalaya.

PubMed

Sharma, E; Rai, S C; Sharma, R

2001-02-01

The Khanikhola watershed in Sikkim is agrarian with about 50% area under rain-fed agriculture representing the conditions of the middle mountains all over the Himalaya. The study was conducted to assess overland flow, soil loss and subsequent nutrient losses from different land uses in the watershed, and identify biotechnological inputs for management of mountain farming systems. Overland flow, soil and nutrient losses were very high from open agricultural (cropped) fields compared to other land uses, and more than 72% of nutrient losses were attributable to agriculture land use. Forests and large cardamom agroforestry conserved more soil compared to other land uses. Interventions, like cultivation of broom grass upon terrace risers, N2-fixing Albizia trees for maintenance of soil fertility and plantation of horticulture trees, have reduced the soil loss (by 22%). Soil and water conservation values (> 80%) of both large cardamom and broom grass were higher compared to other crops. Use of N2-fixing Albizia tree in large cardamom agroforestry and croplands contributed to soil fertility, and increased productivity and yield. Bio-composting of farm resources ensured increase in nutrient availability specially phosphorus in cropped areas. Agricultural practices in mountain areas should be strengthened with more agroforestry components, and cash crops like large cardamom and broom grass in agroforestry provide high economic return and are hydroecologically sustainable.

Integrating multiple distribution models to guide conservation efforts of an endangered toad

USGS Publications Warehouse

Treglia, Michael L.; Fisher, Robert N.; Fitzgerald, Lee A.

2015-01-01

Species distribution models are used for numerous purposes such as predicting changes in species’ ranges and identifying biodiversity hotspots. Although implications of distribution models for conservation are often implicit, few studies use these tools explicitly to inform conservation efforts. Herein, we illustrate how multiple distribution models developed using distinct sets of environmental variables can be integrated to aid in identification sites for use in conservation. We focus on the endangered arroyo toad (Anaxyrus californicus), which relies on open, sandy streams and surrounding floodplains in southern California, USA, and northern Baja California, Mexico. Declines of the species are largely attributed to habitat degradation associated with vegetation encroachment, invasive predators, and altered hydrologic regimes. We had three main goals: 1) develop a model of potential habitat for arroyo toads, based on long-term environmental variables and all available locality data; 2) develop a model of the species’ current habitat by incorporating recent remotely-sensed variables and only using recent locality data; and 3) integrate results of both models to identify sites that may be employed in conservation efforts. We used a machine learning technique, Random Forests, to develop the models, focused on riparian zones in southern California. We identified 14.37% and 10.50% of our study area as potential and current habitat for the arroyo toad, respectively. Generally, inclusion of remotely-sensed variables reduced modeled suitability of sites, thus many areas modeled as potential habitat were not modeled as current habitat. We propose such sites could be made suitable for arroyo toads through active management, increasing current habitat by up to 67.02%. Our general approach can be employed to guide conservation efforts of virtually any species with sufficient data necessary to develop appropriate distribution models.

Conservative, minimally invasive and open surgical repair for management of acute ruptures of the Achilles tendon: a clinical and functional retrospective study.

PubMed

Maffulli, Gayle; Buono, Angelo Del; Richards, Paula; Oliva, Francesco; Maffulli, Nicola

2017-01-01

At present, it is unclear which is the best management for Achilles tendon rupture. We assess the clinical, functional and imaging outcomes of active patients undergoing 3 different types of management for acute subcutaneous rupture of the Achilles tendon, including conservative cast immobilization, traditional open surgery and percutaneous repair. 26 active patients were managed for a rupture of the Achilles Tendon from January 2007 to March 2008. Anthropometric measurements, Functional assessment, Isometric strength, Ultrasonographic assessment, Patient satisfaction, Working life, Physical activity, Functional score and Complications were recorded retrospectively. All 23 (21 men, 2 women) patients were reviewed at a minimum follow-up of 24 months (average 25.7, range 24 to 32 months, SD: 6.3) from the index injury. Thermann scores and patient satisfaction were significantly higher following surgery than conservative management with no significance between open and minimally invasive operated patients. Sensitive disturbances occur in up to 12% of open repairs and 1.8% of patients managed nonsurgically. Clinical and functional outcomes following surgical repair, percutaneous and open, of the Achilles tendon are significantly improved than following conservative management. Level III.

Developing a playground as catchment area in effort to maintaining groundwater in Jaten village of Karanganyar district of Central Java, Indonesia

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Legowo, Budi; Darsono; Wahyuningsih, Daru

2016-11-01

Changes in land use for housing indirectly disturb the hydrology balance of the area. Groundwater conservation efforts can be done by keeping the function the catchment area. One of the housing developer's obligations is providing open spaces (the playground) to play or activity of the residents. Playground in Bumi Graha Indah Housing, Jaten village, Karanganyar district, Central Java, Indonesia has a fundamental issue, that is, in the rainy season the water is difficult to seep due landfill process are not well planned. It causes the playground become in muddy conditions with tall grass, so that reduces the function as a playground and or activity the residents. In the dry season, the soil dry of landfill caused dust scattering and disrupt the activities of people around the playground. Lack of water resources lead watering process for solving the problem of dust during the dry season was considered ineffective. Structuring drainage combined with modified recharge wells can be used to catch water runoff housing. This modification of water catchment areas can make playground dry quickly after rain so the activities of people are not bothered when utilizing the open space provided. Surface runoff water absorbed in open aquifer so that the hydrological balance always be maintained. Adequacy groundwater in the area playground can be used to sprinkler dust and backup needs clean water residents by creating wells and reservoir stocks.

18 CFR 35.28 - Non-discriminatory open access transmission tariff.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-04-01

... 18 Conservation of Power and Water Resources 1 2011-04-01 2011-04-01 false Non-discriminatory open access transmission tariff. 35.28 Section 35.28 Conservation of Power and Water Resources FEDERAL ENERGY REGULATORY COMMISSION, DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY REGULATIONS UNDER THE FEDERAL POWER ACT FILING OF RATE SCHEDULES...

Makahiki: An Open Source Serious Game Framework for Sustainability Education and Conservation

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Xu, Yongwen; Johnson, Philip M.; Lee, George E.; Moore, Carleton A.; Brewer, Robert S.

2014-01-01

Sustainability education and conservation have become an international imperative due to the rising cost of energy, increasing scarcity of natural resource and irresponsible environmental practices. This paper presents Makahiki, an open source serious game framework for sustainability, which implements an extensible framework for different…

18 CFR 375.203 - Open meetings.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-04-01

... 18 Conservation of Power and Water Resources 1 2014-04-01 2014-04-01 false Open meetings. 375.203 Section 375.203 Conservation of Power and Water Resources FEDERAL ENERGY REGULATORY COMMISSION, DEPARTMENT... photographing of Commission meetings by still or movie camera, or by video taping without lighting aids, is...

18 CFR 375.203 - Open meetings.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-04-01

... 18 Conservation of Power and Water Resources 1 2013-04-01 2013-04-01 false Open meetings. 375.203 Section 375.203 Conservation of Power and Water Resources FEDERAL ENERGY REGULATORY COMMISSION, DEPARTMENT... photographing of Commission meetings by still or movie camera, or by video taping without lighting aids, is...

18 CFR 375.203 - Open meetings.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-04-01

... 18 Conservation of Power and Water Resources 1 2011-04-01 2011-04-01 false Open meetings. 375.203 Section 375.203 Conservation of Power and Water Resources FEDERAL ENERGY REGULATORY COMMISSION, DEPARTMENT... photographing of Commission meetings by still or movie camera, or by video taping without lighting aids, is...

18 CFR 375.203 - Open meetings.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-04-01

... 18 Conservation of Power and Water Resources 1 2010-04-01 2010-04-01 false Open meetings. 375.203 Section 375.203 Conservation of Power and Water Resources FEDERAL ENERGY REGULATORY COMMISSION, DEPARTMENT... photographing of Commission meetings by still or movie camera, or by video taping without lighting aids, is...

18 CFR 375.203 - Open meetings.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-04-01

... 18 Conservation of Power and Water Resources 1 2012-04-01 2012-04-01 false Open meetings. 375.203 Section 375.203 Conservation of Power and Water Resources FEDERAL ENERGY REGULATORY COMMISSION, DEPARTMENT... photographing of Commission meetings by still or movie camera, or by video taping without lighting aids, is...

Minimizing the cost of keeping options open for conservation in a changing climate.

PubMed

Mills, Morena; Nicol, Sam; Wells, Jessie A; Lahoz-Monfort, José J; Wintle, Brendan; Bode, Michael; Wardrop, Martin; Walshe, Terry; Probert, William J M; Runge, Michael C; Possingham, Hugh P; Madden, Eve McDonald

2014-06-01

Policy documents advocate that managers should keep their options open while planning to protect coastal ecosystems from climate-change impacts. However, the actual costs and benefits of maintaining flexibility remain largely unexplored, and alternative approaches for decision making under uncertainty may lead to better joint outcomes for conservation and other societal goals. For example, keeping options open for coastal ecosystems incurs opportunity costs for developers. We devised a decision framework that integrates these costs and benefits with probabilistic forecasts for the extent of sea-level rise to find a balance between coastal ecosystem protection and moderate coastal development. Here, we suggest that instead of keeping their options open managers should incorporate uncertain sea-level rise predictions into a decision-making framework that evaluates the benefits and costs of conservation and development. In our example, based on plausible scenarios for sea-level rise and assuming a risk-neutral decision maker, we found that substantial development could be accommodated with negligible loss of environmental assets. Characterization of the Pareto efficiency of conservation and development outcomes provides valuable insight into the intensity of trade-offs between development and conservation. However, additional work is required to improve understanding of the consequences of alternative spatial plans and the value judgments and risk preferences of decision makers and stakeholders. © 2014 Society for Conservation Biology.

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

Urban Conservation Policies and Plans for a World Heritage Site Case: Antique Pergamon City and its Multi-Layered Cultural Landscape

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Tunçer, Mehmet

2017-10-01

Izmir’s Pergamon (Bergama) Antique City and Its Multi-Layered Cultural Landscape entered the UNESCO World Heritage List with the participation of 21 countries in the 38th World Heritage Committee Meeting held in Doha, Qatar’s capital in between 15 - 25 June 2014. Bergama became the 999th WORLD HERITAGE. Bergama, which has been in operation since 2010, has entered the list as a Multi-layered Cultural Landscape Area. The main purpose of this paper will explain and summarize of urban and archaeological conservation efforts for Pergamon since 1992 to 2014. In the paper also aimed to give the conservation policies of public administrations which mainly central /Ministry of Culture and Tourism, Ministry of Environment/ and local /Bergama Municipality, Gen. Directorate of Vakiflar. Turkey is one of the 10 original member states to establish UNESCO. 9 cities in Turkey are included in the UNESCO List of World Heritage Sites. Further, 23 sites have been nominated and are included in the tentative list. The activities aimed to include the district of Bergama in the UNESCO World Heritage List are ongoing in the years 2009-2014. All the efforts have been made carry this unique antique city to the UNESCO Heritage List at 2014. As an Urban Conservation Planner, I had a change of preparing the FIRST Conservation Aimed Plans and urban designs for Urban and Archaeological Sites of Pergamon together with my team, in the years between 1992-94. We prepared conservation aimed plans for all of the areas of Acropolis, Middle City and Ottoman period urban conservation areas. Urban and archaeological sites of Pergamon the ancient city today, which is over two thousand years old, where scientists, archaeologists, architects, art historians, urban planners, sculptors and similar arts and culture, men talk about admiration, write about and write praises, face to face some deterioration and destruction. As a conservation planner working on Pergamon since 1992, I’ will concentrate the following results and conclusions; 1. Urban and Archaeological Sites in Turkey are generally in danger of destruction because of lack of public awareness and lack of sufficient monetary funds and administrative organisations. 2. In the Case Pergamon; this problem mentioned above are already defeated by the local and central governmental bodies. Unfortunately this success costs time and money, as well as more losess in the urban and archaeological areas. Especially loss in old Ottoman Houses and open archaeological sites. 3. The Paper will be aim to handle the governmental policies about the conservation, the inefficiencies in planning and approval of conservation aimed plans.

Melding Research and Education in a Zoological Setting

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Foote, Dustin

The first zoo was opened in London in 1828 and was intended for scientific study, but was eventually opened to the public in 1847. Since then, public dogma has dictated the development, role, and standards concerning the use of animals across the zoological community. Too often there is disconnect between research programs, captive propagation, and public education. In the fight against human driven extinction of earth's flora and fauna, it is vital that these areas be aligned. Thus in an effort to unite research and education in a zoological setting, East Carolina University (ECU) and Sylvan Heights Bird Park (SHBP) have partnered for a collaborative project involving the study of evolution in the African brood parasitic finches (Viduidae), specifically he Pin-tailed Whydah (Vidua macroura). I attempt to quantify the educational impact of Avian Pirates and SHBP, and assess basic demographic factors that will allow insights into what areas of exhibit design pertain to education. It is important to understand what aspects of zoos facilitate visitor learning in areas of conservation and biodiversity. This is vital as Zoos are under new pressure to substantiate claims of education during visits.

18 CFR 35.28 - Non-discriminatory open access transmission tariff.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-04-01

... 18 Conservation of Power and Water Resources 1 2014-04-01 2014-04-01 false Non-discriminatory open access transmission tariff. 35.28 Section 35.28 Conservation of Power and Water Resources FEDERAL ENERGY.... (4) Demand response means a reduction in the consumption of electric energy by customers from their...

18 CFR 35.28 - Non-discriminatory open access transmission tariff.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-04-01

... 18 Conservation of Power and Water Resources 1 2013-04-01 2013-04-01 false Non-discriminatory open access transmission tariff. 35.28 Section 35.28 Conservation of Power and Water Resources FEDERAL ENERGY.... (4) Demand response means a reduction in the consumption of electric energy by customers from their...

Environmental Assessment, Buildings 4133 and Building 4143, Historic Building Demolitions, Barksdale Air Foce Base, Louisiana

DTIC Science & Technology

2013-06-01

5f. WORK UNIT NUMBER 7. PERFORMING ORGANIZATION NAME(S) AND ADDRESS(ES) Air Force Civil Engineer Center (AFCEC),JBSA Lackland,TX,78236 8... PERFORMING ORGANIZATION REPORT NUMBER 9. SPONSORING/MONITORING AGENCY NAME(S) AND ADDRESS(ES) 10. SPONSOR/MONITOR’S ACRONYM(S) 11. SPONSOR/MONITOR’S REPORT...Recreation 142 0.6 Softball fields, tennis courts, football field, parks/picnic areas, FamCamp, pools, golf course Open Space 16,450 75.0 Conservation

Minimizing the cost of keeping options open for conservation in a changing climate

USGS Publications Warehouse

Mills, Morena; Nicol, Samuel; Wells, Jessie A.; Lahoz-Monfort, José J.; Wintle, Brendan; Bode, Michael; Wardrop, Martin; Walshe, Terry; Probert, William J. M.; Runge, Michael C.; Possingham, Hugh P.; McDonald Madden, Eve

2014-01-01

Policy documents advocate that managers should keep their options open while planning to protect coastal ecosystems from climate-change impacts. However, the actual costs and benefits of maintaining flexibility remain largely unexplored, and alternative approaches for decision making under uncertainty may lead to better joint outcomes for conservation and other societal goals. For example, keeping options open for coastal ecosystems incurs opportunity costs for developers. We devised a decision framework that integrates these costs and benefits with probabilistic forecasts for the extent of sea-level rise to find a balance between coastal ecosystem protection and moderate coastal development. Here, we suggest that instead of keeping their options open managers should incorporate uncertain sea-level rise predictions into a decision-making framework that evaluates the benefits and costs of conservation and development. In our example, based on plausible scenarios for sea-level rise and assuming a risk-neutral decision maker, we found that substantial development could be accommodated with negligible loss of environmental assets. Characterization of the Pareto efficiency of conservation and development outcomes provides valuable insight into the intensity of trade-offs between development and conservation. However, additional work is required to improve understanding of the consequences of alternative spatial plans and the value judgments and risk preferences of decision makers and stakeholders.

76 FR 65121 - Community Forest and Open Space Conservation Program

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2011-10-20

... broad range of citizens in forest conservation, stewardship, and governance. Where situated near Federal... conservation of a tract but does not have the capacity to effectively oversee management and governance issues...

Monitoring protected areas from space: A multi-temporal assessment using raptors as biodiversity surrogates

PubMed Central

Tapia, Luis; Gil-Carrera, Alberto; Domínguez, Jesús

2017-01-01

Monitoring protected areas (PAs) is essential for systematic evaluation of their effectiveness in terms of habitat protection, preservation and representativeness. This study illustrates how the use of species distribution models that combine remote sensing data and information about biodiversity surrogates can contribute to develop a systematic protocol for monitoring PAs. In particular, we assessed the effectiveness of the Natura 2000 (N2000) network, for conserving and preserving the representativeness of seven raptor species in a highly-dynamic landscape in northwest Spain between 2001 and 2014. We also evaluated the cost-effectiveness of the N2000 network by using the total area under protection as a proxy for conservation costs. Overall, the N2000 network was found to poorly represent the habitats of the raptor species. Despite the low representativeness, this network showed a high degree of effectiveness due to increased overall habitat availability for generalist and forest specialist species between 2001 and 2014. Nevertheless, additional protected areas should be established in the near future to increase their representativeness, and thus ensure the protection of open-habitat specialist species and their priority habitats. In addition, proactive conservation measures in natural and semi-natural ecosystems (in particular, montane heathlands) will be essential for long-term protection of Montagu’s harrier (species listed in the Annex I of the Bird Directive), and thus complying with the current European Environmental Legislation. This study sheds light on how the development and application of new protected area indices based on the combined use of freely-available satellite data and species distribution models may contribute substantially to the cost-efficiency of the PA monitoring systems, and to the ‘Fitness Check’ process of EU Nature Directives. PMID:28738072

Monitoring protected areas from space: A multi-temporal assessment using raptors as biodiversity surrogates.

PubMed

Regos, Adrián; Tapia, Luis; Gil-Carrera, Alberto; Domínguez, Jesús

2017-01-01

Monitoring protected areas (PAs) is essential for systematic evaluation of their effectiveness in terms of habitat protection, preservation and representativeness. This study illustrates how the use of species distribution models that combine remote sensing data and information about biodiversity surrogates can contribute to develop a systematic protocol for monitoring PAs. In particular, we assessed the effectiveness of the Natura 2000 (N2000) network, for conserving and preserving the representativeness of seven raptor species in a highly-dynamic landscape in northwest Spain between 2001 and 2014. We also evaluated the cost-effectiveness of the N2000 network by using the total area under protection as a proxy for conservation costs. Overall, the N2000 network was found to poorly represent the habitats of the raptor species. Despite the low representativeness, this network showed a high degree of effectiveness due to increased overall habitat availability for generalist and forest specialist species between 2001 and 2014. Nevertheless, additional protected areas should be established in the near future to increase their representativeness, and thus ensure the protection of open-habitat specialist species and their priority habitats. In addition, proactive conservation measures in natural and semi-natural ecosystems (in particular, montane heathlands) will be essential for long-term protection of Montagu's harrier (species listed in the Annex I of the Bird Directive), and thus complying with the current European Environmental Legislation. This study sheds light on how the development and application of new protected area indices based on the combined use of freely-available satellite data and species distribution models may contribute substantially to the cost-efficiency of the PA monitoring systems, and to the 'Fitness Check' process of EU Nature Directives.

Pasture intensification is insufficient to relieve pressure on conservation priority areas in open agricultural markets.

PubMed

Kreidenweis, Ulrich; Humpenöder, Florian; Kehoe, Laura; Kuemmerle, Tobias; Bodirsky, Benjamin Leon; Lotze-Campen, Hermann; Popp, Alexander

2018-04-17

Agricultural expansion is a leading driver of biodiversity loss across the world, but little is known on how future land-use change may encroach on remaining natural vegetation. This uncertainty is, in part, due to unknown levels of future agricultural intensification and international trade. Using an economic land-use model, we assessed potential future losses of natural vegetation with a focus on how these may threaten biodiversity hotspots and intact forest landscapes. We analysed agricultural expansion under proactive and reactive biodiversity protection scenarios, and for different rates of pasture intensification. We found growing food demand to lead to a significant expansion of cropland at the expense of pastures and natural vegetation. In our reference scenario, global cropland area increased by more than 400 Mha between 2015 and 2050, mostly in Africa and Latin America. Grazing intensification was a main determinant of future land-use change. In Africa, higher rates of pasture intensification resulted in smaller losses of natural vegetation, and reduced pressure on biodiversity hotspots and intact forest landscapes. Investments into raising pasture productivity in conjunction with proactive land-use planning appear essential in Africa to reduce further losses of areas with high conservation value. In Latin America, in contrast, higher pasture productivity resulted in increased livestock exports, highlighting that unchecked trade can reduce the land savings of pasture intensification. Reactive protection of sensitive areas significantly reduced the conversion of natural ecosystems in Latin America. We conclude that protection strategies need to adapt to region-specific trade positions. In regions with a high involvement in international trade, area-based conservation measures should be preferred over strategies aimed at increasing pasture productivity, which by themselves might not be sufficient to protect biodiversity effectively. © 2018 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Urban Power Line Corridors as Novel Habitats for Grassland and Alien Plant Species in South-Western Finland

PubMed Central

Lampinen, Jussi; Ruokolainen, Kalle; Huhta, Ari-Pekka

2015-01-01

Regularly managed electric power line corridors may provide habitats for both early-successional grassland plant species and disturbance-dependent alien plant species. These habitats are especially important in urban areas, where they can help conserve native grassland species and communities in urban greenspace. However, they can also provide further footholds for potentially invasive alien species that already characterize urban areas. In order to implement power line corridors into urban conservation, it is important to understand which environmental conditions in the corridors favor grassland species and which alien species. Likewise it is important to know whether similar environmental factors in the corridors control the species composition of the two groups. We conducted a vegetation study in a 43 kilometer long urban power line corridor network in south-western Finland, and used generalized linear models and distance-based redundancy analysis to determine which environmental factors best predict the occurrence and composition of grassland and alien plant species in the corridors. The results imply that old corridors on dry soils and steep slopes characterized by a history as open areas and pastures are especially suitable for grassland species. Corridors suitable for alien species, in turn, are characterized by productive soils and abundant light and are surrounded by a dense urban fabric. Factors controlling species composition in the two groups are somewhat correlated, with the most important factors including light abundance, soil moisture, soil calcium concentration and soil productivity. The results have implications for grassland conservation and invasive alien species control in urban areas. PMID:26565700

Urban Power Line Corridors as Novel Habitats for Grassland and Alien Plant Species in South-Western Finland.

PubMed

Lampinen, Jussi; Ruokolainen, Kalle; Huhta, Ari-Pekka

2015-01-01

Regularly managed electric power line corridors may provide habitats for both early-successional grassland plant species and disturbance-dependent alien plant species. These habitats are especially important in urban areas, where they can help conserve native grassland species and communities in urban greenspace. However, they can also provide further footholds for potentially invasive alien species that already characterize urban areas. In order to implement power line corridors into urban conservation, it is important to understand which environmental conditions in the corridors favor grassland species and which alien species. Likewise it is important to know whether similar environmental factors in the corridors control the species composition of the two groups. We conducted a vegetation study in a 43 kilometer long urban power line corridor network in south-western Finland, and used generalized linear models and distance-based redundancy analysis to determine which environmental factors best predict the occurrence and composition of grassland and alien plant species in the corridors. The results imply that old corridors on dry soils and steep slopes characterized by a history as open areas and pastures are especially suitable for grassland species. Corridors suitable for alien species, in turn, are characterized by productive soils and abundant light and are surrounded by a dense urban fabric. Factors controlling species composition in the two groups are somewhat correlated, with the most important factors including light abundance, soil moisture, soil calcium concentration and soil productivity. The results have implications for grassland conservation and invasive alien species control in urban areas.

76 FR 5820 - Meeting Announcements: North American Wetlands Conservation Council; Neotropical Migratory Bird...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2011-02-02

...] Meeting Announcements: North American Wetlands Conservation Council; Neotropical Migratory Bird... Conservation Act (NAWCA) grant proposals for recommendation to the Migratory Bird Conservation Commission (Commission). This meeting is open to the public. The Advisory Group for the Neotropical Migratory Bird...

Ranging behaviour and habitat preferences of the Martial Eagle: Implications for the conservation of a declining apex predator

PubMed Central

van Eeden, Rowen; Whitfield, D. Philip; Botha, Andre; Amar, Arjun

2017-01-01

Understanding the ranging behaviours of species can be helpful in effective conservation planning. However, for many species that are rare, occur at low densities, or occupy challenging environments, this information is often lacking. The Martial Eagle (Polemaetus bellicosus) is a low density apex predator declining in both non-protected and protected areas in southern Africa, and little is known about its ranging behaviour. We use GPS tags fitted to Martial Eagles (n = 8) in Kruger National Park (KNP), South Africa to describe their ranging behaviour and habitat preference. This represents the first time that such movements have been quantified in adult Martial Eagles. Territorial eagles (n = 6) held home ranges averaging ca. 108 km2. Home range estimates were similar to expectations based on inter-nest distances, and these large home range sizes could constrain the carrying capacity of even the largest conservation areas. Two tagged individuals classed as adults on plumage apparently did not hold a territory, and accordingly ranged more widely (ca. 44,000 km2), and beyond KNP boundaries as floaters. Another two territorial individuals abandoned their territories and joined the ‘floater’ population, and so ranged widely after leaving their territories. These unexpected movements after territory abandonment could indicate underlying environmental degradation. Relatively high mortality of these wide-ranging ‘floaters’ due to anthropogenic causes (three of four) raises further concerns for the species’ persistence. Habitat preference models suggested Martial Eagles used areas preferentially that were closer to rivers, had higher tree cover, and were classed as dense bush rather than open bush or grassland. These results can be used by conservation managers to help guide actions to preserve breeding Martial Eagles at an appropriate spatial scale. PMID:28306744

Impacts of rural development on Yellowstone wildlife: linking grizzly bear Ursus arctos demographics with projected residential growth

USGS Publications Warehouse

Schwartz, Charles C.; Gude, Patricia H.; Landenburger, Lisa; Haroldson, Mark A.; Podruzny, Shannon

2012-01-01

Exurban development is consuming wildlife habitat within the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem with potential consequences to the long-term conservation of grizzly bears Ursus arctos. We assessed the impacts of alternative future land-use scenarios by linking an existing regression-based simulation model predicting rural development with a spatially explicit model that predicted bear survival. Using demographic criteria that predict population trajectory, we portioned habitats into either source or sink, and projected the loss of source habitat associated with four different build out (new home construction) scenarios through 2020. Under boom growth, we predicted that 12 km2 of source habitat were converted to sink habitat within the Grizzly Bear Recovery Zone (RZ), 189 km2 were converted within the current distribution of grizzly bears outside of the RZ, and 289 km2 were converted in the area outside the RZ identified as suitable grizzly bear habitat. Our findings showed that extremely low densities of residential development created sink habitats. We suggest that tools, such as those outlined in this article, in addition to zoning and subdivision regulation may prove more practical, and the most effective means of retaining large areas of undeveloped land and conserving grizzly bear source habitat will likely require a landscape-scale approach. We recommend a focus on land conservation efforts that retain open space (easements, purchases and trades) coupled with the implementation of ‘bear community programmes’ on an ecosystem wide basis in an effort to minimize human-bear conflicts, minimize management-related bear mortalities associated with preventable conflicts and to safeguard human communities. Our approach has application to other species and areas, and it has illustrated how spatially explicit demographic models can be combined with models predicting land-use change to help focus conservation priorities.

77 FR 2754 - Establishment of Everglades Headwaters National Wildlife Refuge and Conservation Area

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2012-01-19

...-FF04R02000] Establishment of Everglades Headwaters National Wildlife Refuge and Conservation Area AGENCY... Refuge and Conservation Area in Polk, Osceola, Highlands, and Okeechobee Counties, Florida. The Service establishes the Refuge and Conservation Area in order to support a connected conservation landscape; to...

Woody encroachment over 70 years in South African savannahs: overgrazing, global change or extinction aftershock?

PubMed

Stevens, Nicola; Erasmus, B F N; Archibald, S; Bond, W J

2016-09-19

Woody encroachment in 'open' biomes like grasslands and savannahs is occurring globally. Both local and global drivers, including elevated CO2, have been implicated in these increases. The relative importance of different processes is unresolved as there are few multi-site, multi-land-use evaluations of woody plant encroachment. We measured 70 years of woody cover changes over a 1020 km(2) area covering four land uses (commercial ranching, conservation with elephants, conservation without elephants and communal rangelands) across a rainfall gradient in South African savannahs. Different directions of woody cover change would be expected for each different land use, unless a global factor is causing the increases. Woody cover change was measured between 1940 and 2010 using the aerial photo record. Detection of woody cover from each aerial photograph was automated using eCognitions' Object-based image analysis (OBIA). Woody cover doubled in all land uses across the rainfall gradient, except in conservation areas with elephants in low-rainfall savannahs. Woody cover in 2010 in low-rainfall savannahs frequently exceeded the maximum woody cover threshold predicted for African savannahs. The results indicate that a global factor, of which elevated CO2 is the likely candidate, may be driving encroachment. Elephants in low-rainfall savannahs prevent encroachment and localized megafaunal extinction is a probable additional cause of encroachment.This article is part of the themed issue 'Tropical grassy biomes: linking ecology, human use and conservation'. © 2016 The Author(s).

Add-on conservation benefits of marine territorial user rights fishery policies in central Chile.

PubMed

Gelcich, Stefan; Godoy, Natalio; Prado, Luis; Castilla, Juan Carlos

2008-01-01

To combine the rational use of marine benthic resources and economic development of small-scale fishers, Chile passed legislation in 1991 establishing a comanagement policy that grants exclusive territorial user rights for fisheries (TURFs) to artisanal fisher organizations in well-defined inshore coastal areas, known as Management and Exploitation Areas for Benthic Resources (MEABRs). In general the policy has been proclaimed a management and economic success because benthic resource abundances have increased inside MEABRs in comparison with open-access areas. However, there is a lack of studies assessing the impact of this management policy on nontargeted subtidal species and community assemblages and the policy's implications for biodiversity and conservation. This study starts to fill this gap and links the allocation of TURFs for benthic resources with add-on conservation benefits for species that are not directly linked with the fishery policy. Comparative subtidal surveys inside vs. outside MEABRs were used to assess the effects of three MEABRs on managed targeted benthic species, biodiversity (species richness), and community assemblages in central Chile. Surveys focused exclusively on subtidal kelp forest habitats dominated by Lessonia trabeculata, spanning 4-12 m in depth and with similar levels of habitat complexity. The study comprised: (1) quantification of kelp forest complexity, (2) understory survey of sessile species, (3) quantification of conspicuous benthic macroinvertebrates, including those under management, and (4) quantification of reef-fish species inside the kelp habitat. Results showed population enhancement of target-managed invertebrates inside MEABRs. Moreover, reef-fish species were significantly more diverse and abundant inside MEABRs, and community assemblages of nontarget benthic invertebrates and reef fish were significantly different inside vs. outside MEABRs. The comanagement of inshore benthic resources in Chile, through MEABRs aims for the sustainability of invertebrate and algae stocks. However, our study shows that this management tool, which in practice restricts access to the entire management area, provides important conservation add-on effects for species that are not the focus of the management policies. Therefore, in Chile, the hundreds of already established MEABRs could represent an important ancillary network, which complements the biodiversity objectives of fully protected areas such as no-take marine protected areas or others.

Resident perspectives of the open space conservation subdivision in Hamburg Township, Michigan

Treesearch

Maureen E. Austin

2004-01-01

The open space conservation subdivision (R.G. Arendt, 1996) has been presented as an alternative to conventional large lot residential development. A form of clustering, this planning approach emphasizes the quality as well as the quantity of land preserved. The format offers a means for local planning officials to accommodate residential growth while preserving...

Accounting for enforcement costs in the spatial allocation of marine zones.

PubMed

Davis, Katrina; Kragt, Marit; Gelcich, Stefan; Schilizzi, Steven; Pannell, David

2015-02-01

Marine fish stocks are in many cases extracted above sustainable levels, but they may be protected through restricted-use zoning systems. The effectiveness of these systems typically depends on support from coastal fishing communities. High management costs including those of enforcement may, however, deter fishers from supporting marine management. We incorporated enforcement costs into a spatial optimization model that identified how conservation targets can be met while maximizing fishers' revenue. Our model identified the optimal allocation of the study area among different zones: no-take, territorial user rights for fisheries (TURFs), or open access. The analysis demonstrated that enforcing no-take and TURF zones incurs a cost, but results in higher species abundance by preventing poaching and overfishing. We analyzed how different enforcement scenarios affected fishers' revenue. Fisher revenue was approximately 50% higher when territorial user rights were enforced than when they were not. The model preferentially allocated area to the enforced-TURF zone over other zones, demonstrating that the financial benefits of enforcement (derived from higher species abundance) exceeded the costs. These findings were robust to increases in enforcement costs but sensitive to changes in species' market price. We also found that revenue under the existing zoning regime in the study area was 13-30% lower than under an optimal solution. Our results highlight the importance of accounting for both the benefits and costs of enforcement in marine conservation, particularly when incurred by fishers. © 2014 Society for Conservation Biology.

Short term changes in hydroperiod after thin layer sediment placement on a New Jersey salt marsh and implications for design

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Piercy, C.; Carrillo, C. C.; VanZomeren, C. M.; Berkowitz, J.; Chasten, M. A.; Golden, D.; Jahn, J.; Welp, T. L.; Yepsen, M.

2017-12-01

Over the winter of 2015-2016, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Philadelphia District partnered with New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection, The Nature Conservancy, Green Trust Alliance, Green Vest, and Princeton Hydro to implement a wetland thin layer placement on a salt marsh to the west of Avalon, New Jersey using dredged sediments removed from the Federal navigation channel in response to impacts from Hurricane Sandy. Prior to sediment placement, the marsh exhibited signs of degradation, including fragmentation of the marsh plain. The marsh is characterized by large, open water areas ( 1 m deep) fringed with overhanging banks and punctuated by small remnant ( 1-5 m) islands of intact marsh. The objective of the placement effort was to increase the elevation of degraded marsh areas to a level commensurate with the growth of low marsh vegetation dominated by Spartina alterniflora Loisel and to provide a small ( 5-15 cm) elevation boost to vegetated marsh areas surrounding the open water pools. We examine changes in inundation and tidal exchange resulting from the thin layer placement immediately after placement and a year later. Changes in sediment grain size and other factors are also considered. Coupling hydrologic measurements with observed vegetation recovery, we identify target elevations and sediment depths relative to mean sea level and mean high water consistent with rapid recovery in initially vegetated and open water areas.

Do open-cycle hatcheries relying on tourism conserve sea turtles? Sri Lankan developments and economic-ecological considerations.

PubMed

Tisdell, Clem; Wilson, Clevo

2005-04-01

By combining economic analysis of markets with ecological parameters, this article considers the role that tourism-based sea turtle hatcheries (of an open-cycle type) can play in conserving populations of sea turtles. Background is provided on the nature and development of such hatcheries in Sri Lanka. The modeling facilitates the assessment of the impacts of turtle hatcheries on the conservation of sea turtles and enables the economic and ecological consequences of tourism, based on such hatcheries, to be better appreciated. The results demonstrate that sea turtle hatcheries serving tourists can make a positive contribution to sea turtle conservation, but that their conservation effectiveness depends on the way they are managed. Possible negative effects are also identified. Economic market models are combined with turtle population survival relationships to predict the conservation impact of turtle hatcheries and their consequence for the total economic value obtained from sea turtle populations.

Waterbird conservation for the Americas: The North American waterbird conservation plan, version 1

USGS Publications Warehouse

Kushlan, James A.; Steinkamp, Melanie J.; Parsons, Katharine C.; Capp, Jack; Cruz, Martin Acosta; Coulter, Malcolm; Davidson, Ian; Dickson, Loney; Edelson, Naomi; Elliot, Richard; Erwin, R. Michael; Hatch, Scott A.; Kress, Stephen; Milko, Robert; Miller, Steve; Mills, Kyra L.; Paul, Richard; Phillips, Roberto; Saliva, Jorge E.; Syderman, Bill; Trapp, John; Wheeler, Jennifer; Wohl, Kenton D.

2002-01-01

The North American Waterbird Conservation Plan (the Plan) is the product of an independent partnership of individuals and institutions having interest and responsibility for conservation of waterbirds and their habitats in the Americas. This partnership - Waterbird Conservation for the Americas - was created to support a vision in which the distribution, diversity, and abundance of populations and habitats of breeding, migratory, and nonbreeding waterbirds are sustained or restored throughout the lands and waters of North America, Central America, and the Caribbean.The Plan provides a continental-scale framework for the conservation and management of 210 species of waterbirds, including seabirds, coastal waterbirds, wading birds, and marshbirds utilizing aquatic habitats in 29 nations throughout North America, Central America, the islands and pelagic waters of the Caribbean Sea and western Atlantic, the U.S.-associated Pacific Islands and pelagic inland and pelagic waters of the Pacific. Birds as familiar as herons, loons, pelicans, and gulls, as well as the lesser known albatrosses, petrels, auks, and rails are among the species considered in the Plan. These birds' dependence on aquatic habitats such as wooded swamps, stream corridors, salt marshes, barrier islands, continental shelf waters and open pelagic waters make them especially vulnerable to the myriad threats facing water and wetland resources globally. In addition, the congregatory behavior of many waterbirds increases population risks by concentrating populations in limited areas.

Small-scale managed marine areas over time: Developments and challenges in a local Fijian reef fishery.

PubMed

Fache, Elodie; Breckwoldt, Annette

2018-05-21

This paper investigates the Locally Managed Marine Area (LMMA) approach through looking at developments and challenges of community-based marine resource management over time, with a particular focus on Fiji in the South Pacific region. A diachronic perspective, based on two multi-method empirical studies, is used to exemplify the social complexities of the implementation of this LMMA approach in a specific island setting. This perspective connects local stakeholders' establishment and management of a LMMA covering their entire customary fishing rights area (iqoliqoli) with the national context articulated around the Fiji Locally Managed Marine Area (FLMMA) network, as well as with regional networking and international conservation dynamics. It especially explores the impacts of a small-scale marine closure (so-called tabu area) on the harvesting patterns in a portion of this LMMA, related aspects of formal and informal enforcement, and villagers' views of the health of their reef fishery. This case study reveals a lack of consensus on the current management of this closure as a conditionally-opened no-take area, whose temporary openings (re)produce social tensions, as well as a lack of consensus on the effects of this closure on the reef fishery, which is subject to poaching. The paper highlights that the articulation between conservation and extraction of marine resources, as well as between short-term and longer-term objectives of the community-based marine resource management in place, is a complex sociopolitical process even at the most local level. The discussion also points out that local observations and interpretations of coastal resource dynamics, and of the interplay between fishery and community changes, might be instrumental in addressing the limits of the area-based system of management inherent in the LMMA approach. These insights into both the development process of the LMMA approach and the challenges of its local implementation and maintenance efforts can be useful to consider the adjustments necessary for Fiji's achievement of its national coastal fisheries management strategy and its international ocean governance commitments. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

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.

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...

Sinks without borders: Snowshoe hare dynamics in a complex landscape

USGS Publications Warehouse

Griffin, Paul C.; Mills, L. Scott

2009-01-01

A full understanding of population dynamics of wide-ranging animals should account for the effects that movement and habitat use have on individual contributions to population growth or decline. Quantifying the per-capita, habitat-specific contribution to population growth can clarify the value of different patch types, and help to differentiate population sources from population sinks. Snowshoe hares, Lepus americanus, routinely use various habitat types in the landscapes they inhabit in the contiguous US, where managing forests for high snowshoe hare density is a priority for conservation of Canada lynx, Lynx canadensis. We estimated density and demographic rates via mark–recapture live trapping and radio-telemetry within four forest stand structure (FSS) types at three study areas within heterogeneous managed forests in western Montana. We found support for known fate survival models with time-varying individual covariates representing the proportion of locations in each of the FSS types, with survival rates decreasing as use of open young and open mature FSS types increased. The per-capita contribution to overall population growth increased with use of the dense mature or dense young FSS types and decreased with use of the open young or open mature FSS types, and relatively high levels of immigration appear to be necessary to sustain hares in the open FSS types. Our results support a conceptual model for snowshoe hares in the southern range in which sink habitats (open areas) prevent the buildup of high hare densities. More broadly, we use this system to develop a novel approach to quantify demographic sources and sinks for animals making routine movements through complex fragmented landscapes.

Associations of breeding birds with fire-influenced and riparian-upland gradients in a longleaf pine ecosystem

USGS Publications Warehouse

Allen, J.C.; Krieger, S.M.; Walters, J.R.; Collazo, J.A.

2006-01-01

We determined the effects of fire history and a riparian-upland gradient on the breeding bird community at Fort Bragg Military Installation in North Carolina, one of the largest remnant areas of the endangered longleaf pine (Pinus palustris) ecosystem. Study sites were classified into two treatments: fire-intense (areas experiencing growing-season burns) and fire-suppressed (areas lacking fires). Within each treatment, bird and vegetation data were recorded at point-count stations positioned at three distances from streamhead pocosins to characterize the riparian-upland habitat gradient: 0, 75, and ≥150 m. Total bird abundance and species richness varied significantly along the riparian-upland gradient, with pocosins contributing greatly to avian biodiversity. Our data revealed strong effects of fire history and riparian-upland gradient on bird species, which we described in terms of breeding-bird assemblages. Members of the open longleaf assemblage (e.g., Red- cockaded Woodpecker [Picoides borealis], Bachman's Sparrow [Aimophila aestivalis]) were most common in fire-intense areas and at upland locations. Members of the fire-suppressed assemblage (e.g., Wood Thrush [Hylocichla mustelina], Ovenbird [Seiurus aurocapilla]) were confined to pocosins in fire-intense areas, but became more abundant in fire-suppressed areas. Members of the pocosin assemblage (e.g., Eastern Towhee [Pipilo erythropthalamus], Common Yellowthroat [Geothlypis trichas]) were largely confined to pocosins and, in some cases, were most abundant in fire-intense pocosins. Fire suppression increased structural diversity of vegetation and promoted one breeding-bird assemblage (fire-suppressed), but at the expense of two others (open longleaf, pocosin). Continued management of Fort Bragg to promote longleaf pine restoration is essential for supporting conservation of the open-longleaf bird assemblage; in addition, it will benefit the pocosin assemblage.

Do well-connected landscapes promote road-related mortality?

USGS Publications Warehouse

Grilo, C.; Ascensao, F.; Santos-Reis, M.; Bissonette, J.A.

2011-01-01

Cost surface (CS) models have emerged as a useful tool to examine the interactions between landscapes patterns and wildlife at large-scale extents. This approach is particularly relevant to guide conservation planning for species that show vulnerability to road networks in human-dominated landscapes. In this study, we measured the functional connectivity of the landscape in southern Portugal and examined how it may be related to stone marten road mortality risk. We addressed three questions: (1) How different levels of landscape connectivity influence stone marten occurrence in montado patches? (2) Is there any relation between montado patches connectivity and stone marten road mortality risk? (3) If so, which road-related features might be responsible for the species' high road mortality? We developed a series of connectivity models using CS scenarios with different resistance values given to each vegetation cover type to reflect different resistance to species movement. Our models showed that the likelihood of occurrence of stone marten decreased with distance to source areas, meaning continuous montado. Open areas and riparian areas within open area matrices entailed increased costs. We found higher stone marten mortality on roads in well-connected areas. Road sinuosity was an important factor influencing the mortality in those areas. This result challenges the way that connectivity and its relation to mortality has been generally regarded. Clearly, landscape connectivity and road-related mortality are not independent. ?? 2010 Springer-Verlag.

Conservation-form equations of unsteady open-channel flow

USGS Publications Warehouse

Lai, C.; Baltzer, R.A.; Schaffranek, R.W.

2002-01-01

The unsteady open-channel flow equations are typically expressed in a variety of forms due to the imposition of differing assumptions, use of varied dependent variables, and inclusion of different source/sink terms. Questions often arise as to whether a particular equation set is expressed in a form consistent with the conservation-law definition. The concept of conservation form is developed to clarify the meaning mathematically. Six sets of unsteady-flow equations typically used in engineering practice are presented and their conservation properties are identified and discussed. Results of the theoretical development and analysis of the equations are substantiated in a set of numerical experiments conducted using alternate equation forms. Findings of these analytical and numerical efforts demonstrate that the choice of dependent variable is the fundamental factor determining the nature of the conservation properties of any particular equation form.

Implementation of the Forest Service Open Space Conservation Strategy in Washington State: Exploring the Role of the National Forest System

Treesearch

Richard J. Pringle; Lee K. Cerveny; Gordon A. Bradley

2015-01-01

The loss of open space was declared one of the “four threats to the health of our nation’s forests” by former USDA Forest Service Chief Dale Bosworth in 2004. Since then, the agencywide Open Space Conservation Strategy (OSCS) was released and the “four threats” were incorporated into the agency’s National Strategic Plan. These actions indicate that the OSCS is in the...

Spotting East African mammals in open savannah from space.

PubMed

Yang, Zheng; Wang, Tiejun; Skidmore, Andrew K; de Leeuw, Jan; Said, Mohammed Y; Freer, Jim

2014-01-01

Knowledge of population dynamics is essential for managing and conserving wildlife. Traditional methods of counting wild animals such as aerial survey or ground counts not only disturb animals, but also can be labour intensive and costly. New, commercially available very high-resolution satellite images offer great potential for accurate estimates of animal abundance over large open areas. However, little research has been conducted in the area of satellite-aided wildlife census, although computer processing speeds and image analysis algorithms have vastly improved. This paper explores the possibility of detecting large animals in the open savannah of Maasai Mara National Reserve, Kenya from very high-resolution GeoEye-1 satellite images. A hybrid image classification method was employed for this specific purpose by incorporating the advantages of both pixel-based and object-based image classification approaches. This was performed in two steps: firstly, a pixel-based image classification method, i.e., artificial neural network was applied to classify potential targets with similar spectral reflectance at pixel level; and then an object-based image classification method was used to further differentiate animal targets from the surrounding landscapes through the applications of expert knowledge. As a result, the large animals in two pilot study areas were successfully detected with an average count error of 8.2%, omission error of 6.6% and commission error of 13.7%. The results of the study show for the first time that it is feasible to perform automated detection and counting of large wild animals in open savannahs from space, and therefore provide a complementary and alternative approach to the conventional wildlife survey techniques.

Delta-Flux: An eddy covariance network for a climate-smart Lower Mississippi Basin

USGS Publications Warehouse

Runkle, Benjamin R. K.; Rigby, James R.; Reba, Michele L.; Anapalli, Saseendran S.; Bhattacharjee, Joydeep; Krauss, Ken W.; Liang, Lu; Locke, Martin A.; Novick, Kimberly A.; Sui, Ruixiu; Suvočarev, Kosana; White, Paul M.

2017-01-01

Networks of remotely monitored research sites are increasingly the tool used to study regional agricultural impacts on carbon and water fluxes. However, key national networks such as the National Ecological Observatory Network and AmeriFlux lack contributions from the Lower Mississippi River Basin (LMRB), a highly productive agricultural area with opportunities for soil carbon sequestration through conservation practices. The authors describe the rationale to create the new Delta-Flux network, which will coordinate efforts to quantify carbon and water budgets at seventeen eddy covariance flux tower sites in the LMRB. The network structure will facilitate climate-smart management strategies based on production-scale and continuous measurements of carbon and water fluxes from the landscape to the atmosphere under different soil and water management conditions. The seventeen instrumented field sites are expected to monitor fluxes within the most characteristic landscapes of the target area: row-crop fields, pasture, grasslands, forests, and marshes. The network participants are committed to open collaboration and efficient regionalization of site-level findings to support sustainable agricultural and forestry management and conservation of natural resources.

Climate change threatens European conservation areas

PubMed Central

Araújo, Miguel B; Alagador, Diogo; Cabeza, Mar; Nogués-Bravo, David; Thuiller, Wilfried

2011-01-01

Europe has the world's most extensive network of conservation areas. Conservation areas are selected without taking into account the effects of climate change. How effectively would such areas conserve biodiversity under climate change? We assess the effectiveness of protected areas and the Natura 2000 network in conserving a large proportion of European plant and terrestrial vertebrate species under climate change. We found that by 2080, 58 ± 2.6% of the species would lose suitable climate in protected areas, whereas losses affected 63 ± 2.1% of the species of European concern occurring in Natura 2000 areas. Protected areas are expected to retain climatic suitability for species better than unprotected areas (P<0.001), but Natura 2000 areas retain climate suitability for species no better and sometimes less effectively than unprotected areas. The risk is high that ongoing efforts to conserve Europe's biodiversity are jeopardized by climate change. New policies are required to avert this risk. PMID:21447141

18 CFR 157.36 - Open seasons for expansions.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-04-01

... 18 Conservation of Power and Water Resources 1 2012-04-01 2012-04-01 false Open seasons for... GAS ACT Open Seasons for Alaska Natural Gas Transportation Projects § 157.36 Open seasons for expansions. Any open season for capacity exceeding the initial capacity of an Alaska natural gas...

18 CFR 157.33 - Requirement for open season.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-04-01

... 18 Conservation of Power and Water Resources 1 2011-04-01 2011-04-01 false Requirement for open... GAS ACT Open Seasons for Alaska Natural Gas Transportation Projects § 157.33 Requirement for open... applicant has conducted an open season for capacity on its proposed project, in accordance with the...

18 CFR 157.34 - Notice of open season.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-04-01

... 18 Conservation of Power and Water Resources 1 2012-04-01 2012-04-01 false Notice of open season... ACT Open Seasons for Alaska Natural Gas Transportation Projects § 157.34 Notice of open season. (a) Notice. A prospective applicant must provide reasonable public notice of an open season through methods...

18 CFR 157.34 - Notice of open season.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-04-01

... 18 Conservation of Power and Water Resources 1 2014-04-01 2014-04-01 false Notice of open season... ACT Open Seasons for Alaska Natural Gas Transportation Projects § 157.34 Notice of open season. (a) Notice. A prospective applicant must provide reasonable public notice of an open season through methods...

18 CFR 157.36 - Open seasons for expansions.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-04-01

... 18 Conservation of Power and Water Resources 1 2013-04-01 2013-04-01 false Open seasons for... GAS ACT Open Seasons for Alaska Natural Gas Transportation Projects § 157.36 Open seasons for expansions. Any open season for capacity exceeding the initial capacity of an Alaska natural gas...

18 CFR 157.36 - Open seasons for expansions.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-04-01

... 18 Conservation of Power and Water Resources 1 2011-04-01 2011-04-01 false Open seasons for... GAS ACT Open Seasons for Alaska Natural Gas Transportation Projects § 157.36 Open seasons for expansions. Any open season for capacity exceeding the initial capacity of an Alaska natural gas...

18 CFR 157.36 - Open seasons for expansions.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-04-01

... 18 Conservation of Power and Water Resources 1 2010-04-01 2010-04-01 false Open seasons for... GAS ACT Open Seasons for Alaska Natural Gas Transportation Projects § 157.36 Open seasons for expansions. Any open season for capacity exceeding the initial capacity of an Alaska natural gas...

18 CFR 157.33 - Requirement for open season.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-04-01

... 18 Conservation of Power and Water Resources 1 2013-04-01 2013-04-01 false Requirement for open... GAS ACT Open Seasons for Alaska Natural Gas Transportation Projects § 157.33 Requirement for open... applicant has conducted an open season for capacity on its proposed project, in accordance with the...

18 CFR 157.33 - Requirement for open season.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-04-01

... 18 Conservation of Power and Water Resources 1 2014-04-01 2014-04-01 false Requirement for open... GAS ACT Open Seasons for Alaska Natural Gas Transportation Projects § 157.33 Requirement for open... applicant has conducted an open season for capacity on its proposed project, in accordance with the...

18 CFR 157.36 - Open seasons for expansions.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-04-01

... 18 Conservation of Power and Water Resources 1 2014-04-01 2014-04-01 false Open seasons for... GAS ACT Open Seasons for Alaska Natural Gas Transportation Projects § 157.36 Open seasons for expansions. Any open season for capacity exceeding the initial capacity of an Alaska natural gas...

18 CFR 157.33 - Requirement for open season.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-04-01

... 18 Conservation of Power and Water Resources 1 2012-04-01 2012-04-01 false Requirement for open... GAS ACT Open Seasons for Alaska Natural Gas Transportation Projects § 157.33 Requirement for open... applicant has conducted an open season for capacity on its proposed project, in accordance with the...

18 CFR 157.34 - Notice of open season.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-04-01

... 18 Conservation of Power and Water Resources 1 2013-04-01 2013-04-01 false Notice of open season... ACT Open Seasons for Alaska Natural Gas Transportation Projects § 157.34 Notice of open season. (a) Notice. A prospective applicant must provide reasonable public notice of an open season through methods...

18 CFR 157.33 - Requirement for open season.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-04-01

... 18 Conservation of Power and Water Resources 1 2010-04-01 2010-04-01 false Requirement for open... GAS ACT Open Seasons for Alaska Natural Gas Transportation Projects § 157.33 Requirement for open... applicant has conducted an open season for capacity on its proposed project, in accordance with the...

Degree of threat to the biological diversity in the Ilha Grande State Park (RJ) and guidelines for conservation.

PubMed

Alho, C J R; Schneider, M; Vasconcellos, L A

2002-08-01

The State Park of Ilha Grande is only a part (5,594 hectares) of the entire island (19,300 hectares) which is located off the south coast of Rio de Janeiro state, between the cities of Mangaratiba and Angra dos Reis. Approximately half of the Park area (47%) is covered by dense Atlantic forest. The secondary forest growth is in a process of ecological succession close to attaining maturity (43%) and the remaining part (10%) is composed of human-altered areas (1%), rocky outcrops with herbaceous vegetation (7%), mangroves and beaches (2%). The fauna is well represented but already shows signs of degradation with introduced species. The analysis of the degree of threat has shown that the dense forest habitat has a relatively stable status of conservation while the secondary forest, the mangrove and the herbaceous vegetation on rocky outcrops (and their fauna) are categorized as vulnerable. The area altered by human occupation is considered threatened. Since the coastal area where Ilha Grande is located is well known for its beautiful scenery (known as the green coast, because of the contrast between the ocean and the Atlantic forest covering the Serra do Mar mountain chain). There is a strong possibility for tourism to become the means in which to achieve economic sustainability for conservation. Contradictorily, tourism is also the major threat to local biodiversity and its landscape units. Because tourism is not organized and controlled, during high season the numbers grow above local capacity, giving rise to a proliferation of hotels, guesthouses and camping grounds. The resulting untreated open sewage, random garbage disposal and other harmful activities form the major threats to biodiversity.

Assessing the impact of revegetation and weed control on urban sensitive bird species.

PubMed

Archibald, Carla L; McKinney, Matthew; Mustin, Karen; Shanahan, Danielle F; Possingham, Hugh P

2017-06-01

Nature in cities is concentrated in urban green spaces, which are key areas for urban biodiversity and also important areas to connect people with nature. To conserve urban biodiversity within these natural refugia, habitat restoration such as weed control and revegetation is often implemented. These actions are expected to benefit biodiversity, although species known to be affected by urbanization may not be interacting with restoration in the ways we anticipate. In this study, we use a case study to explore how urban restoration activities impact different bird species. Birds were grouped into urban sensitivity categories and species abundance, and richness was then calculated using a hierarchical species community model for individual species responses, with "urban class" used as the hierarchical parameter. We highlight variable responses of birds to revegetation and weed control based on their level of urban sensitivity. Revegetation of open grassy areas delivers significant bird conservation outcomes, but the effects of weed control are neutral or in some cases negative. Specifically, the species most reliant on remnant vegetation in cities seem to remain stable or decline in abundance in areas with weed control, which we suspect is the result of a simplification of the understorey. The literature reports mixed benefits of weed control between taxa and between locations. We recommend, in our case study site, that weed control be implemented in concert with replanting of native vegetation to provide the understory structure preferred by urban sensitive birds. Understanding the impacts of revegetation and weed control on different bird species is important information for practitioners to make restoration decisions about the allocation of funds for conservation action. This new knowledge can be used both for threatened species and invasive species management.

Comparative mtDNA analyses of three sympatric macropodids from a conservation area on the Huon Peninsula, Papua New Guinea.

PubMed

McGreevy, Thomas J; Dabek, Lisa; Husband, Thomas P

2016-07-01

Matschie's tree kangaroo (Dendrolagus matschiei), New Guinea pademelon (Thylogale browni), and small dorcopsis (Dorcopsulus vanheurni) are sympatric macropodid taxa, of conservation concern, that inhabit the Yopno-Urawa-Som (YUS) Conservation Area on the Huon Peninsula, Papua New Guinea. We sequenced three partial mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) genes from the three taxa to (i) investigate network structure; and (ii) identify conservation units within the YUS Conservation Area. All three taxa displayed a similar pattern in the spatial distribution of their mtDNA haplotypes and the Urawa and Som rivers on the Huon may have acted as a barrier to maternal gene flow. Matschie's tree kangaroo and New Guinea pademelon within the YUS Conservation Area should be managed as single conservation units because mtDNA nucleotides were not fixed for a given geographic area. However, two distinct conservation units were identified for small dorcopsis from the two different mountain ranges within the YUS Conservation Area.

Population density of Sotalia guianensis (Cetacea: Delphinidae) in the Cananéia region, Southeastern Brazil.

PubMed

Havukainen, Liisa; Monteiro, Emygdio Leite de Araujo Fiho; Filla, Gislaine de Fatima

2011-09-01

Population density in cetaceans can be estimated through photo-identification, mark-recapture, land-based observations and visual estimative. We the aim to contribute with conservation strategies, we used line transects (distance method) to estimate the population density of the river dolphin, S. guianensis, in the estuarine region of Cananéia, Southeastern Brazil. The study, developed from May 2003 until April 2004, during dry and rainy seasons and different times of the day, included a sampling area divided into three sectors according to their proximity to the open sea: Sector I (the closest to the open sea); Sector II (with a large flow of fresh water and a salient declivity); and Sector III (with a large flow of fresh water and non salient declivity). Onboard random sampling was carried out in all three sectors, and dolphins seen from the bow to 90 degrees on both port and starboard sides, were registered along with their position and distance from the boat. The total density found was 12.41 ind/km2 (CV = 25.53%) with an average of 2.2 individuals per group for both periods of the day, morning and afternoon. Densities also varied between dry and rainy seasons, being lower in the first with 5.77 ind/km2 (CV = 27.87%) than in the second 20.28 ind/km2 (CV = 31.95%), respectively. Regarding the three sectors, a non-causal heterogeneous distribution was found: Sector I was the most populated (D = 33.10 ind/km2, CV = 13.34%), followed by Sector II (D = 7.8 ind/km2, CV = 21.07%) and Sector III (D = 3.04 ind/km2, CV = 34.04%). The aforementioned area, due to its proximity to the open sea, has the highest salinity level and therefore has the greatest chance of holding most of the marine fish schools which can be cornered by dolphins on high declivity areas during fishing activities. This suggests that food availability may be the most important factor on the river dolphin's distribution in the estuary. Similar studies will contribute to a better understanding of these populations and are essential for future conservation strategies.

Conservation, biodiversity and infectious disease: scientific evidence and policy implications

USGS Publications Warehouse

Young, Hillary S.; Wood, Chelsea L.; Kilpatrick, A. Marm; Lafferty, Kevin D.; Nunn, Charles L.; Vincent, Jeffrey R.

2017-01-01

Habitat destruction and infectious disease are dual threats to nature and people. The potential to simultaneously advance conservation and human health has attracted considerable scientific and popular interest; in particular, many authors have justified conservation action by pointing out potential public health benefits . One major focus of this debate—that biodiversity conservation often decreases infectious disease transmission via the dilution effect—remains contentious. Studies that test for a dilution effect often find a negative association between a diversity metric and a disease risk metric, but how such associations should inform conservation policy remains unclear for several reasons. For one, diversity and infection risk have many definitions, making it possible to identify measures that conform to expectations. Furthermore, the premise that habitat destruction consistently reduces biodiversity is in question, and disturbance or conservation can affect disease in many ways other than through biodiversity change. To date, few studies have examined the broader set of mechanisms by which anthropogenic disturbance or conservation might increase or decrease infectious disease risk to human populations. Due to interconnections between biodiversity change, economics and human behaviour, moving from ecological theory to policy action requires understanding how social and economic factors affect conservation.This Theme Issue arose from a meeting aimed at synthesizing current theory and data on ‘biodiversity, conservation and infectious disease’ (4–6 May 2015). Ecologists, evolutionary biologists, economists, epidemiologists, veterinary scientists, public health professionals, and conservation biologists from around the world discussed the latest research on the ecological and socio-economic links between conservation, biodiversity and infectious disease, and the open questions and controversies in these areas. By combining ecological understanding with insights from the social and economic sciences, the papers in this Theme Issue address the complex relationships, patterns and ecological mechanisms that influence conservation, infectious disease, and the policy options available to protect nature and human health.

Inequity in ecosystem service delivery: Socioeconomic gaps in the public-private conservation network

USGS Publications Warehouse

Villamagna, Amy M.; Mogollón, Beatriz; Angermeier, Paul L.

2017-01-01

Conservation areas, both public and private, are critical tools to protect biodiversity and deliver important ecosystem services (ES) to society. Although societal benefits from such ES are increasingly used to promote public support of conservation, the number of beneficiaries, their identity, and the magnitude of benefits are largely unknown for the vast majority of conservation areas in the United States public-private conservation network. The location of conservation areas in relation to people strongly influences the direction and magnitude of ES flows as well as the identity of beneficiaries. We analyzed benefit zones, the areas to which selected ES could be conveyed to beneficiaries, to assess who benefits from a typical conservation network. Better knowledge of ES flows and beneficiaries will help land conservationists make a stronger case for the broad collateral benefits of conservation and help to address issues of social-environmental justice. To evaluate who benefits the most from the current public-private conservation network, we delineated the benefit zones for local ES (within 16 km) that are conveyed along hydrological paths from public (federal and state) and private (easements) conservation lands in the states of North Carolina and Virginia, USA. We also discuss the challenges and demonstrate an approach for delineating nonhydrological benefits that are passively conveyed to beneficiaries. We mapped and compared the geographic distribution of benefit zones within and among conservation area types. We further compared beneficiary demographics across benefit zones of the conservation area types and found that hydrological benefit zones of federal protected areas encompass disproportionately fewer minority beneficiaries compared to statewide demographic patterns. In contrast, benefit zones of state protected areas and private easements encompassed a much greater proportion of minority beneficiaries (~22–25%). Benefit zones associated with private conservation lands included beneficiaries of significantly greater household income than benefit zones of other types of conservation areas. Our analysis of ES flows revealed significant socioeconomic gaps in how the current public-private conservation network benefits the public. These gaps warrant consideration in regional conservation plans and suggest that private conservation initiatives may be best suited for responding to the equity challenge. Enhancing the ecosystem benefits and the equity of benefit delivery from private conservation networks could build public and political support for long-term conservation strategies and ultimately enhance conservation efficacy.

75 FR 10814 - Proposed Programmatic Safe Harbor Agreement for the Sacramento River Conservation Area Forum in...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2010-03-09

...] Proposed Programmatic Safe Harbor Agreement for the Sacramento River Conservation Area Forum in Shasta... Enhancement of Survival Permit from the Sacramento River Conservation Area Forum (applicant) under the... Conservation Area Forum under the Act (16 U.S.C 1531 et seq.). The permit application includes a proposed Safe...

50 CFR 660.316 - Open access fishery-observer requirements.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-10-01

... 50 Wildlife and Fisheries 11 2011-10-01 2011-10-01 false Open access fishery-observer requirements. 660.316 Section 660.316 Wildlife and Fisheries FISHERY CONSERVATION AND MANAGEMENT, NATIONAL OCEANIC... West Coast Groundfish-Open Access Fisheries § 660.316 Open access fishery—observer requirements. (a...

50 CFR 660.316 - Open access fishery-observer requirements.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-10-01

... 50 Wildlife and Fisheries 9 2010-10-01 2010-10-01 false Open access fishery-observer requirements. 660.316 Section 660.316 Wildlife and Fisheries FISHERY CONSERVATION AND MANAGEMENT, NATIONAL OCEANIC... West Coast Groundfish-Open Access Fisheries § 660.316 Open access fishery—observer requirements. (a...

50 CFR 660.316 - Open access fishery-observer requirements.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-10-01

... 50 Wildlife and Fisheries 13 2013-10-01 2013-10-01 false Open access fishery-observer requirements. 660.316 Section 660.316 Wildlife and Fisheries FISHERY CONSERVATION AND MANAGEMENT, NATIONAL OCEANIC... West Coast Groundfish-Open Access Fisheries § 660.316 Open access fishery—observer requirements. (a...

18 CFR 35.28 - Non-discriminatory open access transmission tariff.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-04-01

... 18 Conservation of Power and Water Resources 1 2012-04-01 2012-04-01 false Non-discriminatory open... AND TARIFFS Other Filing Requirements § 35.28 Non-discriminatory open access transmission tariff. (a... concerns regarding unnecessary market inefficiencies. (c) Non-discriminatory open access transmission...

50 CFR 660.316 - Open access fishery-observer requirements.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-10-01

... 50 Wildlife and Fisheries 13 2012-10-01 2012-10-01 false Open access fishery-observer requirements. 660.316 Section 660.316 Wildlife and Fisheries FISHERY CONSERVATION AND MANAGEMENT, NATIONAL OCEANIC... West Coast Groundfish-Open Access Fisheries § 660.316 Open access fishery—observer requirements. (a...

50 CFR 660.316 - Open access fishery-observer requirements.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-10-01

... 50 Wildlife and Fisheries 13 2014-10-01 2014-10-01 false Open access fishery-observer requirements. 660.316 Section 660.316 Wildlife and Fisheries FISHERY CONSERVATION AND MANAGEMENT, NATIONAL OCEANIC... West Coast Groundfish-Open Access Fisheries § 660.316 Open access fishery—observer requirements. (a...

School, Government, and Energy Interactions.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Canipe, Stephen L.

This document examines three major federal statutes affecting school energy conservation, describes laws and regulations enacted in North Carolina to promote school energy conservation, and touches on possible energy options open to schools. The federal laws discussed are the Energy Policy and Conservation Act of 1975, dealing with the…

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.

Threats from urban expansion, agricultural transformation and forest loss on global conservation priority areas.

PubMed

Veach, Victoria; Moilanen, Atte; Di Minin, Enrico

2017-01-01

Including threats in spatial conservation prioritization helps identify areas for conservation actions where biodiversity is at imminent risk of extinction. At the global level, an important limitation when identifying spatial priorities for conservation actions is the lack of information on the spatial distribution of threats. Here, we identify spatial conservation priorities under three prominent threats to biodiversity (residential and commercial development, agricultural expansion, and forest loss), which are primary drivers of habitat loss and threaten the persistence of the highest number of species in the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List, and for which spatial data is available. We first explore how global priority areas for the conservation of vertebrate (mammals, birds, and amphibians) species coded in the Red List as vulnerable to each threat differ spatially. We then identify spatial conservation priorities for all species vulnerable to all threats. Finally, we identify the potentially most threatened areas by overlapping the identified priority areas for conservation with maps for each threat. We repeat the same with four other well-known global conservation priority area schemes, namely Key Biodiversity Areas, Biodiversity Hotspots, the global Protected Area Network, and Wilderness Areas. We find that residential and commercial development directly threatens only about 4% of the global top 17% priority areas for species vulnerable under this threat. However, 50% of the high priority areas for species vulnerable to forest loss overlap with areas that have already experienced some forest loss. Agricultural expansion overlapped with ~20% of high priority areas. Biodiversity Hotspots had the greatest proportion of their total area under direct threat from all threats, while expansion of low intensity agriculture was found to pose an imminent threat to Wilderness Areas under future agricultural expansion. Our results identify areas where limited resources should be allocated to mitigate risks to vertebrate species from habitat loss.

Threats from urban expansion, agricultural transformation and forest loss on global conservation priority areas

PubMed Central

Moilanen, Atte; Di Minin, Enrico

2017-01-01

Including threats in spatial conservation prioritization helps identify areas for conservation actions where biodiversity is at imminent risk of extinction. At the global level, an important limitation when identifying spatial priorities for conservation actions is the lack of information on the spatial distribution of threats. Here, we identify spatial conservation priorities under three prominent threats to biodiversity (residential and commercial development, agricultural expansion, and forest loss), which are primary drivers of habitat loss and threaten the persistence of the highest number of species in the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List, and for which spatial data is available. We first explore how global priority areas for the conservation of vertebrate (mammals, birds, and amphibians) species coded in the Red List as vulnerable to each threat differ spatially. We then identify spatial conservation priorities for all species vulnerable to all threats. Finally, we identify the potentially most threatened areas by overlapping the identified priority areas for conservation with maps for each threat. We repeat the same with four other well-known global conservation priority area schemes, namely Key Biodiversity Areas, Biodiversity Hotspots, the global Protected Area Network, and Wilderness Areas. We find that residential and commercial development directly threatens only about 4% of the global top 17% priority areas for species vulnerable under this threat. However, 50% of the high priority areas for species vulnerable to forest loss overlap with areas that have already experienced some forest loss. Agricultural expansion overlapped with ~20% of high priority areas. Biodiversity Hotspots had the greatest proportion of their total area under direct threat from all threats, while expansion of low intensity agriculture was found to pose an imminent threat to Wilderness Areas under future agricultural expansion. Our results identify areas where limited resources should be allocated to mitigate risks to vertebrate species from habitat loss. PMID:29182662

Using conservation value to assess land restoration and management alternatives across a degraded oak savanna landscape

USGS Publications Warehouse

Grundel, R.; Pavlovic, N.B.

2008-01-01

1. Managers considering restoration of landscapes often face a fundamental challenge - what should be the habitat composition of the restored landscape? We present a method for evaluating an important conservation trade-off inherent in making that decision. 2. Oak savannas and grasslands were historically widespread across central North America but are now rare. Today, in north-west Indiana, USA, habitats spanning a range of woody vegetation density, from nearly treeless open habitats to forests, occur across the conserved landscape where savannas probably once dominated. To understand the benefits of different potential landscape compositions, we evaluated how different proportions of five habitats - open, savanna, woodland, scrub and forest - might affect the conservation value of the north-west Indiana landscape for birds. Two variables of potential conservation importance were examined: species diversity, a measure of avian community richness, and conservation index, the percentage of a bird species' global population occurring on a hectare of landscape, summed across all bird species present. Higher values of conservation index were associated with higher local densities of globally more rare and more threatened species. 3. Conservation index and species diversity were correlated negatively across hypothetical landscapes composed of different proportions of the five habitats. Therefore, a management trade-off existed between conservation index and species diversity because landscapes that maximized species diversity differed from landscapes that maximized conservation index. 4. A landscape of 50% open, 22% savanna, 15% scrub and 13% forest was predicted to represent a compromise at which conservation index and species diversity reached the same percentage of their maxima. In contrast, the current landscape is dominated by forest. 5. Synthesis and applications. We quantified the trade-off between two potential aspects of a landscape's conservation value for birds - the landscape's ability to promote avian species diversity and the landscape's use by threatened avian species. This quantification allowed us to evaluate the ability of different landscape compositions to achieve preferable trade-off compromises, such as maximizing diversity for a given level of landscape use by threatened species. Managers can use these trade-off results to determine which landscape compositions are associated with particular conservation and management priorities.

Biodiversity hotspots through time: an introduction.

PubMed

Willis, Katherine J; Gillson, Lindsey; Knapp, Sandra

2007-02-28

International targets set for reducing the rate of biodiversity loss--the 2010 target--and ensuring environmental stability (Millennium Development Goals) have helped to focus the efforts of the scientific community on providing the data necessary for their implementation. The urgency of these goals, coupled with the increased rate of habitat alteration worldwide, has meant that actions have largely not taken into account the increasing body of data about the biodiversity change in the past. We know a lot about how our planet has been altered and recovered in the past, both in deep time and through prehistory. Linking this knowledge to conservation action has not been widely practised, by either the palaeoecology or the conservation communities. Long-term data, however, have much to offer current conservation practice, and in the papers for this volume we have tried to bring together a variety of different perspectives as to how this might happen in the most effective way. We also identify areas for productive collaboration and some key synergies for work in the near future to enable our knowledge of the past to be used for conservation action in the here and now. Lateral thinking, across knowledge systems and with open-mindness about bridging data gaps, will be necessary for our accumulating knowledge about our planet's past to be brought to bear on our attempts to conserve it in the future.

A Policy Alternative Analysis and Simplified Scoring Method to Assess Policy Options for Marine Conservation Areas

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sharuga, S. M.; Reams, M.

2016-02-01

Traditional approaches to marine conservation and management are increasingly being found as inadequate; and, consequently, more complex ecosystem-based approaches to protecting marine ecosystems are growing in popularity. Ecosystem-based approaches, however, can be particularly challenging at a local level where resources and knowledge of specific marine conservation components may be limited. Marine conservation areas are known by a variety of names globally, but can be divided into four general types: Marine Protected Areas (MPAs), Marine Reserves, Fishery Reserves, and Ecological Reserves (i.e. "no take zones"). Each type of conservation area involves specific objectives, program elements and likely socioeconomic consequences. As an aid to community stakeholders and decision makers considering establishment of a marine conservation area, a simple method to compare and score the objectives and attributes of these four approaches is presented. A range of evaluation criteria are considered, including conservation of biodiversity and habitat, effective fishery management, overall cost-effectiveness, fairness to current users, enhancement of recreational activities, fairness to taxpayers, and conservation of genetic diversity. Environmental and socioeconomic costs and benefits of each type of conservation area are also considered. When exploring options for managing the marine environment, particular resource conservation needs must be evaluated individually on a case-by-case basis and the type of conservation area established must be tailored accordingly. However, MPAs are often more successful than other conservation areas because they offer a compromise between the needs of society and the environment, and therefore represent a viable option for ecosystem-based management.

A Policy Alternative Analysis and Simplified Scoring Method to Assess Policy Options for Marine Conservation Areas

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sharuga, S. M.; Reams, M.

2016-12-01

Traditional approaches to marine conservation and management are increasingly being found as inadequate; and, consequently, more complex ecosystem-based approaches to protecting marine ecosystems are growing in popularity. Ecosystem-based approaches, however, can be particularly challenging at a local level where resources and knowledge of specific marine conservation components may be limited. Marine conservation areas are known by a variety of names globally, but can be divided into four general types: Marine Protected Areas (MPAs), Marine Reserves, Fishery Reserves, and Ecological Reserves (i.e. "no take zones"). Each type of conservation area involves specific objectives, program elements and likely socioeconomic consequences. As an aid to community stakeholders and decision makers considering establishment of a marine conservation area, a simple method to compare and score the objectives and attributes of these four approaches is presented. A range of evaluation criteria are considered, including conservation of biodiversity and habitat, effective fishery management, overall cost-effectiveness, fairness to current users, enhancement of recreational activities, fairness to taxpayers, and conservation of genetic diversity. Environmental and socioeconomic costs and benefits of each type of conservation area are also considered. When exploring options for managing the marine environment, particular resource conservation needs must be evaluated individually on a case-by-case basis and the type of conservation area established must be tailored accordingly. However, MPAs are often more successful than other conservation areas because they offer a compromise between the needs of society and the environment, and therefore represent a viable option for ecosystem-based management.

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

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.

Teaching Controversial Topics to Skeptical High School Students

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ford, K. S.

2012-12-01

Tennessee passes the "Monkey Bill" (HB 0368, SB 0893), North Carolina's state government passes a law to criminalize reference in state documents to scientific models that predict sea level rise to reach at least one meter by the next century, and public concern still lags far behind the scientific community's concern on climate change. The American public and even science teachers across the country seem to have lost faith in the ability of the scientific community to unify a strong message about several important scientific lessons, including global warming in particular. This lack of a unified message has weakened the ability of science teachers to effectively teach the lesson of global warming. For science teachers in strongly conservative areas of the country, it is much easier to omit difficult topics and avoid angering parents and school board members. Teachers who do feel strongly about scientifically proven, yet publically controversial topics CAN teach these topics in conservative areas by confirming students' belief systems by being honest and open about motivations surrounding both sides of controversial topics, and by using vocabulary that avoids triggering negative perceptions about these controversial topics. For true learning and change of preconceived opinion to take place, it is important for students to come to the understanding in their own minds in an open and safe learning environment instead of having the message "preached" to them, which only serves to make them feel unintelligent and defensive if they disagree. This presentation will include lessons learned from a practicing science teacher who works in a community that overwhelmingly disputes the validity of human impacts on climate change.

Interacting Social and Environmental Predictors for the Spatial Distribution of Conservation Lands

PubMed Central

Baldwin, Robert F.; Leonard, Paul B.

2015-01-01

Conservation decisions should be evaluated for how they meet conservation goals at multiple spatial extents. Conservation easements are land use decisions resulting from a combination of social and environmental conditions. An emerging area of research is the evaluation of spatial distribution of easements and their spatial correlates. We tested the relative influence of interacting social and environmental variables on the spatial distribution of conservation easements by ownership category and conservation status. For the Appalachian region of the United States, an area with a long history of human occupation and complex land uses including public-private conservation, we found that settlement, economic, topographic, and environmental data associated with spatial distribution of easements (N = 4813). Compared to random locations, easements were more likely to be found in lower elevations, in areas of greater agricultural productivity, farther from public protected areas, and nearer other human features. Analysis of ownership and conservation status revealed sources of variation, with important differences between local and state government ownerships relative to non-governmental organizations (NGOs), and among U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) GAP program status levels. NGOs were more likely to have easements nearer protected areas, and higher conservation status, while local governments held easements closer to settlement, and on lands of greater agricultural potential. Logistic interactions revealed environmental variables having effects modified by social correlates, and the strongest predictors overall were social (distance to urban area, median household income, housing density, distance to land trust office). Spatial distribution of conservation lands may be affected by geographic area of influence of conservation groups, suggesting that multi-scale conservation planning strategies may be necessary to satisfy local and regional needs for reserve networks. Our results support previous findings and provide an ecoregion-scale view that conservation easements may provide, at local scales, conservation functions on productive, more developable lands. Conservation easements may complement functions of public protected areas but more research should examine relative landscape-level ecological functions of both forms of protection. PMID:26465155

Interacting Social and Environmental Predictors for the Spatial Distribution of Conservation Lands.

PubMed

Baldwin, Robert F; Leonard, Paul B

2015-01-01

Conservation decisions should be evaluated for how they meet conservation goals at multiple spatial extents. Conservation easements are land use decisions resulting from a combination of social and environmental conditions. An emerging area of research is the evaluation of spatial distribution of easements and their spatial correlates. We tested the relative influence of interacting social and environmental variables on the spatial distribution of conservation easements by ownership category and conservation status. For the Appalachian region of the United States, an area with a long history of human occupation and complex land uses including public-private conservation, we found that settlement, economic, topographic, and environmental data associated with spatial distribution of easements (N = 4813). Compared to random locations, easements were more likely to be found in lower elevations, in areas of greater agricultural productivity, farther from public protected areas, and nearer other human features. Analysis of ownership and conservation status revealed sources of variation, with important differences between local and state government ownerships relative to non-governmental organizations (NGOs), and among U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) GAP program status levels. NGOs were more likely to have easements nearer protected areas, and higher conservation status, while local governments held easements closer to settlement, and on lands of greater agricultural potential. Logistic interactions revealed environmental variables having effects modified by social correlates, and the strongest predictors overall were social (distance to urban area, median household income, housing density, distance to land trust office). Spatial distribution of conservation lands may be affected by geographic area of influence of conservation groups, suggesting that multi-scale conservation planning strategies may be necessary to satisfy local and regional needs for reserve networks. Our results support previous findings and provide an ecoregion-scale view that conservation easements may provide, at local scales, conservation functions on productive, more developable lands. Conservation easements may complement functions of public protected areas but more research should examine relative landscape-level ecological functions of both forms of protection.

18 CFR 1301.43 - Open meetings.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-04-01

... 18 Conservation of Power and Water Resources 2 2010-04-01 2010-04-01 false Open meetings. 1301.43... in the Sunshine Act § 1301.43 Open meetings. Members shall not jointly conduct or dispose of TVA... every meeting of the agency shall be open to public observation, and TVA shall provide suitable...

18 CFR 1301.43 - Open meetings.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-04-01

... 18 Conservation of Power and Water Resources 2 2011-04-01 2011-04-01 false Open meetings. 1301.43... in the Sunshine Act § 1301.43 Open meetings. Members shall not jointly conduct or dispose of TVA... every meeting of the agency shall be open to public observation, and TVA shall provide suitable...

18 CFR 1301.43 - Open meetings.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-04-01

... 18 Conservation of Power and Water Resources 2 2014-04-01 2014-04-01 false Open meetings. 1301.43... in the Sunshine Act § 1301.43 Open meetings. Members shall not jointly conduct or dispose of TVA... every meeting of the agency shall be open to public observation, and TVA shall provide suitable...

18 CFR 1301.43 - Open meetings.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-04-01

... 18 Conservation of Power and Water Resources 2 2012-04-01 2012-04-01 false Open meetings. 1301.43... in the Sunshine Act § 1301.43 Open meetings. Members shall not jointly conduct or dispose of TVA... every meeting of the agency shall be open to public observation, and TVA shall provide suitable...

18 CFR 1301.43 - Open meetings.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-04-01

... 18 Conservation of Power and Water Resources 2 2013-04-01 2012-04-01 true Open meetings. 1301.43... in the Sunshine Act § 1301.43 Open meetings. Members shall not jointly conduct or dispose of TVA... every meeting of the agency shall be open to public observation, and TVA shall provide suitable...

Factors Influencing Schoolchildren's Responses to a Questionnaire in Wildlife Conservation Education

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ballouard, Jean-Marie; Mullin, Stephen J.; Ajtic, Rastko; Brito, José Carlos; ElMouden, El Hassan; Erdogan, Mehmet; Feriche, Monica; Pleguezuelos, Juan M.; Prokop, Pavol; Sánchez, Aida; Santos, Xavier; Slimani, Tahar; Sterijovski, Bogoljub; Tomovic, Ljiljana; Usak, Muhammet; Zuffi, Marco; Bonnet, Xavier

2015-01-01

Questionnaires are important tools for assessing attitudes regarding conservation issues. However, they are not easily comparable and their reliability has been insufficiently assessed. We examined factors influencing responses to open- and closed-ended questions about animal conservation to more than 600 schoolchildren (9 years old on average).…

10 CFR 431.446 - Small electric motors energy conservation standards and their effective dates.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-01-01

... full load efficiency Capacitor-start capacitor-run and capacitor-start induction-run Open motors... 10 Energy 3 2014-01-01 2014-01-01 false Small electric motors energy conservation standards and... EFFICIENCY PROGRAM FOR CERTAIN COMMERCIAL AND INDUSTRIAL EQUIPMENT Small Electric Motors Energy Conservation...

10 CFR 431.446 - Small electric motors energy conservation standards and their effective dates.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-01-01

... full load efficiency Capacitor-start capacitor-run and capacitor-start induction-run Open motors... 10 Energy 3 2012-01-01 2012-01-01 false Small electric motors energy conservation standards and... EFFICIENCY PROGRAM FOR CERTAIN COMMERCIAL AND INDUSTRIAL EQUIPMENT Small Electric Motors Energy Conservation...

10 CFR 431.446 - Small electric motors energy conservation standards and their effective dates.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-01-01

... full load efficiency Capacitor-start capacitor-run and capacitor-start induction-run Open motors... 10 Energy 3 2013-01-01 2013-01-01 false Small electric motors energy conservation standards and... EFFICIENCY PROGRAM FOR CERTAIN COMMERCIAL AND INDUSTRIAL EQUIPMENT Small Electric Motors Energy Conservation...

Native Seed Supply and the Restoration Species Pool.

PubMed

Ladouceur, Emma; Jiménez-Alfaro, Borja; Marin, Maria; De Vitis, Marcello; Abbandonato, Holly; Iannetta, Pietro P M; Bonomi, Costantino; Pritchard, Hugh W

2018-01-01

Globally, annual expenditure on ecological restoration of degraded areas for habitat improvement and biodiversity conservation is approximately $18bn. Seed farming of native plant species is crucial to meet restoration goals, but may be stymied by the disconnection of academic research in seed science and the lack of effective policies that regulate native seed production/supply. To illustrate this problem, we identified 1,122 plant species important for European grasslands of conservation concern and found that only 32% have both fundamental seed germination data available and can be purchased as seed. The " restoration species pool," or set of species available in practice, acts as a significant biodiversity selection filter for species use in restoration projects. For improvement, we propose: (1) substantial expansion of research and development on native seed quality, viability, and production; (2) open-source knowledge transfer between sectors; and (3) creation of supportive policy intended to stimulate demand for biodiverse seed.

Edge Vortex Flow Due to Inhomogeneous Ion Concentration

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sugioka, Hideyuki

2017-04-01

The ion distribution of an open parallel electrode system is not known even though it is often used to measure the electrical characteristics of an electrolyte. Thus, for an open electrode system, we perform a non-steady direct multiphysics simulation based on the coupled Poisson-Nernst-Planck and Stokes equations and find that inhomogeneous ion concentrations at edges cause vortex flows and suppress the anomalous increase in the ion concentration near the electrodes. A surprising aspect of our findings is that the large vortex flows at the edges approximately maintain the ion-conserving condition, and thus the ion distribution of an open electrode system can be approximated by the solution of a closed electrode system that considers the ion-conserving condition rather than the Gouy-Chapman solution, which neglects the ion-conserving condition. We believe that our findings make a significant contribution to the understanding of surface science.

Countering resistance to protected-area extension.

PubMed

Lindenmayer, David; Thorn, Simon; Noss, Reed

2018-04-01

The establishment of protected areas is a critical strategy for conserving biodiversity. Key policy directives like the Aichi targets seek to expand protected areas to 17% of Earth's land surface, with calls by some conservation biologists for much more. However, in places such as the United States, Germany, and Australia, attempts to increase protected areas are meeting strong resistance from communities, industry groups, and governments. We examined case studies of such resistance in Victoria, Australia, Bavaria, Germany, and Florida, United States. We considered 4 ways to tackle this problem. First, broaden the case for protected areas beyond nature conservation to include economic, human health, and other benefits, and translate these into a persuasive business case for protected areas. Second, better communicate the conservation values of protected areas. This should include highlighting how many species, communities, and ecosystems have been conserved by protected areas and the counterfactual (i.e., what would have been lost without protected area establishment). Third, consider zoning of activities to ensure the maintenance of effective management. Finally, remind citizens to think about conservation when they vote, including holding politicians accountable for their environmental promises. Without tackling resistance to expanding the protected estate, it will be impossible to reach conservation targets, and this will undermine attempts to stem the global extinction crisis. © 2017 Society for Conservation Biology.

Relationships between human disturbance and wildlife land use in urban habitat fragments.

PubMed

Markovchick-Nicholls, Lisa; Regan, Helen M; Deutschman, Douglas H; Widyanata, Astrid; Martin, Barry; Noreke, Lani; Hunt, Timothy Ann

2008-02-01

Habitat remnants in urbanized areas typically conserve biodiversity and serve the recreation and urban open-space needs of human populations. Nevertheless, these goals can be in conflict if human activity negatively affects wildlife. Hence, when considering habitat remnants as conservation refuges it is crucial to understand how human activities and land uses affect wildlife use of those and adjacent areas. We used tracking data (animal tracks and den or bed sites) on 10 animal species and information on human activity and environmental factors associated with anthropogenic disturbance in 12 habitat fragments across San Diego County, California, to examine the relationships among habitat fragment characteristics, human activity, and wildlife presence. There were no significant correlations of species presence and abundance with percent plant cover for all species or with different land-use intensities for all species, except the opossum (Didelphis virginiana), which preferred areas with intensive development. Woodrats (Neotoma spp.) and cougars (Puma concolor) were associated significantly and positively and significantly and negatively, respectively, with the presence and prominence of utilities. Woodrats were also negatively associated with the presence of horses. Raccoons (Procyon lotor) and coyotes (Canis latrans) were associated significantly and negatively and significantly and positively, respectively, with plant bulk and permanence. Cougars and gray foxes (Urocyon cinereoargenteus) were negatively associated with the presence of roads. Roadrunners (Geococcyx californianus) were positively associated with litter. The only species that had no significant correlations with any of the environmental variables were black-tailed jackrabbits (Lepus californicus) and mule deer (Odocoileus hemionus). Bobcat tracks were observed more often than gray foxes in the study area and bobcats correlated significantly only with water availability, contrasting with results from other studies. Our results appear to indicate that maintenance of habitat fragments in urban areas is of conservation benefit to some animal species, despite human activity and disturbance, as long as the fragments are large.

50 CFR 660.78 - EFH Conservation Areas off the Coast of Oregon.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-10-01

... Oregon. 660.78 Section 660.78 Wildlife and Fisheries FISHERY CONSERVATION AND MANAGEMENT, NATIONAL... West Coast Groundfish Fisheries § 660.78 EFH Conservation Areas off the Coast of Oregon. Boundary line coordinates for EFH Conservation Areas off Oregon are provided in this section. Fishing activity that is...

50 CFR 660.78 - EFH Conservation Areas off the Coast of Oregon.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-10-01

... Oregon. 660.78 Section 660.78 Wildlife and Fisheries FISHERY CONSERVATION AND MANAGEMENT, NATIONAL... West Coast Groundfish Fisheries § 660.78 EFH Conservation Areas off the Coast of Oregon. Boundary line coordinates for EFH Conservation Areas off Oregon are provided in this section. Fishing activity that is...

50 CFR 660.78 - EFH Conservation Areas off the Coast of Oregon.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-10-01

... Oregon. 660.78 Section 660.78 Wildlife and Fisheries FISHERY CONSERVATION AND MANAGEMENT, NATIONAL... West Coast Groundfish Fisheries § 660.78 EFH Conservation Areas off the Coast of Oregon. Boundary line coordinates for EFH Conservation Areas off Oregon are provided in this section. Fishing activity that is...

77 FR 15121 - Final Land Protection Plan and Final Environmental Assessment for Everglades Headwaters National...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2012-03-14

... Wildlife Refuge and Conservation Area AGENCY: Fish and Wildlife Service, Interior. ACTION: Notice of... Headwaters National Wildlife Refuge (NWR) and Conservation Area in Polk, Osceola, Highlands, and Okeechobee.... We established the refuge and conservation area to support a connected conservation landscape; to...

Genomic variation of the fibropapilloma-associated marine turtle herpes virus across seven geographic areas and three host species

USGS Publications Warehouse

Greenblatt, R.J.; Quackenbush, S.L.; Casey, R.N.; Rovnak, J.; Balazs, G.H.; Work, Thierry M.; Casey, J.W.; Sutton, C.A.

2005-01-01

Fibropapillomatosis (FP) of marine turtles is an emerging neoplastic disease associated with infection by a novel turtle herpesvirus, fibropapilloma-associated turtle herpesvirus (FPTHV). This report presents 23 kb of the genome of an FPTHV infecting a Hawaiian green turtle (Chelonia mydas). By sequence homology, the open reading frames in this contig correspond to herpes simplex virus genes UL23 through UL36. The order, orientation, and homology of these putative genes indicate that FPTHV is a member of the Alphaherpesvirinae. The UL27-, UL30-, and UL34-homologous open reading frames from FPTHVs infecting nine FP-affected marine turtles from seven geographic areas and three turtle species (C. mydas, Caretta caretta, and Lepidochelys olivacea) were compared. A high degree of nucleotide sequence conservation was found among these virus variants. However, geographic variations were also found: the FPTHVs examined here form four groups, corresponding to the Atlantic Ocean, West pacific, mid-Pacific, and east Pacific. Our results indicate that FPTHV was established in marine turtle populations prior to the emergence of FP as it is currently known.

Mapping inter-annual dynamics of open surface water bodies in Oklahoma from Landsat images in 1984 to 2015 at 30-m spatial resolution

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zou, Z.; Xiao, X.; Menarguez, M.; Dong, J.; Qin, Y.

2016-12-01

Open surface water bodies are important water resource for public supply, irrigation, livestock, and wildlife in Oklahoma. The inter-annual variation of Oklahoma water bodies directly affect the water availability for public supply, irrigation and cattle industry. In this study, tens of thousands of Landsat TM/ETM+ images from 1984 to 2015 were used to track the dynamics of open surface water bodies. Both water-related spectral indices and vegetation indices were used to map water bodies for individual images. The resultant maps show that Oklahoma year-long open surface water bodies varied significantly over the last 32 years, with an average annual water body area equals to 2300 km2, accounting for 1.27 % of the Oklahoma state area (181,037 km2). 4.3 million year-long water body pixels were detected in the 32-year accumulated water frequency map, corresponding to 3100 km2. Only 45% ( 1400 km2) of the those pixels had water throughout the 32 years, while the rest 55% pixels had a dry-up period. The smaller water bodies have a higher risk to dry up and a lower probability to have water throughout the years. Drought years could significantly decrease the number of small water bodies and shrink the area of large water bodies, while pluvial years could create large number of small seasonal water bodies. The significant influencing factors of current year water bodies include the precipitation and temperature of current year and the water body condition of the previous year. This water body dynamics study could be used to support water resource management, crop and livestock production, and biodiversity conservation in Oklahoma.

Phantoms of the forest: legacy risk effects of a regionally extinct large carnivore.

PubMed

Sahlén, Ellinor; Noell, Sonja; DePerno, Christopher S; Kindberg, Jonas; Spong, Göran; Cromsigt, Joris P G M

2016-02-01

The increased abundance of large carnivores in Europe is a conservation success, but the impact on the behavior and population dynamics of prey species is generally unknown. In Europe, the recolonization of large carnivores often occurs in areas where humans have greatly modified the landscape through forestry or agriculture. Currently, we poorly understand the effects of recolonizing large carnivores on extant prey species in anthropogenic landscapes. Here, we investigated if ungulate prey species showed innate responses to the scent of a regionally exterminated but native large carnivore, and whether the responses were affected by human-induced habitat openness. We experimentally introduced brown bear Ursus arctos scent to artificial feeding sites and used camera traps to document the responses of three sympatric ungulate species. In addition to controls without scent, reindeer scent Rangifer tarandus was used as a noncarnivore, novel control scent. Fallow deer Dama dama strongly avoided areas with bear scent. In the presence of bear scent, all ungulate species generally used open sites more than closed sites, whereas the opposite was observed at sites with reindeer scent or without scent. The opening of forest habitat by human practices, such as forestry and agriculture, creates a larger gradient in habitat openness than available in relatively unaffected closed forest systems, which may create opportunities for prey to alter their habitat selection and reduce predation risk in human-modified systems that do not exist in more natural forest systems. Increased knowledge about antipredator responses in areas subjected to anthropogenic change is important because these responses may affect prey population dynamics, lower trophic levels, and attitudes toward large carnivores. These aspects may be of particular relevance in the light of the increasing wildlife populations across much of Europe.

Bird community specialization, bird conservation and disturbance: the role of wildfires.

PubMed

Clavero, Miguel; Brotons, Lluís; Herrando, Sergi

2011-01-01

1. Although niche theory predicts that disturbance should favour generalist species, the community-level implications of this pattern have been sparsely analysed. Here, we test the hypothesis that disturbance favours generalist species within communities, analysing effects of wildfires in bird communities in a Mediterranean climate area as a case study. 2. We use bird occurrence data in more than 500 1 × 1 km squares forming a gradient running from forest to completely burnt areas. The level of specialization of bird communities was estimated by means of three complementary species specialization indices, calculated for different landscape gradients and averaged at the community level (i.e. 1 × 1 km squares), and mean species rarity. 3. We also calculated mean habitat preferences along landscape gradients, as well as an index of conservation value and total species richness. 4. Different estimators of bird community specialization varied in contrasting fashion along the wildfire disturbance gradient, and thus we conclude that it is not justified to expect unique community responses to the sharp variations in habitat characteristics brought by wildfire disturbances. 5. Burnt areas tended to have rarer and urban-avoider bird species, whereas unburnt forests tended to have larger proportions of forest specialist species. 6. The mean conservation value of communities clearly increased towards the burnt extreme of the wildfire disturbance gradient, while this had a negligible effect on species richness. 7. Wildfires seem to play an important role for the maintenance of open-habitat, urban-avoider bird populations in Mediterranean landscapes and also to benefit a set of bird species of unfavourable European conservation status. 8. In this context, it cannot be unambiguously concluded that fire disturbance, even in a context in which fires are greatly favoured by human-related activities, leads to more functionally simplified communities dominated by generalist species. © 2010 The Authors. Journal compilation © 2010 British Ecological Society.

Walt Disney World`s utility efficiency awards and environmental circles of excellence

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

Allen, P.J.; Kivler, W.B.

1996-05-01

This paper describes an innovative approach to energy conservation that has been started at WALT DISNEY WORLD. The program that was established was designed to heighten the awareness of energy usage in our Management and Cast Members, establish a method for recognizing and rewarding positive energy conservation efforts and, most importantly, keeping the effort simple and fun. Two programs work together to meet this goal: Utility Efficiency Awards and the Environmental Circles of Excellence. The Utility Efficiency Awards are given to the top areas that have demonstrated a reduction in utility consumption relative to the same period in prior years.more » More importantly, a report is generated that shows a best-to-worst ranking. Relying on the idea that {open_quotes}nobody wants to be on the bottom of the list{close_quotes}, conservation is enhanced by focusing attention on improving efficiency. To encourage direct cast member involvement in our environmental program, the Environmental Circles of Excellence were created. These groups, made up of hourly and salaried cast members, discuss their location`s environmental commitments, set goals and implement programs. This paper describes these initiatives in detail and presents some initial results that have heightened the awareness of energy conservation at WALT DISNEY WORLD.« less

Index insurance for pro-poor conservation of hornbills in Thailand.

PubMed

Chantarat, Sommarat; Barrett, Christopher B; Janvilisri, Tavan; Mudsri, Sittichai; Niratisayakul, Chularat; Poonswad, Pilai

2011-08-23

This study explores the potential of index insurance as a mechanism to finance community-based biodiversity conservation in areas where a strong correlation exists between natural disaster risk, keystone species populations, and the well-being of the local population. We illustrate this potential using the case of hornbill conservation in the Budo-Sungai Padi rainforests of southern Thailand, using 16-y hornbill reproduction data and 5-y household expenditures data reflecting local economic well-being. We show that severe windstorms cause both lower household expenditures and critical nest tree losses that directly constrain nesting capacity and so reduce the number of hornbill chicks recruited in the following breeding season. Forest residents' coping strategies further disturb hornbills and their forest habitats, compounding windstorms' adverse effects on hornbills' recruitment in the following year. The strong statistical relationship between wind speed and both hornbill nest tree losses and household expenditures opens up an opportunity to design wind-based index insurance contracts that could both enhance hornbill conservation and support disaster-affected households in the region. We demonstrate how such contracts could be written and operationalized and then use simulations to show the significant promise of unique insurance-based approaches to address weather-related risk that threatens both biodiversity and poor populations.

Index insurance for pro-poor conservation of hornbills in Thailand

PubMed Central

Chantarat, Sommarat; Barrett, Christopher B.; Janvilisri, Tavan; Mudsri, Sittichai; Niratisayakul, Chularat

2011-01-01

This study explores the potential of index insurance as a mechanism to finance community-based biodiversity conservation in areas where a strong correlation exists between natural disaster risk, keystone species populations, and the well-being of the local population. We illustrate this potential using the case of hornbill conservation in the Budo-Sungai Padi rainforests of southern Thailand, using 16-y hornbill reproduction data and 5-y household expenditures data reflecting local economic well-being. We show that severe windstorms cause both lower household expenditures and critical nest tree losses that directly constrain nesting capacity and so reduce the number of hornbill chicks recruited in the following breeding season. Forest residents’ coping strategies further disturb hornbills and their forest habitats, compounding windstorms’ adverse effects on hornbills’ recruitment in the following year. The strong statistical relationship between wind speed and both hornbill nest tree losses and household expenditures opens up an opportunity to design wind-based index insurance contracts that could both enhance hornbill conservation and support disaster-affected households in the region. We demonstrate how such contracts could be written and operationalized and then use simulations to show the significant promise of unique insurance-based approaches to address weather-related risk that threatens both biodiversity and poor populations. PMID:21873183

10 CFR 452.5 - Bidding procedures.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-01-01

... OF ENERGY ENERGY CONSERVATION PRODUCTION INCENTIVES FOR CELLULOSIC BIOFUELS § 452.5 Bidding... producer auction process open only to pre-auction eligible cellulosic biofuels producers. The following... cellulosic biofuels producers during the open window established in the solicitation. The open window shall...

10 CFR 452.5 - Bidding procedures.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-01-01

... OF ENERGY ENERGY CONSERVATION PRODUCTION INCENTIVES FOR CELLULOSIC BIOFUELS § 452.5 Bidding... producer auction process open only to pre-auction eligible cellulosic biofuels producers. The following... cellulosic biofuels producers during the open window established in the solicitation. The open window shall...

10 CFR 452.5 - Bidding procedures.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-01-01

... OF ENERGY ENERGY CONSERVATION PRODUCTION INCENTIVES FOR CELLULOSIC BIOFUELS § 452.5 Bidding... producer auction process open only to pre-auction eligible cellulosic biofuels producers. The following... cellulosic biofuels producers during the open window established in the solicitation. The open window shall...

10 CFR 452.5 - Bidding procedures.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-01-01

... OF ENERGY ENERGY CONSERVATION PRODUCTION INCENTIVES FOR CELLULOSIC BIOFUELS § 452.5 Bidding... producer auction process open only to pre-auction eligible cellulosic biofuels producers. The following... cellulosic biofuels producers during the open window established in the solicitation. The open window shall...

The return of the Iberian lynx to Portugal: local voices.

PubMed

Lopes-Fernandes, Margarida; Espírito-Santo, Clara; Frazão-Moreira, Amélia

2018-01-11

Ethnographic research can help to establish dialog between conservationists and local people in reintroduction areas. Considering that predator reintroductions may cause local resistance, we assessed attitudes of different key actor profiles to the return of the Iberian lynx (Lynx pardinus) to Portugal before reintroduction started in 2015. We aimed to characterize a social context from an ethnoecological perspective, including factors such as local knowledge, perceptions, emotions, and opinions. We conducted semi-structured interviews (n = 131) in three different protected areas and observed practices and public meetings in order to describe reintroduction contestation, emotional involvement with the species, and local perceptions about conservation. Detailed content data analysis was undertaken and an open-ended codification of citations was performed with the support of ATLAS.ti. Besides the qualitative analyses, we further explored statistic associations between knowledge and opinions and compared different geographical areas and hunters with non-hunters among key actors. Local ecological knowledge encompassed the lynx but was not shared by the whole community. Both similarities and differences between local and scientific knowledge about the lynx were found. The discrepancies with scientific findings were not necessarily a predictor of negative attitudes towards reintroduction. Contestation issues around reintroduction differ between geographical areas but did not hinder an emotional attachment to the species and its identification as a territory emblem. Among local voices, financial compensation was significantly associated to hunters and nature tourism was cited the most frequent advantage of lynx presence. Materialistic discourses existed in parallel with non-economic factors and the existence of moral agreement with its protection. The considerable criticism and reference to restrictions by local actors concerning protected areas and conservation projects indicated the experience of an imposed model of nature conservation. Opinions about participation in the reintroduction process highlighted the need for a closer dialog between all actors and administration. Local voices analyzed through an ethnoecological perspective provide several views on reintroduction and nature conservation. They follow two main global trends of environmental discourse: (1) nature becomes a commodified object to exploit while contestation about wildlife is centered on financial return and (2) emblematic wild species create an emotional attachment, become symbolic, and gather moral agreement for nature protection. Lynx reintroduction has been not only just a nature protection theme but also a negotiation process with administration. Western rural communities are not the "noble savages" and nature protectors as are other traditional groups, and actors tend to claim for benefits in a situation of reintroduction. Both parties comprehend a similar version of appropriated nature. Understanding complexity and diverse interests in local communities are useful in not oversimplifying local positions towards predator conservation. We recommend that professional conservation teams rethink their image among local populations and increase proximity with different types of key actors.

Diversity and distribution of aquatic insects in Southern Brazil wetlands: implications for biodiversity conservation in a Neotropical region.

PubMed

Maltchik, Leonardo; Dalzochio, Marina Schmidt; Stenert, Cristina; Rolon, Ana Silvia

2012-03-01

The selection of priority areas is an enormous challenge for biodiversity conservation. Some biogeographic methods have been used to identify the priority areas to conservation, and panbiogeography is one of them. This study aimed at the utilization of panbiogeographic tools, to identify the distribution patterns of aquatic insect genera, in wetland systems of an extensive area in the Neotropical region (approximately 280 000km2), and to compare the distribution of the biogeographic units identified by the aquatic insects, with the conservation units of Southern Brazil. We analyzed the distribution pattern of 82 genera distributed in four orders of aquatic insects (Diptera, Odonata, Ephemeroptera and Trichoptera) in Southern Brazil wetlands. Therefore, 32 biogeographic nodes corresponded to the priority areas for conservation of the aquatic insect diversity. Among this total, 13 were located in the Atlantic Rainforest, 16 in the Pampa and three amongst both biomes. The distribution of nodes showed that only 15% of the dispersion centers of insects were inserted in conservation units. The four priority areas pointed by node cluster criterion must be considered in further inclusions of areas for biodiversity conservation in Southern Brazil wetlands, since such areas present species from different ancestral biota. The inclusion of such areas into the conservation units would be a strong way to conserve the aquatic biodiversity in this region.

Conserving migratory mule deer through the umbrella of sage-grouse

USGS Publications Warehouse

Copeland, H. E.; Sawyer, H.; Monteith, K. L.; Naugle, D.E.; Pocewicz, Amy; Graf, N.; Kauffman, Matthew J.

2014-01-01

Conserving migratory ungulates in increasingly human-dominated landscapes presents a difficult challenge to land managers and conservation practitioners. Nevertheless, ungulates may receive ancillary benefits from conservation actions designed to protect species of greater conservation priority where their ranges are sympatric. Greater Sage-Grouse (Centrocerus urophasianus), for example, have been proposed as an umbrella species for other sagebrush (Artemesia spp.)-dependent fauna. We examined a landscape where conservation efforts for sage-grouse overlap spatially with mule deer (Odocoileus hemionus) to determine whether sage-grouse conservation measures also might protect important mule deer migration routes and seasonal ranges. We conducted a spatial analysis to determine what proportion of migration routes, stopover areas, and winter ranges used by mule deer were located in areas managed for sage-grouse conservation. Conservation measures overlapped with 66–70% of migration corridors, 74–75% of stopovers, and 52–91% of wintering areas for two mule deer populations in the upper Green River Basin of Wyoming. Of those proportions, conservation actions targeted towards sage-grouse accounted for approximately half of the overlap in corridors and stopover areas, and nearly all overlap on winter ranges, indicating that sage-grouse conservation efforts represent an important step in conserving migratory mule deer. Conservation of migratory species presents unique challenges because although overlap with conserved lands may be high, connectivity of the entire route must be maintained as barriers to movement anywhere within the migration corridor could render it unviable. Where mule deer habitats overlap with sage-grouse core areas, our results indicate that increased protection is afforded to winter ranges and migration routes within the umbrella of sage-grouse conservation, but this protection is contingent on concentrated developments within core areas not intersecting with high-priority stopovers or corridors, and that the policy in turn does not encourage development on deer ranges outside of core areas. With the goal of protecting entire migration routes, our analysis highlights areas of potential conservation focus for mule deer, which are characterized by high exposure to residential development and use by a large proportion of migrating deer.

50 CFR 660.398 - EFH Conservation Areas off the Coast of Oregon.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-10-01

... Oregon. 660.398 Section 660.398 Wildlife and Fisheries FISHERY CONSERVATION AND MANAGEMENT, NATIONAL... West Coast Groundfish Fisheries § 660.398 EFH Conservation Areas off the Coast of Oregon. Boundary line coordinates for EFH Conservation Areas off Oregon are provided in this § 660.398. Fishing activity that is...

50 CFR Table 42 to Part 679 - Bering Sea Habitat Conservation Area

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-10-01

... 50 Wildlife and Fisheries 9 2010-10-01 2010-10-01 false Bering Sea Habitat Conservation Area 42 Table 42 to Part 679 Wildlife and Fisheries FISHERY CONSERVATION AND MANAGEMENT, NATIONAL OCEANIC AND... ALASKA Pt. 679, Table 42 Table 42 to Part 679—Bering Sea Habitat Conservation Area Longitude Latitude...

50 CFR Table 42 to Part 679 - Bering Sea Habitat Conservation Area

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-10-01

... 50 Wildlife and Fisheries 13 2014-10-01 2014-10-01 false Bering Sea Habitat Conservation Area 42 Table 42 to Part 679 Wildlife and Fisheries FISHERY CONSERVATION AND MANAGEMENT, NATIONAL OCEANIC AND... ALASKA Pt. 679, Table 42 Table 42 to Part 679—Bering Sea Habitat Conservation Area Longitude Latitude...

50 CFR Table 42 to Part 679 - Bering Sea Habitat Conservation Area

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-10-01

... 50 Wildlife and Fisheries 11 2011-10-01 2011-10-01 false Bering Sea Habitat Conservation Area 42 Table 42 to Part 679 Wildlife and Fisheries FISHERY CONSERVATION AND MANAGEMENT, NATIONAL OCEANIC AND... ALASKA Pt. 679, Table 42 Table 42 to Part 679—Bering Sea Habitat Conservation Area Longitude Latitude...

50 CFR Table 42 to Part 679 - Bering Sea Habitat Conservation Area

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-10-01

... 50 Wildlife and Fisheries 13 2012-10-01 2012-10-01 false Bering Sea Habitat Conservation Area 42 Table 42 to Part 679 Wildlife and Fisheries FISHERY CONSERVATION AND MANAGEMENT, NATIONAL OCEANIC AND... ALASKA Pt. 679, Table 42 Table 42 to Part 679—Bering Sea Habitat Conservation Area Longitude Latitude...

50 CFR Table 42 to Part 679 - Bering Sea Habitat Conservation Area

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-10-01

... 50 Wildlife and Fisheries 13 2013-10-01 2013-10-01 false Bering Sea Habitat Conservation Area 42 Table 42 to Part 679 Wildlife and Fisheries FISHERY CONSERVATION AND MANAGEMENT, NATIONAL OCEANIC AND... ALASKA Pt. 679, Table 42 Table 42 to Part 679—Bering Sea Habitat Conservation Area Longitude Latitude...

Using a distribution and conservation status weighted hotspot approach to identify areas in need of conservation action to benefit Idaho bird species

USGS Publications Warehouse

Haines, Aaron M.; Leu, Matthias; Svancara, Leona K.; Wilson, Gina; Scott, J. Michael

2010-01-01

Identification of biodiversity hotspots (hereafter, hotspots) has become a common strategy to delineate important areas for wildlife conservation. However, the use of hotspots has not often incorporated important habitat types, ecosystem services, anthropogenic activity, or consistency in identifying important conservation areas. The purpose of this study was to identify hotspots to improve avian conservation efforts for Species of Greatest Conservation Need (SGCN) in the state of Idaho, United States. We evaluated multiple approaches to define hotspots and used a unique approach based on weighting species by their distribution size and conservation status to identify hotspot areas. All hotspot approaches identified bodies of water (Bear Lake, Grays Lake, and American Falls Reservoir) as important hotspots for Idaho avian SGCN, but we found that the weighted approach produced more congruent hotspot areas when compared to other hotspot approaches. To incorporate anthropogenic activity into hotspot analysis, we grouped species based on their sensitivity to specific human threats (i.e., urban development, agriculture, fire suppression, grazing, roads, and logging) and identified ecological sections within Idaho that may require specific conservation actions to address these human threats using the weighted approach. The Snake River Basalts and Overthrust Mountains ecological sections were important areas for potential implementation of conservation actions to conserve biodiversity. Our approach to identifying hotspots may be useful as part of a larger conservation strategy to aid land managers or local governments in applying conservation actions on the ground.

Representation of critical natural capital in China.

PubMed

Lü, Yihe; Zhang, Liwei; Zeng, Yuan; Fu, Bojie; Whitham, Charlotte; Liu, Shuguang; Wu, Bingfang

2017-08-01

Traditional means of assessing representativeness of conservation value in protected areas depend on measures of structural biodiversity. The effectiveness of priority conservation areas at representing critical natural capital (CNC) (i.e., an essential and renewable subset of natural capital) remains largely unknown. We analyzed the representativeness of CNC-conservation priority areas in national nature reserves (i.e., nature reserves under jurisdiction of the central government with large spatial distribution across the provinces) in China with a new biophysical-based composite indicator approach. With this approach, we integrated the net primary production of vegetation, topography, soil, and climate variables to map and rank terrestrial ecosystems capacities to generate CNC. National nature reserves accounted for 6.7% of CNC-conservation priority areas across China. Considerable gaps (35.2%) existed between overall (or potential) CNC representativeness nationally and CNC representation in national reserves, and there was significant spatial heterogeneity of representativeness in CNC-conservation priority areas at the regional and provincial levels. For example, the best and worst representations were, respectively, 13.0% and 1.6% regionally and 28.9% and 0.0% provincially. Policy in China is transitioning toward the goal of an ecologically sustainable civilization. We identified CNC-conservation priority areas and conservation gaps and thus contribute to the policy goals of optimization of the national nature reserve network and the demarcation of areas critical to improving the representativeness and conservation of highly functioning areas of natural capital. Moreover, our method for assessing representation of CNC can be easily adapted to other large-scale networks of conservation areas because few data are needed, and our model is relatively simple. © 2017 Society for Conservation Biology.

Bat activity in harvested and intact forest stands in the allegheny mountains

USGS Publications Warehouse

Owen, S.F.; Menzel, M.A.; Edwards, J.W.; Ford, W.M.; Menzel, J.M.; Chapman, B.R.; Wood, P.B.; Miller, K.V.

2004-01-01

We used Anabat acoustical monitoring devices to examine bat activity in intact canopy forests, complex canopy forests with gaps, forests subjected to diameter-limit harvests, recent deferment harvests, clearcuts and unmanaged forested riparian areas in the Allegheny Mountains of West Virginia in the summer of 1999. We detected eight species of bats, including the endangered Indiana bat (Myotis sodalis). Most bat activity was concentrated in forested riparian areas. Among upland habitats, activity of silver-haired bats (Lasionycteris noctivagans) and hoary bats (Lasiurus cinereus) was higher in open, less cluttered vegetative types such as recent deferment harvests and clearcuts. Our results suggest that bat species in the central Appalachians partially segregate themselves among vegetative conditions based on differences in body morphology and echolocation call characteristics. From the standpoint of conserving bat foraging habitat for the maximum number of species in the central Appalachians, special emphasis should be placed on protecting forested riparian areas.

A Selected List of Filmstrips on the Conservation of Natural Resources, Number 5.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Adams, Jean Larson; Michaud, Howard H.

This pamphlet describes 115 conservation filmstrips as to content, sources, suggested grade level(s), curriculum area(s), and notes of interest to the user. The filmstrips are divided into the following areas: (1) general conservation, (2) ecology and resource interrelationships, (3) forest trees and other plants, (4) forest conservation, (5)…

Modulation of the Conformational Dynamics of Apo-Adenylate Kinase through a π-Cation Interaction.

PubMed

Halder, Ritaban; Manna, Rabindra Nath; Chakraborty, Sandipan; Jana, Biman

2017-06-15

Large-scale conformational transition from open to closed state of adenylate kinase (ADK) is essential for its catalytic cycle. Apo-ADK undergoes conformational transition in a way that closely resembles an open-to-closed conformational transition. Here, equilibrium simulations, free-energy simulations, and quantum mechanics/molecular mechanics (QM/MM) calculations in combination with several bioinformatics approaches have been used to explore the molecular origin of this conformational transition in apo-ADK. In addition to its conventional open state, Escherichia coli apo-ADK adopts conformations that resemble a closed-like intermediate, the "half-open-half-closed" (HOHC) state, and a π-cation interaction can account for the stability of this HOHC state. Energetics and the electronic properties of this π-cation interaction have been explored using QM/MM calculations. Upon rescinding the π-cation interaction, the conformational landscape of the apo-ADK changes completely. The apo-ADK population is shifted completely toward the open state. This π-cation interaction is highly conserved in bacterial ADK; the cationic guanidinium moiety of a conserved ARG interacts with the delocalized π-electron cloud of either PHE or TYR. Interestingly, this study demonstrates the modulation of a principal protein dynamics by a conserved specific π-cation interaction across different organisms.

50 CFR Figure 17 to Part 679 - Northern Bering Sea Research Area and St. Lawrence Island Habitat Conservation Area

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-10-01

... 50 Wildlife and Fisheries 9 2010-10-01 2010-10-01 false Northern Bering Sea Research Area and St. Lawrence Island Habitat Conservation Area 17 Figure 17 to part 679 Wildlife and Fisheries FISHERY... Sea Research Area and St. Lawrence Island Habitat Conservation Area ER25JY08.011 [73 FR 43371, July 25...

Landscape and climate science and scenarios for Florida

USGS Publications Warehouse

Terando, Adam; Traxler, Steve; Collazo, Jaime

2014-01-01

The Peninsular Florida Landscape Conservation Cooperative (PFLCC) is part of a network of 22 Landscape Conservation Cooperatives (LCCs) that extend from Alaska to the Caribbean. LCCs are regional-applied conservation-science partnerships among Federal agencies, regional organizations, States, tribes, nongovernmental organizations (NGOs), private stakeholders, universities, and other entities within a geographic area. The goal of these conservation-science partnerships is to help inform managers and decision makers at a landscape scale to further the principles of adaptive management and strategic habitat conservation. A major focus for LCCs is to help conservation managers and decision makers respond to large-scale ecosystem and habitat stressors, such as climate change, habitat fragmentation, invasive species, and water scarcity. The purpose of the PFLCC is to facilitate planning, design, and implementation of conservation strategies for fish and wildlife species at the landscape level using the adaptive management framework of strategic habitat conservation—integrating planning, design, delivery, and evaluation. Florida faces a set of unique challenges when responding to regional and global stressors because of its unique ecosystems and assemblages of species, its geographic location at the crossroads of temperate and tropical climates, and its exposure to both rapid urbanization and rising sea levels as the climate warms. In response to these challenges, several landscape-scale science projects were initiated with the goal of informing decision makers about how potential changes in climate and the built environment could impact habitats and ecosystems of concern in Florida and the Southeast United States. In June 2012, the PFLCC, North Carolina State University, convened a workshop at the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Coastal and Marine Science Center in St. Petersburg to assess the results of these integrated assessments and to foster an open dialogue about science gaps and future research needs.

Northwest Boreal Landscape Conservation Cooperative strategic plan 2015 - 2025

USGS Publications Warehouse

Markon, Carl; Schroff, Eric

2016-01-01

The Northwest Boreal Landscape Conservation Cooperative (NWB LCC) is a voluntary, diverse, self-directed management-science partnership, informing and promoting integrated science, sustainable natural and cultural resource management, and conservation to address impacts of climate change and other stressors within and across ecosystems. The NWB LCC area includes parts of Alaska, Yukon, Northwest Territories, and British Columbia. Our partnership reflects both the broad geographic scope and an extensive array of active and engaged participants including resource management organizations, government representatives, policy makers, Tribes and First Nations, industry leaders, researchers, non-governmental organizations, and research/education institutions. Bringing together diverse partners will help assure the northwest boreal is a functioning, sustainable landscape. We live in an era of profound conservation challenges, including the loss and fragmentation of habitats, genetic isolation, invasive species, and unnatural wildfire. The effects of rapidly changing climate are already evident on the landscape. In these circumstances, it is imperative that natural resource management agencies, science providers, Tribes, First Nations, conservation organizations, and other stakeholders work together to understand the drivers and impacts of landscape change and to determine how best to address those challenges. Further, it is essential that the public and communities receive clear communication about the vision and activities of the NWB LCC. Open public access to NWB LCC activities and products will promote acceptance and support of the science that guides potential changes in management action and conservation strategy. This strategic plan provides a great opportunity for the NWB LCC to share our approach and intentions to the LCC members, collaborators, communities, and the public at large.

Sustainable Land Management in the Ethiopian Highlands

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Haile, Mitiku; Nyssen, Jan; Araya, Tesfay

2014-05-01

Through centuries of farming practices the farmers and pastoralists in Ethiopia were managing their land resources pertaining to the needs of prevalent populations. With an increasing population and growing demands, more land was put under cultivation. Subsequently forest areas were cleared, encroaching agriculture into steep slopes and areas that were not suitable for agricultural activities. Land degradation and particularly soil erosion by water not only reduced the productivity of the land but also aggravated the effects of drought, such as famine and migration. Obvious signs of degradation in the highlands of Ethiopia are wide gullies swallowing fertile lands and rock outcrops making farming a risky business. But also less visible sheet erosion processes result in a tremendous loss of fertile topsoil, particularly on cropland. Efforts have been made by the farming communities to mitigate land degradation by developing local practices of conserving soil and water. With keen interest and openness one can observe such indigenous practices in all corners of Ethiopia. Notwithstanding these practices, there were also efforts to introduce other soil and water conservation interventions to control erosion and retain the eroded soils. Since the early 1980s numerous campaigns were carried out to build terraces in farmlands and sloping areas. Major emphasis was given to structural technologies rather than on vegetative measures. Currently the landscape of the northern highlands is dotted with millions of hectares of terraced fields and in some places with planned watershed management interventions including exclosures. Apparently these interventions were introduced without prior investigating the detailed problems and conservation needs of the local population. Intensive research is undertaken on the processes of degradation, the impact of the different intervention measures and the role of communities in sustainably managing their land. This paper attempts to review the relevant studies undertaken with emphasis on the approaches to sustainable land management.

Exploitation rates of two benthic resources across management regimes in central Chile: Evidence of illegal fishing in artisanal fisheries operating in open access areas.

PubMed

Andreu-Cazenave, Miguel; Subida, Maria Dulce; Fernandez, Miriam

2017-01-01

There is an urgent need to quantify the impacts of artisanal fisheries and define management practices that allow for the recovery and conservation of exploited stocks. The extent of illegal catch is particularly critical as a driver of overexploitation in artisanal fisheries. However, the lack of data at proper spatial scales limits the evaluation of illegal fishing and effectiveness of management practices. We used a catch curve analysis to estimate total instantaneous mortality as a proxy of fishing pressure in the artisanal benthic fishery in central Chile. We compared the patterns of total mortality in fishing grounds under the well-studied territorial use rights for fisheries system (TURF) immersed in a landscape of open access areas (OAA; no access restriction), and from these patterns determined the extent of illegal fishing in open access areas focusing on the two most frequently extracted resources: locos (Concholepas concholepas) and keyhole limpets (Fissurella spp.). The beauty of this seascape is the presence of the no-take (NT) area of Las Cruces as control (no fishing), allowing us to estimate natural mortality. Loco exploitation is banned in OAAs. However, loco mortality in OAAs was 92% higher than in the NT, and 42% higher than in TURFs. Keyhole limpet mortality was similar between TURFs and the NT, but doubled in OAAs. We also found strong differences in mortality among fishing grounds with the same level of protection (i.e. TURFs), and over time. Our results highlight (a) the high level of illegal fishing that may occur in artisanal fisheries under traditional management regimes, and (b) that TURFs can be effective to reduce fishing mortality. However, large variability among TURFs suggests the need for a deeper understanding of the drivers of success of TURFs.

Comanagement practices enhance fisheries in marine protected areas.

PubMed

Guidetti, Paolo; Claudet, Joachim

2010-02-01

Fishing activities worldwide have dramatically affected marine fish stocks and ecosystems. Marine protected areas (MPAs) with no-take zones may enhance fisheries, but empirical evidence of this is scant. We conducted a 4-year survey of fish catches around and within an MPA that was previously fully closed to fishing and then partially reopened under regulated comanaged fishing. In collaboration with the fishers and the MPA authority, we set the fishing effort and selected the gear to limit fishing impact on key fish predators, juvenile fish stage, and benthic communities and habitats. Within an adaptive comanagement framework, fishers agreed to reduce fishing effort if symptoms of overfishing were detected. We analyzed the temporal trends of catch per unit of effort (CPUE) of the whole species assemblages and CPUE of the four most valuable and frequent species observed inside the opened buffer zone and outside the MPA investigated. After the comanaged opening, CPUE first declined and then stabilized at levels more than twice that of catches obtained outside the MPA. Our results suggest that working closely with fishers can result in greater fisheries catches. Partial protection of coastal areas together with adaptive comanagement involving fishers, scientists, and managers can effectively achieve conservation and fishery management goals and benefit fishing communities and alleviate overfishing.

A review of conservation legislation in Nepal: Past progress and future needs

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Heinen, Joel T.; Kattel, Bijaya

1992-11-01

Nepal is considered a leader among developing nations with regard to conservation legislation and programs; it was among the first Asian nations to develop national conservation legislation, sign CITES, and develop a national conservation strategy. We review the history of modern conservation law in Nepal from the Rana period (early 1950s) to the present. The early legislation focused mainly on strict preservation of areas and species; this phase culminated in the National Parks and Wildlife Conservation Act of 1973. Subsequent legislation has evolved more in the direction of an integrated, holistic approach to conservation and is beginning to incorporate the participation of local people; subsequent amendments to the 1973 act allowed greater rights to rural villagers, and the designation of conservation areas in addition to the more strictly defined protected areas (national parks, wildlife reserves, etc.). Our review of conservation legislation suggests that Nepal has had many successes to date; the country has a protected area system covering over 10% of its land area, and many target species are recovering in parks and reserves. There are also some causes of concern, including staff shortages, financial constraints within the Department of National Parks and Wildlife Conservation, and the fact that there is little legal infrastructure outside of protected areas to enforce conservation laws; further, some aspects of hunting regulations are in need of revision. Primary needs include a comprehensive review of these policies and a nationalized strategy to ameliorate the shortcomings.

Soil and nutrient retention in winter-flooded ricefields with implications for watershed management

USGS Publications Warehouse

Manley, S.W.; Kaminski, R.M.; Rodrigue, P.B.; Dewey, J.C.; Schoenholtz, S.H.; Gerard, P.D.; Reinecke, K.J.

2009-01-01

The ability of water resources to support aquatic life and human needs depends, in part, on reducing nonpoint source pollution amid contemporary agricultural practices. Winter retention of shallow water on rice and other agricultural fields is an accepted management practice for wildlife conservation; however, soil and water conservation benefits are not well documented. We evaluated the ability of four post-harvest ricefield treatment combinations (stubble-flooded, stubble-open, disked-flooded and disked-open) to abate nonpoint source exports into watersheds of the Mississippi Alluvial Valley. Total suspended solid exports were 1,121 kg ha-1 (1,000 lb ac-1) from disked-open fields where rice stubble was disked after harvest and fields were allowed to drain, compared with 35 kg ha-1 (31 lb ac-1) from stubble-flooded fields where stubble was left standing after harvest and fields captured rainfall from November 1 to March 1. Estimates of total suspended solid exports from ricefields based on Landsat imagery and USDA crop data are 0.43 and 0.40 Mg km-2 day-1 in the Big Sunflower and L'Anguille watersheds, respectively. Estimated reductions in total suspended solid exports from ricefields into the Big Sunflower and L'Anguille water-sheds range from 26% to 64% under hypothetical scenarios in which 65% to 100% of the rice production area is managed to capture winter rainfall. Winter ricefield management reduced nonpoint source export by decreasing concentrations of solids and nutrients in, and reducing runoff volume from, ricefields in the Mississippi Alluvial Valley.

Achieving Open Access to Conservation Science

PubMed Central

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

2014-01-01

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. Obtención de Acceso Abierto a la Ciencia de la Conservación Resumen La ciencia de la conservación es una disciplina de crisis en la que los resultados del cuestionamiento científico deben hacerse disponibles de manera rápida para quienes están implementando el manejo. Evaluamos la extensión a la cual está disponible para el público la investigación científica publicada desde el año 2000 en 20 revistas de ciencia de la conservación. De los 19, 207 artículos publicados, 1, 667 (8.68%) están libres para descargar de un repositorio oficial. Además, sólo 938 artículos (4.88%) cumplen con la definición estándar de acceso abierto en la cual el material puede reutilizarse libremente siempre y cuando se le dé atribución a los autores. Esto se compara pobremente con un conjunto comparable de 20 revistas de biología evolutiva, donde 31.93% de los artículos están libres para descargar y el 7.94% son de acceso abierto. Diecisiete de las 20 revistas de conservación ofrecen una opción de acceso abierto, pero menos del 5% de los artículos están disponibles por medio del acceso abierto. El costo de acceder al cuerpo completo de la ciencia de la conservación llega a estar entre los miles de dólares por año para suscriptores institucionales, y muchos practicantes de la conservación no pueden acceder a la ciencia de paga en sus lugares de trabajo. Sin embargo, iniciativas importantes como Research4Life están poniendo a la ciencia a disponibilidad de organizaciones en países en desarrollo. Urgimos a los autores de la ciencia de la conservación que paguen por acceso abierto en una base por artículo o que escojan publicar en revistas de acceso abierto, tomando en consideración asegurar que la licencia permita reutilizar siempre y cuando se proporcione atribución. Actualmente, costaría $51 millones hacer que toda la ciencia de la conservación publicada desde 2000 esté disponible libremente al pagar las cuotas de acceso abierto que actualmente impuestas a los autores. Los publicadores de revistas de la conservación pueden considerar modelos más rentables para el acceso abierto y las organizaciones orientadas a la conservación que administran revistas podrían considerar un campo más amplio de opciones de acceso abierto para quienes no son miembros, como el patrocinio de acceso abierto por medio de pagos de membrecía PMID:25158824

Combined Use of Systematic Conservation Planning, Species Distribution Modelling, and Connectivity Analysis Reveals Severe Conservation Gaps in a Megadiverse Country (Peru)

PubMed Central

Fajardo, Javier; Lessmann, Janeth; Bonaccorso, Elisa; Devenish, Christian; Muñoz, Jesús

2014-01-01

Conservation planning is crucial for megadiverse countries where biodiversity is coupled with incomplete reserve systems and limited resources to invest in conservation. Using Peru as an example of a megadiverse country, we asked whether the national system of protected areas satisfies biodiversity conservation needs. Further, to complement the existing reserve system, we identified and prioritized potential conservation areas using a combination of species distribution modeling, conservation planning and connectivity analysis. Based on a set of 2,869 species, including mammals, birds, amphibians, reptiles, butterflies, and plants, we used species distribution models to represent species' geographic ranges to reduce the effect of biased sampling and partial knowledge about species' distributions. A site-selection algorithm then searched for efficient and complementary proposals, based on the above distributions, for a more representative system of protection. Finally, we incorporated connectivity among areas in an innovative post-hoc analysis to prioritize those areas maximizing connectivity within the system. Our results highlight severe conservation gaps in the Coastal and Andean regions, and we propose several areas, which are not currently covered by the existing network of protected areas. Our approach helps to find areas that contribute to creating a more representative, connected and efficient network. PMID:25479411

Property-tax incentives for implementing soil-conservation programs under constitutional taxing limitations

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

Massey, D.T.; Silver, M.B.

1982-01-01

This article describes how property-tax incentives can be used to implement soil-conservation programs on agricultural and open-space lands under the differential-assessment statutes and other exceptions to constitutional limitations on taxation powers. The article describes restrictions imposed on taxing powers by the constitutional uniformity clauses and methods for circumventing those limitations; various property-tax incentives available for conservation programs; types of differential or use-value assessments providing property-tax relief for farm, forest, and open-space land preservation; eligibility of lands for differential assessments; methods available to landowners for participation in differential assessments; and determination of value under differential assessment. The article next details howmore » each of the three primary types of differential or use-value assessment statutes for farm, forest, and open-space land preservation provides exceptions to the uniformity clauses for property tax incentives to implement soil-conservation programs. Other methods available for providing exceptions to the uniformity clauses to permit property-tax incentives are also described for each of the three states. Each of these states has statutes giving favorable tax treatment to certain types of property, such as pollution-abatement equipment, alternative energy-producing devices, and even country clubs. These statutes can be used as examples of finding a constitutional method for providing favorabe tax treatment to promote participation in soil-conservation programs.« less

50 CFR Table 44 to Part 679 - Nunivak Island, Etolin Strait, and Kuskokwim Bay Habitat Conservation Area

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-10-01

... 50 Wildlife and Fisheries 13 2014-10-01 2014-10-01 false Nunivak Island, Etolin Strait, and Kuskokwim Bay Habitat Conservation Area 44 Table 44 to Part 679 Wildlife and Fisheries FISHERY CONSERVATION..., Etolin Strait, and Kuskokwim Bay Habitat Conservation Area Longitude Latitude 1651.54W 6045.54N* 1627.01W...

50 CFR Figure 21 to Part 679 - Nunivak Island, Etolin Strait, and Kuskokwim Bay Habitat Conservation Area

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-10-01

... 50 Wildlife and Fisheries 13 2013-10-01 2013-10-01 false Nunivak Island, Etolin Strait, and Kuskokwim Bay Habitat Conservation Area 21 Figure 21 to Part 679 Wildlife and Fisheries FISHERY CONSERVATION..., Etolin Strait, and Kuskokwim Bay Habitat Conservation Area ER25JY08.012 [73 FR 43372, July 25, 2008] ...

50 CFR Figure 21 to Part 679 - Nunivak Island, Etolin Strait, and Kuskokwim Bay Habitat Conservation Area

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-10-01

... 50 Wildlife and Fisheries 11 2011-10-01 2011-10-01 false Nunivak Island, Etolin Strait, and Kuskokwim Bay Habitat Conservation Area 21 Figure 21 to Part 679 Wildlife and Fisheries FISHERY CONSERVATION..., Etolin Strait, and Kuskokwim Bay Habitat Conservation Area ER25JY08.012 [73 FR 43372, July 25, 2008] ...

50 CFR Figure 21 to Part 679 - Nunivak Island, Etolin Strait, and Kuskokwim Bay Habitat Conservation Area

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-10-01

... 50 Wildlife and Fisheries 9 2010-10-01 2010-10-01 false Nunivak Island, Etolin Strait, and Kuskokwim Bay Habitat Conservation Area 21 Figure 21 to Part 679 Wildlife and Fisheries FISHERY CONSERVATION..., Etolin Strait, and Kuskokwim Bay Habitat Conservation Area ER25JY08.012 [73 FR 43372, July 25, 2008] ...

50 CFR Table 44 to Part 679 - Nunivak Island, Etolin Strait, and Kuskokwim Bay Habitat Conservation Area

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-10-01

... 50 Wildlife and Fisheries 13 2013-10-01 2013-10-01 false Nunivak Island, Etolin Strait, and Kuskokwim Bay Habitat Conservation Area 44 Table 44 to Part 679 Wildlife and Fisheries FISHERY CONSERVATION..., Etolin Strait, and Kuskokwim Bay Habitat Conservation Area Longitude Latitude 1651.54W 6045.54N* 1627.01W...

50 CFR Table 44 to Part 679 - Nunivak Island, Etolin Strait, and Kuskokwim Bay Habitat Conservation Area

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-10-01

... 50 Wildlife and Fisheries 13 2012-10-01 2012-10-01 false Nunivak Island, Etolin Strait, and Kuskokwim Bay Habitat Conservation Area 44 Table 44 to Part 679 Wildlife and Fisheries FISHERY CONSERVATION..., Etolin Strait, and Kuskokwim Bay Habitat Conservation Area Longitude Latitude 1651.54W 6045.54N* 1627.01W...

50 CFR Table 44 to Part 679 - Nunivak Island, Etolin Strait, and Kuskokwim Bay Habitat Conservation Area

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-10-01

... 50 Wildlife and Fisheries 11 2011-10-01 2011-10-01 false Nunivak Island, Etolin Strait, and Kuskokwim Bay Habitat Conservation Area 44 Table 44 to Part 679 Wildlife and Fisheries FISHERY CONSERVATION..., Etolin Strait, and Kuskokwim Bay Habitat Conservation Area Longitude Latitude 1651.54W 6045.54N* 1627.01W...

50 CFR Figure 21 to Part 679 - Nunivak Island, Etolin Strait, and Kuskokwim Bay Habitat Conservation Area

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-10-01

... 50 Wildlife and Fisheries 13 2012-10-01 2012-10-01 false Nunivak Island, Etolin Strait, and Kuskokwim Bay Habitat Conservation Area 21 Figure 21 to Part 679 Wildlife and Fisheries FISHERY CONSERVATION..., Etolin Strait, and Kuskokwim Bay Habitat Conservation Area ER25JY08.012 [73 FR 43372, July 25, 2008] ...

50 CFR Figure 21 to Part 679 - Nunivak Island, Etolin Strait, and Kuskokwim Bay Habitat Conservation Area

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-10-01

... 50 Wildlife and Fisheries 13 2014-10-01 2014-10-01 false Nunivak Island, Etolin Strait, and Kuskokwim Bay Habitat Conservation Area 21 Figure 21 to Part 679 Wildlife and Fisheries FISHERY CONSERVATION..., Etolin Strait, and Kuskokwim Bay Habitat Conservation Area ER25JY08.012 [73 FR 43372, July 25, 2008] ...

50 CFR Table 44 to Part 679 - Nunivak Island, Etolin Strait, and Kuskokwim Bay Habitat Conservation Area

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-10-01

... 50 Wildlife and Fisheries 9 2010-10-01 2010-10-01 false Nunivak Island, Etolin Strait, and Kuskokwim Bay Habitat Conservation Area 44 Table 44 to Part 679 Wildlife and Fisheries FISHERY CONSERVATION..., Etolin Strait, and Kuskokwim Bay Habitat Conservation Area Longitude Latitude 1651.54W 6045.54N* 1627.01W...

50 CFR Figure 16 to Part 679 - Bering Sea Habitat Conservation Area

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-10-01

... 50 Wildlife and Fisheries 13 2014-10-01 2014-10-01 false Bering Sea Habitat Conservation Area 16 Figure 16 to part 679 Wildlife and Fisheries FISHERY CONSERVATION AND MANAGEMENT, NATIONAL OCEANIC AND... ALASKA Pt. 679, Fig. 16 Figure 16 to part 679—Bering Sea Habitat Conservation Area ER25JY08.010 [73 FR...

50 CFR Figure 16 to Part 679 - Bering Sea Habitat Conservation Area

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-10-01

... 50 Wildlife and Fisheries 13 2012-10-01 2012-10-01 false Bering Sea Habitat Conservation Area 16 Figure 16 to part 679 Wildlife and Fisheries FISHERY CONSERVATION AND MANAGEMENT, NATIONAL OCEANIC AND... ALASKA Pt. 679, Fig. 16 Figure 16 to part 679—Bering Sea Habitat Conservation Area ER25JY08.010 [73 FR...

50 CFR Figure 16 to Part 679 - Bering Sea Habitat Conservation Area

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-10-01

... 50 Wildlife and Fisheries 9 2010-10-01 2010-10-01 false Bering Sea Habitat Conservation Area 16 Figure 16 to part 679 Wildlife and Fisheries FISHERY CONSERVATION AND MANAGEMENT, NATIONAL OCEANIC AND... ALASKA Pt. 679, Fig. 16 Figure 16 to part 679—Bering Sea Habitat Conservation Area ER25JY08.010 [73 FR...

50 CFR Figure 16 to Part 679 - Bering Sea Habitat Conservation Area

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-10-01

... 50 Wildlife and Fisheries 11 2011-10-01 2011-10-01 false Bering Sea Habitat Conservation Area 16 Figure 16 to part 679 Wildlife and Fisheries FISHERY CONSERVATION AND MANAGEMENT, NATIONAL OCEANIC AND... ALASKA Pt. 679, Fig. 16 Figure 16 to part 679—Bering Sea Habitat Conservation Area ER25JY08.010 [73 FR...

50 CFR Figure 16 to Part 679 - Bering Sea Habitat Conservation Area

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-10-01

... 50 Wildlife and Fisheries 13 2013-10-01 2013-10-01 false Bering Sea Habitat Conservation Area 16 Figure 16 to part 679 Wildlife and Fisheries FISHERY CONSERVATION AND MANAGEMENT, NATIONAL OCEANIC AND... ALASKA Pt. 679, Fig. 16 Figure 16 to part 679—Bering Sea Habitat Conservation Area ER25JY08.010 [73 FR...

Delineating Focus Areas for Bird Conservation in the Central Hardwoods Bird Conservation Region

Treesearch

Jane A. Fitzgerald; C. Diane True; David D. Diamond; Troy Ettel; Laurel Moore; Timothy A. Nigh; Shawchyi Vorisek; Greg Wathen

2005-01-01

This paper reports on a process used to identify landscape-scale focus areas for the conservation of priority grassland, grass-shrubland, wetland and forest-woodland birds in the Central Hardwoods Bird Conservation Region (CHBCR). The areas were delineated by biologists and other technical staff of partner agencies and organizations in the CHBCR with the use of...

The development of learning model for natural science based on environmental in conservation area of Bengkulu University

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Karyadi, B.; Susanta, A.; Winari, E. W.; Ekaputri, R. Z.; Enersi, D.

2018-05-01

Research on development of a learning model for Natural Science base on conservation area in Bengkulu University has been conducted. The research methods were referred to the standard steps of Research and Development. Stage activities were (a) analysis of needs, (b) observation of the ecological aspects of conservation area as a learning resource, and (c) instructional design based on conservation area for secondary school students. The observation results on the ecological aspects revealed that the diversity of plants and animals, at the conservation area were sufficient as a source for learning. The instructional design was prepared in three phase activities namely Introduction-Exploration-Interpretation (IEI), and then it was compiled in a teaching material Based on Surrounding Natural Environment” (BSNE). The results of a limited scale trial at secondary school students in two districts of Bengkulu province showed that, the students who learned using the IEI model at the conservation area have a good performance and critical thinking. The product from the research is a book named BSNE that can be used for teachers and conservation practitioners in doing the learning activities on environmental conservation which involved public participation.

Plant traits demonstrate that temperate and tropical giant eucalypt forests are ecologically convergent with rainforest not savanna.

PubMed

Tng, David Y P; Jordan, Greg J; Bowman, David M J S

2013-01-01

Ecological theory differentiates rainforest and open vegetation in many regions as functionally divergent alternative stable states with transitional (ecotonal) vegetation between the two forming transient unstable states. This transitional vegetation is of considerable significance, not only as a test case for theories of vegetation dynamics, but also because this type of vegetation is of major economic importance, and is home to a suite of species of conservation significance, including the world's tallest flowering plants. We therefore created predictions of patterns in plant functional traits that would test the alternative stable states model of these systems. We measured functional traits of 128 trees and shrubs across tropical and temperate rainforest - open vegetation transitions in Australia, with giant eucalypt forests situated between these vegetation types. We analysed a set of functional traits: leaf carbon isotopes, leaf area, leaf mass per area, leaf slenderness, wood density, maximum height and bark thickness, using univariate and multivariate methods. For most traits, giant eucalypt forest was similar to rainforest, while rainforest, particularly tropical rainforest, was significantly different from the open vegetation. In multivariate analyses, tropical and temperate rainforest diverged functionally, and both segregated from open vegetation. Furthermore, the giant eucalypt forests overlapped in function with their respective rainforests. The two types of giant eucalypt forests also exhibited greater overall functional similarity to each other than to any of the open vegetation types. We conclude that tropical and temperate giant eucalypt forests are ecologically and functionally convergent. The lack of clear functional differentiation from rainforest suggests that giant eucalypt forests are unstable states within the basin of attraction of rainforest. Our results have important implications for giant eucalypt forest management.

Plant Traits Demonstrate That Temperate and Tropical Giant Eucalypt Forests Are Ecologically Convergent with Rainforest Not Savanna

PubMed Central

Tng, David Y. P.; Jordan, Greg J.; Bowman, David M. J. S.

2013-01-01

Ecological theory differentiates rainforest and open vegetation in many regions as functionally divergent alternative stable states with transitional (ecotonal) vegetation between the two forming transient unstable states. This transitional vegetation is of considerable significance, not only as a test case for theories of vegetation dynamics, but also because this type of vegetation is of major economic importance, and is home to a suite of species of conservation significance, including the world’s tallest flowering plants. We therefore created predictions of patterns in plant functional traits that would test the alternative stable states model of these systems. We measured functional traits of 128 trees and shrubs across tropical and temperate rainforest – open vegetation transitions in Australia, with giant eucalypt forests situated between these vegetation types. We analysed a set of functional traits: leaf carbon isotopes, leaf area, leaf mass per area, leaf slenderness, wood density, maximum height and bark thickness, using univariate and multivariate methods. For most traits, giant eucalypt forest was similar to rainforest, while rainforest, particularly tropical rainforest, was significantly different from the open vegetation. In multivariate analyses, tropical and temperate rainforest diverged functionally, and both segregated from open vegetation. Furthermore, the giant eucalypt forests overlapped in function with their respective rainforests. The two types of giant eucalypt forests also exhibited greater overall functional similarity to each other than to any of the open vegetation types. We conclude that tropical and temperate giant eucalypt forests are ecologically and functionally convergent. The lack of clear functional differentiation from rainforest suggests that giant eucalypt forests are unstable states within the basin of attraction of rainforest. Our results have important implications for giant eucalypt forest management. PMID:24358359

Our flesh is here but our soul stayed there: A qualitative study on resource loss due to war and displacement among internally-displaced women in the Republic of Georgia.

PubMed

Seguin, Maureen; Lewis, Ruth; Amirejibi, Tinatin; Razmadze, Mariam; Makhashvili, Nino; Roberts, Bayard

2016-02-01

Losses experienced by conflict-affected civilians in low and middle income countries is a relatively unexplored area. The aim of our paper is to explore the concept of resource loss in the accounts of internally displaced women in Georgia. We use Hobfoll's Conservation of Resources (COR) theory to guide our approach by examining the loss of objects, personal characteristics, conditions, and energies. Semi-structured interviews were conducted on 42 purposively-selected Georgian women residing in internally displaced persons settlements during fieldwork in Georgia from December 2012 to February 2013. Line-by-line open-coding was conducted on translated and transcribed interviews using Nvivo. The conservation of resources theory was utilised to guide the 'mapping' of the relationships between losses which occurred in the post-conflict period. War-related trauma led to the loss of property, which caused the loss of livelihood and subsequent loss of social networks and mental and physical health. The mental and physical health losses, along with the loss of livelihood, constituted a loss spiral in which losses in one area perpetuated on-going losses in the other areas. Interventions at supporting livelihoods are needed in order to address the cascade of losses resulting from war. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Conservation Potential of Abandoned Military Areas Matches That of Established Reserves: Plants and Butterflies in the Czech Republic

PubMed Central

Cizek, Oldrich; Vrba, Pavel; Benes, Jiri; Hrazsky, Zaboj; Koptik, Jiri; Kucera, Tomas; Marhoul, Pavel; Zamecnik, Jaroslav; Konvicka, Martin

2013-01-01

Military training generates frequent and irregular disturbance followed by succession, resulting in fine-scaled mosaics of ecological conditions in military training areas (MTAs). The awareness that MTAs may represent important biodiversity sanctuaries is increasing recently. Concurrently, changes in military doctrine are leading to abandonment of many MTAs, which are being brought under civilian administration and opened for development. We surveyed vascular plants in 43 and butterflies in 41 MTAs in the Czech Republic and compared the records with plants and butterfly records from 301 and 125 nature reserves, respectively. After controlling for effects of area, geography, and climate, we found that plant species richness was equal in the two land use categories; butterfly richness was higher in MTAs; reserves hosted more endangered plants and more endangered butterflies. Ordination analyses, again controlled for potential nuisance effects, showed that MTAs and reserves differed also in species composition. While specialist species of nationally rarest habitat types inclined towards the reserves, MTAs hosted a high representation of endangered species depending on either disturbed ground, or successionaly transient conditions. These patterns reflect the history of the national nature reserves network, and the disturbance-succession dynamics within MTAs. The conservation value of formerly army-used lands is increasingly threatened by abandonment, and conservationists should support either alternative uses mimicking army activities, or sustainable management regimes. PMID:23326388

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.

50 CFR Figure 20 to Part 679 - Steller sea lion conservation area (SCA) of the Bering Sea

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-10-01

... 50 Wildlife and Fisheries 9 2010-10-01 2010-10-01 false Steller sea lion conservation area (SCA) of the Bering Sea 20 Figure 20 to Part 679 Wildlife and Fisheries FISHERY CONSERVATION AND MANAGEMENT... EXCLUSIVE ECONOMIC ZONE OFF ALASKA Pt. 679, Fig. 20 Figure 20 to Part 679—Steller sea lion conservation area...

50 CFR Figure 20 to Part 679 - Steller sea lion conservation area (SCA) of the Bering Sea

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-10-01

... 50 Wildlife and Fisheries 13 2013-10-01 2013-10-01 false Steller sea lion conservation area (SCA) of the Bering Sea 20 Figure 20 to Part 679 Wildlife and Fisheries FISHERY CONSERVATION AND MANAGEMENT... EXCLUSIVE ECONOMIC ZONE OFF ALASKA Pt. 679, Fig. 20 Figure 20 to Part 679—Steller sea lion conservation area...

50 CFR Figure 20 to Part 679 - Steller sea lion conservation area (SCA) of the Bering Sea

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-10-01

... 50 Wildlife and Fisheries 11 2011-10-01 2011-10-01 false Steller sea lion conservation area (SCA) of the Bering Sea 20 Figure 20 to Part 679 Wildlife and Fisheries FISHERY CONSERVATION AND MANAGEMENT... EXCLUSIVE ECONOMIC ZONE OFF ALASKA Pt. 679, Fig. 20 Figure 20 to Part 679—Steller sea lion conservation area...

50 CFR Figure 20 to Part 679 - Steller sea lion conservation area (SCA) of the Bering Sea

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-10-01

... 50 Wildlife and Fisheries 13 2014-10-01 2014-10-01 false Steller sea lion conservation area (SCA) of the Bering Sea 20 Figure 20 to Part 679 Wildlife and Fisheries FISHERY CONSERVATION AND MANAGEMENT... EXCLUSIVE ECONOMIC ZONE OFF ALASKA Pt. 679, Fig. 20 Figure 20 to Part 679—Steller sea lion conservation area...

50 CFR Figure 20 to Part 679 - Steller sea lion conservation area (SCA) of the Bering Sea

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-10-01

... 50 Wildlife and Fisheries 13 2012-10-01 2012-10-01 false Steller sea lion conservation area (SCA) of the Bering Sea 20 Figure 20 to Part 679 Wildlife and Fisheries FISHERY CONSERVATION AND MANAGEMENT... EXCLUSIVE ECONOMIC ZONE OFF ALASKA Pt. 679, Fig. 20 Figure 20 to Part 679—Steller sea lion conservation area...

Land Management Restrictions and Options for Change in Perpetual Conservation Easements

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Rissman, Adena; Bihari, Menka; Hamilton, Christopher; Locke, Christina; Lowenstein, David; Motew, Melissa; Price, Jessica; Smail, Robert

2013-07-01

Conservation organizations rely on conservation easements for diverse purposes, including protection of species and natural communities, working forests, and open space. This research investigated how perpetual conservation easements incorporated property rights, responsibilities, and options for change over time in land management. We compared 34 conservation easements held by one federal, three state, and four nonprofit organizations in Wisconsin. They incorporated six mechanisms for ongoing land management decision-making: management plans (74 %), modifications to permitted landowner uses with discretionary consent (65 %), amendment clauses (53 %), easement holder rights to conduct land management (50 %), reference to laws or policies as compliance terms (47 %), and conditional use permits (12 %). Easements with purposes to protect species and natural communities had more ecological monitoring rights, organizational control over land management, and mechanisms for change than easements with general open space purposes. Forestry purposes were associated with mechanisms for change but not necessarily with ecological monitoring rights or organizational control over land management. The Natural Resources Conservation Service-Wetland Reserve Program had a particularly consistent approach with high control over land use and some discretion to modify uses through permits. Conservation staff perceived a need to respond to changing social and ecological conditions but were divided on whether climate change was likely to negatively impact their conservation easements. Many conservation easements involved significant constraints on easement holders' options for altering land management to achieve conservation purposes over time. This study suggests the need for greater attention to easement drafting, monitoring, and ongoing decision processes to ensure the public benefits of land conservation in changing landscapes.

Land management restrictions and options for change in perpetual conservation easements.

PubMed

Rissman, Adena; Bihari, Menka; Hamilton, Christopher; Locke, Christina; Lowenstein, David; Motew, Melissa; Price, Jessica; Smail, Robert

2013-07-01

Conservation organizations rely on conservation easements for diverse purposes, including protection of species and natural communities, working forests, and open space. This research investigated how perpetual conservation easements incorporated property rights, responsibilities, and options for change over time in land management. We compared 34 conservation easements held by one federal, three state, and four nonprofit organizations in Wisconsin. They incorporated six mechanisms for ongoing land management decision-making: management plans (74 %), modifications to permitted landowner uses with discretionary consent (65 %), amendment clauses (53 %), easement holder rights to conduct land management (50 %), reference to laws or policies as compliance terms (47 %), and conditional use permits (12 %). Easements with purposes to protect species and natural communities had more ecological monitoring rights, organizational control over land management, and mechanisms for change than easements with general open space purposes. Forestry purposes were associated with mechanisms for change but not necessarily with ecological monitoring rights or organizational control over land management. The Natural Resources Conservation Service-Wetland Reserve Program had a particularly consistent approach with high control over land use and some discretion to modify uses through permits. Conservation staff perceived a need to respond to changing social and ecological conditions but were divided on whether climate change was likely to negatively impact their conservation easements. Many conservation easements involved significant constraints on easement holders' options for altering land management to achieve conservation purposes over time. This study suggests the need for greater attention to easement drafting, monitoring, and ongoing decision processes to ensure the public benefits of land conservation in changing landscapes.

Floristic conservation value, nested understory floras, and the development of second-growth forest.

PubMed

Spyreas, Greg; Matthews, Jeffrey W

2006-08-01

Nestedness analysis can reveal patterns of plant composition and diversity among forest patches. For nested floral assemblages, the plants occupying any one patch are a nested subset of the plants present in successively more speciose patches. Elimination of sensitive understory plants with human disturbance is one of several mechanisms hypothesized to generate nonrandom, nested floral distributions. Hypotheses explaining distributions of understory plants remain unsubstantiated across broad landscapes of varying forest types and disturbance histories. We sampled the vegetation of 51 floodplain and 55 upland forests across Illinois (USA) to examine how the diversity, composition, and nestedness of understory floras related to their overstory growth and structure (basal area), and their overall floristic conservation value (mean C). We found that plant assemblages were nested with respect to site species richness, such that rare plants indicated diverse forests. Floras were also nested with respect to site mean C and basal area (BA). However, in an opposite pattern from what we had expected, floras of high-BA stands were nested subsets of those of low-BA stands. A set of early-successional plants restricted to low-BA stands, and more importantly, the absence of a set of true forest plants in high-BA stands, accounted for this pattern. Additionally, we observed a decrease in species richness with increasing BA. These results are consistent with the hypothesis that recovery of true forest plants does not occur concurrently with overstory regeneration following massive anthropogenic disturbance. Nestedness by site mean C indicates that high conservation value (conservative) plants co-occur in highly diverse stands; these forests are assumed to be less disturbed historically. Because site mean C was uncorrelated with BA, BA-neutral disturbances such as livestock usage are suggested as accounting for between-site differences in mean C. When considered individually, conservative plants were actually more likely to be found in low-BA stands (uplands only). This suggests that floras of historically more open-canopied oak-hickory uplands are being degraded by canopy closure from increasing density of "mesophytic, nonpyrogenic" trees. It also indirectly suggests that recent moderate logging is uncorrelated with floristic conservation values.

Assessment of the urban water system with an open ...

EPA Pesticide Factsheets

Urban water systems convey complex environmental and man-made flows. The relationships among water flows and networked storages remains difficult to comprehensively evaluate. Such evaluation is important, however, as interventions are designed (e.g, conservation measures, green infrastructure) to modify specific flows of urban water (e.g. drinking water, stormwater) that may have systemic effects. We have developed a general model that specifies the relationships among urban water system components, and a set of tools for evaluating the model for any city as the R package CityWaterBalance. CityWaterBalance provides a reproducible workflow for assessing urban water system(s) by facilitating the retrieval of open data, largely via web services, and analysis of these data using open-source R functions. It allows the user to 1) quickly assemble a quantitative, unified picture of flows thorough an urban area, and 2) easily change the spatial and temporal boundaries of analysis to match scales relevant to local decision-making. We used CityWaterBalance to evaluate the water system in the Chicago metropolitan area on a monthly basis for water years 2001-2010. Results, including the relative magnitudes and temporal variability of major water flows in greater Chicago, are used to consider 1) trade-offs associated with management alternatives for stormwater and combined sewer overflows and 2) the significance of future changes in precipitation, which is the largest

Testing the Prey-Trap Hypothesis at Two Wildlife Conservancies in Kenya.

PubMed

Dupuis-Desormeaux, Marc; Davidson, Zeke; Mwololo, Mary; Kisio, Edwin; Taylor, Sam; MacDonald, Suzanne E

2015-01-01

Protecting an endangered and highly poached species can conflict with providing an open and ecologically connected landscape for coexisting species. In Kenya, about half of the black rhino (Diceros bicornis) live in electrically fenced private conservancies. Purpose-built fence-gaps permit some landscape connectivity for elephant while restricting rhino from escaping. We monitored the usage patterns at these gaps by motion-triggered cameras and found high traffic volumes and predictable patterns of prey movement. The prey-trap hypothesis (PTH) proposes that predators exploit this predictable prey movement. We tested the PTH at two semi-porous reserves using two different methods: a spatial analysis and a temporal analysis. Using spatial analysis, we mapped the location of predation events with GPS and looked for concentration of kill sites near the gaps as well as conducting clustering and hot spot analysis to determine areas of statistically significant predation clustering. Using temporal analysis, we examined the time lapse between the passage of prey and predator and searched for evidence of active prey seeking and/or predator avoidance. We found no support for the PTH and conclude that the design of the fence-gaps is well suited to promoting connectivity in these types of conservancies.

Forest Conservation Opportunity Areas - Conservative Model (ECO_RES.COA_FORREST66)

EPA Pesticide Factsheets

This layer designates areas with potential for forest conservation. These are areas of natural or semi-natural forest land cover patches that area at least 395 meters away from roads and away from patch edges. OAs were modeled by creating distance grids using the National Land Cover Database and the Census Bureau's TIGER road files.

Environmental globalization, organizational form, and expected benefits from protected areas in Central America

Treesearch

Max J. Pfeffer; John W. Schelhas; Catherine Meola

2006-01-01

Environmental globalization has led to the implementation of conservation efforts like the creation of protected areas that often promote the interests of core countries in poorer regions. The creation of protected areas in poor areas frequently creates tensions between human needs like - food and shelter and environmental conservation. Support for such conservation...

Forensic Excavation of Rock Masses: A Technique to Investigate Discontinuity Persistence

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Shang, J.; Hencher, S. R.; West, L. J.; Handley, K.

2017-11-01

True persistence of rock discontinuities (areas with insignificant tensile strength) is an important factor controlling the engineering behaviour of fractured rock masses, but is extremely difficult to quantify using current geological survey methodologies, even where there is good rock exposure. Trace length as measured in the field or using remote measurement devices is actually only broadly indicative of persistence for rock engineering practice and numerical modelling. Visible traces of discontinuities are treated as if they were open fractures within rock mass classifications, despite many such traces being non-persistent and actually retaining considerable strength. The common assumption of 100% persistence, based on trace length, is generally extremely conservative in terms of strength and stiffness, but not always so and may lead to a wrong prediction of failure mechanism or of excavatability. Assuming full persistence would give hopelessly incorrect predictions of hydraulic conductivity. A new technique termed forensic excavation of rock masses is introduced, as a procedure for directly investigating discontinuity persistence. This technique involves non-explosive excavation of rock masses by injecting an expansive chemical splitter along incipient discontinuities. On expansion, the splitter causes the incipient traces to open as true joints. Experiments are described in which near-planar rock discontinuities, through siltstone and sandstone, were opened up by injecting the splitter into holes drilled along the lines of visible traces of the discontinuities in the laboratory and in the field. Once exposed the surfaces were examined to investigate the pre-existing persistence characteristics of the incipient discontinuities. One conclusion from this study is that visible trace length of a discontinuity can be a poor indicator of true persistence (defined for a fracture area with negligible tensile strength). An observation from this series of experiments was that freshly failed surfaces through pre-existing rock bridges were relatively rough compared to sections of pre-existing weaker areas of geologically developed (though still incipient) discontinuities. Fractographic features such as hackle and rib marks were typical of the freshly broken rock bridges, whereas opened-up areas of incipient discontinuity were smoother. Schmidt hammer rebound values were generally higher for the rock bridge areas, probably reflecting their lower degree of chemical and physical weathering.

Drawing a line in the sand: Effectiveness of off-highway vehicle management in California's Sonoran desert

USGS Publications Warehouse

Custer, Nathan; Defalco, Lesley A.; Nussear, Kenneth E.; Esque, Todd C.

2017-01-01

Public land policies manage multiple uses while striving to protect vulnerable plant and wildlife habitats from degradation; yet the effectiveness of such policies are infrequently evaluated, particularly for remote landscapes that are difficult to monitor. We assessed the use and impacts of recreational vehicles on Mojave Desert washes (intermittent streams) in the Chemehuevi Desert Wildlife Management Area (DWMA) of southern California. Wash zones designated as open and closed to off-highway vehicle (OHV) activity were designed in part to protect Mojave desert tortoise (Gopherus agassizii) habitat while allowing recreation in designated areas. OHV tracks were monitored in washes located near access roads during winter and early spring holidays – when recreation is typically high – and at randomly dispersed locations away from roads. Washes near access roads had fewer vehicle tracks within closed than open zones; further away from roads, OHV tracks were infrequent and their occurrence was not different between wash designations. Washes were in better condition in closed zones following major holidays as indicated by less vegetation damage, presence of trash, and wash bank damage. Furthermore, the frequency of washes with live tortoises and their sign was marginally greater in closed than open wash zones. Collectively, these results suggest that low impacts to habitats in designated closed wash zones reflect public compliance with federal OHV policy and regulations in the Chemehuevi DWMA during our study. Future monitoring to contrast wash use and impacts during other seasons as well as in other DWMAs will elucidate spatial and temporal patterns of recreation in these important conservation areas.

Drawing a line in the sand: Effectiveness of off-highway vehicle management in California's Sonoran desert.

PubMed

Custer, Nathan A; DeFalco, Lesley A; Nussear, Kenneth E; Esque, Todd C

2017-05-15

Public land policies manage multiple uses while striving to protect vulnerable plant and wildlife habitats from degradation; yet the effectiveness of such policies are infrequently evaluated, particularly for remote landscapes that are difficult to monitor. We assessed the use and impacts of recreational vehicles on Mojave Desert washes (intermittent streams) in the Chemehuevi Desert Wildlife Management Area (DWMA) of southern California. Wash zones designated as open and closed to off-highway vehicle (OHV) activity were designed in part to protect Mojave desert tortoise (Gopherus agassizii) habitat while allowing recreation in designated areas. OHV tracks were monitored in washes located near access roads during winter and early spring holidays - when recreation is typically high - and at randomly dispersed locations away from roads. Washes near access roads had fewer vehicle tracks within closed than open zones; further away from roads, OHV tracks were infrequent and their occurrence was not different between wash designations. Washes were in better condition in closed zones following major holidays as indicated by less vegetation damage, presence of trash, and wash bank damage. Furthermore, the frequency of washes with live tortoises and their sign was marginally greater in closed than open wash zones. Collectively, these results suggest that low impacts to habitats in designated closed wash zones reflect public compliance with federal OHV policy and regulations in the Chemehuevi DWMA during our study. Future monitoring to contrast wash use and impacts during other seasons as well as in other DWMAs will elucidate spatial and temporal patterns of recreation in these important conservation areas. Published by Elsevier Ltd.

Migration ecology and stopover population size of Red Knots Calidris canutus rufa at Mingan Archipelago after exiting the breeding grounds

USGS Publications Warehouse

Lyons, James E.; Baker, Allan J.; González, Patricia M.; Aubry, Yves; Buidin, Christophe; Rochepault, Yann

2018-01-01

Populations of migratory birds present unique conservation challenges given the often vast distances separating critical resources throughout the annual cycle. Migration areas close to the breeding grounds represent a link between two key stages of the annual cycle, and understanding migration ecology as birds exit the breeding grounds may be particularly informative for successful conservation. We studied migration phenology and stopover ecology of an endangered subspecies of the Red Knot Calidris canutus rufa at a migration area relatively close to its breeding range. Using mark-recapture/resight data and a Jolly-Seber model for open populations, we described the arrival and departure schedules, stopover duration, and passage population size at the Mingan Archipelago, Quebec, Canada. Red Knots arrived at the study area in two distinct waves of birds separated by approximately 22 days. Nearly 30% of the passage population arrived in the first wave of arrivals during 15–18 July, and approximately 22% arrived in a second wave during 8–11 August. The sex-ratio in the stopover population at the time of the first wave was slightly skewed toward females, whereas the second wave was heavily skewed toward males. Because males remain on the breeding grounds to care for young, this may reflect successfulbreeding in the year of our study. The estimated stopover duration (population mean) was 11 days (95% credible interval: 10.3–11.7 days), but stopover persistence was variable throughout the season. We estimated a passage population size of 9,450 birds (8,355–10,710), a minimum estimate for reasons related to the duration of our sampling. Mingan Archipelago is thus an important migration area for this endangered subspecies and could be a priority in conservation planning. Our results also emphasize the advantages of mark-recapture/resight approaches for estimating migration phenology and stopover persistence.

Incorporating threat in hotspots and coldspots of biodiversity and ecosystem services.

PubMed

Schröter, Matthias; Kraemer, Roland; Ceauşu, Silvia; Rusch, Graciela M

2017-11-01

Spatial prioritization could help target conservation actions directed to maintain both biodiversity and ecosystem services. We delineate hotspots and coldspots of two biodiversity conservation features and five regulating and cultural services by incorporating an indicator of 'threat', i.e. timber harvest profitability for forest areas in Telemark (Norway). We found hotspots, where high values of biodiversity, ecosystem services and threat coincide, ranging from 0.1 to 7.1% of the area, depending on varying threshold levels. Targeting of these areas for conservation follows reactive conservation approaches. In coldspots, high biodiversity and ecosystem service values coincide with low levels of threat, and cover 0.1-3.4% of the forest area. These areas might serve proactive conservation approaches at lower opportunity cost (foregone timber harvest profits). We conclude that a combination of indicators of biodiversity, ecosystem services and potential threat is an appropriate approach for spatial prioritization of proactive and reactive conservation strategies.

Structural connectivity at a national scale: Wildlife corridors in Tanzania.

PubMed

Riggio, Jason; Caro, Tim

2017-01-01

Wildlife corridors can help maintain landscape connectivity but novel methods must be developed to assess regional structural connectivity quickly and cheaply so as to determine where expensive and time-consuming surveys of functional connectivity should occur. We use least-cost methods, the most accurate and up-to-date land conversion dataset for East Africa, and interview data on wildlife corridors, to develop a single, consistent methodology to systematically assess wildlife corridors at a national scale using Tanzania as a case study. Our research aimed to answer the following questions; (i) which corridors may still remain open (i.e. structurally connected) at a national scale, (ii) which have been potentially severed by anthropogenic land conversion (e.g., agriculture and settlements), (iii) where are other remaining potential wildlife corridors located, and (iv) which protected areas with lower forms of protection (e.g., Forest Reserves and Wildlife Management Areas) may act as stepping-stones linking more than one National Park and/or Game Reserve. We identify a total of 52 structural connections between protected areas that are potentially open to wildlife movement, and in so doing add 23 to those initially identified by other methods in Tanzanian Government reports. We find that the vast majority of corridors noted in earlier reports as "likely to be severed" have actually not been cut structurally (21 of 24). Nonetheless, nearly a sixth of all the wildlife corridors identified in Tanzania in 2009 have potentially been separated by land conversion, and a third now pass across lands likely to be converted to human use in the near future. Our study uncovers two reserves with lower forms of protection (Uvinza Forest Reserve in the west and Wami-Mbiki Wildlife Management Area in the east) that act as apparently crucial stepping-stones between National Parks and/or Game Reserves and therefore require far more serious conservation support. Methods used in this study are readily applicable to other nations lacking detailed data on wildlife movements and plagued by inaccurate land cover datasets. Our results are the first step in identifying wildlife corridors at a regional scale and provide a springboard for ground-based follow-up conservation.

Structural connectivity at a national scale: Wildlife corridors in Tanzania

PubMed Central

Caro, Tim

2017-01-01

Wildlife corridors can help maintain landscape connectivity but novel methods must be developed to assess regional structural connectivity quickly and cheaply so as to determine where expensive and time-consuming surveys of functional connectivity should occur. We use least-cost methods, the most accurate and up-to-date land conversion dataset for East Africa, and interview data on wildlife corridors, to develop a single, consistent methodology to systematically assess wildlife corridors at a national scale using Tanzania as a case study. Our research aimed to answer the following questions; (i) which corridors may still remain open (i.e. structurally connected) at a national scale, (ii) which have been potentially severed by anthropogenic land conversion (e.g., agriculture and settlements), (iii) where are other remaining potential wildlife corridors located, and (iv) which protected areas with lower forms of protection (e.g., Forest Reserves and Wildlife Management Areas) may act as stepping-stones linking more than one National Park and/or Game Reserve. We identify a total of 52 structural connections between protected areas that are potentially open to wildlife movement, and in so doing add 23 to those initially identified by other methods in Tanzanian Government reports. We find that the vast majority of corridors noted in earlier reports as “likely to be severed” have actually not been cut structurally (21 of 24). Nonetheless, nearly a sixth of all the wildlife corridors identified in Tanzania in 2009 have potentially been separated by land conversion, and a third now pass across lands likely to be converted to human use in the near future. Our study uncovers two reserves with lower forms of protection (Uvinza Forest Reserve in the west and Wami-Mbiki Wildlife Management Area in the east) that act as apparently crucial stepping-stones between National Parks and/or Game Reserves and therefore require far more serious conservation support. Methods used in this study are readily applicable to other nations lacking detailed data on wildlife movements and plagued by inaccurate land cover datasets. Our results are the first step in identifying wildlife corridors at a regional scale and provide a springboard for ground-based follow-up conservation. PMID:29095901

Bird conservation would complement landslide prevention in the Central Andes of Colombia

PubMed Central

Ocampo-Peñuela, Natalia

2015-01-01

Conservation and restoration priorities often focus on separate ecosystem problems. Inspired by the November 11th (2011) landslide event near Manizales, and the current poor results of Colombia’s Article 111 of Law 99 of 1993 as a conservation measure in this country, we set out to prioritize conservation and restoration areas where landslide prevention would complement bird conservation in the Central Andes. This area is one of the most biodiverse places on Earth, but also one of the most threatened. Using the case of the Rio Blanco Reserve, near Manizales, we identified areas for conservation where endemic and small-range bird diversity was high, and where landslide risk was also high. We further prioritized restoration areas by overlapping these conservation priorities with a forest cover map. Restoring forests in bare areas of high landslide risk and important bird diversity yields benefits for both biodiversity and people. We developed a simple landslide susceptibility model using slope, forest cover, aspect, and stream proximity. Using publicly available bird range maps, refined by elevation, we mapped concentrations of endemic and small-range bird species. We identified 1.54 km2 of potential restoration areas in the Rio Blanco Reserve, and 886 km2 in the Central Andes region. By prioritizing these areas, we facilitate the application of Article 111 which requires local and regional governments to invest in land purchases for the conservation of watersheds. PMID:25737819

Bird conservation would complement landslide prevention in the Central Andes of Colombia.

PubMed

Ocampo-Peñuela, Natalia; Pimm, Stuart L

2015-01-01

Conservation and restoration priorities often focus on separate ecosystem problems. Inspired by the November 11th (2011) landslide event near Manizales, and the current poor results of Colombia's Article 111 of Law 99 of 1993 as a conservation measure in this country, we set out to prioritize conservation and restoration areas where landslide prevention would complement bird conservation in the Central Andes. This area is one of the most biodiverse places on Earth, but also one of the most threatened. Using the case of the Rio Blanco Reserve, near Manizales, we identified areas for conservation where endemic and small-range bird diversity was high, and where landslide risk was also high. We further prioritized restoration areas by overlapping these conservation priorities with a forest cover map. Restoring forests in bare areas of high landslide risk and important bird diversity yields benefits for both biodiversity and people. We developed a simple landslide susceptibility model using slope, forest cover, aspect, and stream proximity. Using publicly available bird range maps, refined by elevation, we mapped concentrations of endemic and small-range bird species. We identified 1.54 km(2) of potential restoration areas in the Rio Blanco Reserve, and 886 km(2) in the Central Andes region. By prioritizing these areas, we facilitate the application of Article 111 which requires local and regional governments to invest in land purchases for the conservation of watersheds.

[Potential distribution of jaguar, Panthera onca (Carnivora: Felidae) in Guerrero, Mexico: persistence of areas for its conservation].

PubMed

Cuervo-Robayo, Angela P; Monroy-Vilchis, Octavio

2012-09-01

Studies about the permanence of natural protected areas are important, because they contribute to the promotion of the conservation target and to optimize economical and human resources of specific areas. Although there are no natural protected areas in Guerrero, it has suitable habitat for the jaguar, a common species used for planning and management of conservation areas. Since, there is actual evidence that environmental and anthropogenic variables may modify vertebrate species distribution with time, in this study we predicted the potential distribution of Panthera onca using MaxEnt for this Southeastern region. In addition, we made a projection considering the effect of a moderate climate change scenario, to evaluate the stability of the conservation area for a period of 24 years. Furthermore, we applied three threat scenarios for the actual prediction to define conservation priorities areas. In our results, we have found that 18 361Km2 (29%) of this state has a permanent suitable habitat for jaguar conservation in the Sierra Madre del Sur and Pacific coast, with a possible loss of 2 000km2 in 24 years. This habitat is characterized by a 56% of temperate forest (mainly conifers and hardwoods 34%), and 35% of tropical deciduous forest. With the projections, the Southeastern region resulted with the higher anthropogenic impacts, while at the same time, an area of 7 900km2 in the Central-Western state was determined as a priority for conservation. To assure jaguar conservation, we propose the inclusion of this new conservation area, which is located in the Sierra Madre del Sur, with which we may potentially preserve other 250 species of threatened vertebrates. This way, the suggested habitat conservation may represent a local effort in Guerrero and will strengthen the biological corridor network for P. onca protection in Latin America.

Non-target effects on songbirds from habitat manipulation for Greater Sage-Grouse: Implications for the umbrella species concept

USGS Publications Warehouse

Carlisle, Jason D.; Chalfoun, Anna D.; Smith, Kurt T.; Beck, Jeffery L.

2018-01-01

The “umbrella species” concept is a conservation strategy in which creating and managing reserve areas to meet the needs of one species is thought to benefit other species indirectly. Broad-scale habitat protections on behalf of an umbrella species are assumed to benefit co-occurring taxa, but targeted management actions to improve local habitat suitability for the umbrella species may produce unintended effects on other species. Our objective was to quantify the effects of a common habitat treatment (mowing of big sagebrush [Artemisia tridentata]) intended to benefit a high-profile umbrella species (Greater Sage-Grouse [Centrocercus urophasianus]) on 3 sympatric songbird species of concern. We used a before–after control-impact experimental design spanning 3 yr in Wyoming, USA, to quantify the effect of mowing on the abundance, nest-site selection, nestling condition, and nest survival of 2 sagebrush-obligate songbirds (Brewer's Sparrow [Spizella breweri] and Sage Thrasher [Oreoscoptes montanus]) and one open-habitat generalist songbird (Vesper Sparrow [Pooecetes gramineus]). Mowing was associated with lower abundance of Brewer's Sparrows and Sage Thrashers but higher abundance of Vesper Sparrows. We found no Brewer's Sparrows or Sage Thrashers nesting in the mowed footprint posttreatment, which suggests complete loss of nesting habitat for these species. Mowing was associated with higher nestling condition and nest survival for Vesper Sparrows but not for the sagebrush-obligate species. Management prescriptions that remove woody biomass within a mosaic of intact habitat may be tolerated by sagebrush-obligate songbirds but are likely more beneficial for open-habitat generalist species. By definition, umbrella species conservation entails habitat protections at broad spatial scales. We caution that habitat manipulations to benefit Greater Sage-Grouse could negatively affect nontarget species of conservation concern if implemented across large spatial extents.

Measuring the difference made by conservation initiatives: protected areas and their environmental and social impacts.

PubMed

Ferraro, Paul J; Pressey, Robert L

2015-11-05

Success in conservation depends on our ability to reduce human pressures in areas that harbour biological diversity and ecosystem services. Legally protecting some of these areas through the creation of protected areas is a key component of conservation efforts globally. To develop effective protected area networks, practitioners need credible, scientific evidence about the degree to which protected areas affect environmental and social outcomes, and how these effects vary with context. Such evidence has been lacking, but the situation is changing as conservation scientists adopt more sophisticated research designs for evaluating protected areas' past impacts and for predicting their future impacts. Complementing these scientific advances, conservation funders and practitioners are paying increasing attention to evaluating their investments with more scientifically rigorous evaluation designs. This theme issue highlights recent advances in the science of protected area evaluations and explores the challenges to developing a more credible evidence base that can help societies achieve their goals of protecting nature while enhancing human welfare. © 2015 The Author(s).

Measuring the difference made by conservation initiatives: protected areas and their environmental and social impacts

PubMed Central

Ferraro, Paul J.; Pressey, Robert L.

2015-01-01

Success in conservation depends on our ability to reduce human pressures in areas that harbour biological diversity and ecosystem services. Legally protecting some of these areas through the creation of protected areas is a key component of conservation efforts globally. To develop effective protected area networks, practitioners need credible, scientific evidence about the degree to which protected areas affect environmental and social outcomes, and how these effects vary with context. Such evidence has been lacking, but the situation is changing as conservation scientists adopt more sophisticated research designs for evaluating protected areas' past impacts and for predicting their future impacts. Complementing these scientific advances, conservation funders and practitioners are paying increasing attention to evaluating their investments with more scientifically rigorous evaluation designs. This theme issue highlights recent advances in the science of protected area evaluations and explores the challenges to developing a more credible evidence base that can help societies achieve their goals of protecting nature while enhancing human welfare. PMID:26460123

Theoretical analysis of multiphase flow during oil-well drilling by a conservative model

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Nicolas-Lopez, Ruben

2005-11-01

In order to decrease cost and improve drilling operations is necessary a better understood of the flow mechanisms. Therefore, it was carried out a multiphase conservative model that includes three mass equations and a momentum equation. Also, the measured geothermal gradient is utilized by state equations for estimating physical properties of the phases flowing. The mathematical model is solved by numerical conservative schemes. It is used to analyze the interaction among solid-liquid-gas phases. The circulating system consists as follow, the circulating fluid is pumped downward into the drilling pipe until the bottom of the open hole then it flows through the drill bit, and at this point formation cuttings are incorporated to the circulating fluid and carried upward to the surface. The mixture returns up to the surface by an annular flow area. The real operational conditions are fed to conservative model and the results are matched up to field measurements in several oil wells. Mainly, flow rates, drilling rate, well and tool geometries are data to estimate the profiles of pressure, mixture density, equivalent circulating density, gas fraction and solid carrying capacity. Even though the problem is very complex, the model describes, properly, the hydrodynamics of drilling techniques applied at oil fields. *Authors want to thank to Instituto Mexicano del Petroleo and Petroleos Mexicanos for supporting this research.

Energy Conservation Featured in Illinois High School

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Modern Schools, 1976

1976-01-01

The William Fremd High School in Palatine, Illinois, scheduled to open in 1977, is being built with energy conservation uppermost in mind. In this system, 70 heat pumps will heat and cool 300,000 square feet of educational facilities. (Author/MLF)

Mammal indicator species for protected areas and managed forests in a landscape conservation area in northern India

Treesearch

Pradeep K. Mathur; Harish Kumar; John F. Lehmkuhl; Anshuman Tripathi; Vishwas B. Sawarkar; Rupak De

2010-01-01

There is a realization that managed forests and other natural areas in the landscape matrix can and must make significant contributions to biodiversity conservation. Often, however, there are no consistent baseline vegetation or wildlife data for assessing the status of biodiversity elements across protected and managed areas for conservation planning, nor is there a...

50 CFR Figure 17 to Part 679 - Northern Bering Sea Research Area and Saint Lawrence Island Habitat Conservation Area (HCA)

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-10-01

... 50 Wildlife and Fisheries 11 2011-10-01 2011-10-01 false Northern Bering Sea Research Area and Saint Lawrence Island Habitat Conservation Area (HCA) 17 Figure 17 to part 679 Wildlife and Fisheries FISHERY CONSERVATION AND MANAGEMENT, NATIONAL OCEANIC AND ATMOSPHERIC ADMINISTRATION, DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE (CONTINUED) FISHERIES OF THE EXCLUSIVE...

50 CFR Figure 17 to Part 679 - Northern Bering Sea Research Area and Saint Lawrence Island Habitat Conservation Area (HCA)

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-10-01

... 50 Wildlife and Fisheries 13 2012-10-01 2012-10-01 false Northern Bering Sea Research Area and Saint Lawrence Island Habitat Conservation Area (HCA) 17 Figure 17 to part 679 Wildlife and Fisheries FISHERY CONSERVATION AND MANAGEMENT, NATIONAL OCEANIC AND ATMOSPHERIC ADMINISTRATION, DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE (CONTINUED) FISHERIES OF THE EXCLUSIVE...

50 CFR Figure 17 to Part 679 - Northern Bering Sea Research Area and Saint Lawrence Island Habitat Conservation Area (HCA)

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-10-01

... 50 Wildlife and Fisheries 13 2014-10-01 2014-10-01 false Northern Bering Sea Research Area and Saint Lawrence Island Habitat Conservation Area (HCA) 17 Figure 17 to part 679 Wildlife and Fisheries FISHERY CONSERVATION AND MANAGEMENT, NATIONAL OCEANIC AND ATMOSPHERIC ADMINISTRATION, DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE (CONTINUED) FISHERIES OF THE EXCLUSIVE...

50 CFR Figure 17 to Part 679 - Northern Bering Sea Research Area and Saint Lawrence Island Habitat Conservation Area (HCA)

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-10-01

... 50 Wildlife and Fisheries 13 2013-10-01 2013-10-01 false Northern Bering Sea Research Area and Saint Lawrence Island Habitat Conservation Area (HCA) 17 Figure 17 to part 679 Wildlife and Fisheries FISHERY CONSERVATION AND MANAGEMENT, NATIONAL OCEANIC AND ATMOSPHERIC ADMINISTRATION, DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE (CONTINUED) FISHERIES OF THE EXCLUSIVE...

HMMerThread: detecting remote, functional conserved domains in entire genomes by combining relaxed sequence-database searches with fold recognition.

PubMed

Bradshaw, Charles Richard; Surendranath, Vineeth; Henschel, Robert; Mueller, Matthias Stefan; Habermann, Bianca Hermine

2011-03-10

Conserved domains in proteins are one of the major sources of functional information for experimental design and genome-level annotation. Though search tools for conserved domain databases such as Hidden Markov Models (HMMs) are sensitive in detecting conserved domains in proteins when they share sufficient sequence similarity, they tend to miss more divergent family members, as they lack a reliable statistical framework for the detection of low sequence similarity. We have developed a greatly improved HMMerThread algorithm that can detect remotely conserved domains in highly divergent sequences. HMMerThread combines relaxed conserved domain searches with fold recognition to eliminate false positive, sequence-based identifications. With an accuracy of 90%, our software is able to automatically predict highly divergent members of conserved domain families with an associated 3-dimensional structure. We give additional confidence to our predictions by validation across species. We have run HMMerThread searches on eight proteomes including human and present a rich resource of remotely conserved domains, which adds significantly to the functional annotation of entire proteomes. We find ∼4500 cross-species validated, remotely conserved domain predictions in the human proteome alone. As an example, we find a DNA-binding domain in the C-terminal part of the A-kinase anchor protein 10 (AKAP10), a PKA adaptor that has been implicated in cardiac arrhythmias and premature cardiac death, which upon stress likely translocates from mitochondria to the nucleus/nucleolus. Based on our prediction, we propose that with this HLH-domain, AKAP10 is involved in the transcriptional control of stress response. Further remotely conserved domains we discuss are examples from areas such as sporulation, chromosome segregation and signalling during immune response. The HMMerThread algorithm is able to automatically detect the presence of remotely conserved domains in proteins based on weak sequence similarity. Our predictions open up new avenues for biological and medical studies. Genome-wide HMMerThread domains are available at http://vm1-hmmerthread.age.mpg.de.

HMMerThread: Detecting Remote, Functional Conserved Domains in Entire Genomes by Combining Relaxed Sequence-Database Searches with Fold Recognition

PubMed Central

Bradshaw, Charles Richard; Surendranath, Vineeth; Henschel, Robert; Mueller, Matthias Stefan; Habermann, Bianca Hermine

2011-01-01

Conserved domains in proteins are one of the major sources of functional information for experimental design and genome-level annotation. Though search tools for conserved domain databases such as Hidden Markov Models (HMMs) are sensitive in detecting conserved domains in proteins when they share sufficient sequence similarity, they tend to miss more divergent family members, as they lack a reliable statistical framework for the detection of low sequence similarity. We have developed a greatly improved HMMerThread algorithm that can detect remotely conserved domains in highly divergent sequences. HMMerThread combines relaxed conserved domain searches with fold recognition to eliminate false positive, sequence-based identifications. With an accuracy of 90%, our software is able to automatically predict highly divergent members of conserved domain families with an associated 3-dimensional structure. We give additional confidence to our predictions by validation across species. We have run HMMerThread searches on eight proteomes including human and present a rich resource of remotely conserved domains, which adds significantly to the functional annotation of entire proteomes. We find ∼4500 cross-species validated, remotely conserved domain predictions in the human proteome alone. As an example, we find a DNA-binding domain in the C-terminal part of the A-kinase anchor protein 10 (AKAP10), a PKA adaptor that has been implicated in cardiac arrhythmias and premature cardiac death, which upon stress likely translocates from mitochondria to the nucleus/nucleolus. Based on our prediction, we propose that with this HLH-domain, AKAP10 is involved in the transcriptional control of stress response. Further remotely conserved domains we discuss are examples from areas such as sporulation, chromosome segregation and signalling during immune response. The HMMerThread algorithm is able to automatically detect the presence of remotely conserved domains in proteins based on weak sequence similarity. Our predictions open up new avenues for biological and medical studies. Genome-wide HMMerThread domains are available at http://vm1-hmmerthread.age.mpg.de. PMID:21423752

7 CFR 1468.4 - Establishing Conservation Farm Option (CFO) pilot project areas.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-01-01

... 7 Agriculture 10 2010-01-01 2010-01-01 false Establishing Conservation Farm Option (CFO) pilot...) COMMODITY CREDIT CORPORATION, DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE LOANS, PURCHASES, AND OTHER OPERATIONS CONSERVATION FARM OPTION General Provisions § 1468.4 Establishing Conservation Farm Option (CFO) pilot project areas...

78 FR 26308 - Endangered and Threatened Wildlife and Plants; Proposed Threatened Status for Coral Pink Sand...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2013-05-06

... appropriate habitat is found, the area will be considered for experimental introduction. The conservation committee will increase research efforts in experimental translocations in Conservation Area B and evaluate... conduct experimental vegetation treatments within existing conservation areas to determine if this...

[Geographic distribution of birds in the Sierra Madre Oriental of San Luis Potosi, Mexico: a regional analysis of conservation status].

PubMed

Sahagún Sánchez, Francisco Javier; Navarro, Jaime Castro; Reyes Hernández, Humberto

2013-06-01

The Sierra Madre Oriental region in the mexican state of San Luis Potosi is a relevant place for bird conservation at a country level. Therefore the main goal of this study was to analyze the geographic patterns of distribution and the conservation current state of the birds, to support the needs to expand the conservation areas in the future. Data was collected from various databases of zoological museums and collections, and field sampling methods conducted from January 2009 to May 2011. Potential distributions were modeled for 284 species using GARP software and then a map was developed to determine areas with favorable environmental characteristics for the distribution of species richness. Finally, the importance of conservation areas for the potential distribution of birds in the region was evaluated. A total of 359 species were recorded of which 71.4% are permanent residents, 19% are winter migrants and 4% are summer residents. From this total, 41 species were endemic, 47 were species at risk and 149 were neotropical migrants. The largest species richness correspond to oak forests, cloud forests, and tropical moist forests located at altitudes from 100m to 1 500m. Their potential distribution was concentrated towards the center and Southeast of the study area. Only 10% of areas with a high potential conservation was included in areas of priority for bird conservation (AICA) and just 3% of all potential areas were under some governmental category of protection. However, no conservation area has a management plan currently applied and monitored. The information generated is important for the development of management proposals for birds conservation in the region.

Opuntia in México: Identifying Priority Areas for Conserving Biodiversity in a Multi-Use Landscape

PubMed Central

Illoldi-Rangel, Patricia; Ciarleglio, Michael; Sheinvar, Leia; Linaje, Miguel; Sánchez-Cordero, Victor; Sarkar, Sahotra

2012-01-01

Background México is one of the world's centers of species diversity (richness) for Opuntia cacti. Yet, in spite of their economic and ecological importance, Opuntia species remain poorly studied and protected in México. Many of the species are sparsely but widely distributed across the landscape and are subject to a variety of human uses, so devising implementable conservation plans for them presents formidable difficulties. Multi–criteria analysis can be used to design a spatially coherent conservation area network while permitting sustainable human usage. Methods and Findings Species distribution models were created for 60 Opuntia species using MaxEnt. Targets of representation within conservation area networks were assigned at 100% for the geographically rarest species and 10% for the most common ones. Three different conservation plans were developed to represent the species within these networks using total area, shape, and connectivity as relevant criteria. Multi–criteria analysis and a metaheuristic adaptive tabu search algorithm were used to search for optimal solutions. The plans were built on the existing protected areas of México and prioritized additional areas for management for the persistence of Opuntia species. All plans required around one–third of México's total area to be prioritized for attention for Opuntia conservation, underscoring the implausibility of Opuntia conservation through traditional land reservation. Tabu search turned out to be both computationally tractable and easily implementable for search problems of this kind. Conclusions Opuntia conservation in México require the management of large areas of land for multiple uses. The multi-criteria analyses identified priority areas and organized them in large contiguous blocks that can be effectively managed. A high level of connectivity was established among the prioritized areas resulting in the enhancement of possible modes of plant dispersal as well as only a small number of blocks that would be recommended for conservation management. PMID:22606279

The links between protected areas, faiths, and sacred natural sites.

PubMed

Dudley, Nigel; Higgins-Zogib, Liza; Mansourian, Stephanie

2009-06-01

Most people follow and are influenced by some kind of spiritual faith. We examined two ways in which religious faiths can in turn influence biodiversity conservation in protected areas. First, biodiversity conservation is influenced through the direct and often effective protection afforded to wild species in sacred natural sites and in seminatural habitats around religious buildings. Sacred natural sites are almost certainly the world's oldest form of habitat protection. Although some sacred natural sites exist inside official protected areas, many thousands more form a largely unrecognized "shadow" conservation network in many countries throughout the world, which can be more stringently protected than state-run reserves. Second, faiths have a profound impact on attitudes to protection of the natural world through their philosophy, teachings, investment choices, approaches to land they control, and religious-based management systems. We considered the interactions between faiths and protected areas with respect to all 11 mainstream faiths and to a number of local belief systems. The close links between faiths and habitat protection offer major conservation opportunities, but also pose challenges. Bringing a sacred natural site into a national protected-area system can increase protection for the site, but may compromise some of its spiritual values or even its conservation values. Most protected-area managers are not trained to manage natural sites for religious purposes, but many sacred natural sites are under threat from cultural changes and habitat degradation. Decisions about whether or not to make a sacred natural site an "official" protected area therefore need to be made on a case-by-case basis. Such sites can play an important role in conservation inside and outside official protected areas. More information about the conservation value of sacred lands is needed as is more informed experience in integrating these into wider conservation strategies. In addition, many protected-area staff need training in how to manage sensitive issues relating to faiths where important faith sites occur in protected areas. ©2009 Society for Conservation Biology.

Using Remote Sensing Technology on the Delimitation of the Conservation Area for the Jianan Irrigation System Cultural Landsccape

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wang, C. H.

2015-08-01

In recent years the cultural landscape has become an important issue for cultural heritages throughout the world. It represents the "combined works of nature and of man" designated in Article 1 of the World Heritage Convention. When a landscape has a cultural heritage value, important features should be marked and mapped through the delimitation of a conservation area, which may be essential for further conservation work. However, a cultural landscape's spatial area is usually wider than the ordinary architectural type of cultural heritage, since various elements and impact factors, forming the cultural landscape's character, lie within a wide geographic area. It is argued that the conservation of a cultural landscape may be influenced by the delimitation of the conservation area, the corresponding land management measures, the limits and encouragements. The Jianan Irrigation System, an historical cultural landscape in southern Taiwan, was registered as a living cultural heritage site in 2009. However, the system's conservation should not be limited to just only the reservoir or canals, but expanded to irrigated areas where farmland may be the most relevant. Through the analysis process, only approximately 42,000 hectares was defined as a conservation area, but closely related to agricultural plantations and irrigated by the system. This is only half of the 1977 irrigated area due to urban sprawl and continuous industrial expansion.

Transosseous fixation of pediatric displaced mandibular fractures with polyglactin resorbable suture--a simplified technique.

PubMed

Chandan, Sanjay; Halli, Rajshekhar; Joshi, Samir; Chhabaria, Gaurav; Setiya, Sneha

2013-11-01

Management of pediatric mandibular fractures presents a unique challenge to surgeons in terms of its numerous variations compared to adults. Both conservative and open methods have been advocated with their obvious limitations and complications. However, conservative modalities may not be possible in grossly displaced fractures, which necessitate the open method of fixation. We present a novel and simplified technique of transosseous fixation of displaced pediatric mandibular fractures with polyglactin resorbable suture, which provides adequate stability without any interference with tooth buds and which is easy to master.

Mass conservation: 1-D open channel flow equations

USGS Publications Warehouse

DeLong, Lewis L.

1989-01-01

Unsteady flow simulation in natural rivers is often complicated by meandering channels of compound section. Hydraulic properties and the length of the wetted channel may vary significantly as a meandering river inundates its adjacent floodplain. The one-dimensional, unsteady, open-channel flow equations can be extended to simulate floods in channels of compound section. It will be shown that equations derived from the addition of differential equations individually describing flow in main and overbank channels do not in general conserve mass when overbank and main channels are of different lengths.

The economic benefits of parks and open space : how land conservation helps communities grow smart and protect the bottom line

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

1999-01-01

Open space is an investment that produces important economic benefits. It does not have to be an expense. This document relates examples and data that can help concerned citizens and leaders make the economic case for open space and parks conservatio...

17 CFR 210.12-12B - Open option contracts written.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-04-01

... 17 Commodity and Securities Exchanges 2 2013-04-01 2013-04-01 false Open option contracts written. 210.12-12B Section 210.12-12B Commodity and Securities Exchanges SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION... AND CONSERVATION ACT OF 1975 Form and Content of Schedules § 210.12-12B Open option contracts written...

17 CFR 210.12-12B - Open option contracts written.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-04-01

... 17 Commodity and Securities Exchanges 3 2014-04-01 2014-04-01 false Open option contracts written. 210.12-12B Section 210.12-12B Commodity and Securities Exchanges SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION... AND CONSERVATION ACT OF 1975 For Management Investment Companies § 210.12-12B Open option contracts...

17 CFR 210.12-12B - Open option contracts written.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-04-01

... 17 Commodity and Securities Exchanges 2 2012-04-01 2012-04-01 false Open option contracts written. 210.12-12B Section 210.12-12B Commodity and Securities Exchanges SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION... AND CONSERVATION ACT OF 1975 Form and Content of Schedules § 210.12-12B Open option contracts written...

Indicating disturbance content and context for preserved areas

Treesearch

N. Zaccarelli; K.H. Riitters; I. Petrosillo; G. Zurlini

2007-01-01

An accepted goal of conservation is to build a conservation network that is resilient to environmental change. The conceptual patch-corridor-matrix model views individual conservation areas as connected components of a regional network capable of sustaining metapopulations and biodiversity, and assessment of contextual conditions in the matrix surrounding conservation...

All Conservation Opportunity Areas (ECO.RES.ALL_OP_AREAS)

EPA Pesticide Factsheets

The All_OP_Areas GIS layer are all the Conservation Opportunity Areas identified by MoRAP (produced for EPA Region 7). They designate areas with potential for forest, grassland and forest/grassland mosaic conservation. These are areas of natural or semi-natural forest land cover that are at least 75 meters away from roads and away from patch edges. OAs were modeled by creating distance grids using the National Land Cover Database and the Census Bureau's TIGER roads files.

A computational method for sharp interface advection.

PubMed

Roenby, Johan; Bredmose, Henrik; Jasak, Hrvoje

2016-11-01

We devise a numerical method for passive advection of a surface, such as the interface between two incompressible fluids, across a computational mesh. The method is called isoAdvector, and is developed for general meshes consisting of arbitrary polyhedral cells. The algorithm is based on the volume of fluid (VOF) idea of calculating the volume of one of the fluids transported across the mesh faces during a time step. The novelty of the isoAdvector concept consists of two parts. First, we exploit an isosurface concept for modelling the interface inside cells in a geometric surface reconstruction step. Second, from the reconstructed surface, we model the motion of the face-interface intersection line for a general polygonal face to obtain the time evolution within a time step of the submerged face area. Integrating this submerged area over the time step leads to an accurate estimate for the total volume of fluid transported across the face. The method was tested on simple two-dimensional and three-dimensional interface advection problems on both structured and unstructured meshes. The results are very satisfactory in terms of volume conservation, boundedness, surface sharpness and efficiency. The isoAdvector method was implemented as an OpenFOAM ® extension and is published as open source.

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

None

An OpenStudio Measure is a script that can manipulate an OpenStudio model and associated data to apply energy conservation measures (ECMs), run supplemental simulations, or visualize simulation results. The OpenStudio software development kit (SDK) and accessibility of the Ruby scripting language makes measure authorship accessible to both software developers and energy modelers. This paper discusses the life cycle of an OpenStudio Measure from development, testing, and distribution, to application.

Vegetation mapping of Nowitna National Wildlife Reguge, Alaska using Landsat MSS digital data

USGS Publications Warehouse

Talbot, S. S.; Markon, Carl J.

1986-01-01

A Landsat-derived vegetation map was prepared for Nowitna National Wildlife Refuge. The refuge lies within the middle boreal subzone of north central Alaska. Seven major vegetation classes and sixteen subclasses were recognized: forest (closed needleleaf, open needleleaf, needleleaf woodland, mixed, and broadleaf); broadleaf scrub (lowland, alluvial, subalpine); dwarf scrub (prostrate dwarf shrub tundra, dwarf shrub-graminoid tussock peatland); herbaceous (graminoid bog, marsh and meadow); scarcely vegetated areas (scarcely vegetated scree and floodplain); water (clear, turbid); and other areas (mountain shadow). The methodology employed a cluster-block technique. Sample areas were described based on a combination of helicopter-ground survey, aerial photointerpretation, and digital Landsat data. Major steps in the Landsat analysis involved preprocessing (geometric correction), derivation of statistical parameters for spectral classes, spectral class labeling of sample areas, preliminary classification of the entire study area using a maximum-likelihood algorithm, and final classification utilizing ancillary information such as digital elevation data. The final product is a 1:250,000-scale vegetation map representative of distinctive regional patterns and suitable for use in comprehensive conservation planning.

Sialocele: A rare sequlae of transparotid approach in subcondylar fracture management

PubMed Central

Rajeev, R.; Sajesh, S.; Jose, Mathew; Kumar, N. Dhineksh

2016-01-01

Iatrogenic injury and/or damage to the parotid salivary gland during transparotid approach for open reduction and internal fixation of mandibular condyle fracture is a rare event. Accumulation of saliva in the gland leads to formation of a sialocele. Huge sialocele often seeks drain through the most dependent area through an extraoral wound, whereas in the absence of extraoral fistula, saliva can be redirected intraorally using a stent. A case of mangement of sialocele caused by damage to glandular elements during a transparotid approach for a subcondylar fracture reduction is reported. The various conservative methods and surgical management for this condition are discussed. PMID:28356695

Setting Priorities for Regional Conservation Planning in the Mediterranean Sea

PubMed Central

Micheli, Fiorenza; Levin, Noam; Giakoumi, Sylvaine; Katsanevakis, Stelios; Abdulla, Ameer; Coll, Marta; Fraschetti, Simonetta; Kark, Salit; Koutsoubas, Drosos; Mackelworth, Peter; Maiorano, Luigi; Possingham, Hugh P.

2013-01-01

Spatial prioritization in conservation is required to direct limited resources to where actions are most urgently needed and most likely to produce effective conservation outcomes. In an effort to advance the protection of a highly threatened hotspot of marine biodiversity, the Mediterranean Sea, multiple spatial conservation plans have been developed in recent years. Here, we review and integrate these different plans with the goal of identifying priority conservation areas that represent the current consensus among the different initiatives. A review of six existing and twelve proposed conservation initiatives highlights gaps in conservation and management planning, particularly within the southern and eastern regions of the Mediterranean and for offshore and deep sea habitats. The eighteen initiatives vary substantially in their extent (covering 0.1–58.5% of the Mediterranean Sea) and in the location of additional proposed conservation and management areas. Differences in the criteria, approaches and data used explain such variation. Despite the diversity among proposals, our analyses identified ten areas, encompassing 10% of the Mediterranean Sea, that are consistently identified among the existing proposals, with an additional 10% selected by at least five proposals. These areas represent top priorities for immediate conservation action. Despite the plethora of initiatives, major challenges face Mediterranean biodiversity and conservation. These include the need for spatial prioritization within a comprehensive framework for regional conservation planning, the acquisition of additional information from data-poor areas, species or habitats, and addressing the challenges of establishing transboundary governance and collaboration in socially, culturally and politically complex conditions. Collective prioritised action, not new conservation plans, is needed for the north, western, and high seas of the Mediterranean, while developing initial information-based plans for the south and eastern Mediterranean is an urgent requirement for true regional conservation planning. PMID:23577060

Ground Penetrating Radar Investigations in the Noble Hall of São Carlos Theater in Lisbon, Portugal

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Fontul, S.; Solla, M.; Cruz, H.; Machado, J. S.; Pajewski, L.

2018-05-01

This paper describes a study conducted by the National Laboratory for Civil Engineering of Portugal (LNEC), in cooperation with the Defense University Center at the Spanish Naval Academy and "La Sapienza," University of Rome, to assess the health and safety conditions of the Noble Hall floor in the São Carlos National Theater (Lisbon, Portugal). In a multidisciplinary approach, extensive fieldwork was carried out. The survey included the location and characterization of beams in the various areas of the floor by using two ground penetrating radar (GPR) systems equipped with two different ground- or air-coupled antennas, local inspection openings to visually assess the geometry, timber species and conservation state of structural members, and an assessment of the conservation state of the timber beam ends using drilling equipment. All the tests performed and the results obtained are presented. The potential of using non-destructive tests for the inspection of timber cultural heritage structures, particularly GPR, is discussed, and some practical recommendations are made.

Children's Ideas about Animal Conservation.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Greaves, Emma; And Others

1993-01-01

Describes the results of an open-form questionnaire designed to provide a picture of students' justifications of animal conservation. The results suggest that the negative attitudes students have towards zoos and wildlife parks may impede the educational benefits of such visits for some children. (DDR)

Trade-offs between cattle production and bird conservation in an agricultural frontier of the Gran Chaco of Argentina.

PubMed

Mastrangelo, Matias E; Gavin, Michael C

2012-12-01

Intensification of food production in tropical landscapes in the absence of land-use planning can pose a major threat to biological diversity. Decisions on whether to spatially integrate or segregate lands for production and conservation depend in part on the functional relations between biological diversity and agricultural productivity. We measured diversity, density, and species composition of birds along a gradient of production intensification on an agricultural frontier of the Argentine Chaco, where dry tropical forests are cleared for cattle production. Bird species diversity in intact forests was higher than in any type of cattle-production system. Bird species richness decreased nonlinearly as cattle yield increased. Intermediate-intensity silvopastoral systems, those in which forest understory is selectively cleared to grow pastures of non-native plants beneath the tree canopy, produced 80% of the mean cattle yield obtained in pastures on cleared areas and were occupied by 70-90% of the number of bird species present in the nearest forest fragments. Densities of >50% of bird species were significantly lower in open pastures than in silvopastoral systems. Therefore, intermediate-intensity silvopastoral systems may have the greatest potential to sustain cattle yield and conserve a large percentage of bird species. However, compared with low-intensity production systems, in which forest structure and extent were intact, intermediate-intensity silvopastoral systems supported significantly fewer forest-restricted bird species and fewer frugivorous birds. These data suggest that the integration of production and conservation through intermediate-intensity silvopastoral systems combined with the protection of forest fragments may be required to maintain cattle yield, bird diversity, and conservation of forest-restricted species in this agricultural frontier. ©2012 Society for Conservation Biology.

A currency for offsetting energy development impacts: horse-trading sage-grouse on the open market.

PubMed

Doherty, Kevin E; Naugle, David E; Evans, Jeffrey S

2010-04-28

Biodiversity offsets provide a mechanism to compensate for unavoidable damages from new energy development as the U.S. increases its domestic production. Proponents argue that offsets provide a partial solution for funding conservation while opponents contend the practice is flawed because offsets are negotiated without the science necessary to backup resulting decisions. Missing in negotiations is a biologically-based currency for estimating sufficiency of offsets and a framework for applying proceeds to maximize conservation benefits. Here we quantify a common currency for offsets for greater sage-grouse (Centrocercus urophasianus) by estimating number of impacted birds at 4 levels of development commonly permitted. Impacts were indiscernible at 1-12 wells per 32.2 km(2). Above this threshold lek losses were 2-5 times greater inside than outside of development and bird abundance at remaining leks declined by -32 to -77%. Findings reiterated the importance of time-lags as evidenced by greater impacts 4 years after initial development. Clustering well locations enabled a few small leks to remain active inside of developments. Documented impacts relative to development intensity can be used to forecast biological trade-offs of newly proposed or ongoing developments, and when drilling is approved, anticipated bird declines form the biological currency for negotiating offsets. Monetary costs for offsets will be determined by true conservation cost to mitigate risks such as sagebrush tillage to other populations of equal or greater number. If this information is blended with landscape level conservation planning, the mitigation hierarchy can be improved by steering planned developments away from conservation priorities, ensuring compensatory mitigation projects deliver a higher return for conservation that equate to an equal number of birds in the highest priority areas, provide on-site mitigation recommendations, and provide a biologically based cost for mitigating unavoidable impacts.

78 FR 3026 - Establishment of Swan Valley Conservation Area, Montana

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2013-01-15

... Swan River National Wildlife Refuge. The project will help ensure the perpetual conservation of one of... wildlife resources in the conservation area, primarily through the purchase of perpetual easements and a...

Connectivity of the Asiatic wild ass population in the Mongolian Gobi

PubMed Central

Kaczensky, Petra; Kuehn, Ralph; Lhagvasuren, Badamjav; Pietsch, Stephanie; Yang, Weikang; Walzer, Chris

2011-01-01

Long-distance migrations of wildlife have been identified as important biological phenomena, but their conservation remains a major challenge. The Mongolian Gobi is one of the last refuges for the Asiatic wild ass (Equus hemionus) and other threatened migratory mammals. Using historic and current distribution ranges, population genetics, and telemetry data we assessed the connectivity of the wild ass population in the context of natural and anthropogenic landscape features and the existing network of protected areas. In the Mongolian Gobi mean biomass production is highly correlated with human and livestock density and seems to predict wild ass occurrence at the upper level. The current wild ass distribution range largely falls into areas below the 250 gC/m2/year productivity isoline, suggesting that under the present land use more productive areas have become unavailable for wild asses. Population genetics results identified two subpopulations and delineated a genetic boundary between the Dzungarian and Transaltai Gobi for which the most likely explanation are the mountain ranges separating the two areas. Home ranges and locations of 19 radiomarked wild asses support the assumed restricting effects of more productive habitats and mountain ranges and additionally point towards a barrier effect of fences. Furthermore, telemetry data shows that in the Dzungarian and Transaltai Gobi individual wild ass rarely ventured outside of the protected areas, whereas in the southeast Gobi asses only spend a small fraction of their time within the protected area network. Conserving the continuity of the wild ass population will need a landscape level approach, also including multi-use landscapes outside of protected areas, particularly in the southeast Gobi. In the southwest Gobi, allowing for openings in the border fence to China and managing the border area as an ecological corridor would connect three large protected areas together covering over 70,000 km2 of wild ass habitat. PMID:21461051

Connectivity of the Asiatic wild ass population in the Mongolian Gobi.

PubMed

Kaczensky, Petra; Kuehn, Ralph; Lhagvasuren, Badamjav; Pietsch, Stephanie; Yang, Weikang; Walzer, Chris

2011-02-01

Long-distance migrations of wildlife have been identified as important biological phenomena, but their conservation remains a major challenge. The Mongolian Gobi is one of the last refuges for the Asiatic wild ass (Equus hemionus) and other threatened migratory mammals. Using historic and current distribution ranges, population genetics, and telemetry data we assessed the connectivity of the wild ass population in the context of natural and anthropogenic landscape features and the existing network of protected areas. In the Mongolian Gobi mean biomass production is highly correlated with human and livestock density and seems to predict wild ass occurrence at the upper level. The current wild ass distribution range largely falls into areas below the 250 gC/m(2)/year productivity isoline, suggesting that under the present land use more productive areas have become unavailable for wild asses. Population genetics results identified two subpopulations and delineated a genetic boundary between the Dzungarian and Transaltai Gobi for which the most likely explanation are the mountain ranges separating the two areas. Home ranges and locations of 19 radiomarked wild asses support the assumed restricting effects of more productive habitats and mountain ranges and additionally point towards a barrier effect of fences. Furthermore, telemetry data shows that in the Dzungarian and Transaltai Gobi individual wild ass rarely ventured outside of the protected areas, whereas in the southeast Gobi asses only spend a small fraction of their time within the protected area network. Conserving the continuity of the wild ass population will need a landscape level approach, also including multi-use landscapes outside of protected areas, particularly in the southeast Gobi. In the southwest Gobi, allowing for openings in the border fence to China and managing the border area as an ecological corridor would connect three large protected areas together covering over 70,000 km(2) of wild ass habitat.

Alluvial deposits and plant distribution in an Amazonian lowland megafan

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zani, H.; Rossetti, D.; Cremon; Cohen, M.; Pessenda, L. C.

2012-12-01

A large volume of sandy alluvial deposits (> 1000 km2) characterizes a flat wetland in northern Amazonia. These have been recently described as the sedimentary record of a megafan system, which have a distinct triangular shape produced by highly migratory distributary rivers. The vegetation map suggests that this megafan is dominated by open vegetation in sharp contact with the surround rainforest. Understanding the relationship between geomorphological processes and vegetation distribution is crucial to decipher and conserve the biodiversity in this Amazonian ecosystem. In this study we interpret plant dynamics over time, and investigate its potential control by sedimentary processes during landscape evolution. The study area is located in the Viruá National Park. Two field campaigns were undertaken in the dry seasons of 2010 and 2011 and the sampling sites were selected by combining accessibility and representativeness. Vegetation contrasts were recorded along a transect in the medial section of the Viruá megafan. Due to the absence of outcrops, samples were extracted using a core device, which allowed sampling up to a depth of 7.5 m. All cores were opened and described in the field, with 5 cm3 samples collected at 20 cm intervals. The δ13C of organic matter was used as a proxy to distinguish between C3 and C4 plant communities. The chronology was established based on radiocarbon dating. The results suggest that the cores from forested areas show the most depleted values of δ13C, ranging from -32.16 to -27.28‰. The δ13C curve in these areas displays typical C3 land plant values for the entire record, which covers most of the Holocene. This finding indicates that either the vegetation remained stable over time or the sites were dominated by aquatic environments with freshwater plants before forest establishment. The cores from the open vegetation areas show a progressive upward enrichment in δ13C values, which range from -28.50 to -19.59‰. This trend is more pronounced after de mid-Holocene, suggesting that the open vegetation, represented mostly by C4 land plants, evolved only more recently. Based on our isotope data, a model is proposed taking into account the influence of sedimentary dynamics on the modern pattern of plan distribution. The establishment of open vegetation occurred at different times depending on location over the megafan area, varying from around 3,000 to 6,400 cal yrs BP. As sedimentation took place, areas located far from the surrounding rainforest were prone to inputs of organic matter derived from open vegetation, whereas the contribution of organic matter derived from arboreous vegetation increases toward the areas located closer to the rainforest. In general, open vegetation is constrained to depositional sites that remained active until relatively recent Holocene times, while surrounding areas with a relatively older geological history are covered by dense forest. The results presented here consist in a striking example of the influence of sedimentary processes during the Late Pleistocene-Holocene on the development of modern plants of this Amazonian lowland.

15 CFR Appendix C to Subpart G of... - Marine Conservation Area Boundary

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-01-01

... 15 Commerce and Foreign Trade 3 2012-01-01 2012-01-01 false Marine Conservation Area Boundary C... COASTAL RESOURCE MANAGEMENT NATIONAL MARINE SANCTUARY PROGRAM REGULATIONS Channel Islands National Marine Sanctuary Pt. 922, Subpt. G, App. C Appendix C to Subpart G of Part 922—Marine Conservation Area Boundary C...

15 CFR Appendix C to Subpart G of... - Marine Conservation Area Boundary

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-01-01

... 15 Commerce and Foreign Trade 3 2014-01-01 2014-01-01 false Marine Conservation Area Boundary C... COASTAL RESOURCE MANAGEMENT NATIONAL MARINE SANCTUARY PROGRAM REGULATIONS Channel Islands National Marine Sanctuary Pt. 922, Subpt. G, App. C Appendix C to Subpart G of Part 922—Marine Conservation Area Boundary C...

15 CFR Appendix C to Subpart G of... - Marine Conservation Area Boundary

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-01-01

... 15 Commerce and Foreign Trade 3 2011-01-01 2011-01-01 false Marine Conservation Area Boundary C... COASTAL RESOURCE MANAGEMENT NATIONAL MARINE SANCTUARY PROGRAM REGULATIONS Channel Islands National Marine Sanctuary Pt. 922, Subpt. G, App. C Appendix C to Subpart G of Part 922—Marine Conservation Area Boundary C...

15 CFR Appendix C to Subpart G of... - Marine Conservation Area Boundary

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-01-01

... 15 Commerce and Foreign Trade 3 2013-01-01 2013-01-01 false Marine Conservation Area Boundary C... COASTAL RESOURCE MANAGEMENT NATIONAL MARINE SANCTUARY PROGRAM REGULATIONS Channel Islands National Marine Sanctuary Pt. 922, Subpt. G, App. C Appendix C to Subpart G of Part 922—Marine Conservation Area Boundary C...

15 CFR Appendix C to Subpart G of... - Marine Conservation Area Boundary

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-01-01

... 15 Commerce and Foreign Trade 3 2010-01-01 2010-01-01 false Marine Conservation Area Boundary C... COASTAL RESOURCE MANAGEMENT NATIONAL MARINE SANCTUARY PROGRAM REGULATIONS Channel Islands National Marine Sanctuary Pt. 922, Subpt. G, App. C Appendix C to Subpart G of Part 922—Marine Conservation Area Boundary C...

Global patterns of terrestrial vertebrate diversity and conservation

PubMed Central

Jenkins, Clinton N.; Pimm, Stuart L.; Joppa, Lucas N.

2013-01-01

Identifying priority areas for biodiversity is essential for directing conservation resources. Fundamentally, we must know where individual species live, which ones are vulnerable, where human actions threaten them, and their levels of protection. As conservation knowledge and threats change, we must reevaluate priorities. We mapped priority areas for vertebrates using newly updated data on >21,000 species of mammals, amphibians, and birds. For each taxon, we identified centers of richness for all species, small-ranged species, and threatened species listed with the International Union for the Conservation of Nature. Importantly, all analyses were at a spatial grain of 10 × 10 km, 100 times finer than previous assessments. This fine scale is a significant methodological improvement, because it brings mapping to scales comparable with regional decisions on where to place protected areas. We also mapped recent species discoveries, because they suggest where as-yet-unknown species might be living. To assess the protection of the priority areas, we calculated the percentage of priority areas within protected areas using the latest data from the World Database of Protected Areas, providing a snapshot of how well the planet’s protected area system encompasses vertebrate biodiversity. Although the priority areas do have more protection than the global average, the level of protection still is insufficient given the importance of these areas for preventing vertebrate extinctions. We also found substantial differences between our identified vertebrate priorities and the leading map of global conservation priorities, the biodiversity hotspots. Our findings suggest a need to reassess the global allocation of conservation resources to reflect today’s improved knowledge of biodiversity and conservation. PMID:23803854

Agroforestry: a refuge for tropical biodiversity?

PubMed

Bhagwat, Shonil A; Willis, Katherine J; Birks, H John B; Whittaker, Robert J

2008-05-01

As rates of deforestation continue to rise in many parts of the tropics, the international conservation community is faced with the challenge of finding approaches which can reduce deforestation and provide rural livelihoods in addition to conserving biodiversity. Much of modern-day conservation is motivated by a desire to conserve 'pristine nature' in protected areas, while there is growing recognition of the long-term human involvement in forest dynamics and of the importance of conservation outside protected areas. Agroforestry -- intentional management of shade trees with agricultural crops -- has the potential for providing habitats outside formally protected land, connecting nature reserves and alleviating resource-use pressure on conservation areas. Here we examine the role of agroforestry systems in maintaining species diversity and conclude that these systems can play an important role in biodiversity conservation in human-dominated landscapes.

A systematic conservation planning approach to fire risk management in Natura 2000 sites.

PubMed

Foresta, Massimiliano; Carranza, Maria Laura; Garfì, Vittorio; Di Febbraro, Mirko; Marchetti, Marco; Loy, Anna

2016-10-01

A primary challenge in conservation biology is to preserve the most representative biodiversity while simultaneously optimizing the efforts associated with conservation. In Europe, the implementation of the Natura 2000 network requires protocols to recognize and map threats to biodiversity and to identify specific mitigation actions. We propose a systematic conservation planning approach to optimize management actions against specific threats based on two fundamental parameters: biodiversity values and threat pressure. We used the conservation planning software Marxan to optimize a fire management plan in a Natura 2000 coastal network in southern Italy. We address three primary questions: i) Which areas are at high fire risk? ii) Which areas are the most valuable for threatened biodiversity? iii) Which areas should receive priority risk-mitigation actions for the optimal effect?, iv) which fire-prevention actions are feasible in the management areas?. The biodiversity values for the Natura 2000 spatial units were derived from the distribution maps of 18 habitats and 89 vertebrate species of concern in Europe (Habitat Directive 92/43/EEC). The threat pressure map, defined as fire probability, was obtained from digital layers of fire risk and of fire frequency. Marxan settings were defined as follows: a) planning units of 40 × 40 m, b) conservation features defined as all habitats and vertebrate species of European concern occurring in the study area, c) conservation targets defined according with fire sensitivity and extinction risk of conservation features, and d) costs determined as the complement of fire probabilities. We identified 23 management areas in which to concentrate efforts for the optimal reduction of fire-induced effects. Because traditional fire prevention is not feasible for most of policy habitats included in the management areas, alternative prevention practices were identified that allows the conservation of the vegetation structure. The proposed approach has potential applications for multiple landscapes, threats and spatial scales and could be extended to other valuable natural areas, including protected areas. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Scenario-Led Habitat Modelling of Land Use Change Impacts on Key Species

PubMed Central

Geary, Matthew; Fielding, Alan H.; McGowan, Philip J. K.; Marsden, Stuart J.

2015-01-01

Accurate predictions of the impacts of future land use change on species of conservation concern can help to inform policy-makers and improve conservation measures. If predictions are spatially explicit, predicted consequences of likely land use changes could be accessible to land managers at a scale relevant to their working landscape. We introduce a method, based on open source software, which integrates habitat suitability modelling with scenario-building, and illustrate its use by investigating the effects of alternative land use change scenarios on landscape suitability for black grouse Tetrao tetrix. Expert opinion was used to construct five near-future (twenty years) scenarios for the 800 km2 study site in upland Scotland. For each scenario, the cover of different land use types was altered by 5–30% from 20 random starting locations and changes in habitat suitability assessed by projecting a MaxEnt suitability model onto each simulated landscape. A scenario converting grazed land to moorland and open forestry was the most beneficial for black grouse, and ‘increased grazing’ (the opposite conversion) the most detrimental. Positioning of new landscape blocks was shown to be important in some situations. Increasing the area of open-canopy forestry caused a proportional decrease in suitability, but suitability gains for the ‘reduced grazing’ scenario were nonlinear. ‘Scenario-led’ landscape simulation models can be applied in assessments of the impacts of land use change both on individual species and also on diversity and community measures, or ecosystem services. A next step would be to include landscape configuration more explicitly in the simulation models, both to make them more realistic, and to examine the effects of habitat placement more thoroughly. In this example, the recommended policy would be incentives on grazing reduction to benefit black grouse. PMID:26569604

Bird Diversity, Birdwatching Tourism and Conservation in Peru: A Geographic Analysis

PubMed Central

Puhakka, Liisa; Salo, Matti; Sääksjärvi, Ilari E.

2011-01-01

In the face of the continuing global biodiversity loss, it is important not only to assess the need for conservation, through e.g. gap analyses, but also to seek practical solutions for protecting biodiversity. Environmentally and socially sustainable tourism can be one such solution. We present a method to spatially link data on conservation needs and tourism-based economic opportunities, using bird-related tourism in Peru as an example. Our analysis highlighted areas in Peru where potential for such projects could be particularly high. Several areas within the central and northern Andean regions, as well as within the lowland Amazonian regions of Madre de Dios and Loreto emerge as promising for this type of activity. Mechanisms to implement conservation in these areas include e.g. conservation and ecotourism concessions, private conservation areas, and conservation easements. Some of these mechanisms also offer opportunities for local communities seeking to secure their traditional land ownership and use rights. (Spanish language abstract, Abstract S1). PMID:22132078

Bird diversity, birdwatching tourism and conservation in Peru: a geographic analysis.

PubMed

Puhakka, Liisa; Salo, Matti; Sääksjärvi, Ilari E

2011-01-01

In the face of the continuing global biodiversity loss, it is important not only to assess the need for conservation, through e.g. gap analyses, but also to seek practical solutions for protecting biodiversity. Environmentally and socially sustainable tourism can be one such solution. We present a method to spatially link data on conservation needs and tourism-based economic opportunities, using bird-related tourism in Peru as an example. Our analysis highlighted areas in Peru where potential for such projects could be particularly high. Several areas within the central and northern Andean regions, as well as within the lowland Amazonian regions of Madre de Dios and Loreto emerge as promising for this type of activity. Mechanisms to implement conservation in these areas include e.g. conservation and ecotourism concessions, private conservation areas, and conservation easements. Some of these mechanisms also offer opportunities for local communities seeking to secure their traditional land ownership and use rights. (Spanish language abstract, Abstract S1).

Bridging the conservation design and delivery gap for wetland bird habitat maintenance and restoration in the Midwestern United States

USGS Publications Warehouse

Thogmartin, W.E.; Potter, B.; Soulliere, G.

2011-01-01

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's adoption of Strategic Habitat Conservation is intended to increase the effectiveness and efficiency of conservation delivery by targeting effort in areas where biological benefits are greatest. Conservation funding has not often been allocated in accordance with explicit biological endpoints, and the gap between conservation design (the identification of conservation priority areas) and delivery needs to be bridged to better meet conservation goals for multiple species and landscapes. We introduce a regional prioritization scheme for North American Wetlands Conservation Act funding which explicitly addresses Midwest regional goals for wetland-dependent birds. We developed decision-support maps to guide conservation of breeding and non-breeding wetland bird habitat. This exercise suggested ~55% of the Midwest consists of potential wetland bird habitat, and areas suited for maintenance (protection) were distinguished from those most suited to restoration. Areas with greater maintenance focus were identified for central Minnesota, southeastern Wisconsin, the Upper Mississippi and Illinois rivers, and the shore of western Lake Erie and Saginaw Bay. The shores of Lakes Michigan and Superior accommodated fewer waterbird species overall, but were also important for wetland bird habitat maintenance. Abundant areas suited for wetland restoration occurred in agricultural regions of central Illinois, western Iowa, and northern Indiana and Ohio. Use of this prioritization scheme can increase effectiveness, efficiency, transparency, and credibility to land and water conservation efforts for wetland birds in the Midwestern United States.

Assessing critical source areas in watersheds for conservation buffer planning and riparian restoration.

PubMed

Qiu, Zeyuan

2009-11-01

A science-based geographic information system (GIS) approach is presented to target critical source areas in watersheds for conservation buffer placement. Critical source areas are the intersection of hydrologically sensitive areas and pollutant source areas in watersheds. Hydrologically sensitive areas are areas that actively generate runoff in the watershed and are derived using a modified topographic index approach based on variable source area hydrology. Pollutant source areas are the areas in watersheds that are actively and intensively used for such activities as agricultural production. The method is applied to the Neshanic River watershed in Hunterdon County, New Jersey. The capacity of the topographic index in predicting the spatial pattern of runoff generation and the runoff contribution to stream flow in the watershed is evaluated. A simple cost-effectiveness assessment is conducted to compare the conservation buffer placement scenario based on this GIS method to conventional riparian buffer scenarios for placing conservation buffers in agricultural lands in the watershed. The results show that the topographic index reasonably predicts the runoff generation in the watershed. The GIS-based conservation buffer scenario appears to be more cost-effective than the conventional riparian buffer scenarios.

Sexual predators, energy development, and conservation in greater Yellowstone.

PubMed

Berger, Joel; Beckmann, Jon P

2010-06-01

In the United States, as elsewhere, a growing debate pits national energy policy and homeland security against biological conservation. In rural communities the extraction of fossil fuels is often encouraged because of the employment opportunities it offers, although the concomitant itinerant workforce is often associated with increased wildlife poaching. We explored possible positive and negative factors associated with energy extraction in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem (GYE), an area known for its national parks, intact biological diversity, and some of the New World's longest terrestrial migrations. Specifically, we asked whether counties with different economies-recreation (ski), agrarian (ranching or farming), and energy extractive (petroleum)-differed in healthcare (gauged by the abundance of hospital beds) and in the frequency of sexual predators. The absolute and relative frequency of registered sex offenders grew approximately two to three times faster in areas reliant on energy extraction. Healthcare among counties did not differ. The strong conflation of community dishevel, as reflected by in-migrant sexual predators, and ecological decay in Greater Yellowstone is consistent with patterns seen in similar systems from Ecuador to northern Canada, where social and environmental disarray exist around energy boomtowns. In our case, that groups (albeit with different aims) mobilized campaigns to help maintain the quality of rural livelihoods by protecting open space is a positive sign that conservation can matter, especially in the face of rampant and poorly executed energy extraction projects. Our findings further suggest that the public and industry need stronger regulatory action to instill greater vigilance when and where social factors and land conversion impact biological systems.

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.

Assessment of community awareness and risk perceptions of zoonotic causes of abortion in cattle at three selected livestock-wildlife interface areas of Zimbabwe.

PubMed

Ndengu, M; DE Garine-Wichatitsky, M; Pfukenyi, D M; Tivapasi, M; Mukamuri, B; Matope, G

2017-05-01

A study was conducted to assess the awareness of cattle abortions due to brucellosis, Rift Valley fever (RVF) and leptospirosis, and to compare frequencies of reported abortions in communities living at the periphery of the Great Limpopo Transfrontier Conservation Area in southeastern Zimbabwe. Three study sites were selected based on the type of livestock-wildlife interface: porous livestock-wildlife interface (unrestricted); non-porous livestock-wildlife interface (restricted by fencing); and livestock-wildlife non-interface (totally absent or control). Respondents randomly selected from a list of potential cattle farmers (N = 379) distributed at porous (40·1%), non-interface (35·5%) and non-porous (26·4%), were interviewed using a combined close- and open-ended questionnaire. Focus group discussions were conducted with 10-12 members of each community. More abortions in the last 5 years were reported from the porous interface (52%) and a significantly higher per cent of respondents from the porous interface (P < 0·05) perceived wildlife as playing a role in livestock abortions compared with the other interface types. The odds of reporting abortions in cattle were higher in large herd sizes (odds ratio (OR) = 2·6; 95% confidence interval (CI) 1·5-4·3), porous (OR = 1·9; 95% CI 1·0-3·5) and non-porous interface (OR = 2·2; 95% CI 1·1-4·3) compared with livestock-wildlife non-interface areas. About 21·6% of the respondents knew brucellosis as a cause of abortion, compared with RVF (9·8%) and leptospirosis (3·7%). These results explain to some extent, the existence of human/wildlife conflict in the studied livestock-wildlife interface areas of Zimbabwe, which militates against biodiversity conservation efforts. The low awareness of zoonoses means the public is at risk of contracting some of these infections. Thus, further studies should focus on livestock-wildlife interface areas to assess if the increased rates of abortions reported in cattle may be due to exposure to wildlife or other factors. The government of Zimbabwe needs to launch educational programmes on public health awareness in these remote areas at the periphery of transfrontier conservation areas where livestock-wildlife interface exists to help mitigate the morbidity and mortality of people from some of the known zoonotic diseases.

77 FR 16556 - Kootenai National Wildlife Refuge, Boundary County, ID; Final Comprehensive Conservation Plan and...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2012-03-21

... auto tour route that is open year- round to vehicles, walking, bicycling, jogging, dog walking (on... slightly over 5 miles of trails that are open to walking, jogging, and dog walking (on leash only) year... will remain open year round to vehicles, walking, bicycling, jogging, dog walking (on leash only...

Global direct pressures on biodiversity by large-scale metal mining: Spatial distribution and implications for conservation.

PubMed

Murguía, Diego I; Bringezu, Stefan; Schaldach, Rüdiger

2016-09-15

Biodiversity loss is widely recognized as a serious global environmental change process. While large-scale metal mining activities do not belong to the top drivers of such change, these operations exert or may intensify pressures on biodiversity by adversely changing habitats, directly and indirectly, at local and regional scales. So far, analyses of global spatial dynamics of mining and its burden on biodiversity focused on the overlap between mines and protected areas or areas of high value for conservation. However, it is less clear how operating metal mines are globally exerting pressure on zones of different biodiversity richness; a similar gap exists for unmined but known mineral deposits. By using vascular plants' diversity as a proxy to quantify overall biodiversity, this study provides a first examination of the global spatial distribution of mines and deposits for five key metals across different biodiversity zones. The results indicate that mines and deposits are not randomly distributed, but concentrated within intermediate and high diversity zones, especially bauxite and silver. In contrast, iron, gold, and copper mines and deposits are closer to a more proportional distribution while showing a high concentration in the intermediate biodiversity zone. Considering the five metals together, 63% and 61% of available mines and deposits, respectively, are located in intermediate diversity zones, comprising 52% of the global land terrestrial surface. 23% of mines and 20% of ore deposits are located in areas of high plant diversity, covering 17% of the land. 13% of mines and 19% of deposits are in areas of low plant diversity, comprising 31% of the land surface. Thus, there seems to be potential for opening new mines in areas of low biodiversity in the future. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

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.

50 CFR 660.399 - EFH Conservation Areas off the Coast of California.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-10-01

.... The boundary of the Harris Point EFH Conservation Area is defined by the mean high water line and... commercial and recreational take of living marine resources is allowed, exists between the mean high water... Scorpion EFH Conservation Area is defined by the mean high water line and a straight line connecting all of...

50 CFR 660.79 - EFH Conservation Areas off the Coast of California.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-10-01

.... The boundary of the Harris Point EFH Conservation Area is defined by the mean high water line and... commercial and recreational take of living marine resources is allowed, exists between the mean high water... Scorpion EFH Conservation Area is defined by the mean high water line and a straight line connecting all of...

78 FR 64004 - Notice of Intent To Collect Fees on Public Lands in the Red Cliffs National Conservation Area...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2013-10-25

... To Collect Fees on Public Lands in the Red Cliffs National Conservation Area, Washington County, UT... Intent to Collect Fees on Public Lands in the Red Cliffs National Conservation Area, Washington County, UT, which contained erroneous information regarding the use of the America the Beautiful passes at...

Comparing spatially explicit ecological and social values for natural areas to identify effective conservation strategies.

PubMed

Bryan, Brett Anthony; Raymond, Christopher Mark; Crossman, Neville David; King, Darran

2011-02-01

Consideration of the social values people assign to relatively undisturbed native ecosystems is critical for the success of science-based conservation plans. We used an interview process to identify and map social values assigned to 31 ecosystem services provided by natural areas in an agricultural landscape in southern Australia. We then modeled the spatial distribution of 12 components of ecological value commonly used in setting spatial conservation priorities. We used the analytical hierarchy process to weight these components and used multiattribute utility theory to combine them into a single spatial layer of ecological value. Social values assigned to natural areas were negatively correlated with ecological values overall, but were positively correlated with some components of ecological value. In terms of the spatial distribution of values, people valued protected areas, whereas those natural areas underrepresented in the reserve system were of higher ecological value. The habitats of threatened animal species were assigned both high ecological value and high social value. Only small areas were assigned both high ecological value and high social value in the study area, whereas large areas of high ecological value were of low social value, and vice versa. We used the assigned ecological and social values to identify different conservation strategies (e.g., information sharing, community engagement, incentive payments) that may be effective for specific areas. We suggest that consideration of both ecological and social values in selection of conservation strategies can enhance the success of science-based conservation planning. ©2010 Society for Conservation Biology.

Conservation biogeography of red oaks (Quercus, section Lobatae) in Mexico and Central America.

PubMed

Torres-Miranda, Andrés; Luna-Vega, Isolda; Oyama, Ken

2011-02-01

Oaks are dominant trees and key species in many temperate and subtropical forests in the world. In this study, we analyzed patterns of distribution of red oaks (Quercus, section Lobatae) occurring in Mexico and Central America to determine areas of species richness and endemism to propose areas of conservation. Patterns of richness and endemism of 75 red oak species were analyzed using three different units. Two complementarity algorithms based on species richness and three algorithms based on species rarity were used to identify important areas for conservation. A simulated annealing analysis was performed to evaluate and formulate effective new reserves for red oaks that are useful for conserving the ecosystems associated with them after the systematic conservation planning approach. Two main centers of species richness were detected. The northern Sierra Madre Oriental and Serranías Meridionales of Jalisco had the highest values of endemism. Fourteen areas were considered as priorities for conservation of red oak species based on the 26 priority political entities, 11 floristic units and the priority grid-cells obtained in the complementarity analysis. In the present network of Natural Protected Areas in Mexico and Central America, only 41.3% (31 species) of the red oak species are protected. The simulated annealing analysis indicated that to protect all 75 species of red oaks, 12 current natural protected areas need to be expanded by 120000 ha of additional land, and 26 new natural protected areas with 512500 ha need to be created. Red oaks are a useful model to identify areas for conservation based on species richness and endemism as a result of their wide geographic distribution and a high number of species. We evaluated and reformulated new reserves for red oaks that are also useful for the conservation of ecosystems associated with them.

Designing coastal conservation to deliver ecosystem and human well-being benefits.

PubMed

Annis, Gust M; Pearsall, Douglas R; Kahl, Katherine J; Washburn, Erika L; May, Christopher A; Franks Taylor, Rachael; Cole, James B; Ewert, David N; Game, Edward T; Doran, Patrick J

2017-01-01

Conservation scientists increasingly recognize that incorporating human values into conservation planning increases the chances for success by garnering broader project acceptance. However, methods for defining quantitative targets for the spatial representation of human well-being priorities are less developed. In this study we employ an approach for identifying regionally important human values and establishing specific spatial targets for their representation based on stakeholder outreach. Our primary objective was to develop a spatially-explicit conservation plan that identifies the most efficient locations for conservation actions to meet ecological goals while sustaining or enhancing human well-being values within the coastal and nearshore areas of the western Lake Erie basin (WLEB). We conducted an optimization analysis using 26 features representing ecological and human well-being priorities (13 of each), and included seven cost layers. The influence that including human well-being had on project results was tested by running five scenarios and setting targets for human well-being at different levels in each scenario. The most important areas for conservation to achieve multiple goals are clustered along the coast, reflecting a concentration of existing or potentially restorable coastal wetlands, coastal landbird stopover habitat and terrestrial biodiversity, as well as important recreational activities. Inland important areas tended to cluster around trails and high quality inland landbird stopover habitat. Most concentrated areas of importance also are centered on lands that are already conserved, reflecting the lower costs and higher benefits of enlarging these conserved areas rather than conserving isolated, dispersed areas. Including human well-being features in the analysis only influenced the solution at the highest target levels.

Designing coastal conservation to deliver ecosystem and human well-being benefits

PubMed Central

Pearsall, Douglas R.; Kahl, Katherine J.; Washburn, Erika L.; May, Christopher A.; Franks Taylor, Rachael; Cole, James B.; Ewert, David N.; Game, Edward T.; Doran, Patrick J.

2017-01-01

Conservation scientists increasingly recognize that incorporating human values into conservation planning increases the chances for success by garnering broader project acceptance. However, methods for defining quantitative targets for the spatial representation of human well-being priorities are less developed. In this study we employ an approach for identifying regionally important human values and establishing specific spatial targets for their representation based on stakeholder outreach. Our primary objective was to develop a spatially-explicit conservation plan that identifies the most efficient locations for conservation actions to meet ecological goals while sustaining or enhancing human well-being values within the coastal and nearshore areas of the western Lake Erie basin (WLEB). We conducted an optimization analysis using 26 features representing ecological and human well-being priorities (13 of each), and included seven cost layers. The influence that including human well-being had on project results was tested by running five scenarios and setting targets for human well-being at different levels in each scenario. The most important areas for conservation to achieve multiple goals are clustered along the coast, reflecting a concentration of existing or potentially restorable coastal wetlands, coastal landbird stopover habitat and terrestrial biodiversity, as well as important recreational activities. Inland important areas tended to cluster around trails and high quality inland landbird stopover habitat. Most concentrated areas of importance also are centered on lands that are already conserved, reflecting the lower costs and higher benefits of enlarging these conserved areas rather than conserving isolated, dispersed areas. Including human well-being features in the analysis only influenced the solution at the highest target levels. PMID:28241018

50 CFR Table 46 to Part 679 - St. Matthew Island Habitat Conservation Area

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-10-01

... 50 Wildlife and Fisheries 11 2011-10-01 2011-10-01 false St. Matthew Island Habitat Conservation Area 46 Table 46 to Part 679 Wildlife and Fisheries FISHERY CONSERVATION AND MANAGEMENT, NATIONAL... ECONOMIC ZONE OFF ALASKA Pt. 679, Table 46 Table 46 to Part 679—St. Matthew Island Habitat Conservation...

50 CFR Table 45 to Part 679 - St. Lawrence Island Habitat Conservation Area

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-10-01

... 50 Wildlife and Fisheries 13 2013-10-01 2013-10-01 false St. Lawrence Island Habitat Conservation Area 45 Table 45 to Part 679 Wildlife and Fisheries FISHERY CONSERVATION AND MANAGEMENT, NATIONAL... ECONOMIC ZONE OFF ALASKA Pt. 679, Table 45 Table 45 to Part 679—St. Lawrence Island Habitat Conservation...

50 CFR Table 45 to Part 679 - St. Lawrence Island Habitat Conservation Area

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-10-01

... 50 Wildlife and Fisheries 11 2011-10-01 2011-10-01 false St. Lawrence Island Habitat Conservation Area 45 Table 45 to Part 679 Wildlife and Fisheries FISHERY CONSERVATION AND MANAGEMENT, NATIONAL... ECONOMIC ZONE OFF ALASKA Pt. 679, Table 45 Table 45 to Part 679—St. Lawrence Island Habitat Conservation...

50 CFR Table 27 to Part 679 - Gulf of Alaska Slope Habitat Conservation Areas

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-10-01

... 50 Wildlife and Fisheries 9 2010-10-01 2010-10-01 false Gulf of Alaska Slope Habitat Conservation Areas 27 Table 27 to Part 679 Wildlife and Fisheries FISHERY CONSERVATION AND MANAGEMENT, NATIONAL... ECONOMIC ZONE OFF ALASKA Pt. 679, Table 27 Table 27 to Part 679—Gulf of Alaska Slope Habitat Conservation...

50 CFR Table 27 to Part 679 - Gulf of Alaska Slope Habitat Conservation Areas

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-10-01

... 50 Wildlife and Fisheries 13 2013-10-01 2013-10-01 false Gulf of Alaska Slope Habitat Conservation Areas 27 Table 27 to Part 679 Wildlife and Fisheries FISHERY CONSERVATION AND MANAGEMENT, NATIONAL... ECONOMIC ZONE OFF ALASKA Pt. 679, Table 27 Table 27 to Part 679—Gulf of Alaska Slope Habitat Conservation...

50 CFR Table 27 to Part 679 - Gulf of Alaska Slope Habitat Conservation Areas

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-10-01

... 50 Wildlife and Fisheries 13 2014-10-01 2014-10-01 false Gulf of Alaska Slope Habitat Conservation Areas 27 Table 27 to Part 679 Wildlife and Fisheries FISHERY CONSERVATION AND MANAGEMENT, NATIONAL... ECONOMIC ZONE OFF ALASKA Pt. 679, Table 27 Table 27 to Part 679—Gulf of Alaska Slope Habitat Conservation...

50 CFR Table 45 to Part 679 - St. Lawrence Island Habitat Conservation Area

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-10-01

... 50 Wildlife and Fisheries 13 2014-10-01 2014-10-01 false St. Lawrence Island Habitat Conservation Area 45 Table 45 to Part 679 Wildlife and Fisheries FISHERY CONSERVATION AND MANAGEMENT, NATIONAL... ECONOMIC ZONE OFF ALASKA Pt. 679, Table 45 Table 45 to Part 679—St. Lawrence Island Habitat Conservation...

50 CFR Table 46 to Part 679 - St. Matthew Island Habitat Conservation Area

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-10-01

... 50 Wildlife and Fisheries 13 2012-10-01 2012-10-01 false St. Matthew Island Habitat Conservation Area 46 Table 46 to Part 679 Wildlife and Fisheries FISHERY CONSERVATION AND MANAGEMENT, NATIONAL... ECONOMIC ZONE OFF ALASKA Pt. 679, Table 46 Table 46 to Part 679—St. Matthew Island Habitat Conservation...

50 CFR Table 27 to Part 679 - Gulf of Alaska Slope Habitat Conservation Areas

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-10-01

... 50 Wildlife and Fisheries 11 2011-10-01 2011-10-01 false Gulf of Alaska Slope Habitat Conservation Areas 27 Table 27 to Part 679 Wildlife and Fisheries FISHERY CONSERVATION AND MANAGEMENT, NATIONAL... ECONOMIC ZONE OFF ALASKA Pt. 679, Table 27 Table 27 to Part 679—Gulf of Alaska Slope Habitat Conservation...

50 CFR Table 45 to Part 679 - St. Lawrence Island Habitat Conservation Area

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-10-01

... 50 Wildlife and Fisheries 13 2012-10-01 2012-10-01 false St. Lawrence Island Habitat Conservation Area 45 Table 45 to Part 679 Wildlife and Fisheries FISHERY CONSERVATION AND MANAGEMENT, NATIONAL... ECONOMIC ZONE OFF ALASKA Pt. 679, Table 45 Table 45 to Part 679—St. Lawrence Island Habitat Conservation...

50 CFR Table 27 to Part 679 - Gulf of Alaska Slope Habitat Conservation Areas

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-10-01

... 50 Wildlife and Fisheries 13 2012-10-01 2012-10-01 false Gulf of Alaska Slope Habitat Conservation Areas 27 Table 27 to Part 679 Wildlife and Fisheries FISHERY CONSERVATION AND MANAGEMENT, NATIONAL... ECONOMIC ZONE OFF ALASKA Pt. 679, Table 27 Table 27 to Part 679—Gulf of Alaska Slope Habitat Conservation...

50 CFR Table 46 to Part 679 - St. Matthew Island Habitat Conservation Area

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-10-01

... 50 Wildlife and Fisheries 13 2014-10-01 2014-10-01 false St. Matthew Island Habitat Conservation Area 46 Table 46 to Part 679 Wildlife and Fisheries FISHERY CONSERVATION AND MANAGEMENT, NATIONAL... ECONOMIC ZONE OFF ALASKA Pt. 679, Table 46 Table 46 to Part 679—St. Matthew Island Habitat Conservation...

50 CFR Table 46 to Part 679 - St. Matthew Island Habitat Conservation Area

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-10-01

... 50 Wildlife and Fisheries 13 2013-10-01 2013-10-01 false St. Matthew Island Habitat Conservation Area 46 Table 46 to Part 679 Wildlife and Fisheries FISHERY CONSERVATION AND MANAGEMENT, NATIONAL... ECONOMIC ZONE OFF ALASKA Pt. 679, Table 46 Table 46 to Part 679—St. Matthew Island Habitat Conservation...

50 CFR Table 45 to Part 679 - St. Lawrence Island Habitat Conservation Area

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-10-01

... 50 Wildlife and Fisheries 9 2010-10-01 2010-10-01 false St. Lawrence Island Habitat Conservation Area 45 Table 45 to Part 679 Wildlife and Fisheries FISHERY CONSERVATION AND MANAGEMENT, NATIONAL... ECONOMIC ZONE OFF ALASKA Pt. 679, Table 45 Table 45 to Part 679—St. Lawrence Island Habitat Conservation...

50 CFR Table 46 to Part 679 - St. Matthew Island Habitat Conservation Area

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-10-01

... 50 Wildlife and Fisheries 9 2010-10-01 2010-10-01 false St. Matthew Island Habitat Conservation Area 46 Table 46 to Part 679 Wildlife and Fisheries FISHERY CONSERVATION AND MANAGEMENT, NATIONAL... ECONOMIC ZONE OFF ALASKA Pt. 679, Table 46 Table 46 to Part 679—St. Matthew Island Habitat Conservation...

Glade/woodland restoration in the St. Francis Mountain Bird Conservation Area

Treesearch

David A. Hasenbeck

2007-01-01

The Missouri Department of Conservation (MDC), the Missouri Department of Natural Resources, the U.S. Forest Service, and American Bird Conservancy, share goals to restore and manage high quality glade, savanna, and woodland habitats within the Saint Francis Bird Conservation Area. The partnership endeavors to maintain and enhance an ecosystem with native glade and...

The Orthoptera of Castro Verde Special Protection Area (Southern Portugal): new data and conservation value

PubMed Central

Pina, Sílvia; Vasconcelos, Sasha; Reino, Luís; Santana, Joana; Beja, Pedro; Sánchez-Oliver, Juan S.; Catry, Inês; Moreira, Francisco; Ferreira, Sónia

2017-01-01

Abstract With the increasing awareness of the need for Orthoptera conservation, greater efforts must be gathered to implement specific monitoring schemes. Despite recent surveys, little is known about Portuguese Orthoptera populations. This study was performed in 2014 and 2015 mainly in Castro Verde Special Protection Area (SPA), southern Portugal, and is the first Orthoptera inventory conducted in the area. A total of 35 Orthoptera species was recorded, with two new species reported for Portugal. We provide species’ habitat occurrences within the protected area and use information on the conservation status and the Iberian distribution of each documented species to discuss the importance of Castro Verde SPA for Orthoptera conservation. The data presented here sheds new light on Castro Verde SPA biodiversity and emphasizes the inclusion of this area in the conservation of Orthoptera diversity, particularly in the protection of threatened endemic species. PMID:29200922

The Orthoptera of Castro Verde Special Protection Area (Southern Portugal): new data and conservation value.

PubMed

Pina, Sílvia; Vasconcelos, Sasha; Reino, Luís; Santana, Joana; Beja, Pedro; Sánchez-Oliver, Juan S; Catry, Inês; Moreira, Francisco; Ferreira, Sónia

2017-01-01

With the increasing awareness of the need for Orthoptera conservation, greater efforts must be gathered to implement specific monitoring schemes. Despite recent surveys, little is known about Portuguese Orthoptera populations. This study was performed in 2014 and 2015 mainly in Castro Verde Special Protection Area (SPA), southern Portugal, and is the first Orthoptera inventory conducted in the area. A total of 35 Orthoptera species was recorded, with two new species reported for Portugal. We provide species' habitat occurrences within the protected area and use information on the conservation status and the Iberian distribution of each documented species to discuss the importance of Castro Verde SPA for Orthoptera conservation. The data presented here sheds new light on Castro Verde SPA biodiversity and emphasizes the inclusion of this area in the conservation of Orthoptera diversity, particularly in the protection of threatened endemic species.

18 CFR 37.4 - [Reserved

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-04-01

... 18 Conservation of Power and Water Resources 1 2010-04-01 2010-04-01 false [Reserved] 37.4 Section 37.4 Conservation of Power and Water Resources FEDERAL ENERGY REGULATORY COMMISSION, DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY REGULATIONS UNDER THE FEDERAL POWER ACT OPEN ACCESS SAME-TIME INFORMATION SYSTEMS § 37.4 [Reserved] ...

18 CFR 37.4 - [Reserved

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-04-01

... 18 Conservation of Power and Water Resources 1 2011-04-01 2011-04-01 false [Reserved] 37.4 Section 37.4 Conservation of Power and Water Resources FEDERAL ENERGY REGULATORY COMMISSION, DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY REGULATIONS UNDER THE FEDERAL POWER ACT OPEN ACCESS SAME-TIME INFORMATION SYSTEMS § 37.4 [Reserved] ...

Simulation of water-use conservation scenarios for the Mississippi Delta using an existing regional groundwater flow model

USGS Publications Warehouse

Barlow, Jeannie R.B.; Clark, Brian R.

2011-01-01

The Mississippi River alluvial plain in northwestern Mississippi (referred to as the Delta), once a floodplain to the Mississippi River covered with hardwoods and marshland, is now a highly productive agricultural region of large economic importance to Mississippi. Water for irrigation is supplied primarily by the Mississippi River Valley alluvial aquifer, and although the alluvial aquifer has a large reserve, there is evidence that the current rate of water use from the alluvial aquifer is not sustainable. Using an existing regional groundwater flow model, conservation scenarios were developed for the alluvial aquifer underlying the Delta region in northwestern Mississippi to assess where the implementation of water-use conservation efforts would have the greatest effect on future water availability-either uniformly throughout the Delta, or focused on a cone of depression in the alluvial aquifer underlying the central part of the Delta. Five scenarios were simulated with the Mississippi Embayment Regional Aquifer Study groundwater flow model: (1) a base scenario in which water use remained constant at 2007 rates throughout the entire simulation; (2) a 5-percent 'Delta-wide' conservation scenario in which water use across the Delta was decreased by 5 percent; (3) a 5-percent 'cone-equivalent' conservation scenario in which water use within the area of the cone of depression was decreased by 11 percent (a volume equivalent to the 5-percent Delta-wide conservation scenario); (4) a 25-percent Delta-wide conservation scenario in which water use across the Delta was decreased by 25 percent; and (5) a 25-percent cone-equivalent conservation scenario in which water use within the area of the cone of depression was decreased by 55 percent (a volume equivalent to the 25-percent Delta-wide conservation scenario). The Delta-wide scenarios result in greater average water-level improvements (relative to the base scenario) for the entire Delta area than the cone-equivalent scenarios; however, the cone-equivalent scenarios result in greater average water-level improvements within the area of the cone of depression because of focused conservation efforts within that area. Regardless of where conservation is located, the greatest average improvements in water level occur within the area of the cone of depression because of the corresponding large area of unsaturated aquifer material within the area of the cone of depression and the hydraulic gradient, which slopes from the periphery of the Delta towards the area of the cone of depression. Of the four conservation scenarios, the 25-percent cone-equivalent scenario resulted in the greatest increase in storage relative to the base scenario with a 32-percent improvement over the base scenario across the entire Delta and a 60-percent improvement within the area of the cone of depression. Overall, the results indicate that focusing conservation efforts within the area of the cone of depression, rather than distributing conservation efforts uniformly across the Delta, results in greater improvements in the amount of storage within the alluvial aquifer. Additionally, as the total amount of conservation increases (that is, from 5 to 25 percent), the difference in storage improvement between the Delta-wide and cone-equivalent scenarios also increases, resulting in greater gains in storage in the cone-equivalent scenario than in the Delta-wide scenario for the same amount of conservation.

Assessing Potential Conservation and Restoration Areas of Freshwater Fish Fauna in the Indian River Basins

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bhatt, Jay P.; Manish, Kumar; Mehta, Rajender; Pandit, Maharaj K.

2016-05-01

Conservation efforts globally are skewed toward terrestrial ecosystems. To date, conservation of aquatic ecosystems, in particular fish fauna, is largely neglected. We provide a country-wide assessment of Indian river ecosystems in order to identify and prioritize areas for protection and restoration of freshwater fish fauna. Using various biodiversity and anthropogenic attributes, coupled with tools of ecological modeling, we delineated areas for fish fauna conservation and restoration in the 20 major river basins of India. To do this, we used prioritization analyses and reserve selection algorithms to derive conservation value index (CVI) and vulnerability index (VI) of the river basins. CVI was estimated using endemicity, rarity, conservation value, and taxonomic singularity, while VI was estimated using a disturbance index derived from percent geographic area of the basin under human settlements, human population density, predominant land use, and total number of exotic fish species in each basin. The two indices, CVI and VI, were converted into geo-referenced maps, and each map was super-imposed onto species richness and forest cover maps, respectively. After superimposition, areas with high CVI and low VI shade intensities were delineated for conservation, while areas with high CVI and high VI shade intensities were demarcated for restoration. In view of the importance of freshwater fish for human livelihoods and consumption, and ecosystems of India's rivers, we call for urgent attention to the conservation of their fish fauna along with restoration of their degraded habitats.

Assessing Potential Conservation and Restoration Areas of Freshwater Fish Fauna in the Indian River Basins.

PubMed

Bhatt, Jay P; Manish, Kumar; Mehta, Rajender; Pandit, Maharaj K

2016-05-01

Conservation efforts globally are skewed toward terrestrial ecosystems. To date, conservation of aquatic ecosystems, in particular fish fauna, is largely neglected. We provide a country-wide assessment of Indian river ecosystems in order to identify and prioritize areas for protection and restoration of freshwater fish fauna. Using various biodiversity and anthropogenic attributes, coupled with tools of ecological modeling, we delineated areas for fish fauna conservation and restoration in the 20 major river basins of India. To do this, we used prioritization analyses and reserve selection algorithms to derive conservation value index (CVI) and vulnerability index (VI) of the river basins. CVI was estimated using endemicity, rarity, conservation value, and taxonomic singularity, while VI was estimated using a disturbance index derived from percent geographic area of the basin under human settlements, human population density, predominant land use, and total number of exotic fish species in each basin. The two indices, CVI and VI, were converted into geo-referenced maps, and each map was super-imposed onto species richness and forest cover maps, respectively. After superimposition, areas with high CVI and low VI shade intensities were delineated for conservation, while areas with high CVI and high VI shade intensities were demarcated for restoration. In view of the importance of freshwater fish for human livelihoods and consumption, and ecosystems of India's rivers, we call for urgent attention to the conservation of their fish fauna along with restoration of their degraded habitats.

Identifying appropriate protected areas for endangered fern species under climate change.

PubMed

Wang, Chun-Jing; Wan, Ji-Zhong; Zhang, Zhi-Xiang; Zhang, Gang-Min

2016-01-01

The management of protected areas (PAs) is widely used in the conservation of endangered plant species under climate change. However, studies that have identified appropriate PAs for endangered fern species are rare. To address this gap, we must develop a workflow to plan appropriate PAs for endangered fern species that will be further impacted by climate change. Here, we used endangered fern species in China as a case study, and we applied conservation planning software coupled with endangered fern species distribution data and distribution modeling to plan conservation areas with high priority protection needs under climate change. We identified appropriate PAs for endangered fern species under climate change based on the IUCN protected area categories (from Ia to VI) and planned additional PAs for endangered fern species. The high priority regions for protecting the endangered fern species were distributed throughout southern China. With decreasing temperature seasonality, the priority ranking of all endangered fern species is projected to increase in existing PAs. Accordingly, we need to establish conservation areas with low climate vulnerability in existing PAs and expand the conservation areas for endangered fern species in the high priority conservation regions.

Accommodating Dynamic Oceanographic Processes and Pelagic Biodiversity in Marine Conservation Planning

PubMed Central

Grantham, Hedley S.; Game, Edward T.; Lombard, Amanda T.; Hobday, Alistair J.; Richardson, Anthony J.; Beckley, Lynnath E.; Pressey, Robert L.; Huggett, Jenny A.; Coetzee, Janet C.; van der Lingen, Carl D.; Petersen, Samantha L.; Merkle, Dagmar; Possingham, Hugh P.

2011-01-01

Pelagic ecosystems support a significant and vital component of the ocean's productivity and biodiversity. They are also heavily exploited and, as a result, are the focus of numerous spatial planning initiatives. Over the past decade, there has been increasing enthusiasm for protected areas as a tool for pelagic conservation, however, few have been implemented. Here we demonstrate an approach to plan protected areas that address the physical and biological dynamics typical of the pelagic realm. Specifically, we provide an example of an approach to planning protected areas that integrates pelagic and benthic conservation in the southern Benguela and Agulhas Bank ecosystems off South Africa. Our aim was to represent species of importance to fisheries and species of conservation concern within protected areas. In addition to representation, we ensured that protected areas were designed to consider pelagic dynamics, characterized from time-series data on key oceanographic processes, together with data on the abundance of small pelagic fishes. We found that, to have the highest likelihood of reaching conservation targets, protected area selection should be based on time-specific data rather than data averaged across time. More generally, we argue that innovative methods are needed to conserve ephemeral and dynamic pelagic biodiversity. PMID:21311757

INTEGRATING REPRESENTATION AND VULNERABILITY: TWO APPROACHES FOR PRIORITIZING AREAS FOR CONSERVATION

EPA Science Inventory

One fundamental step in conservation planning involves determining where to concentrate efforts to protect conservation targets. Here we demonstrate two approaches to prioritizing areas based on both species composition and potential threats facing the species. The first approa...

Assessing the shelf life of cost-efficient conservation plans for species at risk across gradients of agricultural land use.

PubMed

Robillard, Cassandra M; Kerr, Jeremy T

2017-08-01

High costs of land in agricultural regions warrant spatial prioritization approaches to conservation that explicitly consider land prices to produce protected-area networks that accomplish targets efficiently. However, land-use changes in such regions and delays between plan design and implementation may render optimized plans obsolete before implementation occurs. To measure the shelf life of cost-efficient conservation plans, we simulated a land-acquisition and restoration initiative aimed at conserving species at risk in Canada's farmlands. We accounted for observed changes in land-acquisition costs and in agricultural intensity based on censuses of agriculture taken from 1986 to 2011. For each year of data, we mapped costs and areas of conservation priority designated using Marxan. We compared plans to test for changes through time in the arrangement of high-priority sites and in the total cost of each plan. For acquisition costs, we measured the savings from accounting for prices during site selection. Land-acquisition costs and land-use intensity generally rose over time independent of inflation (24-78%), although rates of change were heterogeneous through space and decreased in some areas. Accounting for spatial variation in land price lowered the cost of conservation plans by 1.73-13.9%, decreased the range of costs by 19-82%, and created unique solutions from which to choose. Despite the rise in plan costs over time, the high conservation priority of particular areas remained consistent. Delaying conservation in these critical areas may compromise what optimized conservation plans can achieve. In the case of Canadian farmland, rapid conservation action is cost-effective, even with moderate levels of uncertainty in how to implement restoration goals. © 2016 Society for Conservation Biology.

Tourism and the conservation of critically endangered frogs.

PubMed

Morrison, Clare; Simpkins, Clay; Castley, J Guy; Buckley, Ralf C

2012-01-01

Protected areas are critical for the conservation of many threatened species. Despite this, many protected areas are acutely underfunded, which reduces their effectiveness significantly. Tourism is one mechanism to promote and fund conservation in protected areas, but there are few studies analyzing its tangible conservation outcomes for threatened species. This study uses the 415 IUCN critically endangered frog species to evaluate the contribution of protected area tourism revenue to conservation. Contributions were calculated for each species as the proportion of geographic range inside protected areas multiplied by the proportion of protected area revenues derived from tourism. Geographic ranges were determined from IUCN Extent of Occurrence maps. Almost 60% (239) of critically endangered frog species occur in protected areas. Higher proportions of total range are protected in Nearctic, Australasian and Afrotopical regions. Tourism contributions to protected area budgets ranged from 5-100%. These financial contributions are highest for developing countries in the Afrotropical, Indomalayan and Neotropical regions. Data for both geographic range and budget are available for 201 critically endangered frog species with proportional contributions from tourism to species protection ranging from 0.8-99%. Tourism's financial contributions to critically endangered frog species protection are highest in the Afrotropical region. This study uses a coarse measure but at the global scale it demonstrates that tourism has significant potential to contribute to global frog conservation efforts.

Tourism and the Conservation of Critically Endangered Frogs

PubMed Central

Morrison, Clare; Simpkins, Clay; Castley, J. Guy; Buckley, Ralf C.

2012-01-01

Protected areas are critical for the conservation of many threatened species. Despite this, many protected areas are acutely underfunded, which reduces their effectiveness significantly. Tourism is one mechanism to promote and fund conservation in protected areas, but there are few studies analyzing its tangible conservation outcomes for threatened species. This study uses the 415 IUCN critically endangered frog species to evaluate the contribution of protected area tourism revenue to conservation. Contributions were calculated for each species as the proportion of geographic range inside protected areas multiplied by the proportion of protected area revenues derived from tourism. Geographic ranges were determined from IUCN Extent of Occurrence maps. Almost 60% (239) of critically endangered frog species occur in protected areas. Higher proportions of total range are protected in Nearctic, Australasian and Afrotopical regions. Tourism contributions to protected area budgets ranged from 5–100%. These financial contributions are highest for developing countries in the Afrotropical, Indomalayan and Neotropical regions. Data for both geographic range and budget are available for 201 critically endangered frog species with proportional contributions from tourism to species protection ranging from 0.8–99%. Tourism's financial contributions to critically endangered frog species protection are highest in the Afrotropical region. This study uses a coarse measure but at the global scale it demonstrates that tourism has significant potential to contribute to global frog conservation efforts. PMID:22984440

Red Rock Canyon National Conservation Area Transportation Feasibility Study

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

2012-07-31

Red Rock Canyon National Conservation Area is a popular Bureau of Land Management natural area located near Las Vegas, Nevada. Red Rock Canyon experiences heavy congestion on its Scenic Drive and associated parking areas, due to high volumes of visit...

The land use patterns for soil organic carbon conservation at Endanga watershed Southeast Sulawesi Indonesia

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Leomo, S.; Ginting, S.; Sabaruddin, L.; Tufaila, M.; Muhidin

2018-02-01

The Endanga basin is one part of the Konaweeha watershed located in South Konawe, Southeast Sulawesi Province, covering an area of 1,353.67 hectares. The land use patterns in Endanga Watershed contained forests, shrubs, oil palm plantations, pepper fields, and cultivated fields of field rice, corn monoculture and intercropping of peanuts and corn. This watershed needs serious attention because most of its territory is on slope of 15-40%, with erosion hazard levels (EHL) varying from mild erosion to severe erosion. The loss of organic carbon (C-organic) soil is measured from the soil carried along with the surface stream and into the reservoir on various land uses. The result measurement of C-organic soil loss on forest land use is 14.02 kg ha-1, shrubs land 22.71 kg ha-1, oil palm 151.32 kg ha-1, pepper garden 93.69 kg ha-1, field rice 313.80 kg.ha-1, monoculture of maize 142.44 kg ha-1, intercropped maize and corn 51.10 kg ha-1 and open land 1,909.16 kg ha-1. The forest land and shrubs is best in conserving soil C-organic, but economically unfavorable for the community, so land use pattern for intercropping and pepper plantation can be used for soil C-organic conservation

Taboos and forest governance: informal protection of hot spot dry forest in southern Madagascar.

PubMed

Tengö, Maria; Johansson, Kristin; Rakotondrasoa, Fanambinantsoa; Lundberg, Jakob; Andriamaherilala, Jean-Aimé; Rakotoarisoa, Jean-Aimé; Elmqvist, Thomas

2007-12-01

In the dry forest of southern Madagascar, a region of global conservation priority, formally protected areas are nearly totally absent. We illustrate how the continued existence of unique forest habitats in the Androy region is directly dependent on informal institutions, taboos, regulating human behavior. Qualitative interviews to map and analyze the social mechanisms underlying forest protection have been combined with vegetation analyses of species diversity and composition. Of 188 forest patches, 93% were classified as protected, and in Southern Androy all remaining forest patches larger than 5 ha were protected. Eight different types of forests, with a gradient of social fencing from open access to almost complete entry prohibitions, were identified. Transgressions were well enforced with strong sanctions of significant economic as well as religious importance. Analyses of species diversity between protected and unprotected forests were complicated because of size differences and access restrictions. However, since, for example, in southern Androy >90% of the total remaining forest cover is protected through taboos, these informal institutions represent an important, and presently the only, mechanism for conservation of the highly endemic forest species. We conclude that social aspects, such as local beliefs and legitimate sanctioning systems, need to be analyzed and incorporated along with biodiversity studies for successful conservation.

Need for multiscale planning for conservation of urban bats.

PubMed

Gallo, Travis; Lehrer, Elizabeth W; Fidino, Mason; Kilgour, R Julia; Wolff, Patrick J; Magle, Seth B

2017-11-10

For over a century there have been continual efforts to incorporate nature into urban planning. These efforts (i.e., urban reconciliation) aim to manage and create habitats that support biodiversity within cities. Given that species select habitat at different spatial scales, understanding the scale at which urban species respond to their environment is critical to the success of urban reconciliation efforts. We assessed species-habitat relationships for common bat species at 50-m, 500-m, and 1 km spatial scales in the Chicago (U.S.A.) metropolitan area and predicted bat activity across the greater Chicago region. Habitat characteristics across all measured scales were important predictors of silver-haired bat (Lasionycteris noctivagans) and eastern red bat (Lasiurus borealis) activity, and big brown bat (Eptesicus fuscus) activity was significantly lower at urban sites relative to rural sites. Open vegetation had a negative effect on silver-haired bat activity at the 50-m scale but a positive effect at the 500-m scale, indicating potential shifts in the relative importance of some habitat characteristics at different scales. These results demonstrate that localized effects may be constrained by broader spatial patterns. Our findings highlight the importance of considering scale in urban reconciliation efforts and our landscape predictions provide information that can help prioritize urban conservation work. © 2017 Society for Conservation Biology.

Spatially explicit decision support for selecting translocation areas for Mojave desert tortoises

USGS Publications Warehouse

Heaton, Jill S.; Nussear, Kenneth E.; Esque, Todd C.; Inman, Richard D.; Davenport, Frank; Leuteritz, Thomas E.; Medica, Philip A.; Strout, Nathan W.; Burgess, Paul A.; Benvenuti, Lisa

2008-01-01

Spatially explicit decision support systems are assuming an increasing role in natural resource and conservation management. In order for these systems to be successful, however, they must address real-world management problems with input from both the scientific and management communities. The National Training Center at Fort Irwin, California, has expanded its training area, encroaching U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service critical habitat set aside for the Mojave desert tortoise (Gopherus agassizii), a federally threatened species. Of all the mitigation measures proposed to offset expansion, the most challenging to implement was the selection of areas most feasible for tortoise translocation. We developed an objective, open, scientifically defensible spatially explicit decision support system to evaluate translocation potential within the Western Mojave Recovery Unit for tortoise populations under imminent threat from military expansion. Using up to a total of 10 biological, anthropogenic, and/or logistical criteria, seven alternative translocation scenarios were developed. The final translocation model was a consensus model between the seven scenarios. Within the final model, six potential translocation areas were identified.

50 CFR 660.76 - EFH Conservation Areas.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-10-01

... 50 Wildlife and Fisheries 13 2014-10-01 2014-10-01 false EFH Conservation Areas. 660.76 Section 660.76 Wildlife and Fisheries FISHERY CONSERVATION AND MANAGEMENT, NATIONAL OCEANIC AND ATMOSPHERIC ADMINISTRATION, DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE (CONTINUED) FISHERIES OFF WEST COAST STATES West Coast Groundfish...

50 CFR 660.70 - Groundfish conservation areas.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-10-01

... 50 Wildlife and Fisheries 13 2014-10-01 2014-10-01 false Groundfish conservation areas. 660.70 Section 660.70 Wildlife and Fisheries FISHERY CONSERVATION AND MANAGEMENT, NATIONAL OCEANIC AND ATMOSPHERIC ADMINISTRATION, DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE (CONTINUED) FISHERIES OFF WEST COAST STATES West Coast...

Evaluating local benefits from conservation in Nepal's Annapurna Conservation Area.

PubMed

Spiteri, Arian; Nepal, Sanjay K

2008-09-01

Protected areas are integral to the global effort to conserve biodiversity, and, over the past two decades, protected area managers have begun to recognize that conservation objectives are next to impossible to achieve without considering the needs and concerns of local communities. Incentive-based programs (IBPs) have become a favored approach to protected area management, geared at fostering local stewardship by delivering benefits tied to conservation to local people. Effective IBPs require benefits to accrue to and be recognized by those experiencing the greatest consequences as a result of the protected area, and those likely to continue extractive activities if their livelihood needs are compromised. This research examines dispersal of IBP benefits, as perceived by local residents in Nepal's Annapurna Conservation Area. Results reported here are based on questionnaire interviews with 188 households conducted between September and December 2004. Results indicate that local residents primarily identify benefits from social development activities, provisions for resource extraction, and economic opportunities. Overall, benefits have been dispersed equally to households in villages on and off the main tourist route, and regardless of a household's participation in tourism. However, benefits are not effectively targeted to poorer residents, those highly dependent on natural resources, and those experiencing the most crop damage and livestock loss from protected wildlife. This article provides several suggestions for improving the delivery of conservation incentives.

Alignment between values of dryland pastoralists and conservation needs for small mammals.

PubMed

Addison, Jane; Pavey, Chris R

2017-04-01

Policies for conservation outside protected areas, such as those designed to address the decline in Australian mammals, will not result in net improvements unless they address barriers to proenvironmental behavior. We used a mixed-methods approach to explore potential value-action gaps (disconnects between values and subsequent action) for small mammal conservation behaviors among pastoralists in dryland Australia. Using semistructured surveys and open-ended interviews (n = 43), we explored values toward small mammals; uptake of a range of current and intended actions that may provide benefit to small mammals; and potential perceived barriers to their uptake. Pastoralists assigned great conservation value to small mammals; over 80% (n = 36) agreed to strongly agreed that small mammals on their property were important. These values did not translate into stated willingness to engage in voluntary cessation of wild-dog control (r 2 = 0.187, p = 0.142, n = 43). However, assigning great conservation value to small mammals was strongly related to stated voluntary willingness to engage in the proenvironmental behavior most likely to result in benefits to small mammals: cat and fox control (r 2 = 0.558, p = 0.000, n = 43). There was no significant difference between stated voluntarily and incentivized willingness to engage in cat and fox control (p = 0.862, n = 43). The high levels of willingness to engage in voluntary cat and fox control highlight a potential entry point for addressing Australia's mammal declines because the engagement of pastoralists in conservation programs targeting cat and fox control is unlikely to be prevented by attitudinal constraints. Qualitative data suggest there is likely a subpopulation of pastoralists who value small mammals but do not wish to engage in formal conservation programs due to relational barriers with potential implementers. A long-term commitment to engagement with pastoralists by implementers will thus be necessary for conservation success. On-property cat and fox control programs that build and leverage trust, shared goals, collaboration, and shared learning experiences between stakeholders and that explicitly recognize the complexity of small mammal dynamics and the property-level ecological knowledge of pastoralists are more likely to gain traction. © 2016 Society for Conservation Biology.

Saving the superstar: a review of the social factors affecting tiger conservation in India.

PubMed

Rastogi, Archi; Hickey, Gordon M; Badola, Ruchi; Hussain, Syed Ainul

2012-12-30

Tiger conservation in India represents an excellent case study of the many challenges facing conservation programs internationally. It is well understood that tigers are sensitive to human disturbances and large areas of habitat need to be protected for their conservation. Such protected areas in India are managed by the governments using an exclusionary approach. However, this approach is known to create several issues with local communities, including historical, legal, livelihood and management issues; with a volume of literature suggesting the inclusion of local communities in management. Yet, other evidence suggests that inclusion of communities in tiger conservation may lead to anthropogenic disturbances that can jeopardize tigers. The gravity of the situation is reflected in the recent disappearance of tigers from two key protected areas in India, the Sariska and Panna Tiger Reserves. This review paper connects the key literature from conservation biology, environmental history, management sciences, policy and political sciences to underline the gridlock of tiger conservation: it needs exclusive protected areas that antagonize communities, and it depends on the support of the same communities for success. We examine the possibility of reconciliation between these disciplines, and assert that research on tiger conservation needs to allow for an increasingly interdisciplinary approach. We call for a more integrated approach to tiger conservation, to examine the values inherent in conservation and to shed more light on the social factors that affect tiger conservation schemes. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Ecosystem services-based SWOT analysis of protected areas for conservation strategies.

PubMed

Scolozzi, Rocco; Schirpke, Uta; Morri, Elisa; D'Amato, Dalia; Santolini, Riccardo

2014-12-15

An ecosystem services-based SWOT analysis is proposed in order to identify and quantify internal and external factors supporting or threatening the conservation effectiveness of protected areas. The proposed approach concerns both the ecological and the social perspective. Strengths and weaknesses, opportunities and threats were evaluated based on 12 selected environmental and socio-economic indicators for all terrestrial Italian protected areas, belonging to the Natura 2000 network, and for their 5-km buffer area. The indicators, used as criteria within a multi-criteria assessment, include: core area, cost-distance between protected areas, changes in ecosystem services values, intensification of land use, and urbanization. The results were aggregated for three biogeographical regions, Alpine, Continental, and Mediterranean, indicating that Alpine sites have more opportunities and strengths than Continental and Mediterranean sites. The results call attention to where connectivity and land-use changes may have stronger influence on protected areas, in particular, whereas urbanization or intensification of agriculture may hamper conservation goals of protected areas. The proposed SWOT analysis provides helpful information for a multiple scale perspective and for identifying conservation priorities and for defining management strategies to assure biodiversity conservation and ecosystem services provision. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Combined effects of landscape composition and heterogeneity on farmland avian diversity.

PubMed

Santana, Joana; Reino, Luís; Stoate, Chris; Moreira, Francisco; Ribeiro, Paulo F; Santos, José L; Rotenberry, John T; Beja, Pedro

2017-02-01

Conserving biodiversity on farmland is an essential element of worldwide efforts for reversing the global biodiversity decline. Common approaches involve improving the natural component of the landscape by increasing the amount of natural and seminatural habitats (e.g., hedgerows, woodlots, and ponds) or improving the production component of the landscape by increasing the amount of biodiversity-friendly crops. Because these approaches may negatively impact on economic output, it was suggested that an alternative might be to enhance the diversity (compositional heterogeneity) or the spatial complexity (configurational heterogeneity) of land cover types, without necessarily changing composition. Here, we develop a case study to evaluate these ideas, examining whether managing landscape composition or heterogeneity, or both, would be required to achieve conservation benefits on avian diversity in open Mediterranean farmland. We surveyed birds in farmland landscapes of southern Portugal, before (1995-1997) and after (2010-2012) the European Union's Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) reform of 2003, and related spatial and temporal variation in bird species richness to variables describing the composition, and the compositional and configurational heterogeneity, of the natural and production components of the landscape. We found that the composition of the production component had the strongest effects on avian diversity, with a particularly marked effect on the richness of farmland and steppe bird species. Composition of the natural component was also influential, mainly affecting the richness of woodland/shrubland species. Although there were some effects of compositional and configurational heterogeneity, these were much weaker and inconsistent than those of landscape composition. Overall, we suggest that conservation efforts in our area should focus primarily on the composition of the production component, by striving to maximize the prevalence of biodiversity-friendly crops. This recommendation probably applies to other areas such as ours, where a range of species of conservation concern is strongly associated with crop habitats.

Extinction risks and the conservation of Madagascar's reptiles.

PubMed

Jenkins, Richard K B; Tognelli, Marcelo F; Bowles, Philip; Cox, Neil; Brown, Jason L; Chan, Lauren; Andreone, Franco; Andriamazava, Alain; Andriantsimanarilafy, Raphali R; Anjeriniaina, Mirana; Bora, Parfait; Brady, Lee D; Hantalalaina, Elisoa F; Glaw, Frank; Griffiths, Richard A; Hilton-Taylor, Craig; Hoffmann, Michael; Katariya, Vineet; Rabibisoa, Nirhy H; Rafanomezantsoa, Jeannot; Rakotomalala, Domoina; Rakotondravony, Hery; Rakotondrazafy, Ny A; Ralambonirainy, Johans; Ramanamanjato, Jean-Baptiste; Randriamahazo, Herilala; Randrianantoandro, J Christian; Randrianasolo, Harison H; Randrianirina, Jasmin E; Randrianizahana, Hiarinirina; Raselimanana, Achille P; Rasolohery, Andriambolantsoa; Ratsoavina, Fanomezana M; Raxworthy, Christopher J; Robsomanitrandrasana, Eric; Rollande, Finoana; van Dijk, Peter P; Yoder, Anne D; Vences, Miguel

2014-01-01

An understanding of the conservation status of Madagascar's endemic reptile species is needed to underpin conservation planning and priority setting in this global biodiversity hotspot, and to complement existing information on the island's mammals, birds and amphibians. We report here on the first systematic assessment of the extinction risk of endemic and native non-marine Malagasy snakes, lizards, turtles and tortoises. Species range maps from The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species were analysed to determine patterns in the distribution of threatened reptile species. These data, in addition to information on threats, were used to identify priority areas and actions for conservation. Thirty-nine percent of the data-sufficient Malagasy reptiles in our analyses are threatened with extinction. Areas in the north, west and south-east were identified as having more threatened species than expected and are therefore conservation priorities. Habitat degradation caused by wood harvesting and non-timber crops was the most pervasive threat. The direct removal of reptiles for international trade and human consumption threatened relatively few species, but were the primary threats for tortoises. Nine threatened reptile species are endemic to recently created protected areas. With a few alarming exceptions, the threatened endemic reptiles of Madagascar occur within the national network of protected areas, including some taxa that are only found in new protected areas. Threats to these species, however, operate inside and outside protected area boundaries. This analysis has identified priority sites for reptile conservation and completes the conservation assessment of terrestrial vertebrates in Madagascar which will facilitate conservation planning, monitoring and wise-decision making. In sharp contrast with the amphibians, there is significant reptile diversity and regional endemism in the southern and western regions of Madagascar and this study highlights the importance of these arid regions to conserving the island's biodiversity.

Examining marginalized communities and local conservation institutions: the case of Nepal's Annapurna Conservation Area.

PubMed

Dahal, Smriti; Nepal, Sanjay K; Schuett, Michael A

2014-01-01

In developing countries, participatory conservation initiatives have been criticized for many reasons, mainly for excluding marginalized groups which have led to unequal benefits. Using concepts from the literature on participation, conservation, and political ecology, this research explored the participation of marginal groups, i.e., poor, women, lower caste, and landless, in management institutions in Nepal's Annapurna Conservation Area. Field work for this research was conducted through the use of interviews and participant observation during August-October 2010. Results show that although marginal groups were involved in local management institutions, their representation was minimal and had not led to meaningful participation or empowerment to influence the decisions being made in conservation and development programs. Our study findings indicate that the involvement of marginal groups in local initiatives is complex and influenced by several factors. The study concludes that the Annapurna Conservation Area Project needs to re-orient its conservation projects by adopting a more inclusive form of participation and move beyond the quota system.

Examining Marginalized Communities and Local Conservation Institutions: The Case of Nepal's Annapurna Conservation Area

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Dahal, Smriti; Nepal, Sanjay K.; Schuett, Michael A.

2014-01-01

In developing countries, participatory conservation initiatives have been criticized for many reasons, mainly for excluding marginalized groups which have led to unequal benefits. Using concepts from the literature on participation, conservation, and political ecology, this research explored the participation of marginal groups, i.e., poor, women, lower caste, and landless, in management institutions in Nepal's Annapurna Conservation Area. Field work for this research was conducted through the use of interviews and participant observation during August-October 2010. Results show that although marginal groups were involved in local management institutions, their representation was minimal and had not led to meaningful participation or empowerment to influence the decisions being made in conservation and development programs. Our study findings indicate that the involvement of marginal groups in local initiatives is complex and influenced by several factors. The study concludes that the Annapurna Conservation Area Project needs to re-orient its conservation projects by adopting a more inclusive form of participation and move beyond the quota system.

[Assessment on the changing conditions of ecosystems in key ecological function zones in China].

PubMed

Huang, Lin; Cao, Wei; Wu, Dan; Gong, Guo-li; Zhao, Guo-song

2015-09-01

In this paper, the dynamics of ecosystem macrostructure, qualities and core services during 2000 and 2010 were analyzed for the key ecological function zones of China, which were classified into four types of water conservation, soil conservation, wind prevention and sand fixation, and biodiversity maintenance. In the water conservation ecological function zones, the areas of forest and grassland ecosystems were decreased whereas water bodies and wetland were increased in the past 11 years, and the water conservation volume of forest, grassland and wetland ecosystems increased by 2.9%. This region needs to reverse the decreasing trends of forest and grassland ecosystems. In the soil conservation ecological function zones, the area of farmland ecosystem was decreased, and the areas of forest, grassland, water bodies and wetland ecosystems were increased. The total amount of the soil erosion was reduced by 28.2%, however, the soil conservation amount of ecosystems increased by 38.1%. In the wind prevention and sand fixation ecological function zones, the areas of grassland, water bodies and wetland ecosystems were decreased, but forest and farmland ecosystems were increased. The unit amount of the soil. wind erosion was reduced and the sand fixation amount of ecosystems increased lightly. In this kind of region that is located in arid and semiarid areas, ecological conservation needs to reduce farmland area and give priority to the protection of the original ecological system. In the biodiversity maintenance ecological function zones, the areas of grassland and desert ecosystems were decreased and other types were increased. The human disturbances showed a weakly upward trend and needs to be reduced. The key ecological function zones should be aimed at the core services and the protecting objects, to assess quantitatively on the effectiveness of ecosystem conservation and improvement.

How Corridors Reduce Indigo Bunting Nest Success.

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

Weldon, Aimee, J.

2006-08-01

Abstract: Corridors are a popular strategy to conserve biodiversity and promote gene flow in fragmented landscapes. Corridor effectiveness has been bolstered by the fact that no empirical field studies have shown negative effects on populations or communities. I tested the hypothesis that corridors increase nest predation in connected habitat fragments relative to unconnected fragments. I evaluated this hypothesis in a large-scale experimental system of open-habitat fragments that varied in shape and connectivity. Corridors increased nest predation rates in connected fragments relative to unconnected fragments with lower edge:area ratios. Nest predation rates were similar between connected and unconnected fragments with highermore » edge:area ratios. These results suggest that the increase in predator activity is largely attributable to edge effects incurred through the addition of a corridor. This is the first field study to demonstrate that corridors can negatively impact animal populations occupying connected fragments.« less

Analysis on energy-saving path of rural buildings in hot summer and cold winter zone

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Huang, Mingqiang; Li, Jinheng

2018-02-01

Since the reform and opening policy, the construction of rural area in China has become more and more important. The idea of establishing green villages needs to be accepted and recognized by the public. The hot summer and cold winter zone combines two contradictory weather conditions that is cold winter and hot summer. So the living conditions are limited. In response to this climate, residents extensively use electric heaters or air conditioning to adjust the indoor temperature, resulting in energy waste and environmental pollution. In order to improve the living conditions of residents, rural area energy conservation has been put on the agenda. Based on the present situation and energy consumption analysis of the rural buildings in the hot summer and cold winter zone, this article puts forward several energy saving paths from government, construction technology and so on

Spatiotemporal analysis of air conditions as a tool for the environmental management of a show cave (Cueva del Agua, Spain)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Fernandez-Cortes, A.; Calaforra, J. M.; Sanchez-Martos, F.

We recorded the air temperature and carbon dioxide concentration within the Cueva del Agua, a cave in Spain, under natural conditions prior to the cave being opened to tourists. Geostatistical tools are useful techniques for characterizing microclimate parameters with the aim of adopting measures to ensure the conservation and sound environmental management of tourist caves. We modelled the spatial distribution of these microclimatic parameters over an annual cycle using iterative residual kriging, revealing the stratification of air related to the cave's topography. Replenishment of the cave air is activated by convective circulation that accompanies the development of inversions in the thermal gradient of the air. Comparison of the spatial distribution of each microclimatic parameter over time enables us to characterize the exchange of air between the cave interior and the outside, as well as identify potential areas that could be opened to tourists and determine suitable visiting schedules.

RESTful M2M Gateway for Remote Wireless Monitoring for District Central Heating Networks

PubMed Central

Cheng, Bo; Wei, Zesan

2014-01-01

In recent years, the increased interest in energy conservation and environmental protection, combined with the development of modern communication and computer technology, has resulted in the replacement of distributed heating by central heating in urban areas. This paper proposes a Representational State Transfer (REST) Machine-to-Machine (M2M) gateway for wireless remote monitoring for a district central heating network. In particular, we focus on the resource-oriented RESTful M2M gateway architecture, and present an uniform devices abstraction approach based on Open Service Gateway Initiative (OSGi) technology, and implement the resource mapping mechanism between resource address mapping mechanism between RESTful resources and the physical sensor devices, and present the buffer queue combined with polling method to implement the data scheduling and Quality of Service (QoS) guarantee, and also give the RESTful M2M gateway open service Application Programming Interface (API) set. The performance has been measured and analyzed. Finally, the conclusions and future work are presented. PMID:25436650

RESTful M2M gateway for remote wireless monitoring for district central heating networks.

PubMed

Cheng, Bo; Wei, Zesan

2014-11-27

In recent years, the increased interest in energy conservation and environmental protection, combined with the development of modern communication and computer technology, has resulted in the replacement of distributed heating by central heating in urban areas. This paper proposes a Representational State Transfer (REST) Machine-to-Machine (M2M) gateway for wireless remote monitoring for a district central heating network. In particular, we focus on the resource-oriented RESTful M2M gateway architecture, and present an uniform devices abstraction approach based on Open Service Gateway Initiative (OSGi) technology, and implement the resource mapping mechanism between resource address mapping mechanism between RESTful resources and the physical sensor devices, and present the buffer queue combined with polling method to implement the data scheduling and Quality of Service (QoS) guarantee, and also give the RESTful M2M gateway open service Application Programming Interface (API) set. The performance has been measured and analyzed. Finally, the conclusions and future work are presented.

Arthroscopic Anatomic Reconstruction of the Lateral Ligaments of the Ankle With Gracilis Autograft

PubMed Central

Guillo, Stéphane; Archbold, Pooler; Perera, Anthony; Bauer, Thomas; Sonnery-Cottet, Bertrand

2014-01-01

Lateral ankle sprains are common; if conservative treatment fails and chronic instability develops, stabilization surgery is indicated. Numerous surgical procedures have been described, but those that most closely reproduce normal ankle lateral ligament anatomy and kinematics have been shown to have the best outcomes. Arthroscopy is a common adjunct to open ligament surgery, but it is traditionally only used to improve the diagnosis and the management of any associated intra-articular lesions. The stabilization itself is performed open because standard anterior ankle arthroscopy provides only partial visualization of the anterior talofibular ligament from above and the calcaneofibular ligament attachments cannot be seen at all. However, lateral ankle endoscopy can provide a view of this area that is superior to open surgery. We have developed a technique of ankle endoscopy that enables anatomic positioning of the repair or fixation of the graft. In this article we describe a safe and reproducible arthroscopic anatomic reconstruction of the lateral ligaments of the ankle using a gracilis autograft. The aim of this procedure is to obtain a more physiological reconstruction while maintaining all the advantages of an arthroscopic approach. PMID:25473613

Drove roads: Keystone structures that promote ant diversity in Mediterranean forest landscapes

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Azcárate, Francisco M.; Seoane, Javier; Castro, Sara; Peco, Begoña

2013-05-01

Drove roads are the traditional corridors used by pastoralists for seasonal movements of livestock (transhumance). They cover a considerable land area in Mediterranean countries and, although they are an obvious source of landscape diversity, their influence on the diversity and composition of animal assemblages has not been documented. Ant communities were studied on four active drove roads, two in forests (submediterranean and conifer) and two in open environments (croplands and rangelands). They were compared with the respective matrix communities and their contribution to local species richness was evaluated. The effects were heavily dependent on the open or closed nature of the matrix. In forest environments, drove roads increased ant species richness at the local scale, acting as clear keystone structures. Their species richness and functional diversity were highest on the fine scale, species composition was different, and a slight edge effect in the matrix was detected. In contrast, drove roads had little or even a negative effect in open environment locations. We conclude that drove roads have a high conservation value for ants in Mediterranean forest environments, in addition to their importance as reservoirs of plant biodiversity and generators of ecological goods and services.

Conservation Science Fair Projects.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Soil Conservation Society of America, Ankeny, IA.

Included are ideas, suggestions, and examples for selecting and designing conservation science projects. Over 70 possible conservation subject areas are presented with suggested projects. References are cited with each of these subject areas, and a separate list of annotated references is included. The references pertain to general subject…

A public hedonic analysis of environmental attributes in an open space preservation program

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Nordman, Erik E.

The Town of Brookhaven, on Long Island, NY, has implemented an open space preservation program to protect natural areas, and the ecosystem services they provide, from suburban growth. I used a public hedonic model of Brookhaven's open space purchases to estimate implicit prices for various environmental attributes, locational variables and spatial metrics. I also measured the correlation between cost per acre and non-monetary environmental benefit scores and tested whether including cost data, as opposed to non-monetary environmental benefit score alone, would change the prioritization ranks of acquired properties. The mean acquisition cost per acre was 82,501. I identified the key on-site environmental and locational variables using stepwise regression for four functional forms. The log-log specification performed best ( R2adj= 0.727). I performed a second stepwise regression (log-log form) which included spatial metrics, calculated from a high-resolution land cover classification, in addition to the environmental and locational variables. This markedly improved the model's performance ( R2adj=0.866). Statistically significant variables included the property size, location in the Pine Barrens Compatible Growth Area, location in a FEMA flood zone, adjacency to public land, and several other environmental dummy variables. The single significant spatial metric, the fractal dimension of the tree cover class, had the largest elasticity of any variable. Of the dummy variables, location within the Compatible Growth Area had the largest implicit price (298,792 per acre). The priority rank for the two methods, non-monetary environmental benefit score alone and the ratio of non-monetary environmental benefit score to acquisition cost were significantly positively correlated. This suggests that, despite the lack of cost data in their ranking method, Brookhaven does not suffer from efficiency losses. The economics literature encourages using both environmental benefits and acquisition costs to ensure cost-effective conservation programs. I recommend that Brookhaven consider acquisition costs in addition to environmental benefits to avert potential efficiency losses in future open space purchases. This dissertation shows that the addition of spatial metrics can enhance the performance of hedonic models. It also provides a baseline valuation for the environmental attributes of Brookhaven' open spaces and shows that location is critical when dealing with open space preservation programs.

Exploitation rates of two benthic resources across management regimes in central Chile: Evidence of illegal fishing in artisanal fisheries operating in open access areas

PubMed Central

Andreu-Cazenave, Miguel; Subida, Maria Dulce; Fernandez, Miriam

2017-01-01

There is an urgent need to quantify the impacts of artisanal fisheries and define management practices that allow for the recovery and conservation of exploited stocks. The extent of illegal catch is particularly critical as a driver of overexploitation in artisanal fisheries. However, the lack of data at proper spatial scales limits the evaluation of illegal fishing and effectiveness of management practices. We used a catch curve analysis to estimate total instantaneous mortality as a proxy of fishing pressure in the artisanal benthic fishery in central Chile. We compared the patterns of total mortality in fishing grounds under the well-studied territorial use rights for fisheries system (TURF) immersed in a landscape of open access areas (OAA; no access restriction), and from these patterns determined the extent of illegal fishing in open access areas focusing on the two most frequently extracted resources: locos (Concholepas concholepas) and keyhole limpets (Fissurella spp.). The beauty of this seascape is the presence of the no-take (NT) area of Las Cruces as control (no fishing), allowing us to estimate natural mortality. Loco exploitation is banned in OAAs. However, loco mortality in OAAs was 92% higher than in the NT, and 42% higher than in TURFs. Keyhole limpet mortality was similar between TURFs and the NT, but doubled in OAAs. We also found strong differences in mortality among fishing grounds with the same level of protection (i.e. TURFs), and over time. Our results highlight (a) the high level of illegal fishing that may occur in artisanal fisheries under traditional management regimes, and (b) that TURFs can be effective to reduce fishing mortality. However, large variability among TURFs suggests the need for a deeper understanding of the drivers of success of TURFs. PMID:28666013

Delineating priority habitat areas for the conservation of Andean bears in northern Ecuador

USGS Publications Warehouse

Peralvo, M.F.; Cuesta, F.; Van Manen, F.

2005-01-01

We sought to identify priority areas for the conservation of Andean bear (Tremarctos ornatus) habitat in the northern portion of the eastern Andean cordillera in Ecuador. The study area included pa??ramo and montane forest habitats within the Antisana and Cayambe-Coca ecological reserves, and unprotected areas north of these reserves with elevations ranging from 1,800 to 4,300 m. We collected data on bear occurrence along 53 transects during 2000-01 in the Oyacachi River basin, an area of indigenous communities within the Cayambe-Coca Ecological Reserve. We used those data and a set of 7 environmental variables to predict suitability of Andean bear habitat using Mahalanobis distance, a multivariate measure of dissimilarity. The Mahalanobis distance values were classified into 5 classes of habitat suitability and generalized to a resolution of 1,650-m ?? 1,650-m grid cells. Clusters of grid cells with high suitability values were delineated from the generalized model and denned as important habitat areas (IHAs) for conservation. The IHAs were ranked using a weighted index that included factors of elevation range, influence from disturbed areas, and current conservation status. We identified 12 IHAs, which were mainly associated with pa??ramo and cloud forest habitats; 2 of these areas have high conservation priorities because they are outside existing reserves and close to areas of human pressure. The distribution of the IHAs highlighted the role of human land use as the main source of fragmentation of Andean bear habitat in this region, emphasizing the importance of preserving habitat connectivity to allow the seasonal movements among habitat types that we documented for this species. Furthermore, the existence of areas with high habitat suitability close to areas of intense human use indicates the importance of bear-human conflict management as a critical Andean bear conservation strategy. We suggest that a promising conservation opportunity for this species is linked to its occurrence in highland habitats, which play a key role in the maintenance of long-term water supplies.

Integrated control of landscape irrigation and rainwater harvesting for urban water management

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lee, J. H.; Dhakal, B.; Noh, S.; Seo, D. J.

2016-12-01

Demand for freshwater is increasing rapidly in large and fast-growing urban areas such as the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex (DFW). With almost complete reliance on surface water, water supply for DFW is limited by the available storage in the reservoir systems which is now subject to larger variability due to climate change. Landscape irrigation is estimated to account for nearly one-third of all residential water use in the US and as much as 60% in dry climate areas. In landscape irrigation, a large portion of freshwater is commonly lost by sub-optimal practices. If practiced over a large area, one may expect optimized smart irrigation to significantly reduce urban freshwater demand. For increasing on-site water supply, rainwater harvesting (RHW) is particularly attractive in that it conserves potable water while reducing stormwater runoff. Traditional static RWH methods, however, have limited success due to the inefficient water usage. If, on the other hand, lawn irrigation and rainwater harvesting can be optimized as an integrated operation and controlled adaptively to the feedback from the environmental sensors, weather conditions and forecast, one may expect the combined benefits for water conservation and stormwater management to be larger. In this work, we develop a prototype system for integrated control of lawn irrigation and RWH for water conservation and stormwater management, and assess and demonstrate the potential impact and value of the system. For in-situ evaluation, we deploy a wireless sensor network consisting of low-cost off-the-shelf sensors and open-sourced components, and collect observations of temperature, humidity, soil moisture, and solar radiation at the test site at the UTA community garden in Arlington, Texas. We assess the health of the lawn grass using normalized vegetation index (NDVI) from the time lapse images at the site. In this poster, we describe the approach and share the initial results.

Genetic Differentiation of the Western Capercaillie Highlights the Importance of South-Eastern Europe for Understanding the Species Phylogeography

PubMed Central

Ballian, Dalibor; Kunovac, Saša; Zubić, Goran; Grubešić, Marijan; Zhelev, Petar; Paule, Ladislav; Grebenc, Tine; Kraigher, Hojka

2011-01-01

The Western Capercaillie (Tetrao urogallus L.) is a grouse species of open boreal or high altitude forests of Eurasia. It is endangered throughout most mountain range habitat areas in Europe. Two major genetically identifiable lineages of Western Capercaillie have been described to date: the southern lineage at the species' southernmost range of distribution in Europe, and the boreal lineage. We address the question of genetic differentiation of capercaillie populations from the Rhodope and Rila Mountains in Bulgaria, across the Dinaric Mountains to the Slovenian Alps. The two lineages' contact zone and resulting conservation strategies in this so-far understudied area of distribution have not been previously determined. The results of analysis of mitochondrial DNA control region sequences of 319 samples from the studied populations show that Alpine populations were composed exclusively of boreal lineage; Dinaric populations of both, but predominantly (96%) of boreal lineage; and Rhodope-Rila populations predominantly (>90%) of southern lineage individuals. The Bulgarian mountains were identified as the core area of the southern lineage, and the Dinaric Mountains as the western contact zone between both lineages in the Balkans. Bulgarian populations appeared genetically distinct from Alpine and Dinaric populations and exhibited characteristics of a long-term stationary population, suggesting that they should be considered as a glacial relict and probably a distinct subspecies. Although all of the studied populations suffered a decline in the past, the significantly lower level of genetic diversity when compared with the neighbouring Alpine and Bulgarian populations suggests that the isolated Dinaric capercaillie is particularly vulnerable to continuing population decline. The results are discussed in the context of conservation of the species in the Balkans, its principal threats and legal protection status. Potential conservation strategies should consider the existence of the two lineages and their vulnerable Dinaric contact zone and support the specificities of the populations. PMID:21897847

Garden and Landscape-Scale Correlates of Moths of Differing Conservation Status: Significant Effects of Urbanization and Habitat Diversity

PubMed Central

Bates, Adam J.; Sadler, Jon P.; Grundy, Dave; Lowe, Norman; Davis, George; Baker, David; Bridge, Malcolm; Freestone, Roger; Gardner, David; Gibson, Chris; Hemming, Robin; Howarth, Stephen; Orridge, Steve; Shaw, Mark; Tams, Tom; Young, Heather

2014-01-01

Moths are abundant and ubiquitous in vegetated terrestrial environments and are pollinators, important herbivores of wild plants, and food for birds, bats and rodents. In recent years, many once abundant and widespread species have shown sharp declines that have been cited by some as indicative of a widespread insect biodiversity crisis. Likely causes of these declines include agricultural intensification, light pollution, climate change, and urbanization; however, the real underlying cause(s) is still open to conjecture. We used data collected from the citizen science Garden Moth Scheme (GMS) to explore the spatial association between the abundance of 195 widespread British species of moth, and garden habitat and landscape features, to see if spatial habitat and landscape associations varied for species of differing conservation status. We found that associations with habitat and landscape composition were species-specific, but that there were consistent trends in species richness and total moth abundance. Gardens with more diverse and extensive microhabitats were associated with higher species richness and moth abundance; gardens near to the coast were associated with higher richness and moth abundance; and gardens in more urbanized locations were associated with lower species richness and moth abundance. The same trends were also found for species classified as increasing, declining and vulnerable under IUCN (World Conservation Union) criteria. However, vulnerable species were more strongly negatively affected by urbanization than increasing species. Two hypotheses are proposed to explain this observation: (1) that the underlying factors causing declines in vulnerable species (e.g., possibilities include fragmentation, habitat deterioration, agrochemical pollution) across Britain are the same in urban areas, but that these deleterious effects are more intense in urban areas; and/or (2) that urban areas can act as ecological traps for some vulnerable species of moth, the light drawing them in from the surrounding landscape into sub-optimal urban habitats. PMID:24475197

Can retention forestry help conserve biodiversity? A meta-analysis

PubMed Central

Fedrowitz, Katja; Koricheva, Julia; Baker, Susan C; Lindenmayer, David B; Palik, Brian; Rosenvald, Raul; Beese, William; Franklin, Jerry F; Kouki, Jari; Macdonald, Ellen; Messier, Christian; Sverdrup-Thygeson, Anne; Gustafsson, Lena

2014-01-01

Industrial forestry typically leads to a simplified forest structure and altered species composition. Retention of trees at harvest was introduced about 25 years ago to mitigate negative impacts on biodiversity, mainly from clearcutting, and is now widely practiced in boreal and temperate regions. Despite numerous studies on response of flora and fauna to retention, no comprehensive review has summarized its effects on biodiversity in comparison to clearcuts as well as un-harvested forests. Using a systematic review protocol, we completed a meta-analysis of 78 studies including 944 comparisons of biodiversity between retention cuts and either clearcuts or un-harvested forests, with the main objective of assessing whether retention forestry helps, at least in the short term, to moderate the negative effects of clearcutting on flora and fauna. Retention cuts supported higher richness and a greater abundance of forest species than clearcuts as well as higher richness and abundance of open-habitat species than un-harvested forests. For all species taken together (i.e. forest species, open-habitat species, generalist species and unclassified species), richness was higher in retention cuts than in clearcuts. Retention cuts had negative impacts on some species compared to un-harvested forest, indicating that certain forest-interior species may not survive in retention cuts. Similarly, retention cuts were less suitable for some open-habitat species compared with clearcuts. Positive effects of retention cuts on richness of forest species increased with proportion of retained trees and time since harvest, but there were not enough data to analyse possible threshold effects, that is, levels at which effects on biodiversity diminish. Spatial arrangement of the trees (aggregated vs. dispersed) had no effect on either forest species or open-habitat species, although limited data may have hindered our capacity to identify responses. Results for different comparisons were largely consistent among taxonomic groups for forest and open-habitat species, respectively. Synthesis and applications. Our meta-analysis provides support for wider use of retention forestry since it moderates negative harvesting impacts on biodiversity. Hence, it is a promising approach for integrating biodiversity conservation and production forestry, although identifying optimal solutions between these two goals may need further attention. Nevertheless, retention forestry will not substitute for conservation actions targeting certain highly specialized species associated with forest-interior or open-habitat conditions. Our meta-analysis provides support for wider use of retention forestry since it moderates negative harvesting impacts on biodiversity. Hence, it is a promising approach for integrating biodiversity conservation and production forestry, although identifying optimal solutions between these two goals may need further attention. Nevertheless, retention forestry will not substitute for conservation actions targeting certain highly specialized species associated with forest-interior or open-habitat conditions. PMID:25552747

Can retention forestry help conserve biodiversity? A meta-analysis.

PubMed

Fedrowitz, Katja; Koricheva, Julia; Baker, Susan C; Lindenmayer, David B; Palik, Brian; Rosenvald, Raul; Beese, William; Franklin, Jerry F; Kouki, Jari; Macdonald, Ellen; Messier, Christian; Sverdrup-Thygeson, Anne; Gustafsson, Lena

2014-12-01

Industrial forestry typically leads to a simplified forest structure and altered species composition. Retention of trees at harvest was introduced about 25 years ago to mitigate negative impacts on biodiversity, mainly from clearcutting, and is now widely practiced in boreal and temperate regions. Despite numerous studies on response of flora and fauna to retention, no comprehensive review has summarized its effects on biodiversity in comparison to clearcuts as well as un-harvested forests. Using a systematic review protocol, we completed a meta-analysis of 78 studies including 944 comparisons of biodiversity between retention cuts and either clearcuts or un-harvested forests, with the main objective of assessing whether retention forestry helps, at least in the short term, to moderate the negative effects of clearcutting on flora and fauna. Retention cuts supported higher richness and a greater abundance of forest species than clearcuts as well as higher richness and abundance of open-habitat species than un-harvested forests. For all species taken together (i.e. forest species, open-habitat species, generalist species and unclassified species), richness was higher in retention cuts than in clearcuts. Retention cuts had negative impacts on some species compared to un-harvested forest, indicating that certain forest-interior species may not survive in retention cuts. Similarly, retention cuts were less suitable for some open-habitat species compared with clearcuts. Positive effects of retention cuts on richness of forest species increased with proportion of retained trees and time since harvest, but there were not enough data to analyse possible threshold effects, that is, levels at which effects on biodiversity diminish. Spatial arrangement of the trees (aggregated vs. dispersed) had no effect on either forest species or open-habitat species, although limited data may have hindered our capacity to identify responses. Results for different comparisons were largely consistent among taxonomic groups for forest and open-habitat species, respectively. Synthesis and applications . Our meta-analysis provides support for wider use of retention forestry since it moderates negative harvesting impacts on biodiversity. Hence, it is a promising approach for integrating biodiversity conservation and production forestry, although identifying optimal solutions between these two goals may need further attention. Nevertheless, retention forestry will not substitute for conservation actions targeting certain highly specialized species associated with forest-interior or open-habitat conditions. Our meta-analysis provides support for wider use of retention forestry since it moderates negative harvesting impacts on biodiversity. Hence, it is a promising approach for integrating biodiversity conservation and production forestry, although identifying optimal solutions between these two goals may need further attention. Nevertheless, retention forestry will not substitute for conservation actions targeting certain highly specialized species associated with forest-interior or open-habitat conditions.

Large-scale conservation planning in a multinational marine environment: cost matters.

PubMed

Mazor, Tessa; Giakoumi, Sylvaine; Kark, Salit; Possingham, Hugh P

2014-07-01

Explicitly including cost in marine conservation planning is essential for achieving feasible and efficient conservation outcomes. Yet, spatial priorities for marine conservation are still often based solely on biodiversity hotspots, species richness, and/or cumulative threat maps. This study aims to provide an approach for including cost when planning large-scale Marine Protected Area (MPA) networks that span multiple countries. Here, we explore the incorporation of cost in the complex setting of the Mediterranean Sea. In order to include cost in conservation prioritization, we developed surrogates that account for revenue from multiple marine sectors: commercial fishing, noncommercial fishing, and aquaculture. Such revenue can translate into an opportunity cost for the implementation of an MPA network. Using the software Marxan, we set conservation targets to protect 10% of the distribution of 77 threatened marine species in the Mediterranean Sea. We compared nine scenarios of opportunity cost by calculating the area and cost required to meet our targets. We further compared our spatial priorities with those that are considered consensus areas by several proposed prioritization schemes in the Mediterranean Sea, none of which explicitly considers cost. We found that for less than 10% of the Sea's area, our conservation targets can be achieved while incurring opportunity costs of less than 1%. In marine systems, we reveal that area is a poor cost surrogate and that the most effective surrogates are those that account for multiple sectors or stakeholders. Furthermore, our results indicate that including cost can greatly influence the selection of spatial priorities for marine conservation of threatened species. Although there are known limitations in multinational large-scale planning, attempting to devise more systematic and rigorous planning methods is especially critical given that collaborative conservation action is on the rise and global financial crisis restricts conservation investments.

Knowledge co-production and boundary work to promote implementation of conservation plans.

PubMed

Nel, Jeanne L; Roux, Dirk J; Driver, Amanda; Hill, Liesl; Maherry, Ashton C; Snaddon, Kate; Petersen, Chantel R; Smith-Adao, Lindie B; Van Deventer, Heidi; Reyers, Belinda

2016-02-01

Knowledge co-production and boundary work offer planners a new frame for critically designing a social process that fosters collaborative implementation of resulting plans. Knowledge co-production involves stakeholders from diverse knowledge systems working iteratively toward common vision and action. Boundary work is a means of creating permeable knowledge boundaries that satisfy the needs of multiple social groups while guarding the functional integrity of contributing knowledge systems. Resulting products are boundary objects of mutual interest that maintain coherence across all knowledge boundaries. We examined how knowledge co-production and boundary work can bridge the gap between planning and implementation and promote cross-sectoral cooperation. We applied these concepts to well-established stages in regional conservation planning within a national scale conservation planning project aimed at identifying areas for conserving rivers and wetlands of South Africa and developing an institutional environment for promoting their conservation. Knowledge co-production occurred iteratively over 4 years in interactive stake-holder workshops that included co-development of national freshwater conservation goals and spatial data on freshwater biodiversity and local conservation feasibility; translation of goals into quantitative inputs that were used in Marxan to select draft priority conservation areas; review of draft priority areas; and packaging of resulting map products into an atlas and implementation manual to promote application of the priority area maps in 37 different decision-making contexts. Knowledge co-production stimulated dialogue and negotiation and built capacity for multi-scale implementation beyond the project. The resulting maps and information integrated diverse knowledge types of over 450 stakeholders and represented >1000 years of collective experience. The maps provided a consistent national source of information on priority conservation areas for rivers and wetlands and have been applied in 25 of the 37 use contexts since their launch just over 3 years ago. When framed as a knowledge co-production process supported by boundary work, regional conservation plans can be developed into valuable boundary objects that offer a tangible tool for multi-agency cooperation around conservation. Our work provides practical guidance for promoting uptake of conservation science and contributes to an evidence base on how conservation efforts can be improved. © 2015 Society for Conservation Biology.

Local conservation laws in spin-\\frac{1}{2} XY chains with open boundary conditions

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Fagotti, Maurizio

2016-06-01

We revisit the conserved quantities of the spin-\\frac{1}{2} XY model with open boundary conditions. In the absence of a transverse field, we find new families of local charges and show that half of the seeming conservation laws are conserved only if the number of sites is odd. In even chains the set of noninteracting charges is abelian, like in the periodic case when the number of sites is odd. In odd chains the set is doubled and becomes non-abelian, like in even periodic chains. The dependence of the charges on the parity of the chain’s size undermines the common belief that the thermodynamic limit of diagonal ensembles exists. We consider also the transverse-field Ising chain, where the situation is more ordinary. The generalization to the XY model in a transverse field is not straightforward and we propose a general framework to carry out similar calculations. We conjecture the form of the bulk part of the local charges and discuss the emergence of quasilocal conserved quantities. We provide evidence that in a region of the parameter space there is a reduction of the number of quasilocal conservation laws invariant under chain inversion. As a by-product, we study a class of block-Toeplitz-plus-Hankel operators and identify the conditions that their symbols satisfy in order to commute with a given block-Toeplitz.

Wildlife Abundance and Diversity as Indicators of Tourism Potential in Northern Botswana.

PubMed

Winterbach, Christiaan W; Whitesell, Carolyn; Somers, Michael J

2015-01-01

Wildlife tourism can provide economic incentives for conservation. Due to the abundance of wildlife and the presence of charismatic species some areas are better suited to wildlife tourism. Our first objective was to develop criteria based on wildlife abundance and diversity to evaluate tourism potential in the Northern Conservation Zone of Botswana. Secondly we wanted to quantify and compare tourism experiences in areas with high and low tourism potential. We used aerial survey data to estimate wildlife biomass and diversity to determine tourism potential, while data from ground surveys quantified the tourist experience. Areas used for High Paying Low Volume tourism had significantly higher mean wildlife biomass and wildlife diversity than the areas avoided for this type of tourism. Only 22% of the Northern Conservation Zone has intermediate to high tourism potential. The areas with high tourism potential, as determined from the aerial survey data, provided tourists with significantly better wildlife sightings (ground surveys) than the low tourism potential areas. Even Low Paying tourism may not be economically viable in concessions that lack areas with intermediate to high tourism potential. The largest part of the Northern Conservation Zone has low tourism potential, but low tourism potential is not equal to low conservation value. Alternative conservation strategies should be developed to complement the economic incentive provided by wildlife-based tourism in Botswana.

Wildlife Abundance and Diversity as Indicators of Tourism Potential in Northern Botswana

PubMed Central

Winterbach, Christiaan W.; Whitesell, Carolyn; Somers, Michael J.

2015-01-01

Wildlife tourism can provide economic incentives for conservation. Due to the abundance of wildlife and the presence of charismatic species some areas are better suited to wildlife tourism. Our first objective was to develop criteria based on wildlife abundance and diversity to evaluate tourism potential in the Northern Conservation Zone of Botswana. Secondly we wanted to quantify and compare tourism experiences in areas with high and low tourism potential. We used aerial survey data to estimate wildlife biomass and diversity to determine tourism potential, while data from ground surveys quantified the tourist experience. Areas used for High Paying Low Volume tourism had significantly higher mean wildlife biomass and wildlife diversity than the areas avoided for this type of tourism. Only 22% of the Northern Conservation Zone has intermediate to high tourism potential. The areas with high tourism potential, as determined from the aerial survey data, provided tourists with significantly better wildlife sightings (ground surveys) than the low tourism potential areas. Even Low Paying tourism may not be economically viable in concessions that lack areas with intermediate to high tourism potential. The largest part of the Northern Conservation Zone has low tourism potential, but low tourism potential is not equal to low conservation value. Alternative conservation strategies should be developed to complement the economic incentive provided by wildlife-based tourism in Botswana. PMID:26308859

The New York State Bird Conservation Area (BCA) Program: A Model for the United States

Treesearch

M. F. Burger; D. J. Adams; T. Post; L. Sommers; B. Swift

2005-01-01

The New York State Bird Conservation Area (BCA) Program, modeled after the National Audubon Society?s Important Bird Areas Program, is based on legislation signed by Governor Pataki in 1997. New York is the first state in the nation to enact such a program. The BCA Program seeks to provide a comprehensive, ecosystem approach to conserving birds and their habitats on...

GRA prospectus: optimizing design and management of protected areas

USGS Publications Warehouse

Bernknopf, Richard; Halsing, David

2001-01-01

Protected areas comprise one major type of global conservation effort that has been in the form of parks, easements, or conservation concessions. Though protected areas are increasing in number and size throughout tropical ecosystems, there is no systematic method for optimally targeting specific local areas for protection, designing the protected area, and monitoring it, or for guiding follow-up actions to manage it or its surroundings over the long run. Without such a system, conservation projects often cost more than necessary and/or risk protecting ecosystems and biodiversity less efficiently than desired. Correcting these failures requires tools and strategies for improving the placement, design, and long-term management of protected areas. The objective of this project is to develop a set of spatially based analytical tools to improve the selection, design, and management of protected areas. In this project, several conservation concessions will be compared using an economic optimization technique. The forest land use portfolio model is an integrated assessment that measures investment in different land uses in a forest. The case studies of individual tropical ecosystems are developed as forest (land) use and preservation portfolios in a geographic information system (GIS). Conservation concessions involve a private organization purchasing development and resource access rights in a certain area and retiring them. Forests are put into conservation, and those people who would otherwise have benefited from extracting resources or selling the right to do so are compensated. Concessions are legal agreements wherein the exact amount and nature of the compensation result from a negotiated agreement between an agent of the conservation community and the local community. Funds are placed in a trust fund, and annual payments are made to local communities and regional/national governments. The payments are made pending third-party verification that the forest expanse and quality have been maintained.

Innovations in Agriculture in Oregon: Farmers Irrigation District Improves Water Quality, Maximizes Water Conservation, and Generates Clean, Renewable Energy

EPA Pesticide Factsheets

The Hood River Farmers Irrigation District used $36.2 million in CWSRF loans for a multiple-year endeavor to convert the open canal system to a piped, pressurized irrigation system to maximize water conservation and restore reliable water delivery to crops

Exploring the Professional Ideals of Christian Teachers from Conservative Protestant Schools in the Netherlands

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Boele-de Bruin, H. L.; de Muynck, A.

2018-01-01

Professional ideals arise from personal worldviews and specify teachers' professional identities. This study aimed to explore how faith is present in the professional ideals of Christian teachers. The professional ideals of 107 Dutch teachers from conservative Protestant primary and secondary schools were explored using an open-ended…

18 CFR 37.6 - Information to be posted on the OASIS.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-04-01

... 18 Conservation of Power and Water Resources 1 2013-04-01 2013-04-01 false Information to be posted on the OASIS. 37.6 Section 37.6 Conservation of Power and Water Resources FEDERAL ENERGY REGULATORY COMMISSION, DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY REGULATIONS UNDER THE FEDERAL POWER ACT OPEN ACCESS SAME-TIME...

18 CFR 37.6 - Information to be posted on the OASIS.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-04-01

... 18 Conservation of Power and Water Resources 1 2014-04-01 2014-04-01 false Information to be posted on the OASIS. 37.6 Section 37.6 Conservation of Power and Water Resources FEDERAL ENERGY REGULATORY COMMISSION, DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY REGULATIONS UNDER THE FEDERAL POWER ACT OPEN ACCESS SAME-TIME...

18 CFR 37.6 - Information to be posted on the OASIS.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-04-01

... 18 Conservation of Power and Water Resources 1 2012-04-01 2012-04-01 false Information to be posted on the OASIS. 37.6 Section 37.6 Conservation of Power and Water Resources FEDERAL ENERGY REGULATORY COMMISSION, DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY REGULATIONS UNDER THE FEDERAL POWER ACT OPEN ACCESS SAME-TIME...

76 FR 40927 - Endangered and Threatened Wildlife and Plants; Draft Habitat Conservation Plan and Environmental...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2011-07-12

...] Endangered and Threatened Wildlife and Plants; Draft Habitat Conservation Plan and Environmental Assessment..., a golf and racquet club facility, a network of man-made navigable lagoons, a restaurant, commercial... year at sea, forage in the open ocean, and breed on Kauai. Beginning in March and April, adults...

18 CFR 37.8 - Obligations of OASIS users.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-04-01

... 18 Conservation of Power and Water Resources 1 2011-04-01 2011-04-01 false Obligations of OASIS users. 37.8 Section 37.8 Conservation of Power and Water Resources FEDERAL ENERGY REGULATORY COMMISSION, DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY REGULATIONS UNDER THE FEDERAL POWER ACT OPEN ACCESS SAME-TIME INFORMATION SYSTEMS § 37.8...

75 FR 22620 - Upper Klamath, Lower Klamath, Tule Lake, Bear Valley, and Clear Lake National Wildlife Refuges...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2010-04-29

.... In addition to outlining broad management direction on conserving wildlife and their habitats, CCPs... ensure the best possible approach to wildlife, plant, and habitat conservation, while providing for... hardstem-cattail marsh and open water, along with 30 acres of forested uplands. These habitats serve as...

Ecosystem Services Modeling as a Tool for Defining Priority Areas for Conservation.

PubMed

Duarte, Gabriela Teixeira; Ribeiro, Milton Cezar; Paglia, Adriano Pereira

2016-01-01

Conservationists often have difficulty obtaining financial and social support for protected areas that do not demonstrate their benefits for society. Therefore, ecosystem services have gained importance in conservation science in the last decade, as these services provide further justification for appropriate management and conservation of natural systems. We used InVEST software and a set of GIS procedures to quantify, spatialize and evaluated the overlap between ecosystem services-carbon stock and sediment retention-and a biodiversity proxy-habitat quality. In addition, we proposed a method that serves as an initial approach of a priority areas selection process. The method considers the synergism between ecosystem services and biodiversity conservation. Our study region is the Iron Quadrangle, an important Brazilian mining province and a conservation priority area located in the interface of two biodiversity hotspots, the Cerrado and Atlantic Forest biomes. The resultant priority area for the maintenance of the highest values of ecosystem services and habitat quality was about 13% of the study area. Among those priority areas, 30% are already within established strictly protected areas, and 12% are in sustainable use protected areas. Following the transparent and highly replicable method we proposed in this study, conservation planners can better determine which areas fulfill multiple goals and can locate the trade-offs in the landscape. We also gave a step towards the improvement of the habitat quality model with a topography parameter. In areas of very rugged topography, we have to consider geomorfometric barriers for anthropogenic impacts and for species movement and we must think beyond the linear distances. Moreover, we used a model that considers the tree mortality caused by edge effects in the estimation of carbon stock. We found low spatial congruence among the modeled services, mostly because of the pattern of sediment retention distribution.

Ecosystem Services Modeling as a Tool for Defining Priority Areas for Conservation

PubMed Central

Duarte, Gabriela Teixeira; Ribeiro, Milton Cezar; Paglia, Adriano Pereira

2016-01-01

Conservationists often have difficulty obtaining financial and social support for protected areas that do not demonstrate their benefits for society. Therefore, ecosystem services have gained importance in conservation science in the last decade, as these services provide further justification for appropriate management and conservation of natural systems. We used InVEST software and a set of GIS procedures to quantify, spatialize and evaluated the overlap between ecosystem services—carbon stock and sediment retention—and a biodiversity proxy–habitat quality. In addition, we proposed a method that serves as an initial approach of a priority areas selection process. The method considers the synergism between ecosystem services and biodiversity conservation. Our study region is the Iron Quadrangle, an important Brazilian mining province and a conservation priority area located in the interface of two biodiversity hotspots, the Cerrado and Atlantic Forest biomes. The resultant priority area for the maintenance of the highest values of ecosystem services and habitat quality was about 13% of the study area. Among those priority areas, 30% are already within established strictly protected areas, and 12% are in sustainable use protected areas. Following the transparent and highly replicable method we proposed in this study, conservation planners can better determine which areas fulfill multiple goals and can locate the trade-offs in the landscape. We also gave a step towards the improvement of the habitat quality model with a topography parameter. In areas of very rugged topography, we have to consider geomorfometric barriers for anthropogenic impacts and for species movement and we must think beyond the linear distances. Moreover, we used a model that considers the tree mortality caused by edge effects in the estimation of carbon stock. We found low spatial congruence among the modeled services, mostly because of the pattern of sediment retention distribution. PMID:27145031

Structural basis for the facilitative diffusion mechanism by SemiSWEET transporter

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lee, Yongchan; Nishizawa, Tomohiro; Yamashita, Keitaro; Ishitani, Ryuichiro; Nureki, Osamu

2015-01-01

SWEET family proteins mediate sugar transport across biological membranes and play crucial roles in plants and animals. The SWEETs and their bacterial homologues, the SemiSWEETs, are related to the PQ-loop family, which is characterized by highly conserved proline and glutamine residues (PQ-loop motif). Although the structures of the bacterial SemiSWEETs were recently reported, the conformational transition and the significance of the conserved motif in the transport cycle have remained elusive. Here we report crystal structures of SemiSWEET from Escherichia coli, in the both inward-open and outward-open states. A structural comparison revealed that SemiSWEET undergoes an intramolecular conformational change in each protomer. The conserved PQ-loop motif serves as a molecular hinge that enables the ‘binder clip-like’ motion of SemiSWEET. The present work provides the framework for understanding the overall transport cycles of SWEET and PQ-loop family proteins.

Can private land conservation reduce wildfire risk to homes? A case study in San Diego County, California, USA

USGS Publications Warehouse

Butsic, Van; Syphard, Alexandra D.; Keeley, Jon E.; Bar-Massada, Avi

2017-01-01

The purchase of private land for conservation purposes is a common way to prevent the exploitation of sensitive ecological areas. However, private land conservation can also provide other benefits, one of these being natural hazard reduction. Here, we investigated the impacts of private land conservation on fire risk to homes in San Diego County, California. We coupled an econometric land use change model with a model that estimates the probability of house loss due to fire in order to compare fire risk at the county and municipality scale under alternative private land purchasing schemes and over a 20 year time horizon. We found that conservation purchases could reduce fire risk on this landscape, and the amount of risk reduction was related to the targeting approach used to choose which parcels were conserved. Conservation land purchases that targeted parcels designated as high fire hazard resulted in lower fire risk to homes than purchases that targeted low costs or high likelihood to subdivide. This result was driven by (1) preventing home placement in fire prone areas and (2) taking land off the market, and hence increasing development densities in other areas. These results raise the possibility that resource conservation and fire hazard reduction may benefit from combining efforts. With adequate planning, future conservation purchases could have synergistic effects beyond just protecting ecologically sensitive areas.

Filling gaps in a large reserve network to address freshwater conservation needs.

PubMed

Hermoso, Virgilio; Filipe, Ana Filipa; Segurado, Pedro; Beja, Pedro

2015-09-15

Freshwater ecosystems and biodiversity are among the most threatened at global scale, but efforts for their conservation have been mostly peripheral to terrestrial conservation. For example, Natura 2000, the world's largest network of protected areas, fails to cover adequately the distribution of rare and endangered aquatic species, and lacks of appropriate spatial design to make conservation for freshwater biodiversity effective. Here, we develop a framework to identify a complementary set of priority areas and enhance the conservation opportunities of Natura 2000 for freshwater biodiversity, using the Iberian Peninsula as a case study. We use a systematic planning approach to identify a minimum set of additional areas that would help i) adequately represent all freshwater fish, amphibians and aquatic reptiles at three different target levels, ii) account for key ecological processes derived from riverscape connectivity, and iii) minimize the impact of threats, both within protected areas and propagated from upstream unprotected areas. Addressing all these goals would need an increase in area between 7 and 46%, depending on the conservation target used and strength of connectivity required. These new priority areas correspond to subcatchments inhabited by endangered and range restricted species, as well as additional subcatchments required to improve connectivity among existing protected areas and to increase protection against upstream threats. Our study should help guide future revisions of the design of Natura 2000, while providing a framework to address deficiencies in reserve networks for adequately protecting freshwater biodiversity elsewhere. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

A conservation planning approach to mitigate the impacts of leakage from protected area networks.

PubMed

Bode, Michael; Tulloch, Ayesha I T; Mills, Morena; Venter, Oscar; Ando, Amy W

2015-06-01

Protected area networks are designed to restrict anthropogenic pressures in areas of high biodiversity. Resource users respond by seeking to replace some or all of the lost resources from locations elsewhere in the landscape. Protected area networks thereby perturb the pattern of human pressures by displacing extractive effort from within protected areas into the broader landscape, a process known as leakage. The negative effects of leakage on conservation outcomes have been empirically documented and modeled using homogeneous descriptions of conservation landscapes. Human resource use and biodiversity vary greatly in space, however, and a theory of leakage must describe how this heterogeneity affects the magnitude, pattern, and biodiversity impacts of leakage. We combined models of household utility, adaptive human foraging, and biodiversity conservation to provide a bioeconomic model of leakage that accounts for spatial heterogeneity. Leakage had strong and divergent impacts on the performance of protected area networks, undermining biodiversity benefits but mitigating the negative impacts on local resource users. When leakage was present, our model showed that poorly designed protected area networks resulted in a substantial net loss of biodiversity. However, the effects of leakage can be mitigated if they are incorporated ex-ante into the conservation planning process. If protected areas are coupled with nonreserve policy instruments such as market subsidies, our model shows that the trade-offs between biodiversity and human well-being can be further and more directly reduced. © 2014 Society for Conservation Biology.

Distinctiveness, use, and value of midwestern oak savannas and woodlands as avian habitats

USGS Publications Warehouse

Grundel, R.; Pavlovic, N.B.

2007-01-01

Oak savannas and woodlands historically covered millions of hectares in the midwestern United States but are rare today. We evaluated the ecological distinctiveness and conservation value of savannas and woodlands by examining bird distributions across a fire-maintained woody-vegetation gradient in northwest Indiana encompassing five habitats—open habitats with low canopy cover, savannas, woodlands, scrublands, and forests—during migration, breeding, and overwintering. Savannas and woodlands were significantly different in overall bird species composition from open and forest habitats but were often intermediate between open and forest in guild densities. Few bird species were consistently and highly concentrated in savannas or woodlands, and the Red-headed Woodpecker (Melanerpes erythrocephalus) was the only species significantly more abundant in savannas and woodlands than in open, scrub, and forest habitats. Fire frequency over a 15-year interval was a significant predictor of bird community composition and was positively related to species diversity, spring transient migrant density, and density of the most threatened species. Each habitat type had characteristics potentially important for avian conservation. Scrub had the highest density of transient migrants, which suggests it plays an important role as migration stopover habitat. More species were significantly concentrated in open or forest habitats than in the other habitats. Lack of species concentration and intermediate community composition suggested that birds experienced savannas and woodlands more as ecotones than as habitats distinct from forests or grasslands. However, this intermediate character can benefit conservation, as evidenced by savannas and woodlands having the highest density of the most threatened species along this woody-vegetation gradient.

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.

Agreed but not preferred: expert views on taboo options for biodiversity conservation, given climate change.

PubMed

Hagerman, Shannon M; Satterfield, Terre

2014-04-01

Recent research indicates increasing openness among conservation experts toward a set of previously controversial proposals for biodiversity protection. These include actions such as assisted migration, and the application of climate-change-informed triage principles for decision-making (e.g., forgoing attention to target species deemed no longer viable). Little is known however, about the levels of expert agreement across different conservation adaptation actions, or the preferences that may come to shape policy recommendations. In this paper, we report findings from a web-based survey of biodiversity experts that assessed: (1) perceived risks of climate change (and other drivers) to biodiversity, (2) relative importance of different conservation goals, (3) levels of agreement/disagreement with the potential necessity of unconventional-taboo actions and approaches including affective evaluations of these, (4) preferences regarding the most important adaptation action for biodiversity, and (5) perceived barriers and strategic considerations regarding implementing adaptation initiatives. We found widespread agreement with a set of previously contentious approaches and actions, including the need for frameworks for prioritization and decision-making that take expected losses and emerging novel ecosystems into consideration. Simultaneously, this survey found enduring preferences for conventional actions (such as protected areas) as the most important policy action, and negative affective responses toward more interventionist proposals. We argue that expert views are converging on agreement across a set of taboo components in ways that differ from earlier published positions, and that these views are tempered by preferences for existing conventional actions and discomfort toward interventionist options. We discuss these findings in the context of anticipating some of the likely contours of future conservation debates. Lastly, we underscore the critical need for interdisciplinary, comparative, place-based adaptation research.

Association of extinction risk of saproxylic beetles with ecological degradation of forests in Europe.

PubMed

Seibold, Sebastian; Brandl, Roland; Buse, Jörn; Hothorn, Torsten; Schmidl, Jürgen; Thorn, Simon; Müller, Jörg

2015-04-01

To reduce future loss of biodiversity and to allocate conservation funds effectively, the major drivers behind large-scale extinction processes must be identified. A promising approach is to link the red-list status of species and specific traits that connect species of functionally important taxa or guilds to resources they rely on. Such traits can be used to detect the influence of anthropogenic ecosystem changes and conservation efforts on species, which allows for practical recommendations for conservation. We modeled the German Red List categories as an ordinal index of extinction risk of 1025 saproxylic beetles with a proportional-odds linear mixed-effects model for ordered categorical responses. In this model, we estimated fixed effects for intrinsic traits characterizing species biology, required resources, and distribution with phylogenetically correlated random intercepts. The model also allowed predictions of extinction risk for species with no red-list category. Our model revealed a higher extinction risk for lowland and large species as well as for species that rely on wood of large diameter, broad-leaved trees, or open canopy. These results mirror well the ecological degradation of European forests over the last centuries caused by modern forestry, that is the conversion of natural broad-leaved forests to dense conifer-dominated forests and the loss of old growth and dead wood. Therefore, conservation activities aimed at saproxylic beetles in all types of forests in Central and Western Europe should focus on lowlands, and habitat management of forest stands should aim at increasing the amount of dead wood of large diameter, dead wood of broad-leaved trees, and dead wood in sunny areas. © 2014 Society for Conservation Biology.

Biodiversity conservation should focus on no-take Marine Reserves: 94% of Marine Protected Areas allow fishing.

PubMed

Costello, Mark J; Ballantine, Bill

2015-09-01

Conservation needs places where nature is left wild; but only a quarter of coastal countries have no-take Marine Reserves. 'Marine Protected Areas' (MPAs) have been used to indicate conservation progress but we found that 94% allow fishing and thus cannot protect all aspects of biodiversity. Biodiversity conservation should focus on Marine Reserves, not MPAs. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Genetic conservation planning for forest tree species in Western North America under future climate change: Employing a novel approach to identify conservation gaps

Treesearch

L.K. Gray; E.J. Russell; Q.E. Barber; A. Hamann

2017-01-01

Among the 17 provinces, territories, and states that comprise western North America, approximately 18 percent of the 8.4 million km2 of forested land base is designated as protected areas to ensure the in situ conservation of forest biodiversity. Jurisdictions vary substantially however, in their responsibilities, protected area coverage, and conservation policies....

Optimizing farm landscape by two decision-support tools for present and future: A case study in a mountainous farm of Taiwan

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chou, S.; Lin, Y.

2013-12-01

Rapid expansion of agricultural land-use has been identified as the main factor degrading biodiversity. Many studies have indicated that habitat quality and connectivity for multiple species can be preserved by applying the systematic conservation planning and software programs for spatial conservation prioritizations are usually used by planners to solve conservation problems for present and future. However, each conservation software program uses different algorithms and may not be suitable or efficient for all case studies. Therefore, in this study we compared the performance of two commonly used decision-support tools, Marxan and Zonation, on identifying priority areas as reserve region for 16 bird species in the mountain area of Taiwan. The priority areas are considered as the results of the tradeoff between bird presence (biological factor) and agricultural products (economic factor). Marxan uses the minimum set approach to identify priority areas for meeting specific targets while Zonation uses the maximum coverage approach to identify priority areas given a fixed budget. Therefore, we design the scenario with the most comparable setting, which selects target-based planning as the removal rule and boundary length penalty option in zonation. The landscape composition and configuration of the simulated priority areas were further evaluated by using landscape metrics and their similarity were examined by using Spearman's rank tests. The results showed that Marxan performed more efficiently while Zonation generated the priority areas in better connectivity. As the selection of conservation programs depends on users objectives and needs for present and future, this study provides useful information on determining suitable and efficient decision-support tools for future bird conservation. Conservation maps for Zonation based on different BLP parameter. The conservation value for Zonation is based on the hierarchical solution output. (a)BLP =1000 (b)BLP =3000 (c)BLP =5000 (d)BLP =7000 Conservation maps for Marxan based on different BMP parameter. The conservation value for Marxan is based on the selection frequency. (a)BMP =2500 (b)BMP =5000 (c)BMP =7500 (d)BMP =10000

Micro-Credit and Community Wildlife Management: Complementary Strategies to Improve Conservation Outcomes in Serengeti National Park, Tanzania

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kaaya, Emmanuel; Chapman, Margaret

2017-09-01

Community wildlife management programs in African protected areas aim to deliver livelihood and social benefits to local communities in order to bolster support for their conservation objectives. Most of these benefits are delivered at the community level. However, many local people are also seeking more individual or household-level livelihood benefits from community wildlife management programs because it is at this level that many of the costs of protected area conservation are borne. Because community wildlife management delivers few benefits at this level, support for their conservation objectives amongst local people often declines. The study investigated the implications of this for reducing poaching in Serengeti National Park, Tanzania. Three community wildlife management initiatives undertaken by Park management were compared with regard to their capacity to deliver the individual and household-level benefits sought by local people: community conservation services, wildlife management areas and community conservation banks. Interviews were carried out with poachers and local people from four villages in the Western Serengeti including members of village conservation banks, as well as a number of key informants. The results suggest that community conservation banks could, as a complementary strategy to existing community wildlife management programs, potentially provide a more effective means of reducing poaching in African protected areas than community wildlife management programs alone.

50 CFR Figure 19 to Part 679 - Shelikof Strait Conservation Area

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-10-01

... 50 Wildlife and Fisheries 9 2010-10-01 2010-10-01 false Shelikof Strait Conservation Area 19 Figure 19 to Part 679 Wildlife and Fisheries FISHERY CONSERVATION AND MANAGEMENT, NATIONAL OCEANIC AND ATMOSPHERIC ADMINISTRATION, DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE (CONTINUED) FISHERIES OF THE EXCLUSIVE ECONOMIC ZONE OFF...

50 CFR 660.79 - EFH Conservation Areas off the Coast of California.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-10-01

... 50 Wildlife and Fisheries 13 2014-10-01 2014-10-01 false EFH Conservation Areas off the Coast of California. 660.79 Section 660.79 Wildlife and Fisheries FISHERY CONSERVATION AND MANAGEMENT, NATIONAL OCEANIC AND ATMOSPHERIC ADMINISTRATION, DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE (CONTINUED) FISHERIES OFF WEST COAST STATES...

50 CFR 660.78 - EFH Conservation Areas off the Coast of Oregon.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-10-01

... 50 Wildlife and Fisheries 13 2014-10-01 2014-10-01 false EFH Conservation Areas off the Coast of Oregon. 660.78 Section 660.78 Wildlife and Fisheries FISHERY CONSERVATION AND MANAGEMENT, NATIONAL OCEANIC AND ATMOSPHERIC ADMINISTRATION, DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE (CONTINUED) FISHERIES OFF WEST COAST STATES...

50 CFR 660.77 - EFH Conservation Areas off the Coast of Washington.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-10-01

... 50 Wildlife and Fisheries 13 2014-10-01 2014-10-01 false EFH Conservation Areas off the Coast of Washington. 660.77 Section 660.77 Wildlife and Fisheries FISHERY CONSERVATION AND MANAGEMENT, NATIONAL OCEANIC AND ATMOSPHERIC ADMINISTRATION, DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE (CONTINUED) FISHERIES OFF WEST COAST STATES...

36 CFR 910.36 - Energy conservation.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-07-01

... 36 Parks, Forests, and Public Property 3 2012-07-01 2012-07-01 false Energy conservation. 910.36... DEVELOPMENT AREA Standards Uniformly Applicable to the Development Area § 910.36 Energy conservation. All new development shall be designed to be economical in energy consumption. The Energy Guidelines of the Corporation...

36 CFR 910.36 - Energy conservation.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-07-01

... 36 Parks, Forests, and Public Property 3 2011-07-01 2011-07-01 false Energy conservation. 910.36... DEVELOPMENT AREA Standards Uniformly Applicable to the Development Area § 910.36 Energy conservation. All new development shall be designed to be economical in energy consumption. The Energy Guidelines of the Corporation...

36 CFR 910.36 - Energy conservation.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-07-01

... 36 Parks, Forests, and Public Property 3 2014-07-01 2014-07-01 false Energy conservation. 910.36... DEVELOPMENT AREA Standards Uniformly Applicable to the Development Area § 910.36 Energy conservation. All new development shall be designed to be economical in energy consumption. The Energy Guidelines of the Corporation...

36 CFR 910.36 - Energy conservation.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-07-01

... 36 Parks, Forests, and Public Property 3 2010-07-01 2010-07-01 false Energy conservation. 910.36... DEVELOPMENT AREA Standards Uniformly Applicable to the Development Area § 910.36 Energy conservation. All new development shall be designed to be economical in energy consumption. The Energy Guidelines of the Corporation...

42 CFR 486.316 - Re-certification and competition processes.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-10-01

...-certified OPO is not permitted to compete for its open area or any other open area. An OPO competing for an open service area must submit information and data that describe the barriers in its service area, how... in the open area. An OPO competing for an open service area must submit information and data that...

42 CFR 486.316 - Re-certification and competition processes.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-10-01

...-certified OPO is not permitted to compete for its open area or any other open area. An OPO competing for an open service area must submit information and data that describe the barriers in its service area, how... in the open area. An OPO competing for an open service area must submit information and data that...

42 CFR 486.316 - Re-certification and competition processes.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-10-01

...-certified OPO is not permitted to compete for its open area or any other open area. An OPO competing for an open service area must submit information and data that describe the barriers in its service area, how... in the open area. An OPO competing for an open service area must submit information and data that...

Using a social-ecological framework to inform the implementation of conservation plans.

PubMed

Guerrero, Angela M; Wilson, Kerrie A

2017-04-01

One of the key determinants of success in biodiversity conservation is how well conservation planning decisions account for the social system in which actions are to be implemented. Understanding elements of how the social and ecological systems interact can help identify opportunities for implementation. Utilizing data from a large-scale conservation initiative in southwestern of Australia, we explored how a social-ecological system framework can be applied to identify how social and ecological factors interact to influence the opportunities for conservation. Using data from semistructured interviews, an online survey, and publicly available data, we developed a conceptual model of the social-ecological system associated with the conservation of the Fitz-Stirling region. We used this model to identify the relevant variables (remnants of vegetation, stakeholder presence, collaboration between stakeholders, and their scale of management) that affect the implementation of conservation actions in the region. We combined measures for these variables to ascertain how areas associated with different levels of ecological importance coincided with areas associated with different levels of stakeholder presence, stakeholder collaboration, and scales of management. We identified areas that could benefit from different implementation strategies, from those suitable for immediate conservation action to areas requiring implementation over the long term to increase on-the-ground capacity and identify mechanisms to incentivize implementation. The application of a social-ecological framework can help conservation planners and practitioners facilitate the integration of ecological and social data to inform the translation of priorities for action into implementation strategies that account for the complexities of conservation problems in a focused way. © 2016 Society for Conservation Biology.

Identifying conservation priorities and management strategies based on ecosystem services to improve urban sustainability in Harbin, China

PubMed Central

2018-01-01

Rapid urbanization and agricultural development has resulted in the degradation of ecosystems, while also negatively impacting ecosystem services (ES) and urban sustainability. Identifying conservation priorities for ES and applying reasonable management strategies have been found to be effective methods for mitigating this phenomenon. The purpose of this study is to propose a comprehensive framework for identifying ES conservation priorities and associated management strategies for these planning areas. First, we incorporated 10 ES indicators within a systematic conservation planning (SCP) methodology in order to identify ES conservation priorities with high irreplaceability values based on conservation target goals associated with the potential distribution of ES indicators. Next, we assessed the efficiency of the ES conservation priorities for meeting the designated conservation target goals. Finally, ES conservation priorities were clustered into groups using a K-means clustering analysis in an effort to identify the dominant ES per location before formulating management strategies. We effectively identified 12 ES priorities to best represent conservation target goals for the ES indicators. These 12 priorities had a total areal coverage of 13,364 km2 representing 25.16% of the study area. The 12 priorities were further clustered into five significantly different groups (p-values between groups < 0.05), which helped to refine management strategies formulated to best enhance ES across the study area. The proposed method allows conservation and management plans to easily adapt to a wide variety of quantitative ES target goals within urban and agricultural areas, thereby preventing urban and agriculture sprawl and guiding sustainable urban development. PMID:29682412

Identifying conservation priorities and management strategies based on ecosystem services to improve urban sustainability in Harbin, China.

PubMed

Qu, Yi; Lu, Ming

2018-01-01

Rapid urbanization and agricultural development has resulted in the degradation of ecosystems, while also negatively impacting ecosystem services (ES) and urban sustainability. Identifying conservation priorities for ES and applying reasonable management strategies have been found to be effective methods for mitigating this phenomenon. The purpose of this study is to propose a comprehensive framework for identifying ES conservation priorities and associated management strategies for these planning areas. First, we incorporated 10 ES indicators within a systematic conservation planning (SCP) methodology in order to identify ES conservation priorities with high irreplaceability values based on conservation target goals associated with the potential distribution of ES indicators. Next, we assessed the efficiency of the ES conservation priorities for meeting the designated conservation target goals. Finally, ES conservation priorities were clustered into groups using a K-means clustering analysis in an effort to identify the dominant ES per location before formulating management strategies. We effectively identified 12 ES priorities to best represent conservation target goals for the ES indicators. These 12 priorities had a total areal coverage of 13,364 km 2 representing 25.16% of the study area. The 12 priorities were further clustered into five significantly different groups ( p -values between groups < 0.05), which helped to refine management strategies formulated to best enhance ES across the study area. The proposed method allows conservation and management plans to easily adapt to a wide variety of quantitative ES target goals within urban and agricultural areas, thereby preventing urban and agriculture sprawl and guiding sustainable urban development.

50 CFR 660.319 - Open access fishery gear identification and marking.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-10-01

... 50 Wildlife and Fisheries 11 2011-10-01 2011-10-01 false Open access fishery gear identification and marking. 660.319 Section 660.319 Wildlife and Fisheries FISHERY CONSERVATION AND MANAGEMENT, NATIONAL OCEANIC AND ATMOSPHERIC ADMINISTRATION, DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE (CONTINUED) FISHERIES OFF WEST...

Combining endangered plants and animals as surrogates to identify priority conservation areas in Yunnan, China

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yang, Feiling; Hu, Jinming; Wu, Ruidong

2016-08-01

Suitable surrogates are critical for identifying optimal priority conservation areas (PCAs) to protect regional biodiversity. This study explored the efficiency of using endangered plants and animals as surrogates for identifying PCAs at the county level in Yunnan, southwest China. We ran the Dobson algorithm under three surrogate scenarios at 75% and 100% conservation levels and identified four types of PCAs. Assessment of the protection efficiencies of the four types of PCAs showed that endangered plants had higher surrogacy values than endangered animals but that the two were not substitutable; coupled endangered plants and animals as surrogates yielded a higher surrogacy value than endangered plants or animals as surrogates; the plant-animal priority areas (PAPAs) was the optimal among the four types of PCAs for conserving both endangered plants and animals in Yunnan. PAPAs could well represent overall species diversity distribution patterns and overlap with critical biogeographical regions in Yunnan. Fourteen priority units in PAPAs should be urgently considered as optimizing Yunnan’s protected area system. The spatial pattern of PAPAs at the 100% conservation level could be conceptualized into three connected conservation belts, providing a valuable reference for optimizing the layout of the in situ protected area system in Yunnan.

Select state inland wetland protection laws. A review of the state laws and their natural resource data requirements

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Klein, S. B.

1980-01-01

Although many states afford some measure of protection for wetland areas through flood-plain regulations or through programs for coastal areas, shorelands, scenic and wild rivers or pollution control, few states have programs that adequately deal with conservation of wetlands. Only 16 states have legislation specifically regulating development or use of wetlands. Most of the wetland acts apply only to coastal wetlands, several to inland wetlands and three acts apply to both. Many other states are still regulating wetland use through the dredge and fill and/or critical area program. Several offer tax incentives to property owners to encourage protection of wetlands or broader open spaces. Many states have acquired wetlands for park and wildlife purposes and a large measure of wetland protection is achieved by the very restrictive controls applied to floodways areas. Direct floodplain or floodway regulations or state standards for local regulations were adopted in 24 states but protection of ecological values of wetlands is rarely an explicit objective of these programs. Scenic and wild river programs adopted in one half of the states provide some protection for wetland areas.

Remedial investigation report for J-Field, Aberdeen Proving Ground, Maryland. Volume 1: Remedial investigation results

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

Yuen, C. R.; Martino, L. E.; Biang, R. P.

2000-03-14

This report presents the results of the remedial investigation (RI) conducted at J-Field in the Edgewood Area of Aberdeen Proving Ground (APG), a U.S. Army installation located in Harford County, Maryland. Since 1917, activities in the Edgewood Area have included the development, manufacture, and testing of chemical agents and munitions and the subsequent destruction of these materials at J-Field by open burning and open detonation. These activities have raised concerns about environmental contamination at J-Field. This RI was conducted by the Environmental Conservation and Restoration Division, Directorate of Safety, Health and Environmental Division of APG, pursuant to requirements outlined undermore » the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act, as amended (CERCLA). The RI was accomplished according to the procedures developed by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA 1988). The RI provides a comprehensive evaluation of the site conditions, nature of contaminants present, extent of contamination, potential release mechanisms and migration pathways, affected populations, and risks to human health and the environment. This information will be used as the basis for the design and implementation of remedial actions to be performed during the remedial action phase, which will follow the feasibility study (FS) for J-Field.« less

A computational method for sharp interface advection

PubMed Central

Bredmose, Henrik; Jasak, Hrvoje

2016-01-01

We devise a numerical method for passive advection of a surface, such as the interface between two incompressible fluids, across a computational mesh. The method is called isoAdvector, and is developed for general meshes consisting of arbitrary polyhedral cells. The algorithm is based on the volume of fluid (VOF) idea of calculating the volume of one of the fluids transported across the mesh faces during a time step. The novelty of the isoAdvector concept consists of two parts. First, we exploit an isosurface concept for modelling the interface inside cells in a geometric surface reconstruction step. Second, from the reconstructed surface, we model the motion of the face–interface intersection line for a general polygonal face to obtain the time evolution within a time step of the submerged face area. Integrating this submerged area over the time step leads to an accurate estimate for the total volume of fluid transported across the face. The method was tested on simple two-dimensional and three-dimensional interface advection problems on both structured and unstructured meshes. The results are very satisfactory in terms of volume conservation, boundedness, surface sharpness and efficiency. The isoAdvector method was implemented as an OpenFOAM® extension and is published as open source. PMID:28018619

Recreational Use of the Countryside: No Evidence that High Nature Value Enhances a Key Ecosystem Service

PubMed Central

Hornigold, Karen; Lake, Iain; Dolman, Paul

2016-01-01

In Western Europe, recreational amenity is presented as an important cultural ecosystem service that, along with other values, helps justify policies to conserve biodiversity. However, whether recreational use by the public is enhanced at protected areas designated for nature conservation is unknown. This is the first study to model outdoor recreation at a national scale, examining habitat preferences with statutory designation (Site of Special Scientific Interest) as an indicator of nature conservation importance. Models were based on a massive, three year national household survey providing spatially-referenced recreational visits to the natural environment. Site characteristics including land cover were compared between these observed visit sites (n = 31,502) and randomly chosen control sites (n = 63,000). Recreationists preferred areas of coast, freshwater, broadleaved woodland and higher densities of footpaths and avoided arable, coniferous woodland and lowland heath. Although conservation designation offers similar or greater public access than undesignated areas of the same habitat, statutory designation decreased the probability of visitation to coastal and freshwater sites and gave no effect for broadleaved woodland. Thus general recreational use by the public did not represent an important ecosystem service of protected high-nature-value areas, so that intrinsic and existence values remain as the primary justifications for conservation of high nature value areas. Management of ‘green infrastructure’ sites of lower conservation value that offer desirable habitats and enhanced provision of footpaths, could mitigate recreational impacts on nearby valuable conservation areas. PMID:27828990

Decision analysis for designing marine protected areas for multiple species with uncertain fishery status.

PubMed

White, J Wilson; Botsford, Louis W; Moffitt, Elizabeth A; Fischer, Douglas T

2010-09-01

Marine protected areas (MPAs) are growing in popularity as a conservation tool, and there are increasing calls for additional MPAs. Meta-analyses indicate that most MPAs successfully meet the minimal goal of increasing biomass inside the MPA, while some do not, leaving open the important question of what makes MPAs successful. An often-overlooked aspect of this problem is that the success of fishery management outside MPA boundaries (i.e., whether a population is overfished) affects how well MPAs meet both conservation goals (e.g., increased biomass) and economic goals (e.g., minimal negative effects on fishery yield). Using a simple example of a system with homogeneous habitat and periodically spaced MPAs, we show that, as area in MPAs increases, (1) conservation value (biomass) may initially be zero, implying no benefit, then at some point increases monotonically; and (2) fishery yield may be zero, then increases monotonically to a maximum beyond which further increase in MPA area causes yield to decline. Importantly, the points at which these changes in slope occur vary among species and depend on management outside MPAs. Decision makers considering the effects of a potential system of MPAs on multiple species are confronted by a number of such cost-benefit curves, and it is usually impossible to maximize benefits and minimize costs for all species. Moreover, the precise shape of each curve is unknown due to uncertainty regarding the fishery status of each species. Here we describe a decision-analytic approach that incorporates existing information on fishery stock status to present decision makers with the range of likely outcomes of MPA implementation. To summarize results from many species whose overfishing status is uncertain, our decision-analysis approach involves weighted averages over both overfishing uncertainty and species. In an example from an MPA decision process in California, USA, an optimistic projection of future fishery management success led to recommendation of fewer and smaller MPAs than that derived from a more pessimistic projection of future management success. This example illustrates how information on fishery status can be used to project potential outcomes of MPA implementation within a decision analysis framework and highlights the need for better population information.

Identifying Important Atlantic Areas for the conservation of Balearic shearwaters: Spatial overlap with conservation areas

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Pérez-Roda, Amparo; Delord, Karine; Boué, Amélie; Arcos, José Manuel; García, David; Micol, Thierry; Weimerskirch, Henri; Pinaud, David; Louzao, Maite

2017-07-01

Marine protected areas (MPAs) are considered one of the main tools in both fisheries and conservation management to protect threatened species and their habitats around the globe. However, MPAs are underrepresented in marine environments compared to terrestrial environments. Within this context, we studied the Atlantic non-breeding distribution of the southern population of Balearic shearwaters (Puffinus mauretanicus) breeding in Eivissa during the 2011-2012 period based on global location sensing (GLS) devices. Our objectives were (1) to identify overall Important Atlantic Areas (IAAs) from a southern population, (2) to describe spatio-temporal patterns of oceanographic habitat use, and (3) to assess whether existing conservation areas (Natura 2000 sites and marine Important Bird Areas (IBAs)) cover the main IAAs of Balearic shearwaters. Our results highlighted that the Atlantic staging (from June to October in 2011) dynamic of the southern population was driven by individual segregation at both spatial and temporal scales. Individuals ranged in the North-East Atlantic over four main IAAs (Bay of Biscay: BoB, Western Iberian shelf: WIS, Gulf of Cadiz: GoC, West of Morocco: WoM). While most individuals spent more time on the WIS or in the GoC, a small number of birds visited IAAs at the extremes of their Atlantic distribution range (i.e., BoB and WoM). The chronology of the arrivals to the IAAs showed a latitudinal gradient with northern areas reached earlier during the Atlantic staging. The IAAs coincided with the most productive areas (higher chlorophyll a values) in the NE Atlantic between July and October. The spatial overlap between IAAs and conservation areas was higher for Natura 2000 sites than marine IBAs (areas with and without legal protection, respectively). Concerning the use of these areas, a slightly higher proportion of estimated positions fell within marine IBAs compared to designated Natura 2000 sites, with Spanish and Portuguese conservation areas being the most visited. Our results support the current design of conservation areas in Spain and Portugal regarding the protection of adult breeders of this highly mobile species.

Cliff top habitats provide important alternative feeding resources for wading birds of conservation importance wintering on non-estuarine coasts

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Furnell, Julie; Hull, Susan L.

2014-02-01

Rocky shores and beaches are important over-wintering areas for non-estuarine waders but have rarely been studied. We examined cliff top habitat use by 6 species of wader over 75 km of coast to assess their potential value as alternative feeding sites to rocky and sandy shores. Both the regional and local survey showed that waders occurred on golf courses and recreational grasslands in higher frequencies than expected but arable and pasture use was lower than expected. We also compared local wader densities on rocky and sandy shores, pastures, golf courses, caravan parks and recreational grasslands over two winters. Sanderling predominantly fed on the beach whereas Oystercatcher, Dunlin, Turnstone and Redshank numbers significantly increased on golf courses and recreational grasslands over the winter period, with pasture being rarely used. General linear models were used to relate environmental factors to the presence and absence of each species on the cliff top habitats. Redshank was the only species that showed a higher probability of occurrence on cliff top habitats at high tide whereas the probability of Turnstone, Oystercatcher and Redshank occurring increased as temperatures declined. Using core sampling, we determined that invertebrate richness and abundance was significantly higher on the recreational grasslands and golf courses than on the pasture or the beach. Our data demonstrated that cliff top habitats are important alternative feeding areas for over-wintering waders in areas where the intertidal is bounded by cliffs. Current management creates short sward, open field habitats with a diverse and abundant invertebrate food supply exploited by waders. Any alterations to the land use of these areas should be carefully considered by planning authorities in light of the fact that they support species that are of conservation concern.

Implications of Spatial Data Variations for Protected Areas Management: An Example from East Africa

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Dowhaniuk, Nicholas; Hartter, Joel; Ryan, Sadie J.

2014-09-01

Geographic information systems and remote sensing technologies have become an important tool for visualizing conservation management and developing solutions to problems associated with conservation. When multiple organizations separately develop spatial data representations of protected areas, implicit error arises due to variation between data sets. We used boundary data produced by three conservation organizations (International Union for the Conservation of Nature, World Resource Institute, and Uganda Wildlife Authority), for seven Ugandan parks, to study variation in the size represented and the location of boundaries. We found variation in the extent of overlapping total area encompassed by the three data sources, ranging from miniscule (0.4 %) differences to quite large ones (9.0 %). To underscore how protected area boundary discrepancies may have implications to protected area management, we used a landcover classification, defining crop, shrub, forest, savanna, and grassland. The total area in the different landcover classes varied most in smaller protected areas (those less than 329 km2), with forest and cropland area estimates varying up to 65 %. The discrepancies introduced by boundary errors could, in this hypothetical case, generate erroneous findings and could have a significant impact on conservation, such as local-scale management for encroachment and larger-scale assessments of deforestation.

Implications of spatial data variations for protected areas management: an example from East Africa.

PubMed

Dowhaniuk, Nicholas; Hartter, Joel; Ryan, Sadie J

2014-09-01

Geographic information systems and remote sensing technologies have become an important tool for visualizing conservation management and developing solutions to problems associated with conservation. When multiple organizations separately develop spatial data representations of protected areas, implicit error arises due to variation between data sets. We used boundary data produced by three conservation organizations (International Union for the Conservation of Nature, World Resource Institute, and Uganda Wildlife Authority), for seven Ugandan parks, to study variation in the size represented and the location of boundaries. We found variation in the extent of overlapping total area encompassed by the three data sources, ranging from miniscule (0.4 %) differences to quite large ones (9.0 %). To underscore how protected area boundary discrepancies may have implications to protected area management, we used a landcover classification, defining crop, shrub, forest, savanna, and grassland. The total area in the different landcover classes varied most in smaller protected areas (those less than 329 km(2)), with forest and cropland area estimates varying up to 65 %. The discrepancies introduced by boundary errors could, in this hypothetical case, generate erroneous findings and could have a significant impact on conservation, such as local-scale management for encroachment and larger-scale assessments of deforestation.

Seabed geodiversity in a glaciated shelf area, the Baltic Sea

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kaskela, Anu Marii; Kotilainen, Aarno Tapio

2017-10-01

Geodiversity describes the heterogeneity of the physical terrain. We have performed basin-wide geodiversity analysis on a glaciated epicontinental seabed to assess geodiversity measures and patterns, locate areas with high geodiversity, and draw conclusions on contributing processes. Geodiversity quantification is a rather new topic and is mainly practiced in land areas. We applied geodiversity methods developed for terrestrial studies to a seabed environment. Three geodiversity parameters, including the richness, patchiness, and geodiversity index, of the Baltic Sea were assessed in a GIS environment based on broad-scale datasets on seabed substrates, structures, and bedrock. A set of environmental and geological variables, which were considered to reflect geological processes under seabed conditions, were compared with the geodiversity to identify some of its drivers. We observed differences in the geodiversity levels of the Baltic subbasins, which are mainly due to basement type/bedrock, roughness, shore density, and glacier-derived processes. The geodiversity of the Baltic Sea generally increases from South to North and from open-sea to high-shore density areas (archipelagos). Crystalline bedrock areas provide more diverse seabed environments than sedimentary rock areas. The analysis helps to inform scientists, marine spatial planners, and managers about abiotic conservation values, the dynamics of the seabed environment, and potential areas with elevated biodiversity.

Fine-scale habitat use of reintroduced black-footed ferrets on prairie dog colonies in New Mexico

USGS Publications Warehouse

Chipault, Jennifer G.; Biggins, Dean E.; Detling, James K.; Long, Dustin H.; Reich, Robin M.

2012-01-01

Black-footed ferrets (Mustela nigripes) are among the most endangered animals in North America. Reintroductions of captive-born ferrets onto prairie dog (Cynomys spp.) colonies are crucial to the conservation of the species. In September 2007, captive-born ferrets were released on a black-tailed prairie dog (Cynomys ludovicianus) colony at the Vermejo Park Ranch, New Mexico. Ferret kits experimentally released in areas of comparatively low and high prairie dog burrow densities were located via spotlight surveys. Some maturing ferret kits were subsequently translocated to areas of low and high burrow densities on nearby prairie dog colonies. For 2 months, fine-scale habitat use was quantified by mapping all burrow openings within a 30-m radius of each ferret location. Spatial statistics accounted for autocorrelation in the burrow densities in areas used by ferrets. It was hypothesized that ferrets would select areas of high burrow densities within colonies; however, burrow densities in areas used by ferrets were generally similar to the available burrow densities. Because ferrets used areas with burrow densities similar to densities available at the colony level and because of the potential energetic benefits for ferrets using areas with high burrow densities, releasing ferrets on colonies with high burrow densities might increase reintroduction success.

Rangelands management in Spanish Natura 2000 sites.

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hernando Gallego, A.; Tejera Gimeno, R.; Velázquez Saornil, J.; Núñez Martí, V.; Grande Vega, M.

2009-04-01

Spanish open oak woodlands have had multiple land uses such as firewood extraction and grazing through centuries. Consequently, 20% of the Spanish forest is coppice forest. This particular agrosilvopastoral system is well widespread in the southern and western part of the Iberian Peninsula. As a result of the implementation of Natura 2000 in Spain, many of these habitats have been included in this network listed as "Dehesas" with evergreen Quercus spp. (Sclerophyllous grazed forests -dehesas-). The main goal of Natura 2000 is assuring "favourable conservation status" of natural habitats and species within these areas (Habitats Directive 92/43/ECC). This is the case of the study area, "Dehesa Boyal" (Ávila), which management plan has been carried out in a public forest land. The current situation is a degraded coppice forest, Quercus pyrenaica and Q.ilex, with a shrub encroachment due to previous firewood extraction. Besides, problems such as soil compaction and lack of sexual have been observed presumably related with livestock (180 horses, 1100 goats, 900 sheeps and 190 cows distributed in different seasons). Livestock feed on the acorns and hedge young sprouts making them sprouting again. The shrub encroachment is far from "conservation status" required in Natura 2000. Furthermore, the livestock cannot be removed because it is an important part of this agrosilvopastoral system not only for the landscape but also for its economic importance to local owners. Management plans should consider all of these circumstances and propose an integrated approach. To achieve this goal, the area was accurately classified in age classes by "stands" (oak shrubland, low pole stages, coppice tall shrub and sapling) in each habitat, using Geographic Information Systems (G.I.S), remote sensing techniques and detailed field work. Then, the "conservation status" of each stand is classified in A (Favourable), B (Inconvenient) and C (Unfavourable conservation status) considering some features such as vital functions, restoration, floral richness and structure. Finally, the implemented management plan proposes a sustainable solution to restore the habitat and maintain the livestock. Conversion by thinning on coppice forest to high forest is a popular recommendation by expert managers. It is proposed in high polewood (with B: inconvenient conservation status), sapling (A) and coppice tall shrubs (C) during the first fifteen years. Low-intensity thinning on sprouts, less than 35% of the basal area. Besides, the cattle will be led to these areas to control the sprouts. Low polewood (C) is left to grow with livestock and only the best trees will survive. Oak shrubland will be tested. The main purpose is avoiding the whole forest to become a coppice forest (C) without acorn regeneration. Therefore oak shrubland will be fenced and different measures tested (brush out, bulldozer scalping, intensive and medium thinning and no treatment) in order to choose the most suitable one for future management. In conclusion, the proposed selvicultural measures use the livestock as a part of the solution to ensure biodiversity.

Identifying core habitat and connectivity for focal species in the interior cedar-hemlock forest of North America to complete a conservation area design

Treesearch

Lance Craighead; Baden Cross

2007-01-01

To identify the remaining areas of the Interior Cedar- Hemlock Forest of North America and prioritize them for conservation planning, the Craighead Environmental Research Institute has developed a 2-scale method for mapping critical habitat utilizing 1) a broad-scale model to identify important regional locations as the basis for a Conservation Area Design (CAD), and 2...

Tourism Revenue as a Conservation Tool for Threatened Birds in Protected Areas

PubMed Central

Steven, Rochelle; Castley, J. Guy; Buckley, Ralf

2013-01-01

Many bird populations worldwide are at risk of extinction, and rely heavily on protected area networks for their continued conservation. Tourism to these areas contributes to conservation by generating revenue for management. Here we quantify the contribution of tourism revenue for bird species in the IUCN Red List, using a simple accounting method. Relevant data are available for 90 (16%) of the 562 critically endangered and endangered species. Contributions of tourism to bird conservation are highest, 10–64%, in South America, Africa, and their neighbouring islands. Critically endangered bird species rely on tourism more heavily than endangered species (p<0.02). Many protected areas could also enhance their management budgets by promoting birdwatching tourism specifically. PMID:23667498

Globalization and multi-spatial trends in the coverage of protected-area conservation (1980-2000).

PubMed

Zimmerer, Karl S; Galt, Ryan E; Buck, Margaret V

2004-12-01

This study is focused on the global expansion of protected-area coverage that occurred during the 1980--2000 period. We examine the multi-scale patterning of four of the basic facets of this expansion: i) estimated increases at the world-regional and country-level scales of total protected-area coverage; ii) transboundary protected areas; iii) conservation corridor projects; and iv) type of conservation management. Geospatial patterning of protected-area designations is a reflection of the priorities of global conservation organizations and the globalization of post-Cold War political and economic arrangements. Local and national-level factors (political leadership and infrastructure) as well as international relations such as multilateral and bilateral aid combine with these globalization processes to impact the extent, type, and location of protected-area designations. We conclude that the interaction of these factors led to the creation and reinforcement of marked spatial differences (rather than tendencies toward worldwide evenness or homogenization) in the course of protected-area expansion during the 1980--2000 period.

Cost-effective priorities for global mammal conservation.

PubMed

Carwardine, Josie; Wilson, Kerrie A; Ceballos, Gerardo; Ehrlich, Paul R; Naidoo, Robin; Iwamura, Takuya; Hajkowicz, Stefan A; Possingham, Hugh P

2008-08-12

Global biodiversity priority setting underpins the strategic allocation of conservation funds. In identifying the first comprehensive set of global priority areas for mammals, Ceballos et al. [Ceballos G, Ehrlich PR, Soberón J, Salazar I, Fay JP (2005) Science 309:603-607] found much potential for conflict between conservation and agricultural human activity. This is not surprising because, like other global priority-setting approaches, they set priorities without socioeconomic objectives. Here we present a priority-setting framework that seeks to minimize the conflicts and opportunity costs of meeting conservation goals. We use it to derive a new set of priority areas for investment in mammal conservation based on (i) agricultural opportunity cost and biodiversity importance, (ii) current levels of international funding, and (iii) degree of threat. Our approach achieves the same biodiversity outcomes as Ceballos et al.'s while reducing the opportunity costs and conflicts with agricultural human activity by up to 50%. We uncover shortfalls in the allocation of conservation funds in many threatened priority areas, highlighting a global conservation challenge.

Housing growth in and near United States protected areas limits their conservation value

Treesearch

Volker. C. Radeloff; Susan I. Stewart; Todd J. Hawbaker; Urs Gimmi; Anna M. Pidgeon; Curtis H. Flather; Roger. B. Hammer; David P. Helmers

2010-01-01

Protected areas are crucial for biodiversity conservation because they provide safe havens for species threatened by land-use change and resulting habitat loss. However, protected areas are only effective when they stop habitat loss within their boundaries, and are connected via corridors to other wild areas. The effectiveness of protected areas is threatened by...

Social and spatial relationships driving landowner attitudes towards aquatic conservation in a Piedmont-Blue Ridge landscape.

PubMed

Chambers, Samuel N; Baldwin, Robert F; Baldwin, Elizabeth Dennis; Bridges, William C; Fouch, Nakisha

2017-04-01

More than half of land in the U.S. is privately owned and covers most of known endangered species habitat. An understanding of private landowners' attitudes towards conservation may help to bridge the science-practice gap in regards to conservation initiatives. Aquatic biodiversity is particularly imperiled; in the United States headwaters and isolated wetlands receive little protection through regulations, becoming a focus of conservation planning. In an effort to assess how landowners view such efforts, a 27-question mixed methods survey was mailed to 409 landowners in the Blue Ridge and Piedmont ecoregions of South Carolina with wetland areas and where land was owned by a family or individual, not a corporation. We received 70 completed surveys and analyzed the results using an encapsulated mixed methods approach that analyzed both scaled and qualitative questions. The combined results gave a more contextual understanding of conservation on private lands in the study area. In this article we present a history of private land conservation and surveying landowners in understanding conservation potential. This demonstrates a need for a more comprehensive method needed in conservation planning. We then show our use of an integrated methodology, using quantitative and qualitative questions, to measure landowners' interest in conserving land. Through classification and spatial analysis, our study demonstrated that aquatic areas and wildlife are valued by and show influence on landowners' decisions. We also found that distance from protected area has a positive correlation to the willingness to protect aquatic areas. Landowners showed concern for threats of pollution from runoff and siltation. Disinterest in conservation seemed prevalent throughout many of the respondents' answers. These results suggest a relation to geographic distance and that the attitudes are more related near each other and specific places in the landscape. We conclude that any successful implementation of aquatic conservation initiatives must include focused outreach and communicating the benefits for society and landowners for building capacity for landscape-scale cooperation.

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.

Ecological-niche modeling and prioritization of conservation-area networks for Mexican herpetofauna.

PubMed

Urbina-Cardona, J Nicolás; Flores-Villela, Oscar

2010-08-01

One of the most important tools in conservation biology is information on the geographic distribution of species and the variables determining those patterns. We used maximum-entropy niche modeling to run distribution models for 222 amphibian and 371 reptile species (49% endemics and 27% threatened) for which we had 34,619 single geographic records. The planning region is in southeastern Mexico, is 20% of the country's area, includes 80% of the country's herpetofauna, and lacks an adequate protected-area system. We used probabilistic data to build distribution models of herpetofauna for use in prioritizing conservation areas for three target groups (all species and threatened and endemic species). The accuracy of species-distribution models was better for endemic and threatened species than it was for all species. Forty-seven percent of the region has been deforested and additional conservation areas with 13.7% to 88.6% more native vegetation (76% to 96% of the areas are outside the current protected-area system) are needed. There was overlap in 26 of the main selected areas in the conservation-area network prioritized to preserve the target groups, and for all three target groups the proportion of vegetation types needed for their conservation was constant: 30% pine and oak forests, 22% tropical evergreen forest, 17% low deciduous forest, and 8% montane cloud forests. The fact that different groups of species require the same proportion of habitat types suggests that the pine and oak forests support the highest proportion of endemic and threatened species and should therefore be given priority over other types of vegetation for inclusion in the protected areas of southeastern Mexico.