Sample records for conservation biogeography challenges
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An Introduction to Applied Biogeography
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Spellerberg, Ian F.; Sawyer, John W. D.
1999-03-01
Biogeography is about the geographical distribution, both past and present, of plants, animals and other organisms. In this undergraduate textbook, Spellerberg and Sawyer bring a modern approach to a developing subject, writing in a lively and sometimes provocative manner. Throughout the text, the authors emphasize the applications of biogeography to conservation management, economic production, environmental assessment, sustainable use of resources, landscape planning, and public health. They discuss applications of island biogeography in conservation, the concept of wildlife corridors, the analysis of biogeographical data, and the role of humans and their cultures in biogeography. The applied approach of this textbook, along with its numerous illustrative examples and figures, make it a unique introduction to the field for many geography, biology and environmental science students.
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Tropical rain forest conservation and the twin challenges of diversity and rarity
Hubbell, Stephen P
2013-01-01
Data from a global network of large, permanent plots in lowland tropical forests demonstrate (1) that the phenomenon of tropical tree rarity is real and (2) that almost all the species diversity in such forests is due to rare species. Theoretical and empirically based reasoning suggests that many of these rare species are not as geographically widespread as previously thought. These findings suggest that successful strategies for conserving global tree diversity in lowland tropical forests must pay much more attention to the biogeography of rarity, as well as to the impact of climate change on the distribution and abundance of rare species. Because the biogeography of many tropical tree species is poorly known, a high priority should be given to documenting the distribution and abundance of rare tropical tree species, particularly in Amazonia, the largest remaining tropical forested region in the world. PMID:24223266
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The biogeography of Mid-Atlantic CEAP wetlands
USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database
Background/Question/Methods: The national U.S.D.A. Conservation Effects Assessment Project (CEAP) is a multi-agency effort to quantify the environmental benefits of conservation practices. The goal of CEAP is to determine the effectiveness of wetland conservation practices and programs, including im...
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A novel load balanced energy conservation approach in WSN using biogeography based optimization
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Kaushik, Ajay; Indu, S.; Gupta, Daya
2017-09-01
Clustering sensor nodes is an effective technique to reduce energy consumption of the sensor nodes and maximize the lifetime of Wireless sensor networks. Balancing load of the cluster head is an important factor in long run operation of WSNs. In this paper we propose a novel load balancing approach using biogeography based optimization (LB-BBO). LB-BBO uses two separate fitness functions to perform load balancing of equal and unequal load respectively. The proposed method is simulated using matlab and compared with existing methods. The proposed method shows better performance than all the previous works implemented for energy conservation in WSN
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Akatov, V V
2012-01-01
A review is presented of publications dealing with analysis of species richness of island biological communities and habitat islands based on the equilibrium theory of insular biogeography by MacArthur and Wilson (1963). Principal points of the theory are considered along with its shortcomings, problems and results of its testing. Also, possibilities are appraised for using recommendations elaborated on the base of the theory in nature conservation practice. The results of island and habitat island biota studies indicate that in many cases data corroborate the equilibrium theory while in many other cases they do not. In particular, for cenoses fragmented 50-250 years ago, especially for the ones formed by long living species, there have been no conspicuous effects of species relaxation detected. At that, the theory prediction of substantial reduction in species richness of fragmented communities in the long run is hardly disputed. The results of studies conducted in the field of insular biogeography are taken as a basis for recommendations on the long-term conservation of isolated communities integrity, although mostly they are of qualitative nature.
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Biogeography of photoautotrophs in the high polar biome
Pointing, Stephen B.; Burkhard Büdel; Convey, Peter; Gillman, Len N.; Körner, Christian; Leuzinger, Sebastian; Vincent, Warwick F.
2015-01-01
The global latitudinal gradient in biodiversity weakens in the high polar biome and so an alternative explanation for distribution of Arctic and Antarctic photoautotrophs is required. Here we identify how temporal, microclimate and evolutionary drivers of biogeography are important, rather than the macroclimate features that drive plant diversity patterns elsewhere. High polar ecosystems are biologically unique, with a more central role for bryophytes, lichens and microbial photoautotrophs over that of vascular plants. Constraints on vascular plants arise mainly due to stature and ontogenetic barriers. Conversely non-vascular plant and microbial photoautotroph distribution is correlated with favorable microclimates and the capacity for poikilohydric dormancy. Contemporary distribution also depends on evolutionary history, with adaptive and dispersal traits as well as legacy influencing biogeography. We highlight the relevance of these findings to predicting future impacts on diversity of polar photoautotrophs and to the current status of plants in Arctic and Antarctic conservation policy frameworks. PMID:26442009
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de Oliveira, Guilherme; Lima-Ribeiro, Matheus Souza; Terribile, Levi Carina; Dobrovolski, Ricardo; Telles, Mariana Pires de Campos; Diniz-Filho, José Alexandre Felizola
2015-06-01
REMISE OF THE STUDY: Wild edible plants (WEPs) have an important cultural and economic role in human population worldwide. Human impacts are quickly converting natural habitats in agricultural, cattle ranch, and urbanized lands, putting native species on peril of risk of extinction, including some WEPs. Moreover, global climate changes also can pose another threat to species persistency. Here, we established conservation priorities for the Cerrado, a neotropical region in South America with high levels of plant endemism and vulnerability, aiming to assure long-term persistency of 16 most important WEPs. We evaluated these conservation priorities using a conservation biogeography framework using ecological patterns and process at a biogeographical scale to deal with species conservation features. We built ecological niche models for 16 WEPs from Cerrado in the neotropics using climate models for preindustrial, past (Last Glacial Maximum) and future (year 2080) time periods to establish climatically stable areas through time, finding refugias for these WEPs. We used a spatial prioritization algorithm based on the spatial pattern of irreplaceability across the neotropics, aiming to ensure the persistence of at least 25% of range size in climatically stable areas for each WEP, using agricultural models as constraints. The Southeast Cerrado was the most biotically stable and irreplaceable region for the WEPs compared with other areas across the neotropics. Our findings strongly suggest that the Southeast Cerrado should be considered a conservation priority, with new protected areas to be sustainably managed and restored, to guarantee the supply of cultural and ecosystem services provided from the Cerrado's WEPs. © 2015 Botanical Society of America, Inc.
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NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Case, M. J.; Kim, J. B.
2015-12-01
Assessing changes in vegetation is increasingly important for conservation planning in the face of climate change. Dynamic global vegetation models (DGVMs) are important tools for assessing such changes. DGVMs have been applied at regional scales to create projections of range expansions and contractions of plant functional types. Many DGVMs use a number of algorithms to determine the biogeography of plant functional types. One such DGVM, MC2, uses a series of decision trees based on bioclimatic thresholds while others, such as LPJ, use constraining emergent properties with a limited set of bioclimatic threshold-based rules. Although both approaches have been used widely, we demonstrate that these biogeography outputs perform poorly at continental scales when compared to existing potential vegetation maps. Specifically, we found that with MC2, the algorithm for determining leaf physiognomy is too simplistic to capture arid and semi-arid vegetation in much of the western U.S., as well as is the algorithm for determining the broadleaf and needleleaf mix in the Southeast. With LPJ, we found that the bioclimatic thresholds used to allow seedling establishment are too broad and fail to capture regional-scale biogeography of the plant functional types. In response, we demonstrate a new approach to determining the biogeography of plant functional types by integrating the climatic thresholds produced for individual tree species by a series of climate envelope models with the biogeography algorithms of MC2 and LPJ. Using this approach, we find that MC2 and LPJ perform considerably better when compared to potential vegetation maps.
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A network approach for identifying and delimiting biogeographical regions.
Vilhena, Daril A; Antonelli, Alexandre
2015-04-24
Biogeographical regions (geographically distinct assemblages of species and communities) constitute a cornerstone for ecology, biogeography, evolution and conservation biology. Species turnover measures are often used to quantify spatial biodiversity patterns, but algorithms based on similarity can be sensitive to common sampling biases in species distribution data. Here we apply a community detection approach from network theory that incorporates complex, higher-order presence-absence patterns. We demonstrate the performance of the method by applying it to all amphibian species in the world (c. 6,100 species), all vascular plant species of the USA (c. 17,600) and a hypothetical data set containing a zone of biotic transition. In comparison with current methods, our approach tackles the challenges posed by transition zones and succeeds in retrieving a larger number of commonly recognized biogeographical regions. This method can be applied to generate objective, data-derived identification and delimitation of the world's biogeographical regions.
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An horizon scan of biogeography
2014-01-01
The opportunity to reflect broadly on the accomplishments, prospects, and reach of a field may present itself relatively infrequently. Each biennial meeting of the International Biogeography Society showcases ideas solicited and developed largely during the preceding year, by individuals or teams from across the breadth of the discipline. Here, we highlight challenges, developments, and opportunities in biogeography from that biennial synthesis. We note the realized and potential impact of rapid data accumulation in several fields, a renaissance for inter-disciplinary research, the importance of recognizing the evolution–ecology continuum across spatial and temporal scales and at different taxonomic, phylogenetic and functional levels, and re-exploration of classical assumptions and hypotheses using new tools. However, advances are taxonomically and geographically biased, and key theoretical frameworks await tools to handle, or strategies to simplify, the biological complexity seen in empirical systems. Current threats to biodiversity require unprecedented integration of knowledge and development of predictive capacity that may enable biogeography to unite its descriptive and hypothetico-deductive branches and establish a greater role within and outside academia. PMID:24707348
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COMPLEX HOST-PARASITE SYSTEMS IN MARTES: IMPLICATIONS FOR CONSERVATION BIOLOGY OF ENDEMIC FAUNAS.
USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database
Complex assemblages of hosts and parasites reveal insights about biogeography and ecology and inform us about processes which serve to structure faunal diversity and the biosphere in space and time. Exploring aspects of parasite diversity among martens (species of Martes) and other mustelids reveal...
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Schoville, Sean D; Graening, G O
2013-11-21
We provide an updated checklist and comprehensive distributional record of Grylloblatta (Grylloblattodea: Grylloblattidae) in North America. These distribution records are based upon a thorough review of the literature, as well as unpublished data of the authors and colleagues. Thirteen species of Grylloblatta are currently described, with up to 16 additional taxa awaiting formal description. Distributional data shows that endemism of Grylloblatta is high and geographic range size is typically small: the median geographical area of 13 species and six putative species is 179 km2. It is clear that there is a general lack of knowledge of species range limits and local population sizes; for example, three Grylloblatta species are known from just a single locality and less than 15 specimens each. Conservation status ranks are suggested in order to update the IUCN Red List and national Natural Heritage Network Database. Finally, we describe the natural history and seasonality of Grylloblatta, discuss their unique biogeography, and provide recommendations for future surveys of grylloblattid species by highlighting known distributional gaps.
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Wendell R. Haag; Melvin L. Warren; Keith Wright; Larry Shaffer
2002-01-01
We document the occurrence of the rayed creekshell (Anodontoides radiatus Conrad), a freshwater mussel (Unionidae), at eight sites in the upper Yazoo River drainage (lower Mississippi River Basin) in northern Mississippi. Previously, A. radiatus was thought to be restricted to Gulf Coast drainages as far west only as the...
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Dawson, Natalie G.; Colella, Jocelyn P.; Small, Maurine P.; Stone, Karen D.; Talbot, Sandra L.; Cook, Joseph A.
2017-01-01
Effective conservation of insular populations requires careful consideration of biogeography, including colonization histories and patterns of endemism. Across the Pacific Northwest of North America, Pacific martens (Martes caurina) and American pine martens (Martes americana) are parapatric sister species with distinctive postglacial histories. Using mitochondrial DNA and 12 nuclear microsatellite loci, we examine processes of island colonization and anthropogenic introductions across 25 populations of martens. Along the North Pacific Coast (NPC), M. caurina is now found on only 2 islands, whereas M. americana occurs on mainland Alaska and British Columbia and multiple associated islands. Island populations of M. caurina have a longer history of isolation reflected in divergent haplotypes, private microsatellite alleles, and relatively low within-population diversity. In contrast, insular M. americanahave lower among-population divergence and higher metrics of within-population diversity. On some NPC islands, introductions of M. americana may be related to decline of M. caurina. Long-term persistence of these species likely has been influenced by anthropogenic manipulations, including wildlife translocations and industrial-scale deforestation, yet, the distinctive histories of these martens have not been incorporated into natural resource policies.
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The biogeography of globally threatened seabirds and island conservation opportunities.
Spatz, Dena R; Newton, Kelly M; Heinz, Reina; Tershy, Bernie; Holmes, Nick D; Butchart, Stuart H M; Croll, Donald A
2014-10-01
Seabirds are the most threatened group of marine animals; 29% of species are at some risk of extinction. Significant threats to seabirds occur on islands where they breed, but in many cases, effective island conservation can mitigate these threats. To guide island-based seabird conservation actions, we identified all islands with extant or extirpated populations of the 98 globally threatened seabird species, as recognized on the International Union for Conservation of Nature Red List, and quantified the presence of threatening invasive species, protected areas, and human populations. We matched these results with island attributes to highlight feasible island conservation opportunities. We identified 1362 threatened breeding seabird populations on 968 islands. On 803 (83%) of these islands, we identified threatening invasive species (20%), incomplete protected area coverage (23%), or both (40%). Most islands with threatened seabirds are amenable to island-wide conservation action because they are small (57% were <1 km(2) ), uninhabited (74%), and occur in high- or middle-income countries (96%). Collectively these attributes make islands with threatened seabirds a rare opportunity for effective conservation at scale. © 2014 Society for Conservation Biology.
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Christopher A. Taylor; Susan B. Adams; Guenter A. Schuster
2014-01-01
Diagnosable taxonomic units are fundamental to conservation biology and management of resources and the need for sound science in both fields is more pressing for aquatic ecosystems. Within freshwater crayfishes, the North American genus Orconectes is one of the most diverse in the World. Accurate assessments of species level relationships and species boundaries within...
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Violle, Cyrille; Choler, Philippe; Borgy, Benjamin; Garnier, Eric; Amiaud, Bernard; Debarros, Guilhem; Diquelou, Sylvain; Gachet, Sophie; Jolivet, Claudy; Kattge, Jens; Lavorel, Sandra; Lemauviel-Lavenant, Servane; Loranger, Jessy; Mikolajczak, Alexis; Munoz, François; Olivier, Jean; Viovy, Nicolas
2015-11-15
The effect of biodiversity on ecosystem functioning has been widely acknowledged, and the importance of the functional roles of species, as well as their diversity, in the control of ecosystem processes has been emphasised recently. However, bridging biodiversity and ecosystem science to address issues at a biogeographic scale is still in its infancy. Bridging this gap is the primary goal of the emerging field of functional biogeography. While the rise of Big Data has catalysed functional biogeography studies in recent years, comprehensive evidence remains scarce. Here, we present the rationale and the first results of a country-wide initiative focused on the C3 permanent grasslands. We aimed to collate, integrate and process large databases of vegetation relevés, plant traits and environmental layers to provide a country-wide assessment of ecosystem properties and services which can be used to improve regional models of climate and land use changes. We outline the theoretical background, data availability, and ecoinformatics challenges associated with the approach and its feasibility. We provide a case study of upscaling of leaf dry matter content averaged at ecosystem level and country-wide predictions of forage digestibility. Our framework sets milestones for further hypothesis testing in functional biogeography and earth system modelling. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
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Benefits to poorly studied taxa of conservation of bird and mammal diversity on islands.
Aslan, Clare; Holmes, Nick; Tershy, Bernie; Spatz, Dena; Croll, Donald A
2015-02-01
Protected area delineation and conservation action are urgently needed on marine islands, but the potential biodiversity benefits of these activities can be difficult to assess due to lack of species diversity information for lesser known taxa. We used linear mixed effects modeling and simple spatial analyses to investigate whether conservation activities based on the diversity of well-known insular taxa (birds and mammals) are likely to also capture the diversity of lesser known taxa (reptiles, amphibians, vascular land plants, ants, land snails, butterflies, and tenebrionid beetles). We assembled total, threatened, and endemic diversity data for both well-known and lesser known taxa and combined these with physical island biogeography characteristics for 1190 islands from 109 archipelagos. Among physical island biogeography factors, island area was the best indicator of diversity of both well-known and little-known taxa. Among taxonomic factors, total mammal species richness was the best indicator of total diversity of lesser known taxa, and the combination of threatened mammal and threatened bird diversity was the best indicator of lesser known endemic richness. The results of other intertaxon diversity comparisons were highly variable, however. Based on our results, we suggest that protecting islands above a certain minimum threshold area may be the most efficient use of conservation resources. For example, using our island database, if the threshold were set at 10 km(2) and the smallest 10% of islands greater than this threshold were protected, 119 islands would be protected. The islands would range in size from 10 to 29 km(2) and would include 268 lesser known species endemic to a single island, along with 11 bird and mammal species endemic to a single island. Our results suggest that for islands of equivalent size, prioritization based on total or threatened bird and mammal diversity may also capture opportunities to protect lesser known species endemic to islands. © 2014 Society for Conservation Biology.
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A Synopsis of Global Mapping of Freshwater Habitats and Biodiversity: Implications for Conservation
DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)
McManamay, Ryan A.; Griffiths, Natalie A.; DeRolph, Christopher R.
Accurately mapping freshwater habitats and biodiversity at high-resolutions across the globe is essential for assessing the vulnerability and threats to freshwater organisms and prioritizing conservation efforts. Since the 2000s, extensive efforts have been devoted to mapping global freshwater habitats (rivers, lakes, and wetlands), the spatial representation of which has changed dramatically over time with new geospatial data products and improved remote sensing technologies. Some of these mapping efforts, however, are still coarse representations of actual conditions. Likewise, the resolution and scope of global freshwater biodiversity compilation efforts have also increased, but are yet to mirror the spatial resolution and fidelitymore » of mapped freshwater environments. In our synopsis, we find that efforts to map freshwater habitats have been conducted independently of those for freshwater biodiversity; subsequently, there is little congruence in the spatial representation and resolution of the two efforts. We suggest that global species distribution models are needed to fill this information gap; however, limiting data on habitat characteristics at scales that complement freshwater habitats has prohibited global high-resolution biogeography efforts. Emerging research trends, such as mapping habitat alteration in freshwater ecosystems and trait biogeography, show great promise in mechanistically linking global anthropogenic stressors to freshwater biodiversity decline and extinction risk.« less
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Herzog, Sebastian K.; Hamel-Leigue, A. Caroli; Larsen, Trond H.; Mann, Darren J.; Soria-Auza, Rodrigo W.; Gill, Bruce D.; Edmonds, W. D.; Spector, Sacha
2013-01-01
Insect macroecology and conservation biogeography studies are disproportionately scarce, especially in the Neotropics. Dung beetles are an ideal focal taxon for biodiversity research and conservation. Using distribution and body size data on the ecologically important Phanaeini, the best-known Neotropical dung beetle tribe, we determined elevational patterns of species richness, endemism, body size, and elevational range in Bolivia, specifically testing Bergmann’s and Rapoport’s rule. Richness of all 39 species and of 15 ecoregional endemics showed a hump-shaped pattern peaking at 400 m, but overall declined strongly with elevation up to 4000 m. The relationship between endemic and total species richness appeared to be curvilinear, providing only partial support for the null hypothesis that species-rich areas are more likely to be centers of endemism by chance alone. An elevational increase in the proportion of ecoregional endemics suggests that deterministic factors also appear to influence endemism in the Andes. When controlling for the effect of area using different species-area relationships, the statistically significant richness peak became more pronounced and shifted upslope to 750 m. Larger species did not have higher elevational mid-points, and mean body size decreased significantly with elevation, contradicting Bergmann’s rule. Rapoport’s rule was supported: species with higher elevational mid-points had broader elevational ranges, and mean elevational range increased significantly with elevation. The elevational decrease of phanaeine richness is in accordance with studies that demonstrated the combined influence of temperature and water availability on species diversity, but also is consistent with niche conservatism. For invertebrates, confirmation of Rapoport’s and refutation of Bergmann’s rule appear to be scale-invariant general patterns. Analyses of biogeographic patterns across elevational gradients can provide important insights for identifying conservation priorities. Phanaeines with narrow elevational ranges on isolated low-elevation mountains in eastern Bolivia are at greatest climate-change related extinction risk from range-shift gaps and mountaintop extinctions. PMID:23717678
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Sukumaran, Jeet; Knowles, L Lacey
2018-06-01
The development of process-based probabilistic models for historical biogeography has transformed the field by grounding it in modern statistical hypothesis testing. However, most of these models abstract away biological differences, reducing species to interchangeable lineages. We present here the case for reintegration of biology into probabilistic historical biogeographical models, allowing a broader range of questions about biogeographical processes beyond ancestral range estimation or simple correlation between a trait and a distribution pattern, as well as allowing us to assess how inferences about ancestral ranges themselves might be impacted by differential biological traits. We show how new approaches to inference might cope with the computational challenges resulting from the increased complexity of these trait-based historical biogeographical models. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
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Airborne laser-guided imaging spectroscopy to map forest trait diversity and guide conservation.
Asner, G P; Martin, R E; Knapp, D E; Tupayachi, R; Anderson, C B; Sinca, F; Vaughn, N R; Llactayo, W
2017-01-27
Functional biogeography may bridge a gap between field-based biodiversity information and satellite-based Earth system studies, thereby supporting conservation plans to protect more species and their contributions to ecosystem functioning. We used airborne laser-guided imaging spectroscopy with environmental modeling to derive large-scale, multivariate forest canopy functional trait maps of the Peruvian Andes-to-Amazon biodiversity hotspot. Seven mapped canopy traits revealed functional variation in a geospatial pattern explained by geology, topography, hydrology, and climate. Clustering of canopy traits yielded a map of forest beta functional diversity for land-use analysis. Up to 53% of each mapped, functionally distinct forest presents an opportunity for new conservation action. Mapping functional diversity advances our understanding of the biosphere to conserve more biodiversity in the face of land use and climate change. Copyright © 2017, American Association for the Advancement of Science.
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Hu, Junhua; Liu, Yang
2014-01-01
It remains a challenge to identify the geographical patterns and underlying environmental associations of species with unique ecological niches and distinct behaviors. This in turn hinders our understanding of the ecology as well as effective conservation management of threatened species. The white-eared night heron (Gorsachius magnificus) is a non-migratory nocturnal bird species that has a patchy distribution in the mountainous forests of East Asia. It is currently categorized as "Endangered" on the IUCN Red List, primarily due to its restricted range and fragmented habitat. To improve our knowledge of the biogeography and conservation of this species, we modeled the geographical pattern of its suitable habitat and evaluated the potential impacts of climate change using ecological niche modeling with a maximum entropy approach implemented in Maxent. Our results indicated that the amount of suitable habitat in all of East Asia was about 130 000 km(2), which can be spatially subdivided into several mountain ranges in southern and southwestern China and northern Vietnam. The extent of suitable habitat range may shrink by more than 35% under a predicted changing climate when assuming the most pessimistic condition of dispersal, while some more suitable habitat would be available if the heron could disperse unrestrainedly. The significant future changes in habitat suitability suggested for Gorsachius magnificus urge caution in any downgrading of Red List status that may be considered. Our results also discern potentially suitable areas for future survey efforts on new populations. Overall, this study demonstrates that ecological niche modeling offers an important tool for evaluating the habitat suitability and potential impacts of climate change on an enigmatic and endangered species based on limited presence data.
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Herzog, Sebastian K; Hamel-Leigue, A Caroli; Larsen, Trond H; Mann, Darren J; Soria-Auza, Rodrigo W; Gill, Bruce D; Edmonds, W D; Spector, Sacha
2013-01-01
Insect macroecology and conservation biogeography studies are disproportionately scarce, especially in the Neotropics. Dung beetles are an ideal focal taxon for biodiversity research and conservation. Using distribution and body size data on the ecologically important Phanaeini, the best-known Neotropical dung beetle tribe, we determined elevational patterns of species richness, endemism, body size, and elevational range in Bolivia, specifically testing Bergmann's and Rapoport's rule. Richness of all 39 species and of 15 ecoregional endemics showed a hump-shaped pattern peaking at 400 m, but overall declined strongly with elevation up to 4000 m. The relationship between endemic and total species richness appeared to be curvilinear, providing only partial support for the null hypothesis that species-rich areas are more likely to be centers of endemism by chance alone. An elevational increase in the proportion of ecoregional endemics suggests that deterministic factors also appear to influence endemism in the Andes. When controlling for the effect of area using different species-area relationships, the statistically significant richness peak became more pronounced and shifted upslope to 750 m. Larger species did not have higher elevational mid-points, and mean body size decreased significantly with elevation, contradicting Bergmann's rule. Rapoport's rule was supported: species with higher elevational mid-points had broader elevational ranges, and mean elevational range increased significantly with elevation. The elevational decrease of phanaeine richness is in accordance with studies that demonstrated the combined influence of temperature and water availability on species diversity, but also is consistent with niche conservatism. For invertebrates, confirmation of Rapoport's and refutation of Bergmann's rule appear to be scale-invariant general patterns. Analyses of biogeographic patterns across elevational gradients can provide important insights for identifying conservation priorities. Phanaeines with narrow elevational ranges on isolated low-elevation mountains in eastern Bolivia are at greatest climate-change related extinction risk from range-shift gaps and mountaintop extinctions.
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Fouquet, Antoine; Loebmann, Daniel; Castroviejo-Fisher, Santiago; Padial, José M; Orrico, Victor G D; Lyra, Mariana L; Roberto, Igor Joventino; Kok, Philippe J R; Haddad, Célio F B; Rodrigues, Miguel T
2012-11-01
Documenting the Neotropical amphibian diversity has become a major challenge facing the threat of global climate change and the pace of environmental alteration. Recent molecular phylogenetic studies have revealed that the actual number of species in South American tropical forests is largely underestimated, but also that many lineages are millions of years old. The genera Phyzelaphryne (1 sp.) and Adelophryne (6 spp.), which compose the subfamily Phyzelaphryninae, include poorly documented, secretive, and minute frogs with an unusual distribution pattern that encompasses the biotic disjunction between Amazonia and the Atlantic forest. We generated >5.8 kb sequence data from six markers for all seven nominal species of the subfamily as well as for newly discovered populations in order to (1) test the monophyly of Phyzelaphryninae, Adelophryne and Phyzelaphryne, (2) estimate species diversity within the subfamily, and (3) investigate their historical biogeography and diversification. Phylogenetic reconstruction confirmed the monophyly of each group and revealed deep subdivisions within Adelophryne and Phyzelaphryne, with three major clades in Adelophryne located in northern Amazonia, northern Atlantic forest and southern Atlantic forest. Our results suggest that the actual number of species in Phyzelaphryninae is, at least, twice the currently recognized species diversity, with almost every geographically isolated population representing an anciently divergent candidate species. Such results highlight the challenges for conservation, especially in the northern Atlantic forest where it is still degraded at a fast pace. Molecular dating revealed that Phyzelaphryninae originated in Amazonia and dispersed during early Miocene to the Atlantic forest. The two Atlantic forest clades of Adelophryne started to diversify some 7 Ma minimum, while the northern Amazonian Adelophryne diversified much earlier, some 13 Ma minimum. This striking biogeographic pattern coincides with major events that have shaped the face of the South American continent, as we know it today. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
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Stanley T. Asah; Dale J. Blahna
2012-01-01
Conservation in urban areas faces growing financial challenges and inadequate stakeholder involvement. Conservation psychology can mitigate these challenges in many ways. One way is through conservation volunteerism, if we attend to and capitalize on volunteers' motivations. Conservation volunteerism significantly contributes to ecological knowledge acquisition,...
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Hamann, M.; Godfrey, M.H.; Seminoff, J.A.; Barata, P.C.R.; Bjorndal, K.A.; Bolten, A.B.; Broderick, A.C.; Campbell, L.M.; Carreras, C.; Casale, P.; Chaloupka, M.; Chan, S.-K.; Coyne, M.; Crowder, L.B.; Diez, C.E.; Dutton, P.H.; Epperly, S.P.; FitzSimmons, N.N.; Formia, A.; Girondot, M.; Hays, G.C.; Cheng, I.J.; Kaska, Y.; Lewison, R.; Mortimer, J.A.; Nichols, W.J.; Reina, R.D.; Shanker, K.; Spotila, J.R.; Tomás, J.; Wallace, B.P.; Work, Thierry M.; Zbinden, N.; Godley, B.J.
2010-01-01
Over the past 3 decades, the status of sea turtles and the need for their protection to aid population recovery have increasingly captured the interest of government agencies, non-governmental organisations (NGOs) and the general public worldwide. This interest has been matched by increased research attention, focusing on a wide variety of topics relating to sea turtle biology and ecology, together with the interrelations of sea turtles with the physical and natural environments. Although sea turtles have been better studied than most other marine fauna, management actions and their evaluation are often hindered by the lack of data on turtle biology, human–turtle interactions, turtle population status and threats. In an effort to inform effective sea turtle conservation a list of priority research questions was assembled based on the opinions of 35 sea turtle researchers from 13 nations working in fields related to turtle biology and/or conservation. The combined experience of the contributing researchers spanned the globe as well as many relevant disciplines involved in conservation research. An initial list of more than 200 questions gathered from respondents was condensed into 20 metaquestions and classified under 5 categories: reproductive biology, biogeography, population ecology, threats and conservation strategies.
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Roland C Wilhelm; Erick Cardenas; Kendra R Maas; Hilary Leung; Larisa McNeil; Shannon Berch; William Chapman; Graeme Hope; J M Kranabetter; Stephane Dubé; Matt Busse; Robert Fleming; Paul Hazlett; Kara L Webster; David Morris; D Andrew Scott; William W Mohn
2017-01-01
The growing demand for renewable, carbon-neutral materials and energy is leading to intensified forest land-use. The long-term ecological challenges associated with maintaining soil fertility in managed forests are not yet known, in part due to the complexity of soil microbial communities and the heterogeneity of forest soils. This study determined the long-term...
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Applications of landscape genetics in conservation biology: concepts and challenges
Gernot Segelbacher; Samuel A. Cushman; Bryan K. Epperson; Marie-Josee Fortin; Olivier Francois; Olivier J. Hardy; Rolf Holderegger; Stephanie Manel
2010-01-01
Landscape genetics plays an increasingly important role in the management and conservation of species. Here, we highlight some of the opportunities and challenges in using landscape genetic approaches in conservation biology. We first discuss challenges related to sampling design and introduce several recent methodological developments in landscape genetics (analyses...
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Beever, Erik A; Mattsson, Brady J; Germino, Matthew J; Burg, Max Post Van Der; Bradford, John B; Brunson, Mark W
2014-04-01
Integration of conservation partnerships across geographic, biological, and administrative boundaries is increasingly relevant because drivers of change, such as climate shifts, transcend these boundaries. We explored successes and challenges of established conservation programs that span multiple watersheds and consider both social and ecological concerns. We asked representatives from a diverse set of 11 broad-extent conservation partnerships in 29 countries 17 questions that pertained to launching and maintaining partnerships for broad-extent conservation, specifying ultimate management objectives, and implementation and learning. Partnerships invested more funds in implementing conservation actions than any other aspect of conservation, and a program's context (geographic extent, United States vs. other countries, developed vs. developing nation) appeared to substantially affect program approach. Despite early successes of these organizations and benefits of broad-extent conservation, specific challenges related to uncertainties in scaling up information and to coordination in the face of diverse partner governance structures, conflicting objectives, and vast uncertainties regarding future system dynamics hindered long-term success, as demonstrated by the focal organizations. Engaging stakeholders, developing conservation measures, and implementing adaptive management were dominant challenges. To inform future research on broad-extent conservation, we considered several challenges when we developed detailed questions, such as what qualities of broad-extent partnerships ensure they complement, integrate, and strengthen, rather than replace, local conservation efforts and which adaptive management processes yield actionable conservation strategies that account explicitly for dynamics and uncertainties regarding multiscale governance, environmental conditions, and knowledge of the system? © 2014 Society for Conservation Biology.
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Beever, Erik A.; Bradford, John B.; Germino, Matthew J.; Mattsson, Brady J.; Post van der Burg, Max; Brunson, Mark
2014-01-01
Integration of conservation partnerships across geographic, biological, and administrative boundaries is increasingly relevant because drivers of change, such as climate shifts, transcend these boundaries. We explored successes and challenges of established conservation programs that span multiple watersheds and consider both social and ecological concerns. We asked representatives from a diverse set of 11 broadextent conservation partnerships in 29 countries 17 questions that pertained to launching and maintaining partnerships for broad-extent conservation, specifying ultimate management objectives, and implementation and learning. Partnerships invested more funds in implementing conservation actions than any other aspect of conservation, and a program’s context (geographic extent, United States vs. other countries, developed vs. developing nation) appeared to substantially affect program approach. Despite early successes of these organizations and benefits of broad-extent conservation, specific challenges related to uncertainties in scaling up information and to coordination in the face of diverse partner governance structures, conflicting objectives, and vast uncertainties regarding future system dynamics hindered long-term success, as demonstrated by the focal organizations. Engaging stakeholders, developing conservation measures, and implementing adaptive management were dominant challenges. To inform future research on broad-extent conservation, we considered several challenges when we developed detailed questions, such as what qualities of broad-extent partnerships ensure they complement, integrate, and strengthen, rather than replace, local conservation efforts and which adaptive management processes yield actionable conservation strategies that account explicitly for dynamics and uncertainties regarding multiscale governance, environmental conditions, and knowledge of the system?
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Atkinson, Carter T.; Pratt, Thane K.; Banko, Paul C.; Jacobi, James D.; Woodworth, Bethany L.
2013-01-01
This chapter identifies four key challenges and opportunities for long-term conservation of biodiversity in the Hawaii's Islands. Following are the challenges that need to be resolved for remaining species of native forest birds to survive into the next century: invasive species, landscape processes, social factors, and climate change. These challenges are also relevant to other threatened terrestrial taxonomic groups (i.e., plants and invertebrates) in the Hawaiian Islands. Such threats are familiar to conservation biologists the world over, but rarely do they act as synergistically as they do in the Hawaiian Islands. The chapter reviews conservation successes and failures in Hawaii, and provides an example of the possible future course of conservation in other island communities.
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Conservation biology in Asia: the major policy challenges.
McNeely, Jeffrey A; Kapoor-Vijay, Promila; Zhi, Lu; Olsvig-Whittaker, Linda; Sheikh, Kashif M; Smith, Andrew T
2009-08-01
With about half the world's human population and booming economies, Asia faces numerous challenges to its biodiversity. The Asia Section of the Society for Conservation Biology has identified some key policy issues in which significant progress can be made. These include developing new sources of funding for forest conservation; identifying potential impacts of energy alternatives on the conservation of biodiversity; curbing the trade in endangered species of plants and animals; a special focus on the conservation of mountain biodiversity; enhancing relevant research; ensuring that conservation biology contributes to major international conventions and funding mechanisms; using conservation biology to build a better understanding of zoonotic diseases; more effectively addressing human-animal conflicts; enhancing community-based conservation; and using conservation biology to help address the pervasive water-deficit problems in much of Asia. These challenges can be met through improved regional cooperation among the relevant stakeholders.
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Conservation of biodiversity through taxonomy, data publication, and collaborative infrastructures.
Costello, Mark J; Vanhoorne, Bart; Appeltans, Ward
2015-08-01
Taxonomy is the foundation of biodiversity science because it furthers discovery of new species. Globally, there have never been so many people involved in naming species new to science. The number of new marine species described per decade has never been greater. Nevertheless, it is estimated that tens of thousands of marine species, and hundreds of thousands of terrestrial species, are yet to be discovered; many of which may already be in specimen collections. However, naming species is only a first step in documenting knowledge about their biology, biogeography, and ecology. Considering the threats to biodiversity, new knowledge of existing species and discovery of undescribed species and their subsequent study are urgently required. To accelerate this research, we recommend, and cite examples of, more and better communication: use of collaborative online databases; easier access to knowledge and specimens; production of taxonomic revisions and species identification guides; engagement of nonspecialists; and international collaboration. "Data-sharing" should be abandoned in favor of mandated data publication by the conservation science community. Such a step requires support from peer reviewers, editors, journals, and conservation organizations. Online data publication infrastructures (e.g., Global Biodiversity Information Facility, Ocean Biogeographic Information System) illustrate gaps in biodiversity sampling and may provide common ground for long-term international collaboration between scientists and conservation organizations. © 2015 Society for Conservation Biology.
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Lourie, Sara A; Pollom, Riley A; Foster, Sarah J
2016-08-01
Nomenclatural clarity is vital for the collection, dissemination, and retrieval of natural history information, which itself is necessary for effective conservation and management of species. Seahorses (genus Hippocampus) are small marine fishes that in many cases are heavily exploited and suffering severe population declines worldwide, leading to conservation concern and action. Here we provide a brief history of seahorse taxonomy, and attempt to clarify seahorse nomenclature by reducing redundancy and exposing areas of disagreement in need of further study. We provide an annotated list of the 41 species we currently recognize as valid, and describe their geographical distributions to offer a solid foundation for future research and conservation efforts. We base our conclusions on available morphological, genetic and distributional data, re-examination of the relevant literature, previous examination of almost all original type specimens, familiarity with many thousands of other live and dead specimens, and photographs of seahorses. This work should lead to greater taxonomic clarity by highlighting known research gaps and by ensuring that each species designation is justified by robust and defensible taxonomic protocols. Such clarity should facilitate greater efficacy in management and conservation.
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Ecosystem vulnerability to climate change in the southeastern United States
Cartwright, Jennifer M.; Costanza, Jennifer
2016-08-11
Two recent investigations of climate-change vulnerability for 19 terrestrial, aquatic, riparian, and coastal ecosystems of the southeastern United States have identified a number of important considerations, including potential for changes in hydrology, disturbance regimes, and interspecies interactions. Complementary approaches using geospatial analysis and literature synthesis integrated information on ecosystem biogeography and biodiversity, climate projections, vegetation dynamics, soil and water characteristics, anthropogenic threats, conservation status, sea-level rise, and coastal flooding impacts. Across a diverse set of ecosystems—ranging in size from dozens of square meters to thousands of square kilometers—quantitative and qualitative assessments identified types of climate-change exposure, evaluated sensitivity, and explored potential adaptive capacity. These analyses highlighted key gaps in scientific understanding and suggested priorities for future research. Together, these studies help create a foundation for ecosystem-level analysis of climate-change vulnerability to support effective biodiversity conservation in the southeastern United States.
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Marine Biodiversity, Biogeography, Deep-Sea Gradients, and Conservation.
Costello, Mark J; Chaudhary, Chhaya
2017-06-05
The oceans appear ideal for biodiversity - they have unlimited water, a large area, are well connected, have less extreme temperatures than on land, and contain more phyla and classes than land and fresh waters. Yet only 16% of all named species on Earth are marine. Species richness decreases with depth in the ocean, reflecting wider geographic ranges of deep sea than coastal species. Here, we assess how many marine species are named and estimated to exist, paying particular regard to whether discoveries of deep-sea organisms, microbes and parasites will change the proportion of terrestrial to marine species. We then review what factors have led to species diversification, and how this knowledge informs conservation priorities. The implications of this understanding for marine conservation are that the species most vulnerable to extinction will be large and endemic. Unfortunately, these species are also the most threatened by human impacts. Such threats now extend globally, and thus the only refuges for these species will be large, permanent, fully protected marine reserves. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
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Ma, Jian-Zhang
2017-01-01
Extant Feliformia species are one of the most diverse radiations of Carnivora (~123 species). Despite substantial recent interest in their conservation, diversification, and systematic study, no previous phylogeny contains a comprehensive species set, and no biogeography of this group is available. Here, we present a phylogenetic estimate for Feliformia with a comprehensive species set and establish a historical biogeography based on mitochondrial DNA. Both the Bayesian and maximum likelihood phylogeny for Feliformia are elucidated in our analyses and are strongly consistent with many groups recognized in previous studies. The mitochondrial phylogenetic relationships of Felidae were for the first time successfully reconstructed in our analyses with strong supported. When divergence times and dispersal/vicariance histories were compared with historical sea level changes, four dispersal and six vicariance events were identified. These vicariance events were closely related with global sea level changes. The transgression of sea into the lowland plains between Eurasia and Africa may have caused the vicariance in these regions. A fall in the sea level during late Miocene to Pliocene produced the Bering strait land bridge, which assisted the migration of American Feliformia ancestors from Asia to North America. In contrast with the ‘sweepstakes hypothesis’, our results suggest that the climate cooling during 30–27 Ma assisted Feliformia migration from the African mainland to Madagascar by creating a short-lived ice bridge across the Mozambique Channel. Lineages-through-time plots revealed a large increase in lineages since the Mid-Miocene. During the Mid-Miocene Climatic Optimum, the ecosystems and population of Feliformia rapidly expanded. Subsequent climate cooling catalyzed immigration, speciation, and the extinction of Feliformia. PMID:28358848
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Effects of disputes and easement violations on the cost-effectiveness of land conservation
Arcese, Peter
2015-01-01
Conservation initiatives to protect and restore valued species communities in human-dominated landscapes face challenges linked to their potential costs. Conservation easements on private land may represent a cost-effective alternative to land purchase, but long-term costs to monitor and enforce easements, or defend legal challenges, remain uncertain. We explored the cost-effectiveness of conservation easements, defined here as the fraction of the high-biodiversity landscape potentially protected via investment in easements versus land purchase. We show that easement violation and dispute rates substantially affect the estimated long-term cost-effectiveness of an easement versus land purchase strategy. Our results suggest that conservation easements can outperform land purchase as a strategy to protect biodiversity as long as the rate of disputes and legal challenges is low, pointing to a critical need for monitoring data to reduce costs and maximize the value of conservation investments. PMID:26413430
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Grand challenges in the management and conservation of North American inland fishes and fisheries
Lynch, Abigail; Cooke, Steven J.; Beard, Douglas; Kao, Yu-Chun; Lorenzen, Kai; Song, Andrew M.; Allen, Micheal S.; Basher, Zeenatul; Bunnell, David B.; Camp, Edward V.; Cowx, Ian G.; Freedman, Jonathan A.; Nguyen, Vivian M.; Nohner, Joel K.; Rogers, Mark W.; Siders, Zachary A.; Taylor, William W.; Youn, So-Jung
2017-01-01
Even with long-standing management and extensive science support, North American inland fish and fisheries still face many conservation and management challenges. We used a grand challenges approach to identify critical roadblocks that if removed would help solve important problems in the management and long-term conservation of North American inland fish and fisheries. We identified seven grand challenges within three themes (valuation, governance, and externalities) and 34 research needs and management actions. The major themes identified are to (1) raise awareness of diverse values associated with inland fish and fisheries, (2) govern inland fish and fisheries to satisfy multiple use and conservation objectives, and (3) ensure productive inland fisheries given nonfishing sector externalities. Addressing these grand challenges will help the broader community understand the diverse values of inland fish and fisheries, promote open forums for engagement of diverse stakeholders in fisheries management, and better integrate the inland fish sector into the greater water and land use policy process.
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Barlow, Jos; Ewers, Robert M; Anderson, Liana; Aragao, Luiz E O C; Baker, Tim R; Boyd, Emily; Feldpausch, Ted R; Gloor, Emanuel; Hall, Anthony; Malhi, Yadvinder; Milliken, William; Mulligan, Mark; Parry, Luke; Pennington, Toby; Peres, Carlos A; Phillips, Oliver L; Roman-Cuesta, Rosa Maria; Tobias, Joseph A; Gardner, Toby A
2011-05-01
Developing high-quality scientific research will be most effective if research communities with diverse skills and interests are able to share information and knowledge, are aware of the major challenges across disciplines, and can exploit economies of scale to provide robust answers and better inform policy. We evaluate opportunities and challenges facing the development of a more interactive research environment by developing an interdisciplinary synthesis of research on a single geographic region. We focus on the Amazon as it is of enormous regional and global environmental importance and faces a highly uncertain future. To take stock of existing knowledge and provide a framework for analysis we present a set of mini-reviews from fourteen different areas of research, encompassing taxonomy, biodiversity, biogeography, vegetation dynamics, landscape ecology, earth-atmosphere interactions, ecosystem processes, fire, deforestation dynamics, hydrology, hunting, conservation planning, livelihoods, and payments for ecosystem services. Each review highlights the current state of knowledge and identifies research priorities, including major challenges and opportunities. We show that while substantial progress is being made across many areas of scientific research, our understanding of specific issues is often dependent on knowledge from other disciplines. Accelerating the acquisition of reliable and contextualized knowledge about the fate of complex pristine and modified ecosystems is partly dependent on our ability to exploit economies of scale in shared resources and technical expertise, recognise and make explicit interconnections and feedbacks among sub-disciplines, increase the temporal and spatial scale of existing studies, and improve the dissemination of scientific findings to policy makers and society at large. Enhancing interaction among research efforts is vital if we are to make the most of limited funds and overcome the challenges posed by addressing large-scale interdisciplinary questions. Bringing together a diverse scientific community with a single geographic focus can help increase awareness of research questions both within and among disciplines, and reveal the opportunities that may exist for advancing acquisition of reliable knowledge. This approach could be useful for a variety of globally important scientific questions. © 2010 The Authors. Biological Reviews © 2010 Cambridge Philosophical Society.
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Natural resource management agencies, conservation organizations and other stakeholders are facing increasingly complex environmental challenges that require coordinated management actions at regional and landscape levels. To address these challenges, integrated multi-disciplina...
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Conservation biogeography of red oaks (Quercus, section Lobatae) in Mexico and Central America.
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.
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The geography of hotspots of rarity-weighted richness of birds and their coverage by Natura 2000.
Albuquerque, Fábio Suzart de; Gregory, Andrew
2017-01-01
A major challenge for biogeographers and conservation planners is to identify where to best locate or distribute high-priority areas for conservation and to explore whether these areas are well represented by conservation actions such as protected areas (PAs). We aimed to identify high-priority areas for conservation, expressed as hotpots of rarity-weighted richness (HRR)-sites that efficiently represent species-for birds across EU countries, and to explore whether HRR are well represented by the Natura 2000 network. Natura 2000 is an evolving network of PAs that seeks to conserve biodiversity through the persistence of the most patrimonial species and habitats across Europe. This network includes Sites of Community Importance (SCI) and Special Areas of Conservation (SAC), where the latter regulated the designation of Special Protected Areas (SPA). Distribution maps for 416 bird species and complementarity-based approaches were used to map geographical patterns of rarity-weighted richness (RWR) and HRR for birds. We used species accumulation index to evaluate whether RWR was efficient surrogates to identify HRRs for birds. The results of our analysis support the proposition that prioritizing sites in order of RWR is a reliable way to identify sites that efficiently represent birds. HRRs were concentrated in the Mediterranean Basin and alpine and boreal biogeographical regions of northern Europe. The cells with high RWR values did not correspond to cells where Natura 2000 was present. We suggest that patterns of RWR could become a focus for conservation biogeography. Our analysis demonstrates that identifying HRR is a robust approach for prioritizing management actions, and reveals the need for more conservation actions, especially on HRR.
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NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)
Quattrochi, Dale A.; Arnold, James E. (Technical Monitor)
2002-01-01
As a field of study, biogeography may be considered a bricolage - it has been constructed from many different facets from an array of research disciplines including biology, botany, zoology, geography, and geology. Biogeography focuses on the study of the constantly changing ranges of plants and animals, over multitude of space and time scales. It also includes the study of the structure and dynamics of biotic communities and ecosystems as they relate to both natural and anthropogenic processes. As it exists today, biogeography is an interdisciplinary research area founded in both the biological and Earth sciences. From a purely biological perspective, biogeography may be perceived as one of two types of studies: 1. biotic distributions and broad scales, and interpretations of the evolutionary and dispersal history of a single taxon or a few taxa; or 2. biotic distributions at local-to-regional scales, and interpretations of these distributions in relation to contemporary environments and rates of immigration or extinction. The first type of study is what is most usually associated with the term "biogeography" as disciplinary research field. It is conventionally termed "classical biogeography" because it reflects the continuity of research foci on which biogeography was founded in the nineteenth-century. The second type of biogeographical study has more modern day roots and is termed "geographical ecology" to reflect the theoretical predilections of ecologists and population biologists. Geographical ecology for all intents has become merged with ecology and exists as a sub discipline within this larger field of study.
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Behrooz, Roozbeh; Kaboli, Mohammad; Arnal, Véronique; Nazarizadeh, Masoud; Asadi, Atefeh; Salmanian, Amin; Ahmadi, Mohsen; Montgelard, Claudine
2018-05-11
Northern and western mountains of Iran are among the most important biodiversity and endemism hot spots for reptiles in the Middle East. Among herpetofauna, the montivipers represent an emblematic and fragmented endemic group for which estimating their level of genetic differentiation and defining conservation priorities is urgently needed. Here, we present the most comprehensive phylogenetic study on the Montivipera raddei species group comprising all 5 known taxa, among which 3 are endemic to Iran. Based on 2 mitochondrial genes, phylogenetic and phylogeographic analyses revealed 3 major lineages each presenting very contrasting distribution areas. The Iranian montivipers are highly structured in clades showing low genetic diversity and corresponding to high altitude summits. Molecular dating revealed the role of Quaternary paleo-climatic oscillations and altitudinal movements of montivipers in shaping genetic diversity and differentiation of these sky-island taxa. In addition, the best scenario of historical biogeography allowed identifying 3 possible refugial areas in Iran most likely arising by vicariance. Based on our mitochondrial results and pending additional data, we recognize 3 candidate species among the M. raddei complex: M. raddei, Montivipera latifii, and Montivipera kuhrangica that are coherent with their geographical distribution. We propose that the most appropriate evolutionary significant units for conservation of the montivipers are represented by 13 units among which 6 are recognized as high priority. Finally, we suggest some recommendations to the IUCN as well as to the Iranian conservation policies with respect to conservation prioritization.
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The geography of hotspots of rarity-weighted richness of birds and their coverage by Natura 2000
de Albuquerque, Fábio Suzart; Gregory, Andrew
2017-01-01
A major challenge for biogeographers and conservation planners is to identify where to best locate or distribute high-priority areas for conservation and to explore whether these areas are well represented by conservation actions such as protected areas (PAs). We aimed to identify high-priority areas for conservation, expressed as hotpots of rarity-weighted richness (HRR)–sites that efficiently represent species–for birds across EU countries, and to explore whether HRR are well represented by the Natura 2000 network. Natura 2000 is an evolving network of PAs that seeks to conserve biodiversity through the persistence of the most patrimonial species and habitats across Europe. This network includes Sites of Community Importance (SCI) and Special Areas of Conservation (SAC), where the latter regulated the designation of Special Protected Areas (SPA). Distribution maps for 416 bird species and complementarity-based approaches were used to map geographical patterns of rarity-weighted richness (RWR) and HRR for birds. We used species accumulation index to evaluate whether RWR was efficient surrogates to identify HRRs for birds. The results of our analysis support the proposition that prioritizing sites in order of RWR is a reliable way to identify sites that efficiently represent birds. HRRs were concentrated in the Mediterranean Basin and alpine and boreal biogeographical regions of northern Europe. The cells with high RWR values did not correspond to cells where Natura 2000 was present. We suggest that patterns of RWR could become a focus for conservation biogeography. Our analysis demonstrates that identifying HRR is a robust approach for prioritizing management actions, and reveals the need for more conservation actions, especially on HRR. PMID:28379991
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Using high throughput sequencing to explore the biodiversity in oral bacterial communities.
Diaz, P I; Dupuy, A K; Abusleme, L; Reese, B; Obergfell, C; Choquette, L; Dongari-Bagtzoglou, A; Peterson, D E; Terzi, E; Strausbaugh, L D
2012-06-01
High throughput sequencing of 16S ribosomal RNA gene amplicons is a cost-effective method for characterization of oral bacterial communities. However, before undertaking large-scale studies, it is necessary to understand the technique-associated limitations and intrinsic variability of the oral ecosystem. In this work we evaluated bias in species representation using an in vitro-assembled mock community of oral bacteria. We then characterized the bacterial communities in saliva and buccal mucosa of five healthy subjects to investigate the power of high throughput sequencing in revealing their diversity and biogeography patterns. Mock community analysis showed primer and DNA isolation biases and an overestimation of diversity that was reduced after eliminating singleton operational taxonomic units (OTUs). Sequencing of salivary and mucosal communities found a total of 455 OTUs (0.3% dissimilarity) with only 78 of these present in all subjects. We demonstrate that this variability was partly the result of incomplete richness coverage even at great sequencing depths, and so comparing communities by their structure was more effective than comparisons based solely on membership. With respect to oral biogeography, we found inter-subject variability in community structure was lower than site differences between salivary and mucosal communities within subjects. These differences were evident at very low sequencing depths and were mostly caused by the abundance of Streptococcus mitis and Gemella haemolysans in mucosa. In summary, we present an experimental and data analysis framework that will facilitate design and interpretation of pyrosequencing-based studies. Despite challenges associated with this technique, we demonstrate its power for evaluation of oral diversity and biogeography patterns. © 2012 John Wiley & Sons A/S.
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Bertani, Rogério
2012-01-01
Three aviculariine genera endemic to Brazil are revised. Typhochlaena C. L. Koch, 1850 is resurrected, including five species; Pachistopelma Pocock, 1901 includes two species; and Iridopelma Pocock, 1901, six species. Nine species are newly described: Typhochlaena ammasp. n., Typhochlaena costaesp. n., Typhochlaena curumimsp. n., Typhochlaena paschoalisp. n., Pachistopelma bromelicolasp. n., Iridopelma katiaesp. n., Iridopelma marcoisp. n., Iridopelma oliveiraisp. n. and Iridopelma vaninisp. n. Three new synonymies are established: Avicularia pulchra Mello-Leitão, 1933 and Avicularia recifiensis Struchen & Brändle, 1996 are junior synonyms of Pachistopelma rufonigrum Pocock, 1901 syn. n., and Avicularia palmicola Mello-Leitão, 1945 is a junior synonym of Iridopelma hirsutum Pocock, 1901 syn. n.Pachistopelma concolor Caporiacco, 1947 is transferred to Tapinauchenius Ausserer, 1871, making the new combination Tapinauchenius concolor (Caporiacco, 1947)comb. n. Lectotypes are newly designed for Pachistopelma rufonigrum Pocock, 1901 , Iridopelma hirsutum Pocock, 1901 and Pachistopelma concolor Caporiacco, 1947. Cladistic analyses using both equal and implied weights were carried out with a matrix comprising 62 characters and 38 terminal taxa. The chosen cladogram found with X-Pee-Wee and concavity 6 suggests they are monophyletic. All species are keyed and mapped and information on species habitat and area cladograms are presented. Discussion on biogeography and conservation is provided.
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Dispersal, isolation and diversification with continued gene flow in an Andean tropical dry forest.
Toby Pennington, R; Lavin, Matt
2017-07-01
The Andes are the world's longest mountain chain, and the tropical Andes are the world's richest biodiversity hot spot. The origin of the tropical Andean cordillera is relatively recent because the elevation of the mountains was relatively low (400-2500 m palaeoelevations) only 10 MYA with final uplift being rapid. These final phases of the Andean orogeny are thought to have had a fundamental role in shaping processes of biotic diversification and biogeography, with these effects reaching far from the mountains themselves by changing the course of rivers and deposition of mineral-rich Andean sediments across the massive Amazon basin. In a recent issue of Molecular Ecology, Oswald, Overcast, Mauck, Andersen, and Smith (2017) investigate the biogeography and diversification of bird species in the Andes of Peru and Ecuador. Their study is novel in its focus on tropical dry forests (Figure 1) rather than more mesic biomes such as rain forests, cloud forests and paramos, which tend to be the focus of science and conservation in the Andean hot spot. It is also able to draw powerful conclusions via the first deployment of genomic approaches to a biogeographic question in the threatened dry forests of the New World. © 2017 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.
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Kark, Salit; Brokovich, Eran; Mazor, Tessa; Levin, Noam
2015-12-01
Globally, extensive marine areas important for biodiversity conservation and ecosystem functioning are undergoing exploration and extraction of oil and natural gas resources. Such operations are expanding to previously inaccessible deep waters and other frontier regions, while conservation-related legislation and planning is often lacking. Conservation challenges arising from offshore hydrocarbon development are wide-ranging. These challenges include threats to ecosystems and marine species from oil spills, negative impacts on native biodiversity from invasive species colonizing drilling infrastructure, and increased political conflicts that can delay conservation actions. With mounting offshore operations, conservationists need to urgently consider some possible opportunities that could be leveraged for conservation. Leveraging options, as part of multi-billion dollar marine hydrocarbon operations, include the use of facilities and costly equipment of the deep and ultra-deep hydrocarbon industry for deep-sea conservation research and monitoring and establishing new conservation research, practice, and monitoring funds and environmental offsetting schemes. The conservation community, including conservation scientists, should become more involved in the earliest planning and exploration phases and remain involved throughout the operations so as to influence decision making and promote continuous monitoring of biodiversity and ecosystems. A prompt response by conservation professionals to offshore oil and gas developments can mitigate impacts of future decisions and actions of the industry and governments. New environmental decision support tools can be used to explicitly incorporate the impacts of hydrocarbon operations on biodiversity into marine spatial and conservation plans and thus allow for optimum trade-offs among multiple objectives, costs, and risks. © 2015 Society for Conservation Biology.
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Are we working towards global research priorities for management and conservation of sea turtles?
Rees, A.F.; Alfaro-Shigueto, J.; Barata, P.C.R.; Bjorndal, K.A.; Bolten, A.B.; Bourjea, J.; Broderick, A.C.; Campbell, L.M.; Cardona, L.; Carreras, C.; Casale, P.; Ceriani, S.A.; Dutton, P.H.; Eguchi, T.; Formia, A.; Fuentes, M.M.P.B.; Fuller, W.J.; Girondot, M.; Godfrey, M.H.; Hamann, M.; Hart, Kristen M.; Hays, G.C.; Hochscheid, S.; Kaska, Y.; Jensen, M.P.; Mangel, J.C.; Mortimer, J.A.; Naro-Maciel, E.; Ng, C.K.Y.; Nichols, W.J.; Phillott, A.D.; Reina, R.D.; Revuelta, O.; Schofield, G.; Seminoff, J.A.; Shanker, K.; Tomás, J.; van de Merwe, J.P.; Van Houtan, K.S.; Vander Zanden, H.B.; Wallace, B.P.; Wedemeyer-Strombel, K.R.; Work, Thierry M.; Godley, B.J.
2016-01-01
In 2010, an international group of 35 sea turtle researchers refined an initial list of more than 200 research questions into 20 metaquestions that were considered key for management and conservation of sea turtles. These were classified under 5 categories: reproductive biology, biogeography, population ecology, threats and conservation strategies. To obtain a picture of how research is being focused towards these key questions, we undertook a systematic review of the peer-reviewed literature (2014 and 2015) attributing papers to the original 20 questions. In total, we reviewed 605 articles in full and from these 355 (59%) were judged to substantively address the 20 key questions, with others focusing on basic science and monitoring. Progress to answering the 20 questions was not uniform, and there were biases regarding focal turtle species, geographic scope and publication outlet. Whilst it offers some meaningful indications as to effort, quantifying peer-reviewed literature output is obviously not the only, and possibly not the best, metric for understanding progress towards informing key conservation and management goals. Along with the literature review, an international group based on the original project consortium was assigned to critically summarise recent progress towards answering each of the 20 questions. We found that significant research is being expended towards global priorities for management and conservation of sea turtles. Although highly variable, there has been significant progress in all the key questions identified in 2010. Undertaking this critical review has highlighted that it may be timely to undertake one or more new prioritizing exercises. For this to have maximal benefit we make a range of recommendations for its execution. These include a far greater engagement with social sciences, widening the pool of contributors and focussing the questions, perhaps disaggregating ecology and conservation.
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Defining the demands and meeting the challenges of integrated bird conservation
Charles K. Baxter
2005-01-01
Understanding the demands of integration bird conservation begins with a critical assessment of the North American Bird Conservation Initiative's (NABCI) goal."Regionally-based, biologically-driven, landscape oriented partnerships delivering the full spectrum of bird conservation across the entirety of North America."
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Wallace, Bryan P.; DiMatteo, Andrew D.; Hurley, Brendan J.; Finkbeiner, Elena M.; Bolten, Alan B.; Chaloupka, Milani Y.; Hutchinson, Brian J.; Abreu-Grobois, F. Alberto; Amorocho, Diego; Bjorndal, Karen A.; Bourjea, Jerome; Bowen, Brian W.; Dueñas, Raquel Briseño; Casale, Paolo; Choudhury, B. C.; Costa, Alice; Dutton, Peter H.; Fallabrino, Alejandro; Girard, Alexandre; Girondot, Marc; Godfrey, Matthew H.; Hamann, Mark; López-Mendilaharsu, Milagros; Marcovaldi, Maria Angela; Mortimer, Jeanne A.; Musick, John A.; Nel, Ronel; Pilcher, Nicolas J.; Seminoff, Jeffrey A.; Troëng, Sebastian; Witherington, Blair; Mast, Roderic B.
2010-01-01
Background Resolving threats to widely distributed marine megafauna requires definition of the geographic distributions of both the threats as well as the population unit(s) of interest. In turn, because individual threats can operate on varying spatial scales, their impacts can affect different segments of a population of the same species. Therefore, integration of multiple tools and techniques — including site-based monitoring, genetic analyses, mark-recapture studies and telemetry — can facilitate robust definitions of population segments at multiple biological and spatial scales to address different management and research challenges. Methodology/Principal Findings To address these issues for marine turtles, we collated all available studies on marine turtle biogeography, including nesting sites, population abundances and trends, population genetics, and satellite telemetry. We georeferenced this information to generate separate layers for nesting sites, genetic stocks, and core distributions of population segments of all marine turtle species. We then spatially integrated this information from fine- to coarse-spatial scales to develop nested envelope models, or Regional Management Units (RMUs), for marine turtles globally. Conclusions/Significance The RMU framework is a solution to the challenge of how to organize marine turtles into units of protection above the level of nesting populations, but below the level of species, within regional entities that might be on independent evolutionary trajectories. Among many potential applications, RMUs provide a framework for identifying data gaps, assessing high diversity areas for multiple species and genetic stocks, and evaluating conservation status of marine turtles. Furthermore, RMUs allow for identification of geographic barriers to gene flow, and can provide valuable guidance to marine spatial planning initiatives that integrate spatial distributions of protected species and human activities. In addition, the RMU framework — including maps and supporting metadata — will be an iterative, user-driven tool made publicly available in an online application for comments, improvements, download and analysis. PMID:21253007
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O'Malley, Maureen A
2008-09-01
Recent discoveries of geographical patterns in microbial distribution are undermining microbiology's exclusively ecological explanations of biogeography and their fundamental assumption that 'everything is everywhere: but the environment selects'. This statement was generally promulgated by Dutch microbiologist Martinus Wilhelm Beijerinck early in the twentieth century and specifically articulated in 1934 by his compatriot, Lourens G. M. Baas Becking. The persistence of this precept throughout twentieth-century microbiology raises a number of issues in relation to its formulation and widespread acceptance. This paper will trace the conceptual history of Beijerinck's claim that 'everything is everywhere' in relation to a more general account of its theoretical, experimental and institutional context. His principle also needs to be situated in relationship to plant and animal biogeography, which, this paper will argue, forms a continuum of thought with microbial biogeography. Finally, a brief overview of the contemporary microbiological research challenging 'everything is everywhere' reveals that philosophical issues from Beijerinck's era of microbiology still provoke intense discussion in twenty-first century investigations of microbial biogeography.
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Conserving endangered marine organisms: causes, trends and challenges
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Ambariyanto
2017-02-01
Increasing demand for marine resources in recent decades for human needs has led to intensified exploitation. This increase accelerates the process of extinction of various marine resources. In order to avoid extinction, it requires conservation measures of marine resources appropriately. This paper provides an overview of causes of extinction, trends and challenges in the conservation of endangered marine organisms. The success of conservation measures is highly dependent on various stakeholders such as governments, communities, the private sector and academics. Differences of the interest of these parties often lead to the failure of conservation programs. In general there is an increasing public awareness of the importance of protecting the diversity of marine resources and avoiding extinction of marine organisms, especially endangered organisms. The existence of comprehensive actions, legislation and improved coordination among government, community, private sector, and academics will significantly improve the success in overcoming all the challenges.
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Connectivity as a multiple: In, with and as "nature".
Hodgetts, Timothy
2018-03-01
Connectivity is a central concept in contemporary geographies of nature, but the concept is often understood and utilised in plural ways. This is problematic because of the separation, rather than the confusion, of these different approaches. While the various understandings of connectivity are rarely considered as working together, the connections between them have significant implications. This paper thus proposes re-thinking connectivity as a "multiple". It develops a taxonomy of existing connectivity concepts from the fields of biogeography and landscape ecology, conservation biology, socio-economic systems theory, political ecology and more-than-human geography. It then considers how these various understandings might be re-thought not as separate concerns, but (following Annemarie Mol) as "more than one, but less than many". The implications of using the connectivity multiple as an analytic for understanding conservation practices are demonstrated through considering the creation of wildlife corridors in conservation practice. The multiple does not just serve to highlight the practical and theoretical linkages between ecological theories, social inequities and affectual relationships in more-than-human worlds. It is also suggestive of a normative approach to environmental management that does not give temporal priority to biological theories, but considers these as always already situated in these social, often unequal, always more-than-human ecologies.
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Bertani, Rogério
2012-01-01
Abstract Three aviculariine genera endemic to Brazil are revised. Typhochlaena C. L. Koch, 1850 is resurrected, including five species; Pachistopelma Pocock, 1901 includes two species; and Iridopelma Pocock, 1901, six species. Nine species are newly described: Typhochlaena amma sp. n., Typhochlaena costae sp. n., Typhochlaena curumim sp. n., Typhochlaena paschoali sp. n., Pachistopelma bromelicola sp. n., Iridopelma katiae sp. n., Iridopelma marcoi sp. n., Iridopelma oliveirai sp. n. and Iridopelma vanini sp. n. Three new synonymies are established: Avicularia pulchra Mello-Leitão, 1933 and Avicularia recifiensis Struchen & Brändle, 1996 are junior synonyms of Pachistopelma rufonigrum Pocock, 1901 syn. n., and Avicularia palmicola Mello-Leitão, 1945 is a junior synonym of Iridopelma hirsutum Pocock, 1901 syn. n. Pachistopelma concolor Caporiacco, 1947 is transferred to Tapinauchenius Ausserer, 1871, making the new combination Tapinauchenius concolor (Caporiacco, 1947) comb. n. Lectotypes are newly designed for Pachistopelma rufonigrum Pocock, 1901 , Iridopelma hirsutum Pocock, 1901 and Pachistopelma concolor Caporiacco, 1947. Cladistic analyses using both equal and implied weights were carried out with a matrix comprising 62 characters and 38 terminal taxa. The chosen cladogram found with X-Pee-Wee and concavity 6 suggests they are monophyletic. All species are keyed and mapped and information on species habitat and area cladograms are presented. Discussion on biogeography and conservation is provided. PMID:23166476
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Leles, S G; Mitra, A; Flynn, K J; Stoecker, D K; Hansen, P J; Calbet, A; McManus, G B; Sanders, R W; Caron, D A; Not, F; Hallegraeff, G M; Pitta, P; Raven, J A; Johnson, M D; Glibert, P M; Våge, S
2017-08-16
This first comprehensive analysis of the global biogeography of marine protistan plankton with acquired phototrophy shows these mixotrophic organisms to be ubiquitous and abundant; however, their biogeography differs markedly between different functional groups. These mixotrophs, lacking a constitutive capacity for photosynthesis (i.e. non-constitutive mixotrophs, NCMs), acquire their phototrophic potential through either integration of prey-plastids or through endosymbiotic associations with photosynthetic microbes. Analysis of field data reveals that 40-60% of plankton traditionally labelled as (non-phototrophic) microzooplankton are actually NCMs, employing acquired phototrophy in addition to phagotrophy. Specialist NCMs acquire chloroplasts or endosymbionts from specific prey, while generalist NCMs obtain chloroplasts from a variety of prey. These contrasting functional types of NCMs exhibit distinct seasonal and spatial global distribution patterns. Mixotrophs reliant on 'stolen' chloroplasts, controlled by prey diversity and abundance, dominate in high-biomass areas. Mixotrophs harbouring intact symbionts are present in all waters and dominate particularly in oligotrophic open ocean systems. The contrasting temporal and spatial patterns of distribution of different mixotroph functional types across the oceanic provinces, as revealed in this study, challenges traditional interpretations of marine food web structures. Mixotrophs with acquired phototrophy (NCMs) warrant greater recognition in marine research. © 2017 The Author(s).
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Advancing global marine biogeography research with open-source GIS software and cloud-computing
Fujioka, Ei; Vanden Berghe, Edward; Donnelly, Ben; Castillo, Julio; Cleary, Jesse; Holmes, Chris; McKnight, Sean; Halpin, patrick
2012-01-01
Across many scientific domains, the ability to aggregate disparate datasets enables more meaningful global analyses. Within marine biology, the Census of Marine Life served as the catalyst for such a global data aggregation effort. Under the Census framework, the Ocean Biogeographic Information System was established to coordinate an unprecedented aggregation of global marine biogeography data. The OBIS data system now contains 31.3 million observations, freely accessible through a geospatial portal. The challenges of storing, querying, disseminating, and mapping a global data collection of this complexity and magnitude are significant. In the face of declining performance and expanding feature requests, a redevelopment of the OBIS data system was undertaken. Following an Open Source philosophy, the OBIS technology stack was rebuilt using PostgreSQL, PostGIS, GeoServer and OpenLayers. This approach has markedly improved the performance and online user experience while maintaining a standards-compliant and interoperable framework. Due to the distributed nature of the project and increasing needs for storage, scalability and deployment flexibility, the entire hardware and software stack was built on a Cloud Computing environment. The flexibility of the platform, combined with the power of the application stack, enabled rapid re-development of the OBIS infrastructure, and ensured complete standards-compliance.
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Weiblen, George D
2002-01-01
In the two decades since Janzen described how to be a fig, more than 200 papers have appeared on fig wasps (Agaonidae) and their host plants (Ficus spp., Moraceae). Fig pollination is now widely regarded as a model system for the study of coevolved mutualism, and earlier reviews have focused on the evolution of resource conflicts between pollinating fig wasps, their hosts, and their parasites. Fig wasps have also been a focus of research on sex ratio evolution, the evolution of virulence, coevolution, population genetics, host-parasitoid interactions, community ecology, historical biogeography, and conservation biology. This new synthesis of fig wasp research attempts to integrate recent contributions with the older literature and to promote research on diverse topics ranging from behavioral ecology to molecular evolution.
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Scheel, Dirk-Martin; Slater, Graham J.; Kolokotronis, Sergios-Orestis; Potter, Charles W.; Rotstein, David S.; Tsangaras, Kyriakos; Greenwood, Alex D.; Helgen, Kristofer M.
2014-01-01
Abstract Extinctions and declines of large marine vertebrates have major ecological impacts and are of critical concern in marine environments. The Caribbean monk seal, Monachus tropicalis, last definitively reported in 1952, was one of the few marine mammal species to become extinct in historical times. Despite its importance for understanding the evolutionary biogeography of southern phocids, the relationships of M. tropicalis to the two living species of critically endangered monk seals have not been resolved. In this study we present the first molecular data for M. tropicalis, derived from museum skins. Phylogenetic analysis of cytochrome b sequences indicates that M. tropicalis was more closely related to the Hawaiian rather than the Mediterranean monk seal. Divergence time estimation implicates the formation of the Panamanian Isthmus in the speciation of Caribbean and Hawaiian monk seals. Molecular, morphological and temporal divergence between the Mediterranean and “New World monk seals” (Hawaiian and Caribbean) is profound, equivalent to or greater than between sister genera of phocids. As a result, we classify the Caribbean and Hawaiian monk seals together in a newly erected genus, Neomonachus. The two genera of extant monk seals (Monachus and Neomonachus) represent old evolutionary lineages each represented by a single critically endangered species, both warranting continuing and concerted conservation attention and investment if they are to avoid the fate of their Caribbean relative. PMID:24899841
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The face of conservation responding to a dynamically changing world.
Wiederholt, Ruscena; Trainor, Anne M; Michel, Nicole; Shirey, Patrick D; Swaisgood, Ronald R; Tallamy, Doug; Cook-Patton, Susan C
2015-09-01
In its 40-year history, the science of conservation has faced unprecedented challenges in terms of environmental damage and rapid global change, and environmental problems are only increasing as greater demands are placed on limited natural resources. Conservation science has been adapting to keep pace with these changes. Here, we highlight contemporary and emerging trends and innovations in conservation science that we believe represent the most effective responses to biodiversity threats. We focus on specific areas where conservation science has had to adjust its approach to address emerging threats to biodiversity, including habitat destruction and degradation, climate change, declining populations and invasive species. We also document changes in attitudes, norms and practices among conservation scientists. A key component to success is engaging and maintaining public support for conservation, which can be facilitated through the use of technology. These recent trends in conservation and management are innovative and will assist in optimizing conservation strategies, increasing our leverage with the general public and tackling our current environmental challenges. © 2015 International Society of Zoological Sciences, Institute of Zoology/Chinese Academy of Sciences and Wiley Publishing Asia Pty Ltd.
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Decision support frameworks and tools for conservation
Schwartz, Mark W.; Cook, Carly N.; Pressey, Robert L.; Pullin, Andrew S.; Runge, Michael C.; Salafsky, Nick; Sutherland, William J.; Williamson, Matthew A.
2018-01-01
The practice of conservation occurs within complex socioecological systems fraught with challenges that require transparent, defensible, and often socially engaged project planning and management. Planning and decision support frameworks are designed to help conservation practitioners increase planning rigor, project accountability, stakeholder participation, transparency in decisions, and learning. We describe and contrast five common frameworks within the context of six fundamental questions (why, who, what, where, when, how) at each of three planning stages of adaptive management (project scoping, operational planning, learning). We demonstrate that decision support frameworks provide varied and extensive tools for conservation planning and management. However, using any framework in isolation risks diminishing potential benefits since no one framework covers the full spectrum of potential conservation planning and decision challenges. We describe two case studies that have effectively deployed tools from across conservation frameworks to improve conservation actions and outcomes. Attention to the critical questions for conservation project planning should allow practitioners to operate within any framework and adapt tools to suit their specific management context. We call on conservation researchers and practitioners to regularly use decision support tools as standard practice for framing both practice and research.
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A graduate education framework for tropical conservation and development.
Kainer, Karen A; Schmink, Marianne; Covert, Hannah; Stepp, John Richard; Bruna, Emilio M; Dain, Jonathan L; Espinosa, Santiago; Humphries, Shoana
2006-02-01
Conventional graduate training related to tropical conservation and development has typically separated the two fields, with students focusing on either conservation from the perspective of the biophysical sciences or development as an extension of the social sciences. On entering the workforce, however graduates find they are required to work beyond disciplinary boundaries to address the complex interconnectivity between biological conservation and human well-being. We devised a framework for graduate education that broadens students' skill sets to learn outside their immediate disciplines and think in terms of linked socioecological systems, work in teams, communicate in nonacademic formats, and reflect critically on their own perspectives and actions. The University of Florida's Tropical Conservation and Development program has adopted a learning and action platform that blends theory, skills, and praxis to create an intellectual, social, and professionally safe space where students, faculty, and other participants can creatively address the complex challenges of tropical conservation and development. This platform operates within a nondegree-granting program and includes core courses that are taught by a team of biophysical and social scientists. It incorporates a range of alternative learning spaces such as student-led workshops, retreats, visiting professionals, practitioner experiences, and a weekly student-led seminar that collectively encourage students and faculty to enhance their skills and systematically and thoroughly reflect on program activities. Challenges to the described approach include increased service demands on faculty, a redefinition of research excellence to include effective and equitable collaboration with host-country partners, and the trade-offs and uncertainties inherent in more collaborative, interdisciplinary research. Despite these challenges, growing interdisciplinary programs, coupled with adaptive educational approaches that emphasize learning and action networks of students, faculty, and field partners, provide the best hope for responding to the emerging challenges of tropical conservation and development.
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How Zoos Are Meeting the Challenges Facing Biodiversity: Bristol Zoo Gardens as a Case Study
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Garrett, Simon
2010-01-01
As ideas about effective conservation of biodiversity develop, zoos are adapting their roles to meet the new challenges. This article considers these changes, using the work of Bristol and other UK zoos as a case study. The significance of zoos in both global and local conservation of biodiversity, their role in promoting public engagement and…
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Climate-driven changes in functional biogeography of Arctic marine fish communities
Primicerio, Raul; Kortsch, Susanne; Aune, Magnus; Dolgov, Andrey V.; Fossheim, Maria; Aschan, Michaela M.
2017-01-01
Climate change triggers poleward shifts in species distribution leading to changes in biogeography. In the marine environment, fish respond quickly to warming, causing community-wide reorganizations, which result in profound changes in ecosystem functioning. Functional biogeography provides a framework to address how ecosystem functioning may be affected by climate change over large spatial scales. However, there are few studies on functional biogeography in the marine environment, and none in the Arctic, where climate-driven changes are most rapid and extensive. We investigated the impact of climate warming on the functional biogeography of the Barents Sea, which is characterized by a sharp zoogeographic divide separating boreal from Arctic species. Our unique dataset covered 52 fish species, 15 functional traits, and 3,660 stations sampled during the recent warming period. We found that the functional traits characterizing Arctic fish communities, mainly composed of small-sized bottom-dwelling benthivores, are being rapidly replaced by traits of incoming boreal species, particularly the larger, longer lived, and more piscivorous species. The changes in functional traits detected in the Arctic can be predicted based on the characteristics of species expected to undergo quick poleward shifts in response to warming. These are the large, generalist, motile species, such as cod and haddock. We show how functional biogeography can provide important insights into the relationship between species composition, diversity, ecosystem functioning, and environmental drivers. This represents invaluable knowledge in a period when communities and ecosystems experience rapid climate-driven changes across biogeographical regions. PMID:29087943
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Urbanization in Africa: challenges and opportunities for conservation
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Güneralp, Burak; Lwasa, Shuaib; Masundire, Hillary; Parnell, Susan; Seto, Karen C.
2017-12-01
Africa, a continent exceptionally rich in biodiversity, is rapidly urbanizing. Africa’s urbanization is manifest in the growth of its megacities as well as that of its smaller towns and cities. The conservation planning and practice will increasingly need to account for direct and indirect impacts of the continent’s urbanization. The objective of our study is to pinpoint the outstanding challenges and opportunities afforded by the growing cities on the continent to the conservation goals and practices. While there have been many studies on the impacts of urbanization and development on conservation in Africa these studies tended to focus on specific issues. Here, we provide a synthesis of this body of work supported by new analysis. Urban areas, growing both in population and in land cover, pose threats to the integrity of the continent’s ecosystems and biodiversity but their growth also create opportunities for conservation. The burgeoning urban populations, especially in Sub-Saharan Africa, increase the strain on already insufficient infrastructure and bring new governance challenges. Yet, Africa’s ecosystems can serve as foundations for green infrastructure to serve the needs of its urban populations while safeguarding fragile biodiversity. Overall, while worsening social problems overshadow the concerns for biodiversity there are also promising initiatives to bring these concerns into the fold to address social, institutional, and ecological challenges that emerge with the continued urbanization of the continent.
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Testing basic ecological, evolutionary, and biogeographical principles using invasive species
Cynthia D. Huebner
2006-01-01
Sax et al. argue in Species Invasions: Insights into Ecology, Evolution, and Biogeography that species invasion is an on-going experiment and a research tool with which to test fundamental ecology, evolution, and biogeography tenets.
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Microbial biogeography: putting microorganisms on the map.
Martiny, Jennifer B Hughes; Bohannan, Brendan J M; Brown, James H; Colwell, Robert K; Fuhrman, Jed A; Green, Jessica L; Horner-Devine, M Claire; Kane, Matthew; Krumins, Jennifer Adams; Kuske, Cheryl R; Morin, Peter J; Naeem, Shahid; Ovreås, Lise; Reysenbach, Anna-Louise; Smith, Val H; Staley, James T
2006-02-01
We review the biogeography of microorganisms in light of the biogeography of macroorganisms. A large body of research supports the idea that free-living microbial taxa exhibit biogeographic patterns. Current evidence confirms that, as proposed by the Baas-Becking hypothesis, 'the environment selects' and is, in part, responsible for spatial variation in microbial diversity. However, recent studies also dispute the idea that 'everything is everywhere'. We also consider how the processes that generate and maintain biogeographic patterns in macroorganisms could operate in the microbial world.
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Brett G. Dickson; Thomas D. Sisk; Steven E. Sesnie; Richard T. Reynolds; Steven S. Rosenstock; Christina D. Vojta; Michael F. Ingraldi; Jill M. Rundall
2014-01-01
Conservation planners and land managers are often confronted with scale-associated challenges when assessing the relationship between land management objectives and species conservation. Conservation of individual species typically involves site-level analyses of habitat, whereas land management focuses on larger spatial extents. New models are needed to more...
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Turvey, Samuel T; Crees, Jennifer J; Di Fonzo, Martina M I
2015-08-22
Extinction events typically represent extended processes of decline that cannot be reconstructed using short-term studies. Long-term archives are necessary to determine past baselines and the extent of human-caused biodiversity change, but the capacity of historical datasets to provide predictive power for conservation must be assessed within a robust analytical framework. Local Chinese gazetteers represent a more than 400-year country-level dataset containing abundant information on past environmental conditions and include extensive records of gibbons, which have a restricted present-day distribution but formerly occurred across much of China. Gibbons show pre-twentieth century range contraction, with significant fragmentation by the mid-eighteenth century and population loss escalating in the late nineteenth century. Isolated gibbon populations persisted for about 40 years before local extinction. Populations persisted for longer at higher elevations, and disappeared earlier from northern and eastern regions, with the biogeography of population loss consistent with the contagion model of range collapse in response to human demographic expansion spreading directionally across China. The long-term Chinese historical record can track extinction events and human interactions with the environment across much longer timescales than are usually addressed in ecology, contributing novel baselines for conservation and an increased understanding of extinction dynamics and species vulnerability or resilience to human pressures. © 2015 The Authors.
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Turvey, Samuel T.; Crees, Jennifer J.; Di Fonzo, Martina M. I.
2015-01-01
Extinction events typically represent extended processes of decline that cannot be reconstructed using short-term studies. Long-term archives are necessary to determine past baselines and the extent of human-caused biodiversity change, but the capacity of historical datasets to provide predictive power for conservation must be assessed within a robust analytical framework. Local Chinese gazetteers represent a more than 400-year country-level dataset containing abundant information on past environmental conditions and include extensive records of gibbons, which have a restricted present-day distribution but formerly occurred across much of China. Gibbons show pre-twentieth century range contraction, with significant fragmentation by the mid-eighteenth century and population loss escalating in the late nineteenth century. Isolated gibbon populations persisted for about 40 years before local extinction. Populations persisted for longer at higher elevations, and disappeared earlier from northern and eastern regions, with the biogeography of population loss consistent with the contagion model of range collapse in response to human demographic expansion spreading directionally across China. The long-term Chinese historical record can track extinction events and human interactions with the environment across much longer timescales than are usually addressed in ecology, contributing novel baselines for conservation and an increased understanding of extinction dynamics and species vulnerability or resilience to human pressures. PMID:26246553
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Extinction in Phylogenetics and Biogeography: From Timetrees to Patterns of Biotic Assemblage
Meseguer, Andrea S.
2016-01-01
Global climate change and its impact on biodiversity levels have made extinction a relevant topic in biological research. Yet, until recently, extinction has received less attention in macroevolutionary studies than speciation; the reason is the difficulty to infer an event that actually eliminates rather than creates new taxa. For example, in biogeography, extinction has often been seen as noise, introducing homoplasy in biogeographic relationships, rather than a pattern-generating process. The molecular revolution and the possibility to integrate time into phylogenetic reconstructions have allowed studying extinction under different perspectives. Here, we review phylogenetic (temporal) and biogeographic (spatial) approaches to the inference of extinction and the challenges this process poses for reconstructing evolutionary history. Specifically, we focus on the problem of discriminating between alternative high extinction scenarios using time trees with only extant taxa, and on the confounding effect introduced by asymmetric spatial extinction – different rates of extinction across areas – in biogeographic inference. Finally, we identify the most promising avenues of research in both fields, which include the integration of additional sources of evidence such as the fossil record or environmental information in birth–death models and biogeographic reconstructions, the development of new models that tie extinction rates to phenotypic or environmental variation, or the implementation within a Bayesian framework of parametric non-stationary biogeographic models. PMID:27047538
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Welton, Luke J; Siler, Cameron D; Bennett, Daniel; Diesmos, Arvin; Duya, M Roy; Dugay, Roldan; Rico, Edmund Leo B; Van Weerd, Merlijn; Brown, Rafe M
2010-10-23
As humans continue to explore the last uncharted regions of the planet, discoveries of previously unknown species of large vertebrates have become infrequent. Here, we report on the discovery of a spectacular new species of giant, secretive, frugivorous, forest monitor lizard (Genus: Varanus) from the forests of the northern Philippines. Using data from morphology and mitochondrial and nuclear DNA sequences, we demonstrate the taxonomic distinctiveness of this new 2 m long species and provide insight into its historical biogeography and systematic affinities. Our molecular phylogenetic analyses indicate that the new species is closely related to Varanus olivaceus (from southern Luzon and nearby islands), but it differs from this and other varanids with respect to characteristics of scalation, colour pattern, body size, anatomy of the reproductive organs and genetic divergence. The new species appears to be restricted to forests of the central and northern Sierra Madre mountain range; it is separated from the range of V. olivaceus by a more than 150 km stretch that includes at least three low-elevation river valley barriers to dispersal. This discovery identifies a seldom-perceived biogeographic boundary and emphasizes the need for continued biodiversity research in the megadiverse conservation hotspot of the Philippines. It is anticipated that the new species will serve as an important flagship species for conservation efforts aimed at preserving the remaining forests of northern Luzon.
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Biogeography of Nearshore Subtidal Invertebrates in the Gulf of Maine
The biogeography of nearshore benthic invertebrates in the Gulf of Maine was studied to compare recent data with historical biogeographic studies, define physical-chemical factors affecting species distributions, and provide information needed to calibrate benthic indices of envi...
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Integrated bird conservation web site in the United States
Roxanne Bogart; Chris Eberly; Elizabeth Martin
2005-01-01
In working towards a vision of integrated bird conservation, scientists, conservationists, land managers, and administrators are faced with a variety of scientific, managerial, administrative, and logistical challenges and complexities. The broad scope of integrated bird conservation requires organizations to work together to conserve birds across taxonomic groups,...
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Conservation of native Pacific trout diversity in Western North America
Brooke E. Penaluna; Alicia Abadía-Cardoso; Jason B. Dunham; Francisco J. García-Dé León; Robert E. Gresswell; Arturo Ruiz Luna; Eric B. Taylor; Bradley B. Shepard; Robert Al-Chokhachy; Clint C. Muhlfeld; Kevin R. Bestgen; Kevin Rogers; Marco A. Escalante; Ernest R. Keeley; Gabriel M. Temple; Jack E. Williams; Kathleen R. Matthews; Ron Pierce; Richard L. Mayden; Ryan P. Kovach; John Carlos Garza; Kurt D. Fausch
2016-01-01
Pacific trout Oncorhynchus spp. in western North America are strongly valued in ecological, socioeconomic, and cultural views, and have been the subject of substantial research and conservation efforts. Despite this, the understanding of their evolutionary histories, overall diversity, and challenges to their conservation is incomplete. We review...
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Measuring farmer conservation behaviors: Challenges and best practices
Kristin Floress; Adam Reimer; Aaron Thompson; Mark Burbach; Cody Knutson; Linda Prokopy; Marc Ribaudo; Jessica Ulrich-Schad
2018-01-01
This article presents a guide for understanding the purposes and appropriate uses of different measures of conservation behavior. While applicable across natural resource management contexts, we primarily draw upon agricultural conservation research to illustrate our points. Farmers are often of interest to researchers, program managers, extension professionals, and...
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Island biogeography of the Anthropocene.
Helmus, Matthew R; Mahler, D Luke; Losos, Jonathan B
2014-09-25
For centuries, biogeographers have examined the factors that produce patterns of biodiversity across regions. The study of islands has proved particularly fruitful and has led to the theory that geographic area and isolation influence species colonization, extinction and speciation such that larger islands have more species and isolated islands have fewer species (that is, positive species-area and negative species-isolation relationships). However, experimental tests of this theory have been limited, owing to the difficulty in experimental manipulation of islands at the scales at which speciation and long-distance colonization are relevant. Here we have used the human-aided transport of exotic anole lizards among Caribbean islands as such a test at an appropriate scale. In accord with theory, as anole colonizations have increased, islands impoverished in native species have gained the most exotic species, the past influence of speciation on island biogeography has been obscured, and the species-area relationship has strengthened while the species-isolation relationship has weakened. Moreover, anole biogeography increasingly reflects anthropogenic rather than geographic processes. Unlike the island biogeography of the past that was determined by geographic area and isolation, in the Anthropocene--an epoch proposed for the present time interval--island biogeography is dominated by the economic isolation of human populations.
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Gathering, organizing and accessing data for use in bird conservation across the Americas
Martin, Elizabeth; Peterjohn, Bruce G.; Kelling, Steve; Rich, Terrell D.
2008-01-01
The U.S. North American Bird Conservation Initiative (NABCI) Monitoring Subcommittee (2007) identified the need for a comprehensive plan for integrating and managing bird population monitoring data, and to adapt this as an integral component for improving monitoring activities across North America. While the Subcommittee provided a basic framework to begin development of this data management strategy, input from stakeholders is needed to identify data management needs and the technical capacity necessary to solve those challenges. We organized a session at the Fourth International Partners in Flight Conference to solicit input from session participants from across the Americas and identify their data management needs. Session speakers and participants provided examples of the challenges encountered with data management and how the Internet is increasingly used to provide access to the data needed for bird conservation decisions. Input provided during the session indicated that data management needs extended beyond technology to include scientifi c, conservation, social, institutional, and cultural issues. Because data management is intricately related to all aspects of bird conservation, a coordination process that elevates the importance of data management within the bird conservation community is needed, in addition to improving data management associated with bird population monitoring programs. Development of a comprehensive data management strategy for bird population monitoring data would help address the needs and challenges identified during this session.
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Biogeography of dinoflagellate cysts in northwest Atlantic estuaries
Few biogeographic studies of dinoflagellate cysts include the near-shore estuarine environment. We determine the effect of estuary type, biogeography, and water quality on the spatial distribution of organic-walled dinoflagellate cysts from the Northeast USA (Maine to Delaware) a...
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The value of virtual conferencing for ecology and conservation.
Fraser, Hannah; Soanes, Kylie; Jones, Stuart A; Jones, Chris S; Malishev, Matthew
2017-06-01
The objectives of conservation science and dissemination of its research create a paradox: Conservation is about preserving the environment, yet scientists spread this message at conferences with heavy carbon footprints. Ecology and conservation science depend on global knowledge exchange-getting the best science to the places it is most needed. However, conference attendance from developed countries typically outweighs that from developing countries that are biodiversity and conservation hotspots. If any branch of science should be trying to maximize participation while minimizing carbon emissions, it is conservation. Virtual conferencing is common in other disciplines, such as education and humanities, but it is surprisingly underused in ecology and conservation. Adopting virtual conferencing entails a number of challenges, including logistics and unified acceptance, which we argue can be overcome through planning and technology. We examined 4 conference models: a pure-virtual model and 3 hybrid hub-and-node models, where hubs stream content to local nodes. These models collectively aim to mitigate the logistical and administrative challenges of global knowledge transfer. Embracing virtual conferencing addresses 2 essential prerequisites of modern conferences: lowering carbon emissions and increasing accessibility for remote, time- and resource-poor researchers, particularly those from developing countries. © 2017 The Authors. Conservation Biology published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc. on behalf of Society for Conservation Biology.
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Biodiversity and biogeography of the atmosphere
Womack, Ann M.; Bohannan, Brendan J. M.; Green, Jessica L.
2010-01-01
The variation of life has predominantly been studied on land and in water, but this focus is changing. There is a resurging interest in the distribution of life in the atmosphere and the processes that underlie patterns in this distribution. Here, we review our current state of knowledge about the biodiversity and biogeography of the atmosphere, with an emphasis on micro-organisms, the numerically dominant forms of aerial life. We present evidence to suggest that the atmosphere is a habitat for micro-organisms, and not purely a conduit for terrestrial and aquatic life. Building on a rich history of research in terrestrial and aquatic systems, we explore biodiversity patterns that are likely to play an important role in the emerging field of air biogeography. We discuss the possibility of a more unified understanding of the biosphere, one that links knowledge about biodiversity and biogeography in the lithosphere, hydrosphere and atmosphere. PMID:20980313
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Cosmopolitanism and Biogeography of the Genus Manganonema (Nematoda: Monhysterida) in the Deep Sea
Zeppilli, Daniela; Vanreusel, Ann; Danovaro, Roberto
2011-01-01
Simple Summary The deep sea comprises more than 60% of the Earth surface, and likely represents the largest reservoir of as yet undiscovered biodiversity. Nematodes are the most abundant taxon on Earth and are particularly abundant and diverse in the deep sea. Nevertheless, knowledge of their biogeography especially in the deep sea is still at its infancy. This article explores the distribution of the genus Manganonema in the deep Atlantic Ocean and Mediterranean Sea providing new insights about this apparently rare deep-sea genus. Abstract Spatial patterns of species diversity provide information about the mechanisms that regulate biodiversity and are important for setting conservation priorities. Present knowledge of the biogeography of meiofauna in the deep sea is scarce. This investigation focuses on the distribution of the deep-sea nematode genus Manganonema, which is typically extremely rare in deep-sea sediment samples. Forty-four specimens of eight different species of this genus were recorded from different Atlantic and Mediterranean regions. Four out of the eight species encountered are new to science. We report here that this genus is widespread both in the Atlantic and in the Mediterranean Sea. These new findings together with literature information indicate that Manganonema is a cosmopolitan genus, inhabiting a variety of deep-sea habitats and oceans. Manganonema shows the highest diversity at water depths >4,000 m. Our data, therefore, indicate that this is preferentially an abyssal genus that is able, at the same time, to colonize specific habitats at depths shallower than 1,000 m. The analysis of the distribution of the genus Manganonema indicates the presence of large differences in dispersal strategies among different species, ranging from locally endemic to cosmopolitan. Lacking meroplanktonic larvae and having limited dispersal ability due to their small size, it has been hypothesized that nematodes have limited dispersal potential. However, the investigated deep-sea nematodes were present across different oceans covering macro-scale distances. Among the possible explanations (hydrological conditions, geographical and geological pathways, long-term processes, specific historical events), their apparent preference of colonizing highly hydrodynamic systems, could suggest that these infaunal organisms are transported by means of deep-sea benthic storms and turbidity currents over long distances. PMID:26486501
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Challenges of Avian Conservation on Non-Federal Forests in the Pacific Northwest
Joseph B. Buchanan
2005-01-01
Conservation of species associated with mature forest habitats remains an important objective for non-federal lands in the Pacific Northwest. With few exceptions, state forest practices rules, a Washington state pilot landscape planning program, and federal Habitat Conservation Plans provide little functional habitat for species, like the Pileated Woodpecker (Dryocopus...
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Biogeography of Hysterangiales (Phallomycetidae, Basidiomycota)
Kentaro Hosaka; Michael A. Castellano; Joseph W. Spatafora
2008-01-01
To understand the biogeography of truffle-like fungi, DNA sequences were analysed from representative taxa of Hysterangiales. Multigene phylogenies and the results of ancestral area reconstructions are consistent with the hypothesis of an Australian, or eastern Gondwanan, origin of Hysterangiales with subsequent range expansions to the Northern Hemisphere. However,...
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Biogeography of mutualistic fungi cultivated by leafcutter ants
USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database
Leafcutter ants propagate co-evolving fungi for food. The nearly 50 species of leafcutter ants (Atta, Acromyrmex) range from Argentina to the USA, with the greatest species diversity in southern South America. We elucidate the biogeography of fungi cultivated by leafcutter ants using DNA-sequence an...
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Origin, evolution, and biogeography of Juglans: a phylogenetic perspective
USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database
Phylogenetic analyses of extant Juglans (Juglandaceae) using five cpDNA intergenic spacer (IGS) sequences (trnT-trnF, psbA-trnH, atpB-rbcL, trnV-16S rRNA, and trnS-trnfM) were performed to elucidate the origin, diversification, historical biogeography, and evolutionary relationships within the genus...
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ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Daane, Abigail R.; McKagan, Sarah B.; Vokos, Stamatis; Scherr, Rachel E.
2015-01-01
Research has demonstrated that many students and some teachers do not consistently apply the conservation of energy principle when analyzing mechanical scenarios. In observing elementary and secondary teachers engaged in learning activities that require tracking and conserving energy, we find that challenges to energy conservation often arise in…
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Climate-driven changes in functional biogeography of Arctic marine fish communities.
Frainer, André; Primicerio, Raul; Kortsch, Susanne; Aune, Magnus; Dolgov, Andrey V; Fossheim, Maria; Aschan, Michaela M
2017-11-14
Climate change triggers poleward shifts in species distribution leading to changes in biogeography. In the marine environment, fish respond quickly to warming, causing community-wide reorganizations, which result in profound changes in ecosystem functioning. Functional biogeography provides a framework to address how ecosystem functioning may be affected by climate change over large spatial scales. However, there are few studies on functional biogeography in the marine environment, and none in the Arctic, where climate-driven changes are most rapid and extensive. We investigated the impact of climate warming on the functional biogeography of the Barents Sea, which is characterized by a sharp zoogeographic divide separating boreal from Arctic species. Our unique dataset covered 52 fish species, 15 functional traits, and 3,660 stations sampled during the recent warming period. We found that the functional traits characterizing Arctic fish communities, mainly composed of small-sized bottom-dwelling benthivores, are being rapidly replaced by traits of incoming boreal species, particularly the larger, longer lived, and more piscivorous species. The changes in functional traits detected in the Arctic can be predicted based on the characteristics of species expected to undergo quick poleward shifts in response to warming. These are the large, generalist, motile species, such as cod and haddock. We show how functional biogeography can provide important insights into the relationship between species composition, diversity, ecosystem functioning, and environmental drivers. This represents invaluable knowledge in a period when communities and ecosystems experience rapid climate-driven changes across biogeographical regions. Copyright © 2017 the Author(s). Published by PNAS.
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Equilibrium theory of island biogeography: A review
Angela D. Yu; Simon A. Lei
2001-01-01
The topography, climatic pattern, location, and origin of islands generate unique patterns of species distribution. The equilibrium theory of island biogeography creates a general framework in which the study of taxon distribution and broad island trends may be conducted. Critical components of the equilibrium theory include the species-area relationship, island-...
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The niche, biogeography and species interactions
Wiens, John J.
2011-01-01
In this paper, I review the relevance of the niche to biogeography, and what biogeography may tell us about the niche. The niche is defined as the combination of abiotic and biotic conditions where a species can persist. I argue that most biogeographic patterns are created by niche differences over space, and that even ‘geographic barriers’ must have an ecological basis. However, we know little about specific ecological factors underlying most biogeographic patterns. Some evidence supports the importance of abiotic factors, whereas few examples exist of large-scale patterns created by biotic interactions. I also show how incorporating biogeography may offer new perspectives on resource-related niches and species interactions. Several examples demonstrate that even after a major evolutionary radiation within a region, the region can still be invaded by ecologically similar species from another clade, countering the long-standing idea that communities and regions are generally ‘saturated’ with species. I also describe the somewhat paradoxical situation where competition seems to limit trait evolution in a group, but does not prevent co-occurrence of species with similar values for that trait (called here the ‘competition–divergence–co-occurrence conundrum’). In general, the interface of biogeography and ecology could be a major area for research in both fields. PMID:21768150
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NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Martiny, A.; Kent, A. G.; Mouginot, C.; Baer, S. E.; Lomas, M. W.
2016-02-01
Extensive genetic diversity has been observed within Synechococcus including the presence of multiple major clades. However, the biogeography and underlying environmental drivers of these clades remain elusive. Here, we developed a new high-throughput sequencing assay using rpoC1 as marker combined with Illumina sequencing. Using this, we identified the genetic diversity of Synechococcus from 200 samples in an eastern Pacific Ocean transect between 19˚N and 3˚S. We used a placement method to identify the phylogenetic affiliation of each sequence and detected extensive diversity including multiple previously undescribed clades. We observed clear biogeographical domains, with Clade 2 dominant in the northern part of the transect, Clade CRD peaking at the equator, and Clade 1 dominant deeper in the water column throughout the transect. This biogeography, along with physical and nutrient data, suggests that Clade 2 represents a high temperature, low macronutrient ecotype, CRD a high temperature but low iron ecotype, and at least part of Clade 1 a low-light ecotype. The shift between Clade 2 and CRD occurred at 7˚N, whereas the concentration of macronutrients was low down to 4˚N, before increasing. This biogeography indicates that Synechococcus cells experience iron stress up to 7˚N despite low concentrations of phosphate and nitrate. The overall biogeography closely matched the distribution of Prochlorococcus diversity in this region, suggesting a parallel evolution of ecotypes in these two major lineages of marine Cyanobacteria.
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The Fire Learning Network: A promising conservation strategy for forestry
Bruce E. Goldstein; William H. Butler; R. Bruce Hull
2010-01-01
Conservation Learning Networks (CLN) are an emerging conservation strategy for addressing complex resource management challenges that face the forestry profession. The US Fire Learning Network (FLN) is a successful example of a CLN that operates on a national scale. Developed in 2001 as a partnership between The Nature Conservancy, the US Forest Service, and land-...
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Yan, Yujing; Yang, Xian; Tang, Zhiyao
2013-01-01
Large-scale patterns of species richness and the underlying mechanisms regulating these patterns have long been the central issues in biogeography and macroecology. Phylogenetic community structure is a result of combined effects of contemporary ecological interactions, environmental filtering, and evolutionary history, and it links community ecology with biogeography and trait evolution. The Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau provides a good opportunity to test the influence of contemporary climate on shaping species richness because of its unique geological history, cold climate, and high biodiversity. In this study, based on high-resolution distributions of ˜9000 vascular plant species, we explored how species richness and phylogenetic structure of vascular plants correlate with climates on the highest (and species rich) plateau on the Earth. The results showed that most of the vascular plants were distributed on the eastern part of the plateau; there was a strong association between species richness and climate, even after the effects of habitat heterogeneity were controlled. However, the responses of richness to climate remarkably depended on life-forms. Richness of woody plants showed stronger climatic associations than that of herbaceous plants; energy and water availability together regulated richness pattern of woody plants; whereas water availability predominantly regulated richness pattern of herbaceous plants. The phylogenetic structure of vascular species clustered in most areas of the plateau, suggesting that rapid speciation and environment filtering dominated the assembly of communities on the plateau. We further propose that biodiversity conservation in this area should better take into account ecological features for different life-forms and phylogenetic lineages. PMID:24340197
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Perry, George H; Louis, Edward E; Ratan, Aakrosh; Bedoya-Reina, Oscar C; Burhans, Richard C; Lei, Runhua; Johnson, Steig E; Schuster, Stephan C; Miller, Webb
2013-04-09
We performed a population genomics study of the aye-aye, a highly specialized nocturnal lemur from Madagascar. Aye-ayes have low population densities and extensive range requirements that could make this flagship species particularly susceptible to extinction. Therefore, knowledge of genetic diversity and differentiation among aye-aye populations is critical for conservation planning. Such information may also advance our general understanding of Malagasy biogeography, as aye-ayes have the largest species distribution of any lemur. We generated and analyzed whole-genome sequence data for 12 aye-ayes from three regions of Madagascar (North, West, and East). We found that the North population is genetically distinct, with strong differentiation from other aye-ayes over relatively short geographic distances. For comparison, the average FST value between the North and East aye-aye populations--separated by only 248 km--is over 2.1-times greater than that observed between human Africans and Europeans. This finding is consistent with prior watershed- and climate-based hypotheses of a center of endemism in northern Madagascar. Taken together, these results suggest a strong and long-term biogeographical barrier to gene flow. Thus, the specific attention that should be directed toward preserving large, contiguous aye-aye habitats in northern Madagascar may also benefit the conservation of other distinct taxonomic units. To help facilitate future ecological- and conservation-motivated population genomic analyses by noncomputational biologists, the analytical toolkit used in this study is available on the Galaxy Web site.
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Aye-aye population genomic analyses highlight an important center of endemism in northern Madagascar
Perry, George H.; Louis, Edward E.; Ratan, Aakrosh; Bedoya-Reina, Oscar C.; Burhans, Richard C.; Lei, Runhua; Johnson, Steig E.; Schuster, Stephan C.; Miller, Webb
2013-01-01
We performed a population genomics study of the aye-aye, a highly specialized nocturnal lemur from Madagascar. Aye-ayes have low population densities and extensive range requirements that could make this flagship species particularly susceptible to extinction. Therefore, knowledge of genetic diversity and differentiation among aye-aye populations is critical for conservation planning. Such information may also advance our general understanding of Malagasy biogeography, as aye-ayes have the largest species distribution of any lemur. We generated and analyzed whole-genome sequence data for 12 aye-ayes from three regions of Madagascar (North, West, and East). We found that the North population is genetically distinct, with strong differentiation from other aye-ayes over relatively short geographic distances. For comparison, the average FST value between the North and East aye-aye populations—separated by only 248 km—is over 2.1-times greater than that observed between human Africans and Europeans. This finding is consistent with prior watershed- and climate-based hypotheses of a center of endemism in northern Madagascar. Taken together, these results suggest a strong and long-term biogeographical barrier to gene flow. Thus, the specific attention that should be directed toward preserving large, contiguous aye-aye habitats in northern Madagascar may also benefit the conservation of other distinct taxonomic units. To help facilitate future ecological- and conservation-motivated population genomic analyses by noncomputational biologists, the analytical toolkit used in this study is available on the Galaxy Web site. PMID:23530231
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The Amphibians of Mount Oku, Cameroon: an updated species inventory and conservation review
Doherty-Bone, Thomas M.; Gvoždík, Václav
2017-01-01
Abstract Amphibians are a disproportionately threatened group of vertebrates, the status of which in Sub-Saharan Africa is still uncertain, with heterogeneous fauna punctuated by mountains. Mount Oku, Cameroon is one such mountain, which holds many endemic and restricted-range species. The history of amphibian research on Mt Oku, current knowledge on biogeography and conservation biology is reviewed, including recent findings. This updated inventory adds 25 further species, with 50 species of amphibian so far recorded to the Oku Massif (c. 900 to 3,011 m). This includes 5 endemic to Mt Oku, 7 endemic to the Bamenda Highlands, 18 restricted to the highlands of Cameroon and Nigeria, and 20 with broader ranges across Africa. This includes a new mountain locality for the Critically Endangered Leptodactylodon axillaris. Among others, the first record of Phrynobatrachus schioetzi and Ptychadena taenioscelis from Cameroon are presented. The uncertainty of habitat affinities and elevational ranges are discussed. The proportion of threatened species on Mt Oku is 44.2%, but projected to increase to 47.9% due to new species descriptions and recent dramatic declines. The natural habitats of Mt Oku are irreplaceable refuges for its endemic and restricted-range amphibian populations under severe pressure elsewhere in their range. Threats to this important amphibian fauna are increasing, including agricultural encroachment, expanding aquaculture, livestock grazing, pollution, invasive species, forest loss and degradation. Past, present and desired conservation interventions to address these threats are discussed. PMID:28144180
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Biogeography in the Air: Fungal Diversity over Land and Oceans
Biogenic aerosols are relevant for the Earth system, climate, and public health on local, regional, and global scales. Up to now, however, little is known about the diversity and biogeography of airborne microorganisms. We present the first DNA-based analysis of airborne fungi on...
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″The Anthropocene″, Ecosystem Management, and Environmental Virtue.
Sandler, Ronald
2016-01-01
*Portions of this article are drawn from: Sandler, R. Environmental Ethics: Theory in Practice, Oxford University Press, New York, in press. In this article I consider contrasting views on the implications of rapid, macroscale anthropogenic change for environmental ethics, particularly ecosystem management, species conservation, and environmental virtue. I begin by reviewing the Anthropocene debate, which has become a primary point of discourse on whether we ought to embrace a more interventionist stance regarding ecosystem management and species conservation. I then discuss the challenges posed by rapid ecological change to predominant ecosystem management and species conservation practices. I argue that these challenges not withstanding, we ought not go all in on interventionist management, even as novel conservation and management techniques can be justified in particular cases. It is possible to adopt a more forward looking normative stance, without licensing robust interventionism. Finally, I discuss the implications of this for some environmental virtues.
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Yan, Yujing; Yang, Xian; Tang, Zhiyao
2013-11-01
Large-scale patterns of species richness and the underlying mechanisms regulating these patterns have long been the central issues in biogeography and macroecology. Phylogenetic community structure is a result of combined effects of contemporary ecological interactions, environmental filtering, and evolutionary history, and it links community ecology with biogeography and trait evolution. The Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau provides a good opportunity to test the influence of contemporary climate on shaping species richness because of its unique geological history, cold climate, and high biodiversity. In this study, based on high-resolution distributions of ˜9000 vascular plant species, we explored how species richness and phylogenetic structure of vascular plants correlate with climates on the highest (and species rich) plateau on the Earth. The results showed that most of the vascular plants were distributed on the eastern part of the plateau; there was a strong association between species richness and climate, even after the effects of habitat heterogeneity were controlled. However, the responses of richness to climate remarkably depended on life-forms. Richness of woody plants showed stronger climatic associations than that of herbaceous plants; energy and water availability together regulated richness pattern of woody plants; whereas water availability predominantly regulated richness pattern of herbaceous plants. The phylogenetic structure of vascular species clustered in most areas of the plateau, suggesting that rapid speciation and environment filtering dominated the assembly of communities on the plateau. We further propose that biodiversity conservation in this area should better take into account ecological features for different life-forms and phylogenetic lineages.
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Setting Priorities for Regional Conservation Planning in the Mediterranean Sea
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
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Keeley, J.E.
1989-01-01
Review of: The Biogeography of Fire in the San Bernardino Mountains of California--A Historical Study. By Richard A. Minnich. University of California Publications in Geography Volume 28, University of California Press, Berkeley. 120 pp. plus plates, soft cover.
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Living in interesting times: Selected implications of landscape ecology for conservation science
John Shultis
2007-01-01
The phrase âMay you live in interesting timesâ links well with the sub-discipline of landscape ecology. Recent research in landscape ecology and associated disciplines (for example, conservation biology) provides significant challenges to the traditional conceptions of wilderness and conservation science, and may in part reflect upon our view of contemporary society as...
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Ariel. E. Lugo; Ernesto Medina; Kathleen McGinley
2014-01-01
This essay addresses the conservation issues facing mangroves in the Anthropocene, defined as the era of human domination over the world. We review the laws, policies, international agreements, and local actions that address the conservation of mangrove forests in the Neotropics and relate them to the Anthropocene. Collaboration between governments, non-governmental...
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Evolution and biogeography of Haemonchus contortus, linking faunal dynamics in space and time
USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database
History is the foundation that informs about the nuances of faunal assembly that are essential in understanding the dynamic nature of the host-parasite interface. All of our knowledge begins and ends with evolution, ecology and biogeography as these interacting facets determine the history of biodi...
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Phylogeny and biogeography of North-American wild rice (Zizania L.Poaceae)
USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database
The wild-rice genus Zizania includes four species disjunctly distributed in eastern Asia and North America, with three species (Z. aquatica, Z. palustris, and Z. texana) in North America and one (Z. latifolia) in eastern Asia. The phylogeny and biogeography of Zizania were explored using sequences o...
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Yang, Li; Zhang, Chao; Chen, Minhao; Li, Jingxin; Yang, Lei; Huo, Zhaomin; Ahmad, Shahid; Luan, Xiaofeng
2018-04-01
Long-term ecological data can be an effective tool to help ecologists integrate future projections with historical contexts and provide unique insights into the long-term dynamics of endangered species. However, hampered by data limitations, including incomplete and spatially biased data, relatively few studies have used multidecadal datasets or have examined changes in biogeography from a historical perspective. The black-billed capercaillie ( Tetrao urogalloides ) is a large capercaillie (classified as Least Concern [LC] on the IUCN red list) that has undergone a dramatic decline in population during the late 20th century and is considered endangered. Its conservation status is pessimistic, and the species requires immediate protection. Therefore, we supplemented a historical dataset to identify changes in this bird's range and population in northeast China over the long term. The study area spanned Heilongjiang Province, Jilin Province, and the northeast corner of Inner Mongolia in northeast China. We integrated an ecological niche model (BIOMOD2) with long-term ecological data on this species to estimate the magnitude of change in distribution over time. Our results revealed a 35.25% reduction in the current distribution of this species compared to their potential distribution in the 1970s. This decline is expected to continue under climate change. For example, the future range loss was estimated to be 38.79 ± 0.22% (8.64-90.19%), and the actual state could be worse, because the baseline range of the model was greater than the real range in the 2000s, showing a 12.39% overestimation. To overcome this poor outlook, a conservation strategy should be established in sensitive areas, including the southwestern Greater Khingan Mountains and northern Lesser Khingan Mountains. Actions that should be considered include field investigations, establishing a monitor network, designing ecological corridors, and cooperating with local inhabitants, governments, and conservation biologists to improve the conservation of the black-billed capercaillie.
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Conservation of Protists: The Krauthügel Pond in Austria.
Cotterill, Fenton P D; Augustin, Hannes; Medicus, Reinhard; Foissner, Wilhelm
2013-06-01
Although constituting more than 100,000 described species, protists are virtually ignored within the arena of biodiversity conservation. One reason is the widespread belief that the majority of protists have cosmopolitan distributions, in contrast to the highly hetereogenous biogeography of the "mega-Metazoa". However, modern research reveals that about one third of the known protists have restricted distributions, which endorses their conservation, at least in special cases. Here, we report what probably ranks as the first successful conservation intervention focused directly on known protist diversity. It is justified by unique species, type localities, and landscape maintenance as evidence for legislation. The protected habitat comprises an ephemeral pond, which is now a "Natural Monument" for ciliated protozoa. This wetland occupies a natural depression on the Krauthügel ("cabbage hill") south of the fortress of Salzburg City. When filled, the claviform pond has a size of ~30 × 15 m and a depth rarely surpassing 30 cm. Water is present only for some days or weeks, depending on heavy and/or prolonged rain. The pond occupied an agricultural field where root and leafy vegetables were cultivated for possibly more than 200 years. In the 1960s, this area became a grassland utilized as an autumn pasture, but was abandoned in the 1990s. Repeated sampling between 1982 and 2012 recovered a total of at least 150 ciliate taxa, of which 121 were identified to species level. Eight species were new to science, and an additional 10 poorly known species were reinvestigated and neotypified with populations from the Krauthügel pond. Both endemism and type localities justify the argument that the "integrative approach" in biodiversity and conservation issues should include protists and micro-metazoans. We argue that Krauthügel holds a unique reference node for biodiversity inventories to obtain the baseline knowledge-which is the prerequisite to monitor ecosystem integrity-and detect and evaluate impacts of natural and anthropogenic disturbances.
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Discrete Biogeography Based Optimization for Feature Selection in Molecular Signatures.
Liu, Bo; Tian, Meihong; Zhang, Chunhua; Li, Xiangtao
2015-04-01
Biomarker discovery from high-dimensional data is a complex task in the development of efficient cancer diagnoses and classification. However, these data are usually redundant and noisy, and only a subset of them present distinct profiles for different classes of samples. Thus, selecting high discriminative genes from gene expression data has become increasingly interesting in the field of bioinformatics. In this paper, a discrete biogeography based optimization is proposed to select the good subset of informative gene relevant to the classification. In the proposed algorithm, firstly, the fisher-markov selector is used to choose fixed number of gene data. Secondly, to make biogeography based optimization suitable for the feature selection problem; discrete migration model and discrete mutation model are proposed to balance the exploration and exploitation ability. Then, discrete biogeography based optimization, as we called DBBO, is proposed by integrating discrete migration model and discrete mutation model. Finally, the DBBO method is used for feature selection, and three classifiers are used as the classifier with the 10 fold cross-validation method. In order to show the effective and efficiency of the algorithm, the proposed algorithm is tested on four breast cancer dataset benchmarks. Comparison with genetic algorithm, particle swarm optimization, differential evolution algorithm and hybrid biogeography based optimization, experimental results demonstrate that the proposed method is better or at least comparable with previous method from literature when considering the quality of the solutions obtained. © 2015 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.
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Huang, Xiao-Lei; Qiao, Ge-Xia; Lei, Fu-Min
2010-01-01
Parsimony analysis of endemicity (PAE) was used to identify areas of endemism (AOEs) for Chinese birds at the subregional level. Four AOEs were identified based on a distribution database of 105 endemic species and using 18 avifaunal subregions as the operating geographical units (OGUs). The four AOEs are the Qinghai-Zangnan Subregion, the Southwest Mountainous Subregion, the Hainan Subregion and the Taiwan Subregion. Cladistic analysis of subregions generally supports the division of China’s avifauna into Palaearctic and Oriental realms. Two PAE area trees were produced from two different distribution datasets (year 1976 and 2007). The 1976 topology has four distinct subregional branches; however, the 2007 topology has three distinct branches. Moreover, three Palaearctic subregions in the 1976 tree clustered together with the Oriental subregions in the 2007 tree. Such topological differences may reflect changes in the distribution of bird species through circa three decades. PMID:20559504
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A new species of Alsodes (Anura: Alsodidae) from Altos de Cantillana, central Chile.
Charrier, Andrés; Correa, Claudio; Castro, Camila; Méndez, Marco A
2015-02-05
Based on morphological and molecular evidence (mitochondrial and nuclear sequences) we describe a new species of spiny-chest frog, Alsodes cantillanensis, from central Chile (around 34°S). The type locality, Quebrada Infiernillo, is located in the Coastal Range at approximately 65 km from Santiago (Metropolitan Region), the capital of Chile. The distribution of the new species is included entirely in that of A. nodosus (32-36°S approximately), which was identified as the sister taxon according to molecular phylogenetic analyses. Moreover, both species are sympatric in the type locality. The new species was found in a Nothofagus macrocarpa relict forest potentially threatened by gold mining activities. We identify other threats for its conservation and some biological data needed for understanding the evolution of this species. This discovery reveals the scarce knowledge about biogeography, evolution and ecology of spiny-chest frogs from central Chile.
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Byrne, Maria; Rowe, Frank; Uthicke, Sven
2010-09-01
The Stichopodidae comprise a diverse assemblage of holothuroids most of which occur in the Indo-Pacific. Phylogenetic analyses of mitochondrial gene (COI, 16S rRNA) sequence for 111 individuals (7 genera, 17 species) clarified taxonomic uncertainties, species relationships, biogeography and evolution of the family. A monophyly of the genus Stichopus was supported with the exception of Stichopus ellipes. Molecular analyses confirmed genus level taxonomy based on morphology. Most specimens harvested as S. horrens fell in the S. monotuberculatus clade, a morphologically variable assemblage with others from the S. naso clade. Taxonomic clarification of species fished as S. horrens will assist conservation measures. Evolutionary rates based on comparison of sequence from trans-ithmian Isostichopus species estimated that Stichopus and Isostichopus diverged ca. 5.5-10.7Ma (Miocene). More recent splits were estimated to be younger than 1Ma. Copyright 2010 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
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Gregory Bonito; Matthew E. Smith; Michael Nowak; Rosanne A. Healy; Gonzalo Guevara; Efren Cazares; Akihiko Kinoshita; Eduardo R. Nouhra; Laura S. Dominguez; Leho Tedersoo; Claude Murat; Yun Wang; Baldomero Arroyo Moreno; Donald H. Pfister; Kazuhide Nara; Alessandra Zambonelli; James M. Trappe; Rytas Vilgalys
2013-01-01
In this study we reassessed the biogeography and origin of the Tuberaceae and their relatives using multiple loci and a global sampling of taxa. Multiple independent transitions from an aboveground to a belowground truffie fruiting body form have occurred in the Tuberaceae and in its newly recognized sister lineage...
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Motivations for conserving urban biodiversity.
Dearborn, Donald C; Kark, Salit
2010-04-01
In a time of increasing urbanization, the fundamental value of conserving urban biodiversity remains controversial. How much of a fixed budget should be spent on conservation in urban versus nonurban landscapes? The answer should depend on the goals that drive our conservation actions, yet proponents of urban conservation often fail to specify the motivation for protecting urban biodiversity. This is an important shortcoming on several fronts, including a missed opportunity to make a stronger appeal to those who believe conservation biology should focus exclusively on more natural, wilder landscapes. We argue that urban areas do offer an important venue for conservation biology, but that we must become better at choosing and articulating our goals. We explored seven possible motivations for urban biodiversity conservation: preserving local biodiversity, creating stepping stones to nonurban habitat, understanding and facilitating responses to environmental change, conducting environmental education, providing ecosystem services, fulfilling ethical responsibilities, and improving human well-being. To attain all these goals, challenges must be faced that are common to the urban environment, such as localized pollution, disruption of ecosystem structure, and limited availability of land. There are, however, also challenges specific only to particular goals, meaning that different goals will require different approaches and actions. This highlights the importance of specifying the motivations behind urban biodiversity conservation. If the goals are unknown, progress cannot be assessed.
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Humans and seasonal climate variability threaten large-bodied coral reef fish with small ranges.
Mellin, C; Mouillot, D; Kulbicki, M; McClanahan, T R; Vigliola, L; Bradshaw, C J A; Brainard, R E; Chabanet, P; Edgar, G J; Fordham, D A; Friedlander, A M; Parravicini, V; Sequeira, A M M; Stuart-Smith, R D; Wantiez, L; Caley, M J
2016-02-03
Coral reefs are among the most species-rich and threatened ecosystems on Earth, yet the extent to which human stressors determine species occurrences, compared with biogeography or environmental conditions, remains largely unknown. With ever-increasing human-mediated disturbances on these ecosystems, an important question is not only how many species can inhabit local communities, but also which biological traits determine species that can persist (or not) above particular disturbance thresholds. Here we show that human pressure and seasonal climate variability are disproportionately and negatively associated with the occurrence of large-bodied and geographically small-ranging fishes within local coral reef communities. These species are 67% less likely to occur where human impact and temperature seasonality exceed critical thresholds, such as in the marine biodiversity hotspot: the Coral Triangle. Our results identify the most sensitive species and critical thresholds of human and climatic stressors, providing opportunity for targeted conservation intervention to prevent local extinctions.
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García-Fernández, Alfredo; Lázaro-Nogal, Ana; Traveset, Anna; Valladares, Fernando
2012-08-01
The main aim of this study was to isolate and characterize microsatellite loci in Cneorum tricoccon (Cneoraceae), a Mediterranean shrub relict of the early Tertiary, which inhabits western Mediterranean islands and coasts. Microsatellites will be useful for investigating biogeography and landscape genetics across the species distribution range, including current or past gene flow. Seventeen microsatellite loci were characterized, of which 10 were polymorphic and amplified for a total of 56 alleles in three populations of C. tricoccon. The markers revealed average coefficients of expected heterozygosity (H(e) = 0.425), observed heterozygosity (H(o) = 0.282), and inbreeding coefficient value per population (F(IS) = 0.408). These microsatellite primers will potentially be useful in the study of population and landscape genetics, conservation status of isolated populations, island-continental distribution, current or historical movements between populations, and in the investigation of the consequences of dispersal mechanisms of these plants.
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Aghajanpour, Fatemeh; Savari, Ahmad; Danehkar, Afshin; Chegini, Vahid
2015-12-01
Identification and classification of intertidal areas provides the basic knowledge needed for studies of biogeography, macro-ecology, and faunal populations, as well as for conservation planning and managing human activities in coastal areas. In this research, the eastern coast of Bushehr Province was classified using the Coastal and Marine Ecological Classification Standard (CMECS). Seven substrate subgroups, five geoform types in unconsolidated mineral substrate, five micro-habitats in rock substrate, and nine biotic groups were identified in study stations. The non-metric multidimensional scaling (nMDS) ordinations and one-way analysis of similarity (ANOSIM) showed that macroinvertebrate species composition differed significantly among different geoform types (habitat types). Eight biotopes are introduced for the eastern coast of Bushehr Province based on observational and statistical methods. The results presented here show that identifying intertidal biotopes using CMECS is an appropriate method both for classifying the southern coastal areas of Iran and for integrating biotic and abiotic components.
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Gary M. Tabor; Anne Carlson; Travis Belote
2014-01-01
The Yellowstone to Yukon Conservation Initiative (Y2Y) was established over 20 years ago as an experiment in large landscape conservation. Initially, Y2Y emerged as a response to large scale habitat fragmentation by advancing ecological connectivity. It also laid the foundation for large scale multi-stakeholder conservation collaboration with almost 200 non-...
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Fire as a global ‘herbivore’: the ecology and evolution of flammable ecosystems
Bond, William J.; Keeley, Jon E.
2005-01-01
It is difficult to find references to fire in general textbooks on ecology, conservation biology or biogeography, in spite of the fact that large parts of the world burn on a regular basis, and that there is a considerable literature on the ecology of fire and its use for managing ecosystems. Fire has been burning ecosystems for hundreds of millions of years, helping to shape global biome distribution and to maintain the structure and function of fire-prone communities. Fire is also a significant evolutionary force, and is one of the first tools that humans used to re-shape their world. Here, we review the recent literature, drawing parallels between fire and herbivores as alternative consumers of vegetation. We point to the common questions, and some surprisingly different answers, that emerge from viewing fire as a globally significant consumer that is analogous to herbivory.
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Presentation: Overview of Water Reuse Challenges and Opportunities
This presentation, Overview of Water Reuse Challenges and Opportunities, was given at the STAR Human and Ecological Health Impacts Associated with Water Reuse and Conservation Practices Kick-off Meeting and Webinar held on Oct. 26-27, 2016.
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Temperate mountain grasslands: a climate-herbivore hypothesis for origins and persistence
Weigl, Peter D; Knowles, Travis W
2014-01-01
Temperate montane grasslands and their unique biotas are declining worldwide as they are increasingly being invaded by forests. The origin and persistence of these landscapes have been the focus of such controversy that in many areas their conservation is in doubt. In the USA some biologists have largely dismissed the grass balds of the Southern Appalachians as human artifacts or anomalous and transitory elements of regional geography, worthy of only limited preservation efforts. On the basis of information from biogeography, community ecology, regional history and palaeontology and from consideration of two other montane grassland ecosystems—East Carpathian poloninas and Oregon Coast Range grass balds—we hypothesize that these landscapes are more widespread than was formerly recognized; they are, in many cases, natural and ancient and largely owe their origin and persistence to past climatic extremes and the activities of large mammalian herbivores. PMID:24118866
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Biogeography of azooxanthellate corals in the Caribbean and surrounding areas
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Dawson, J.
2002-04-01
Biogeographic patterns for azooxanthellate corals are not as well known as those of zooxanthellate (primarily reef-building) corals. I analyzed occurrences of 129 species of azooxanthellate corals in 19 geopolitical regions in the Caribbean and surrounding areas. I performed an unweighted pair-group method with arithmetic averages (UPGMA) cluster analysis using Bray-Curtis' similarity measure on the complete data set and shallow- and deep-water subsets of the data. The results indicate two provinces, each with a widespread (tropical and subtropical distributions) component to its fauna. One province has a tropical and primarily insular component to it, while the other has a subtropical and primarily continental component. By contrast, zooxanthellate corals have a uniform faunal composition throughout the Caribbean. Moreover, zooxanthellate corals have half as many species in the Caribbean as the azooxanthellate corals even though their global diversities are equal. These differences in diversity and geographic distribution patterns should be considered when developing conservation strategies.
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Tools and data for meeting America's conservation challenges
Gergely, Kevin J.; McKerrow, Alexa
2013-01-01
The Gap Analysis Program (GAP) produces data and tools that help meet critical national challenges such as biodiversity conservation, renewable energy development, climate change adaptation, and infrastructure investment. The GAP is managed by the U.S. Geological Survey, Department of the Interior. GAP supports a wide range of national, State, and local agencies as well as nongovernmental organizations and businesses with scientific tools and data. GAP uses a collaborative approach to do research, analysis, and data development, resulting in a history of cooperation with more than 500 agencies and organizations nationally.
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Influence of summer biogeography on wood warbler stopover abundance
Jeffrey F. Kelly; Rob Smith; Deborah M. Finch; Frank R. Moore; Wang Yong
1999-01-01
We evaluated the effect of summer biogeography of migrant wood warblers (Parulidae) on their stopover abundance. To characterize abundance patterns, we used mist-net capture data from spring and fall migration in the Middle Rio Grande Valley, New Mexico, spring migration on the Gulf Coast of Louisiana, and fall migration on the Gulf Coast of Alabama. To describe the...
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[Biogeography: geography or biology?].
Kafanov, A I
2009-01-01
General biogeography is an interdisciplinary science, which combines geographic and biological aspects constituting two distinct research fields: biological geography and geographic biology. These fields differ in the nature of their objects of study, employ different methods and represent Earth sciences and biological sciences, respectively. It is suggested therefore that the classification codes for research fields and the state professional education standard should be revised.
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Summoning compassion to address the challenges of conservation.
Wallach, Arian D; Bekoff, Marc; Batavia, Chelsea; Nelson, Michael P; Ramp, Daniel
2018-04-27
Conservation practice is informed by science, but also reflects ethical beliefs about how we ought to value and interact with the Earth's biota. As human activities continue to drive extinctions and diminish critical life-sustaining ecosystem processes, achieving conservation goals becomes increasingly urgent. In our determination to react decisively, conservation challenges can be handled without due deliberation, particularly when wildlife individuals are sacrificed "for the greater good" of wildlife collectives (populations, species, ecosystems). With growing recognition of the widespread sentience and sapience of many nonhuman animals, standard conservation practices that categorically prioritize collectives without due consideration for the wellbeing of individuals are ethically untenable. Here we highlight three overarching ethical orientations characterizing current and historical practices in conservation that suppress compassion: instrumentalism, collectivism, and nativism. We illustrate how establishing a commitment to compassion could re-orient conservation in more ethically expansive directions, which incorporate recognition of the intrinsic value of wildlife, the sentience of nonhuman animals, and the values of novel ecosystems, introduced species and their members. A compassionate conservation approach allays practices that intentionally and unnecessarily harm wildlife individuals, while aligning with critical conservation goals. Although the urgency of achieving effective outcomes for solving major conservation problems may enhance the appeal of quick and harsh measures, the costs are too high. Continuing to justify moral indifference when causing the suffering of wildlife individuals, particularly those who possess sophisticated capacities for emotion, consciousness, and sociality, risks estranging conservation practice from prevailing, and appropriate, social values. As conservationists and compassionate beings, we must demonstrate concern for both the long-term persistence of collectives and the wellbeing of individuals, prioritizing strategies that do both. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.
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Conservation physiology across scales: insights from the marine realm
Cooke, Steven J.; Killen, Shaun S.; Metcalfe, Julian D.; McKenzie, David J.; Mouillot, David; Jørgensen, Christian; Peck, Myron A.
2014-01-01
As the field of conservation physiology develops and becomes increasingly integrated with ecology and conservation science, the fundamental concept of scale is being recognized as important, particularly for ensuring that physiological knowledge is contextualized in a manner most relevant to policy makers, conservation practitioners and stakeholders. Failure to consider the importance of scale in conservation physiology—both the challenges and the opportunities that it creates—will impede the ability of this discipline to generate the scientific understanding needed to contribute to meaningful conservation outcomes. Here, we have focused on five aspects of scale: biological, spatial, temporal, allometric and phylogenetic. We also considered the scale of policy and policy application relevant to those five types of scale as well as the merits of upscaling and downscaling to explore and address conservation problems. Although relevant to all systems (e.g. freshwater, terrestrial) we have used examples from the marine realm, with a particular emphasis on fishes, given the fact that there is existing discourse regarding scale and its relevance for marine conservation and management. Our synthesis revealed that all five aspects of scale are relevant to conservation physiology, with many aspects inherently linked. It is apparent that there are both opportunities and challenges afforded by working across scales but, to understand mechanisms underlying conservation problems, it is essential to consider scale of all sorts and to work across scales to the greatest extent possible. Moreover, given that the scales in biological processes will often not match policy and management scales, conservation physiology needs to show how it is relevant to aspects at different policy/management scales, change the scales at which policy/management intervention is applied or be prepared to be ignored. PMID:27293645
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Constrained Multiobjective Biogeography Optimization Algorithm
Mo, Hongwei; Xu, Zhidan; Xu, Lifang; Wu, Zhou; Ma, Haiping
2014-01-01
Multiobjective optimization involves minimizing or maximizing multiple objective functions subject to a set of constraints. In this study, a novel constrained multiobjective biogeography optimization algorithm (CMBOA) is proposed. It is the first biogeography optimization algorithm for constrained multiobjective optimization. In CMBOA, a disturbance migration operator is designed to generate diverse feasible individuals in order to promote the diversity of individuals on Pareto front. Infeasible individuals nearby feasible region are evolved to feasibility by recombining with their nearest nondominated feasible individuals. The convergence of CMBOA is proved by using probability theory. The performance of CMBOA is evaluated on a set of 6 benchmark problems and experimental results show that the CMBOA performs better than or similar to the classical NSGA-II and IS-MOEA. PMID:25006591
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Plant Conservation Challenges in the Bahama Archipelago
USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database
Technical Abstract The Bahamian archipelago has a rich flora with 89 endemic species. An international symposium held at Nassau in October 2012 to celebrate the 30th anniversary of the publication of the “Flora of the Bahama Archipelago” provided a forum to discuss plant conservation issues on these...
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The need to respect nature and its limits challenges society and conservation science
Martin, Jean-Louis; Maris, Virginie; Simberloff, Daniel S.
2016-01-01
Increasing human population interacts with local and global environments to deplete biodiversity and resources humans depend on, thus challenging societal values centered on growth and relying on technology to mitigate environmental stress. Although the need to address the environmental crisis, central to conservation science, generated greener versions of the growth paradigm, we need fundamental shifts in values that ensure transition from a growth-centered society to one acknowledging biophysical limits and centered on human well-being and biodiversity conservation. We discuss the role conservation science can play in this transformation, which poses ethical challenges and obstacles. We analyze how conservation and economics can achieve better consonance, the extent to which technology should be part of the solution, and difficulties the “new conservation science” has generated. An expanded ambition for conservation science should reconcile day-to-day action within the current context with uncompromising, explicit advocacy for radical transitions in core attitudes and processes that govern our interactions with the biosphere. A widening of its focus to understand better the interconnectedness between human well-being and acknowledgment of the limits of an ecologically functional and diverse planet will need to integrate ecological and social sciences better. Although ecology can highlight limits to growth and consequences of ignoring them, social sciences are necessary to diagnose societal mechanisms at work, how to correct them, and potential drivers of social change. PMID:27185943
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The need to respect nature and its limits challenges society and conservation science.
Martin, Jean-Louis; Maris, Virginie; Simberloff, Daniel S
2016-05-31
Increasing human population interacts with local and global environments to deplete biodiversity and resources humans depend on, thus challenging societal values centered on growth and relying on technology to mitigate environmental stress. Although the need to address the environmental crisis, central to conservation science, generated greener versions of the growth paradigm, we need fundamental shifts in values that ensure transition from a growth-centered society to one acknowledging biophysical limits and centered on human well-being and biodiversity conservation. We discuss the role conservation science can play in this transformation, which poses ethical challenges and obstacles. We analyze how conservation and economics can achieve better consonance, the extent to which technology should be part of the solution, and difficulties the "new conservation science" has generated. An expanded ambition for conservation science should reconcile day-to-day action within the current context with uncompromising, explicit advocacy for radical transitions in core attitudes and processes that govern our interactions with the biosphere. A widening of its focus to understand better the interconnectedness between human well-being and acknowledgment of the limits of an ecologically functional and diverse planet will need to integrate ecological and social sciences better. Although ecology can highlight limits to growth and consequences of ignoring them, social sciences are necessary to diagnose societal mechanisms at work, how to correct them, and potential drivers of social change.
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Countryside biogeography of Neotropical reptiles and amphibians.
Mendenhall, Chase D; Frishkoff, Luke O; Santos-Barrera, Georgina; Pacheco, Jesús; Mesfun, Eyobed; Mendoza Quijano, Fernando; Ehrlich, Paul R; Ceballos, Gerardo; Daily, Gretchen C; Pringle, Robert M
2014-04-01
The future of biodiversity and ecosystem services depends largely on the capacity of human-dominated ecosystems to support them, yet this capacity remains largely unknown. Using the framework of countryside biogeography, and working in the Las Cruces system of Coto Brus, Costa Rica, we assessed reptile and amphibian assemblages within four habitats that typify much of the Neotropics: sun coffee plantations (12 sites), pasture (12 sites), remnant forest elements (12 sites), and a larger, contiguous protected forest (3 sites in one forest). Through analysis of 1678 captures of 67 species, we draw four primary conclusions. First, we found that the majority of reptile (60%) and amphibian (70%) species in this study used an array of habitat types, including coffee plantations and actively grazed pastures. Second, we found that coffee plantations and pastures hosted rich, albeit different and less dense, reptile and amphibian biodiversity relative to the 326-ha Las Cruces Forest Reserve and neighboring forest elements. Third, we found that the small ribbons of "countryside forest elements" weaving through farmland collectively increased the effective size of a 326-ha local forest reserve 16-fold for reptiles and 14-fold for amphibians within our 236-km2 study area. Therefore, countryside forest elements, often too small for most remote sensing techniques to identify, are contributing -95% of the available habitat for forest-dependent reptiles and amphibians in our largely human-dominated study region. Fourth, we found large and pond-reproducing amphibians to prefer human-made habitats, whereas small, stream-reproducing, and directly developing species are more dependent on forest elements. Our investigation demonstrates that tropical farming landscapes can support substantial reptile and amphibian biodiversity. Our approach provides a framework for estimating the conservation value of the complex working landscapes that constitute roughly half of the global land surface, and which are experiencing intensification pressure worldwide.
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Insight into Global Mosquito Biogeography from Country Species Records
2007-01-01
biodiversity gradient was observed, with species richness increasing toward the equator. A linear log-log species (y)-area (x) relationship (SAR) was...and endemism is proposed to guide mosqUito biodiversity surveys. For species groups. we show that the number ofspecies ofAIWfJheles subgenus Anopheles...into global patterns of mosquito biodiversity and survey history. KEY WORDS mosquito, biogeography, country occurrence records. species richness, species
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Vasconcelos, Thais N C; Proença, Carol E B; Ahmad, Berhaman; Aguilar, Daniel S; Aguilar, Reinaldo; Amorim, Bruno S; Campbell, Keron; Costa, Itayguara R; De-Carvalho, Plauto S; Faria, Jair E Q; Giaretta, Augusto; Kooij, Pepijn W; Lima, Duane F; Mazine, Fiorella F; Peguero, Brigido; Prenner, Gerhard; Santos, Matheus F; Soewarto, Julia; Wingler, Astrid; Lucas, Eve J
2017-04-01
Myrteae (c. 2500 species; 51 genera) is the largest tribe of Myrtaceae and an ecologically important groups of angiosperms in the Neotropics. Systematic relationships in Myrteae are complex, hindering conservation initiatives and jeopardizing evolutionary modelling. A well-supported and robust phylogenetic hypothesis was here targeted towards a comprehensive understanding of the relationships within the tribe. The resultant topology was used as a base for key evolutionary analyses such as age estimation, historical biogeography and diversification rate patterns. One nuclear (ITS) and seven chloroplast (psbA-trnH, matK, ndhF, trnl-trnF, trnQ-rps16, rpl16 and rpl32-trnL) DNA regions for 115 taxa representing 46 out of the 51 genera in the tribe were accessed and analysed using maximum likelihood and Bayesian inference tools for phylogenetic reconstruction. Dates of diversification events were estimated and contrasted using two distinct fossil sets (macro and pollen) in BEAST. The subsequent dated phylogenies were compared and analysed for biogeographical patterns using BioGeoBEARS and diversification rates using BAMM. Myrteae phylogeny presents strong statistical support for three major clades within the tribe: Australasian group, Myrtus group and Main Neotropical Lineage. Dating results from calibration using macrofossil are an average of 20 million years older and show an early Paleocene origin of Myrteae, against a mid-Eocene one from the pollen fossil calibration. Biogeographic analysis shows the origin of Myrteae in Zealandia in both calibration approaches, followed by a widespread distribution throughout the still-linked Gondwana continents and diversification of Neotropical endemic lineages by later vicariance. Best configuration shift indicates three points of acceleration in diversification rates, all of them occurring in the Main Neotropical Lineage. Based on the reconstructed topology, several new taxonomic placements were recovered, including: the relative position of Myrtus communis, the placement of the Blepharocalyx group, the absence of generic endemism in the Caribbean, and the paraphyletism of the former Pimenta group. Distinct calibration approaches affect biogeography interpretation, increasing the number of necessary long distance dispersal events in the topology with older nodes. It is hypothesised that biological intrinsic factors such as modifications of embryo type and polyploidy might have played a role in accelerating shifts of diversification rates in Neotropical lineages. Future perspectives include formal subtribal classification, standardization of fossil calibration approaches and better links between diversification shifts and trait evolution. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
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A national geographic framework for guiding conservation on a landscape scale
Millard, Michael J.; Czarnecki, Craig A.; Morton, John M.; Brandt, Laura A.; Briggs, Jennifer S.; Shipley, Frank S.; Sayre, Roger G.; Sponholtz, Pamela J.; Perkins, David; Simpkins, Darin G.; Taylor, Janith
2012-01-01
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, along with the global conservation community, has recognized that the conservation challenges of the 21st century far exceed the responsibilities and footprint of any individual agency or program. The ecological effects of climate change and other anthropogenic stressors do not recognize geopolitical boundaries and, as such, demand a national geographic framework to provide structure for cross-jurisdictional and landscape-scale conservation strategies. In 2009, a new map of ecologically based conservation regions in which to organize capacity and implement strategic habitat conservation was developed using rapid prototyping and expert elicitation by an interagency team of U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and U.S. Geological Survey scientists and conservation professionals. Incorporating Bird Conservation Regions, Freshwater Ecoregions, and U.S. Geological Survey hydrologic unit codes, the new geographic framework provides a spatial template for building conservation capacity and focusing biological planning and conservation design efforts. The Department of Interior's Landscape Conservation Cooperatives are being organized in these new conservation regions as multi-stakeholder collaborations for improved conservation science and management.
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Benestan, Laura Marilyn; Ferchaud, Anne-Laure; Hohenlohe, Paul A; Garner, Brittany A; Naylor, Gavin J P; Baums, Iliana Brigitta; Schwartz, Michael K; Kelley, Joanna L; Luikart, Gordon
2016-07-01
The boom of massive parallel sequencing (MPS) technology and its applications in conservation of natural and managed populations brings new opportunities and challenges to meet the scientific questions that can be addressed. Genomic conservation offers a wide range of approaches and analytical techniques, with their respective strengths and weaknesses that rely on several implicit assumptions. However, finding the most suitable approaches and analysis regarding our scientific question are often difficult and time-consuming. To address this gap, a recent workshop entitled 'ConGen 2015' was held at Montana University in order to bring together the knowledge accumulated in this field and to provide training in conceptual and practical aspects of data analysis applied to the field of conservation and evolutionary genomics. Here, we summarize the expertise yield by each instructor that has led us to consider the importance of keeping in mind the scientific question from sampling to management practices along with the selection of appropriate genomics tools and bioinformatics challenges. © 2016 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.
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Duvall, Alison L; Metcalf, Alexander L.; Coates, Peter S.
2016-01-01
The Endangered Species Act (ESA) continues to serve as one of the most powerful and contested federal legislative mandates for conservation. In the midst of heated debates, researchers, policy makers, and conservation practitioners champion the importance of cooperative conservation and social-ecological systems approaches, which forge partnerships at multiple levels and scales to address complex ecosystem challenges. However, few real-world examples exist to demonstrate how multifaceted collaborations among stakeholders who share a common goal of conserving at-risk species may be nested within a systems framework to achieve social and ecological goals. Here, we present a case study of Greater Sage-grouse (Centrocercus urophasianus) conservation efforts in the “Bi-State” region of California and Nevada, United States. Using key-informant interviews, we explored dimensions and drivers of this landscape-scale conservation effort. Three themes emerged from the interviews, including 1) ESA action was transformed into opportunity for system-wide conservation; 2) a diverse, locally based partnership anchored collaboration and engagement across multiple levels and scales; and 3) best-available science combined with local knowledge led to “certainty of effectiveness and implementation”—the criteria used by the US Fish and Wildlife Service to evaluate conservation efforts when making listing decisions. Ultimately, collaborative conservation through multistakeholder engagement at various levels and scales led to proactive planning and implementation of conservation measures and precluded the need for an ESA listing of the Bi-State population of Greater Sage-grouse. This article presents a potent example of how a systems approach integrating policy, management, and learning can be used to successfully overcome the conflict-laden and “wicked” challenges that surround at-risk species conservation.
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Genetic and phylogenetic consequences of island biogeography.
Johnson, K P; Adler, F R; Cherry, J L
2000-04-01
Island biogeography theory predicts that the number of species on an island should increase with island size and decrease with island distance to the mainland. These predictions are generally well supported in comparative and experimental studies. These ecological, equilibrium predictions arise as a result of colonization and extinction processes. Because colonization and extinction are also important processes in evolution, we develop methods to test evolutionary predictions of island biogeography. We derive a population genetic model of island biogeography that incorporates island colonization, migration of individuals from the mainland, and extinction of island populations. The model provides a means of estimating the rates of migration and extinction from population genetic data. This model predicts that within an island population the distribution of genetic divergences with respect to the mainland source population should be bimodal, with much of the divergence dating to the colonization event. Across islands, this model predicts that populations on large islands should be on average more genetically divergent from mainland source populations than those on small islands. Likewise, populations on distant islands should be more divergent than those on close islands. Published observations of a larger proportion of endemic species on large and distant islands support these predictions.
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Biogeography of planktonic and coral-associated microorganisms across the Hawaiian Archipelago.
Salerno, Jennifer L; Bowen, Brian W; Rappé, Michael S
2016-08-01
Factors driving the distribution of marine microorganisms are widely debated and poorly understood. Recent studies show that free-living marine microbes exhibit geographical patterns indicative of limited dispersal. In contrast, host-associated microbes face a different set of dispersal challenges, and hosts may function as habitat 'islands' for resident microbial populations. Here, we examine the biogeographical distributions of planktonic and adjacent coral-associated bacterial communities across the Hawaiian Archipelago, Johnston Atoll (∼1400 km southwest of Hawaii) and American Samoa in the Pacific Ocean and investigate the potential underlying processes driving observed patterns. Statistical analyses of bacterial community structure, determined using a small-subunit ribosomal RNA gene-based approach, showed that bacterioplankton and coral-associated bacterial communities were distinct, and correlated with geographical distance between sites. In addition, biogeographical patterns of bacterial associates paralleled those of their host coral Porites lobata, highlighting the specificity of these associations and the impact that host dispersal may have on bacterial biogeography. Planktonic and coral-associated bacterial communities from distant Johnston Atoll were shown to be connected with communities from the center of the Hawaiian Archipelago, a pattern previously observed in fish and invertebrates. No significant correlations were detected with habitat type, temperature or depth. However, non-distance-based geographical groupings were detected, indicating that, in addition to dispersal, unidentified environmental factors also affected the distributions of bacterial communities investigated here. © FEMS 2016. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com.
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The developmental biogeography of hawksbill sea turtles in the North Pacific.
Van Houtan, Kyle S; Francke, Devon L; Alessi, Sarah; Jones, T Todd; Martin, Summer L; Kurpita, Lauren; King, Cheryl S; Baird, Robin W
2016-04-01
High seas oceanic ecosystems are considered important habitat for juvenile sea turtles, yet much remains cryptic about this important life-history period. Recent progress on climate and fishery impacts in these so-called lost years is promising, but the developmental biogeography of hawksbill sea turtles (Eretmochelys imbricata) has not been widely described in the Pacific Ocean. This knowledge gap limits the effectiveness of conservation management for this globally endangered species. We address this with 30 years of stranding observations, 20 years of bycatch records, and recent simulations of natal dispersal trajectories in the Hawaiian Archipelago. We synthesize the analyses of these data in the context of direct empirical observations, anecdotal sightings, and historical commercial harvests from the insular Pacific. We find hawksbills 0-4 years of age, measuring 8-34 cm straight carapace length, are found predominantly in the coastal pelagic waters of Hawaii. Unlike other species, we find no direct evidence of a prolonged presence in oceanic habitats, yet satellite tracks of passive drifters (simulating natal dispersal) and our small sample sizes suggest that an oceanic phase for hawksbills cannot be dismissed. Importantly, despite over 600 million hooks deployed and nearly 6000 turtle interactions, longline fisheries have never recorded a single hawksbill take. We address whether the patterns we observe are due to population size and gear selectivity. Although most sea turtle species demonstrate clear patterns of oceanic development, hawksbills in the North Pacific may by contrast occupy a variety of ecosystems including coastal pelagic waters and shallow reefs in remote atolls. This focuses attention on hazards in these ecosystems - entanglement and ingestion of marine debris - and perhaps away from longline bycatch and decadal climate regimes that affect sea turtle development in oceanic regions.
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Decision support: Vulnerability, conservation, and restoration (Chapter 8)
Megan M. Friggens; Jeremiah R. Pinto; R. Kasten Dumroese; Nancy L. Shaw
2012-01-01
Current predictive tools, management options, restoration paradigms, and conservation programs are insufficient to meet the challenges of climate change in western North America. Scientific and management capabilities and resources will be sapped trying to identify risks to genetic resources and ecosystems and determine new approaches for mitigating and managing...
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76 FR 13769 - Rural Broadband Access Loans and Loan Guarantees
Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014
2011-03-14
... reviewing public comments and revising the rule, the Food, Conservation, and Energy Act of 2008 (2008 Farm.... Other associated rural issues, such as environmental challenges or providing wireless service through..., Conservation, and Energy Act of 2008, more commonly known as the 2008 Farm Bill, was working its way through...
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Effective use patterns for HPPD herbicides in non-transgenic conservation tillage sweet corn.
USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database
Weed control is still a challenge in non-transgenic sweet corn due to the suite of weeds present (including wild proso millet and triazine resistant species) and conservation tillage systems that are evolving to meet challenges of environmental stewardship and increasing input costs, mainly the risi...
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The effects of mulching, tillage, and herbicides on weed control and watermelon yield
USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database
Currently few producers in the Southeast US have adopted conservation tillage practices in specialty crop production. The lack of conservation adoption is likely due to the added challenges in producing vegetables in cover crop residues, especially high biomass cover crop systems. The objective of t...
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Productivity limits and potentials of the principles of conservation agriculture
USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database
One of the primary challenges of our time is to feed a growing and more demanding world population with reduced external inputs and minimal environmental impacts, all under more variable and extreme climate conditions of the future. Conservation agriculture (CA) represents a set of three crop manage...
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Risk assessment for biodiversity conservation planning in Pacific Northwest forests
Becky K. Kerns; Alan Ager
2007-01-01
Risk assessment can provide a robust strategy for landscape-scale planning challenges associated with species conservation and habitat protection in Pacific Northwest forests. We provide an overview of quantitative and probabilistic ecological risk assessment with focus on the application of approaches and influences from the actuarial, financial, and technical...
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A pedagogical model for integrative training in conservation and sustainability
Meredith Welch-Devine; Dean Hardy; J. Peter Brosius; Nik Heynen
2014-01-01
The benefits and challenges of interdisciplinary training are well documented, and several reviews have discussed the particular importance of interdisciplinary training for conservation scholars and practitioners. We discuss the progress within one university program to implement specific training models, elements, and tools designed to move beyond remaining barriers...
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Quresh S. Latif; Martha M. Ellis; Victoria A. Saab; Kim Mellen-McLean
2017-01-01
Sparsely distributed species attract conservation concern, but insufficient information on population trends challenges conservation and funding prioritization. Occupancy-based monitoring is attractive for these species, but appropriate sampling design and inference depend on particulars of the study system. We employed spatially explicit simulations to identify...
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3 CFR 8988 - Proclamation 8988 of May 31, 2013. Great Outdoors Month, 2013
Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR
2014-01-01
... natural surroundings animate the American spirit, fuel discovery and innovation, and offer unparalleled... today's conservation challenges. Alongside leaders in government and the private sector, we are taking... Conservation Service Corps, young men and women will get hands-on experience restoring our public lands and...
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Important Hawaiian tree species in need of genetic conservation
Robert D. Hauff
2017-01-01
Resource managers in Hawaii face unique forest conservation challenges. Invasive species continue to inundate the remote island archipelago, directly threatening its forest resources. Hawaii has the largest number (> 400) of endangered plants in the United States, and managers use genetic approaches to preserve these small populations which are often island...
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Atkinson, A.J.; Trenham, P.C.; Fisher, R.N.; Hathaway, S.A.; Johnson, B.S.; Torres, S.G.; Moore, Y.C.
2004-01-01
critical management uncertainties; and 3) implementing long-term monitoring and adaptive management. Ultimately, the success of regional conservation planning depends on the ability of monitoring programs to confront the challenges of adaptively managing and monitoring complex ecosystems and diverse arrays of sensitive species.
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Technology for nature conservation: an industry perspective.
Joppa, Lucas N
2015-11-01
Information age technology has the potential to change the game for conservation by continuously monitoring the pulse of the natural world. Whether or not it will depends on the ability of the conservation sector to build a community of practice, come together to define key technology challenges and work with a wide variety of partners to create, implement, and sustain solutions. I describe why these steps are necessary, outline the latest developments in the field and offer actionable ways forward for conservation agencies, universities, funding bodies, professional societies, and technology corporations to come together to realize the revolution that computational technologies can bring for biodiversity conservation.
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Biogeography and change among regional coral communities across the Western Indian Ocean.
McClanahan, Timothy R; Ateweberhan, Mebrahtu; Darling, Emily S; Graham, Nicholas A J; Muthiga, Nyawira A
2014-01-01
Coral reefs are biodiverse ecosystems structured by abiotic and biotic factors operating across many spatial scales. Regional-scale interactions between climate change, biogeography and fisheries management remain poorly understood. Here, we evaluated large-scale patterns of coral communities in the western Indian Ocean after a major coral bleaching event in 1998. We surveyed 291 coral reef sites in 11 countries and over 30° of latitude between 2004 and 2011 to evaluate variations in coral communities post 1998 across gradients in latitude, mainland-island geography and fisheries management. We used linear mixed-effect hierarchical models to assess total coral cover, the abundance of four major coral families (acroporids, faviids, pocilloporids and poritiids), coral genus richness and diversity, and the bleaching susceptibility of the coral communities. We found strong latitudinal and geographic gradients in coral community structure and composition that supports the presence of a high coral cover and diversity area that harbours temperature-sensitive taxa in the northern Mozambique Channel between Tanzania, northern Mozambique and northern Madagascar. Coral communities in the more northern latitudes of Kenya, Seychelles and the Maldives were generally composed of fewer bleaching-tolerant coral taxa and with reduced richness and diversity. There was also evidence for continued declines in the abundance of temperature-sensitive taxa and community change after 2004. While there are limitations of our regional dataset in terms of spatial and temporal replication, these patterns suggest that large-scale interactions between biogeographic factors and strong temperature anomalies influence coral communities while smaller-scale factors, such as the effect of fisheries closures, were weak. The northern Mozambique Channel, while not immune to temperature disturbances, shows continued signs of resistance to climate disturbances and remains a priority for future regional conservation and management actions.
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Biogeography and Change among Regional Coral Communities across the Western Indian Ocean
McClanahan, Timothy R.; Ateweberhan, Mebrahtu; Darling, Emily S.; Graham, Nicholas A. J.; Muthiga, Nyawira A.
2014-01-01
Coral reefs are biodiverse ecosystems structured by abiotic and biotic factors operating across many spatial scales. Regional-scale interactions between climate change, biogeography and fisheries management remain poorly understood. Here, we evaluated large-scale patterns of coral communities in the western Indian Ocean after a major coral bleaching event in 1998. We surveyed 291 coral reef sites in 11 countries and over 30° of latitude between 2004 and 2011 to evaluate variations in coral communities post 1998 across gradients in latitude, mainland-island geography and fisheries management. We used linear mixed-effect hierarchical models to assess total coral cover, the abundance of four major coral families (acroporids, faviids, pocilloporids and poritiids), coral genus richness and diversity, and the bleaching susceptibility of the coral communities. We found strong latitudinal and geographic gradients in coral community structure and composition that supports the presence of a high coral cover and diversity area that harbours temperature-sensitive taxa in the northern Mozambique Channel between Tanzania, northern Mozambique and northern Madagascar. Coral communities in the more northern latitudes of Kenya, Seychelles and the Maldives were generally composed of fewer bleaching-tolerant coral taxa and with reduced richness and diversity. There was also evidence for continued declines in the abundance of temperature-sensitive taxa and community change after 2004. While there are limitations of our regional dataset in terms of spatial and temporal replication, these patterns suggest that large-scale interactions between biogeographic factors and strong temperature anomalies influence coral communities while smaller-scale factors, such as the effect of fisheries closures, were weak. The northern Mozambique Channel, while not immune to temperature disturbances, shows continued signs of resistance to climate disturbances and remains a priority for future regional conservation and management actions. PMID:24718371
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Steger, Doris; Wentrup, Cecilia; Braunegger, Christina; Deevong, Pinsurang; Hofer, Manuel; Richter, Andreas; Baranyi, Christian; Pester, Michael; Wagner, Michael; Loy, Alexander
2011-01-01
Peatlands of the Lehstenbach catchment (Germany) house as-yet-unidentified microorganisms with phylogenetically novel variants of the dissimilatory (bi)sulfite reductase genes dsrAB. These genes are characteristic of microorganisms that reduce sulfate, sulfite, or some organosulfonates for energy conservation but can also be present in anaerobic syntrophs. However, nothing is currently known regarding the abundance, community dynamics, and biogeography of these dsrAB-carrying microorganisms in peatlands. To tackle these issues, soils from a Lehstenbach catchment site (Schlöppnerbrunnen II fen) from different depths were sampled at three time points over a 6-year period to analyze the diversity and distribution of dsrAB-containing microorganisms by a newly developed functional gene microarray and quantitative PCR assays. Members of novel, uncultivated dsrAB lineages (approximately representing species-level groups) (i) dominated a temporally stable but spatially structured dsrAB community and (ii) represented “core” members (up to 1% to 1.7% relative abundance) of the autochthonous microbial community in this fen. In addition, denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis (DGGE)- and clone library-based comparisons of the dsrAB diversity in soils from a wet meadow, three bogs, and five fens of various geographic locations (distance of ∼1 to 400 km) identified that one Syntrophobacter-related and nine novel dsrAB lineages are widespread in low-sulfate peatlands. Signatures of biogeography in dsrB-based DGGE data were not correlated with geographic distance but could be explained largely by soil pH and wetland type, implying that the distribution of dsrAB-carrying microorganisms in wetlands on the scale of a few hundred kilometers is not limited by dispersal but determined by local environmental conditions. PMID:21169452
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Prospects and challenges for the conservation of farm animal genomic resources, 2015-2025.
Bruford, Michael W; Ginja, Catarina; Hoffmann, Irene; Joost, Stéphane; Orozco-terWengel, Pablo; Alberto, Florian J; Amaral, Andreia J; Barbato, Mario; Biscarini, Filippo; Colli, Licia; Costa, Mafalda; Curik, Ino; Duruz, Solange; Ferenčaković, Maja; Fischer, Daniel; Fitak, Robert; Groeneveld, Linn F; Hall, Stephen J G; Hanotte, Olivier; Hassan, Faiz-Ul; Helsen, Philippe; Iacolina, Laura; Kantanen, Juha; Leempoel, Kevin; Lenstra, Johannes A; Ajmone-Marsan, Paolo; Masembe, Charles; Megens, Hendrik-Jan; Miele, Mara; Neuditschko, Markus; Nicolazzi, Ezequiel L; Pompanon, François; Roosen, Jutta; Sevane, Natalia; Smetko, Anamarija; Štambuk, Anamaria; Streeter, Ian; Stucki, Sylvie; Supakorn, China; Telo Da Gama, Luis; Tixier-Boichard, Michèle; Wegmann, Daniel; Zhan, Xiangjiang
2015-01-01
Livestock conservation practice is changing rapidly in light of policy developments, climate change and diversifying market demands. The last decade has seen a step change in technology and analytical approaches available to define, manage and conserve Farm Animal Genomic Resources (FAnGR). However, these rapid changes pose challenges for FAnGR conservation in terms of technological continuity, analytical capacity and integrative methodologies needed to fully exploit new, multidimensional data. The final conference of the ESF Genomic Resources program aimed to address these interdisciplinary problems in an attempt to contribute to the agenda for research and policy development directions during the coming decade. By 2020, according to the Convention on Biodiversity's Aichi Target 13, signatories should ensure that "…the genetic diversity of …farmed and domesticated animals and of wild relatives …is maintained, and strategies have been developed and implemented for minimizing genetic erosion and safeguarding their genetic diversity." However, the real extent of genetic erosion is very difficult to measure using current data. Therefore, this challenging target demands better coverage, understanding and utilization of genomic and environmental data, the development of optimized ways to integrate these data with social and other sciences and policy analysis to enable more flexible, evidence-based models to underpin FAnGR conservation. At the conference, we attempted to identify the most important problems for effective livestock genomic resource conservation during the next decade. Twenty priority questions were identified that could be broadly categorized into challenges related to methodology, analytical approaches, data management and conservation. It should be acknowledged here that while the focus of our meeting was predominantly around genetics, genomics and animal science, many of the practical challenges facing conservation of genomic resources are societal in origin and are predicated on the value (e.g., socio-economic and cultural) of these resources to farmers, rural communities and society as a whole. The overall conclusion is that despite the fact that the livestock sector has been relatively well-organized in the application of genetic methodologies to date, there is still a large gap between the current state-of-the-art in the use of tools to characterize genomic resources and its application to many non-commercial and local breeds, hampering the consistent utilization of genetic and genomic data as indicators of genetic erosion and diversity. The livestock genomic sector therefore needs to make a concerted effort in the coming decade to enable to the democratization of the powerful tools that are now at its disposal, and to ensure that they are applied in the context of breed conservation as well as development.
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Lemur species-specific metapopulation responses to habitat loss and fragmentation
Lehman, Shawn M.
2018-01-01
Determining what factors affect species occurrence is vital to the study of primate biogeography. We investigated the metapopulation dynamics of a lemur community consisting of eight species (Avahi occidentalis, Propithecus coquereli, Microcebus murinus, Microcebus ravelobensis, Lepilemur edwardsi, Cheirogaleus medius, Eulemur mongoz, and Eulemur fulvus) within fragmented tropical dry deciduous forest habitat in Ankarafantsika National Park, Madagascar. We measured fragment size and isolation of 42 fragments of forest ranging in size from 0.23 to 117.7 ha adjacent to continuous forest. Between June and November 2011, we conducted 1218 surveys and observed six of eight lemur species (M. murinus, M. ravelobensis, C. medius, E. fulvus, P. coquereli, and L. edwardsi) in the 42 fragments. We applied among patch incidence function models (IFMs) with various measures of dispersal and a mainland-island IFM to lemur species occurrence, with the aim of answering the following questions: 1) Do lemur species in dry deciduous forest fragments form metapopulations? 2) What are the separate effects of area (extinction risk) and connectivity/isolation (colonization potential) within a lemur metapopulation? 3) Within simulated metapopulations over time, how do area and connectivity/isolation affect occurrence? and 4) What are the conservation implications of our findings? We found that M. murinus formed either a mainland-island or an among patch metapopulation, M. ravelobensis formed a mainland-island metapopulation, C. medius and E. fulvus formed among patch metapopulations, and neither P. coquereli or L. edwardsi formed a metapopulation. Metapopulation dynamics and simulations suggest that area was a more consistent positive factor determining lemur species occurrence than fragment isolation and is crucial to the maintenance of lemur populations within this fragmented landscape. Using a metapopulation approach to lemur biogeography is critical for understanding how lemur species respond to forest loss and fragmentation. PMID:29742108
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NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Zhang, Binglin; Wu, Xiukun; Zhang, Gaosen; Li, Shuyan; Zhang, Wei; Chen, Ximing; Sun, Likun; Zhang, Baogui; Liu, Guangxiu; Chen, Tuo
2016-05-01
Glacier forelands, where the initially exposed area is unvegetated with minimal human influence, are an ideal place for research on the distributions and biogeography of microbial communities. Actinobacteria produce many bioactive substances and have important roles in soil development and biogeochemical cycling. However, little is known about the distribution and biogeography of Actinobacteria in glacier forelands. Therefore, we investigated the patterns of diversity and the biogeography of actinobacterial communities of the inhabited forefields of 5 glaciers in China. Of the bacteria, the mean relative abundance of Actinobacteria was 13.1%, and 6 classes were identified in the phylum Actinobacteria. The dominant class was Actinobacteria (57%), which was followed in abundance by Acidimicrobiia (19%) and Thermoleophilia (19%). When combined, the relative abundance of the other three classes, the MB-A2-108, Nitriliruptoria and Rubrobacteria, was only 2.4%. A biogeographic pattern in the forelands of the 5 glaciers in China was not detected for actinobacterial communities. Compared with 7 other actinobacterial communities found in the forelands of glaciers globally, those in the Southern Hemisphere were significantly different from those in the Northern Hemisphere. Moreover, the communities were significantly different on the separate continents of the Northern Hemisphere. The dissimilarity of the actinobacterial communities increased with geographic distance (r = 0.428, p = 0.0003). Because of environmental factors, the effect of geography was clear when the distance exceeded a certain continent-level threshold. With the analysis of indicator species, we found that each genus had a geographic characteristic, which could explain why the communities with greater diversity were more strongly affected by biogeography.
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Jacquet, Claire; Mouillot, David; Kulbicki, Michel; Gravel, Dominique
2017-02-01
The Theory of Island Biogeography (TIB) predicts how area and isolation influence species richness equilibrium on insular habitats. However, the TIB remains silent about functional trait composition and provides no information on the scaling of functional diversity with area, an observation that is now documented in many systems. To fill this gap, we develop a probabilistic approach to predict the distribution of a trait as a function of habitat area and isolation, extending the TIB beyond the traditional species-area relationship. We compare model predictions to the body-size distribution of piscivorous and herbivorous fishes found on tropical reefs worldwide. We find that small and isolated reefs have a higher proportion of large-sized species than large and connected reefs. We also find that knowledge of species body-size and trophic position improves the predictions of fish occupancy on tropical reefs, supporting both the allometric and trophic theory of island biogeography. The integration of functional ecology to island biogeography is broadly applicable to any functional traits and provides a general probabilistic approach to study the scaling of trait distribution with habitat area and isolation. © 2016 John Wiley & Sons Ltd/CNRS.
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Zemali, El-Amine; Boukra, Abdelmadjid
2015-08-01
The multiple sequence alignment (MSA) is one of the most challenging problems in bioinformatics, it involves discovering similarity between a set of protein or DNA sequences. This paper introduces a new method for the MSA problem called biogeography-based optimization with multiple populations (BBOMP). It is based on a recent metaheuristic inspired from the mathematics of biogeography named biogeography-based optimization (BBO). To improve the exploration ability of BBO, we have introduced a new concept allowing better exploration of the search space. It consists of manipulating multiple populations having each one its own parameters. These parameters are used to build up progressive alignments allowing more diversity. At each iteration, the best found solution is injected in each population. Moreover, to improve solution quality, six operators are defined. These operators are selected with a dynamic probability which changes according to the operators efficiency. In order to test proposed approach performance, we have considered a set of datasets from Balibase 2.0 and compared it with many recent algorithms such as GAPAM, MSA-GA, QEAMSA and RBT-GA. The results show that the proposed approach achieves better average score than the previously cited methods.
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The challenges associated with developing science-based landscape scale management plans.
Robert C. Szaro; Douglas A. Jr. Boyce; Thomas Puchlerz
2005-01-01
Planning activities over large landscapes poses a complex of challenges when trying to balance the implementation of a conservation strategy while still allowing for a variety of consumptive and nonconsumptive uses. We examine a case in southeast Alaska to illustrate the breadth of these challenges and an approach to developing a science-based resource plan. Not only...
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Bonebrake, Timothy C; Brown, Christopher J; Bell, Johann D; Blanchard, Julia L; Chauvenet, Alienor; Champion, Curtis; Chen, I-Ching; Clark, Timothy D; Colwell, Robert K; Danielsen, Finn; Dell, Anthony I; Donelson, Jennifer M; Evengård, Birgitta; Ferrier, Simon; Frusher, Stewart; Garcia, Raquel A; Griffis, Roger B; Hobday, Alistair J; Jarzyna, Marta A; Lee, Emma; Lenoir, Jonathan; Linnetved, Hlif; Martin, Victoria Y; McCormack, Phillipa C; McDonald, Jan; McDonald-Madden, Eve; Mitchell, Nicola; Mustonen, Tero; Pandolfi, John M; Pettorelli, Nathalie; Possingham, Hugh; Pulsifer, Peter; Reynolds, Mark; Scheffers, Brett R; Sorte, Cascade J B; Strugnell, Jan M; Tuanmu, Mao-Ning; Twiname, Samantha; Vergés, Adriana; Villanueva, Cecilia; Wapstra, Erik; Wernberg, Thomas; Pecl, Gretta T
2018-02-01
Climate change is driving a pervasive global redistribution of the planet's species. Species redistribution poses new questions for the study of ecosystems, conservation science and human societies that require a coordinated and integrated approach. Here we review recent progress, key gaps and strategic directions in this nascent research area, emphasising emerging themes in species redistribution biology, the importance of understanding underlying drivers and the need to anticipate novel outcomes of changes in species ranges. We highlight that species redistribution has manifest implications across multiple temporal and spatial scales and from genes to ecosystems. Understanding range shifts from ecological, physiological, genetic and biogeographical perspectives is essential for informing changing paradigms in conservation science and for designing conservation strategies that incorporate changing population connectivity and advance adaptation to climate change. Species redistributions present challenges for human well-being, environmental management and sustainable development. By synthesising recent approaches, theories and tools, our review establishes an interdisciplinary foundation for the development of future research on species redistribution. Specifically, we demonstrate how ecological, conservation and social research on species redistribution can best be achieved by working across disciplinary boundaries to develop and implement solutions to climate change challenges. Future studies should therefore integrate existing and complementary scientific frameworks while incorporating social science and human-centred approaches. Finally, we emphasise that the best science will not be useful unless more scientists engage with managers, policy makers and the public to develop responsible and socially acceptable options for the global challenges arising from species redistributions. © 2017 Cambridge Philosophical Society.
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Current insights into phage biodiversity and biogeography.
Thurber, Rebecca Vega
2009-10-01
Phages exert tremendous ecological and evolutionary forces directly on their bacterial hosts. Phage induced cell lysis also indirectly contributes to organic and inorganic nutrient recycling. Phage abundance, diversity, and distribution are therefore important parameters in ecosystem function. The assumption that phage consortia are ubiquitous and homogenous across habitats (everything is everywhere) is currently being re-evaluated. New studies on phage biogeography have found that some phages are globally distributed while others are unique and perhaps endemic to specific environments. Furthermore, advances in technology have allowed scientists to conduct experiments aimed at analyzing phage consortia over temporal scales, and surprisingly have found reoccurring patterns. This review discusses currents in the field of phage ecology with particular focus on efforts to characterize phage diversity and biogeography across various spatial and temporal scales.
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Wendy Moore; Wallace M. Meyer; Jeffrey A. Eble; Kimberly Franklin; John F. Wiens; Richard C. Brusca
2013-01-01
The Arizona Sky Island Arthropod Project (ASAP) is a new multi-disciplinary research program at the University of Arizona that combines systematics, biogeography, ecology, and population genetics to study origins and patterns of arthropod diversity along elevation gradients and among mountain ranges in the Madrean Sky Island Region. Arthropods represent taxonomically...
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Chidawanyika, Frank; Mudavanhu, Pride; Nyamukondiwa, Casper
2012-11-09
The current changes in global climatic regimes present a significant societal challenge, affecting in all likelihood insect physiology, biochemistry, biogeography and population dynamics. With the increasing resistance of many insect pest species to chemical insecticides and an increasing organic food market, pest control strategies are slowly shifting towards more sustainable, ecologically sound and economically viable options. Biologically based pest management strategies present such opportunities through predation or parasitism of pests and plant direct or indirect defense mechanisms that can all be important components of sustainable integrated pest management programs. Inevitably, the efficacy of biological control systems is highly dependent on natural enemy-prey interactions, which will likely be modified by changing climates. Therefore, knowledge of how insect pests and their natural enemies respond to climate variation is of fundamental importance in understanding biological insect pest management under global climate change. Here, we discuss biological control, its challenges under climate change scenarios and how increased global temperatures will require adaptive management strategies to cope with changing status of insects and their natural enemies.
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Business strategies for conservation on private lands: Koa forestry as a case study.
Goldstein, Joshua H; Daily, Gretchen C; Friday, James B; Matson, Pamela A; Naylor, Rosamond L; Vitousek, Peter
2006-06-27
Innovative financial instruments are being created to reward conservation on private, working lands. Major design challenges remain, however, to make investments in biodiversity and ecosystem services economically attractive and commonplace. From a business perspective, three key financial barriers for advancing conservation land uses must frequently be addressed: high up-front costs, long time periods with no revenue, and high project risk due to long time horizons and uncertainty. We explored ways of overcoming these barriers on grazing lands in Hawaii by realizing a suite of timber and conservation revenue streams associated with their (partial) reforestation. We calculated the financial implications of alternative strategies, focusing on Acacia koa ("koa") forestry because of its high conservation and economic potential. Koa's timber value alone creates a viable investment (mean net present value = $453/acre), but its long time horizon and poor initial cash flow pose formidable challenges for landowners. At present, subsidy payments from a government conservation program targeting benefits for biodiversity, water quality, and soil erosion have the greatest potential to move landowners beyond the tipping point in favor of investments in koa forestry, particularly when combined with future timber harvest (mean net present value = $1,661/acre). Creating financial mechanisms to capture diverse ecosystem service values through time will broaden opportunities for conservation land uses. Governments, nongovernmental organizations, and private investors have roles to play in catalyzing this transition by developing new revenue streams that can reach a broad spectrum of landowners.
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ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Taylor, Peter Leigh
2010-01-01
Community-based forestry has received much recent attention as an effort to protect threatened Southern forests by linking conservation with sustainable livelihoods. Many researchers have emphasized the importance of effective organization for successful community-based forestry. While significant attention has been paid to community-level…
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Hunting down the chimera of multiple disciplinarity in conservation science.
Pooley, Simon P; Mendelsohn, J Andrew; Milner-Gulland, E J
2014-02-01
The consensus is that both ecological and social factors are essential dimensions of conservation research and practice. However, much of the literature on multiple disciplinary collaboration focuses on the difficulties of undertaking it. This review of the challenges of conducting multiple disciplinary collaboration offers a framework for thinking about the diversity and complexity of this endeavor. We focused on conceptual challenges, of which 5 main categories emerged: methodological challenges, value judgments, theories of knowledge, disciplinary prejudices, and interdisciplinary communication. The major problems identified in these areas have proved remarkably persistent in the literature surveyed (c.1960-2012). Reasons for these failures to learn from past experience include the pressure to produce positive outcomes and gloss over disagreements, the ephemeral nature of many such projects and resulting lack of institutional memory, and the apparent complexity and incoherence of the endeavor. We suggest that multiple disciplinary collaboration requires conceptual integration among carefully selected multiple disciplinary team members united in investigating a shared problem or question. We outline a 9-point sequence of steps for setting up a successful multiple disciplinary project. This encompasses points on recruitment, involving stakeholders, developing research questions, negotiating power dynamics and hidden values and conceptual differences, explaining and choosing appropriate methods, developing a shared language, facilitating on-going communications, and discussing data integration and project outcomes. Although numerous solutions to the challenges of multiple disciplinary research have been proposed, lessons learned are often lost when projects end or experienced individuals move on. We urge multiple disciplinary teams to capture the challenges recognized, and solutions proposed, by their researchers while projects are in process. A database of well-documented case studies would showcase theories and methods from a variety of disciplines and their interactions, enable better comparative study and evaluation, and provide a useful resource for developing future projects and training multiple disciplinary researchers. © 2013 The Authors. Conservation Biology published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc. on behalf of Society for Conservation Biology.
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Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014
2012-07-10
... management of sharks. Agency actions and recommendations under this rule will be in accordance with U.S... January 4, 2011. Sharks present an array of challenges for fisheries conservation and management due to.... The United States continues to be a leader in promoting shark conservation and management globally. We...
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Business strategies for conservation on private lands: Koa forestry as a case study
Goldstein, Joshua H.; Daily, Gretchen C.; Friday, James B.; Matson, Pamela A.; Naylor, Rosamond L.; Vitousek, Peter
2006-01-01
Innovative financial instruments are being created to reward conservation on private, working lands. Major design challenges remain, however, to make investments in biodiversity and ecosystem services economically attractive and commonplace. From a business perspective, three key financial barriers for advancing conservation land uses must frequently be addressed: high up-front costs, long time periods with no revenue, and high project risk due to long time horizons and uncertainty. We explored ways of overcoming these barriers on grazing lands in Hawaii by realizing a suite of timber and conservation revenue streams associated with their (partial) reforestation. We calculated the financial implications of alternative strategies, focusing on Acacia koa (“koa”) forestry because of its high conservation and economic potential. Koa’s timber value alone creates a viable investment (mean net present value = $453/acre), but its long time horizon and poor initial cash flow pose formidable challenges for landowners. At present, subsidy payments from a government conservation program targeting benefits for biodiversity, water quality, and soil erosion have the greatest potential to move landowners beyond the tipping point in favor of investments in koa forestry, particularly when combined with future timber harvest (mean net present value = $1,661/acre). Creating financial mechanisms to capture diverse ecosystem service values through time will broaden opportunities for conservation land uses. Governments, nongovernmental organizations, and private investors have roles to play in catalyzing this transition by developing new revenue streams that can reach a broad spectrum of landowners. PMID:16782816
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The promise of youth service as a global conservation tool
Emily R. Sloane
2011-01-01
Youth conservation corps (YCCs) and related programs are established and valued in the United States, but little is known about similar programs overseas. This paper presents results from an exploratory survey of YCCs in 10 developing/emerging countries, with particular focus on their activities, challenges, and successes. The study countries exhibit several socio-...
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USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database
The lack of conservation adoption in watermelon production reflects the lack of field practice recommendations addressing the challenges associated with producing vegetables in minimally disturbed cover crop residues. A three year watermelon experiment was established in fall 2013 to evaluate integr...
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Mi, Chunrong; Huettmann, Falk; Guo, Yumin; Han, Xuesong; Wen, Lijia
2017-01-01
Species distribution models (SDMs) have become an essential tool in ecology, biogeography, evolution and, more recently, in conservation biology. How to generalize species distributions in large undersampled areas, especially with few samples, is a fundamental issue of SDMs. In order to explore this issue, we used the best available presence records for the Hooded Crane ( Grus monacha , n = 33), White-naped Crane ( Grus vipio , n = 40), and Black-necked Crane ( Grus nigricollis , n = 75) in China as three case studies, employing four powerful and commonly used machine learning algorithms to map the breeding distributions of the three species: TreeNet (Stochastic Gradient Boosting, Boosted Regression Tree Model), Random Forest, CART (Classification and Regression Tree) and Maxent (Maximum Entropy Models). In addition, we developed an ensemble forecast by averaging predicted probability of the above four models results. Commonly used model performance metrics (Area under ROC (AUC) and true skill statistic (TSS)) were employed to evaluate model accuracy. The latest satellite tracking data and compiled literature data were used as two independent testing datasets to confront model predictions. We found Random Forest demonstrated the best performance for the most assessment method, provided a better model fit to the testing data, and achieved better species range maps for each crane species in undersampled areas. Random Forest has been generally available for more than 20 years and has been known to perform extremely well in ecological predictions. However, while increasingly on the rise, its potential is still widely underused in conservation, (spatial) ecological applications and for inference. Our results show that it informs ecological and biogeographical theories as well as being suitable for conservation applications, specifically when the study area is undersampled. This method helps to save model-selection time and effort, and allows robust and rapid assessments and decisions for efficient conservation.
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Hoban, Sean; Vernesi, Cristiano
2012-01-01
The study and practice of conservation biology is inherently interdisciplinary, addresses short and long time-scales and occurs within complex human–natural interfaces. Zoos and aquaria, in partnership with researchers, other non-government organizations, government, industry and educators, are combining knowledge of species and ecosystems with economics, psychology and law to create solutions for conserving biodiversity. From 22 to 25 May, the Conservation Forum of the European Association of Zoos and Aquaria was a venue for discussing conservation research, education and interventions, from the scale of villages to global policy. PMID:22832128
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Benitez-Capistros, Francisco; Hugé, Jean; Dahdouh-Guebas, Farid; Koedam, Nico
2016-10-01
Conservation discourses change rapidly both at global and local scales. To be able to capture these shifts and the relationships between humans and nature, we focused on a local and iconic conservation case: the Galapagos giant tortoises (Chelonoidis spp.). We used the Q methodology to contextualize conservation for science and decision making and to explore the multidimensionality of the conservation concept in Galapagos. The results indicate four prevailing discourses: (1) Multi-actor governance; (2) giant tortoise and ecosystems conservation; (3) community governance; and (4) market and tourism centred. These findings allow us to identify foreseeable points of disagreement, as well as areas of consensus, and to discuss the implication of the findings to address socio-ecological conservation and sustainability challenges. This can help the different involved stakeholders (managers, scientists and local communities) to the design and apply contextualized conservation actions and policies to contribute to a better sustainable management of the archipelago.
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Hoban, Sean; Vernesi, Cristiano
2012-12-23
The study and practice of conservation biology is inherently interdisciplinary, addresses short and long time-scales and occurs within complex human-natural interfaces. Zoos and aquaria, in partnership with researchers, other non-government organizations, government, industry and educators, are combining knowledge of species and ecosystems with economics, psychology and law to create solutions for conserving biodiversity. From 22 to 25 May, the Conservation Forum of the European Association of Zoos and Aquaria was a venue for discussing conservation research, education and interventions, from the scale of villages to global policy.
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Mi, Chunrong; Huettmann, Falk; Han, Xuesong; Wen, Lijia
2017-01-01
Species distribution models (SDMs) have become an essential tool in ecology, biogeography, evolution and, more recently, in conservation biology. How to generalize species distributions in large undersampled areas, especially with few samples, is a fundamental issue of SDMs. In order to explore this issue, we used the best available presence records for the Hooded Crane (Grus monacha, n = 33), White-naped Crane (Grus vipio, n = 40), and Black-necked Crane (Grus nigricollis, n = 75) in China as three case studies, employing four powerful and commonly used machine learning algorithms to map the breeding distributions of the three species: TreeNet (Stochastic Gradient Boosting, Boosted Regression Tree Model), Random Forest, CART (Classification and Regression Tree) and Maxent (Maximum Entropy Models). In addition, we developed an ensemble forecast by averaging predicted probability of the above four models results. Commonly used model performance metrics (Area under ROC (AUC) and true skill statistic (TSS)) were employed to evaluate model accuracy. The latest satellite tracking data and compiled literature data were used as two independent testing datasets to confront model predictions. We found Random Forest demonstrated the best performance for the most assessment method, provided a better model fit to the testing data, and achieved better species range maps for each crane species in undersampled areas. Random Forest has been generally available for more than 20 years and has been known to perform extremely well in ecological predictions. However, while increasingly on the rise, its potential is still widely underused in conservation, (spatial) ecological applications and for inference. Our results show that it informs ecological and biogeographical theories as well as being suitable for conservation applications, specifically when the study area is undersampled. This method helps to save model-selection time and effort, and allows robust and rapid assessments and decisions for efficient conservation. PMID:28097060
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Read, Timothy D; Petit, Robert A; Joseph, Sandeep J; Alam, Md Tauqeer; Weil, M Ryan; Ahmad, Maida; Bhimani, Ravila; Vuong, Jocelyn S; Haase, Chad P; Webb, D Harry; Tan, Milton; Dove, Alistair D M
2017-07-14
The whale shark (Rhincodon typus) has by far the largest body size of any elasmobranch (shark or ray) species. Therefore, it is also the largest extant species of the paraphyletic assemblage commonly referred to as fishes. As both a phenotypic extreme and a member of the group Chondrichthyes - the sister group to the remaining gnathostomes, which includes all tetrapods and therefore also humans - its genome is of substantial comparative interest. Whale sharks are also listed as an endangered species on the International Union for Conservation of Nature's Red List of threatened species and are of growing popularity as both a target of ecotourism and as a charismatic conservation ambassador for the pelagic ecosystem. A genome map for this species would aid in defining effective conservation units and understanding global population structure. We characterised the nuclear genome of the whale shark using next generation sequencing (454, Illumina) and de novo assembly and annotation methods, based on material collected from the Georgia Aquarium. The data set consisted of 878,654,233 reads, which yielded a draft assembly of 1,213,200 contigs and 997,976 scaffolds. The estimated genome size was 3.44Gb. As expected, the proteome of the whale shark was most closely related to the only other complete genome of a cartilaginous fish, the holocephalan elephant shark. The whale shark contained a novel Toll-like-receptor (TLR) protein with sequence similarity to both the TLR4 and TLR13 proteins of mammals and TLR21 of teleosts. The data are publicly available on GenBank, FigShare, and from the NCBI Short Read Archive under accession number SRP044374. This represents the first shotgun elasmobranch genome and will aid studies of molecular systematics, biogeography, genetic differentiation, and conservation genetics in this and other shark species, as well as providing comparative data for studies of evolutionary biology and immunology across the jawed vertebrate lineages.
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NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
1995-12-01
We compare the simulations of three biogeography models (BIOME2, Dynamic Global Phytogeography Model (DOLY), and Mapped Atmosphere-Plant Soil System (MAPSS)) and three biogeochemistry models (BIOME-BGC (BioGeochemistry Cycles), CENTURY, and Terrestrial Ecosystem Model (TEM)) for the conterminous United States under contemporary conditions of atmospheric CO2 and climate. We also compare the simulations of these models under doubled CO2 and a range of climate scenarios. For contemporary conditions, the biogeography models successfully simulate the geographic distribution of major vegetation types and have similar estimates of area for forests (42 to 46% of the conterminous United States), grasslands (17 to 27%), savannas (15 to 25%), and shrublands (14 to 18%). The biogeochemistry models estimate similar continental-scale net primary production (NPP; 3125 to 3772 × 1012 gC yr-1) and total carbon storage (108 to 118 × 1015 gC) for contemporary conditions. Among the scenarios of doubled CO2 and associated equilibrium climates produced by the three general circulation models (Oregon State University (OSU), Geophysical Fluid Dynamics Laboratory (GFDL), and United Kingdom Meteorological Office (UKMO)), all three biogeography models show both gains and losses of total forest area depending on the scenario (between 38 and 53% of conterminous United States area). The only consistent gains in forest area with all three models (BIOME2, DOLY, and MAPSS) were under the GFDL scenario due to large increases in precipitation. MAPSS lost forest area under UKMO, DOLY under OSU, and BIOME2 under both UKMO and OSU. The variability in forest area estimates occurs because the hydrologic cycles of the biogeography models have different sensitivities to increases in temperature and CO2. However, in general, the biogeography models produced broadly similar results when incorporating both climate change and elevated CO2 concentrations. For these scenarios, the NPP estimated by the biogeochemistry models increases between 2% (BIOME-BGC with UKMO climate) and 35% (TEM with UKMO climate). Changes in total carbon storage range from losses of 33% (BIOME-BGC with UKMO climate) to gains of 16% (TEM with OSU climate). The CENTURY responses of NPP and carbon storage are positive and intermediate to the responses of BIOME-BGC and TEM. The variability in carbon cycle responses occurs because the hydrologic and nitrogen cycles of the biogeochemistry models have different sensitivities to increases in temperature and CO2. When the biogeochemistry models are run with the vegetation distributions of the biogeography models, NPP ranges from no response (BIOME-BGC with all three biogeography model vegetations for UKMO climate) to increases of 40% (TEM with MAPSS vegetation for OSU climate). The total carbon storage response ranges from a decrease of 39% (BIOME-BGC with MAPSS vegetation for UKMO climate) to an increase of 32% (TEM with MAPSS vegetation for OSU and GFDL climates). The UKMO responses of BIOME-BGC with MAPSS vegetation are primarily caused by decreases in forested area and temperature-induced water stress. The OSU and GFDL responses of TEM with MAPSS vegetations are primarily caused by forest expansion and temperature-enhanced nitrogen cycling.
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NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Lobovikov-Katz, A.
2017-08-01
Acknowledgement of the value of a basic freehand sketch by the information and communication community of researchers and developers brought about the advanced developments for the use of sketches as free input to complicated processes of computerized visualization, so as to make them more widely accessible. However, a sharp reduction and even exclusion of this and other basic visual disciplines from education in sciences, technology, engineering and architecture dramatically reduces the number of future users of such applications. The unique needs of conservation of cultural heritage pose specific challenges as well as encourage the formulation of innovative development tasks in related areas of information and communication technologies (ICT). This paper claims that the introduction of basic visual disciplines to both communities is essential to the effectiveness of integration of heritage conservation needs and the advanced ICT development of conservation value, and beyond. It provides an insight into the challenges and advantages of introducing these subjects in a relevant educational context, presents some examples of their teaching and learning in the modern environment, including e-learning, and sketches perspectives to their application.
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Endangered species and nature conservation: science issues and challenges.
Szaro, Robert C
2008-06-01
The issues and challenges facing us in ensuring the survival of as many species and ecosystems as possible call for a renewed research focus to address how to improve management strategies and policy making now and into the future. The key issues to be addressed by activities of the International Union of Forest Research Organization's (IUFRO) Task Force on Endangered Species and Nature Conservation include such issues as: (i) preventing species from being listed by maintaining species populations at sufficient levels that they do not require listing; (ii) recovering threatened and endangered species; (iii) developing management practices and strategies; (iv) balancing actions affecting suites of threatened or endangered species; (v) developing conservation strategies for species without definitive taxonomic treatments; (vi) dealing with global change; (vii) dealing with invasive species; and (viii) restoring critical habitats. © 2008 ISZS, Blackwell Publishing and IOZ/CAS.
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Blackbrush (Coleogyne ramosissima Torr.): State of our knowledge and future challenges
Pendleton, Rosemary L.; Pendleton, Burton K.; Meyer, Susan E.; Richardson, Bryce A.; Esque, Todd C.; Kitchen, Stanley G.
2015-01-01
Covering 130,000 square miles and a wide range of elevations from desert to alpine in Arizona, Utah, Colorado, and New Mexico, the Colorado Plateau has long fascinated researchers. The Colorado Plateau VI provides readers with a plethora of updates and insights into land conservation and management questions currently surrounding the region. The Colorado Plateau VI’s contributors show how new technologies for monitoring, spatial analysis, restoration, and collaboration improve our understanding, management, and conservation of outcomes at the appropriate landscape scale for the Colorado Plateau. The volume’s chapters fall into five major themes: monitoring as a key tool for addressing management challenges, restoration approaches to improving ecosystem condition and function, collaboration and organizational innovations to achieve conservation and management objectives, landscape-scale approaches to understanding, and managing key species and ecological communities. Focusing on the integration of science into resource management issues over the Colorado Plateau, this volume includes contributions from dozens of leading scholars of the region. The Colorado Plateau VI proves a valuable resource to all interested in the conservation management, natural history, and cultural biological resources of the Colorado Plateau.
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An overview of raptor biology and conservation in Latin America
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.
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Margles, Shawn W; Peterson, Richard B; Ervin, Jamison; Kaplin, Beth A
2010-01-01
Interdisciplinary approaches to conservation research and environmental management continue to garner interest among practitioners, academics, and students. Yet, cases of practitioners and researchers from different disciplines successfully working in concert towards an integrated conservation approach are rare. What is preventing practitioners of multiple disciplines from harmoniously working together? Why are practitioners and academics struggling to apply their graduate training to real world conservation? What is preventing the benefits of cooperation and partnerships between different disciplines addressing conservation from being realized? This special issue "Conservation without Borders: Building Communication and Action across Disciplinary Boundaries for Effective Conservation" asks readers to consider the numerous interpretations and implications of the phrase "Conservation without Borders" and to reflect on how different academic and disciplinary lenses can contribute to a more integrated approach to tackling conservation challenges. The articles that comprise this special issue offer readers insights into the ways in which different disciplines view conservation work and interdisciplinary approaches to environmental problems. Bringing these perspectives and approaches together in one place is a step towards improving communication across disciplines for the purpose of achieving more successful biodiversity conservation.
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[Book review] Birds in Europe: Population estimates, trends and conservation status
Peterjohn, Bruce G.
2006-01-01
Effective bird conservation requires knowledge of distribution, relative abundance, and population trends at multiple geographic scales. Obtaining this information for a continental avifauna poses considerable challenges, especially in Europe with its 52 countries, numerous languages and cultures, and disparate resources available for monitoring bird populations within each country. Synthesizing the available information on the status and trends of all European birds into a single volume is an enormous yet essential task necessary to direct bird conservation activities across the continent.
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Soil and water conservation: Our history and future challenges
USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database
Remembering our past is an essential first step into the future. Building upon that philosophy, our objective is to summarize two presentations from a 2012 Soil Science Society of America (SSSA) symposium focused on soil management challenges in response to climate change in order to examine: (1) ho...
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Oceanic island biogeography through the lens of the general dynamic model: assessment and prospect.
Borregaard, Michael K; Amorim, Isabel R; Borges, Paulo A V; Cabral, Juliano S; Fernández-Palacios, José M; Field, Richard; Heaney, Lawrence R; Kreft, Holger; Matthews, Thomas J; Olesen, Jens M; Price, Jonathan; Rigal, Francois; Steinbauer, Manuel J; Triantis, Konstantinos A; Valente, Luis; Weigelt, Patrick; Whittaker, Robert J
2017-05-01
The general dynamic model of oceanic island biogeography (GDM) has added a new dimension to theoretical island biogeography in recognizing that geological processes are key drivers of the evolutionary processes of diversification and extinction within remote islands. It provides a dynamic and essentially non-equilibrium framework generating novel predictions for emergent diversity properties of oceanic islands and archipelagos. Its publication in 2008 coincided with, and spurred on, renewed attention to the dynamics of remote islands. We review progress, both in testing the GDM's predictions and in developing and enhancing ecological-evolutionary understanding of oceanic island systems through the lens of the GDM. In particular, we focus on four main themes: (i) macroecological tests using a space-for-time rationale; (ii) extensions of theory to islands following different patterns of ontogeny; (iii) the implications of GDM dynamics for lineage diversification and trait evolution; and (iv) the potential for downscaling GDM dynamics to local-scale ecological patterns and processes within islands. We also consider the implications of the GDM for understanding patterns of non-native species diversity. We demonstrate the vitality of the field of island biogeography by identifying a range of potentially productive lines for future research. © 2016 Cambridge Philosophical Society.
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Climate Controls on Tree Growth Across Species and Sites in Northeastern Arizona
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Schwan, M. R.; Guiterman, C. H.; Anchukaitis, K. J.
2016-12-01
Understanding how forests will respond to ongoing climate change is important for conservation and resource management. Conifer forests in the US Southwest are predicted to be particularly at risk from increased drought and higher temperatures projected to occur in the region. Tree-ring studies shed light on how trees respond to climate, but there remains considerable uncertainty as to which climate factors are most important, and which species are most at risk. Confounding climate and environmental factors, biological differences among species, and biogeography often complicate cross-species analysis. Here we present a multi-species, multivariate analysis of tree growth response to climate variability. We analyze data from three coexisting conifer tree species at two sites near Canyon de Chelly, Arizona. We use a high-resolution PRISM gridded climate dataset to determine the growth responses across species and sites to temperature and precipitation. We identify both common and differential responses in our data and use these to infer possible risks these forest communities may face under a changing climate.
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Challenges of nature conservation in postsocialist Bulgaria: A view from the Rhodope Mountains
Barbara A. Cellarius
2007-01-01
Since the crumbling of its socialist dictatorship in 1989- 90, nature conservation efforts in Bulgaria have accelerated. New parks have been established, protected area management plans are being developed, and legislation has been passed standardizing protected area categories. Yet this small and relatively biodiversity-rich country in southeastern Europe has faced...
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Wilderness management planning in an Alaskan national park: last chance to do it right?
Michael J. Tranel
2000-01-01
Like many wilderness areas, Denali National Park and Preserve faces a variety of challenges in its wilderness management planning. As an Alaska conservation unit that has been significantly expanded by the Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act of 1980 (ANILCA), Denali faces the additional responsibility of acknowledging that its management of controversial...
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Kevin M. Potter; Robert M. Jetton; Andrew Bower; Douglass F. Jacobs; Gary Man; Valerie D. Hipkins; Murphy Westwood
2017-01-01
Genetic diversity provides the essential basis for the adaptation and resilience of tree species to environmental stress and change. The genetic conservation of tree species is an urgent global necessity as forest conversion and fragmentation continue apace, damaging insects and pathogens are transported between continents, and climate change alters local habitat...
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NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Melillo, J. M.; Borchers, J.; Chaney, J.; Fisher, H.; Fox, S.; Haxeltine, A.; Janetos, A.; Kicklighter, D. W.; Kittel, T. G. F.; McGuire, A. D.; McKeown, R.; Neilson, R.; Nemani, R.; Ojima, D. S.; Painter, T.
1995-12-01
We compare the simulations of three biogeography models (BIOME2, Dynamic Global Phytogeography Model (DOLY), and Mapped Atmosphere-Plant Soil System (MAPSS)) and three biogeochemistry models (BIOME-BGC (BioGeochemistry Cycles), CENTURY, and Terrestrial Ecosystem Model (TEM)) for the conterminous United States under contemporary conditions of atmospheric CO2 and climate. We also compare the simulations of these models under doubled CO2 and a range of climate scenarios. For contemporary conditions, the biogeography models successfully simulate the geographic distribution of major vegetation types and have similar estimates of area for forests (42 to 46% of the conterminous United States), grasslands (17 to 27%), savannas (15 to 25%), and shrublands (14 to 18%). The biogeochemistry models estimate similar continental-scale net primary production (NPP; 3125 to 3772×1012 gCyr-1) and total carbon storage (108 to 118×1015 gC) for contemporary conditions. Among the scenarios of doubled CO2 and associated equilibrium climates produced by the three general circulation models (Oregon State University (OSU), Geophysical Fluid Dynamics Laboratory (GFDL), and United Kingdom Meteorological Office (UKMO)), all three biogeography models show both gains and losses of total forest area depending on the scenario (between 38 and 53% of conterminous United States area). The only consistent gains in forest area with all three models (BIOME2, DOLY, and MAPSS) were under the GFDL scenario due to large increases in precipitation. MAPSS lost forest area under UKMO, DOLY under OSU, and BIOME2 under both UKMO and OSU. The variability in forest area estimates occurs because the hydrologic cycles of the biogeography models have different sensitivities to increases in temperature and CO2. However, in general, the biogeography models produced broadly similar results when incorporating both climate change and elevated CO2 concentrations. For these scenarios, the NPP estimated by the biogeochemistry models increases between 2% (BIOME-BGC with UKMO climate) and 35% (TEM with UKMO climate). Changes in total carbon storage range from losses of 33% (BIOME-BGC with UKMO climate) to gains of 16% (TEM with OSU climate). The CENTURY responses of NPP and carbon storage are positive and intermediate to the responses of BIOME-BGC and TEM. The variability in carbon cycle responses occurs because the hydrologic and nitrogen cycles of the biogeochemistry models have different sensitivities to increases in temperature and CO2. When the biogeochemistry models are run with the vegetation distributions of the biogeography models, NPP ranges from no response (BIOME-BGC with all three biogeography model vegetations for UKMO climate) to increases of 40% (TEM with MAPSS vegetation for OSU climate). The total carbon storage response ranges from a decrease of 39% (BIOME-BGC with MAPSS vegetation for UKMO climate) to an increase of 32% (TEM with MAPSS vegetation for OSU and GFDL climates). The UKMO responses of BIOME-BGC with MAPSS vegetation are primarily caused by decreases in forested area and temperature-induced water stress. The OSU and GFDL responses of TEM with MAPSS vegetations are primarily caused by forest expansion and temperature-enhanced nitrogen cycling.
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NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Adams, Vanessa M.; Game, Edward T.; Bode, Michael
2014-08-01
Growing threats and limited resources have always been the financial realities of biodiversity conservation. As the conservation sector has matured, however, the accountability of conservation investments has become an increasingly debated topic, with two key topics being driven to the forefront of the discourse: understanding how to manage the risks associated with our conservation investments and demonstrating that our investments are making a difference through evidence-based analyses. A better understanding of the uncertainties associated with conservation decisions is a central component of managing risks to investments that is often neglected. This focus issue presents both theoretical and applied approaches to quantifying and managing risks. Furthermore, transparent and replicable approaches to measuring impacts of conservation investments are noticeably absent in many conservation programs globally. This focus issue contains state of the art conservation program impact evaluations that both demonstrate how these methods can be used to measure outcomes as well as directing future investments. This focus issue thus brings together current thinking and case studies that can provide a valuable resource for directing future conservation investments.
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Shirley, Matthew H.; Vliet, Kent A.; Carr, Amanda N.; Austin, James D.
2014-01-01
Accurate species delimitation is a central assumption of biology that, in groups such as the Crocodylia, is often hindered by highly conserved morphology and frequent introgression. In Africa, crocodilian systematics has been hampered by complex regional biogeography and confounded taxonomic history. We used rigorous molecular and morphological species delimitation methods to test the hypothesis that the slender-snouted crocodile (Mecistops cataphractus) is composed of multiple species corresponding to the Congolian and Guinean biogeographic zones. Speciation probability was assessed by using 11 mitochondrial and nuclear genes, and cranial morphology for over 100 specimens, representing the full geographical extent of the species distribution. Molecular Bayesian and phylogenetic species delimitation showed unanimous support for two Mecistops species isolated to the Upper Guinean and Congo (including Lower Guinean) biomes that were supported by 13 cranial characters capable of unambiguously diagnosing each species. Fossil-calibrated phylogenetic reconstruction estimated that the species split ± 6.5–7.5 Ma, which is congruent with intraspecies divergence within the sympatric crocodile genus Osteolaemus and the formation of the Cameroon Volcanic Line. Our results underscore the necessity of comprehensive phylogeographic analyses within currently recognized taxa to detect cryptic species within the Crocodylia. We recommend that the community of crocodilian researchers reconsider the conceptualization of crocodilian species especially in the light of the conservation ramifications for this economically and ecologically important group. PMID:24335982
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Prospects and challenges for the conservation of farm animal genomic resources, 2015-2025
Bruford, Michael W.; Ginja, Catarina; Hoffmann, Irene; Joost, Stéphane; Orozco-terWengel, Pablo; Alberto, Florian J.; Amaral, Andreia J.; Barbato, Mario; Biscarini, Filippo; Colli, Licia; Costa, Mafalda; Curik, Ino; Duruz, Solange; Ferenčaković, Maja; Fischer, Daniel; Fitak, Robert; Groeneveld, Linn F.; Hall, Stephen J. G.; Hanotte, Olivier; Hassan, Faiz-ul; Helsen, Philippe; Iacolina, Laura; Kantanen, Juha; Leempoel, Kevin; Lenstra, Johannes A.; Ajmone-Marsan, Paolo; Masembe, Charles; Megens, Hendrik-Jan; Miele, Mara; Neuditschko, Markus; Nicolazzi, Ezequiel L.; Pompanon, François; Roosen, Jutta; Sevane, Natalia; Smetko, Anamarija; Štambuk, Anamaria; Streeter, Ian; Stucki, Sylvie; Supakorn, China; Telo Da Gama, Luis; Tixier-Boichard, Michèle; Wegmann, Daniel; Zhan, Xiangjiang
2015-01-01
Livestock conservation practice is changing rapidly in light of policy developments, climate change and diversifying market demands. The last decade has seen a step change in technology and analytical approaches available to define, manage and conserve Farm Animal Genomic Resources (FAnGR). However, these rapid changes pose challenges for FAnGR conservation in terms of technological continuity, analytical capacity and integrative methodologies needed to fully exploit new, multidimensional data. The final conference of the ESF Genomic Resources program aimed to address these interdisciplinary problems in an attempt to contribute to the agenda for research and policy development directions during the coming decade. By 2020, according to the Convention on Biodiversity's Aichi Target 13, signatories should ensure that “…the genetic diversity of …farmed and domesticated animals and of wild relatives …is maintained, and strategies have been developed and implemented for minimizing genetic erosion and safeguarding their genetic diversity.” However, the real extent of genetic erosion is very difficult to measure using current data. Therefore, this challenging target demands better coverage, understanding and utilization of genomic and environmental data, the development of optimized ways to integrate these data with social and other sciences and policy analysis to enable more flexible, evidence-based models to underpin FAnGR conservation. At the conference, we attempted to identify the most important problems for effective livestock genomic resource conservation during the next decade. Twenty priority questions were identified that could be broadly categorized into challenges related to methodology, analytical approaches, data management and conservation. It should be acknowledged here that while the focus of our meeting was predominantly around genetics, genomics and animal science, many of the practical challenges facing conservation of genomic resources are societal in origin and are predicated on the value (e.g., socio-economic and cultural) of these resources to farmers, rural communities and society as a whole. The overall conclusion is that despite the fact that the livestock sector has been relatively well-organized in the application of genetic methodologies to date, there is still a large gap between the current state-of-the-art in the use of tools to characterize genomic resources and its application to many non-commercial and local breeds, hampering the consistent utilization of genetic and genomic data as indicators of genetic erosion and diversity. The livestock genomic sector therefore needs to make a concerted effort in the coming decade to enable to the democratization of the powerful tools that are now at its disposal, and to ensure that they are applied in the context of breed conservation as well as development. PMID:26539210
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NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Garrett, R.; Koh, I.; le Polain de Waroux, Y.; Lambin, E.; Kastens, J.; Brown, J. C.
2017-12-01
Agricultural expansion, extensive cattle ranching, and deforestation remain pressing challenges for sustainable development and climate mitigation throughout South America. In response to these challenges, national and local governments, as well as private and non-governmental actors have developed new forest conservation governance mechanisms. The objective of this study is to better understand how conservation policies interact with supply chain development to influence land use. In particular, we endeavor to understand the timing and spatial patterns of crop and cattle intensification, an understudied phenomenon that is critical to understanding the future of agricultural-forest frontiers and the impacts of conservation policies. We focus on Mato Grosso, the largest soy and cattle producing state in Brazil, which spans the Cerrado and Amazon biomes and has experienced higher levels of deforestation for agricultural expansion than any other state globally over the last decade. Using a newly created spatially explicit data set of land use intensity, supply chain development, and forest policy, we find that agricultural intensification is occurring rapidly in the region, but is only partially driven by changes in conservation policies. The intensification of cattle production is the result of improvements in deforestation monitoring, penalties, and enforcement, and increased land scarcity. Crop intensification, in contrast, preceded increases in conservation restrictions, and is associated with the positive spillovers resulting from agribusiness agglomeration and development. These results suggest that intensification is not a foregone conclusion of increasing forest conservation restrictions, but is highly dependent on wider development processes. A combined effort to direct agribusiness development away from forest regions via tax credits and subsidized credit, when applied in concert with stringent conservation requirements, could help promote intensification and reduce deforestation leakage.
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Humans and seasonal climate variability threaten large-bodied coral reef fish with small ranges
Mellin, C.; Mouillot, D.; Kulbicki, M.; McClanahan, T. R.; Vigliola, L.; Bradshaw, C. J. A.; Brainard, R. E.; Chabanet, P.; Edgar, G. J.; Fordham, D. A.; Friedlander, A. M.; Parravicini, V.; Sequeira, A. M. M.; Stuart-Smith, R. D.; Wantiez, L.; Caley, M. J.
2016-01-01
Coral reefs are among the most species-rich and threatened ecosystems on Earth, yet the extent to which human stressors determine species occurrences, compared with biogeography or environmental conditions, remains largely unknown. With ever-increasing human-mediated disturbances on these ecosystems, an important question is not only how many species can inhabit local communities, but also which biological traits determine species that can persist (or not) above particular disturbance thresholds. Here we show that human pressure and seasonal climate variability are disproportionately and negatively associated with the occurrence of large-bodied and geographically small-ranging fishes within local coral reef communities. These species are 67% less likely to occur where human impact and temperature seasonality exceed critical thresholds, such as in the marine biodiversity hotspot: the Coral Triangle. Our results identify the most sensitive species and critical thresholds of human and climatic stressors, providing opportunity for targeted conservation intervention to prevent local extinctions. PMID:26839155
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Novel ecosystems: Governance and conservation in the age of the Anthropocene.
Clement, Sarah; Standish, Rachel J
2018-02-15
Meeting conservation objectives in an era of global environmental change has precipitated debate about where and how to intervene. Ecological and social values of novel ecosystems are particularly contested. Governance has a role to play, but this role is underexplored. Here, we critically review the novel ecosystems literature to identify challenges that fall within the realm of governance. Using a conceptual framework for analysing adaptive governance, we consider how governance could help address five challenges. Specifically, we argue that reforming governance can support the re-framing of policy objectives for ecosystems where transformation is likely, and in doing so, it could highlight the tensions between the emergence of novel ecosystems on the one hand and cultural expectations about how ecosystems should look on the other. We discuss the influence of power, authority and administrative competence on conservation efforts in times of environmental change. We consider how buffering can address translational mismatch between conventional conservation policy and modern ecological reality. This review provides insights into how governance reform could enable more adaptive responses to transformative changes, such as novel ecosystems, while remaining committed to achieving conservation outcomes. Indeed, at their best, adaptive responses would encompass the reality of ecological transformation while being sympathetic to concerns about undesirable outcomes. Connections between researchers in the fields of governance, ecology and conservation could help to achieve these twin aims. We provide examples of governance and policy-making techniques that can support context-specific governance reform that supports more effective conservation in the Anthropocene. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
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The science and economics of ex situ plant conservation.
Li, De-Zhu; Pritchard, Hugh W
2009-11-01
Ex situ seed storage underpins global agriculture and food supplies and enables the conservation of thousands of wild species of plants within national and international facilities. As an insurance policy against extinction, ex situ seed conservation is estimated to cost as little as 1% of in situ conservation. The assumptions, costs, risks and scientific challenges associated with ex situ plant conservation depend on the species, the methods employed and the desired storage time. Recent, relatively widespread evidence of less than expected longevity at conventional seed bank temperatures, innovations in the cryopreservation of recalcitrant-seeded species and economic comparators provide compelling evidence that ultra-cold storage should be adopted for the long-term conservation of plants. Policy instruments, such as the Global Strategy for Plant Conservation (2011-2020), should respond to the evidence base and promote the implementation of cryopreservation for both tropical and temperate plants.
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Temperate mountain grasslands: a climate-herbivore hypothesis for origins and persistence.
Weigl, Peter D; Knowles, Travis W
2014-05-01
Temperate montane grasslands and their unique biotas are declining worldwide as they are increasingly being invaded by forests. The origin and persistence of these landscapes have been the focus of such controversy that in many areas their conservation is in doubt. In the USA some biologists have largely dismissed the grass balds of the Southern Appalachians as human artifacts or anomalous and transitory elements of regional geography, worthy of only limited preservation efforts. On the basis of information from biogeography, community ecology, regional history and palaeontology and from consideration of two other montane grassland ecosystems-East Carpathian poloninas and Oregon Coast Range grass balds-we hypothesize that these landscapes are more widespread than was formerly recognized; they are, in many cases, natural and ancient and largely owe their origin and persistence to past climatic extremes and the activities of large mammalian herbivores. © 2013 The Authors. Biological Reviews published by John Wiley © Sons Ltd on behalf of Cambridge Philosophical Society.
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Physiology, behavior, and conservation.
Cooke, Steven J; Blumstein, Daniel T; Buchholz, Richard; Caro, Tim; Fernández-Juricic, Esteban; Franklin, Craig E; Metcalfe, Julian; O'Connor, Constance M; St Clair, Colleen Cassady; Sutherland, William J; Wikelski, Martin
2014-01-01
Many animal populations are in decline as a result of human activity. Conservation practitioners are attempting to prevent further declines and loss of biodiversity as well as to facilitate recovery of endangered species, and they often rely on interdisciplinary approaches to generate conservation solutions. Two recent interfaces in conservation science involve animal behavior (i.e., conservation behavior) and physiology (i.e., conservation physiology). To date, these interfaces have been considered separate entities, but from both pragmatic and biological perspectives, there is merit in better integrating behavior and physiology to address applied conservation problems and to inform resource management. Although there are some institutional, conceptual, methodological, and communication-oriented challenges to integrating behavior and physiology to inform conservation actions, most of these barriers can be overcome. Through outlining several successful examples that integrate these disciplines, we conclude that physiology and behavior can together generate meaningful data to support animal conservation and management actions. Tangentially, applied conservation and management problems can, in turn, also help advance and reinvigorate the fundamental disciplines of animal physiology and behavior by providing advanced natural experiments that challenge traditional frameworks.
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Research and management priorities for Hawaiian forest birds
Paxton, Eben H.; Laut, Megan; Vetter, John P.; Kendall, Steve J.
2018-01-01
Hawai‘i's forest birds face a number of conservation challenges that, if unaddressed, will likely lead to the extinction of multiple species in the coming decades. Threats include habitat loss, invasive plants, non-native predators, and introduced diseases. Climate change is predicted to increase the geographic extent and intensity of these threats, adding urgency to implementation of tractable conservation strategies. We present a set of actionable research and management approaches, identified by conservation practitioners in Hawai'i, that will be critical for the conservation of Hawaiian forest birds in the coming years. We also summarize recent progress on these conservation priorities. The threats facing Hawai‘i's forest birds are not unique to Hawai‘i, and successful conservation strategies developed in Hawai‘i can serve as a model for other imperiled communities around the world, especially on islands.
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USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database
With the national and global environmental challenges that we have related to nutrient management, there is a need to use large quantities of information to solve the complex agricultural challenges humanity faces. USDA-ARS is developing a national network called the Nutrient Uptake and Outcome netw...
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Human influences on forest ecosystems: the southern wildland-urban interface assessment
Edward A. Macie; L. Annie Hermansen; [Editors
2002-01-01
This publication provides a review of critical wildland-urban interface issues, challenges, and needs for the Southern United States. Chapter topics include population and demographic trends; economic and tax issues; land use planning and policy; urban effects on forest ecosystems; challenges for forest resource management and conservation; social consequences of...
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Wilderness stewardship challenges in the uKhahlamba Drakensberg Park World Heritage Site
Sonja Krüger
2007-01-01
The location of the uKhahlamba Drakensberg Park wilderness areas along an international border and within a World Heritage Site and Transfrontier Conservation Area, provides unique opportunities and challenges for the stewardship of these areas. Although the wilderness areas were proclaimed more than 30 years ago, wilderness-specific planning, management and monitoring...
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ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Pearson, Elissa L.; Dorrian, Jillian; Litchfield, Carla A.
2013-01-01
Despite the endangered status of the orangutan, very little research has sought to understand what people know about this species or the conservation challenges they face. As zoos are well placed to influence such understandings, the present study sought to explore knowledge following a visit to orangutan exhibits at three Australian zoos…
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Trends in conservation research and management in Hawai‘i over the past 20 years
Dutra Elliott, Daniela; Fortini, Lucas B.; Cameron Duffy, David
2014-01-01
Hawaiʻi, an archipelago of the most isolated inhabited islands on the planet, faces unique and extreme challenges to its biodiversity. We examined how the conservation community has responded to these challenges and how the responses have changed over time, using twenty years of abstracts from the Hawaiʻi Conservation Conference, a yearly gathering of the majority of scientists, managers and the public in Hawaiʻi. Of the 2145 abstracts considered, 60% percent reported research results; 40.0% reported information on conservation and resource management programmes and institutions (i.e., non-research abstracts). Initially, applied research abstracts predominated, but in recent years the number of basic research abstracts has become similar. Across taxonomic groups, terrestrial plants, mammals and birds were the dominant research subjects, fish, algae and fungi were noticeably less studied relative to their diversity in Hawaiʻi. Bird and fish species studied were mostly native; research on most other taxa was evenly divided between native and non-native species. Topics have oscillated in frequency over the years, but there have been no dramatic trends, with the exception of climate change and Local Ecological Knowledge (LEK). Although there is an increasing trend in LEK and cross-disciplinary studies, the number of related abstracts have remained uncommon through the period, accounting for less than 5.0% of total research abstracts analyzed. Our results offer an oportunity for the conservation community to take a closer look at reported effort to better address key conservation questions for Hawaiʻi.
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The social implications of using drones for biodiversity conservation.
Sandbrook, Chris
2015-11-01
Unmanned aerial vehicles, or 'drones', appear to offer a flexible, accurate and affordable solution to some of the technical challenges of nature conservation monitoring and law enforcement. However, little attention has been given to their possible social impacts. In this paper, I review the possible social impacts of using drones for conservation, including on safety, privacy, psychological wellbeing, data security and the wider understanding of conservation problems. I argue that negative social impacts are probable under some circumstances and should be of concern for conservation for two reasons: (1) because conservation should follow good ethical practice; and (2) because negative social impacts could undermine conservation effectiveness in the long term. The paper concludes with a call for empirical research to establish whether the identified social risks of drones occur in reality and how they could be mitigated, and for self-regulation of drone use by the conservation sector to ensure good ethical practice and minimise the risk of unintended consequences.
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NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Aydogdu, Ibrahim
2017-03-01
In this article, a new version of a biogeography-based optimization algorithm with Levy flight distribution (LFBBO) is introduced and used for the optimum design of reinforced concrete cantilever retaining walls under seismic loading. The cost of the wall is taken as an objective function, which is minimized under the constraints implemented by the American Concrete Institute (ACI 318-05) design code and geometric limitations. The influence of peak ground acceleration (PGA) on optimal cost is also investigated. The solution of the problem is attained by the LFBBO algorithm, which is developed by adding Levy flight distribution to the mutation part of the biogeography-based optimization (BBO) algorithm. Five design examples, of which two are used in literature studies, are optimized in the study. The results are compared to test the performance of the LFBBO and BBO algorithms, to determine the influence of the seismic load and PGA on the optimal cost of the wall.
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On the Cutting Edge of Research to Conserve At-Risk Species: Maximizing Impact through Partnerships.
Marquardt, Shauna R; Annis, Mandy; Drum, Ryan G; Hummel, Stephanie Longstaff; Mosby, David E; Smith, Tamara
2018-04-25
Today's conservation challenges are complex. Solving these challenges often requires scientific collaborations that extend beyond the scope, expertise, and capacity of any single agency, organization, or institution. Conservation efforts can benefit from interdisciplinary collaboration, scientific and technological innovations, and the leveraging of capacity and resources among partners. Here we explore a series of case studies demonstrating how collaborative scientific partnerships are furthering the mission of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, including: 1) contaminants of emerging concern in the Great Lakes Basin, 2) Poweshiek skipperling conservation, 3) using technology to improve population survey methods for bats and monarch butterfly, and 4) Big River restoration in the Southeast Missouri lead mining district. These case studies illustrate how strategic and effective scientific collaboration is a multi-stage process that requires investment of time and resources by all participants. Early coordination and communication is crucial to aligning planned work with scientific and decision-making needs. Collaborations between USFWS and external scientists can be mutually beneficial by supporting the agency mission while also providing an avenue for innovative research to be directly applied in conservation decisions and management actions.
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Accounting for the impact of conservation on human well-being.
Milner-Gulland, E J; McGregor, J A; Agarwala, M; Atkinson, G; Bevan, P; Clements, T; Daw, T; Homewood, K; Kumpel, N; Lewis, J; Mourato, S; Palmer Fry, B; Redshaw, M; Rowcliffe, J M; Suon, S; Wallace, G; Washington, H; Wilkie, D
2014-10-01
Conservationists are increasingly engaging with the concept of human well-being to improve the design and evaluation of their interventions. Since the convening of the influential Sarkozy Commission in 2009, development researchers have been refining conceptualizations and frameworks to understand and measure human well-being and are starting to converge on a common understanding of how best to do this. In conservation, the term human well-being is in widespread use, but there is a need for guidance on operationalizing it to measure the impacts of conservation interventions on people. We present a framework for understanding human well-being, which could be particularly useful in conservation. The framework includes 3 conditions; meeting needs, pursuing goals, and experiencing a satisfactory quality of life. We outline some of the complexities involved in evaluating the well-being effects of conservation interventions, with the understanding that well-being varies between people and over time and with the priorities of the evaluator. Key challenges for research into the well-being impacts of conservation interventions include the need to build up a collection of case studies so as to draw out generalizable lessons; harness the potential of modern technology to support well-being research; and contextualize evaluations of conservation impacts on well-being spatially and temporally within the wider landscape of social change. Pathways through the smog of confusion around the term well-being exist, and existing frameworks such as the Well-being in Developing Countries approach can help conservationists negotiate the challenges of operationalizing the concept. Conservationists have the opportunity to benefit from the recent flurry of research in the development field so as to carry out more nuanced and locally relevant evaluations of the effects of their interventions on human well-being. © 2014 The Authors. Conservation Biology published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc., on behalf of the Society for Conservation Biology.
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Conservation of native Pacific trout diversity in western North America
Penaluna, Brooke E.; Abadía-Cardoso, Alicia; Dunham, Jason B.; García de León, Francisco J; Gresswell, Robert E.; Luna, Arturo Ruiz; Taylor, Eric B.; Shepard, Bradley B.; Al-Chokhachy, Robert K.; Muhlfeld, Clint C.; Bestgen, Kevin R.; Rogers, Kevin H.; Escalante, Marco A; Keeley, Ernest R; Temple, Gabriel; Williams, Jack E.; Matthews, Kathleen; Pierce, Ron; Mayden, Richard L.; Kovach, Ryan; Garza, John Carlos; Fausch, Kurt D.
2016-01-01
Pacific trout Oncorhynchus spp. in western North America are strongly valued in ecological, socioeconomic, and cultural views, and have been the subject of substantial research and conservation efforts. Despite this, the understanding of their evolutionary histories, overall diversity, and challenges to their conservation is incomplete. We review the state of knowledge on these important issues, focusing on Pacific trout in the genus Oncorhynchus. Although most research on salmonid fishes emphasizes Pacific salmon, we focus on Pacific trout because they share a common evolutionary history, and many taxa in western North America have not been formally described, particularly in the southern extent of their ranges. Research in recent decades has led to the revision of many hypotheses concerning the origin and diversification of Pacific trout throughout their range. Although there has been significant success at addressing past threats to Pacific trout, contemporary and future threats represented by nonnative species, land and water use activities, and climate change pose challenges and uncertainties. Ultimately, conservation of Pacific trout depends on how well these issues are understood and addressed, and on solutions that allow these species to coexist with a growing scope of human influences.
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Leaders' perspectives in the Yellowstone to Yukon Conservation Initiative
Mattson, D.J.; Clark, S.G.; Byrd, K.L.; Brown, S.R.; Robinson, B.
2011-01-01
The Yellowstone to Yukon Conservation Initiative (Y2Y) was created in 1993 to advance conservation in a 1.2 million km2 portion of the North American Rocky Mountains. We assembled 21 people with influence over Y2Y in a workshop to elucidate perspectives on challenges and solutions for this organization at a key point in its evolution, and used Q method to define four perspectives on challenges and three on solutions. Participants were differentiated by four models for effecting change-vision-based advocacy, practice-based learning, political engagement, and scientific management-with emphasis on the first three. Those with authority in Y2Y aligned with vision-based advocacy and expressed ambivalence about practice-based adaptive learning and rigorous appraisals of existing strategies. Workshop results were consistent with an apparent trend toward organizational maturation focused on stabilizing revenues, developing formal organizational arrangements, and focusing strategies. Consolidation of power in Y2Y around a long-standing formula does not bode well for the effectiveness of Y2Y. We recommend that leaders in Y2Y and similar organizations focused on large-scale conservation to create and maintain an open system-philosophically and operationally-that capitalizes on the diverse perspectives and skills of individuals who are attracted to such efforts. We also recommend that the Y2Y initiative be followed closely to harvest additional lessons for potential application to large-scale conservation efforts elsewhere. ?? Springer Science+Business Media, LLC(outside the USA).2011.
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Landscape and climate science and scenarios for Florida
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.
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Rodhouse, Thomas J.; Ormsbee, Patricia C.; Irvine, Kathryn M.; Vierling, Lee A.; Szewczak, Joseph M.; Vierling, Kerri T.
2015-01-01
Landscape keystone structures associated with roosting habitat emerged as regionally important predictors of bat distributions. The challenges of bat monitoring have constrained previous species distribution modelling efforts to temporally static presence-only approaches. Our approach extends to broader spatial and temporal scales than has been possible in the past for bats, making a substantial increase in capacity for bat conservation.
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Gordon H. Reeves; Brian R. Pickard; K. Norman Johnson
2016-01-01
The Aquatic Conservation Strategy (ACS) of the Northwest Forest Plan guides management of riparian and aquatic ecosystems on federal lands in western Oregon, western Washington, and northern California. We applied new scientific findings and tools to evaluate two potential options, A and B, for refining interim riparian reserves to meet ACS goals and likely challenges...
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A context for bird conservation in México: challenges and opportunities
Eduardo Santana C.
2005-01-01
With over 1,060 species of birds, México is among the most important countries for the conservation of birds in the world. Within the American continent it harbors the highest wintering diversity and abundance of Nearctic-Neotropical migratory land birds that breed in Canada and the U.S., as well as an exceptionally high number of endemic species (Hutto 1986...
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Policies for managing urban growth and landscape change: a key to conservation in the 21st century
David N., tech. ed. Bengston
2005-01-01
Protecting natural areas in the face of urbanization is one of the most important challenges for conservation in the 21st century. The papers in this collection examine key issues related to growth management and selected approaches to managing urban growth and minimizing its social and environmental costs. They were presented at the 2004 annual meeting of the Society...
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Achieving conservation science that bridges the knowledge-action boundary.
Cook, Carly N; Mascia, Michael B; Schwartz, Mark W; Possingham, Hugh P; Fuller, Richard A
2013-08-01
There are many barriers to using science to inform conservation policy and practice. Conservation scientists wishing to produce management-relevant science must balance this goal with the imperative of demonstrating novelty and rigor in their science. Decision makers seeking to make evidence-based decisions must balance a desire for knowledge with the need to act despite uncertainty. Generating science that will effectively inform management decisions requires that the production of information (the components of knowledge) be salient (relevant and timely), credible (authoritative, believable, and trusted), and legitimate (developed via a process that considers the values and perspectives of all relevant actors) in the eyes of both researchers and decision makers. We perceive 3 key challenges for those hoping to generate conservation science that achieves all 3 of these information characteristics. First, scientific and management audiences can have contrasting perceptions about the salience of research. Second, the pursuit of scientific credibility can come at the cost of salience and legitimacy in the eyes of decision makers, and, third, different actors can have conflicting views about what constitutes legitimate information. We highlight 4 institutional frameworks that can facilitate science that will inform management: boundary organizations (environmental organizations that span the boundary between science and management), research scientists embedded in resource management agencies, formal links between decision makers and scientists at research-focused institutions, and training programs for conservation professionals. Although these are not the only approaches to generating boundary-spanning science, nor are they mutually exclusive, they provide mechanisms for promoting communication, translation, and mediation across the knowledge-action boundary. We believe that despite the challenges, conservation science should strive to be a boundary science, which both advances scientific understanding and contributes to decision making. © 2013 Society for Conservation Biology.
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Conservation challenges for the Austral and Neotropical America section.
Ceballos, Gerardo; Vale, Mariana M; Bonacic, Cristian; Calvo-Alvarado, Julio; List, Rurik; Bynum, Nora; Medellín, Rodrigo A; Simonetti, Javier A; Rodríguez, Jon Paul
2009-08-01
The Austral and Neotropical America (ANA) section of the Society for Conservation Biology includes a vast territory with some of the largest relatively pristine ecosystems in the world. With more than 573 million people, the economic growth of the region still depends strongly on natural resource exploitation and still has high rates of environmental degradation and biodiversity loss. A survey among the ANA section membership, with more than 700 members, including most of the section's prominent ecologists and conservationists, indicates that lack of capacity building for conservation, corruption, and threats such as deforestation and illegal trade of species, are among the most urgent problems that need to be addressed to improve conservation in the region. There are, however, strong universities and ecology groups taking the lead in environmental research and conservation, a most important issue to enhance the ability of the region to solve conservation and development conflicts.
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The problem and promise of scale dependency in community phylogenetics.
Swenson, Nathan G; Enquist, Brian J; Pither, Jason; Thompson, Jill; Zimmerman, Jess K
2006-10-01
The problem of scale dependency is widespread in investigations of ecological communities. Null model investigations of community assembly exemplify the challenges involved because they typically include subjectively defined "regional species pools." The burgeoning field of community phylogenetics appears poised to face similar challenges. Our objective is to quantify the scope of the problem of scale dependency by comparing the phylogenetic structure of assemblages across contrasting geographic and taxonomic scales. We conduct phylogenetic analyses on communities within three tropical forests, and perform a sensitivity analysis with respect to two scaleable inputs: taxonomy and species pool size. We show that (1) estimates of phylogenetic overdispersion within local assemblages depend strongly on the taxonomic makeup of the local assemblage and (2) comparing the phylogenetic structure of a local assemblage to a species pool drawn from increasingly larger geographic scales results in an increased signal of phylogenetic clustering. We argue that, rather than posing a problem, "scale sensitivities" are likely to reveal general patterns of diversity that could help identify critical scales at which local or regional influences gain primacy for the structuring of communities. In this way, community phylogenetics promises to fill an important gap in community ecology and biogeography research.
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Han, Dukki; Nam, Seung-Il; Ha, Ho Kyung; Kim, Hyoungjun; Sadowsky, Michael J; Lee, Yoo Kyung; Hur, Hor-Gil
2016-02-01
It has been known that continental shelves around the Arctic Ocean play a major role in the ventilation of the deep basins as a consequence of shelf-basin exchange. In the present study, we found that bacterial assemblage of the surface sediment was different from that of seawater while seawater harboured local bacterial assemblages in response to the Arctic hydrography. This finding suggests that the Arctic seafloor sediments may have distinctive bacterial biogeography. Moreover, the distribution of bacterial assemblages and physicochemical properties in surface sediments changed gradually from the Arctic continental shelf to deep-sea basin. Based on the results, bacterial biogeography in the Arctic seafloor sediments may be influenced by winnowing and re-deposition of surface sediments through the sediment gravity flow. The present study offers a deeper understanding of shelf convection and its role for the construction of bacterial assemblages in the Arctic Ocean. © 2015 Society for Applied Microbiology and John Wiley & Sons Ltd.
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NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Guo, Weian; Li, Wuzhao; Zhang, Qun; Wang, Lei; Wu, Qidi; Ren, Hongliang
2014-11-01
In evolutionary algorithms, elites are crucial to maintain good features in solutions. However, too many elites can make the evolutionary process stagnate and cannot enhance the performance. This article employs particle swarm optimization (PSO) and biogeography-based optimization (BBO) to propose a hybrid algorithm termed biogeography-based particle swarm optimization (BPSO) which could make a large number of elites effective in searching optima. In this algorithm, the whole population is split into several subgroups; BBO is employed to search within each subgroup and PSO for the global search. Since not all the population is used in PSO, this structure overcomes the premature convergence in the original PSO. Time complexity analysis shows that the novel algorithm does not increase the time consumption. Fourteen numerical benchmarks and four engineering problems with constraints are used to test the BPSO. To better deal with constraints, a fuzzy strategy for the number of elites is investigated. The simulation results validate the feasibility and effectiveness of the proposed algorithm.
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Wyoming Landscape Conservation Initiative—A case study in partnership development
D'Erchia, Frank
2016-10-21
The Wyoming Landscape Conservation Initiative (WLCI) is a successful example of collaboration between science and natural resource management at the landscape scale. In southwestern Wyoming, expanding energy and mineral development, urban growth, and other changes in land use over recent decades, combined with landscape-scale drivers such as climate change and invasive species, have presented compelling challenges to resource managers and a diverse group of Federal, State, industry, and non-governmental organizations, as well as citizen stakeholders. To address these challenges, the WLCI was established as a collaborative forum and interagency partnership to develop and implement science-based conservation actions. About a decade after being established, this report documents the establishment and history of the WLCI, focusing on the path to success of the initiative and providing insights and details that may be useful in developing similar partnerships in other locations. Not merely retrospective, the elements of the WLCI that are presented herein are still in play, still evolving, and still contributing to the resolution of compelling conservation challenges in the Western United States.The U.S. Geological Survey has developed many successful longstanding partnerships, of which the WLCI is one example.“As the Nation’s largest water, earth, and biological science and civilian mapping agency, the U.S. Geological Survey collects, monitors, analyzes, and provides scientific understanding about natural resource conditions, issues, and problems. The diversity of our scientific expertise enables us to carry out large-scale, multi-disciplinary investigations and provide impartial scientific information to resource managers, planners, and other customers” (U.S. Geological Survey, 2016).
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Rao, Madhu; Saw Htun; Platt, Steven G; Tizard, Robert; Poole, Colin; Than Myint; Watson, James E M
2013-11-01
High levels of species richness and endemism make Myanmar a regional priority for conservation. However, decades of economic and political sanctions have resulted in low conservation investment to effectively tackle threats to biodiversity. Recent sweeping political reforms have placed Myanmar on the fast track to economic development-the expectation is increased economic investments focused on the exploitation of the country's rich, and relatively intact, natural resources. Within a context of weak regulatory capacity and inadequate environmental safeguards, rapid economic development is likely to have far-reaching negative implications for already threatened biodiversity and natural-resource-dependent human communities. Climate change will further exacerbate prevailing threats given Myanmar's high exposure and vulnerability. The aim of this review is to examine the implications of increased economic growth and a changing climate within the larger context of biodiversity conservation in Myanmar. We summarize conservation challenges, assess direct climatological impacts on biodiversity and conclude with recommendations for long-term adaptation approaches for biodiversity conservation.
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Northwest Boreal Landscape Conservation Cooperative strategic plan 2015 - 2025
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.
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Lim, Wee Loon; Wibowo, Antoni; Desa, Mohammad Ishak; Haron, Habibollah
2016-01-01
The quadratic assignment problem (QAP) is an NP-hard combinatorial optimization problem with a wide variety of applications. Biogeography-based optimization (BBO), a relatively new optimization technique based on the biogeography concept, uses the idea of migration strategy of species to derive algorithm for solving optimization problems. It has been shown that BBO provides performance on a par with other optimization methods. A classical BBO algorithm employs the mutation operator as its diversification strategy. However, this process will often ruin the quality of solutions in QAP. In this paper, we propose a hybrid technique to overcome the weakness of classical BBO algorithm to solve QAP, by replacing the mutation operator with a tabu search procedure. Our experiments using the benchmark instances from QAPLIB show that the proposed hybrid method is able to find good solutions for them within reasonable computational times. Out of 61 benchmark instances tested, the proposed method is able to obtain the best known solutions for 57 of them. PMID:26819585
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Ten things to get right for marine conservation planning in the Coral Triangle.
Weeks, Rebecca; Pressey, Robert L; Wilson, Joanne R; Knight, Maurice; Horigue, Vera; Abesamis, Rene A; Acosta, Renerio; Jompa, Jamaluddin
2014-01-01
Systematic conservation planning increasingly underpins the conservation and management of marine and coastal ecosystems worldwide. Amongst other benefits, conservation planning provides transparency in decision-making, efficiency in the use of limited resources, the ability to minimise conflict between diverse objectives, and to guide strategic expansion of local actions to maximise their cumulative impact. The Coral Triangle has long been recognised as a global marine conservation priority, and has been the subject of huge investment in conservation during the last five years through the Coral Triangle Initiative on Coral Reefs, Fisheries and Food Security. Yet conservation planning has had relatively little influence in this region. To explore why this is the case, we identify and discuss 10 challenges that must be resolved if conservation planning is to effectively inform management actions in the Coral Triangle. These are: making conservation planning accessible; integrating with other planning processes; building local capacity for conservation planning; institutionalising conservation planning within governments; integrating plans across governance levels; planning across governance boundaries; planning for multiple tools and objectives; understanding limitations of data; developing better measures of progress and effectiveness; and making a long term commitment. Most important is a conceptual shift from conservation planning undertaken as a project, to planning undertaken as a process, with dedicated financial and human resources committed to long-term engagement.
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Lim, Wee Loon; Wibowo, Antoni; Desa, Mohammad Ishak; Haron, Habibollah
2016-01-01
The quadratic assignment problem (QAP) is an NP-hard combinatorial optimization problem with a wide variety of applications. Biogeography-based optimization (BBO), a relatively new optimization technique based on the biogeography concept, uses the idea of migration strategy of species to derive algorithm for solving optimization problems. It has been shown that BBO provides performance on a par with other optimization methods. A classical BBO algorithm employs the mutation operator as its diversification strategy. However, this process will often ruin the quality of solutions in QAP. In this paper, we propose a hybrid technique to overcome the weakness of classical BBO algorithm to solve QAP, by replacing the mutation operator with a tabu search procedure. Our experiments using the benchmark instances from QAPLIB show that the proposed hybrid method is able to find good solutions for them within reasonable computational times. Out of 61 benchmark instances tested, the proposed method is able to obtain the best known solutions for 57 of them.
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Qin, Yangmin; Man, Baiying; Kosakyan, Anush; Lara, Enrique; Gu, Yansheng; Wang, Hongmei; Mitchell, Edward A D
2016-09-01
Hyalospheniids are among the most common and conspicuous testate amoebae in high-latitude peatlands and forest humus. These testate amoebae were widely studied as bioindicators and are increasingly used as models in microbial biogeography. However, data on their diversity and ecology are still very unevenly distributed geographically: notably, data are lacking for low-latitude peatlands. We describe here a new species, Nebela jiuhuensis, from peatlands near the Middle Yangtze River reach of south-central China with characteristic morphology. The test (shell) has hollow horn-like lateral extensions also found in N. saccifera, N. equicalceus (=N. hippocrepis), and N. ansata, three large species restricted mostly to Sphagnum peatlands of Eastern North America. Mitochondrial cytochrome oxidase (COI) data confirm that N. jiuhuensis is closely related to the morphologically very similar North American species N. saccifera and more distantly to N. ansata within the N. penardiana group. These species are all found in wet mosses growing in poor fens. Earlier reports of morphologically similar specimens found in South Korea peatlands suggest that N. jiuhuensis may be distributed in comparable peatlands in Eastern Asia (China and Korea). The discovery of such a conspicuous new species in Chinese peatlands suggests that many new testate amoebae species are yet to be discovered, including potential regional endemics. Furthermore, human activities (e.g., drainage, agriculture, and pollution) have reduced the known habitat of N. jiuhuensis, which can thus be considered as locally endangered. We, therefore, suggest that this very conspicuous micro-organism with a probably limited geographical distribution and specific habitat requirement should be considered as a flagship species for microbial biogeography as well as local environmental conservation and management. © 2016 The Author(s) Journal of Eukaryotic Microbiology © 2016 International Society of Protistologists.
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Conservation needs of amphibians in China: a review.
Xie, Feng; Lau, Michael Wai Neng; Stuart, Simon N; Chanson, Janice S; Cox, Neil A; Fischman, Debra L
2007-04-01
The conservation status of all the amphibians in China is analyzed, and the country is shown to be a global priority for conservation in comparison to many other countries of the world. Three Chinese regions are particularly rich in amphibian diversity: Hengduan, Nanling, and Wuyi mountains. Salamanders are more threatened than frogs and toads. Several smaller families show a high propensity to become seriously threatened: Bombinatoridae, Cryptobranchidae, Hynobiidae and Salamandridae. Like other parts of the world, stream-breeding, high-elevation forest amphibians have a much higher likelihood of being seriously threatened. Habitat loss, pollution, and over-harvesting are the most serious threats to Chinese amphibians. Over-harvesting is a less pervasive threat than habitat loss, but it is more likely to drive a species into rapid decline. Five conservation challenges are mentioned with recommendations for the highest priority research and conservation actions.
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Setting conservation priorities.
Wilson, Kerrie A; Carwardine, Josie; Possingham, Hugh P
2009-04-01
A generic framework for setting conservation priorities based on the principles of classic decision theory is provided. This framework encapsulates the key elements of any problem, including the objective, the constraints, and knowledge of the system. Within the context of this framework the broad array of approaches for setting conservation priorities are reviewed. While some approaches prioritize assets or locations for conservation investment, it is concluded here that prioritization is incomplete without consideration of the conservation actions required to conserve the assets at particular locations. The challenges associated with prioritizing investments through time in the face of threats (and also spatially and temporally heterogeneous costs) can be aided by proper problem definition. Using the authors' general framework for setting conservation priorities, multiple criteria can be rationally integrated and where, how, and when to invest conservation resources can be scheduled. Trade-offs are unavoidable in priority setting when there are multiple considerations, and budgets are almost always finite. The authors discuss how trade-offs, risks, uncertainty, feedbacks, and learning can be explicitly evaluated within their generic framework for setting conservation priorities. Finally, they suggest ways that current priority-setting approaches may be improved.
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A Global Mitigation Hierarchy for Nature Conservation
Bull, Joseph W; Addison, Prue F E; Burgass, Michael J; Gianuca, Dimas; Gorham, Taylor M; Jacob, Céline; Watson, James E M; Wilcox, Chris; Milner-Gulland, E J
2018-01-01
Abstract Efforts to conserve biodiversity comprise a patchwork of international goals, national-level plans, and local interventions that, overall, are failing. We discuss the potential utility of applying the mitigation hierarchy, widely used during economic development activities, to all negative human impacts on biodiversity. Evaluating all biodiversity losses and gains through the mitigation hierarchy could help prioritize consideration of conservation goals and drive the empirical evaluation of conservation investments through the explicit consideration of counterfactual trends and ecosystem dynamics across scales. We explore the challenges in using this framework to achieve global conservation goals, including operationalization and monitoring and compliance, and we discuss solutions and research priorities. The mitigation hierarchy's conceptual power and ability to clarify thinking could provide the step change needed to integrate the multiple elements of conservation goals and interventions in order to achieve successful biodiversity outcomes. PMID:29731513
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The biogeography of threatened insular iguanas and opportunities for invasive vertebrate management
Tershy, Bernie R.; Newton, Kelly M.; Spatz, Dena R.; Swinnerton, Kirsty; Iverson, John B.; Fisher, Robert N.; Harlow, Peter S.; Holmes, Nick D.; Croll, Donald A.; Iverson, J.B.; Grant, T. D.; Knapp, C. R.; Pasachnik, S. A.
2016-01-01
Iguanas are a particularly threatened group of reptiles, with 61% of species at risk of extinction. Primary threats to iguanas include habitat loss, direct and indirect impacts by invasive vertebrates, overexploitation, and human disturbance. As conspicuous, charismatic vertebrates, iguanas also represent excellent flagships for biodiversity conservation. To assist planning for invasive vertebrate management and thus benefit threatened iguana recovery, we identified all islands with known extant or extirpated populations of Critically Endangered and Endangered insular iguana taxa as recognized by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List of Threatened Species. For each island, we determined total area, sovereignty, the presence of invasive alien vertebrates, and human population. For the 23 taxa of threatened insular iguanas we identified 230 populations, of which iguanas were extant on 185 islands and extirpated from 45 islands. Twenty-one iguana taxa (91% of all threatened insular iguana taxa) occurred on at least one island with invasive vertebrates present; 16 taxa had 100% of their population(s) on islands with invasive vertebrates present. Rodents, cats, ungulates, and dogs were the most common invasive vertebrates. We discuss biosecurity, eradication, and control of invasive vertebrates to benefit iguana recovery: (1) on islands already free of invasive vertebrates; (2) on islands with high iguana endemicity; and (3) for species and subspecies with small total populations occurring across multiple small islands. Our analyses provide an important first step toward understanding how invasive vertebrate management can be planned effectively to benefit threatened insular iguanas.
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Choudoir, Mallory J; Buckley, Daniel H
2018-06-07
The latitudinal diversity gradient is a pattern of biogeography observed broadly in plants and animals but largely undocumented in terrestrial microbial systems. Although patterns of microbial biogeography across broad taxonomic scales have been described in a range of contexts, the mechanisms that generate biogeographic patterns between closely related taxa remain incompletely characterized. Adaptive processes are a major driver of microbial biogeography, but there is less understanding of how microbial biogeography and diversification are shaped by dispersal limitation and drift. We recently described a latitudinal diversity gradient of species richness and intraspecific genetic diversity in Streptomyces by using a geographically explicit culture collection. Within this geographically explicit culture collection, we have identified Streptomyces sister-taxa whose geographic distribution is delimited by latitude. These sister-taxa differ in geographic distribution, genomic diversity, and ecological traits despite having nearly identical SSU rRNA gene sequences. Comparative genomic analysis reveals genomic differentiation of these sister-taxa consistent with restricted gene flow across latitude. Furthermore, we show phylogenetic conservatism of thermal traits between the sister-taxa suggesting that thermal trait adaptation limits dispersal and gene flow across climate regimes as defined by latitude. Such phylogenetic conservatism of thermal traits is commonly associated with latitudinal diversity gradients for plants and animals. These data provide further support for the hypothesis that the Streptomyces latitudinal diversity gradient was formed as a result of historical demographic processes defined by dispersal limitation and driven by paleoclimate dynamics.
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Bagley, Justin C; Johnson, Jerald B
2014-11-01
Lower Central America (LCA) provides a geologically complex and dynamic, richly biodiverse model for studying the recent assembly and diversification of a Neotropical biota. Here, we review the growing literature of LCA phylogeography studies and their contribution to understanding the origins, assembly, and diversification of the LCA biota against the backdrop of regional geologic and climatic history, and previous biogeographical inquiry. Studies to date reveal that phylogeographical signal within taxa of differing distributions reflects a diversity of patterns and processes rivalling the complexities of LCA landscapes themselves. Even so, phylogeography is providing novel insights into regional diversification (e.g. cryptic lineage divergences), and general evolutionary patterns are emerging. Congruent multi-taxon phylogeographic breaks are found across the Nicaraguan depression, Chorotega volcanic front, western and central Panama, and the Darién isthmus, indicating that a potentially shared history of responses to regional-scale (e.g. geological) processes has shaped the genetic diversity of LCA communities. By contrast, other species show unique demographic histories in response to overriding historical events, including no phylogeographic structure at all. These low-structure or incongruent patterns provide some evidence for a role of local, ecological factors (e.g. long-distance dispersal and gene flow in plants and bats) in shaping LCA communities. Temporally, comparative phylogeographical structuring reflects Pliocene-Pleistocene dispersal and vicariance events consistent with the timeline of emergence of the LCA isthmus and its major physiographic features, e.g. cordilleras. We emphasise the need to improve biogeographic inferences in LCA through in-depth comparative phylogeography projects capitalising on the latest statistical phylogeographical methods. While meeting the challenges of reconstructing the biogeographical history of this complex region, phylogeographers should also take up the critical service to society of applying their work to the conservation of its fascinating biodiversity. © 2014 The Authors. Biological Reviews © 2014 Cambridge Philosophical Society.
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Töpel, Mats; Zizka, Alexander; Calió, Maria Fernanda; Scharn, Ruud; Silvestro, Daniele; Antonelli, Alexandre
2017-03-01
Understanding the patterns and processes underlying the uneven distribution of biodiversity across space constitutes a major scientific challenge in systematic biology and biogeography, which largely relies on effectively mapping and making sense of rapidly increasing species occurrence data. There is thus an urgent need for making the process of coding species into spatial units faster, automated, transparent, and reproducible. Here we present SpeciesGeoCoder, an open-source software package written in Python and R, that allows for easy coding of species into user-defined operational units. These units may be of any size and be purely spatial (i.e., polygons) such as countries and states, conservation areas, biomes, islands, biodiversity hotspots, and areas of endemism, but may also include elevation ranges. This flexibility allows scoring species into complex categories, such as those encountered in topographically and ecologically heterogeneous landscapes. In addition, SpeciesGeoCoder can be used to facilitate sorting and cleaning of occurrence data obtained from online databases, and for testing the impact of incorrect identification of specimens on the spatial coding of species. The various outputs of SpeciesGeoCoder include quantitative biodiversity statistics, global and local distribution maps, and files that can be used directly in many phylogeny-based applications for ancestral range reconstruction, investigations of biome evolution, and other comparative methods. Our simulations indicate that even datasets containing hundreds of millions of records can be analyzed in relatively short time using a standard computer. We exemplify the use of SpeciesGeoCoder by inferring the historical dispersal of birds across the Isthmus of Panama, showing that lowland species crossed the Isthmus about twice as frequently as montane species with a marked increase in the number of dispersals during the last 10 million years. [ancestral area reconstruction; biodiversity patterns; ecology; evolution; point in polygon; species distribution data.]. © The Author(s) 2016. Published by Oxford University Press, on behalf of the Society of Systematic Biologists.
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Understanding and managing conservation conflicts.
Redpath, Steve M; Young, Juliette; Evely, Anna; Adams, William M; Sutherland, William J; Whitehouse, Andrew; Amar, Arjun; Lambert, Robert A; Linnell, John D C; Watt, Allan; Gutiérrez, R J
2013-02-01
Conservation conflicts are increasing and need to be managed to minimise negative impacts on biodiversity, human livelihoods, and human well-being. Here, we explore strategies and case studies that highlight the long-term, dynamic nature of conflicts and the challenges to their management. Conflict management requires parties to recognise problems as shared ones, and engage with clear goals, a transparent evidence base, and an awareness of trade-offs. We hypothesise that conservation outcomes will be less durable when conservationists assert their interests to the detriment of others. Effective conflict management and long-term conservation benefit will be enhanced by better integration of the underpinning social context with the material impacts and evaluation of the efficacy of alternative conflict management approaches. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
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(rehabilitating Heritage Places) Structural Repairs and Conservation Works for Astor Kolkata, India
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Dasgupta, S.; Fournier, L.
2017-08-01
Kolkata, formerly known as Calcutta in English, is the capital of the Indian state of West Bengal and is located in eastern India on the east bank of the River Hooghly. The city was a colonial city developed by the British East India Company and then by the British Empire. Kolkata was the capital of the British Indian empire until 1911 when the capital was relocated to Delhi. Kolkata grew rapidly in the 19th century to become the second city of the British Empire. This was accompanied by the development of a culture that fused European philosophies with Indian tradition. The city has been known by many names "Cultural Capital of India", "The City of Processions", "The City of Palaces", and the "City of Joy". Problems related to rapid urbanisation started to plaque Kolkata from the 1930s and the city remains an example of the urbanization challenges of the developing nations. The exercise included Archival research, Field surveys, Condition Mapping, structural evaluation and preparation of restoration & conservation solutions along with post conservation management plan. The Major challenges encountered were identifying the correct consolidation techniques using modern technology and incorporation of modern services. The Documentation and Mapping was used as a significant tool to guide towards the structural consolidation, conservation and Management strategy of the complex.
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Governance principles for wildlife conservation in the 21st century
Decker, Daniel J.; Smith, Christian; Forstchen, Ann; Hare, Darragh; Pomeranz, Emily; Doyle-Capitman, Catherine; Schuler, Krysten; Organ, John F.
2016-01-01
Wildlife conservation is losing ground in the U.S. for many reasons. The net effect is declines in species and habitat. To address this trend, the wildlife conservation institution (i.e., all customs, practices, organizations and agencies, policies, and laws with respect to wildlife) must adapt to contemporary social–ecological conditions. Adaptation could be supported by clear guidelines reflecting contemporary expectations for wildlife governance. We combine elements of public trust thinking and good governance to produce a broad set of wildlife governance principles. These principles represent guidance for ecologically and socially responsible wildlife conservation. They address persistent, systemic problems and, if adopted, will bring the institution into line with modern expectations for governance of public natural resources. Implementation will require changes in values, objectives, and processes of the wildlife conservation institution. These changes may be difficult, but promise improved wildlife conservation outcomes and increased support for conservation. We introduce challenges and opportunities associated with the principles, and encourage dialogue about them among scientists, practitioners, and other leaders in U.S. wildlife conservation. The principles alone will not change the course of conservation for the better, but may be necessary for such change to occur.
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Climate Watch and Spoonbill Watch: Engaging Communities in Climate Science and Bird Conservation
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Michel, N. L.; Baker, R.; Bergstrom, E.; Cox, D.; Cox, G.; Dale, K.; Jensen, C.; Langham, G.; LeBaron, G.; Loftus, W.; Rowden, J.; Slavin, Z.; Smithson-Stanley, L.; Wilsey, C.
2016-12-01
Climate change poses serious challenges for conservation scientists and policymakers. Yet with these challenges come equally great opportunities to engage communities of concerned citizens in climate science and conservation. National Audubon Society's 2014 Birds and Climate Change report found that 314 North American bird species could lose over half their breeding or wintering ranges by 2080 due to climate change. Consequently, in 2016 Audubon developed two new crowd-sourced science programs that mobilized existing birding communities (i.e., Audubon Society chapters) in partnership with scientists to evaluate climate change effects on birds, and take action to protect vulnerable populations. Climate Watch expands upon traditional monitoring programs by involving citizen scientists in hypothesis-driven science, testing predictions of climate-driven range expansion in bluebirds developed by National Audubon Society scientists. Spoonbill Watch is a partnership between an Audubon research scientist and the Pelican Island Audubon Society community, in which citizen scientists monitor a Roseate Spoonbill colony recently established in response to changing habitat and climatic conditions. Additionally, Spoonbill Watch participants and leaders have moved beyond monitoring to take action to protect the colony, by working with the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission towards getting the site declared as a Critical Wildlife Area and by conducting local outreach and education efforts. We will present overviews, lessons learned, and conservation goals and opportunities achieved during the pilot year of Climate Watch and Spoonbill Watch. Scientific - community partnerships such as these are essential to confront the threats posed by climate change.
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Braje, Todd J; Rick, Torben C
2013-01-01
Human-environmental relationships have long been of interest to a variety of scientists, including ecologists, biologists, anthropologists, and many others. In anthropology, this interest was especially prevalent among cultural ecologists of the 1970s and earlier, who tended to explain culture as the result of techno-environmental constraints. More recently researchers have used historical ecology, an approach that focuses on the long-term dialectical relationship between humans and their environments, as well as long-term prehuman ecological datasets. An important contribution of anthropology to historical ecology is that anthropological datasets dealing with ethnohistory, traditional ecological knowledge, and human skeletal analysis, as well as archeological datasets on faunal and floral remains, artifacts, geochemistry, and stratigraphic analysis, provide a deep time perspective (across decades, centuries, and millennia) on the evolution of ecosystems and the place of people in those larger systems. Historical ecological data also have an applied component that can provide important information on the relative abundances of flora and fauna, changes in biogeography, alternations in food webs, landscape evolution, and much more. Copyright © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
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Special challenges in the conservation of fishes and aquatic environments of South America.
Costa, M F; Barletta, M
2016-07-01
In South America, the conservation of natural resources, particularly in relation to water and aquatic fauna, is an often-discussed issue. Unfortunately, there is still a large gap between thoughts and action. Scientists from different countries of the continent have however, produced a significant body of literature that should finally become the basis of emerging managerial models. © 2016 The Fisheries Society of the British Isles.
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Kushlan, J.A.
1996-01-01
The conservation and management of wading birds has received considerable attention over the past twenty years, through research, population monitoring, habitat protection, and through activities of specialist groups devoted to all three groups, the herons, ibises and allies, and flamingos. While populations are best known in North America, greatest advances in knowledge may have come in Australasia. The status of most species and many populations is now sufficiently known to allow assessment of risk. Conservation and management techniques allow creation of global and regional action plans for conservation of many species. Global action plans are being developed, but few regional plans have been undertaken. Management of nesting sites is now particularly well appreciated. Although known in broad stroke, much remains to be learned about managing feeding habitat. Problems related to disturbance, conflict with humans, habitat loss, contaminants and other environmental stresses remain for some species and many populations. New challenges lie in creating conservation action that account for genetic stocks.
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THE RETICULATING PHYLOGENY OF ISLAND BIOGEOGRAPHY THEORY
Lomolino, Mark V.; Brown, James H.
2010-01-01
Biogeographers study all patterns in the geographic variation of life, from the spatial variation in genetic and physiological characteristics of cells and individuals, to the diversity and dynamics of biological communities among continental biotas or across oceanic archipelagoes. The field of island biogeography, in particular, has provided some genuinely transformative insights for the biological sciences, especially ecology and evolutionary biology. Our purpose here is to review the historical development of island biogeography theory during the 20th century by identifying the common threads that run through four sets of contributions made during this period, including those by Eugene Gordon Munroe (1948, 1953), Edward O. Wilson (1959, 1961), Frank W. Preston (1962a,b), and the seminal collaborations between Wilson and Robert H. MacArthur (1963, 1967), which revolutionized the field and served as its paradigm for nearly four decades. This epistemological account not only reviews the intriguing history of island theory, but it also includes fundamental lessons for advancing science through transformative integrations. Indeed, as is likely the case with many disciplines, island theory advanced not as a simple accumulation of facts and an orderly succession of theories and paradigms, but rather in fits and starts through a reticulating phylogeny of ideas and alternating periods of specialization and reintegration. We conclude this review with a summary of the salient features of this scientific revolution in the context of Kuhn’s structure, which strongly influenced theoretical advances during this period, and we then describe some of the fundamental assumptions and tenets of an emerging reintegration of island biogeography theory. PMID:20039528
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Ten things to get right for marine conservation planning in the Coral Triangle
Weeks, Rebecca; Pressey, Robert L.; Wilson, Joanne R.; Knight, Maurice; Horigue, Vera; Abesamis, Rene A.; Acosta, Renerio; Jompa, Jamaluddin
2015-01-01
Systematic conservation planning increasingly underpins the conservation and management of marine and coastal ecosystems worldwide. Amongst other benefits, conservation planning provides transparency in decision-making, efficiency in the use of limited resources, the ability to minimise conflict between diverse objectives, and to guide strategic expansion of local actions to maximise their cumulative impact. The Coral Triangle has long been recognised as a global marine conservation priority, and has been the subject of huge investment in conservation during the last five years through the Coral Triangle Initiative on Coral Reefs, Fisheries and Food Security. Yet conservation planning has had relatively little influence in this region. To explore why this is the case, we identify and discuss 10 challenges that must be resolved if conservation planning is to effectively inform management actions in the Coral Triangle. These are: making conservation planning accessible; integrating with other planning processes; building local capacity for conservation planning; institutionalising conservation planning within governments; integrating plans across governance levels; planning across governance boundaries; planning for multiple tools and objectives; understanding limitations of data; developing better measures of progress and effectiveness; and making a long term commitment. Most important is a conceptual shift from conservation planning undertaken as a project, to planning undertaken as a process, with dedicated financial and human resources committed to long-term engagement. PMID:25110579
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Berdej, Samantha M; Armitage, Derek R
2016-01-01
This study empirically investigates the influence of bridging organizations on governance outcomes for marine conservation in Indonesia. Conservation challenges require ways of governing that are collaborative and adaptive across boundaries, and where conservation actions are better coordinated, information flows improved, and knowledge better integrated and mobilized. We combine quantitative social network analysis and qualitative data to analyze bridging organizations and their networks, and to understand their contributions and constraints in two case studies in Bali, Indonesia. The analysis shows 1) bridging organizations help to navigate the 'messiness' inherent in conservation settings by compensating for sparse linkages, 2) the particular structure and function of bridging organizations influence governing processes (i.e., collaboration, knowledge sharing) and subsequent conservation outcomes, 3) 'bridging' is accomplished using different strategies and platforms for collaboration and social learning, and 4) bridging organizations enhance flexibility to adjust to changing marine conservation contexts and needs. Understanding the organizations that occupy bridging positions, and how they utilize their positionality in a governance network is emerging as an important determinant of successful conservation outcomes. Our findings contribute to a relatively new body of literature on bridging organizations in marine conservation contexts, and add needed empirical investigation into their value to governance and conservation in Coral Triangle nations and beyond.
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Cost-effective conservation planning: lessons from economics.
Duke, Joshua M; Dundas, Steven J; Messer, Kent D
2013-08-15
Economists advocate that the billions of public dollars spent on conservation be allocated to achieve the largest possible social benefit. This is "cost-effective conservation"-a process that incorporates both monetized benefits and costs. Though controversial, cost-effective conservation is poorly understood and rarely implemented by planners. Drawing from the largest publicly financed conservation programs in the United States, this paper seeks to improve the communication from economists to planners and to overcome resistance to cost-effective conservation. Fifteen practical lessons are distilled, including the negative implications of limiting selection with political constraints, using nonmonetized benefit measures or benefit indices, ignoring development risk, using incomplete cost measures, employing cost measures sequentially, and using benefit indices to capture costs. The paper highlights interrelationships between benefits and complications such as capitalization and intertemporal planning. The paper concludes by identifying the challenges at the research frontier, including incentive problems associated with adverse selection, additionality, and slippage. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
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Making habitat connectivity a reality.
Keeley, Annika T H; Basson, Galli; Cameron, D Richard; Heller, Nicole E; Huber, Patrick R; Schloss, Carrie A; Thorne, James H; Merenlender, Adina M
2018-06-19
For over 40 years, habitat corridors have been a solution for sustaining wildlife in fragmented landscapes, and now are often suggested as a climate adaptation strategy. However, while a plethora of connectivity plans exist, protecting and restoring habitat connectivity through on-the-ground action has been slow. We identified implementation challenges and opportunities through a literature review of project implementation, a science-practice workshop, and interviews with conservation professionals. Our research indicates that connectivity challenges and solutions tend to be context-specific, dependent on land ownership patterns, socioeconomic factors, and the policy framework. We found evidence that developing and promoting a common vision shared by a diverse set of stakeholders including nontraditional conservation actors, such as water districts and recreation departments, and through communication among and between partners and the public is key to successful implementation. Other factors that lead to successful implementation include undertaking empirical studies to prioritize and validate corridors and the identification of related co-benefits of corridor projects. Engaging partners involved in land management and planning, such as non-governmental conservation organizations, public agencies, and private landowners is critical to effective strategy implementation. A clear regulatory framework including unambiguous connectivity conservation mandates would increase public resource allocation, and incentive programs are needed to promote private sector engagement. We argue that connectivity conservation must more rapidly move from planning to implementation and provide an evidence-based solution made up of key elements for successful on-the-ground connectivity implementation. The components of this new framework constitute the social processes necessary to advance habitat connectivity for biodiversity conservation and resilient landscapes under climate change. Three case studies serve to illustrate the application of the framework. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.
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Sokolow, Sharona; Godwin, Hilary; Cole, Brian L
2016-05-01
To determine how urban water conservation strategies in California cities can affect water and energy conservation efforts, reduce greenhouse gas emissions, and benefit public health. We expanded upon our 2014 health impact assessment of California's urban water conservation strategies by comparing the status quo to 2 options with the greatest potential impact on the interrelated issues of water and energy in California: (1) banning landscape irrigation and (2) expanding alternative water sources (e.g., desalination, recycled water). Among the water conservation strategies evaluated, expanded use of recycled water stood out as the water conservation strategy with potential to reduce water use, energy use, and greenhouse gas emissions, with relatively small negative impacts for the public's health. Although the suitability of recycled water for urban uses depends on local climate, geography, current infrastructure, and finances, analyses similar to that presented here can help guide water policy decisions in cities across the globe facing challenges of supplying clean, sustainable water to urban populations.
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Berdej, Samantha M.; Armitage, Derek R.
2016-01-01
This study empirically investigates the influence of bridging organizations on governance outcomes for marine conservation in Indonesia. Conservation challenges require ways of governing that are collaborative and adaptive across boundaries, and where conservation actions are better coordinated, information flows improved, and knowledge better integrated and mobilized. We combine quantitative social network analysis and qualitative data to analyze bridging organizations and their networks, and to understand their contributions and constraints in two case studies in Bali, Indonesia. The analysis shows 1) bridging organizations help to navigate the ‘messiness’ inherent in conservation settings by compensating for sparse linkages, 2) the particular structure and function of bridging organizations influence governing processes (i.e., collaboration, knowledge sharing) and subsequent conservation outcomes, 3) ‘bridging’ is accomplished using different strategies and platforms for collaboration and social learning, and 4) bridging organizations enhance flexibility to adjust to changing marine conservation contexts and needs. Understanding the organizations that occupy bridging positions, and how they utilize their positionality in a governance network is emerging as an important determinant of successful conservation outcomes. Our findings contribute to a relatively new body of literature on bridging organizations in marine conservation contexts, and add needed empirical investigation into their value to governance and conservation in Coral Triangle nations and beyond. PMID:26794003
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Ten years of barcoding at the African Centre for DNA Barcoding.
Bezeng, B S; Davies, T J; Daru, B H; Kabongo, R M; Maurin, O; Yessoufou, K; van der Bank, H; van der Bank, M
2017-07-01
The African Centre for DNA Barcoding (ACDB) was established in 2005 as part of a global initiative to accurately and rapidly survey biodiversity using short DNA sequences. The mitochondrial cytochrome c oxidase 1 gene (CO1) was rapidly adopted as the de facto barcode for animals. Following the evaluation of several candidate loci for plants, the Plant Working Group of the Consortium for the Barcoding of Life in 2009 recommended that two plastid genes, rbcLa and matK, be adopted as core DNA barcodes for terrestrial plants. To date, numerous studies continue to test the discriminatory power of these markers across various plant lineages. Over the past decade, we at the ACDB have used these core DNA barcodes to generate a barcode library for southern Africa. To date, the ACDB has contributed more than 21 000 plant barcodes and over 3000 CO1 barcodes for animals to the Barcode of Life Database (BOLD). Building upon this effort, we at the ACDB have addressed questions related to community assembly, biogeography, phylogenetic diversification, and invasion biology. Collectively, our work demonstrates the diverse applications of DNA barcoding in ecology, systematics, evolutionary biology, and conservation.
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Application of DNA barcodes in wildlife conservation in Tropical East Asia.
Wilson, John-James; Sing, Kong-Wah; Lee, Ping-Shin; Wee, Alison K S
2016-10-01
Over the past 50 years, Tropical East Asia has lost more biodiversity than any tropical region. Tropical East Asia is a megadiverse region with an acute taxonomic impediment. DNA barcodes are short standardized DNA sequences used for taxonomic purposes and have the potential to lessen the challenges of biodiversity inventory and assessments in regions where they are most needed. We reviewed DNA barcoding efforts in Tropical East Asia relative to other tropical regions. We suggest DNA barcodes (or metabarcodes from next-generation sequencers) may be especially useful for characterizing and connecting species-level biodiversity units in inventories encompassing taxa lacking formal description (particularly arthropods) and in large-scale, minimal-impact approaches to vertebrate monitoring and population assessments through secondary sources of DNA (invertebrate derived DNA and environmental DNA). We suggest interest and capacity for DNA barcoding are slowly growing in Tropical East Asia, particularly among the younger generation of researchers who can connect with the barcoding analogy and understand the need for new approaches to the conservation challenges being faced. © 2016 Society for Conservation Biology.
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Neglected wild life: Parasitic biodiversity as a conservation target☆
Gómez, Andrés; Nichols, Elizabeth
2013-01-01
Parasites appropriate host resources to feed and/or to reproduce, and lower host fitness to varying degrees. As a consequence, they can negatively impact human and animal health, food production, economic trade, and biodiversity conservation. They can also be difficult to study and have historically been regarded as having little influence on ecosystem organization and function. Not surprisingly, parasitic biodiversity has to date not been the focus of much positive attention from the conservation community. However, a growing body of evidence demonstrates that parasites are extremely diverse, have key roles in ecological and evolutionary processes, and that infection may paradoxically result in ecosystem services of direct human relevance. Here we argue that wildlife parasites should be considered meaningful conservation targets no less relevant than their hosts. We discuss their numerical and functional importance, current conservation status, and outline a series of non-trivial challenges to consider before incorporating parasite biodiversity in conservation strategies. We also suggest that addressing the key knowledge gaps and communication deficiencies that currently impede broad discussions about parasite conservation requires input from wildlife parasitologists. PMID:24533340
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Shirani, Sahar; Hellweger, Ferdi L
2017-08-01
Molecular observations reveal substantial biogeographic patterns of cyanobacteria within systems of connected lakes. An important question is the relative role of environmental selection and neutral processes in the biogeography of these systems. Here, we quantify the effect of genetic drift and dispersal limitation by simulating individual cyanobacteria cells using an agent-based model (ABM). In the model, cells grow (divide), die, and migrate between lakes. Each cell has a full genome that is subject to neutral mutation (i.e., the growth rate is independent of the genome). The model is verified by simulating simplified lake systems, for which theoretical solutions are available. Then, it is used to simulate the biogeography of the cyanobacterium Microcystis aeruginosa in a number of real systems, including the Great Lakes, Klamath River, Yahara River, and Chattahoochee River. Model output is analyzed using standard bioinformatics tools (BLAST, MAFFT). The emergent patterns of nucleotide divergence between lakes are dynamic, including gradual increases due to accumulation of mutations and abrupt changes due to population takeovers by migrant cells (coalescence events). The model predicted nucleotide divergence is heterogeneous within systems, and for weakly connected lakes, it can be substantial. For example, Lakes Superior and Michigan are predicted to have an average genomic nucleotide divergence of 8200 bp or 0.14%. The divergence between more strongly connected lakes is much lower. Our results provide a quantitative baseline for future biogeography studies. They show that dispersal limitation can be an important factor in microbe biogeography, which is contrary to the common belief, and could affect how a system responds to environmental change.
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Coping with constraints: Achieving effective conservation with limited resources
Walls, Susan
2018-01-01
Conservation resources have become increasingly limited and, along with social, cultural and political complexities, this shortfall frequently challenges effectiveness in conservation. Because conservation can be costly, efforts are often only initiated after a species has declined below a critical threshold and/or when statutory protection is mandated. However, implementing conservation proactively, rather than reactively, is predicted to be less costly and to decrease a species' risk of extinction. Despite these benefits, I document that the number of studies that have implemented proactive conservation around the world are far fewer than those that simply acknowledge the need for such action. I provide examples of proactive actions that can ameliorate shortfalls in funding and other assets, thus helping conservation practitioners and managers cope with the constraints that resource limitation imposes. Not all of these options are new; however, the timing of their implementation is critical for effective conservation, and the need for more proactive conservation is increasingly recognized. These actions are (1) strengthening and diversifying stakeholder involvement in conservation projects; (2) complementing time-consuming and labor-intensive demographic studies with alternative approaches of detecting declines and estimating extinction risk; and (3) minimizing future costly conservation and management by proactively keeping common species common. These approaches may not constitute a cure-all for every conservation crisis. However, given escalating rates of species' losses, perhaps a reminder that these proactive actions can reduce conservation costs, save time, and potentially thwart population declines is warranted.
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A systematic survey of the integration of animal behavior into conservation
Berger-Tal, Oded; Blumstein, Daniel T.; Carroll, Scott; Fisher, Robert N.; Mesnick, Sarah L.; Owen, Megan A.; Saltz, David; St. Claire, Colleen Cassady; Swaisgood, Ronald R.
2016-01-01
The role of behavioral ecology in improving wildlife conservation and management has been the subject of much recent debate. We aim to answer two foundational questions about the current use of behavioral knowledge in conservation: 1. To what extent is behavioral knowledge used in wildlife conservation and management? 2. How does the use of behavior differ among conservation fields in both frequency and types of use? To answer these questions, we searched the literature for intersections between key fields of animal behavior and conservation biology and created a systematic ‘heat’ map to visualize relative efforts. Our analysis challenges previous suggestions that there is little association between the fields of behavioral ecology and conservation and reveals tremendous variation in the use of different behaviors in conservation. For instance, some behaviors, such as foraging and dispersal, are commonly considered, but other behaviors such as learning, social or anti-predatory behaviors are hardly considered. Our analysis suggests that in many cases awareness of the importance of behavior does not translate into applicable management tools. We recommend that researchers should focus on developing research in underutilized intersections of behavior and conservation themes for which preliminary work show a potential for improving conservation and management, on translating behavioral theory into applicable and testable predictions, and on creating systematic reviews to summarize the behavioral evidence within the behavior-conservation intersections for which many studies exist.
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Transforming conservation science and practice for a postnormal world.
Colloff, Matthew J; Lavorel, Sandra; van Kerkhoff, Lorrae E; Wyborn, Carina A; Fazey, Ioan; Gorddard, Russell; Mace, Georgina M; Foden, Wendy B; Dunlop, Michael; Prentice, I Colin; Crowley, John; Leadley, Paul; Degeorges, Patrick
2017-10-01
We examine issues to consider when reframing conservation science and practice in the context of global change. New framings of the links between ecosystems and society are emerging that are changing peoples' values and expectations of nature, resulting in plural perspectives on conservation. Reframing conservation for global change can thus be regarded as a stage in the evolving relationship between people and nature rather than some recent trend. New models of how conservation links with transformative adaptation include how decision contexts for conservation can be reframed and integrated with an adaptation pathways approach to create new options for global-change-ready conservation. New relationships for conservation science and governance include coproduction of knowledge that supports social learning. New processes for implementing adaptation for conservation outcomes include deliberate practices used to develop new strategies, shift world views, work with conflict, address power and intergenerational equity in decisions, and build consciousness and creativity that empower agents to act. We argue that reframing conservation for global change requires scientists and practitioners to implement approaches unconstrained by discipline and sectoral boundaries, geopolitical polarities, or technical problematization. We consider a stronger focus on inclusive creation of knowledge and the interaction of this knowledge with societal values and rules is likely to result in conservation science and practice that meets the challenges of a postnormal world. © 2017 The Authors. Conservation Biology published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc. on behalf of Society for Conservation Biology.
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DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)
Agol, Dorice, E-mail: d.agol@uea.a.c.uk; Latawiec, Agnieszka E., E-mail: a.latawiec@iis-rio.org; Opole University of Technology, Department of Production Engineering and Logistics, Luboszycka 5, 45-036 Opole
There has been an increased interest in using sustainability indicators for evaluating the impacts of development and conservation projects. Past and recent experiences have shown that sustainability indicators can be powerful tools for measuring the outcomes of various interventions, when used appropriately and adequately. Currently, there is a range of methods for applying sustainability indicators for project impact evaluation at the environment–development interface. At the same time, a number of challenges persist which have implication for impact evaluation processes especially in developing countries. We highlight some key and recurrent challenges, using three cases from Kenya, Indonesia and Brazil. In thismore » study, we have conducted a comparative analysis across multiple projects from the three countries, which aimed to conserve biodiversity and improve livelihoods. The assessments of these projects were designed to evaluate their positive, negative, short-term, long term, direct and indirect impacts. We have identified a set of commonly used sustainability indicators to evaluate the projects and have discussed opportunities and challenges associated with their application. Our analysis shows that impact evaluation processes present good opportunities for applying sustainability indicators. On the other hand, we find that project proponents (e.g. managers, evaluators, donors/funders) face challenges with establishing full impacts of interventions and that these are rooted in monitoring and evaluation processes, lack of evidence-based impacts, difficulties of measuring certain outcomes and concerns over scale of a range of impacts. We outline key lessons learnt from the multiple cases and propose ways to overcome common problems. Results from our analysis demonstrate practical experiences of applying sustainability indicators in developing countries context where there are different prevailing socio-economic, cultural and environmental conditions. The knowledge derived from this study may therefore be useful to a wider range of audience who are concerned with sustainable integration of development and environmental conservation. - Highlights: • Sustainability indicators are increasingly used for evaluating project impacts. • Lessons learnt are based on case studies from Africa, Asia and South America. • Similar challenges when assessing impacts of development and conservation projects • Need for pragmatic solutions to overcome challenges when assessing project impacts.« less
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Quantifying species recovery and conservation success to develop an IUCN Green List of Species.
Akçakaya, H Resit; Bennett, Elizabeth L; Brooks, Thomas M; Grace, Molly K; Heath, Anna; Hedges, Simon; Hilton-Taylor, Craig; Hoffmann, Michael; Keith, David A; Long, Barney; Mallon, David P; Meijaard, Erik; Milner-Gulland, E J; Rodrigues, Ana S L; Rodriguez, Jon Paul; Stephenson, P J; Stuart, Simon N; Young, Richard P
2018-03-26
Stopping declines in biodiversity is critically important, but it is only a first step toward achieving more ambitious conservation goals. The absence of an objective and practical definition of species recovery that is applicable across taxonomic groups leads to inconsistent targets in recovery plans and frustrates reporting and maximization of conservation impact. We devised a framework for comprehensively assessing species recovery and conservation success. We propose a definition of a fully recovered species that emphasizes viability, ecological functionality, and representation; and use counterfactual approaches to quantify degree of recovery. This allowed us to calculate a set of 4 conservation metrics that demonstrate impacts of conservation efforts to date (conservation legacy); identify dependence of a species on conservation actions (conservation dependence); quantify expected gains resulting from conservation action in the medium term (conservation gain); and specify requirements to achieve maximum plausible recovery over the long term (recovery potential). These metrics can incentivize the establishment and achievement of ambitious conservation targets. We illustrate their use by applying the framework to a vertebrate, an invertebrate, and a woody and an herbaceous plant. Our approach is a preliminary framework for an International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Green List of Species, which was mandated by a resolution of IUCN members in 2012. Although there are several challenges in applying our proposed framework to a wide range of species, we believe its further development, implementation, and integration with the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species will help catalyze a positive and ambitious vision for conservation that will drive sustained conservation action. © 2018 The Authors. Conservation Biology published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc. on behalf of Society for Conservation Biology.
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Establishing a Framework for a Natural Area Taxonomy.
Ebach, Malte C; Michaux, Bernard
2017-09-01
The identification of areas of endemism is essential in building an area classification, but plays little role in how natural areas are discovered. Rather area monophyly, derived from cladistics, is essential in the discovery of natural area classifications or area taxonomy. We propose Area Taxonomy to be a new sub-discipline of historical biogeography, one that can be revised and debated, and which has its own area nomenclature. Separately to area taxonomy, we outline how natural areas may be discovered by transcribing the concepts of homology and monophyly from biological systematics to historical biogeography, in the form of area homologues, area homologies and area monophyly.
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Gallant, Alisa L.; Sadinski, Walt; Roth, Mark F.; Rewa, Charles A.
2011-01-01
Conservationists and agriculturists face unprecedented challenges trying to minimize tradeoffs between increasing demands for food, fiber, feed, and biofuels and the resulting loss or reduced values of other ecosystem services, such as those derived from wetlands and biodiversity (Millenium Ecosystem Assessment 2005a, 2005c; Maresch et al. 2008). The Food, Conservation, and Energy Act of 2008 (Pub. L. 110-234, Stat. 923, HR 2419, also known as the 2008 Farm Bill) reauthorized the USDA to provide financial incentives for agricultural producers to reduce environmental impacts via multiple conservation programs. Two prominent programs, the Wetlands Reserve Program (WRP) and the Conservation Reserve Program (CRP), provide incentives for producers to retire environmentally sensitive croplands, minimize erosion, improve water quality, restore wetlands, and provide wildlife habitat (USDA FSA 2008a, 2008b; USDA NRCS 2002). Other conservation programs (e.g., Environmental Quality Incentives Program, Conservation Stewardship Program) provide incentives to implement structural and cultural conservation practices to improve the environmental performance of working agricultural lands. Through its Conservation Effects Assessment Project, USDA is supporting evaluation of the environmental benefits obtained from the public investment in conservation programs and practices to inform decisions on where further investments are warranted (Duriancik et al. 2008; Zinn 1997).
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Shapcott, Alison; Forster, Paul I.; Guymer, Gordon P.; McDonald, William J. F.; Faith, Daniel P.; Erickson, David; Kress, W. John
2015-01-01
Australian rainforests have been fragmented due to past climatic changes and more recently landscape change as a result of clearing for agriculture and urban spread. The subtropical rainforests of South Eastern Queensland are significantly more fragmented than the tropical World Heritage listed northern rainforests and are subject to much greater human population pressures. The Australian rainforest flora is relatively taxonomically rich at the family level, but less so at the species level. Current methods to assess biodiversity based on species numbers fail to adequately capture this richness at higher taxonomic levels. We developed a DNA barcode library for the SE Queensland rainforest flora to support a methodology for biodiversity assessment that incorporates both taxonomic diversity and phylogenetic relationships. We placed our SE Queensland phylogeny based on a three marker DNA barcode within a larger international rainforest barcode library and used this to calculate phylogenetic diversity (PD). We compared phylo- diversity measures, species composition and richness and ecosystem diversity of the SE Queensland rainforest estate to identify which bio subregions contain the greatest rainforest biodiversity, subregion relationships and their level of protection. We identified areas of highest conservation priority. Diversity was not correlated with rainforest area in SE Queensland subregions but PD was correlated with both the percent of the subregion occupied by rainforest and the diversity of regional ecosystems (RE) present. The patterns of species diversity and phylogenetic diversity suggest a strong influence of historical biogeography. Some subregions contain significantly more PD than expected by chance, consistent with the concept of refugia, while others were significantly phylogenetically clustered, consistent with recent range expansions. PMID:25803607
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Toward high-resolution population genomics using archaeological samples
Morozova, Irina; Flegontov, Pavel; Mikheyev, Alexander S.; Bruskin, Sergey; Asgharian, Hosseinali; Ponomarenko, Petr; Klyuchnikov, Vladimir; ArunKumar, GaneshPrasad; Prokhortchouk, Egor; Gankin, Yuriy; Rogaev, Evgeny; Nikolsky, Yuri; Baranova, Ancha; Elhaik, Eran; Tatarinova, Tatiana V.
2016-01-01
The term ‘ancient DNA’ (aDNA) is coming of age, with over 1,200 hits in the PubMed database, beginning in the early 1980s with the studies of ‘molecular paleontology’. Rooted in cloning and limited sequencing of DNA from ancient remains during the pre-PCR era, the field has made incredible progress since the introduction of PCR and next-generation sequencing. Over the last decade, aDNA analysis ushered in a new era in genomics and became the method of choice for reconstructing the history of organisms, their biogeography, and migration routes, with applications in evolutionary biology, population genetics, archaeogenetics, paleo-epidemiology, and many other areas. This change was brought by development of new strategies for coping with the challenges in studying aDNA due to damage and fragmentation, scarce samples, significant historical gaps, and limited applicability of population genetics methods. In this review, we describe the state-of-the-art achievements in aDNA studies, with particular focus on human evolution and demographic history. We present the current experimental and theoretical procedures for handling and analysing highly degraded aDNA. We also review the challenges in the rapidly growing field of ancient epigenomics. Advancement of aDNA tools and methods signifies a new era in population genetics and evolutionary medicine research. PMID:27436340
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Confronting dynamics and uncertainty in optimal decision making for conservation
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Williams, Byron K.; Johnson, Fred A.
2013-06-01
The effectiveness of conservation efforts ultimately depends on the recognition that decision making, and the systems that it is designed to affect, are inherently dynamic and characterized by multiple sources of uncertainty. To cope with these challenges, conservation planners are increasingly turning to the tools of decision analysis, especially dynamic optimization methods. Here we provide a general framework for optimal, dynamic conservation and then explore its capacity for coping with various sources and degrees of uncertainty. In broadest terms, the dynamic optimization problem in conservation is choosing among a set of decision options at periodic intervals so as to maximize some conservation objective over the planning horizon. Planners must account for immediate objective returns, as well as the effect of current decisions on future resource conditions and, thus, on future decisions. Undermining the effectiveness of such a planning process are uncertainties concerning extant resource conditions (partial observability), the immediate consequences of decision choices (partial controllability), the outcomes of uncontrolled, environmental drivers (environmental variation), and the processes structuring resource dynamics (structural uncertainty). Where outcomes from these sources of uncertainty can be described in terms of probability distributions, a focus on maximizing the expected objective return, while taking state-specific actions, is an effective mechanism for coping with uncertainty. When such probability distributions are unavailable or deemed unreliable, a focus on maximizing robustness is likely to be the preferred approach. Here the idea is to choose an action (or state-dependent policy) that achieves at least some minimum level of performance regardless of the (uncertain) outcomes. We provide some examples of how the dynamic optimization problem can be framed for problems involving management of habitat for an imperiled species, conservation of a critically endangered population through captive breeding, control of invasive species, construction of biodiversity reserves, design of landscapes to increase habitat connectivity, and resource exploitation. Although these decision making problems and their solutions present significant challenges, we suggest that a systematic and effective approach to dynamic decision making in conservation need not be an onerous undertaking. The requirements are shared with any systematic approach to decision making—a careful consideration of values, actions, and outcomes.
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Confronting dynamics and uncertainty in optimal decision making for conservation
Williams, Byron K.; Johnson, Fred A.
2013-01-01
The effectiveness of conservation efforts ultimately depends on the recognition that decision making, and the systems that it is designed to affect, are inherently dynamic and characterized by multiple sources of uncertainty. To cope with these challenges, conservation planners are increasingly turning to the tools of decision analysis, especially dynamic optimization methods. Here we provide a general framework for optimal, dynamic conservation and then explore its capacity for coping with various sources and degrees of uncertainty. In broadest terms, the dynamic optimization problem in conservation is choosing among a set of decision options at periodic intervals so as to maximize some conservation objective over the planning horizon. Planners must account for immediate objective returns, as well as the effect of current decisions on future resource conditions and, thus, on future decisions. Undermining the effectiveness of such a planning process are uncertainties concerning extant resource conditions (partial observability), the immediate consequences of decision choices (partial controllability), the outcomes of uncontrolled, environmental drivers (environmental variation), and the processes structuring resource dynamics (structural uncertainty). Where outcomes from these sources of uncertainty can be described in terms of probability distributions, a focus on maximizing the expected objective return, while taking state-specific actions, is an effective mechanism for coping with uncertainty. When such probability distributions are unavailable or deemed unreliable, a focus on maximizing robustness is likely to be the preferred approach. Here the idea is to choose an action (or state-dependent policy) that achieves at least some minimum level of performance regardless of the (uncertain) outcomes. We provide some examples of how the dynamic optimization problem can be framed for problems involving management of habitat for an imperiled species, conservation of a critically endangered population through captive breeding, control of invasive species, construction of biodiversity reserves, design of landscapes to increase habitat connectivity, and resource exploitation. Although these decision making problems and their solutions present significant challenges, we suggest that a systematic and effective approach to dynamic decision making in conservation need not be an onerous undertaking. The requirements are shared with any systematic approach to decision making--a careful consideration of values, actions, and outcomes.
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NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Johnson, M. V. V.; Behrman, K. D.; Atwood, J. D.; White, M. J.; Norfleet, M. L.
2017-12-01
There is substantial interest in understanding how conservation practices and agricultural management impact water quality, particularly phosphorus dynamics, in the Western Lake Erie Basin (WLEB). In 2016, the US and Canada accepted total phosphorus (TP) load targets recommended by the Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement Annex 4 Objectives and Targets Task Team; these were 6,000 MTA delivered to Lake Erie and 3,660 MTA delivered to WLEB. Outstanding challenges include development of metrics to determine achievement of these goals, establishment of sufficient monitoring capacity to assess progress, and identification of appropriate conservation practices to achieve the most cost-effective results. Process-based modeling can help inform decisions to address these challenges more quickly than can system observation. As part of the NRCS-led Conservation Effects Assessment Project (CEAP), the Soil Water Assessment Tool (SWAT) was used to predict impacts of conservation practice adoption reported by farmers on TP loss and load delivery dynamics in WLEB. SWAT results suggest that once the conservation practices in place in 2003-06 and 2012 are fully functional, TP loads delivered to WLEB will average 3,175 MTA and 3,084 MTA, respectively. In other words, SWAT predicts that currently adopted practices are sufficient to meet Annex 4 TP load targets. Yet, WLEB gauging stations show Annex 4 goals are unmet. There are several reasons the model predictions and current monitoring efforts are not in agreement: 1. SWAT assumes full functionality of simulated conservation practices; 2. SWAT does not simulate changing management over time, nor impacts of past management on legacy loads; 3. SWAT assumes WLEB hydrological system equilibrium under simulated management. The SWAT model runs used to construct the scenarios that informed the Annex 4 targets were similarly constrained by model assumptions. It takes time for a system to achieve equilibrium when management changes and it takes time for monitoring efforts to measure meaningful changes over time. Careful interpretation of model outputs is imperative for appropriate application of current scientific knowledge to inform decision making, especially when models are used to set spatial and temporal goals around conservation practice adoption and water quality.
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Austin, Jane E.; Slattery, Stuart; Clark, Robert G.
2014-01-01
There are 30 threatened or endangered species of waterfowl worldwide, and several sub-populations are also threatened. Some of these species occur in North America, and others there are also of conservation concern due to declining population trends and their importance to hunters. Here we review conservation initiatives being undertaken for several of these latter species, along with conservation measures in place in Europe, to seek common themes and approaches that could be useful in developing broad conservation guidelines. While focal species may vary in their life histories, population threats and geopolitical context, most conservation efforts have used a systematic approach to understand factors limiting populations and o identify possible management or policy actions. This approach generally includes a priori identification of plausible hypotheses about population declines or status, incorporation of hypotheses into conceptual or quantitative planning models, and the use of some form of structured decision making and adaptive management to develop and implement conservation actions in the face of many uncertainties. A climate of collaboration among jurisdictions sharing these birds is important to the success of a conservation or management programme. The structured conservation approach exemplified herein provides an opportunity to involve stakeholders at all planning stages, allows for all views to be examined and incorporated into model structures, and yields a format for improved communication, cooperation and learning, which may ultimately be one of the greatest benefits of this strategy.
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Remote sensing of ecosystem health: opportunities, challenges, and future perspectives.
Li, Zhaoqin; Xu, Dandan; Guo, Xulin
2014-11-07
Maintaining a healthy ecosystem is essential for maximizing sustainable ecological services of the best quality to human beings. Ecological and conservation research has provided a strong scientific background on identifying ecological health indicators and correspondingly making effective conservation plans. At the same time, ecologists have asserted a strong need for spatially explicit and temporally effective ecosystem health assessments based on remote sensing data. Currently, remote sensing of ecosystem health is only based on one ecosystem attribute: vigor, organization, or resilience. However, an effective ecosystem health assessment should be a comprehensive and dynamic measurement of the three attributes. This paper reviews opportunities of remote sensing, including optical, radar, and LiDAR, for directly estimating indicators of the three ecosystem attributes, discusses the main challenges to develop a remote sensing-based spatially-explicit comprehensive ecosystem health system, and provides some future perspectives. The main challenges to develop a remote sensing-based spatially-explicit comprehensive ecosystem health system are: (1) scale issue; (2) transportability issue; (3) data availability; and (4) uncertainties in health indicators estimated from remote sensing data. However, the Radarsat-2 constellation, upcoming new optical sensors on Worldview-3 and Sentinel-2 satellites, and improved technologies for the acquisition and processing of hyperspectral, multi-angle optical, radar, and LiDAR data and multi-sensoral data fusion may partly address the current challenges.
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Remote Sensing of Ecosystem Health: Opportunities, Challenges, and Future Perspectives
Li, Zhaoqin; Xu, Dandan; Guo, Xulin
2014-01-01
Maintaining a healthy ecosystem is essential for maximizing sustainable ecological services of the best quality to human beings. Ecological and conservation research has provided a strong scientific background on identifying ecological health indicators and correspondingly making effective conservation plans. At the same time, ecologists have asserted a strong need for spatially explicit and temporally effective ecosystem health assessments based on remote sensing data. Currently, remote sensing of ecosystem health is only based on one ecosystem attribute: vigor, organization, or resilience. However, an effective ecosystem health assessment should be a comprehensive and dynamic measurement of the three attributes. This paper reviews opportunities of remote sensing, including optical, radar, and LiDAR, for directly estimating indicators of the three ecosystem attributes, discusses the main challenges to develop a remote sensing-based spatially-explicit comprehensive ecosystem health system, and provides some future perspectives. The main challenges to develop a remote sensing-based spatially-explicit comprehensive ecosystem health system are: (1) scale issue; (2) transportability issue; (3) data availability; and (4) uncertainties in health indicators estimated from remote sensing data. However, the Radarsat-2 constellation, upcoming new optical sensors on Worldview-3 and Sentinel-2 satellites, and improved technologies for the acquisition and processing of hyperspectral, multi-angle optical, radar, and LiDAR data and multi-sensoral data fusion may partly address the current challenges. PMID:25386759
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Resource Conservation and a Sustainable Las Vegas
DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)
Piechota, Thomas C.
2014-05-15
This research project developed educational, research, and outreach activities that addressed the challenges of Las Vegas as related to a secure energy supply through conservation, clean and adequate water supply, economic growth and diversification, air quality, and the best use of land, and usable public places. This was part of the UNLV Urban Sustainability Initiative (USI) that responded to a community and state need where a unifying vision of sustainability was developed in a cost-effective manner that promoted formal working partnerships between government, community groups, and industry.
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Botanic gardens and the conservation of tree species.
Oldfield, Sara F
2009-11-01
The general role of botanic gardens in plant conservation has been widely accepted since the 1970s and many threatened plant species are now in well-documented living collections and seed banks. Conserving tree species in ex situ collections still presents particular challenges. Many trees have so-called 'recalcitrant' seeds that cannot be stored in conventional seed banks and the sheer size of living trees restricts the number of individuals of a particular species that can be grown in a botanic garden. Even if space is available, is ex situ conservation a desirable option and how does this compare with conserving tree species in their natural habitats? In reality, conservation action for globally threatened tree species, by either in situ or ex situ means, remains inadequate and steps should be taken to combine approaches to prevent the urgent loss of tree species worldwide.
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Dynamic conservation for migratory species
Reynolds, Mark D.; Sullivan, Brian L.; Hallstein, Eric; Matsumoto, Sandra; Kelling, Steve; Merrifield, Matthew; Fink, Daniel; Johnston, Alison; Hochachka, Wesley M.; Bruns, Nicholas E.; Reiter, Matthew E.; Veloz, Sam; Hickey, Catherine; Elliott, Nathan; Martin, Leslie; Fitzpatrick, John W.; Spraycar, Paul; Golet, Gregory H.; McColl, Christopher; Low, Candace; Morrison, Scott A.
2017-01-01
In an era of unprecedented and rapid global change, dynamic conservation strategies that tailor the delivery of habitat to when and where it is most needed can be critical for the persistence of species, especially those with diverse and dispersed habitat requirements. We demonstrate the effectiveness of such a strategy for migratory waterbirds. We analyzed citizen science and satellite data to develop predictive models of bird populations and the availability of wetlands, which we used to determine temporal and spatial gaps in habitat during a vital stage of the annual migration. We then filled those gaps using a reverse auction marketplace to incent qualifying landowners to create temporary wetlands on their properties. This approach is a cost-effective way of adaptively meeting habitat needs for migratory species, optimizes conservation outcomes relative to investment, and can be applied broadly to other conservation challenges. PMID:28845449
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PAD-US: National Inventory of Protected Areas
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.
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Conservation markets for wildlife management with case studies from whaling.
Gerber, Leah R; Costello, Christopher; Gaines, Steven D
2014-01-01
Although market-based incentives have helped resolve many environmental challenges, conservation markets still play a relatively minor role in wildlife management. Establishing property rights for environmental goods and allowing trade between resource extractors and resource conservationists may offer a path forward in conserving charismatic species like whales, wolves, turtles, and sharks. In this paper, we provide a conceptual model for implementing a conservation market for wildlife and evaluate how such a market could be applied to three case studies for whales (minke [Balaenoptera acutorostrata], bowhead [Balaena mysticetus], and gray [Eschrictius robustus]). We show that, if designed and operated properly, such a market could ensure persistence of imperiled populations, while simultaneously improving the welfare of resource harvesters.
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Shapcott, Alison; Forster, Paul I; Guymer, Gordon P; McDonald, William J F; Faith, Daniel P; Erickson, David; Kress, W John
2015-01-01
Australian rainforests have been fragmented due to past climatic changes and more recently landscape change as a result of clearing for agriculture and urban spread. The subtropical rainforests of South Eastern Queensland are significantly more fragmented than the tropical World Heritage listed northern rainforests and are subject to much greater human population pressures. The Australian rainforest flora is relatively taxonomically rich at the family level, but less so at the species level. Current methods to assess biodiversity based on species numbers fail to adequately capture this richness at higher taxonomic levels. We developed a DNA barcode library for the SE Queensland rainforest flora to support a methodology for biodiversity assessment that incorporates both taxonomic diversity and phylogenetic relationships. We placed our SE Queensland phylogeny based on a three marker DNA barcode within a larger international rainforest barcode library and used this to calculate phylogenetic diversity (PD). We compared phylo- diversity measures, species composition and richness and ecosystem diversity of the SE Queensland rainforest estate to identify which bio subregions contain the greatest rainforest biodiversity, subregion relationships and their level of protection. We identified areas of highest conservation priority. Diversity was not correlated with rainforest area in SE Queensland subregions but PD was correlated with both the percent of the subregion occupied by rainforest and the diversity of regional ecosystems (RE) present. The patterns of species diversity and phylogenetic diversity suggest a strong influence of historical biogeography. Some subregions contain significantly more PD than expected by chance, consistent with the concept of refugia, while others were significantly phylogenetically clustered, consistent with recent range expansions.
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Special issue: Comparative biogeography of Neotropical primates.
Lynch Alfaro, Jessica W; Cortés-Ortiz, Liliana; Di Fiore, Anthony; Boubli, Jean P
2015-01-01
New research presented in this special issue of Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution on the "Phylogeny and Biogeography of Neotropical Primates" greatly improves our understanding of the evolutionary history of the New World monkeys and provides insights into the multiple platyrrhine radiations, diversifications, extinctions, and recolonizations that have taken place over time and over space in the Neotropics. Here, we synthesize genetic and biogeographic research from the past several years to construct an overarching hypothesis for platyrrhine evolution. We also highlight continuing controversies in Neotropical primate biogeography, such as whether the location of origin of platyrrhines was Africa or Asia; whether Patagonian fossil primates are stem or crown platyrrhines; and whether cis- and trans-Andean Neotropical primates were subject to vicariance through Andes mountain building, or instead diversified through isolation in mountain valleys after skirting around the Andes on the northwestern coast of South America. We also consider the role of the Amazon River and its major tributaries in shaping platyrrhine biodiversity, and how and when primates from the Amazon reached the Atlantic Forest. A key focus is on primate colonizations and extirpations in Central America, the Andes, and the seasonally dry tropical forests and savannas (such as the Llanos, Caatinga, and Cerrado habitats), all ecosystems that have been understudied up until now for primates. We suggest that most primates currently inhabiting drier open habitats are relatively recent arrivals, having expanded from rainforest habitats in the Pleistocene. We point to the Pitheciidae as the taxonomic group most in need of further phylogenetic and biogeographic research. Additionally, genomic studies on the Platyrrhini are deeply needed and are expected to bring new surprises and insights to the field of Neotropical primate biogeography. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
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Chen, Weidong; Pan, Yongbo; Yu, Lingyu; Yang, Jun; Zhang, Wenjing
2017-01-01
Microeukaryotes play key roles in the structure and functioning of marine ecosystems. Little is known about the relative importance of the processes that drive planktonic and benthic microeukaryotic biogeography in subtropical offshore areas. This study compares the microeukaryotic community compositions (MCCs) from offshore waters (n = 12) and intertidal sediments (n = 12) around Xiamen Island, southern China, using high-throughput sequencing of 18S rDNA. This work further quantifies the relative contributions of spatial and environmental variables on the distribution of marine MCCs (including total, dominant, rare and conditionally rare taxa). Our results showed that planktonic and benthic MCCs were significantly different, and the benthic richness (6627 OTUs) was much higher than that for plankton (4044 OTUs) with the same sequencing effort. Further, we found that benthic MCCs exhibited a significant distance-decay relationship, whereas the planktonic communities did not. After removing two unique sites (N2 and N3), however, 72% variation in planktonic community was explained well by stochastic processes. More importantly, both the environmental and spatial factors played significant roles in influencing the biogeography of total and dominant planktonic and benthic microeukaryotic communities, although their relative effects on these community variations were different. However, a high proportion of unexplained variation in the rare taxa (78.1–97.4%) and conditionally rare taxa (49.0–81.0%) indicated that more complex mechanisms may influence the assembly of the rare subcommunity. These results demonstrate that patterns and processes in marine microeukaryotic community assembly differ among the different habitats (coastal water vs. intertidal sediment) and different communities (total, dominant, rare and conditionally rare microeukaryotes), and provide novel insight on the microeukaryotic biogeography and ecological mechanisms in coastal waters and intertidal sediments at local scale. PMID:29075237
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Creative Conservation Communication
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Houston, Jason
2015-04-01
I am a fellow with the International League of Conservation photographers (iLCP) and have been focused on photographing conservation dynamics at the intersection of social and environmental issues for a decade. Subjects have included traditional concerns such as deforestation, water conservation, endangered species, and fisheries. However, I rarely make photographs of the traditional nature, wildlife, landscapes, or environmental atrocities that most people think of when they think about environmentalism. Instead, I photograph people and how they live on the planet, as I believe passionately that without also considering social and cultural concerns, we will not be able to effectively and sustainably do conservation work or achieve positive environmental change. My presentation will share recent photography projects on forest conservation in Indonesian Borneo and fisheries management in Central America where I used a 'stakeholder profile-based' process to broadly survey the complexity of the issues while also making personal connections for these projects' diverse audiences. Through these case studies I will explore the opportunities and challenges of combining the authenticity, accuracy, and scientific validity of journalistic and documentary work with the emotional impact of the conventions of art and storytelling.
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Sokolow, Sharona; Godwin, Hilary
2016-01-01
Objectives. To determine how urban water conservation strategies in California cities can affect water and energy conservation efforts, reduce greenhouse gas emissions, and benefit public health. Methods. We expanded upon our 2014 health impact assessment of California's urban water conservation strategies by comparing the status quo to 2 options with the greatest potential impact on the interrelated issues of water and energy in California: (1) banning landscape irrigation and (2) expanding alternative water sources (e.g., desalination, recycled water). Results. Among the water conservation strategies evaluated, expanded use of recycled water stood out as the water conservation strategy with potential to reduce water use, energy use, and greenhouse gas emissions, with relatively small negative impacts for the public’s health. Conclusions. Although the suitability of recycled water for urban uses depends on local climate, geography, current infrastructure, and finances, analyses similar to that presented here can help guide water policy decisions in cities across the globe facing challenges of supplying clean, sustainable water to urban populations. PMID:26985606
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Saving the superstar: a review of the social factors affecting tiger conservation in India.
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.
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Giant panda conservation science: how far we have come.
Swaisgood, Ronald R; Wei, Fuwen; Wildt, David E; Kouba, Andrew J; Zhang, Zejun
2010-04-23
The giant panda is a conservation icon, but science has been slow to take up its cause in earnest. In the past decade, researchers have been making up for lost time, as reflected in the flurry of activity reported at the symposium Conservation Science for Giant Pandas and Their Habitat at the 2009 International Congress for Conservation Biology (ICCB) in Beijing. In reports addressing topics ranging from spatial ecology to molecular censusing, from habitat recovery in newly established reserves to earthquake-induced habitat loss, from new insights into factors limiting carrying capacity to the uncertain effects of climate change, this symposium displayed the vibrant and blossoming application of science to giant panda conservation. Collectively, we find that we have come a long way, but we also reach an all-too-familiar conclusion: the more we know, the more challenges are revealed. While many earlier findings are supported, many of our assumptions are debatable. Here we discuss recent advancements in conservation science for giant pandas and suggest that the way forward is more direct application of emerging science to management and policy.
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The migratory bird treaty and a century of waterfowl conservation
Anderson, Michael G.; Alisauskas, Ray T.; Batt, Bruce D. J.; Blohm, Robert J.; Higgins, Kenneth F.; Perry, Matthew; Ringelman, James K.; Sedinger, James S.; Serie, Jerome R.; Sharp, David E.; Trauger, David L.; Williams, Christopher K.
2018-01-01
In the final decades of the nineteenth century, concern was building about the status of migratory bird populations in North America. In this literature review, we describe how that concern led to a landmark conservation agreement in 1916, between the United States and Great Britain (on behalf of Canada) to conserve migratory birds shared by Canada and the United States. Drawing on published literature and our personal experience, we describe how subsequent enabling acts in both countries gave rise to efforts to better estimate population sizes and distributions, assess harvest rates and demographic impacts, design and fund landscape-level habitat conservation initiatives, and organize necessary political and regulatory processes. Executing these steps required large-scale thinking, unprecedented regional and international cooperation, ingenuity, and a commitment to scientific rigor and adaptive management. We applaud the conservation efforts begun 100 years ago with the Migratory Bird Treaty Convention. The agreement helped build the field of wildlife ecology and conservation in the twentieth century but only partially prepares us for the ecological and social challenges ahead.
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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
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Allen, Arthur W.; Vandever, Mark W.
2012-01-01
The following bibliography presents brief summaries of documents relevant to Conservation Reserve Program relations to wildlife habitat, habitat management in agriculturally dominated landscapes, and conservation policies potentially affecting wildlife habitats in agricultural ecosystems. Because the literature summaries furnished provide only sweeping overviews, users are urged to obtain and evaluate those papers appearing useful to obtain a more complete understanding of study findings and their implications to conservation in agricultural ecosystems. The bibliography contains references to reports that reach beyond topics that directly relate to the Conservation Reserve Program. Sections addressing grassland management and landowner surveys/opinions, for example, furnish information useful for enhancing development and administration of conservation policies affecting lands beyond those enrolled in conservation programs. Some sections of the bibliography (for example, agricultural conservation policy, economics, soils) are far from inclusive of all relevant material written on the subject. Hopefully, these sections will serve as fundamental introductions to related issues. In a few instances, references may be presented in more than one section of the bibliography. For example, individual papers specifically addressing both non-game and game birds are included in respective sections of the bibliography. Duplication of citations and associated notes has, however, been kept to a minimum.
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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).
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How much is enough? The recurrent problem of setting measurable objectives in conservation
Tear, T.H.; Kareiva, P.; Angermeier, P.L.; Comer, P.; Czech, B.; Kautz, R.; Landon, L.; Mehlman, D.; Murphy, K.; Ruckelshaus, M.; Scott, J.M.; Wilhere, G.
2005-01-01
International agreements, environmental laws, resource management agencies, and environmental nongovernmental organizations all establish objectives that define what they hope to accomplish. Unfortunately, quantitative objectives in conservation are typically set without consistency and scientific rigor. As a result, conservationists are failing to provide credible answers to the question "How much is enough?" This is a serious problem because objectives profoundly shape where and how limited conservation resources are spent, and help to create a shared vision for the future. In this article we develop guidelines to help steer conservation biologists and practitioners through the process of objective setting. We provide three case studies to highlight the practical challenges of objective setting in different social, political, and legal contexts. We also identify crucial gaps in our science, including limited knowledge of species distributions and of large-scale, long-term ecosystem dynamics, that must be filled if we hope to do better than setting conservation objectives through intuition and best guesses. ?? 2005 American Institute of Biological Sciences.
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Perceptions of risk in communities near parks in an African biodiversity hotspot.
Hartter, Joel; Dowhaniuk, Nicholas; MacKenzie, Catrina A; Ryan, Sadie J; Diem, Jeremy E; Palace, Michael W; Chapman, Colin A
2016-10-01
Understanding conservation and livelihood threats in park landscapes is important to informing conservation policy. To identify threats, we examined perceived risks of residents living near three national parks in Uganda. We used cross-sectional household data to document, rank, and measure severity of perceived risks. Three risk categories, grouped into protected area, climate, and health, were cited by 80 % of respondents and received the highest severity scores. Elevation, proximity to the park, local forest loss, recent population change, and measures of poverty were the most important variables in predicting whether or not an individual identified these risks as the most or second most severe risk. Health issues were cited throughout the landscape, while problems attributed to climate (mainly insufficient rainfall) were reported to be most severe farther from the park. Increased population density was associated with increased perceived risk of health challenges, but decreased perceived risks attributed to the park and climate. Participatory risk mapping provides the opportunity to make standardized comparisons across sites, to help identify commonalities and differences, as a first step to examining the degree to which conservation management might address some of these local challenges and where mitigation techniques might be transferable between different sites or conflict scenarios.
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Temporary wetlands: Challenges and solutions to conserving a ‘disappearing’ ecosystem
Calhoun, Aram J.K.; Mushet, David M.; Bell, Kathleen P.; Boix, Dani; Fitzsimons, James A.; Isselin-Nondedeu, Francis
2017-01-01
Frequent drying of ponded water, and support of unique, highly specialized assemblages of often rare species, characterize temporary wetlands, such as vernal pools, gilgais, and prairie potholes. As small aquatic features embedded in a terrestrial landscape, temporary wetlands enhance biodiversity and provide aesthetic, biogeochemical, and hydrologic functions. Challenges to conserving temporary wetlands include the need to: (1) integrate freshwater and terrestrial biodiversity priorities; (2) conserve entire ‘pondscapes’ defined by connections to other aquatic and terrestrial systems; (3) maintain natural heterogeneity in environmental gradients across and within wetlands, especially gradients in hydroperiod; (4) address economic impact on landowners and developers; (5) act without complete inventories of these wetlands; and (6) work within limited or non-existent regulatory protections. Because temporary wetlands function as integral landscape components, not singly as isolated entities, their cumulative loss is ecologically detrimental yet not currently part of the conservation calculus. We highlight approaches that use strategies for conserving temporary wetlands in increasingly human-dominated landscapes that integrate top-down management and bottom-up collaborative approaches. Diverse conservation activities (including education, inventory, protection, sustainable management, and restoration) that reduce landowner and manager costs while achieving desired ecological objectives will have the greatest probability of success in meeting conservation goals.
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Biogeography of worm lizards (Amphisbaenia) driven by end-Cretaceous mass extinction.
Longrich, Nicholas R; Vinther, Jakob; Pyron, R Alexander; Pisani, Davide; Gauthier, Jacques A
2015-05-07
Worm lizards (Amphisbaenia) are burrowing squamates that live as subterranean predators. Their underground existence should limit dispersal, yet they are widespread throughout the Americas, Europe and Africa. This pattern was traditionally explained by continental drift, but molecular clocks suggest a Cenozoic diversification, long after the break-up of Pangaea, implying dispersal. Here, we describe primitive amphisbaenians from the North American Palaeocene, including the oldest known amphisbaenian, and provide new and older molecular divergence estimates for the clade, showing that worm lizards originated in North America, then radiated and dispersed in the Palaeogene following the Cretaceous-Palaeogene (K-Pg) extinction. This scenario implies at least three trans-oceanic dispersals: from North America to Europe, from North America to Africa and from Africa to South America. Amphisbaenians provide a striking case study in biogeography, suggesting that the role of continental drift in biogeography may be overstated. Instead, these patterns support Darwin and Wallace's hypothesis that the geographical ranges of modern clades result from dispersal, including oceanic rafting. Mass extinctions may facilitate dispersal events by eliminating competitors and predators that would otherwise hinder establishment of dispersing populations, removing biotic barriers to dispersal. © 2015 The Author(s) Published by the Royal Society. All rights reserved.
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Why social values cannot be changed for the sake of conservation.
Manfredo, Michael J; Bruskotter, Jeremy T; Teel, Tara L; Fulton, David; Schwartz, Shalom H; Arlinghaus, Robert; Oishi, Shigehiro; Uskul, Ayse K; Redford, Kent; Kitayama, Shinobu; Sullivan, Leeann
2017-08-01
The hope for creating widespread change in social values has endured among conservation professionals since early calls by Aldo Leopold for a "land ethic." However, there has been little serious attention in conservation to the fields of investigation that address values, how they are formed, and how they change. We introduce a social-ecological systems conceptual approach in which values are seen not only as motivational goals people hold but also as ideas that are deeply embedded in society's material culture, collective behaviors, traditions, and institutions. Values define and bind groups, organizations, and societies; serve an adaptive role; and are typically stable across generations. When abrupt value changes occur, they are in response to substantial alterations in the social-ecological context. Such changes build on prior value structures and do not result in complete replacement. Given this understanding of values, we conclude that deliberate efforts to orchestrate value shifts for conservation are unlikely to be effective. Instead, there is an urgent need for research on values with a multilevel and dynamic view that can inform innovative conservation strategies for working within existing value structures. New directions facilitated by a systems approach will enhance understanding of the role values play in shaping conservation challenges and improve management of the human component of conservation. © 2016 The Authors. Conservation Biology published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc. on behalf of Society for Conservation Biology.
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Biogeography of worm lizards (Amphisbaenia) driven by end-Cretaceous mass extinction
Longrich, Nicholas R.; Vinther, Jakob; Pyron, R. Alexander; Pisani, Davide; Gauthier, Jacques A.
2015-01-01
Worm lizards (Amphisbaenia) are burrowing squamates that live as subterranean predators. Their underground existence should limit dispersal, yet they are widespread throughout the Americas, Europe and Africa. This pattern was traditionally explained by continental drift, but molecular clocks suggest a Cenozoic diversification, long after the break-up of Pangaea, implying dispersal. Here, we describe primitive amphisbaenians from the North American Palaeocene, including the oldest known amphisbaenian, and provide new and older molecular divergence estimates for the clade, showing that worm lizards originated in North America, then radiated and dispersed in the Palaeogene following the Cretaceous-Palaeogene (K-Pg) extinction. This scenario implies at least three trans-oceanic dispersals: from North America to Europe, from North America to Africa and from Africa to South America. Amphisbaenians provide a striking case study in biogeography, suggesting that the role of continental drift in biogeography may be overstated. Instead, these patterns support Darwin and Wallace's hypothesis that the geographical ranges of modern clades result from dispersal, including oceanic rafting. Mass extinctions may facilitate dispersal events by eliminating competitors and predators that would otherwise hinder establishment of dispersing populations, removing biotic barriers to dispersal. PMID:25833855
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Divergence in sink contributions to population persistence
Population sinks present unique conservation challenges. The loss of animals in sinks can compromise persistence. Conversely, sinks can bolster population sizes, improving viability. To assess the contribution of sinks to regional persistence, we simulated the removal of sink hab...
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The Importance of Rotational Crops for Biodiversity Conservation in Mediterranean Areas
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
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Divergence in sink contributions to population persistence (journal article)
Population sinks present unique conservation challenges. The loss of individuals in sinks can compromise persistence; but conversely, sinks can improve viability by improving connectivity and facilitating the recolonization of vacant sources. To assess the contribution of sinks t...
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Seidensticker, John
2010-12-01
Wild tigers are being annihilated. Tiger range countries and their partners met at the 1st Asian Ministerial Conference on Tiger Conservation in January 2010 to mandate the creation of the Global Tiger Recovery Program to double the number of tigers by 2022. Only 3200-3600 wild adult tigers remain, approximately half of the population estimated a decade ago. Tigers now live in only 13 countries, all of which are experiencing severe environmental challenges and degradation from the effects of human population growth, brisk economic expansion, rapid urbanization, massive infrastructure development and climate change. The overarching challenge of tiger conservation, and the conservation of biodiversity generally, is that there is insufficient demand for the survival of wild tigers living in natural landscapes. This allows the criminal activities of poaching wild tigers and their prey and trafficking in tiger derivatives to flourish and tiger landscapes to be diminished. The Global Tiger Recovery Program will support scaling up of practices already proven effective in one or more tiger range countries that need wider policy support, usually resources, and new transnational actions that enhance the effectiveness of individual country actions. The program is built on robust National Tiger Recovery Priorities that are grouped into themes: (i) strengthening policies that protect tigers; (ii) protecting tiger conservation landscapes; (iii) scientific management and monitoring; (iv) engaging communities; (v) cooperative management of international tiger landscapes; (vi) eliminating transnational illegal wildlife trade; (vii) persuading people to stop consuming tiger; (viii) enhancing professional capacity of policy-makers and practitioners; and (ix) developing sustainable, long-term financing mechanisms for tiger and biodiversity conservation. © 2010 ISZS, Blackwell Publishing and IOZ/CAS.
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Ecological Insights from Pelagic Habitats Acquired Using Active Acoustic Techniques.
Benoit-Bird, Kelly J; Lawson, Gareth L
2016-01-01
Marine pelagic ecosystems present fascinating opportunities for ecological investigation but pose important methodological challenges for sampling. Active acoustic techniques involve producing sound and receiving signals from organisms and other water column sources, offering the benefit of high spatial and temporal resolution and, via integration into different platforms, the ability to make measurements spanning a range of spatial and temporal scales. As a consequence, a variety of questions concerning the ecology of pelagic systems lend themselves to active acoustics, ranging from organism-level investigations and physiological responses to the environment to ecosystem-level studies and climate. As technologies and data analysis methods have matured, the use of acoustics in ecological studies has grown rapidly. We explore the continued role of active acoustics in addressing questions concerning life in the ocean, highlight creative applications to key ecological themes ranging from physiology and behavior to biogeography and climate, and discuss emerging avenues where acoustics can help determine how pelagic ecosystems function.
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The Importance of Rotational Crops for Biodiversity Conservation in Mediterranean Areas.
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.
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Conservation Paleobiology: Leveraging Knowledge of the Past to Inform Conservation and Restoration
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Dietl, Gregory P.; Kidwell, Susan M.; Brenner, Mark; Burney, David A.; Flessa, Karl W.; Jackson, Stephen T.; Koch, Paul L.
2015-05-01
Humans now play a major role in altering Earth and its biota. Finding ways to ameliorate human impacts on biodiversity and to sustain and restore the ecosystem services on which we depend is a grand scientific and societal challenge. Conservation paleobiology is an emerging discipline that uses geohistorical data to meet these challenges by developing and testing models of how biota respond to environmental stressors. Here we (a) describe how the discipline has already provided insights about biotic responses to key environmental stressors, (b) outline research aimed at disentangling the effects of multiple stressors, (c) provide examples of deliverables for managers and policy makers, and (d) identify methodological advances in geohistorical analysis that will foster the next major breakthroughs in conservation outcomes. We highlight cases for which exclusive reliance on observations of living biota may lead researchers to erroneous conclusions about the nature and magnitude of biotic change, vulnerability, and resilience.
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Conservation paleobiology: Leveraging knowledge of the past to inform conservation and restoration
Dietl, Gregory P.; Kidwell, Susan M.; Brenner, Mark; Burney, David A.; Flessa, Karl W.; Jackson, Stephen T.; Koch, Paul L.
2015-01-01
Humans now play a major role in altering Earth and its biota. Finding ways to ameliorate human impacts on biodiversity and to sustain and restore the ecosystem services on which we depend is a grand scientific and societal challenge. Conservation paleobiology is an emerging discipline that uses geohistorical data to meet these challenges by developing and testing models of how biota respond to environmental stressors. Here we (a) describe how the discipline has already provided insights about biotic responses to key environmental stressors, (b) outline research aimed at disentangling the effects of multiple stressors, (c) provide examples of deliverables for managers and policy makers, and (d) identify methodological advances in geohistorical analysis that will foster the next major breakthroughs in conservation outcomes. We highlight cases for which exclusive reliance on observations of living biota may lead researchers to erroneous conclusions about the nature and magnitude of biotic change, vulnerability, and resilience.
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Applications of species distribution modeling to paleobiology
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Svenning, Jens-Christian; Fløjgaard, Camilla; Marske, Katharine A.; Nógues-Bravo, David; Normand, Signe
2011-10-01
Species distribution modeling (SDM: statistical and/or mechanistic approaches to the assessment of range determinants and prediction of species occurrence) offers new possibilities for estimating and studying past organism distributions. SDM complements fossil and genetic evidence by providing (i) quantitative and potentially high-resolution predictions of the past organism distributions, (ii) statistically formulated, testable ecological hypotheses regarding past distributions and communities, and (iii) statistical assessment of range determinants. In this article, we provide an overview of applications of SDM to paleobiology, outlining the methodology, reviewing SDM-based studies to paleobiology or at the interface of paleo- and neobiology, discussing assumptions and uncertainties as well as how to handle them, and providing a synthesis and outlook. Key methodological issues for SDM applications to paleobiology include predictor variables (types and properties; special emphasis is given to paleoclimate), model validation (particularly important given the emphasis on cross-temporal predictions in paleobiological applications), and the integration of SDM and genetics approaches. Over the last few years the number of studies using SDM to address paleobiology-related questions has increased considerably. While some of these studies only use SDM (23%), most combine them with genetically inferred patterns (49%), paleoecological records (22%), or both (6%). A large number of SDM-based studies have addressed the role of Pleistocene glacial refugia in biogeography and evolution, especially in Europe, but also in many other regions. SDM-based approaches are also beginning to contribute to a suite of other research questions, such as historical constraints on current distributions and diversity patterns, the end-Pleistocene megafaunal extinctions, past community assembly, human paleobiogeography, Holocene paleoecology, and even deep-time biogeography (notably, providing insights into biogeographic dynamics >400 million years ago). We discuss important assumptions and uncertainties that affect the SDM approach to paleobiology - the equilibrium postulate, niche stability, changing atmospheric CO 2 concentrations - as well as ways to address these (ensemble, functional SDM, and non-SDM ecoinformatics approaches). We conclude that the SDM approach offers important opportunities for advances in paleobiology by providing a quantitative ecological perspective, and hereby also offers the potential for an enhanced contribution of paleobiology to ecology and conservation biology, e.g., for estimating climate change impacts and for informing ecological restoration.
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NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Hemati, A.; Rippy, M.; Grant, S. B.
2015-12-01
As global populations grow, cities in drought prone regions of the world such as California and South East Australia are faced with escalating water scarcity and water security challenges. The management approaches geared towards addressing these challenges are diverse. Given the myriad of possible approaches and the tendency to apply them in combination, successful management actions can be difficult to identify. Background climactic variability further complicates the story, making transfer of management lessons from one drought stressed region to another difficult. Here we use Melbourne, a city of 4.3 million people in South East Australia that recently faced and overcame a > 10 year "Millennium" drought, as a test case for evaluating the relative importance of various management-related and climactic factors in driving reductions in municipal water consumption (~60% in 12 years). Our analysis suggests that Melbourne's declining municipal consumption cannot be explained by potable substitution alone, as reductions in municipal consumption were not matched by increased use of alternative sources (e.g., urban rain or recycled water). Thus, water conservation behavior (not source switching) may be responsible for the majority of demand reduction in Melbourne. Interestingly, while voluntary or mandatory water restrictions appear to have substantially altered the rate of change of consumption near the end of Melbourne's Millennium drought (e.g., forcing a period of intense conservation), overall conservation behavior precedes these restrictions. This suggests that other rapidly implemented (and hither too unquantified) management approaches such as advertising or newspapers may have driven water conservation behavior early in the drought. Climatic factors, particularly precipitation may also have influenced conservation behavior; changes in precipitation were significantly positively correlated with changes in water consumption at a lag of 18 months. Similar correlations with reduced lags were observed between reservoir inflow and consumption (lag = 15 months), and reservoir storage and consumption (lag = 9 months), suggesting that the effects of precipitation on consumption may be indirect, and linked to its effects on reservoir storage and public perception of water security.
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Conservation Genetics of the Cheetah: Lessons Learned and New Opportunities.
O'Brien, Stephen J; Johnson, Warren E; Driscoll, Carlos A; Dobrynin, Pavel; Marker, Laurie
2017-09-01
The dwindling wildlife species of our planet have become a cause célèbre for conservation groups, governments, and concerned citizens throughout the world. The application of powerful new genetic technologies to surviving populations of threatened mammals has revolutionized our ability to recognize hidden perils that afflict them. We have learned new lessons of survival, adaptation, and evolution from viewing the natural history of genomes in hundreds of detailed studies. A single case history of one species, the African cheetah, Acinonyx jubatus, is here reviewed to reveal a long-term story of conservation challenges and action informed by genetic discoveries and insights. A synthesis of 3 decades of data, interpretation, and controversy, capped by whole genome sequence analysis of cheetahs, provides a compelling tale of conservation relevance and action to protect this species and other threatened wildlife. © The American Genetic Association 2017. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com.
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The conservation of sea otters: a prelude
Bodkin, James L.; Larson, Shawn E.
2015-01-01
The story of sea otters over the past 275 years chronicles their decline to near extinction and the roads to recovery that cross various conflicts, and in the end provides lessons that will aid the conservation of other threatened species and compromised ecosystems. Sea otters inspire strong human emotions ranging from adoration to disdain. They are protected internationally, federally, and at state and local levels, yet still face a diversity of threats, representing the legacy of their decline as well as emerging consequences from the ever-deepening imprint of the human endeavor. Here we briefly introduce the species, chronicle its history of near-demise and subsequent recovery, and highlight several conservation successes and challenges. In this volume we bring together scientists with significant knowledge of and experience with the sea otter and its ecosystems to share lessons learned and consider how these might be used to aid in the enterprise of conservation more broadly.
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Valuing biodiversity and ecosystem services: a useful way to manage and conserve marine resources?
Broszeit, Stefanie; Pilling, Graham M.; Grant, Susie M.; Austen, Melanie C.
2016-01-01
Valuation of biodiversity and ecosystem services (ES) is widely recognized as a useful, though often controversial, approach to conservation and management. However, its use in the marine environment, hence evidence of its efficacy, lags behind that in terrestrial ecosystems. This largely reflects key challenges to marine conservation and management such as the practical difficulties in studying the ocean, complex governance issues and the historically-rooted separation of biodiversity conservation and resource management. Given these challenges together with the accelerating loss of marine biodiversity (and threats to the ES that this biodiversity supports), we ask whether valuation efforts for marine ecosystems are appropriate and effective. We compare three contrasting systems: the tropical Pacific, Southern Ocean and UK coastal seas. In doing so, we reveal a diversity in valuation approaches with different rates of progress and success. We also find a tendency to focus on specific ES (often the harvested species) rather than biodiversity. In light of our findings, we present a new conceptual view of valuation that should ideally be considered in decision-making. Accounting for the critical relationships between biodiversity and ES, together with an understanding of ecosystem structure and functioning, will enable the wider implications of marine conservation and management decisions to be evaluated. We recommend embedding valuation within existing management structures, rather than treating it as an alternative or additional mechanism. However, we caution that its uptake and efficacy will be compromised without the ability to develop and share best practice across regions. PMID:27928037
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Stochastic Community Assembly: Does It Matter in Microbial Ecology?
Zhou, Jizhong; Ning, Daliang
2017-12-01
Understanding the mechanisms controlling community diversity, functions, succession, and biogeography is a central, but poorly understood, topic in ecology, particularly in microbial ecology. Although stochastic processes are believed to play nonnegligible roles in shaping community structure, their importance relative to deterministic processes is hotly debated. The importance of ecological stochasticity in shaping microbial community structure is far less appreciated. Some of the main reasons for such heavy debates are the difficulty in defining stochasticity and the diverse methods used for delineating stochasticity. Here, we provide a critical review and synthesis of data from the most recent studies on stochastic community assembly in microbial ecology. We then describe both stochastic and deterministic components embedded in various ecological processes, including selection, dispersal, diversification, and drift. We also describe different approaches for inferring stochasticity from observational diversity patterns and highlight experimental approaches for delineating ecological stochasticity in microbial communities. In addition, we highlight research challenges, gaps, and future directions for microbial community assembly research. Copyright © 2017 American Society for Microbiology.
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Evolving Techniques of Documentation of a World Heritage Site in Lahore
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Arif, R.; Essa, K.
2017-08-01
Lahore is an ancient, culturally rich city amidst which are embedded two world heritage sites. The state of historic preservation in the country is impoverished with a dearth of training and poor documentation skills, thus these monuments are decaying and in dire need of attention. The Aga Khan Cultural Service - Pakistan is one of the first working in heritage conservation in the country. AKCSP is currently subjecting the UNESCO World Heritage site of the Mughal era Lahore Fort to an intensive and multi-faceted architectural documentation process. This is presented here as a case study to chart the evolution of documentation techniques and enunciate the spectrum of challenges faced in the documentation of an intricate Mughal heritage site for conservation in the Pakistani context. 3D - laser scanning is used for the purpose of heritage conservation for the first time, and since has been utilised on heritage buildings and urban fabric in ongoing projects. These include Lahore Fort, Walled city of Lahore as well as the Baltit Fort, a project restored in the past, assisting in the maintenance of conserved buildings. The documentation team is currently discovering the full potential of this technology especially its use in heritage conservation simultaneously overcoming challenges faced. Moreover negotiating solutions to auto-generate 2D architectural drawings from the 3D pointcloud output. The historic architecture is juxtaposed with contemporary technology in a region where such a combination is rarely found. The goal is to continually develop the documentation methodologies whilst investigating other technologies in the future.
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Suprayitno, Nano; Narakusumo, Raden Pramesa; von Rintelen, Thomas; Hendrich, Lars; Balke, Michael
2017-01-01
Taxonomy and biogeography can benefit from citizen scientists. The use of social networking and open access cooperative publishing can easily connect naturalists even in more remote areas with in-country scientists and institutions, as well as those abroad. This enables taxonomic efforts without frontiers and at the same time adequate benefit sharing measures. We present new distribution and habitat data for diving beetles of Bali island, Indonesia, as a proof of concept. The species Hydaticus luczonicus Aubé, 1838 and Eretes griseus (Fabricius, 1781) are reported from Bali for the first time. The total number of Dytiscidae species known from Bali is now 34.
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The dynamics of biogeographic ranges in the deep sea
McClain, Craig R.; Hardy, Sarah Mincks
2010-01-01
Anthropogenic disturbances such as fishing, mining, oil drilling, bioprospecting, warming, and acidification in the deep sea are increasing, yet generalities about deep-sea biogeography remain elusive. Owing to the lack of perceived environmental variability and geographical barriers, ranges of deep-sea species were traditionally assumed to be exceedingly large. In contrast, seamount and chemosynthetic habitats with reported high endemicity challenge the broad applicability of a single biogeographic paradigm for the deep sea. New research benefiting from higher resolution sampling, molecular methods and public databases can now more rigorously examine dispersal distances and species ranges on the vast ocean floor. Here, we explore the major outstanding questions in deep-sea biogeography. Based on current evidence, many taxa appear broadly distributed across the deep sea, a pattern replicated in both the abyssal plains and specialized environments such as hydrothermal vents. Cold waters may slow larval metabolism and development augmenting the great intrinsic ability for dispersal among many deep-sea species. Currents, environmental shifts, and topography can prove to be dispersal barriers but are often semipermeable. Evidence of historical events such as points of faunal origin and climatic fluctuations are also evident in contemporary biogeographic ranges. Continued synthetic analysis, database construction, theoretical advancement and field sampling will be required to further refine hypotheses regarding deep-sea biogeography. PMID:20667884
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Xu, Tianle; Veresoglou, Stavros D; Chen, Yongliang; Rillig, Matthias C; Xiang, Dan; Ondřej, Daniel; Hao, Zhipeng; Liu, Lei; Deng, Ye; Hu, Yajun; Chen, Weiping; Wang, Juntao; He, Jizheng; Chen, Baodong
2016-12-01
Arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) are ubiquitous mutualists of terrestrial plants and play key roles in regulating various ecosystem processes, but little is known about AMF biogeography at regional scale. This study aims at exploring the key predictors of AMF communities across a 5000-km transect in northern China. We determined the soil AMF species richness and community composition at 47 sites representative of four vegetation types (meadow steppe, typical steppe, desert steppe and desert) and related them to plant community characteristics, abiotic factors and geographic distance. The results showed that soil pH was the strongest predictor of AMF richness and phylogenetic diversity. However, abiotic factors only have a low predictive effect on AMF community composition or phylogenetic patterns. By contrast, we found a significant relationship between community composition of AMF and plants, which was a surprising result given the extent of heterogeneity in the plant community across this transect. Moreover, the geographic distance predominantly explained the AMF phylogenetic structure, implying that history evolutionary may play a role in shaping AMF biogeographic patterns. This study highlighted the different roles of main factors in predicting AMF biogeography, and bridge landscape-scale studies to more recent global-scale efforts. © 2016 Society for Applied Microbiology and John Wiley & Sons Ltd.
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Biogeography as critical nursing pedagogy: Breathing life into nurse education.
Kyle, Richard G; Atherton, Iain M
2016-09-01
Insights from the social sciences, including geography, sociology, and anthropology, have long been incorporated into pre-registration nursing programmes. However, scholars have suggested that their inclusion has been sporadic and lacks clear theoretical rationale. In this paper we argue anew that the social sciences - and particularly, human geography - could be central to nurse education. Specifically, we recast the concept of 'biogeography' drawn from human geography that emphasises the interplay between life (bio) and place (geo) to propose pedagogy that theoretically justifies and practically enables the inclusion of the social sciences in nurse education. Biogeography can breathe new life into nursing curricula by animating our students through the cultivation of three 'spirits of nursing'. First, a 'spirit of empathy' that can shatter patient-professional dualisms by facilitating person-centred and place-sensitive care. Second, a 'spirit of engagement' that situates practice in social structures awakening a desire to effect change by fomenting an acute sense of social justice. Third, a 'spirit of enquiry' that holds in critical tension the theory-practice gap by fostering continual questioning and pursuit of evidence. In so doing, biogeographical pedagogy releases the latent potential of the social sciences to revitalise nurse education, reinvigorate our students, and renew ourselves as nurse educators. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
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International Barcode of Life: Focus on big biodiversity in South Africa.
Adamowicz, Sarah J; Hollingsworth, Peter M; Ratnasingham, Sujeevan; van der Bank, Michelle
2017-11-01
Participants in the 7th International Barcode of Life Conference (Kruger National Park, South Africa, 20-24 November 2017) share the latest findings in DNA barcoding research and its increasingly diversified applications. Here, we review prevailing trends synthesized from among 429 invited and contributed abstracts, which are collated in this open-access special issue of Genome. Hosted for the first time on the African continent, the 7th Conference places special emphasis on the evolutionary origins, biogeography, and conservation of African flora and fauna. Within Africa and elsewhere, DNA barcoding and related techniques are being increasingly used for wildlife forensics and for the validation of commercial products, such as medicinal plants and seafood species. A striking trend of the conference is the dramatic rise of studies on environmental DNA (eDNA) and on diverse uses of high-throughput sequencing techniques. Emerging techniques in these areas are opening new avenues for environmental biomonitoring, managing species-at-risk and invasive species, and revealing species interaction networks in unprecedented detail. Contributors call for the development of validated community standards for high-throughput sequence data generation and analysis, to enable the full potential of these methods to be realized for understanding and managing biodiversity on a global scale.
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Geomorphic and Hydrological challenges in Africa: implications for soil and water conservation
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Vanmaercke, Matthias; Poesen, Jean
2017-04-01
Expected scenarios of climate change and population growth confront Africa with various important challenges related to food, water and energy security. Many of these challenges are closely linked to the impacts of soil erosion and other geomorphic processes, such as reduced crop yields, sedimentation of reservoirs and reduced freshwater quality. Despite the urgency and extent of many of these challenges, the causes and dynamics of these processes and their impacts remain severely understudied. This becomes apparent when the availability of e.g. soil erosion and catchment sediment export measurements for Africa is compared to that of other continents. Nonetheless, a substantial amount of geomorphic research has been conducted in Africa. Many of this work dates back from several decades ago, and were often only reported in 'gray literature' (e.g. internal reports). Here we present an overview of our current state of knowledge on soil erosion and its implications in Africa. We discuss which geomorphic process rate measurements are currently available and what can be learned from these with respect to the challenged raised above. We especially focus on our current understanding about the effectiveness of soil and water conservation techniques at various spatial and temporal scales. Based on specific case-studies (e.g. in Ethiopia and Uganda) and a meta-analysis of previous work, we highlight some research gaps, research needs and research opportunities when aiming to use Africa's soil and water resources sustainably and efficiently.
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The ecology, restoration, and management of southeastern floodplain ecosystems: a synthesis
King, Sammy L.; Sharitz, Rebecca R.; Groninger, John W.; Battaglia, Loretta L.
2009-01-01
Floodplain ecosystems of the southeastern United States provide numerous services to society, but hydrologic and geomorphic alterations, agricultural practices, water quality and availability, and urban development continue to challenge restorationists and managers at multiple spatial and temporal scales. These challenges are further exacerbated by tremendous uncertainty regarding climate and land use patterns and natural variability in these systems. The symposium from which the papers in 2009 ensued was organized to provide a critical evaluation of current natural resource restoration and management practices to support the sustainability of floodplain ecosystem functions in the southeastern United States. In this paper we synthesize these concepts and evaluate restoration and conservation techniques in light of our understanding of these ecosystems. We also discuss current and future challenges and attempt to identify new approaches that may facilitate the long-term sustainability of southeastern floodplain systems. We conclude thatintegration of disciplines and approaches is necessary to meet the floodplain conservation challenges of the coming century. Integration will not only include purposeful dialogue between interdisciplinary natural resource professionals, but it also is necessary to sincerely engage the public about goals, objectives, and desirable outcomes of floodplain ecosystem restoration.
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2012-01-01
Background Hydrocharitaceae is a fully aquatic monocot family, consists of 18 genera with approximately 120 species. The family includes both fresh and marine aquatics and exhibits great diversity in form and habit including annual and perennial life histories; submersed, partially submersed and floating leaf habits and linear to orbicular leaf shapes. The family has a cosmopolitan distribution and is well represented in the Tertiary fossil record in Europe. At present, the historical biogeography of the family is not well understood and the generic relationships remain controversial. In this study we investigated the phylogeny and biogeography of Hydrocharitaceae by integrating fossils and DNA sequences from eight genes. We also conducted ancestral state reconstruction for three morphological characters. Results Phylogenetic analyses produced a phylogeny with most branches strongly supported by bootstrap values greater than 95 and Bayesian posterior probability values of 1.0. Stratiotes is the first diverging lineage with the remaining genera in two clades, one clade consists of Lagarosiphon, Ottelia, Blyxa, Apalanthe, Elodea and Egeria; and the other consists of Hydrocharis-Limnobium, Thalassia, Enhalus, Halophila, Najas, Hydrilla, Vallisneria, Nechamandra and Maidenia. Biogeographic analyses (DIVA, Mesquite) and divergence time estimates (BEAST) resolved the most recent common ancestor of Hydrocharitaceae as being in Asia during the Late Cretaceous and Palaeocene (54.7-72.6 Ma). Dispersals (including long-distance dispersal and migrations through Tethys seaway and land bridges) probably played major roles in the intercontinental distribution of this family. Ancestral state reconstruction suggested that in Hydrocharitaceae evolution of dioecy is bidirectional, viz., from dioecy to hermaphroditism, and from hermaphroditism to dioecy, and that the aerial-submerged leaf habit and short-linear leaf shape are the ancestral states. Conclusions Our study has shed light on the previously controversial generic phylogeny of Hydrocharitaceae. The study has resolved the historical biogeography of this family and supported dispersal as the most likely explanation for the intercontinental distribution. We have also provided valuable information for understanding the evolution of breeding system and leaf phenotype in aquatic monocots. PMID:22404786
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The ecology, restoration, and management of southeastern floodplain ecosystems: A synthesis
King, S.L.; Sharitz, R.R.; Groninger, John W.; Battaglia, Loretta L.
2009-01-01
Floodplain ecosystems of the southeastern United States provide numerous services to society, but hydrologic and geomorphic alterations, agricultural practices, water quality and availability, and urban development continue to challenge restorationists and managers at multiple spatial and temporal scales. These challenges are further exacerbated by tremendous uncertainty regarding climate and land use patterns and natural variability in these systems. The symposium from which the papers in 2009 ensued was organized to provide a critical evaluation of current natural resource restoration and management practices to support the sustainability of floodplain ecosystem functions in the southeastern United States. In this paper we synthesize these concepts and evaluate restoration and conservation techniques in light of our understanding of these ecosystems. We also discuss current and future challenges and attempt to identify new approaches that may facilitate the long-term sustainability of southeastern floodplain systems. We conclude that integration of disciplines and approaches is necessary to meet the floodplain conservation challenges of the coming century. Integration will not only include purposeful dialogue between interdisciplinary natural resource professionals, but it also is necessary to sincerely engage the public about goals, objectives, and desirable outcomes of floodplain ecosystem restoration. ?? 2009, The Society of Wetland Scientists.
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Why social values cannot be changed for the sake of conservation
Manfredo, Michael J.; Bruskotter, Jeremy T.; Teel, Tara L.; Fulton, David C.; Schwartz, Shalom H.; Arlinghaus, Robert; Oishi, Shigehiro; Uskul, Ayse K.; Redford, Kent; Kitayama, Shinobu; Sullivan, Leeann
2017-01-01
The hope for creating widespread change in social values has endured among conservation professionals since early calls by Aldo Leopold for a “land ethic.” However, there has been little serious attention in conservation to the fields of investigation that address values, how they are formed, and how they change. We introduce a social–ecological systems conceptual approach in which values are seen not only as motivational goals people hold but also as ideas that are deeply embedded in society's material culture, collective behaviors, traditions, and institutions. Values define and bind groups, organizations, and societies; serve an adaptive role; and are typically stable across generations. When abrupt value changes occur, they are in response to substantial alterations in the social–ecological context. Such changes build on prior value structures and do not result in complete replacement. Given this understanding of values, we conclude that deliberate efforts to orchestrate value shifts for conservation are unlikely to be effective. Instead, there is an urgent need for research on values with a multilevel and dynamic view that can inform innovative conservation strategies for working within existing value structures. New directions facilitated by a systems approach will enhance understanding of the role values play in shaping conservation challenges and improve management of the human component of conservation.
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NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Spiteri, Arian; Nepalz, Sanjay K.
2006-01-01
Biodiversity conservation in developing countries has been a challenge because of the combination of rising human populations, rapid technological advances, severe social hardships, and extreme poverty. To address the social, economic, and ecological limitations of people-free parks and reserves, incentives have been incorporated into conservation programs in the hopes of making conservation meaningful to local people. However, such incentive-based programs have been implemented with little consideration for their ability to fulfill promises of greater protection of biodiversity. Evaluations of incentive-based conservation programs indicate that the approach continually falls short of the rhetoric. This article provides an overview of the problems associated with incentive-based conservation approaches in developing countries. It argues that existing incentive-based programs (IBPs) have yet to realize that benefits vary greatly at different “community” scales and that a holistic conceptualization of a community is essential to incorporate the complexities of a heterogeneous community when designing and implementing the IBPs. The spatial complexities involved in correctly identifying the beneficiaries in a community and the short-term focus of IBPs are two major challenges for sustaining conservation efforts. The article suggests improvements in three key areas: accurate identification of “target” beneficiaries, greater inclusion of marginal communities, and efforts to enhance community aptitudes.
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Russell, Amy L.; Pinzari, Corinna A.; Vonhof, Maarten J.; Olival, Kevin J.; Bonaccorso, Frank
2015-01-01
The Hawaiian islands are an extremely isolated oceanic archipelago, and their fauna has long served as models of dispersal in island biogeography. While molecular data have recently been applied to investigate the timing and origin of dispersal events for several animal groups including birds, insects, and snails, these questions have been largely unaddressed in Hawai'i's only native terrestrial mammal, the Hawaiian hoary bat, Lasiurus cinereus semotus. Here, we use molecular data to test the hypotheses that (1) Hawaiian L. c. semotus originated via dispersal from North American populations of L. c. cinereus rather than from South American L. c. villosissimus, and (2) modern Hawaiian populations were founded from a single dispersal event. Contrary to the latter hypothesis, our mitochondrial data support a biogeographic history of multiple, relatively recent dispersals of hoary bats from North America to the Hawaiian islands. Coalescent demographic analyses of multilocus data suggest that modern populations of Hawaiian hoary bats were founded no more than 10 kya. Our finding of multiple evolutionarily significant units in Hawai'i highlights information that should be useful for re-evaluation of the conservation status of hoary bats in Hawai'i.
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Brown, J. R.; Beckenbach, K.; Beckenbach, A. T.; Smith, M. J.
1996-01-01
The extent of mtDNA length variation and heteroplasmy as well as DNA sequences of the control region and two tRNA genes were determined for four North American sturgeon species: Acipenser transmontanus, A. medirostris, A. fulvescens and A. oxyrhnychus. Across the Continental Divide, a division in the occurrence of length variation and heteroplasmy was observed that was concordant with species biogeography as well as with phylogenies inferred from restriction fragment length polymorphisms (RFLP) of whole mtDNA and pairwise comparisons of unique sequences of the control region. In all species, mtDNA length variation was due to repeated arrays of 78-82-bp sequences each containing a D-loop strand synthesis termination associated sequence (TAS). Individual repeats showed greater sequence conservation within individuals and species rather than between species, which is suggestive of concerted evolution. Differences in the frequencies of multiple copy genomes and heteroplasmy among the four species may be ascribed to differences in the rates of recurrent mutation. A mechanism that may offset the high rate of mutation for increased copy number is suggested on the basis that an increase in the number of functional TAS motifs might reduce the frequency of successfully initiated H-strand replications. PMID:8852850
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Orchid conservation: further links.
Fay, Michael F
2016-07-01
Due in great part to their often complex interactions with mycorrhizal fungi, pollinators and host trees, Orchidaceae present particular challenges for conservation. Furthermore, orchids, as potentially the largest family of angiosperms with >26000 species, species complexes and frequent hybrid formation, are complex to catalogue. Following a highlight in 2015, a further seven papers focusing on orchids, their interactions with beneficial organisms, pollinators and mycorrhiza, and other factors relating to their conservation, including threats from human utilization and changing land use, are presented here. The production of an online flora of all known plants and an assessment of the conservation status of all known plant species as far as possible, to guide conservation action are the first two targets of the Global Strategy for Plant Conservation Without knowing how many species there are and how they should be circumscribed, neither of these targets is achievable. Orchids are a fascinating subject for fundamental research with rapid species evolution, specific organ structure and development, but they also suffer from high levels of threat. Effective orchid conservation must take account of the beneficial interactions with fungi and pollinators and the potentially detrimental effects of over-collection and changes in land use. © The Author 2016. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Annals of Botany Company. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oup.com.
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Ecology and conservation: contributions to One Health.
Cleaveland, S; Borner, M; Gislason, M
2014-08-01
Although One Health is widely promoted as a more effective approach towards human, animal and ecosystem health, the momentum is still driven largely by health professionals, predominantly from the veterinary sector. While few can doubt the merits of interdisciplinary One Health approaches to tackle complex health problems, operating across the disciplines still presents many challenges. This paper focuses on the contributions of partners from ecology and conservation to One Health approaches, and identifies four broad areas which could act as a focus for practical engagement and bring ecological and conservation objectives more to the forefront of the One Health agenda: i) developing initiatives with shared conservation and health objectives, particularly in and around protected areas and including programmes addressing human reproductive health and mental health; ii) broadening concepts of health to extend beyond indicators of disease to include the assessment of ecological impacts; iii) the integration of ecological and epidemiological monitoring systems within protected areas to support conservation management and wildlife disease surveillance; iv) building partnerships to bring conservation, health, development and animal welfare agencies together to combat threats to global biodiversity and health from the international trade in wildlife and wildlife products.
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Decaro, Daniel; Stokes, Michael
2008-12-01
Community-based natural resource conservation programs in developing nations face many implementation challenges underpinned by social-psychological mechanisms. One challenge is garnering local support in an economically and socially sustainable fashion despite economic hardship and historical alienation from local resources. Unfortunately, conservationists' limited understanding of the social-psychological mechanisms underlying participatory conservation impedes the search for appropriate solutions. We address this issue by revealing key underlying social-psychological mechanisms of participatory conservation. Different administrative designs create social atmospheres that differentially affect endorsement of conservation goals. Certain forms of endorsement may be less effective motivators and less economically and socially sustainable than others. From a literature review we found that conservation initiatives endorsed primarily for nonautonomous instrumental reasons, such as to avoid economic fines or to secure economic rewards, are less motivating than those endorsed for autonomous reasons, such as for the opportunity for personal expression and growth. We suggest that successful participatory programs promote autonomous endorsement of conservation through an administrative framework of autonomy support-free and open democratic participation in management, substantive recognition and inclusion of local stakeholder identity, and respectful, noncoercive social interaction. This framework of the autonomy-supportive environment (self-determination theory) has important implications for future research into program design and incentive-based conservation and identifies a testable social-psychological theory of conservancy motivation.
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Mabey, S.; Watts, B.; Paxton, B.; Smith, F.; Truitt, B.; Dawson, D.
2005-01-01
Many conservation organizations and initiatives including Partners-in-Flight and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's regional Joint Ventures have identified migratory songbird stopover habitat as a priority conservation target. However, the spatial and temporal variability inherent in migration presents a number of challenges to both identifying and characterizing stopover habitat. Scarce conservation resources further demand that stopover sites be classified on a scale of priority so that conservation action can proceed according to ecological value. We are applying weather surveillance radar data collected from the National Weather Service WSR-88D at Wakefield, VA, and NASA's Doppler radar, NPOL, in Oyster, VA, to identify passerine stopover sites in the lower Chesapeake Bay region and develop spatial models to characterize these sites based on relative migrant abundance and consistency of use between and within seasons. We are using the stopover patterns to generate hypotheses regarding the habitat, geographic, and stochastic factors contributing to the distribution of migrants at a regional scale. We are testing these hypotheses with detailed habitat data and ground surveys of migrating birds with the goal of creating a generalized prioritization system for stopover site conservation.
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Potential alternative fuel sources for agricultural crops and plant components
USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database
The changing landscape of agricultural production is placing unprecedented demands on farmers as they face increasing global competition and greater natural resource conservation challenges. However, shrinking profit margins due to increasing input costs, particularly of fuel and fertilizer, can res...
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The Retail Strategy lays out a cohesive and effective plan to address the unique challenges the retail sector has with complying with the hazardous waste regulations while reducing burden and protecting human health and the environment.
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The dynamics of biogeographic ranges in the deep sea.
McClain, Craig R; Hardy, Sarah Mincks
2010-12-07
Anthropogenic disturbances such as fishing, mining, oil drilling, bioprospecting, warming, and acidification in the deep sea are increasing, yet generalities about deep-sea biogeography remain elusive. Owing to the lack of perceived environmental variability and geographical barriers, ranges of deep-sea species were traditionally assumed to be exceedingly large. In contrast, seamount and chemosynthetic habitats with reported high endemicity challenge the broad applicability of a single biogeographic paradigm for the deep sea. New research benefiting from higher resolution sampling, molecular methods and public databases can now more rigorously examine dispersal distances and species ranges on the vast ocean floor. Here, we explore the major outstanding questions in deep-sea biogeography. Based on current evidence, many taxa appear broadly distributed across the deep sea, a pattern replicated in both the abyssal plains and specialized environments such as hydrothermal vents. Cold waters may slow larval metabolism and development augmenting the great intrinsic ability for dispersal among many deep-sea species. Currents, environmental shifts, and topography can prove to be dispersal barriers but are often semipermeable. Evidence of historical events such as points of faunal origin and climatic fluctuations are also evident in contemporary biogeographic ranges. Continued synthetic analysis, database construction, theoretical advancement and field sampling will be required to further refine hypotheses regarding deep-sea biogeography.
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Duryea, M C; Zamudio, K R; Brasileiro, C A
2015-01-01
The theory of island biogeography is most often studied in the context of oceanic islands where all island inhabitants are descendants from founding events involving migration from mainland source populations. Far fewer studies have considered predictions of island biogeography in the case of continental islands, where island formation typically splits continuous populations and thus vicariance also contributes to the diversity of island populations. We examined one such case on continental islands in southeastern Brazil, to determine how classic island biogeography predictions and past vicariance explain the population genetic diversity of Thoropa taophora, a frog endemic to the Atlantic Coastal Forest. We used nuclear microsatellite markers to examine the genetic diversity of coastal and island populations of this species. We found that island isolation has a role in shaping the genetic diversity of continental island species, with island populations being significantly less diverse than coastal populations. However, area of the island and distance from coast had no significant effect on genetic diversity. We also found no significant differences between migration among coastal populations and migration to and from islands. We discuss how vicariance and the effects of continued migration between coastal and island populations interact to shape evolutionary patterns on continental islands. PMID:25920672
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Hu, Yibo; Guo, Yu; Qi, Dunwu; Zhan, Xiangjiang; Wu, Hua; Bruford, Michael W; Wei, Fuwen
2011-07-01
Clarification of the genetic structure and population history of a species can shed light on the impacts of landscapes, historical climate change and contemporary human activities and thus enables evidence-based conservation decisions for endangered organisms. The red panda (Ailurus fulgens) is an endangered species distributing at the edge of the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau and is currently subject to habitat loss, fragmentation and population decline, thus representing a good model to test the influences of the above-mentioned factors on a plateau edge species. We combined nine microsatellite loci and 551 bp of mitochondrial control region (mtDNA CR) to explore the genetic structure and demographic history of this species. A total of 123 individuals were sampled from 23 locations across five populations. High levels of genetic variation were identified for both mtDNA and microsatellites. Phylogeographic analyses indicated little geographic structure, suggesting historically wide gene flow. However, microsatellite-based Bayesian clustering clearly identified three groups (Qionglai-Liangshan, Xiaoxiangling and Gaoligong-Tibet). A significant isolation-by-distance pattern was detected only after removing Xiaoxiangling. For mtDNA data, there was no statistical support for a historical population expansion or contraction for the whole sample or any population except Xiaoxiangling where a signal of contraction was detected. However, Bayesian simulations of population history using microsatellite data did pinpoint population declines for Qionglai, Xiaoxiangling and Gaoligong, demonstrating significant influences of human activity on demography. The unique history of the Xiaoxiangling population plays a critical role in shaping the genetic structure of this species, and large-scale habitat loss and fragmentation is hampering gene flow among populations. The implications of our findings for the biogeography of the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau, subspecies classification and conservation of red pandas are discussed. © 2011 Blackwell Publishing Ltd.
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2012-01-01
Background Knowledge of the factors that drive species distributions provides a fundamental baseline for several areas of research including biogeography, phylogeography and biodiversity conservation. Data from 148 minimally disturbed sites across a large drainage system in the Cape Floristic Region of South Africa were used to test the hypothesis that stream fishes have similar responses to environmental determinants of species distribution. Two complementary statistical approaches, boosted regression trees and hierarchical partitioning, were used to model the responses of four fish species to 11 environmental predictors, and to quantify the independent explanatory power of each predictor. Results Elevation, slope, stream size, depth and water temperature were identified by both approaches as the most important causal factors for the spatial distribution of the fishes. However, the species showed marked differences in their responses to these environmental variables. Elevation and slope were of primary importance for the laterally compressed Sandelia spp. which had an upstream boundary below 430 m above sea level. The fusiform shaped Pseudobarbus ‘Breede’ was strongly influenced by stream width and water temperature. The small anguilliform shaped Galaxias ‘nebula’ was more sensitive to stream size and depth, and also penetrated into reaches at higher elevation than Sandelia spp. and Pseudobarbus ‘Breede’. Conclusions The hypothesis that stream fishes have a common response to environmental descriptors is rejected. The contrasting habitat associations of stream fishes considered in this study could be a reflection of their morphological divergence which may allow them to exploit specific habitats that differ in their environmental stressors. Findings of this study encourage wider application of complementary methods in ecological studies, as they provide more confidence and deeper insights into the variables that should be managed to achieve desired conservation outcomes. PMID:23009367
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ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Acquistapace, Victoria Lazio
1997-01-01
Describes an approach that challenges students to construct illustrations of chemical reactions by using colorful Bingo card paint markers. Enables them to visually demonstrate their understanding of chemical notations and the law of conservation of mass. Also discusses teaching chemical formulas, a modeling lab, illustrating chemical reactions,…
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A signature of dynamic biogeography: enclaves indicate past species replacement.
Wielstra, B; Burke, T; Butlin, R K; Arntzen, J W
2017-12-13
Understanding how species have replaced each other in the past is important to predicting future species turnover. While past species replacement is difficult to detect after the fact, the process may be inferred from present-day distribution patterns. Species with abutting ranges sometimes show a characteristic distribution pattern, where a section of one species range is enveloped by that of the other. Such an enclave could indicate past species replacement: when a species is partly supplanted by a competitor, but a population endures locally while the invading species moves around and past it, an enclave forms. If the two species hybridize and backcross, the receding species is predicted to leave genetic traces within the expanding one under a scenario of species replacement. By screening dozens of genes in hybridizing crested newts, we uncover genetic remnants of the ancestral species, now inhabiting an enclave, in the range of the surrounding invading species. This independent genetic evidence supports the past distribution dynamics we predicted from the enclave. We suggest that enclaves provide a valuable tool in understanding historical species replacement, which is important because a major conservation concern arising from anthropogenic climate change is increased species replacement in the future. © 2017 The Authors.
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Natural history collections as windows on evolutionary processes.
Holmes, Michael W; Hammond, Talisin T; Wogan, Guinevere O U; Walsh, Rachel E; LaBarbera, Katie; Wommack, Elizabeth A; Martins, Felipe M; Crawford, Jeremy C; Mack, Katya L; Bloch, Luke M; Nachman, Michael W
2016-02-01
Natural history collections provide an immense record of biodiversity on Earth. These repositories have traditionally been used to address fundamental questions in biogeography, systematics and conservation. However, they also hold the potential for studying evolution directly. While some of the best direct observations of evolution have come from long-term field studies or from experimental studies in the laboratory, natural history collections are providing new insights into evolutionary change in natural populations. By comparing phenotypic and genotypic changes in populations through time, natural history collections provide a window into evolutionary processes. Recent studies utilizing this approach have revealed some dramatic instances of phenotypic change over short timescales in response to presumably strong selective pressures. In some instances, evolutionary change can be paired with environmental change, providing a context for potential selective forces. Moreover, in a few cases, the genetic basis of phenotypic change is well understood, allowing for insight into adaptive change at multiple levels. These kinds of studies open the door to a wide range of previously intractable questions by enabling the study of evolution through time, analogous to experimental studies in the laboratory, but amenable to a diversity of species over longer timescales in natural populations. © 2016 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.
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Environmental DNA in subterranean biology: range extension and taxonomic implications for Proteus
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Gorički, Špela; Stanković, David; Snoj, Aleš; Kuntner, Matjaž; Jeffery, William R.; Trontelj, Peter; Pavićević, Miloš; Grizelj, Zlatko; Năpăruş-Aljančič, Magdalena; Aljančič, Gregor
2017-03-01
Europe’s obligate cave-dwelling amphibian Proteus anguinus inhabits subterranean waters of the north-western Balkan Peninsula. Because only fragments of its habitat are accessible to humans, this endangered salamander’s exact distribution has been difficult to establish. Here we introduce a quantitative real time polymerase chain reaction-based environmental DNA (eDNA) approach to detect the presence of Proteus using water samples collected from karst springs, wells or caves. In a survey conducted along the southern limit of its known range, we established a likely presence of Proteus at seven new sites, extending its range to Montenegro. Next, using specific molecular probes to discriminate the rare black morph of Proteus from the closely related white morph, we detected its eDNA at five new sites, thus more than doubling the known number of sites. In one of these we found both black and white Proteus eDNA together. This finding suggests that the two morphs may live in contact with each other in the same body of groundwater and that they may be reproductively isolated species. Our results show that the eDNA approach is suitable and efficient in addressing questions in biogeography, evolution, taxonomy and conservation of the cryptic subterranean fauna.
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Natural history collections as windows on evolutionary processes
Holmes, Michael W.; Hammond, Talisin T.; Wogan, Guinevere O.U.; Walsh, Rachel E.; LaBarbera, Katie; Wommack, Elizabeth A.; Martins, Felipe M.; Crawford, Jeremy C.; Mack, Katya L.; Bloch, Luke M.; Nachman, Michael W.
2016-01-01
Natural history collections provide an immense record of biodiversity on Earth. These repositories have traditionally been used to address fundamental questions in biogeography, systematics, and conservation. However, they also hold the potential for studying evolution directly. While some of the best direct observations of evolution have come from long-term field studies or from experimental studies in the lab, natural history collections are providing new insights into evolutionary change in natural populations. By comparing phenotypic and genotypic changes in populations through time, natural history collections provide a window into evolutionary processes. Recent studies utilizing this approach have revealed some dramatic instances of phenotypic change over short time scales in response to presumably strong selective pressures. In some instances evolutionary change can be paired with environmental change, providing a context for potential selective forces. Moreover, in a few cases, the genetic basis of phenotypic change is well understood, allowing for insight into adaptive change at multiple levels. These kinds of studies open the door to a wide range of previously intractable questions by enabling the study of evolution through time, analogous to experimental studies in the laboratory, but amenable to a diversity of species over longer timescales in natural populations. PMID:26757135
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Thermal dependence of cardiac function in arctic fish: implications of a warming world.
Franklin, Craig E; Farrell, Anthony P; Altimiras, Jordi; Axelsson, Michael
2013-11-15
With the Arctic experiencing one of the greatest and most rapid increases in sea temperatures in modern time, predicting how Arctic marine organisms will respond to elevated temperatures has become crucial for conservation biology. Here, we examined the thermal sensitivity of cardiorespiratory performance for three closely related species of sculpins that inhabit the Arctic waters, two of which, Gymnocanthus tricuspis and Myoxocephalus scorpioides, have adapted to a restricted range within the Arctic, whereas the third species, Myoxocephalus scorpius, has a wider distribution. We tested the hypothesis that the fish restricted to Arctic cold waters would show reduced cardiorespiratory scope in response to an increase in temperature, as compared with the more eurythermal M. scorpius. As expected from their biogeography, M. scorpioides and G. tricuspis maximised cardiorespiratory performance at temperatures between 1 and 4°C, whereas M. scorpius maximised performance over a wider range of temperatures (1-10°C). Furthermore, factorial scope for cardiac output collapsed at elevated temperature for the two high-latitude species, negatively impacting their ability to support aerobically driven metabolic processes. Consequently, these results concurred with our hypothesis, suggesting that the sculpin species restricted to the Arctic are likely to be negatively impacted by increases in ocean temperatures.
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NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Chaytor, J. D.; Quattrini, A.; Demopoulos, A. W.
2015-12-01
Caribbean fish communities in shallow waters have been well studied along the Greater and Lesser Antilles for decades; however, the deep (>200 m) assemblages remain poorly known due to the technical challenges associated with focused surveys at these greater depths. The numerous geological features (e.g., seamounts, island ridges, banks) that punctuate the insular margins increase habitat heterogeneity, which may lead to enhanced diversity of the deep demersal fish community in the region. Recent (2013-2014) expeditions in the area using the E/V Nautilus and the ROV Hercules surveyed fish communities during 17 dives across different seafloor features at depths ranging from 64 to 2944 m. These surveys enabled us to investigate whether demersal fish assemblages differed among these seafloor features and/or in response to other environmental factors. Preliminary analyses suggested that assemblage differences are influenced by depth, dissolved oxygen, and differences in benthic microhabitat (i.e., soft substrate, rock outcrop, slope angle). Notably, both abundance and diversity of fishes was low at depths >700 m on seamounts in the Anegada Passage. This pattern is likely due to limited food supply in the region. ROV surveys further elucidated the biogeography of numerous species, as several range and depth extensions were documented. For instance, the morid Lepidion sp., previously known only from the eastern Atlantic and the western North Atlantic, was documented on Norrôit Seamount. A new species, Polylepion sp. A, known only from Curacao, was documented on Conrad Seamount. Also, many common, mesophotic reef species were observed deeper than previously known, including the butterflyfishes Chaetodon sedentarius and Prognathodes aculeatus. This study further supports the importance of environmental conditions influencing local-scale distribution of deep-sea fishes, while demonstrating how little is still known about the biogeography of numerous deep-sea and mesophotic fish species.
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Clinchy, Michael; Haydon, Daniel T; Smith, Andrew T
2002-04-01
Patch occupancy surveys are commonly used to parameterize metapopulation models. If isolation predicts patch occupancy, this is generally attributed to a balance between distance-dependent recolonization and spatially independent extinctions. We investigated whether similar patterns could also be generated by a process of spatially correlated extinctions following a unique colonization event (analogous to nonequilibrium processes in island biogeography). We simulated effects of spatially correlated extinctions on patterns of patch occupancy among pikas (Ochotona princeps) at Bodie, California, using randomly located extinction disks to represent the likely effects of predation. Our simulations produced similar patterns to those cited as evidence of balanced metapopulation dynamics. Simulations using a variety of disk sizes and patch configurations confirmed that our results are potentially applicable to a broad range of species and sites. Analyses of the observed patterns of patch occupancy at Bodie revealed little evidence of rescue effects and strong evidence that most recolonizations are ephemeral in nature. Persistence will be overestimated if static or declining patterns of patch occupancy are mistakenly attributed to dynamically stable metapopulation processes. Consequently, simple patch occupancy surveys should not be considered as substitutes for detailed experimental tests of hypothesized population processes, particularly when conservation concerns are involved.
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Zoos and public health: A partnership on the One Health frontier.
Robinette, C; Saffran, L; Ruple, A; Deem, S L
2017-06-01
Today, accredited zoos are not just places for entertainment, they are actively involved in research for conservation and health. During recent decades in which the challenges for biodiversity conservation and public health have escalated, zoos have made significant changes to address these difficulties. Zoos increasingly have four key areas of focus: education, recreation, conservation, and research. These key areas are important in addressing an interrelated global conservation ( i.e. habitat and wildlife loss) and public health crisis. Zoo and public health professionals working together within a One Health framework represent a powerful alliance to address current and future conservation and public health problems around the world. For researchers, practitioners, and students, the collaboration between zoos and public health institutions offers the opportunity to both teach and operationalize this transdisciplinary approach. Using examples from our programs, we give a template for moving forward with collaborative initiatives and sustainable solutions involving partners in both zoos and public health institutions. We provide examples of cooperative programs and suggest a model for consideration in the development of further activities in this area.
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Latitude delineates patterns of biogeography in terrestrial Streptomyces.
Choudoir, Mallory J; Doroghazi, James R; Buckley, Daniel H
2016-12-01
The biogeography of Streptomyces was examined at regional spatial scales to identify factors that govern patterns of microbial diversity. Streptomyces are spore forming filamentous bacteria which are widespread in soil. Streptomyces strains were isolated from perennial grass habitats sampled across a spatial scale of more than 6000 km. Previous analysis of this geographically explicit culture collection provided evidence for a latitudinal diversity gradient in Streptomyces species. Here the hypothesis that this latitudinal diversity gradient is a result of evolutionary dynamics associated with historical demographic processes was evaluated. Historical demographic phenomena have genetic consequences that can be evaluated through analysis of population genetics. Population genetic approaches were applied to analyze population structure in six of the most numerically abundant and geographically widespread Streptomyces phylogroups from our culture collection. Streptomyces population structure varied at regional spatial scales, and allelic diversity correlated with geographic distance. In addition, allelic diversity and gene flow are partitioned by latitude. Finally, it was found that nucleotide diversity within phylogroups was negatively correlated with latitude. These results indicate that phylogroup diversification is constrained by dispersal limitation at regional spatial scales, and they are consistent with the hypothesis that historical demographic processes have influenced the contemporary biogeography of Streptomyces. © 2016 Society for Applied Microbiology and John Wiley & Sons Ltd.
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Copley, J. T.; Marsh, L.; Glover, A. G.; Hühnerbach, V.; Nye, V. E.; Reid, W. D. K.; Sweeting, C. J.; Wigham, B. D.; Wiklund, H.
2016-01-01
The Southwest Indian Ridge is the longest section of very slow to ultraslow-spreading seafloor in the global mid-ocean ridge system, but the biogeography and ecology of its hydrothermal vent fauna are previously unknown. We collected 21 macro- and megafaunal taxa during the first Remotely Operated Vehicle dives to the Longqi vent field at 37° 47′S 49° 39′E, depth 2800 m. Six species are not yet known from other vents, while six other species are known from the Central Indian Ridge, and morphological and molecular analyses show that two further polychaete species are shared with vents beyond the Indian Ocean. Multivariate analysis of vent fauna across three oceans places Longqi in an Indian Ocean province of vent biogeography. Faunal zonation with increasing distance from vents is dominated by the gastropods Chrysomallon squamiferum and Gigantopelta aegis, mussel Bathymodiolus marisindicus, and Neolepas sp. stalked barnacle. Other taxa occur at lower abundance, in some cases contrasting with abundances at other vent fields, and δ13C and δ15N isotope values of species analysed from Longqi are similar to those of shared or related species elsewhere. This study provides baseline ecological observations prior to mineral exploration activities licensed at Longqi by the United Nations. PMID:27966649
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King, Jackie; McFarlane, Gordon A; Gertseva, Vladlena; Gasper, Jason; Matson, Sean; Tribuzio, Cindy A
For over 100 years, sharks have been encountered, as either directed catch or incidental catch, in commercial fisheries throughout the Northeast Pacific Ocean. A long-standing directed fishery for North Pacific Spiny Dogfish (Squalus suckleyi) has occurred and dominated shark landings and discards. Other fisheries, mainly for shark livers, have historically targeted species including Bluntnose Sixgill Shark (Hexanchus griseus) and Tope Shark (Galeorhinus galeus). While incidental catches of numerous species have occurred historically, only recently have these encounters been reliably enumerated in commercial and recreational fisheries. In this chapter we present shark catch statistics (directed and incidental) for commercial and recreational fisheries from Canadian waters (off British Columbia), southern US waters (off California, Oregon, and Washington), and northern US waters (off Alaska). In total, 17 species of sharks have collectively been encountered in these waters. Fishery encounters present conservation challenges for shark management, namely, the need for accurate catch statistics, stock delineation, life history parameter estimates, and improved assessments methods for population status and trends. Improvements in management and conservation of shark populations will only come with the further development of sound science-based fishery management practices for both targeted and incidental shark fisheries. © 2017 Elsevier Ltd All rights reserved.
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Challenges that Preventive Conservation poses to the Cultural Heritage documentation field
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Van Balen, K.
2017-08-01
This contribution examines the challenges posed to the cultural heritage documentation community (the CIPA community and others) in implementing a preventive conservation approach of the built heritage in today's society. The "DNA" of Preventive Conservation. Various authors so far support the argument that preventive conservation is an effective way to respond to the challenges society faces with the preservation of its Cultural Heritage (Van Balen, 2013). A few decades of experiences with the application of preventive conservation in the field of immovable heritage in the form of Monumentenwacht in The Netherland and in Flanders have shown that a good monitoring of the state of preservation with a strong push for maintenance activities contributes to more preservation of authenticity, to more cost-effective preservation and to empowering society in dealing with heritage preservation. (Cebron, 2008) An analysis of these and similar experiences demonstrates that these "Monumentenwacht" activities represent only a part of what could be named a preventive conservation system. Other fields in which prevention is advocated for its higher efficiency, show the importance of system thinking in the development of improved strategies. Applying this approach to the field of the immovable heritage, referring to the initial results shown by the Monumentenwacht practices, it becomes clear that different dimension are at stake simultaneously: the preservation of authenticity or integrity, the management of resources and the connection with society. It shows that the analysis of challenges in heritage preservation and the development of strategies is à priori multifaceted and therefor has a certain level of complexity. The sustainability of the preservation of cultural heritage buildings and sites can be measured according to its multiple economic, social, environmental and cultural support. The Cultural Heritage Counts for Europe report shows that the more diverse the support is for cultural heritage preservation actions, the more those actions will contribute to sustainable development and the more sustainable the preservation of that heritage will be. This reasoning has led to the "upstream approach" which argues that cultural heritage preservation can benefit from a variety of resources which do not necessarily have to be earmarked for it à priori (CHCfE, 2015). It leads to arguing for an holistic and integrated approach for cultural heritage preservation that taps into different kinds of resources, which requires acknowledgement of the complex nature of understanding and managing heritage values into an overall societal development goal (Vandesande, 2017). Challenges in the Cultural Heritage documentation field. Documentation needs in the field of cultural heritage preservation therefor are challenged by the complexity of the sources of information, by the need to integrate them in an holistic tool and by the way they are able to dialogue with society. 1. The proper analysis of heritage requires increasing efforts by the diversity of sources and the complexity of their interaction.This (complexity acknowledging) analysis should be linked to monitoring tools which eventually contribute to monitor culturalheritage values. This monitoring is also a documentation challenge as it has to be pertinent and dynamic. Analysis andmonitoring are important as they are the basis for understand threats that impact heritage values. 2. As resources for heritage development or heritage guided development can have a variety of origins, their documentation andanalysis -compared to the traditional curative object oriented preservation- should be extended to include many more possibleresources. Experiences exist with documentation of the physical environment of heritage sites but the upstream approachpoints toward a larger number of development resources that can be tapped into. This implies the need to identify newapproaches, to document them and to integrate them in a dynamic analytical process. 3. As preventive conservation focusses not only on the empowerment of the owners and managers but also on a betterintegration of a wider group of stakeholders, the question of ownership and continuous co-creation challenges thedocumentation process as well. 4. Longevity of documentation: the need for continuous updating and monitoring as part of the cyclic approach of PC challengesthe longevity, accessibility of the documentation itself and the tools that will use them in the future.
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NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Thondhlana, Gladman; Shackleton, Sheona; Muchapondwa, Edwin
2011-04-01
Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park is located in the Northern Cape Province of South Africa and neighbouring Botswana. The local communities on the South African side, the Khomani San (Bushmen) and Mier living adjacent to the park have land rights inside and outside the park. The path from a history of land dispossession to being land owners has created conservation challenges manifested through heightened inter- and intra-community conflicts. The contestations for land and tourism development opportunities in and outside the park have drawn in powerful institutions such as the governments, South African National Parks, private safari companies, local interest groups and NGOs against relatively powerless local communities. This has consequently attracted national and international interest since it may result in further marginalization of the communities who lack the power to negotiate resource access. Moreover, the social and political system of the San is romanticized while little is reported about the Mier, who are an integral part of the park management system. To make these issues more accessible to a growing audience of interested parties and to better understand present conservation and development challenges and opportunities, this paper synthesizes information on the pre- and post-land restitution history of the park and the adjacent communities.
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Comparative phylogeography of the ocean planet
Bowen, Brian W.; Gaither, Michelle R.; DiBattista, Joseph D.; Iacchei, Matthew; Andrews, Kimberly R.; Grant, W. Stewart; Toonen, Robert J.; Briggs, John C.
2016-01-01
Understanding how geography, oceanography, and climate have ultimately shaped marine biodiversity requires aligning the distributions of genetic diversity across multiple taxa. Here, we examine phylogeographic partitions in the sea against a backdrop of biogeographic provinces defined by taxonomy, endemism, and species composition. The taxonomic identities used to define biogeographic provinces are routinely accompanied by diagnostic genetic differences between sister species, indicating interspecific concordance between biogeography and phylogeography. In cases where individual species are distributed across two or more biogeographic provinces, shifts in genotype frequencies often align with biogeographic boundaries, providing intraspecific concordance between biogeography and phylogeography. Here, we provide examples of comparative phylogeography from (i) tropical seas that host the highest marine biodiversity, (ii) temperate seas with high productivity but volatile coastlines, (iii) migratory marine fauna, and (iv) plankton that are the most abundant eukaryotes on earth. Tropical and temperate zones both show impacts of glacial cycles, the former primarily through changing sea levels, and the latter through coastal habitat disruption. The general concordance between biogeography and phylogeography indicates that the population-level genetic divergences observed between provinces are a starting point for macroevolutionary divergences between species. However, isolation between provinces does not account for all marine biodiversity; the remainder arises through alternative pathways, such as ecological speciation and parapatric (semiisolated) divergences within provinces and biodiversity hotspots. PMID:27432963
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Mao, Kangshan; Hao, Gang; Liu, Jianquan; Adams, Robert P; Milne, Richard I
2010-10-01
• A central aim of biogeography is to understand when and how modern patterns of species diversity and distribution developed. Many plant groups have disjunct distributions within the Northern Hemisphere, but among these very few have been studied that prefer warm semi-arid habitats. • Here we examine the biogeography and diversification history of Juniperus, which occurs in semi-arid habitats through much of the Northern Hemisphere. A phylogeny was generated based on > 10,000 bp of cpDNA for 51 Juniperus species plus many outgroups. Phylogenies based on fewer species were also constructed based on nuclear internal transcribed spacer (nrITS) and combined nrITS/cpDNA data sets to check for congruence. Divergence time-scales and ancestral distributions were further inferred. • Both long dispersal and migration across land bridges probably contributed to the modern range of Juniperus, while long-term climatic changes and the uplift of the Qinghai-Tibetan plateau probably drove its diversification. Diversification apparently slowed down during climate-stable period of the Oligocene, and then speeded up from the Miocene onwards. • Juniperus probably originated in Eurasia, and was a part of the south Eurasian Tethyan vegetation of the Eocene to Oligocene. It reached America once at this time, once in the Miocene and once more recently.
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Foon, Junn Kitt; Clements, Gopalasamy Reuben; Liew, Thor-Seng
2017-01-01
Abstract Limestone hills are now gaining global conservation attention as hotspots for short-range endemic species. Levels of land snail endemism can be high at limestone hills, especially at hill clusters that are geographically isolated. In the State of Perak, Peninsular Malaysia, limestone hills have been opportunistically surveyed for land snails in the past, but the majority have yet to be surveyed. To address this knowledge gap, we systematically surveyed the terrestrial malacofauna of 12 limestone hills that, based on our opinion, are a representation of the limestone land snail assemblages within the State. Our inventory yielded high sampling completeness (>85%). We found 122 species of land snails, of which 34 species were unique to one of the surveyed hills. We identified 30 species that are potentially new to science. The number of land snail species recorded at each hill ranged between 39 and 63 species. Four of the sampled limestone hills namely, Prk 01 G. Tempurung, Prk 55 G. Pondok, Prk 47 Kanthan, and Prk 64 Bt Kepala Gajah, have high levels of species richness and unique species, representing 91% of the total species recorded in this study. We identified two clusters of limestone hills in central Perak with distinct differences in land snail species composition – a northern hill cluster on elevated granite bedrock and southern hill cluster in a low-lying valley surrounded by alluvial soils. As limestone hills continue to be quarried to meet the cement demand, the four identified limestone hills, along with other hills from the two clusters, warrant urgent conservation attention in order to maintain high species diversity within Perak’s terrestrial malacofauna. PMID:28769723
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Conservation Practices to Mitigate and Adapt to Climate Change. Poster Demonstration
USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database
Climate change and its interaction with other environmental problems such as desertification, deforestation, and depletion of water resources used for irrigation, will increase the challenges for maintaining food security during the next four decades and beyond. Climate change and extreme weather ev...
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This presentation first provides an overview of U.S.EPA research activities on water infrastructure condition assessment, system rehabilitation, and asset management. It then describes in detail specific activities in pipe leak detection, water conservation and the advanced wate...
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Unique challenges facing Southwestern tribes: Chapter 17
Hiza, Margaret; Chief, Karletta; Bemis, Kirk; Gautam, Mahesh; Middleton, Beth Rose; Tsosie, Rebecca
2013-01-01
•\tTribes are taking action to address climate change by instituting climate-change mitigation initiatives, including utility-scale, alternative-energy projects, and energy-conservation projects. Tribes are also evaluating their existing capacity to engage in effective adaptation planning, even though financial and social capital is limited.
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Suprayitno, Nano; Narakusumo, Raden Pramesa; von Rintelen, Thomas; Hendrich, Lars
2017-01-01
Abstract Background Taxonomy and biogeography can benefit from citizen scientists. The use of social networking and open access cooperative publishing can easily connect naturalists even in more remote areas with in-country scientists and institutions, as well as those abroad. This enables taxonomic efforts without frontiers and at the same time adequate benefit sharing measures. New information We present new distribution and habitat data for diving beetles of Bali island, Indonesia, as a proof of concept. The species Hydaticus luczonicus Aubé, 1838 and Eretes griseus (Fabricius, 1781) are reported from Bali for the first time. The total number of Dytiscidae species known from Bali is now 34. PMID:29104436
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Weeks, R; Adams, V M
2018-02-01
For conservation science to effectively inform management, research must focus on creating the scientific knowledge required to solve conservation problems. We identified research questions that, if answered, would increase the effectiveness of conservation and natural resource management practice and policy in Oceania's small-island developing states. We asked conservation professionals from academia, governmental, and nongovernmental organizations across the region to propose such questions and then identify which were of high priority in an online survey. We compared the high-priority questions with research questions identified globally and for other regions. Of 270 questions proposed by respondents, 38 were considered high priority, including: What are the highest priority areas for conservation in the face of increasing resource demand and climate change? How should marine protected areas be networked to account for connectivity and climate change? What are the most effective fisheries management policies that contribute to sustainable coral reef fisheries? High-priority questions related to the particular challenges of undertaking conservation on small-island developing states and the need for a research agenda that is responsive to the sociocultural context of Oceania. Research priorities for Oceania relative to elsewhere were broadly similar but differed in specific issues relevant to particular conservation contexts. These differences emphasize the importance of involving local practitioners in the identification of research priorities. Priorities were reasonably well aligned among sectoral groups. Only a few questions were widely considered answered, which may indicate a smaller-than-expected knowledge-action gap. We believe these questions can be used to strengthen research collaborations between scientists and practitioners working to further conservation and natural resource management in this region. © 2017 The Authors. Conservation Biology published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc. on behalf of Society for Conservation Biology.
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Evolving science of marine reserves: New developments and emerging research frontiers
Gaines, Steven D.; Lester, Sarah E.; Grorud-Colvert, Kirsten; Costello, Christopher; Pollnac, Richard
2010-01-01
The field of marine reserve science has matured greatly over the last decade, moving beyond studies of single reserves and beyond perspectives from single disciplines. This Special Feature exemplifies recent advances in marine reserve research, showing insights gained from synthetic studies of reserve networks, long-term changes within reserves, integration of social and ecological science research, and balance between reserve design for conservation as well as fishery and other commercial objectives. This rich body of research helps to inform conservation planning for marine ecosystems but also poses new challenges for further study, including how to best design integrated fisheries management and conservation systems, how to effectively evaluate the performance of entire reserve networks, and how to examine the complex coupling between ecological and socioeconomic responses to reserve networks. PMID:20978212
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Chen, Ling-Yun; Chen, Jin-Ming; Gituru, Robert Wahiti; Wang, Qing-Feng
2012-03-10
Hydrocharitaceae is a fully aquatic monocot family, consists of 18 genera with approximately 120 species. The family includes both fresh and marine aquatics and exhibits great diversity in form and habit including annual and perennial life histories; submersed, partially submersed and floating leaf habits and linear to orbicular leaf shapes. The family has a cosmopolitan distribution and is well represented in the Tertiary fossil record in Europe. At present, the historical biogeography of the family is not well understood and the generic relationships remain controversial. In this study we investigated the phylogeny and biogeography of Hydrocharitaceae by integrating fossils and DNA sequences from eight genes. We also conducted ancestral state reconstruction for three morphological characters. Phylogenetic analyses produced a phylogeny with most branches strongly supported by bootstrap values greater than 95 and Bayesian posterior probability values of 1.0. Stratiotes is the first diverging lineage with the remaining genera in two clades, one clade consists of Lagarosiphon, Ottelia, Blyxa, Apalanthe, Elodea and Egeria; and the other consists of Hydrocharis-Limnobium, Thalassia, Enhalus, Halophila, Najas, Hydrilla, Vallisneria, Nechamandra and Maidenia. Biogeographic analyses (DIVA, Mesquite) and divergence time estimates (BEAST) resolved the most recent common ancestor of Hydrocharitaceae as being in Asia during the Late Cretaceous and Palaeocene (54.7-72.6 Ma). Dispersals (including long-distance dispersal and migrations through Tethys seaway and land bridges) probably played major roles in the intercontinental distribution of this family. Ancestral state reconstruction suggested that in Hydrocharitaceae evolution of dioecy is bidirectional, viz., from dioecy to hermaphroditism, and from hermaphroditism to dioecy, and that the aerial-submerged leaf habit and short-linear leaf shape are the ancestral states. Our study has shed light on the previously controversial generic phylogeny of Hydrocharitaceae. The study has resolved the historical biogeography of this family and supported dispersal as the most likely explanation for the intercontinental distribution. We have also provided valuable information for understanding the evolution of breeding system and leaf phenotype in aquatic monocots.
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Conservation genomics of threatened animal species.
Steiner, Cynthia C; Putnam, Andrea S; Hoeck, Paquita E A; Ryder, Oliver A
2013-01-01
The genomics era has opened up exciting possibilities in the field of conservation biology by enabling genomic analyses of threatened species that previously were limited to model organisms. Next-generation sequencing (NGS) and the collection of genome-wide data allow for more robust studies of the demographic history of populations and adaptive variation associated with fitness and local adaptation. Genomic analyses can also advance management efforts for threatened wild and captive populations by identifying loci contributing to inbreeding depression and disease susceptibility, and predicting fitness consequences of introgression. However, the development of genomic tools in wild species still carries multiple challenges, particularly those associated with computational and sampling constraints. This review provides an overview of the most significant applications of NGS and the implications and limitations of genomic studies in conservation.
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Valuing biodiversity and ecosystem services: a useful way to manage and conserve marine resources?
Cavanagh, Rachel D; Broszeit, Stefanie; Pilling, Graham M; Grant, Susie M; Murphy, Eugene J; Austen, Melanie C
2016-12-14
Valuation of biodiversity and ecosystem services (ES) is widely recognized as a useful, though often controversial, approach to conservation and management. However, its use in the marine environment, hence evidence of its efficacy, lags behind that in terrestrial ecosystems. This largely reflects key challenges to marine conservation and management such as the practical difficulties in studying the ocean, complex governance issues and the historically-rooted separation of biodiversity conservation and resource management. Given these challenges together with the accelerating loss of marine biodiversity (and threats to the ES that this biodiversity supports), we ask whether valuation efforts for marine ecosystems are appropriate and effective. We compare three contrasting systems: the tropical Pacific, Southern Ocean and UK coastal seas. In doing so, we reveal a diversity in valuation approaches with different rates of progress and success. We also find a tendency to focus on specific ES (often the harvested species) rather than biodiversity. In light of our findings, we present a new conceptual view of valuation that should ideally be considered in decision-making. Accounting for the critical relationships between biodiversity and ES, together with an understanding of ecosystem structure and functioning, will enable the wider implications of marine conservation and management decisions to be evaluated. We recommend embedding valuation within existing management structures, rather than treating it as an alternative or additional mechanism. However, we caution that its uptake and efficacy will be compromised without the ability to develop and share best practice across regions. © 2016 The Authors.
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Harrington, Brian A.; Brown, S.; Corven, James; Bart, Jonathan
2002-01-01
Shorebirds are among the most highly migratory creatures on earth. Both the study of their ecology and ongoing efforts to conserve their populations must reflect this central aspect of their biology. Many species of shorebirds use migration and staging sites scattered throughout the hemisphere to complete their annual migrations between breeding areas and nonbreeding habitats (Morrison 1984). The vast distances between habitats they use pose significant challenges for studying their migration ecology. At the same time, the large number of political boundaries shorebirds cross during their epic migrations create parallel challenges for organizations working on their management and conservation.Nebel et al. (2002) represent a collaborative effort to understand the conservation implications of Western Sandpiper (Calidris mauri) migration ecology on a scale worthy of this highly migratory species. The data sets involved in the analysis come from four U.S. states, two Canadian provinces, and a total of five nations. Only by collaborating on this historic scale were the authors able to assemble the information necessary to understand important aspects of the migration ecology of this species, and the implications for conservation of the patterns they discovered.Collaborative approaches to shorebird migration ecology developed slowly over several decades. The same period also saw the creation of large-scale efforts to monitor and conserve shorebirds. This overview first traces the history of the study of migration ecology of shorebirds during that fertile period, and then describes the monitoring and protection efforts that have been developed in an attempt to address the enormous issues of scale posed by shorebird migration ecology and conservation.
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Cultivating creativity in conservation science.
Aslan, Clare E; Pinsky, Malin L; Ryan, Maureen E; Souther, Sara; Terrell, Kimberly A
2014-04-01
Conservation practitioners and scientists are often faced with seemingly intractable problems in which traditional approaches fail. While other sectors (e.g., business) frequently emphasize creative thinking to overcome complex challenges, creativity is rarely identified as an essential skill for conservationists. Yet more creative approaches are urgently needed in the effort to sustain Earth's biodiversity. We identified 4 strategies to develop skills in creative thinking and discuss underlying research and examples supporting each strategy. First, by breaking down barriers between disciplines and surrounding oneself with unfamiliar people, concepts, and perspectives, one can expand base knowledge and experiences and increase the potential for new combinations of ideas. Second, by meeting people where they are (both literally and figuratively), one exposes oneself to new environments and perspectives, which again broadens experiences and increases ability to communicate effectively with stakeholders. Third, by embracing risk responsibly, one is more likely to develop new, nontraditional solutions and be open to high-impact outcomes. Finally, by following a cycle of learning, struggle, and reflection, one can trigger neurophysiological changes that allow the brain to become more creative. Creativity is a learned trait, rather than an innate skill. It can be actively developed at both the individual and institutional levels, and learning to navigate the relevant social and practical barriers is key to the process. To maximize the success of conservation in the face of escalating challenges, one must take advantage of what has been learned from other disciplines and foster creativity as both a professional skill and an essential component of career training and individual development. © 2013 Society for Conservation Biology.
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Chan, Benny K. K.; Chen, H. -N.; Dando, P. R.; Southward, A. J.; Southward, E. C.
2016-01-01
The biogeography and ecology of the species of Chthamalus present on the west coast of America are described, using data from 51 localities from Alaska to Panama, together with their zonation on the shore with respect to that of other barnacles. The species present were C. dalli, Pilsbry 1916, C. fissus, Darwin, 1854, C. anisopoma Pilsbry 1916 and four species in the C. panamensis complex. The latter are C. panamensis Pilsbry, 1916, C. hedgecocki, Pitombo & Burton, 2007, C. alani nom. nov. (formerly C. southwardorum Pitombo & Burton, 2007) and C. newmani sp. nov.). These four species were initially separated by enzyme electrophoresis. They could only be partially separated by DNA bar coding but may be separated using morphological characters. PMID:26958842
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Space-Time Conservation Element and Solution Element Method Being Developed
NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)
Chang, Sin-Chung; Himansu, Ananda; Jorgenson, Philip C. E.; Loh, Ching-Yuen; Wang, Xiao-Yen; Yu, Sheng-Tao
1999-01-01
The engineering research and design requirements of today pose great computer-simulation challenges to engineers and scientists who are called on to analyze phenomena in continuum mechanics. The future will bring even more daunting challenges, when increasingly complex phenomena must be analyzed with increased accuracy. Traditionally used numerical simulation methods have evolved to their present state by repeated incremental extensions to broaden their scope. They are reaching the limits of their applicability and will need to be radically revised, at the very least, to meet future simulation challenges. At the NASA Lewis Research Center, researchers have been developing a new numerical framework for solving conservation laws in continuum mechanics, namely, the Space-Time Conservation Element and Solution Element Method, or the CE/SE method. This method has been built from fundamentals and is not a modification of any previously existing method. It has been designed with generality, simplicity, robustness, and accuracy as cornerstones. The CE/SE method has thus far been applied in the fields of computational fluid dynamics, computational aeroacoustics, and computational electromagnetics. Computer programs based on the CE/SE method have been developed for calculating flows in one, two, and three spatial dimensions. Results have been obtained for numerous problems and phenomena, including various shock-tube problems, ZND detonation waves, an implosion and explosion problem, shocks over a forward-facing step, a blast wave discharging from a nozzle, various acoustic waves, and shock/acoustic-wave interactions. The method can clearly resolve shock/acoustic-wave interactions, wherein the difference of the magnitude between the acoustic wave and shock could be up to six orders. In two-dimensional flows, the reflected shock is as crisp as the leading shock. CE/SE schemes are currently being used for advanced applications to jet and fan noise prediction and to chemically reacting flows.
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González-Wevar, Claudio A; Nakano, Tomoyuki; Palma, Alvaro; Poulin, Elie
2017-01-01
Oceanic islands lacking connections to other land are extremely isolated from sources of potential colonists and have acquired their biota mainly through dispersal from geographically distant areas. Hence, isolated island biota constitutes interesting models to infer biogeographical mechanisms of dispersal, colonization, differentiation, and speciation. Limpets of the genus Cellana (Nacellidae: Patellogastropoda) show limited dispersal capacity but are broadly distributed across the Indo-Pacific including many endemic species in isolated oceanic islands. Here, we examined main distributional patterns and geographic boundaries among Cellana lineages with special emphasis in the relationships of Southern Hemisphere oceanic islands species. Phylogenetic reconstructions based on mtDNA (COI) recognized three main clades in Cellana including taxa from different provinces of the Indo-Pacific. Clear genetic discontinuities characterize the biogeography of Cellana and several lineages are associated to particular areas of the Indo-Pacific supporting the low dispersal capacity of the genus across recognized biogeographical barriers in the region. However, evolutionary relationships within Cellana suggest that long-distance dispersal processes have been common in the history of the genus and probably associated to the origin of the species in Hawaii and Juan Fernández Archipelago. Therefore, the presence of Cellana species in geographically distant Southern Hemisphere oceanic islands, such as the Juan Fernández Archipelago, suggests that long-distance dispersal mediated by rafting may have played an important role in the biogeography of the genus.
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NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Vallina, S. M.; Ward, B. A.; Dutkiewicz, S.; Follows, M. J.
2014-01-01
Predators' switching towards the most abundant prey is a mechanism that stabilizes population dynamics and helps overcome competitive exclusion of species in food webs. Current formulations of active prey-switching, however, display non-maximal feeding in which the predators' total ingestion decays exponentially with the number prey species (i.e. the diet breadth) even though the total prey biomass stays constant. We analyse three previously published multi-species functional responses which have either active switching or maximal feeding, but not both. We identify the cause of this apparent incompatibility and describe a kill-the-winner formulation that combines active switching with maximal feeding. Active switching is shown to be a community response in which some predators become prey-selective and the formulations with maximal or non-maximal feeding are implicitly assuming different food web configurations. Global simulations using a marine ecosystem model with 64 phytoplankton species belonging to 4 major functional groups show that the species richness and biogeography of phytoplankton are very sensitive to the choice of the functional response for grazing. The phytoplankton biogeography reflects the balance between the competitive abilities for nutrient uptake and the degree of apparent competition which occurs indirectly between species that share a common predator species. The phytoplankton diversity significantly increases when active switching is combined with maximal feeding through predator-mediated coexistence.
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Bourland, William
2017-07-01
In terms of protist biogeography, "flagship species" (Foissner 2005) have been defined as those so remarkable or "showy" that they are unlikely to be overlooked when present in a given habitat. On this basis, flagship species have been suggested as an ideal or ultimate test for the existence of protist endemism. One example of a flagship ciliate is the terrestrial lepidosome-bearing trachelophyllid, Luporinophrys micelae, previously thought to be a Gondwanan endemic. This report comprises a morphologic description of two populations of L. micelae from Laurentian soils (Idaho, Northwest USA). The flagship concept is briefly reviewed and ciliate biogeography is discussed in light of these findings. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier GmbH. All rights reserved.
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Addison, Prue F E; Flander, Louisa B; Cook, Carly N
2017-08-01
Protected area management effectiveness (PAME) evaluation is increasingly undertaken to evaluate governance, assess conservation outcomes and inform evidence-based management of protected areas (PAs). Within PAME, quantitative approaches to assess biodiversity outcomes are now emerging, where biological monitoring data are directly assessed against quantitative (numerically defined) condition categories (termed quantitative condition assessments). However, more commonly qualitative condition assessments are employed in PAME, which use descriptive condition categories and are evaluated largely with expert judgement that can be subject to a range of biases, such as linguistic uncertainty and overconfidence. Despite the benefits of increased transparency and repeatability of evaluations, quantitative condition assessments are rarely used in PAME. To understand why, we interviewed practitioners from all Australian marine protected area (MPA) networks, which have access to long-term biological monitoring data and are developing or conducting PAME evaluations. Our research revealed that there is a desire within management agencies to implement quantitative condition assessment of biodiversity outcomes in Australian MPAs. However, practitioners report many challenges in transitioning from undertaking qualitative to quantitative condition assessments of biodiversity outcomes, which are hampering progress. Challenges include a lack of agency capacity (staff numbers and money), knowledge gaps, and diminishing public and political support for PAs. We point to opportunities to target strategies that will assist agencies overcome these challenges, including new decision support tools, approaches to better finance conservation efforts, and to promote more management relevant science. While a single solution is unlikely to achieve full evidence-based conservation, we suggest ways for agencies to target strategies and advance PAME evaluations toward best practice. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
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78 FR 8353 - Rural Broadband Access Loans and Loan Guarantees
Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014
2013-02-06
.... Other associated rural issues, such as environmental challenges or providing wireless service through... proposed regulations, the Food, Conservation, and Energy Act of 2008, more commonly known as the 2008 Farm... wireline and wireless technologies is in violation of the agency's ``technology neutral'' mandate and...
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Muths, Erin L.; Chambert, Thierry A.; Schmidt, B. R.; Miller, D. A. W.; Hossack, Blake R.; Joly, P.; Grolet, O.; Green, D. M.; Pilliod, David S.; Cheylan, M.; Fisher, Robert N.; McCaffery, R. M.; Adams, M. J.; Palen, W. J.; Arntzen, J. W.; Garwood, J.; Fellers, Gary M.; Thirion, J. M.; Grant, Evan H. Campbell; Besnard, A.
2017-01-01
The pervasive and unabated nature of global amphibian declines suggests common demographic responses to a given driver, and quantification of major drivers and responses could inform broad-scale conservation actions. We explored the influence of climate on demographic parameters (i.e., changes in the probabilities of survival and recruitment) using 31 datasets from temperate zone amphibian populations (North America and Europe) with more than a decade of observations each. There was evidence for an influence of climate on population demographic rates, but the direction and magnitude of responses to climate drivers was highly variable among taxa and among populations within taxa. These results reveal that climate drivers interact with variation in life-history traits and population-specific attributes resulting in a diversity of responses. This heterogeneity complicates the identification of conservation ‘rules of thumb’ for these taxa, and supports the notion of local focus as the most effective approach to overcome global-scale conservation challenges.
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Bird community conservation and carbon offsets in western North America.
Schuster, Richard; Martin, Tara G; Arcese, Peter
2014-01-01
Conservation initiatives to protect and restore valued species and communities in human-dominated landscapes face huge challenges linked to the cost of acquiring habitat. We ask how the sale of forest carbon offsets could reduce land acquisition costs, and how the alternate goals of maximizing α or β-diversity in focal communities could affect the prioritization land parcels over a range of conservation targets. Maximizing total carbon storage and carbon sequestration potential reduced land acquisition costs by up to 48%. Maximizing β rather than α-diversity within forest and savannah bird communities reduced acquisition costs by up to 15%, and when these solutions included potential carbon credit revenues, acquisition cost reductions up to 32% were achieved. However, the total cost of conservation networks increased exponentially as area targets increased in all scenarios. Our results indicate that carbon credit sales have the potential to enhance conservation outcomes in human-dominated landscapes by reducing the net acquisition costs of land conservation in old and maturing forests essential for the persistence of old forest plant and animal communities. Maximizing β versus α-diversity may further reduce costs by reducing the total area required to meet conservation targets and enhancing landscape heterogeneity. Although the potential value of carbon credit sales declined as a fraction of total acquisition costs, even conservative scenarios using a carbon credit value of $12.5/T suggest reductions in acquisition cost of up to $235 M, indicating that carbon credit sales could substantially reduce the costs of conservation.
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Five challenges to reconcile agricultural land use and forest ecosystem services in Southeast Asia.
Carrasco, L R; Papworth, S K; Reed, J; Symes, W S; Ickowitz, A; Clements, T; Peh, K S-H; Sunderland, T
2016-10-01
Southeast Asia possesses the highest rates of tropical deforestation globally and exceptional levels of species richness and endemism. Many countries in the region are also recognized for their food insecurity and poverty, making the reconciliation of agricultural production and forest conservation a particular priority. This reconciliation requires recognition of the trade-offs between competing land-use values and the subsequent incorporation of this information into policy making. To date, such reconciliation has been relatively unsuccessful across much of Southeast Asia. We propose an ecosystem services (ES) value-internalization framework that identifies the key challenges to such reconciliation. These challenges include lack of accessible ES valuation techniques; limited knowledge of the links between forests, food security, and human well-being; weak demand and political will for the integration of ES in economic activities and environmental regulation; a disconnect between decision makers and ES valuation; and lack of transparent discussion platforms where stakeholders can work toward consensus on negotiated land-use management decisions. Key research priorities to overcome these challenges are developing easy-to-use ES valuation techniques; quantifying links between forests and well-being that go beyond economic values; understanding factors that prevent the incorporation of ES into markets, regulations, and environmental certification schemes; understanding how to integrate ES valuation into policy making processes, and determining how to reduce corruption and power plays in land-use planning processes. © 2016 Society for Conservation Biology.
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Priorities for improving the scientific foundation of conservation policy in North America.
Noss, Reed F; Fleishman, Erica; Dellasala, Dominick A; Fitzgerald, John M; Gross, Mart R; Main, Martin B; Nagle, Fiona; O'Malley, Stacey L; Rosales, Jon
2009-08-01
The Society for Conservation Biology (SCB) can enhance conservation of biodiversity in North America by increasing its engagement in public policy. Toward this end, the North America Section of SCB is establishing partnerships with other professional organizations in order to speak more powerfully to decision makers and taking other actions--such as increasing interaction with chapters--geared to engage members more substantively in science-policy issues. Additionally, the section is developing a North American Biodiversity Blueprint, which spans the continental United States and Canada and is informed by natural and social science. This blueprint is intended to clarify the policy challenges for protecting continental biodiversity, to foster bilateral collaboration to resolve common problems, and to suggest rational alternative policies and practices that are more likely than current practices to sustain North America's natural heritage. Conservation scientists and practitioners can play a key role by drawing policy makers' attention to ultimate, as well as proximate, causes of biodiversity decline and to the ecological and economic consequences of not addressing these threats.
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Use of multicriteria decision analysis to address conservation conflicts.
Davies, A L; Bryce, R; Redpath, S M
2013-10-01
Conservation conflicts are increasing on a global scale and instruments for reconciling competing interests are urgently needed. Multicriteria decision analysis (MCDA) is a structured, decision-support process that can facilitate dialogue between groups with differing interests and incorporate human and environmental dimensions of conflict. MCDA is a structured and transparent method of breaking down complex problems and incorporating multiple objectives. The value of this process for addressing major challenges in conservation conflict management is that MCDA helps in setting realistic goals; entails a transparent decision-making process; and addresses mistrust, differing world views, cross-scale issues, patchy or contested information, and inflexible legislative tools. Overall we believe MCDA provides a valuable decision-support tool, particularly for increasing awareness of the effects of particular values and choices for working toward negotiated compromise, although an awareness of the effect of methodological choices and the limitations of the method is vital before applying it in conflict situations. © 2013 Society for Conservation Biology.
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Dickman, Amy J.; Macdonald, Ewan A.; Macdonald, David W.
2011-01-01
One of the greatest challenges in biodiversity conservation today is how to facilitate protection of species that are highly valued at a global scale but have little or even negative value at a local scale. Imperiled species such as large predators can impose significant economic costs at a local level, often in poverty-stricken rural areas where households are least able to tolerate such costs, and impede efforts of local people, especially traditional pastoralists, to escape from poverty. Furthermore, the costs and benefits involved in predator conservation often include diverse dimensions, which are hard to quantify and nearly impossible to reconcile with one another. The best chance of effective conservation relies upon translating the global value of carnivores into tangible local benefits large enough to drive conservation “on the ground.” Although human–carnivore coexistence involves significant noneconomic values, providing financial incentives to those affected negatively by carnivore presence is a common strategy for encouraging such coexistence, and this can also have important benefits in terms of reducing poverty. Here, we provide a critical overview of such financial instruments, which we term “payments to encourage coexistence”; assess the pitfalls and potentials of these methods, particularly compensation and insurance, revenue-sharing, and conservation payments; and discuss how existing strategies of payment to encourage coexistence could be combined to facilitate carnivore conservation and alleviate local poverty. PMID:21873181
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Dickman, Amy J; Macdonald, Ewan A; Macdonald, David W
2011-08-23
One of the greatest challenges in biodiversity conservation today is how to facilitate protection of species that are highly valued at a global scale but have little or even negative value at a local scale. Imperiled species such as large predators can impose significant economic costs at a local level, often in poverty-stricken rural areas where households are least able to tolerate such costs, and impede efforts of local people, especially traditional pastoralists, to escape from poverty. Furthermore, the costs and benefits involved in predator conservation often include diverse dimensions, which are hard to quantify and nearly impossible to reconcile with one another. The best chance of effective conservation relies upon translating the global value of carnivores into tangible local benefits large enough to drive conservation "on the ground." Although human-carnivore coexistence involves significant noneconomic values, providing financial incentives to those affected negatively by carnivore presence is a common strategy for encouraging such coexistence, and this can also have important benefits in terms of reducing poverty. Here, we provide a critical overview of such financial instruments, which we term "payments to encourage coexistence"; assess the pitfalls and potentials of these methods, particularly compensation and insurance, revenue-sharing, and conservation payments; and discuss how existing strategies of payment to encourage coexistence could be combined to facilitate carnivore conservation and alleviate local poverty.
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Drum, Ryan G.; Ribic, Christine A.; Koch, Katie; Lonsdorf, Eric; Grant, Evan; Ahlering, Marissa; Barnhill, Laurel; Dailey, Thomas; Lor, Socheata; Mueller, Connie; Pavlacky, David C.; Rideout, Catherine; Sample, David
2015-01-01
Grassland bird habitat has declined substantially in the United States. Remaining grasslands are increasingly fragmented, mostly privately owned, and vary greatly in terms of habitat quality and protection status. A coordinated strategic response for grassland bird conservation is difficult, largely due to the scope and complexity of the problem, further compounded by biological, sociological, and economic uncertainties. We describe the results from a collaborative Structured Decision Making (SDM) workshop focused on linking social and economic drivers of landscape change to grassland bird population outcomes. We identified and evaluated alternative strategies for grassland bird conservation using a series of rapid prototype models. We modeled change in grassland and agriculture cover in hypothetical landscapes resulting from different landowner decisions in response to alternative socio-economic conservation policy decisions. Resulting changes in land cover at all three stages of the annual cycle (breeding, wintering, and migration) were used to estimate changes in grassland bird populations. Our results suggest that successful grassland bird conservation may depend upon linkages with ecosystem services on working agricultural lands and grassland-based marketing campaigns to engage the public. With further development, spatial models that link landowner decisions with biological outcomes can be essential tools for making conservation policy decisions. A coordinated non-traditional partnership will likely be necessary to clearly understand and systematically respond to the many conservation challenges facing grassland birds. PMID:26569108
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Bird Community Conservation and Carbon Offsets in Western North America
Schuster, Richard; Martin, Tara G.; Arcese, Peter
2014-01-01
Conservation initiatives to protect and restore valued species and communities in human-dominated landscapes face huge challenges linked to the cost of acquiring habitat. We ask how the sale of forest carbon offsets could reduce land acquisition costs, and how the alternate goals of maximizing α or β-diversity in focal communities could affect the prioritization land parcels over a range of conservation targets. Maximizing total carbon storage and carbon sequestration potential reduced land acquisition costs by up to 48%. Maximizing β rather than α-diversity within forest and savannah bird communities reduced acquisition costs by up to 15%, and when these solutions included potential carbon credit revenues, acquisition cost reductions up to 32% were achieved. However, the total cost of conservation networks increased exponentially as area targets increased in all scenarios. Our results indicate that carbon credit sales have the potential to enhance conservation outcomes in human-dominated landscapes by reducing the net acquisition costs of land conservation in old and maturing forests essential for the persistence of old forest plant and animal communities. Maximizing β versus α-diversity may further reduce costs by reducing the total area required to meet conservation targets and enhancing landscape heterogeneity. Although the potential value of carbon credit sales declined as a fraction of total acquisition costs, even conservative scenarios using a carbon credit value of $12.5/T suggest reductions in acquisition cost of up to $235 M, indicating that carbon credit sales could substantially reduce the costs of conservation. PMID:24918621
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Drum, Ryan G; Ribic, Christine A; Koch, Katie; Lonsdorf, Eric; Grant, Evan; Ahlering, Marissa; Barnhill, Laurel; Dailey, Thomas; Lor, Socheata; Mueller, Connie; Pavlacky, David C; Rideout, Catherine; Sample, David
2015-01-01
Grassland bird habitat has declined substantially in the United States. Remaining grasslands are increasingly fragmented, mostly privately owned, and vary greatly in terms of habitat quality and protection status. A coordinated strategic response for grassland bird conservation is difficult, largely due to the scope and complexity of the problem, further compounded by biological, sociological, and economic uncertainties. We describe the results from a collaborative Structured Decision Making (SDM) workshop focused on linking social and economic drivers of landscape change to grassland bird population outcomes. We identified and evaluated alternative strategies for grassland bird conservation using a series of rapid prototype models. We modeled change in grassland and agriculture cover in hypothetical landscapes resulting from different landowner decisions in response to alternative socio-economic conservation policy decisions. Resulting changes in land cover at all three stages of the annual cycle (breeding, wintering, and migration) were used to estimate changes in grassland bird populations. Our results suggest that successful grassland bird conservation may depend upon linkages with ecosystem services on working agricultural lands and grassland-based marketing campaigns to engage the public. With further development, spatial models that link landowner decisions with biological outcomes can be essential tools for making conservation policy decisions. A coordinated non-traditional partnership will likely be necessary to clearly understand and systematically respond to the many conservation challenges facing grassland birds.
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Drum, Ryan G.; Ribic, Christine; Koch, Katie; Lonsdorf, Eric V.; Grant, Edward C.; Ahlering, Marissa; Barnhill, Laurel; Dailey, Thomas; Lor, Socheata; Mueller, Connie; Pavlacky, D.C.; Rideout, Catherine; Sample, David W.
2015-01-01
Grassland bird habitat has declined substantially in the United States. Remaining grasslands are increasingly fragmented, mostly privately owned, and vary greatly in terms of habitat quality and protection status. A coordinated strategic response for grassland bird conservation is difficult, largely due to the scope and complexity of the problem, further compounded by biological, sociological, and economic uncertainties. We describe the results from a collaborative Structured Decision Making (SDM) workshop focused on linking social and economic drivers of landscape change to grassland bird population outcomes. We identified and evaluated alternative strategies for grassland bird conservation using a series of rapid prototype models. We modeled change in grassland and agriculture cover in hypothetical landscapes resulting from different landowner decisions in response to alternative socio-economic conservation policy decisions. Resulting changes in land cover at all three stages of the annual cycle (breeding, wintering, and migration) were used to estimate changes in grassland bird populations. Our results suggest that successful grassland bird conservation may depend upon linkages with ecosystem services on working agricultural lands and grassland-based marketing campaigns to engage the public. With further development, spatial models that link landowner decisions with biological outcomes can be essential tools for making conservation policy decisions. A coordinated non-traditional partnership will likely be necessary to clearly understand and systematically respond to the many conservation challenges facing grassland birds.
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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.
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Biswas, Shampa; Vacik, Harald; Swanson, Mark E; Haque, S M Sirajul
2012-05-01
Criteria and indicators assessment is one of the ways to evaluate management strategies for mountain watersheds. One framework for this, Integrated Watershed Management (IWM), was employed at Chittagong Hill Tracts region of Bangladesh using a multi-criteria analysis approach. The IWM framework, consisting of the design and application of principles, criteria, indicators, and verifiers (PCIV), facilitates active participation by diverse professionals, experts, and interest groups in watershed management, to explicitly address the demands and problems to measure the complexity of problems in a transparent and understandable way. Management alternatives are developed to fulfill every key component of IWM considering the developed PCIV set and current situation of the study area. Different management strategies, each focusing on a different approach (biodiversity conservation, flood control, soil and water quality conservation, indigenous knowledge conservation, income generation, watershed conservation, and landscape conservation) were assessed qualitatively on their potential to improve the current situation according to each verifier of the criteria and indicator set. Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP), including sensitivity analysis, was employed to identify an appropriate management strategy according to overall priorities (i.e., different weights of each principle) of key informants. The AHP process indicated that a strategy focused on conservation of biodiversity provided the best option to address watershed-related challenges in the Chittagong Hill Tracts, Bangladesh.
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Paradigm shifts in fish conservation: moving to the ecosystem services concept.
Cowx, I G; Portocarrero Aya, M
2011-12-01
Various factors constrain the existence and development of inland fishes and fisheries, such as pollution, habitat degradation, alien invasive species, local user conflicts, low social priority and inadequate research and funding. In many cases, however, degradation of the environment and loss of aquatic habitat are the predominant concerns for the conservation of freshwater aquatic biota. The need for concerted effort to prevent and reduce environmental degradation, as well as protection of freshwater fishes and fisheries as renewable common pool resources or entities in their own right, are the greatest challenges facing the conservation of fishes in inland waters. Unfortunately, traditional conservation practices such as regulation of exploitation, protected areas and habitat restoration have failed to arrest the alarming increase in number of threatened freshwater fish species worldwide. This paper examines the shifting paradigm of fisheries management from rule-based regulation, through fishery enhancement towards the ecosystem approach to fisheries, with reference to inland waters, and how the emerging concept of ecosystem services coupled with traditional fish conservation management practices, institutional restructuring and integrated management planning should provide a more sustainable thrust to formulation and promotion of fish conservation initiatives. © 2011 The Authors. Journal of Fish Biology © 2011 The Fisheries Society of the British Isles.
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Xi, Zhenxiang; Peterson, Kylee; Rushworth, Catherine; Beaulieu, Jeremy; Davis, Charles C.
2016-01-01
The flowering plant family Elatinaceae is a widespread aquatic lineage inhabiting temperate and tropical latitudes, including ∼35(-50) species. Its phylogeny remains largely unknown, compromising our understanding of its systematics. Moreover, this group is particularly in need of attention because the biogeography of most aquatic plant clades has yet to be investigated, resulting in uncertainty about whether aquatic plants show histories that deviate from terrestrial plants. We inferred the phylogeny of Elatinaceae from four DNA regions spanning 59 accessions across the family. An expanded sampling was used for molecular divergence time estimation and ancestral area reconstruction to infer the biogeography of Elatinaceae and their closest terrestrial relatives, Malpighiaceae and Centroplacaceae. The two genera of Elatinaceae, Bergia and Elatine, are monophyletic, but several traditionally recognized groups within the family are non-monophyletic. Our results suggest two ancient biogeographic events in the Centroplacaceae(Malpighiaceae, Elatinaceae) clade involving western Gondwana, while Elatinaceae shows a more complicated biogeographic history with a high degree of continental endemicity. Our results indicate the need for further taxonomic investigation of Elatinaceae. Further, our study is one of few to implicate ancient Gondwanan biogeography in extant angiosperms, especially significant given the Centroplacaceae(Malpighiaceae, Elatinaceae) clade's largely tropical distribution. Finally, Elatinaceae demonstrates long-term continental in situ diversification, which argues against recent dispersal as a universal explanation commonly invoked for aquatic plant distributions. PMID:27684711
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Advances and Limitations of Disease Biogeography Using Ecological Niche Modeling.
Escobar, Luis E; Craft, Meggan E
2016-01-01
Mapping disease transmission risk is crucial in public and animal health for evidence based decision-making. Ecology and epidemiology are highly related disciplines that may contribute to improvements in mapping disease, which can be used to answer health related questions. Ecological niche modeling is increasingly used for understanding the biogeography of diseases in plants, animals, and humans. However, epidemiological applications of niche modeling approaches for disease mapping can fail to generate robust study designs, producing incomplete or incorrect inferences. This manuscript is an overview of the history and conceptual bases behind ecological niche modeling, specifically as applied to epidemiology and public health; it does not pretend to be an exhaustive and detailed description of ecological niche modeling literature and methods. Instead, this review includes selected state-of-the-science approaches and tools, providing a short guide to designing studies incorporating information on the type and quality of the input data (i.e., occurrences and environmental variables), identification and justification of the extent of the study area, and encourages users to explore and test diverse algorithms for more informed conclusions. We provide a friendly introduction to the field of disease biogeography presenting an updated guide for researchers looking to use ecological niche modeling for disease mapping. We anticipate that ecological niche modeling will soon be a critical tool for epidemiologists aiming to map disease transmission risk, forecast disease distribution under climate change scenarios, and identify landscape factors triggering outbreaks.
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Navigating the high seas of Federal Programs to ensure usable science delivery
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Bachelet, D. M.; Gough, M.; Baker, B.; Sheehan, T.; Mutch, T.; Brown, M.
2016-12-01
Conservation Biology Institute (CBI) has been developing web applications to serve credible and usable information that allows land stewards, as well as the general public, to better understand the challenges posed by on-going environmental change. Working with 18 Landscape Conservation Cooperatives (LCCs), CBI has developed Conservation Atlases that allow users to visualize regional spatial data. Some include specific tools such as the Conservation Blueprint in the South Atlantic LCC conservation atlas which is a living spatial plan that identifies priority areas for shared conservation action based on ecosystem indicator condition and connectivity. More than 400 people from over 100 different organizations have actively participated in its development so far. CBI worked closely with 4 LCCs to design a Landscape Climate Dashboard (http://bit.ly/2atu8Df) that provides CMIP5 climate projections averaged over federally and tribally protected lands in the western US. With support from BLM and Great Basin LCC, a Sagebrush Climate Console provides managers short-term NOAA forecasts, CMIP5 climate projections, regional intactness and site sensitivity over sagebrush extent and grouse range. The USDA Pacific Northwest Climate Hub and the US Forest Service are currently funding a collaborative effort between CBI programmers, USFS and Oregon State University forest geneticists to develop a seedlot source tool for the conterminous US and Alaska. This tool has inspired Great Basin sagebrush restoration scientists who have collected information on seed provenance and will hopefully soon collaborate to help develop the first seed source tool for sagebrush managers. Furthermore, with support from USDA Northwest Climate Hub, CBI's Data Basin site (http://bit.ly/2aLRlhZ) is providing downscaled CMIP5 climate projections and impacts from a Climate Science Center and NOAA Regional Integrated Science Assessment funded project that was the result of a collaborative effort between Oregon State University, University of Idaho, and the University of Washington. With much experience with local and regional managers and federal programs we will show examples of exciting successes and report on some challenges in coordinating exchanges and extracting valuable feedback to improve the usability of web applications.
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New challenges for grizzly bear management in Yellowstone National Park
van Manen, Frank T.; Gunther, Kerry A.
2016-01-01
A key factor contributing to the success of grizzly bear Ursus arctos conservation in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem has been the existence of a large protected area, Yellowstone National Park. We provide an overview of recovery efforts, how demographic parameters changed as the population increased, and how the bear management program in Yellowstone National Park has evolved to address new management challenges over time. Finally, using the management experiences in Yellowstone National Park, we present comparisons and perspectives regarding brown bear management in Shiretoko National Park.
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Successes and Challenges in East African Conservation Education
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Johnson-Pynn, Julie S.; Johnson, Laura R.
2005-01-01
Environmental education (EE) programs that include service-learning components have great potential to positively impact East African youth, their communities, and their ecology. This exploratory study describes 2 programs in East Africa, The Jane Goodall Institute's Roots & Shoots (R&S) and Wildlife Clubs of Uganda (WCU). The authors…
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Biodiversity in the city: key challenges for urban green space management
Myla F.J. Aronson; Christopher A. Lepczyk; Karl L. Evans; Mark A. Goddard; Susannah B. Lerman; J. Scott MacIvor; Charles H. Nilon; Timothy Vargo
2017-01-01
Cities play important roles in the conservation of global biodiversity, particularly through the planning and management of urban green spaces (UGS). However, UGS management is subject to a complex assortment of interacting social, cultural, and economic factors, including governance, economics, social networks, multiple stakeholders, individual preferences, and social...
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Science, practice, and place [Chapter 2
Daniel R. Williams
2013-01-01
Place-oriented inquiry and practice are proposed as keys to overcoming the persistent gap between science and practice. This chapter begins by describing some of the reasons science fails to simplify conservation practice, highlighting the challenges associated with the social and ecological sciences of multi-scaled complexity. Place concepts help scientists and...
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USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database
Recent years have witnessed a call for evidence-based decisions in conservation and natural resource management, including data-driven decision-making. Adaptive management (AM) is one prevalent model for integrating scientific data into decision-making, yet AM has faced numerous challenges and limit...
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Species richness alone does not predict cultural ecosystem service value
Rose A. Graves; Scott M. Pearson; Monica G. Turner
2017-01-01
Sustaining biodiversity and ecosystem services are common conservation goals. However, understanding relationships between biodiversity and cultural ecosystem services (CES) and determining the best indicators to represent CES remain crucial challenges. We combined ecological and social data to compare CES value of wildflower communities based on observed...
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Studying boat-based bear viewing: Methodological challenges and solutions
Sarah Elmeligi
2007-01-01
Wildlife viewing, a growing industry throughout North America, holds much potential for increased revenue and public awareness regarding species conservation. In Alaska and British Columbia, grizzly bear (Ursus arctos) viewing is becoming more popular, attracting tourists from around the world. Viewing is typically done from a land-based observation...
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Island biogeography: Taking the long view of nature's laboratories.
Whittaker, Robert J; Fernández-Palacios, José María; Matthews, Thomas J; Borregaard, Michael K; Triantis, Kostas A
2017-09-01
Islands provide classic model biological systems. We review how growing appreciation of geoenvironmental dynamics of marine islands has led to advances in island biogeographic theory accommodating both evolutionary and ecological phenomena. Recognition of distinct island geodynamics permits general models to be developed and modified to account for patterns of diversity, diversification, lineage development, and trait evolution within and across island archipelagos. Emergent patterns of diversity include predictable variation in island species-area relationships, progression rule colonization from older to younger land masses, and syndromes including loss of dispersability and secondary woodiness in herbaceous plant lineages. Further developments in Earth system science, molecular biology, and trait data for islands hold continued promise for unlocking many of the unresolved questions in evolutionary biology and biogeography. Copyright © 2017, American Association for the Advancement of Science.
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Soil protists: a fertile frontier in soil biology research.
Geisen, Stefan; Mitchell, Edward A D; Adl, Sina; Bonkowski, Michael; Dunthorn, Micah; Ekelund, Flemming; Fernández, Leonardo D; Jousset, Alexandre; Krashevska, Valentyna; Singer, David; Spiegel, Frederick W; Walochnik, Julia; Lara, Enrique
2018-05-01
Protists include all eukaryotes except plants, fungi and animals. They are an essential, yet often forgotten, component of the soil microbiome. Method developments have now furthered our understanding of the real taxonomic and functional diversity of soil protists. They occupy key roles in microbial foodwebs as consumers of bacteria, fungi and other small eukaryotes. As parasites of plants, animals and even of larger protists, they regulate populations and shape communities. Pathogenic forms play a major role in public health issues as human parasites, or act as agricultural pests. Predatory soil protists release nutrients enhancing plant growth. Soil protists are of key importance for our understanding of eukaryotic evolution and microbial biogeography. Soil protists are also useful in applied research as bioindicators of soil quality, as models in ecotoxicology and as potential biofertilizers and biocontrol agents. In this review, we provide an overview of the enormous morphological, taxonomical and functional diversity of soil protists, and discuss current challenges and opportunities in soil protistology. Research in soil biology would clearly benefit from incorporating more protistology alongside the study of bacteria, fungi and animals.
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Conservation landmarks: bureau of biological survey and national biological service
Friend, M.
1995-01-01
A century separates the recent development of the National Biological Service (NBS) and an early predecessor, the Bureau of Biological Survey (BBS). Both organizations were established at critical crossroads for the conservation of the nation's living biological resources and are conservation landmarks of their times. The BBS of the 192()'s was described as 'a government Bureau of the first rank, handling affairs of great scientific, educational, social, and above all, economic importance throughout the United States and its outlying possessions'' (Cameron 1929:144-145). This stature was achieved at a time of great social, economic, and ecological change. BBS had the vision to pioneer new approaches that led to enhanced understanding of the relation between people, other living things, and the environment. The NBS faces similar challenges to address the issues of the 1990's and beyond.
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Marshall, Katie E; Baltzer, Jennifer L
2015-02-01
The tendency for species richness to decrease toward the poles is one of the best-characterized patterns in biogeography. The mechanisms behind this pattern have received much attention, yet very few studies have investigated very high-latitude communities. Here, using data from 134 permanent sample plots from 60 degrees to 68 degrees N, we show that boreal forest plant communities in northwestern Canada increase in richness toward the poles, despite a strong increase in climatic harshness. We hypothesized three possible explanations for this pattern: (1) historical biogeography, (2) reduced competition for light at high latitudes (biotic interactions), and (3) changes in soil characteristics with latitude. We used multidimensional scaling to investigate the community composition at each site and found no clustering of communities by latitude, suggesting that historical biogeography was not constraining site diversity. We then investigated the mechanisms behind this gradient using both abiotic (climate and soil) and biotic (tree stand characteristics) variables in a multiple factor analysis. We found that the best predictor of species richness is an environmental gradient that describes an inverse relationship between temperature and tree-stand density, suggesting that reduced competition for light due to reduced tree growth at low temperatures at higher latitudes allows greater species richness. This study shows that low energy availability and climatic harshness may not be limiting species richness toward the poles, rather, abiotic effects act instead on the strength of biotic interactions.
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Ecosystem change and human health: implementation economics and policy.
Pattanayak, S K; Kramer, R A; Vincent, J R
2017-06-05
Several recent initiatives such as Planetary Health , EcoHealth and One Health claim that human health depends on flourishing natural ecosystems. However, little has been said about the operational and implementation challenges of health-oriented conservation actions on the ground. We contend that ecological-epidemiological research must be complemented by a form of implementation science that examines: (i) the links between specific conservation actions and the resulting ecological changes, and (ii) how this ecological change impacts human health and well-being, when human behaviours are considered. Drawing on the policy evaluation tradition in public economics, first, we present three examples of recent social science research on conservation interventions that affect human health. These examples are from low- and middle-income countries in the tropics and subtropics. Second, drawing on these examples, we present three propositions related to impact evaluation and non-market valuation that can help guide future multidisciplinary research on conservation and human health. Research guided by these propositions will allow stakeholders to determine how ecosystem-mediated strategies for health promotion compare with more conventional biomedical prevention and treatment strategies for safeguarding health.This article is part of the themed issue 'Conservation, biodiversity and infectious disease: scientific evidence and policy implications'. © 2017 The Authors.
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Nakano, Tomoyuki; Palma, Alvaro; Poulin, Elie
2017-01-01
Oceanic islands lacking connections to other land are extremely isolated from sources of potential colonists and have acquired their biota mainly through dispersal from geographically distant areas. Hence, isolated island biota constitutes interesting models to infer biogeographical mechanisms of dispersal, colonization, differentiation, and speciation. Limpets of the genus Cellana (Nacellidae: Patellogastropoda) show limited dispersal capacity but are broadly distributed across the Indo-Pacific including many endemic species in isolated oceanic islands. Here, we examined main distributional patterns and geographic boundaries among Cellana lineages with special emphasis in the relationships of Southern Hemisphere oceanic islands species. Phylogenetic reconstructions based on mtDNA (COI) recognized three main clades in Cellana including taxa from different provinces of the Indo-Pacific. Clear genetic discontinuities characterize the biogeography of Cellana and several lineages are associated to particular areas of the Indo-Pacific supporting the low dispersal capacity of the genus across recognized biogeographical barriers in the region. However, evolutionary relationships within Cellana suggest that long-distance dispersal processes have been common in the history of the genus and probably associated to the origin of the species in Hawaii and Juan Fernández Archipelago. Therefore, the presence of Cellana species in geographically distant Southern Hemisphere oceanic islands, such as the Juan Fernández Archipelago, suggests that long-distance dispersal mediated by rafting may have played an important role in the biogeography of the genus. PMID:28099466
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Ecosystem change and human health: implementation economics and policy
Kramer, R. A.; Vincent, J. R.
2017-01-01
Several recent initiatives such as Planetary Health, EcoHealth and One Health claim that human health depends on flourishing natural ecosystems. However, little has been said about the operational and implementation challenges of health-oriented conservation actions on the ground. We contend that ecological–epidemiological research must be complemented by a form of implementation science that examines: (i) the links between specific conservation actions and the resulting ecological changes, and (ii) how this ecological change impacts human health and well-being, when human behaviours are considered. Drawing on the policy evaluation tradition in public economics, first, we present three examples of recent social science research on conservation interventions that affect human health. These examples are from low- and middle-income countries in the tropics and subtropics. Second, drawing on these examples, we present three propositions related to impact evaluation and non-market valuation that can help guide future multidisciplinary research on conservation and human health. Research guided by these propositions will allow stakeholders to determine how ecosystem-mediated strategies for health promotion compare with more conventional biomedical prevention and treatment strategies for safeguarding health. This article is part of the themed issue ‘Conservation, biodiversity and infectious disease: scientific evidence and policy implications’. PMID:28438919
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Biogeography in the air: fungal diversity over land and oceans
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Fröhlich-Nowoisky, J.; Burrows, S. M.; Xie, Z.; Engling, G.; Solomon, P. A.; Fraser, M. P.; Mayol-Bracero, O. L.; Artaxo, P.; Begerow, D.; Conrad, R.; Andreae, M. O.; Després, V. R.; Pöschl, U.
2012-03-01
Biogenic aerosols are relevant for the Earth system, climate, and public health on local, regional, and global scales. Up to now, however, little is known about the diversity and biogeography of airborne microorganisms. We present the first DNA-based analysis of airborne fungi on global scales, showing pronounced geographic patterns and boundaries. In particular we find that the ratio of species richness between Basidiomycota and Ascomycota is much higher in continental air than in marine air. This may be an important difference between the "blue ocean" and "green ocean" regimes in the formation of clouds and precipitation, for which fungal spores can act as nuclei. Our findings also suggest that air flow patterns and the global atmospheric circulation are important for the understanding of global changes in biodiversity.
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Habitat islands and the equilibrium theory of island biogeography: testing some predictions
Brown, M.; Dinsmore, J.J.
1988-01-01
Species-area data from a study of marsh birds are used to test five predictions generated by the equilibrium theory of island biogeography. Three predictions are supported: we found a significant species-area relationship, a non-zero level of turnover, and a variance-mean ratio of 0.5. One prediction is rejected: the extinction rates were not greater on small islands. The results of one test are equivocal: the number of species on each island was not always the same. As Gilbert (1980) suggests, a strong species-area relationship alone does not validate the theory. The avian communities we studied were on habitat islands, not true islands, and underwent complete extinction annually. Thus caution must be used before applying the theory to these and other habitat islands.
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Ecosystem services from transborder migratory species: Implications for conservation governance
Lopez-Hoffman, Laura; Chester, Charles C.; Semmens, Darius J.; Thogmartin, Wayne E.; Rodriguez-McGoffin, M. Sofia; Merideth, Robert; Diffendorfer, Jay E.
2017-01-01
This article discusses the conservation challenges of volant migratory transborder species and conservation governance primarily in North America. Many migratory species provide ecosystem service benefits to society. For example, insectivorous bats prey on crop pests and reduce the need for pesticides; birds and insects pollinate food plants; and birds afford recreational opportunities to hunters and birdwatchers. Migration is driven by the seasonal availability of resources; as resources in one area become seasonally scarce, individuals move to locations where resources have become seasonally abundant. The separation of the annual lifecycle means that species management and governance is often fractured across international borders. Because migratory species depend on habitat in different locations, their ability to provide ecosystem services in one area depends on the spatial subsidies, or support, provided by habitat and ecological processes in other areas. This creates telecouplings, or interconnections across geographic space, of areas such that impacts to the habitat of a migratory species in one location will affect the benefits enjoyed by people in other locations. Information about telecoupling and spatial subsidies can be used to craft new governance arrangements such as Payment for Ecosystem Services programs that target specific stakeholder groups and locations. We illustrate these challenges and opportunities with three North American case studies: the Duck Stamp Program, Mexican free-tailed bats (Tadarida brasiliensis mexicana), and monarch butterflies (Danaus plexippus).
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Conservation physiology of animal migration.
Lennox, Robert J; Chapman, Jacqueline M; Souliere, Christopher M; Tudorache, Christian; Wikelski, Martin; Metcalfe, Julian D; Cooke, Steven J
2016-01-01
Migration is a widespread phenomenon among many taxa. This complex behaviour enables animals to exploit many temporally productive and spatially discrete habitats to accrue various fitness benefits (e.g. growth, reproduction, predator avoidance). Human activities and global environmental change represent potential threats to migrating animals (from individuals to species), and research is underway to understand mechanisms that control migration and how migration responds to modern challenges. Focusing on behavioural and physiological aspects of migration can help to provide better understanding, management and conservation of migratory populations. Here, we highlight different physiological, behavioural and biomechanical aspects of animal migration that will help us to understand how migratory animals interact with current and future anthropogenic threats. We are in the early stages of a changing planet, and our understanding of how physiology is linked to the persistence of migratory animals is still developing; therefore, we regard the following questions as being central to the conservation physiology of animal migrations. Will climate change influence the energetic costs of migration? Will shifting temperatures change the annual clocks of migrating animals? Will anthropogenic influences have an effect on orientation during migration? Will increased anthropogenic alteration of migration stopover sites/migration corridors affect the stress physiology of migrating animals? Can physiological knowledge be used to identify strategies for facilitating the movement of animals? Our synthesis reveals that given the inherent challenges of migration, additional stressors derived from altered environments (e.g. climate change, physical habitat alteration, light pollution) or interaction with human infrastructure (e.g. wind or hydrokinetic turbines, dams) or activities (e.g. fisheries) could lead to long-term changes to migratory phenotypes. However, uncertainty remains because of the complexity of biological systems, the inherently dynamic nature of the environment and the scale at which many migrations occur and associated threats operate, necessitating improved integration of physiological approaches to the conservation of migratory animals.
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Uprety, Yadav; Poudel, Ram C; Gurung, Janita; Chettri, Nakul; Chaudhary, Ram P
2016-05-03
Non-timber Forest Products (NTFPs), an important provisioning ecosystem services, are recognized for their contribution in rural livelihoods and forest conservation. Effective management through sustainable harvesting and market driven commercialization are two contrasting aspects that are bringing challenges in development of NTFPs sector. Identifying potential species having market value, conducting value chain analyses, and sustainable management of NTFPs need analysis of their use patterns by communities and trends at a regional scale. We analyzed use patterns, trends, and challenges in traditional use and management of NTFPs in the southern slope of Kangchenjunga Landscape, Eastern Himalaya and discussed potential implications for conservation and livelihoods. A total of 739 species of NTFPs used by the local people of Kangchenjunga Landscape were reported in the reviewed literature. Of these, the highest number of NTFPs was documented from India (377 species), followed by Nepal (363) and Bhutan (245). Though the reported species were used for 24 different purposes, medicinal and edible plants were the most frequently used NTFP categories in the landscape. Medicinal plants were used in 27 major ailment categories, with the highest number of species being used for gastro-intestinal disorders. Though the Kangchenjunga Landscape harbors many potential NTFPs, trade of NTFPs was found to be nominal indicating lack of commercialization due to limited market information. We found that the unsustainable harvesting and lack of marketing were the major constraints for sustainable management of NTFPs sector in the landscape despite of promising policy provisions. We suggest sustainable harvesting practices, value addition at local level, and marketing for promotion of NTFPs in the Kangchenjunga Landscape for income generation and livelihood improvement that subsequently contributes to conservation.
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Gong, Minghao; Guan, Tianpei; Hou, Meng; Liu, Gang; Zhou, Tianyuan
2017-01-01
One way that climate change will impact animal distributions is by altering habitat suitability and habitat fragmentation. Understanding the impacts of climate change on currently threatened species is of immediate importance because complex conservation planning will be required. Here, we mapped changes to the distribution, suitability, and fragmentation of giant panda habitat under climate change and quantified the direction and elevation of habitat shift and fragmentation patterns. These data were used to develop a series of new conservation strategies for the giant panda. Qinling Mountains, Shaanxi, China. Data from the most recent giant panda census, habitat factors, anthropogenic disturbance, climate variables, and climate predictions for the year 2050 (averaged across four general circulation models) were used to project giant panda habitat in Maxent. Differences in habitat patches were compared between now and 2050. While climate change will cause a 9.1% increase in suitable habitat and 9% reduction in subsuitable habitat by 2050, no significant net variation in the proportion of suitable and subsuitable habitat was found. However, a distinct climate change-induced habitat shift of 11 km eastward by 2050 is predicted firstly. Climate change will reduce the fragmentation of suitable habitat at high elevations and exacerbate the fragmentation of subsuitable habitat below 1,900 m above sea level. Reduced fragmentation at higher elevations and worsening fragmentation at lower elevations have the potential to cause overcrowding of giant pandas at higher altitudes, further exacerbating habitat shortage in the central Qinling Mountains. The habitat shift to the east due to climate change may provide new areas for giant pandas but poses severe challenges for future conservation.
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Prospects for stakeholder coordination by protected-area managers in Europe.
Mattsson, Brady J; Vacik, Harald
2018-02-01
Growing resource demands by humans, invasive species, natural hazards, and a changing climate have created broad-scale impacts and the need for broader-extent conservation activities that span ownerships and even political borders. Implementing regional-scale conservation brings great challenges, and learning how to overcome these challenges is essential for maintaining biodiversity (i.e., richness and evenness of biological communities) and ecosystem functions and services across scales and borders in the face of system change. We administered an online survey to examine factors potentially driving perspectives of protected-area (PA) managers regarding coordination with neighboring PAs and other stakeholders (i.e., stakeholder coordination) for conserving biodiversity and ecosystem services during the next decade within diverse regions across Europe. Although >70% (n = 58) of responding PA managers indicated that climate change and invasive species are relevant for their PAs, they gave <50% probability that these threats could be mitigated through stakeholder coordination. They thought there was a >60% probability (n = 85) that stakeholder coordination would take place with the aim to improve conservation outcomes. Consistent with the foundation on which many European PAs were established, managers viewed maintaining or enhancing biodiversity as the most important (>70%; n = 61) expected benefit. Other benefits included maintaining or enhancing human resources and environmental education (range of Bayesian credibility intervals [CIs] 57-93%). They thought the main barriers to stakeholder coordination were the lack of human and economic resources (CI 59-67% chance of hindering; n = 64) followed by communication and interstakeholder differences in political structures and laws (CI 51-64% probability of hindering). European policies and strategies that address these hindering factors could be particularly effective means of enabling implementation of green infrastructure networks in which PAs are the nodes. © 2017 Society for Conservation Biology.
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Factors influencing property selection for conservation revolving funds.
Hardy, Mathew J; Fitzsimons, James A; Bekessy, Sarah A; Gordon, Ascelin
2018-04-01
Finding sustainable ways to increase the amount of private land protected for biodiversity is challenging for many conservation organizations. In some countries, organizations use revolving-fund programs, whereby land is purchased and then sold to conservation-minded owners under condition they enter into a conservation covenant or easement. The sale proceeds are used to purchase, protect, and sell additional properties, incrementally increasing the amount of protected private land. Because the effectiveness of this approach relies on selecting appropriate properties, we explored factors currently considered by practitioners and how these are integrated into decision making. We conducted exploratory, semistructured interviews with managers from each of the 5 major revolving funds in Australia. Responses indicated although conservation factors are important, financial and social factors are also highly influential. A major determinant was whether the property could be resold within a reasonable period at a price that replenishes the fund. To facilitate resale, often selected properties include the potential for the construction of a dwelling. Practitioners face with clear trade-offs between conservation, financial, amenity, and other factors in selecting properties and 3 main challenges: recovering the costs of acquisition, protection, and resale; reselling the property; and meeting conservation goals. Our findings suggest the complexity of these decisions may constrain revolving-fund effectiveness. Drawing from participant responses, we identified potential strategies to mitigate these risks, such as providing adequate recreational space without jeopardizing ecological assets. We suggest managers could benefit from a shared-learning and adaptive approach to property selection given the commonalities between programs. Understanding how practitioners deal with complex decisions in the implementation of revolving funds helps identify future research to improve the performance of this conservation tool. © 2017 Society for Conservation Biology.
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A comparative approach to assess drivers of success in mammalian conservation recovery programs.
Crees, Jennifer J; Collins, Amy C; Stephenson, P J; Meredith, Helen M R; Young, Richard P; Howe, Caroline; Price, Mark R Stanley; Turvey, Samuel T
2016-08-01
The outcomes of species recovery programs have been mixed; high-profile population recoveries contrast with species-level extinctions. Each conservation intervention has its own challenges, but to inform more effective management it is imperative to assess whether correlates of wider recovery program success or failure can be identified. To contribute to evidence-based improvement of future conservation strategies, we conducted a global quantitative analysis of 48 mammalian recovery programs. We reviewed available scientific literature and conducted semistructured interviews with conservation professionals involved in different recovery programs to investigate ecological, management, and political factors associated with population recoveries or declines. Identifying and removing threats was significantly associated with increasing population trend and decreasing conservation dependence, emphasizing that populations are likely to continue to be compromised in the absence of effective threat mitigation and supporting the need for threat monitoring and adaptive management in response to new and potential threats. Lack of habitat and small population size were cited as limiting factors in 56% and 42% of recovery programs, respectively, and both were statistically associated with increased longer term dependence on conservation intervention, demonstrating the importance of increasing population numbers quickly and restoring and protecting habitat. Poor stakeholder coordination and management were also regularly cited by respondents as key weaknesses in recovery programs, indicating the importance of effective leadership and shared goals and management plans. Project outcomes were not influenced by biological or ecological variables such as body mass or habitat, which suggests that these insights into correlates of conservation success and failure are likely to be generalizable across mammals. © 2016 Society for Conservation Biology.
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Tabor, Karyn; Jones, Kelly W; Hewson, Jennifer; Rasolohery, Andriambolantsoa; Rambeloson, Andoniaina; Andrianjohaninarivo, Tokihenintsoa; Harvey, Celia A
2017-01-01
Forest conservation and REDD+ projects invest millions of dollars each year to reduce local communities' dependence on forests and prevent forest loss and degradation. However, to date, there is limited evidence on whether these investments are effective at delivering conservation outcomes. We explored the relationships between 600+ small-scale conservation and development investments that occurred from 2007 to 2014 and conservation outcomes (deforestation rates and fire detections) within Ankeniheny-Zahamena Corridor in Madagascar using linear fixed effects panel regressions. We derived annual changes in forest cover and fires from satellite remote sensing. We found a statistically significant correlation between presence of any investment and reduced deforestation rates in 2010 and 2011 -years with accelerated deforestation elsewhere in the study area. This result indicated investments abated deforestation rates during times of political instability and lack of governance following a 2009 coup in Madagascar. We also found a statistically significant relationship between presence of any investment and reduced fire detections in the study area, suggesting investments had an impact on reducing burning of forest for agriculture. For both outcomes (i.e., deforestation rates and fire detections), we found that more dollars invested led to greater conservation outcomes (i.e. fewer fires or less deforestation), particularly when funding was sustained for one to two years. Our findings suggest that conservation and development investments can reduce deforestation and fire incidence, but also highlight the many challenges and complexities in assessing relationships between investments and conservation outcomes in a dynamic landscape and a volatile political context.
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DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)
Pope, Jason E.
For more than 50 years, the United States (U.S.) Department of Energy’s (DOE’s) Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) has advanced the frontiers of science and technology through courageous discovery and innovation. Our multidisciplinary team of more than 4,400 scientists, engineers, and support professionals is tackling global sustainability challenges in our science, energy, environmental, and security missions. For example, our research on how human and natural systems interact is critical to informing sustainable solutions to the nation’s energy and environmental challenges. PNNL is equally committed to sustainability right here at home, and we are making excellent progress toward the goals describedmore » in this plan. We are working on ongoing challenges, such as reducing the energy required to meet our research mission and promoting conservation among our employees.« less
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A latitudinal diversity gradient in terrestrial bacteria of the genus Streptomyces
Andam, Cheryl P.; Doroghazi, James R.; Campbell, Ashley N.; ...
2016-04-12
We show that Streptomyces biogeography in soils across North America is influenced by the regional diversification of microorganisms due to dispersal limitation and genetic drift. Streptomyces spp. form desiccation-resistant spores, which can be dispersed on the wind, allowing for a strong test of whether dispersal limitation governs patterns of terrestrial microbial diversity. We employed an approach that has high sensitivity for determining the effects of genetic drift. Specifically, we examined the genetic diversity and phylogeography of physiologically similar Streptomyces strains isolated from geographically distributed yet ecologically similar habitats. We found that Streptomyces beta diversity scales with geographic distance and bothmore » beta diversity and phylogenetic diversity manifest in a latitudinal diversity gradient. This pattern of Streptomyces biogeography resembles patterns seen for diverse species of plants and animals, and we therefore evaluated these data in the context of ecological and evolutionary hypotheses proposed to explain latitudinal diversity gradients. The data are consistent with the hypothesis that niche conservatism limits dispersal, and historical patterns of glaciation have limited the time for speciation in higher-latitude sites. Most notably, higher-latitude sites have lower phylogenetic diversity, higher phylogenetic clustering, and evidence of range expansion from lower latitudes. In addition, patterns of beta diversity partition with respect to the glacial history of sites. Furthermore, the data support the hypothesis that extant patterns of Streptomyces biogeography have been driven by historical patterns of glaciation and are the result of demographic range expansion, dispersal limitation, and regional diversification due to drift.« less
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Yuan, Jun; Du, Juan; Wang, Liping; Sun, Fengqin; Shao, Zongze
2014-01-01
Thalassospira bacteria are widespread and have been isolated from various marine environments. Less is known about their genetic diversity and biogeography, as well as their role in marine environments, many of them cannot be discriminated merely using the 16S rRNA gene. To address these issues, in this report, the phylogenetic analysis of 58 strains from seawater and deep sea sediments were carried out using the multilocus sequence analysis (MLSA) based on acsA, aroE, gyrB, mutL, rpoD and trpB genes, and the DNA-DNA hybridization (DDH) and average nucleotide identity (ANI) based on genome sequences. The MLSA analysis demonstrated that the 58 strains were clearly separated into 15 lineages, corresponding to seven validly described species and eight potential novel species. The DDH and ANI values further confirmed the validity of the MLSA analysis and eight potential novel species. The MLSA interspecies gap of the genus Thalassospira was determined to be 96.16–97.12% sequence identity on the basis of the combined analyses of the DDH and MLSA, while the ANIm interspecies gap was 95.76–97.20% based on the in silico DDH analysis. Meanwhile, phylogenetic analyses showed that the Thalassospira bacteria exhibited distribution pattern to a certain degree according to geographic regions. Moreover, they clustered together according to the habitats depth. For short, the phylogenetic analyses and biogeography of the Thalassospira bacteria were systematically investigated for the first time. These results will be helpful to explore further their ecological role and adaptive evolution in marine environments. PMID:25198177
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A Latitudinal Diversity Gradient in Terrestrial Bacteria of the Genus Streptomyces
Andam, Cheryl P.; Doroghazi, James R.; Campbell, Ashley N.; Kelly, Peter J.; Choudoir, Mallory J.
2016-01-01
ABSTRACT We show that Streptomyces biogeography in soils across North America is influenced by the regional diversification of microorganisms due to dispersal limitation and genetic drift. Streptomyces spp. form desiccation-resistant spores, which can be dispersed on the wind, allowing for a strong test of whether dispersal limitation governs patterns of terrestrial microbial diversity. We employed an approach that has high sensitivity for determining the effects of genetic drift. Specifically, we examined the genetic diversity and phylogeography of physiologically similar Streptomyces strains isolated from geographically distributed yet ecologically similar habitats. We found that Streptomyces beta diversity scales with geographic distance and both beta diversity and phylogenetic diversity manifest in a latitudinal diversity gradient. This pattern of Streptomyces biogeography resembles patterns seen for diverse species of plants and animals, and we therefore evaluated these data in the context of ecological and evolutionary hypotheses proposed to explain latitudinal diversity gradients. The data are consistent with the hypothesis that niche conservatism limits dispersal, and historical patterns of glaciation have limited the time for speciation in higher-latitude sites. Most notably, higher-latitude sites have lower phylogenetic diversity, higher phylogenetic clustering, and evidence of range expansion from lower latitudes. In addition, patterns of beta diversity partition with respect to the glacial history of sites. Hence, the data support the hypothesis that extant patterns of Streptomyces biogeography have been driven by historical patterns of glaciation and are the result of demographic range expansion, dispersal limitation, and regional diversification due to drift. PMID:27073097
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Jones, Kelly W.; Hewson, Jennifer; Rasolohery, Andriambolantsoa; Rambeloson, Andoniaina; Andrianjohaninarivo, Tokihenintsoa; Harvey, Celia A.
2017-01-01
Forest conservation and REDD+ projects invest millions of dollars each year to reduce local communities’ dependence on forests and prevent forest loss and degradation. However, to date, there is limited evidence on whether these investments are effective at delivering conservation outcomes. We explored the relationships between 600+ small-scale conservation and development investments that occurred from 2007 to 2014 and conservation outcomes (deforestation rates and fire detections) within Ankeniheny-Zahamena Corridor in Madagascar using linear fixed effects panel regressions. We derived annual changes in forest cover and fires from satellite remote sensing. We found a statistically significant correlation between presence of any investment and reduced deforestation rates in 2010 and 2011 –years with accelerated deforestation elsewhere in the study area. This result indicated investments abated deforestation rates during times of political instability and lack of governance following a 2009 coup in Madagascar. We also found a statistically significant relationship between presence of any investment and reduced fire detections in the study area, suggesting investments had an impact on reducing burning of forest for agriculture. For both outcomes (i.e., deforestation rates and fire detections), we found that more dollars invested led to greater conservation outcomes (i.e. fewer fires or less deforestation), particularly when funding was sustained for one to two years. Our findings suggest that conservation and development investments can reduce deforestation and fire incidence, but also highlight the many challenges and complexities in assessing relationships between investments and conservation outcomes in a dynamic landscape and a volatile political context. PMID:29267356
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Engaging recreational fishers in management and conservation: global case studies.
Granek, E F; Madin, E M P; Brown, M A; Figueira, W; Cameron, D S; Hogan, Z; Kristianson, G; de Villiers, P; Williams, J E; Post, J; Zahn, S; Arlinghaus, R
2008-10-01
Globally, the number of recreational fishers is sizeable and increasing in many countries. Associated with this trend is the potential for negative impacts on fish stocks through exploitation or management measures such as stocking and introduction of non-native fishes. Nevertheless, recreational fishers can be instrumental in successful fisheries conservation through active involvement in, or initiation of, conservation projects to reduce both direct and external stressors contributing to fishery declines. Understanding fishers' concerns for sustained access to the resource and developing methods for their meaningful participation can have positive impacts on conservation efforts. We examined a suite of case studies that demonstrate successful involvement of recreational fishers in conservation and management activities that span developed and developing countries, temperate and tropical regions, marine and freshwater systems, and open- and closed-access fisheries. To illustrate potential benefits and challenges of involving recreational fishers in fisheries management and conservation, we examined the socioeconomic and ecological contexts of each case study. We devised a conceptual framework for the engagement of recreational fishers that targets particular types of involvement (enforcement, advocacy, conservation, management design [type and location], research, and monitoring) on the basis of degree of stakeholder stewardship, scale of the fishery, and source of impacts (internal or external). These activities can be enhanced by incorporating local knowledge and traditions, taking advantage of leadership and regional networks, and creating collaborations among various stakeholder groups, scientists, and agencies to maximize the probability of recreational fisher involvement and project success.
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NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Santangeli, Andrea; Laaksonen, Toni
2015-02-01
Biodiversity conservation on private land of the developed world faces several challenges. The costs of land are often high, and the attitudes of landowners towards conservation are variable. Scientists and practitioners need to scan for and adopt cost-effective solutions that allow for the long-term sustainability of conservation measures on private land. In this study, we focus on one of such possible solutions: Working with landowners to implement voluntary nonmonetary conservation. We restrict our focus to protection of raptor nests, but the ideas can be applied to other taxa as well. Through a literature review, we show that a voluntary nonmonetary approach for protecting raptor nests has been so far largely neglected and/or rarely reported in the scientific literature. However, results of a questionnaire sent to BirdLife partners across Europe indicate that this approach is more widely used than it appears from the literature. We show that voluntary nonmonetary approaches may represent useful tools to protect raptor nests on private land. We provide a workflow for implementation of such an approach in raptor nest protection, highlighting benefits, potential risks, and constraints in the application of the strategy. We suggest that a voluntary nonmonetary approach may have great potential for cost-effective conservation, but the risks it may entail should be carefully assessed in each case. There is an urgent need to consider and evaluate novel approaches, such as the one described here, which may constitute missed opportunities for cost-effective conservation.
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Rejoinder: Challenge and opportunity in the study of ungulate migration amid environmental change
Middleton, Arthur D.; Kauffman, Matthew J.; McWhirter, Douglas E.; Cook, John G.; Cook, Rachel C.; Nelson, Abigail A.; Jimenez, Michael D.; Klaver, Robert W.
2013-01-01
that promote migratory behavior. This transboundary aspect of migration presents many new challenges and opportunities for research and conservation (e.g., Bolger et al. 2008, Taillon et al. 2012). Work to date has often focused on physical barriers to movement (roads, fences,and housing and energy development) that can threaten migratory populations to varying degrees (Holdo et al. 2011, Sawyer et al. 2013). However, even in the absence of conspicuous barriers, political and jurisdictional boundaries can bring dramatic differences in land use and conservation policy. What happens to migratory populations when these boundaries alter the resources and refuges that they seek on their seasonal journeys?
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USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database
Society faces substantial challenges to expand food production while adapting to climatic changes and ensuring ecosystem services are maintained. A convergence of these issues is occurring in the Midwestern United States, i.e., the ‘cornbelt’ region that provides substantial grain supplies to world ...
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Hydrological connectivity for riverine fish: measurement challenges and research opportunities
A.H. Fullerton; Kelly Burnett; Ashley Steel; Rebecca Flitcroft; G.R. Pess; B.E. Feist; C.E. Torgersen; D.J. Miller; B.L. Sanderson
2010-01-01
In this review, we first summarize how hydrologic connectivity has been studied for riverine fish capable of moving long distances, and then identify research opportunities that have clear conservation significance. Migratory species, such as anadromous salmonids, are good model organisms for understanding ecological connectivity in rivers because the spatial scale...
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Melatonin enhances the recovery of cryopreserved shoot tips of American elm (Ulmus Americana L.)
USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database
Climate change and the global migrations of people and goods have exposed trees to new diseases and abiotic challenges that threaten the survival of species. In vitro germplasm storage via cryopreservation is an effective tool to ensure conservation of tree species, but plant cells and tissues are e...
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Lisa A. Schulte; Jarad Niemi; Matthew J. Helmers; Matt Liebman; J. Gordon Arbuckle; David E. James; Randall K. Kolka; Matthew E. O’Neal; Mark D. Tomer; John C. Tyndall; Heidi Asbjornsen; Pauline Drobney; Jeri Neal; Gary Van Ryswyk; Chris Witte
2017-01-01
Loss of biodiversity and degradation of ecosystem services from agricultural lands remain important challenges in the United States despite decades of spending on natural resource management. To date, conservation investment has emphasized engineering practices or vegetative strategies centered on monocultural plantings of nonnative plants, largely excluding native...
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ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Eanes, Francis R.
2016-01-01
How can researchers and practitioners meaningfully engage the public in matters of environmental stewardship and landscape conservation? Traditional approaches to answering this question have erroneously relied upon the assumption that the simple combination of knowledge and awareness of environmental challenges will motivate desirable behavior…
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The Effect of Visitor Motivation on the Success of Environmental Education at the Toronto Zoo
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Schultz, James G. W.; Joordens, Steve
2014-01-01
With the number and scope of environmental challenges continuing to increase, an understanding of the effectiveness of conservation programs is essential in order to allocate limited resources. This paper examines the effectiveness of environmental education within a zoo setting, focusing on the role of learners' identity-related motivation.…
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Marine Dispersal Scales Are Congruent over Evolutionary and Ecological Time.
Pinsky, Malin L; Saenz-Agudelo, Pablo; Salles, Océane C; Almany, Glenn R; Bode, Michael; Berumen, Michael L; Andréfouët, Serge; Thorrold, Simon R; Jones, Geoffrey P; Planes, Serge
2017-01-09
The degree to which offspring remain near their parents or disperse widely is critical for understanding population dynamics, evolution, and biogeography, and for designing conservation actions. In the ocean, most estimates suggesting short-distance dispersal are based on direct ecological observations of dispersing individuals, while indirect evolutionary estimates often suggest substantially greater homogeneity among populations. Reconciling these two approaches and their seemingly competing perspectives on dispersal has been a major challenge. Here we show for the first time that evolutionary and ecological measures of larval dispersal can closely agree by using both to estimate the distribution of dispersal distances. In orange clownfish (Amphiprion percula) populations in Kimbe Bay, Papua New Guinea, we found that evolutionary dispersal kernels were 17 km (95% confidence interval: 12-24 km) wide, while an exhaustive set of direct larval dispersal observations suggested kernel widths of 27 km (19-36 km) or 19 km (15-27 km) across two years. The similarity between these two approaches suggests that ecological and evolutionary dispersal kernels can be equivalent, and that the apparent disagreement between direct and indirect measurements can be overcome. Our results suggest that carefully applied evolutionary methods, which are often less expensive, can be broadly relevant for understanding ecological dispersal across the tree of life. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
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Perry, G.; Rodda, G.H.; Fritts, T.H.; Sharp, T.R.
1998-01-01
We sampled the lizard fauna of twenty-two small islets fringing the Pacific island of Guam and used these data to shed light on the processes responsible for present-day diversity. Habitat diversity, measured by islet area and vegetation complexity, was significantly correlated with the number of species found on an islet. However, islet distance and elevation were not significant predictors of diversity. Distribution patterns were slightly different for the two major families in our sample, Scincidae and Gekkonidae: skinks needed larger islets to maintain a population than did geckos. Presence/absence patterns were highly and significantly nested, and population density was correlated with the number of islets on which a species was found. An area cladogram was poorly supported and showed no faunal similarity between nearby islands. These patterns indicate that extinctions on most islets were due mostly to non-catastrophic, long-acting biological causes. The presence on the islets of species extirpated on Guam and the lack of significant nestedness on islands with greater maximum elevation highlight the impact that predators (primarily brown treesnakes) can have. Our findings also show that small reserves will not suffice to protect endangered lizard faunas, and that the islets may serve as a short-term repository of such species until snake-free areas can be established on Guam.
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The state and challenges of conservation nurseries in Afghanistan
John T. Harrington; John G. Mexal; A. M. Wagner; Tammy Parsons
2012-01-01
Afghanistan is a semi-arid, mountainous country with a climate similar to New Mexico. Unfortunately, much of the country has been deforested by unsustainable fuelwood harvesting, overgrazing, and even concerns over security. The senior author was invited to assess the Afghanistan forestry situation in 6 provinces as part of the Afghanistan Water, Agriculture, and...
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Renewable energy and wildlife conservation
Khalil, Mona
2016-09-09
The renewable energy sector is rapidly expanding and diversifying the power supply of the country. Yet, as our Nation works to advance renewable energy and to conserve wildlife, some conflicts arise. To address these challenges, the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) is conducting innovative research and developing workable solutions to reduce impacts of renewable energy production on wildlife.
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Climatic and hydrological characteristics in the arid/semi-arid areas create unique challenges to soil, water and biodiversity conservation. These areas are environmentally sensitive, but very valuable for the ecosystems services they provide to society. Some of these areas are...
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Biogeography in the air: fungal diversity over land and oceans
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Fröhlich-Nowoisky, J.; Burrows, S. M.; Xie, Z.; Engling, G.; Solomon, P. A.; Fraser, M. P.; Mayol-Bracero, O. L.; Artaxo, P.; Begerow, D.; Conrad, R.; Andreae, M. O.; Després, V. R.; Pöschl, U.
2011-07-01
Biogenic aerosols are relevant for the Earth system, climate, and public health on local, regional, and global scales. Up to now, however, little is known about the diversity and biogeography of airborne microorganisms. We present the first DNA-based analysis of airborne fungi on global scales, showing pronounced geographic patterns and boundaries. In particular we found that the ratio of species richness between Basidiomycota and Ascomycota is much higher in continental air than in marine air. This may be an important difference between the "blue ocean" and "green ocean" regimes in the formation of clouds and precipitation, for which fungal spores can act as nuclei. Our findings also suggest that air flow patterns and the global atmospheric circulation are important for the evolution of microbial ecology and for the understanding of global changes in biodiversity.
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Nishi, J S; Stephen, C; Elkin, B T
2002-10-01
Although disease is often an important factor in the population dynamics of wild ungulates, it is largely the threat-both real and perceived-that sylvatic disease reservoirs pose to the health status of commercial livestock or game farm industry that has led governments to establish policy and legislation for disease management, trade, and movement. With respect to bovine tuberculosis and brucellosis in wildlife, policies are largely borrowed from the existing regulatory framework for domestic livestock. In this paper, we review how general policy goals for managing these reportable diseases in domestic livestock have also affected conservation and management of bison in Canada. We argue that there is a need to better integrate conservation biology with agricultural livestock policy to develop management options and better address the unique conservation challenges that diseased free-ranging bison populations present.
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Science and policy: valuing framing, language and listening.
Forbes, Stephen
2011-01-01
This paper considers the context for science contributing to policy development and explores some critical issues that should inform science advocacy and influence with policy makers. The paper argues that the key challenges are at least as much in educating conservation scientists and science communicators about society and policy making as they are in educating society and policy makers about science. The importance of developing processes to ensure that scientists and science communicators invest in the development of relationships based on respect and understanding of their audience in both communities and amongst policy makers provides a critical first step. The objectives of the Global Strategy for Plant Conservation acknowledge the importance of developing the capacities and public engagement necessary to implement the Strategy, including knowledge transfer and community capacity building. However, the development of targets to equip institutions and plant conservation professionals to explicitly address the barriers to influencing policy development through knowledge transfer and integration require further consideration.
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Factoring attitudes towards armed conflict risk into selection of protected areas for conservation.
Hammill, E; Tulloch, A I T; Possingham, H P; Strange, N; Wilson, K A
2016-03-30
The high incidence of armed conflicts in biodiverse regions poses significant challenges in achieving international conservation targets. Because attitudes towards risk vary, we assessed different strategies for protected area planning that reflected alternative attitudes towards the risk of armed conflicts. We find that ignoring conflict risk will deliver the lowest return on investment. Opting to completely avoid conflict-prone areas offers limited improvements and could lead to species receiving no protection. Accounting for conflict by protecting additional areas to offset the impacts of armed conflicts would not only increase the return on investment (an effect that is enhanced when high-risk areas are excluded) but also increase upfront conservation costs. Our results also demonstrate that fine-scale estimations of conflict risk could enhance the cost-effectiveness of investments. We conclude that achieving biodiversity targets in volatile regions will require greater initial investment and benefit from fine-resolution estimates of conflict risk.
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Political transition and emergent forest-conservation issues in Myanmar.
Prescott, Graham W; Sutherland, William J; Aguirre, Daniel; Baird, Matthew; Bowman, Vicky; Brunner, Jake; Connette, Grant M; Cosier, Martin; Dapice, David; De Alban, Jose Don T; Diment, Alex; Fogerite, Julia; Fox, Jefferson; Hlaing, Win; Htun, Saw; Hurd, Jack; LaJeunesse Connette, Katherine; Lasmana, Felicia; Lim, Cheng Ling; Lynam, Antony; Maung, Aye Chan; McCarron, Benjamin; McCarthy, John F; McShea, William J; Momberg, Frank; Mon, Myat Su; Myint, Than; Oberndorf, Robert; Oo, Thaung Naing; Phelps, Jacob; Rao, Madhu; Schmidt-Vogt, Dietrich; Speechly, Hugh; Springate-Baginski, Oliver; Steinmetz, Robert; Talbott, Kirk; Than, Maung Maung; Thaung, Tint Lwin; Thawng, Salai Cung Lian; Thein, Kyaw Min; Thein, Shwe; Tizard, Robert; Whitten, Tony; Williams, Guy; Wilson, Trevor; Woods, Kevin; Ziegler, Alan D; Zrust, Michal; Webb, Edward L
2017-12-01
Political and economic transitions have had substantial impacts on forest conservation. Where transitions are underway or anticipated, historical precedent and methods for systematically assessing future trends should be used to anticipate likely threats to forest conservation and design appropriate and prescient policy measures to counteract them. Myanmar is transitioning from an authoritarian, centralized state with a highly regulated economy to a more decentralized and economically liberal democracy and is working to end a long-running civil war. With these transitions in mind, we used a horizon-scanning approach to assess the 40 emerging issues most affecting Myanmar's forests, including internal conflict, land-tenure insecurity, large-scale agricultural development, demise of state timber enterprises, shortfalls in government revenue and capacity, and opening of new deforestation frontiers with new roads, mines, and hydroelectric dams. Averting these threats will require, for example, overhauling governance models, building capacity, improving infrastructure- and energy-project planning, and reforming land-tenure and environmental-protection laws. Although challenges to conservation in Myanmar are daunting, the political transition offers an opportunity for conservationists and researchers to help shape a future that enhances Myanmar's social, economic, and environmental potential while learning and applying lessons from other countries. Our approach and results are relevant to other countries undergoing similar transitions. © 2017 The Authors. Conservation Biology published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc. on behalf of Society for Conservation Biology.
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Factoring attitudes towards armed conflict risk into selection of protected areas for conservation
Hammill, E.; Tulloch, A. I. T.; Possingham, H. P.; Strange, N.; Wilson, K. A.
2016-01-01
The high incidence of armed conflicts in biodiverse regions poses significant challenges in achieving international conservation targets. Because attitudes towards risk vary, we assessed different strategies for protected area planning that reflected alternative attitudes towards the risk of armed conflicts. We find that ignoring conflict risk will deliver the lowest return on investment. Opting to completely avoid conflict-prone areas offers limited improvements and could lead to species receiving no protection. Accounting for conflict by protecting additional areas to offset the impacts of armed conflicts would not only increase the return on investment (an effect that is enhanced when high-risk areas are excluded) but also increase upfront conservation costs. Our results also demonstrate that fine-scale estimations of conflict risk could enhance the cost-effectiveness of investments. We conclude that achieving biodiversity targets in volatile regions will require greater initial investment and benefit from fine-resolution estimates of conflict risk. PMID:27025894
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Coexistence in neutral theories: interplay of criticality and mild local preferences
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Borile, Claudio; Molina-Garcia, Daniel; Maritan, Amos; Muñoz, Miguel A.
2015-01-01
Neutral theories have played a crucial and revolutionary role in fields such as population genetics and biogeography. These theories are critical by definition, in the sense that the overall growth rate of each single allele/species/type vanishes. Thus each species in a neutral model sits at the edge between invasion and extinction, allowing for the coexistence of symmetric/neutral types. However, in finite systems, mono-dominated states are ineluctably reached in relatively short times owing to demographic fluctuations, thus leaving us with an unsatisfactory framework to rationalize empirically-observed long-term coexistence. Here, we scrutinize the effect of heterogeneity in quasi-neutral theories, in which there can be a local mild preference for some of the competing species at some sites, even if the overall species symmetry is maintained. As we show here, mild biases at a small fraction of locations suffice to induce overall robust and durable species coexistence, even in regions arbitrarily far apart from the biased locations. This result stems from the long-range nature of the underlying critical bulk dynamics and has a number of implications, for example, in conservation ecology as it suggests that constructing local specific ‘sanctuaries’ for different competing species can result in global enhancement of biodiversity, even in regions arbitrarily distant from the protected refuges.
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Designing marine reserve networks for both conservation and fisheries management.
Gaines, Steven D; White, Crow; Carr, Mark H; Palumbi, Stephen R
2010-10-26
Marine protected areas (MPAs) that exclude fishing have been shown repeatedly to enhance the abundance, size, and diversity of species. These benefits, however, mean little to most marine species, because individual protected areas typically are small. To meet the larger-scale conservation challenges facing ocean ecosystems, several nations are expanding the benefits of individual protected areas by building networks of protected areas. Doing so successfully requires a detailed understanding of the ecological and physical characteristics of ocean ecosystems and the responses of humans to spatial closures. There has been enormous scientific interest in these topics, and frameworks for the design of MPA networks for meeting conservation and fishery management goals are emerging. Persistent in the literature is the perception of an inherent tradeoff between achieving conservation and fishery goals. Through a synthetic analysis across these conservation and bioeconomic studies, we construct guidelines for MPA network design that reduce or eliminate this tradeoff. We present size, spacing, location, and configuration guidelines for designing networks that simultaneously can enhance biological conservation and reduce fishery costs or even increase fishery yields and profits. Indeed, in some settings, a well-designed MPA network is critical to the optimal harvest strategy. When reserves benefit fisheries, the optimal area in reserves is moderately large (mode ≈30%). Assessing network design principals is limited currently by the absence of empirical data from large-scale networks. Emerging networks will soon rectify this constraint.
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The role of one health in wildlife conservation: a challenge and opportunity.
Buttke, Danielle E; Decker, Daniel J; Wild, Margaret A
2015-01-01
Numerous emerging infectious diseases (EIDs) have arisen from or been identified in wildlife, with health implications for both humans and wildlife. In the practice of wildlife conservation, to date most attention has focused on the threat EIDs pose to biodiversity and wildlife population viability. In the popular media and public eye, however, wildlife is often only portrayed as the cause of EIDs and resultant human health impacts. There is little coverage on the roles of human-induced habitat destruction or wildlife population stress in EID spread, nor the negative impacts of disease on wildlife. Here, we focus on a little-studied and seldom discussed concern: how real and perceived risks of wildlife-associated diseases for human and companion animal health might erode public support for wildlife conservation. We believe that wildlife-associated EIDs and public perceptions of these risks are among the most important threats to wildlife conservation. In light of this concern, we explore the challenges and opportunities for addressing this situation in a One Health context that emphasizes the interdisciplinary collaboration and the inextricable nature of human and animal health and disease.
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Preserving the evolutionary potential of floras in biodiversity hotspots.
Forest, Félix; Grenyer, Richard; Rouget, Mathieu; Davies, T Jonathan; Cowling, Richard M; Faith, Daniel P; Balmford, Andrew; Manning, John C; Procheş, Serban; van der Bank, Michelle; Reeves, Gail; Hedderson, Terry A J; Savolainen, Vincent
2007-02-15
One of the biggest challenges for conservation biology is to provide conservation planners with ways to prioritize effort. Much attention has been focused on biodiversity hotspots. However, the conservation of evolutionary process is now also acknowledged as a priority in the face of global change. Phylogenetic diversity (PD) is a biodiversity index that measures the length of evolutionary pathways that connect a given set of taxa. PD therefore identifies sets of taxa that maximize the accumulation of 'feature diversity'. Recent studies, however, concluded that taxon richness is a good surrogate for PD. Here we show taxon richness to be decoupled from PD, using a biome-wide phylogenetic analysis of the flora of an undisputed biodiversity hotspot--the Cape of South Africa. We demonstrate that this decoupling has real-world importance for conservation planning. Finally, using a database of medicinal and economic plant use, we demonstrate that PD protection is the best strategy for preserving feature diversity in the Cape. We should be able to use PD to identify those key regions that maximize future options, both for the continuing evolution of life on Earth and for the benefit of society.
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Conservation status of freshwater mussels in Europe: state of the art and future challenges.
Lopes-Lima, Manuel; Sousa, Ronaldo; Geist, Juergen; Aldridge, David C; Araujo, Rafael; Bergengren, Jakob; Bespalaya, Yulia; Bódis, Erika; Burlakova, Lyubov; Van Damme, Dirk; Douda, Karel; Froufe, Elsa; Georgiev, Dilian; Gumpinger, Clemens; Karatayev, Alexander; Kebapçi, Ümit; Killeen, Ian; Lajtner, Jasna; Larsen, Bjørn M; Lauceri, Rosaria; Legakis, Anastasios; Lois, Sabela; Lundberg, Stefan; Moorkens, Evelyn; Motte, Gregory; Nagel, Karl-Otto; Ondina, Paz; Outeiro, Adolfo; Paunovic, Momir; Prié, Vincent; von Proschwitz, Ted; Riccardi, Nicoletta; Rudzīte, Mudīte; Rudzītis, Māris; Scheder, Christian; Seddon, Mary; Şereflişan, Hülya; Simić, Vladica; Sokolova, Svetlana; Stoeckl, Katharina; Taskinen, Jouni; Teixeira, Amílcar; Thielen, Frankie; Trichkova, Teodora; Varandas, Simone; Vicentini, Heinrich; Zajac, Katarzyna; Zajac, Tadeusz; Zogaris, Stamatis
2017-02-01
Freshwater mussels of the Order Unionida provide important ecosystem functions and services, yet many of their populations are in decline. We comprehensively review the status of the 16 currently recognized species in Europe, collating for the first time their life-history traits, distribution, conservation status, habitat preferences, and main threats in order to suggest future management actions. In northern, central, and eastern Europe, a relatively homogeneous species composition is found in most basins. In southern Europe, despite the lower species richness, spatially restricted species make these basins a high conservation priority. Information on freshwater mussels in Europe is unevenly distributed with considerable differences in data quality and quantity among countries and species. To make conservation more effective in the future, we suggest greater international cooperation using standardized protocols and methods to monitor and manage European freshwater mussel diversity. Such an approach will not only help conserve this vulnerable group but also, through the protection of these important organisms, will offer wider benefits to freshwater ecosystems. © 2016 Cambridge Philosophical Society.
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DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)
Andam, Cheryl P.; Doroghazi, James R.; Campbell, Ashley N.
We show that Streptomyces biogeography in soils across North America is influenced by the regional diversification of microorganisms due to dispersal limitation and genetic drift. Streptomyces spp. form desiccation-resistant spores, which can be dispersed on the wind, allowing for a strong test of whether dispersal limitation governs patterns of terrestrial microbial diversity. We employed an approach that has high sensitivity for determining the effects of genetic drift. Specifically, we examined the genetic diversity and phylogeography of physiologically similar Streptomyces strains isolated from geographically distributed yet ecologically similar habitats. We found that Streptomyces beta diversity scales with geographic distance and bothmore » beta diversity and phylogenetic diversity manifest in a latitudinal diversity gradient. This pattern of Streptomyces biogeography resembles patterns seen for diverse species of plants and animals, and we therefore evaluated these data in the context of ecological and evolutionary hypotheses proposed to explain latitudinal diversity gradients. The data are consistent with the hypothesis that niche conservatism limits dispersal, and historical patterns of glaciation have limited the time for speciation in higher-latitude sites. Most notably, higher-latitude sites have lower phylogenetic diversity, higher phylogenetic clustering, and evidence of range expansion from lower latitudes. In addition, patterns of beta diversity partition with respect to the glacial history of sites. Furthermore, the data support the hypothesis that extant patterns of Streptomyces biogeography have been driven by historical patterns of glaciation and are the result of demographic range expansion, dispersal limitation, and regional diversification due to drift.« less
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Tchaicka, Ligia; Freitas, Thales Renato Ochotorena de; Bager, Alex; Vidal, Stela Luengos; Lucherini, Mauro; Iriarte, Agustín; Novaro, Andres; Geffen, Eli; Garcez, Fabricio Silva; Johnson, Warren E; Wayne, Robert K; Eizirik, Eduardo
2016-01-01
To investigate the evolution and biogeography of an endemic group of South American foxes, we examined mitochondrial DNA control region sequences for 118 individuals belonging to all six extant species of the genus Lycalopex. Phylogenetic and molecular dating analyses supported the inference that this genus has undergone a very recent and rapid radiation, stemming from a common ancestor that lived ca. 1 million years ago. The Brazilian endemic L. vetulus was supported as the most basal species in this genus, whereas the most internal group is comprised by the recently diverged (ca. 350,000 years ago) Andean/Patagonian species L. griseus and L. culpaeus. We discuss the inferred phylogenetic relationships and divergence times in the context of the current geographic distributions of these species, and the likely effects of Pleistocene climatic changes on the biogeography of this group. Furthermore, a remarkable finding was the identification of multiple individuals classified as L. gymnocercus bearing mtDNA haplotypes clearly belonging to L. griseus, sampled in regions where the latter is not known to occur. At a minimum, this result implies the need to clarify the present-day geographic distribution of each of these fox species, while it may also indicate an ongoing hybridization process between them. Future testing of this hypothesis with in-depth analyses of these populations is thus a priority for understanding the history, evolutionary dynamics and present-day composition of this endemic Neotropical genus.
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Environmental drivers of fish functional diversity and composition in the Lower Colorado River Basin
Pool, T.K.; Olden, J.D.; Whittier, Joanna B.; Paukert, C.P.
2010-01-01
Freshwater conservation efforts require an understanding of how natural and anthropogenic factors shape the present-day biogeography of native and non-native species. This knowledge need is especially acute for imperiled native fishes in the highly modified Lower Colorado River Basin (LCRB), USA. In the present study we employed both a taxonomic and functional approach to explore how natural and human-related environmental drivers shape landscape-scale patterns of fish community composition in the LCRB. Our results showed that hydrologic alteration, watershed land use, and regional climate explained 30.3% and 44.7% of the total variation in fish community taxonomic and functional composition, respectively. Watersheds with greater dam densities and upstream storage capacity supported higher non-native functional diversity, suggesting that dams have provided additional "niche opportunities" for non-native equilibrium life-history strategists by introducing new reservoir habitat and modifying downstream flow and thermal regimes. By contrast, watersheds characterized by greater upstream land protection, lower dam densities, and higher variation in spring and summer precipitation supported fish communities with a strong complement of native species (opportunistic-periodic strategists). In conclusion, our study highlights the utility of a life-history approach to better understand the patterns and processes by which fish communities vary along environmental gradients.
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A comprehensive molecular phylogeny for the hornbills (Aves: Bucerotidae).
Gonzalez, Juan-Carlos T; Sheldon, Ben C; Collar, Nigel J; Tobias, Joseph A
2013-05-01
The hornbills comprise a group of morphologically and behaviorally distinct Palaeotropical bird species that feature prominently in studies of ecology and conservation biology. Although the monophyly of hornbills is well established, previous phylogenetic hypotheses were based solely on mtDNA and limited sampling of species diversity. We used parsimony, maximum likelihood and Bayesian methods to reconstruct relationships among all 61 extant hornbill species, based on nuclear and mtDNA gene sequences extracted largely from historical samples. The resulting phylogenetic trees closely match vocal variation across the family but conflict with current taxonomic treatments. In particular, they highlight a new arrangement for the six major clades of hornbills and reveal that three groups traditionally treated as genera (Tockus, Aceros, Penelopides) are non-monophyletic. In addition, two other genera (Anthracoceros, Ocyceros) were non-monophyletic in the mtDNA gene tree. Our findings resolve some longstanding problems in hornbill systematics, including the placement of 'Penelopides exharatus' (embedded in Aceros) and 'Tockus hartlaubi' (sister to Tropicranus albocristatus). We also confirm that an Asiatic lineage (Berenicornis) is sister to a trio of Afrotropical genera (Tropicranus [including 'Tockus hartlaubi'], Ceratogymna, Bycanistes). We present a summary phylogeny as a robust basis for further studies of hornbill ecology, evolution and historical biogeography. Copyright © 2013. Published by Elsevier Inc.
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Molecular biogeography of Europe: Pleistocene cycles and postglacial trends
Schmitt, Thomas
2007-01-01
The climatic cycles with subsequent glacial and intergalcial periods have had a great impact on the distribution and evolution of species. Using genetic analytical tools considerably increased our understanding of these processes. In this review I therefore give an overview of the molecular biogeography of Europe. For means of simplification, I distinguish between three major biogeographical entities: (i) "Mediterranean" with Mediterranean differentiation and dispersal centres, (ii) "Continental" with extra-Mediterranean centres and (iii) "Alpine" and/or "Arctic" with recent alpine and/or arctic distribution patterns. These different molecular biogeographical patterns are presented using actual examples. Many "Mediterranean" species are differentiated into three major European genetic lineages, which are due to glacial isolation in the three major Mediterranean peninsulas. Postglacial expansion in this group of species is mostly influenced by the barriers of the Pyrenees and the Alps with four resulting main patterns of postglacial range expansions. However, some cases are known with less than one genetic lineage per Mediterranean peninsula on the one hand, and others with a considerable genetic substructure within each of the Mediterranean peninsulas, Asia Minor and the Maghreb. These structures within the Mediterranean sub-centres are often rather strong and in several cases even predate the Pleistocene. For the "Continental" species, it could be shown that the formerly supposed postglacial spread from eastern Palearctic expansion centres is mostly not applicable. Quite the contrary, most of these species apparently had extra-Mediterranean centres of survival in Europe with special importance of the perialpine regions, the Carpathian Basin and parts of the Balkan Peninsula. In the group of "Alpine" and/or "Arctic" species, several molecular biogeographical patterns have been found, which support and improve the postulates based on distribution patterns and pollen records. Thus, genetic studies support the strong linkage between southwestern Alps and Pyrenees, northeastern Alps and Carpathians as well as southeastern Alps and the Dinaric mountain systems, hereby allowing conclusions on the glacial distribution patterns of these species. Furthermore, genetic analyses of arctic-alpine disjunct species support their broad distribution in the periglacial areas at least during the last glacial period. The detailed understanding of the different phylogeographical structures is essential for the management of the different evolutionary significant units of species and the conservation of their entire genetic diversity. Furthermore, the distribution of genetic diversity due to biogeographical reasons helps understanding the differing regional vulnerabilities of extant populations. PMID:17439649
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Evolution and Biogeography of Haemonchus contortus: Linking Faunal Dynamics in Space and Time.
Hoberg, E P; Zarlenga, D S
2016-01-01
History is the foundation that informs about the nuances of faunal assembly that are essential in understanding the dynamic nature of the host-parasite interface. All of our knowledge begins and ends with evolution, ecology and biogeography, as these interacting facets determine the history of biodiverse systems. These components, relating to Haemonchus, can inform about the complex history of geographical distribution, host association and the intricacies of host-parasite associations that are played out in physiological and behavioural processes that influence the potential for disease and our capacity for effective control in a rapidly changing world. Origins and evolutionary diversification among species of the genus Haemonchus and Haemonchus contortus occurred in a complex crucible defined by shifts in environmental structure emerging from cycles of climate change and ecological perturbation during the late Tertiary and through the Quaternary. A history of sequential host colonization associated with waves of dispersal bringing assemblages of ungulates from Eurasia into Africa and processes emerging from ecosystems in collision and faunal turnover defined the arena for radiation among 12 recognized species of Haemonchus. Among congeners, the host range for H. contortus is exceptionally broad, including species among artiodactyls of 40 genera representing 5 families (and within 12 tribes of Bovidae). Broad host range is dramatically reflected in the degree to which translocation, introduction and invasion with host switching, has characterized an expanding distribution over time in North America, South America, southern Eurasia, Australia and New Zealand, coincidental with agriculture, husbandry and global colonization by human populations driven particularly by European exploration after the 1500s. African origins in xeric to mesic habitats of the African savannah suggest that historical constraints linked to ecological adaptations (tolerances and developmental thresholds defined by temperature and humidity for larval stages) will be substantial determinants in the potential outcomes for widespread geographical and host colonization which are predicted to unfold over the coming century. Insights about deeper evolutionary events, ecology and biogeography are critical as understanding history informs us about the possible range of responses in complex systems under new regimes of environmental forcing, especially, in this case, ecological perturbation linked to climate change. A deeper history of perturbation is relevant in understanding contemporary systems that are now strongly structured by events of invasion and colonization. The relaxation of abiotic and biotic controls on the occurrence of H. contortus, coincidental with inception and dissemination of anthelmintic resistance may be synergistic, serving to exacerbate challenges to control parasites or to limit the socioeconomic impacts of infection that can influence food security and availability. Studies of haemonchine nematodes contribute directly to an expanding model about the nature of diversity and the evolutionary trajectories for faunal assembly among complex host-parasite systems across considerable spatial and temporal scales. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
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Shark recreational fisheries: Status, challenges, and research needs.
Gallagher, Austin J; Hammerschlag, Neil; Danylchuk, Andy J; Cooke, Steven J
2017-05-01
For centuries, the primary manner in which humans have interacted with sharks has been fishing. A combination of their slow-growing nature and high use-values have resulted in population declines for many species around the world, and to date the vast majority of fisheries-related work on sharks has focused on the commercial sector. Shark recreational fishing remains an overlooked area of research despite the fact that these practices are popular globally and could present challenges to their populations. Here we provide a topical overview of shark recreational fisheries, highlighting their history and current status. While recreational fishing can provide conservation benefits under certain circumstances, we focus our discourse on the relatively understudied, potentially detrimental impacts these activities may have on shark physiology, behavior, and fitness. We took this angle given the realized but potentially underestimated significance of recreational fishing for shark conservation management plans and stock assessments, in hopes of creating a dialogue around sustainability. We also present a series of broad and focused research questions and underpin areas of future research need to assist with the development of this emergent area of research.
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Satellite tracking of manta rays highlights challenges to their conservation.
Graham, Rachel T; Witt, Matthew J; Castellanos, Dan W; Remolina, Francisco; Maxwell, Sara; Godley, Brendan J; Hawkes, Lucy A
2012-01-01
We describe the real-time movements of the last of the marine mega-vertebrate taxa to be satellite tracked - the giant manta ray (or devil fish, Manta birostris), the world's largest ray at over 6 m disc width. Almost nothing is known about manta ray movements and their environmental preferences, making them one of the least understood of the marine mega-vertebrates. Red listed by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature as 'Vulnerable' to extinction, manta rays are known to be subject to direct and incidental capture and some populations are declining. Satellite-tracked manta rays associated with seasonal upwelling events and thermal fronts off the Yucatan peninsula, Mexico, and made short-range shuttling movements, foraging along and between them. The majority of locations were received from waters shallower than 50 m deep, representing thermally dynamic and productive waters. Manta rays remained in the Mexican Exclusive Economic Zone for the duration of tracking but only 12% of tracking locations were received from within Marine Protected Areas (MPAs). Our results on the spatio-temporal distribution of these enigmatic rays highlight opportunities and challenges to management efforts.
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Toward Linking Aboveground Vegetation Properties and Soil Microbial Communities Using Remote Sensing
DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)
Hamada, Yuki; Gilbert, Jack A.; Larsen, Peter E.
2014-04-01
Despite their vital role in terrestrial ecosystem function, the distributions and dynamics of soil microbial communities (SMCs) are poorly understood. Vegetation and soil properties are the primary factors that influence SMCs. This paper discusses the potential effectiveness of remote sensing science and technologies for mapping SMC biogeography by characterizing surface biophysical properties (e.g., plant traits and community composition) strongly correlated with SMCs. Using remotely sensed biophysical properties to predict SMC distributions is extremely challenging because of the intricate interactions between biotic and abiotic factors and between above- and below-ground ecosystems. However, the integration of biophysical and soil remote sensing withmore » geospatial information about the environment holds great promise for mapping SMC biogeography. Additional research needs involve microbial taxonomic definition, soil environmental complexity, and scaling strategies. The collaborative effort of experts from diverse disciplines is essential to linking terrestrial surface biosphere observations with subsurface microbial community distributions using remote sensing.« less
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Toward Linking Aboveground Vegetation Properties and Soil Microbial Communities Using Remote Sensing
DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)
Hamada, Yuki; Gilbert, Jack A.; Larsen, Peter E.
2014-04-01
Despite their vital role in terrestrial ecosystem function, the distributions and dynamics of soil microbial communities (SMCs) are poorly understood. Vegetation and soil properties are the primary factors that influence SMCs. This paper discusses the potential effectiveness of remote sensing science and technologies for mapping SMC biogeography by characterizing surface biophysical properties (e.g., plant traits and community composition) strongly correlated with SMCs. Using remotely sensed biophysical properties to predict SMC distributions is extremely challenging because of the intricate interactions between biotic and abiotic factors and between above- and belowground ecosystems. However, the integration of biophysical and soil remote sensing withmore » geospatial information about the e nvironment holds great promise for mapping SMC biogeography. Additional research needs invol ve microbial taxonomic definition, soil environmental complexity, and scaling strategies. The collaborative effort of experts from diverse disciplines is essential to linking terrestrial surface biosphere observations with subsurface microbial community distributions using remote sensing.« less
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Biogeography of the ecosystems of the healthy human body.
Zhou, Yanjiao; Gao, Hongyu; Mihindukulasuriya, Kathie A; La Rosa, Patricio S; Wylie, Kristine M; Vishnivetskaya, Tatiana; Podar, Mircea; Warner, Barb; Tarr, Phillip I; Nelson, David E; Fortenberry, J Dennis; Holland, Martin J; Burr, Sarah E; Shannon, William D; Sodergren, Erica; Weinstock, George M
2013-01-14
Characterizing the biogeography of the microbiome of healthy humans is essential for understanding microbial associated diseases. Previous studies mainly focused on a single body habitat from a limited set of subjects. Here, we analyzed one of the largest microbiome datasets to date and generated a biogeographical map that annotates the biodiversity, spatial relationships, and temporal stability of 22 habitats from 279 healthy humans. We identified 929 genera from more than 24 million 16S rRNA gene sequences of 22 habitats, and we provide a baseline of inter-subject variation for healthy adults. The oral habitat has the most stable microbiota with the highest alpha diversity, while the skin and vaginal microbiota are less stable and show lower alpha diversity. The level of biodiversity in one habitat is independent of the biodiversity of other habitats in the same individual. The abundances of a given genus at a body site in which it dominates do not correlate with the abundances at body sites where it is not dominant. Additionally, we observed the human microbiota exhibit both cosmopolitan and endemic features. Finally, comparing datasets of different projects revealed a project-based clustering pattern, emphasizing the significance of standardization of metagenomic studies. The data presented here extend the definition of the human microbiome by providing a more complete and accurate picture of human microbiome biogeography, addressing questions best answered by a large dataset of subjects and body sites that are deeply sampled by sequencing.
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Advances and Limitations of Disease Biogeography Using Ecological Niche Modeling
Escobar, Luis E.; Craft, Meggan E.
2016-01-01
Mapping disease transmission risk is crucial in public and animal health for evidence based decision-making. Ecology and epidemiology are highly related disciplines that may contribute to improvements in mapping disease, which can be used to answer health related questions. Ecological niche modeling is increasingly used for understanding the biogeography of diseases in plants, animals, and humans. However, epidemiological applications of niche modeling approaches for disease mapping can fail to generate robust study designs, producing incomplete or incorrect inferences. This manuscript is an overview of the history and conceptual bases behind ecological niche modeling, specifically as applied to epidemiology and public health; it does not pretend to be an exhaustive and detailed description of ecological niche modeling literature and methods. Instead, this review includes selected state-of-the-science approaches and tools, providing a short guide to designing studies incorporating information on the type and quality of the input data (i.e., occurrences and environmental variables), identification and justification of the extent of the study area, and encourages users to explore and test diverse algorithms for more informed conclusions. We provide a friendly introduction to the field of disease biogeography presenting an updated guide for researchers looking to use ecological niche modeling for disease mapping. We anticipate that ecological niche modeling will soon be a critical tool for epidemiologists aiming to map disease transmission risk, forecast disease distribution under climate change scenarios, and identify landscape factors triggering outbreaks. PMID:27547199
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Biogeography of the ecosystems of the healthy human body
2013-01-01
Background Characterizing the biogeography of the microbiome of healthy humans is essential for understanding microbial associated diseases. Previous studies mainly focused on a single body habitat from a limited set of subjects. Here, we analyzed one of the largest microbiome datasets to date and generated a biogeographical map that annotates the biodiversity, spatial relationships, and temporal stability of 22 habitats from 279 healthy humans. Results We identified 929 genera from more than 24 million 16S rRNA gene sequences of 22 habitats, and we provide a baseline of inter-subject variation for healthy adults. The oral habitat has the most stable microbiota with the highest alpha diversity, while the skin and vaginal microbiota are less stable and show lower alpha diversity. The level of biodiversity in one habitat is independent of the biodiversity of other habitats in the same individual. The abundances of a given genus at a body site in which it dominates do not correlate with the abundances at body sites where it is not dominant. Additionally, we observed the human microbiota exhibit both cosmopolitan and endemic features. Finally, comparing datasets of different projects revealed a project-based clustering pattern, emphasizing the significance of standardization of metagenomic studies. Conclusions The data presented here extend the definition of the human microbiome by providing a more complete and accurate picture of human microbiome biogeography, addressing questions best answered by a large dataset of subjects and body sites that are deeply sampled by sequencing. PMID:23316946
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Bouchenak-Khelladi, Yanis; Maurin, Olivier; Hurter, Johan; van der Bank, Michelle
2010-11-01
The systematics of Mimosoideae has been in a state of flux, which reflects overall poor knowledge of the evolution and biogeography of this group. Preliminary molecular phylogenetic analyses suggest the tribal system of Mimosoideae needs a complete revision. This has led to the use of new generic names for Acacia sensu lato (s.l. hereafter) following the re-typification of Acacia with an Australian type: (i) Acacia sensu stricto (s.s. hereafter), Vachellia, Senegalia, Acaciella and Mariosousa. This study reconstructs the evolutionary history of Mimosoideae, using the most comprehensive sampling to date, with an emphasis on African species. It aims to reconstruct the phylogenetic relationships among the five recognized genera within Acacieae as the precursor to elucidate the paleo-biogeography of mimosoids and their adaptation to open habitats in the Cenozoic. The basal position of Mimoseae lineages with regards to Vachellia and Senegalia+Mariosousa+Acaciella+Ingeae+Acacia s.s. clades is a novel finding. Vachellia (formerly Acacia subgenus Acacia) is found monophyletic. A grade including the remaining Mimoseae lineages is found sister to the Senegalia+Mariosousa+Acaciella+Ingeae+Acacia s.s. clade. The major clades originated in the late Oligocene-early Miocene (∼25mya). The transitions from close to open habitats occurred during the Miocene for at least four mimosoid lineages. These are interpreted as responses to increased seasonality leading to fire climates and drying trends in the Miocene, which allowed the expansion of open habitats, such as savannas, worldwide. Copyright © 2010 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
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Lai, Qiliang; Liu, Yang; Yuan, Jun; Du, Juan; Wang, Liping; Sun, Fengqin; Shao, Zongze
2014-01-01
Thalassospira bacteria are widespread and have been isolated from various marine environments. Less is known about their genetic diversity and biogeography, as well as their role in marine environments, many of them cannot be discriminated merely using the 16S rRNA gene. To address these issues, in this report, the phylogenetic analysis of 58 strains from seawater and deep sea sediments were carried out using the multilocus sequence analysis (MLSA) based on acsA, aroE, gyrB, mutL, rpoD and trpB genes, and the DNA-DNA hybridization (DDH) and average nucleotide identity (ANI) based on genome sequences. The MLSA analysis demonstrated that the 58 strains were clearly separated into 15 lineages, corresponding to seven validly described species and eight potential novel species. The DDH and ANI values further confirmed the validity of the MLSA analysis and eight potential novel species. The MLSA interspecies gap of the genus Thalassospira was determined to be 96.16-97.12% sequence identity on the basis of the combined analyses of the DDH and MLSA, while the ANIm interspecies gap was 95.76-97.20% based on the in silico DDH analysis. Meanwhile, phylogenetic analyses showed that the Thalassospira bacteria exhibited distribution pattern to a certain degree according to geographic regions. Moreover, they clustered together according to the habitats depth. For short, the phylogenetic analyses and biogeography of the Thalassospira bacteria were systematically investigated for the first time. These results will be helpful to explore further their ecological role and adaptive evolution in marine environments.
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Bayesian Analysis of Biogeography when the Number of Areas is Large
Landis, Michael J.; Matzke, Nicholas J.; Moore, Brian R.; Huelsenbeck, John P.
2013-01-01
Historical biogeography is increasingly studied from an explicitly statistical perspective, using stochastic models to describe the evolution of species range as a continuous-time Markov process of dispersal between and extinction within a set of discrete geographic areas. The main constraint of these methods is the computational limit on the number of areas that can be specified. We propose a Bayesian approach for inferring biogeographic history that extends the application of biogeographic models to the analysis of more realistic problems that involve a large number of areas. Our solution is based on a “data-augmentation” approach, in which we first populate the tree with a history of biogeographic events that is consistent with the observed species ranges at the tips of the tree. We then calculate the likelihood of a given history by adopting a mechanistic interpretation of the instantaneous-rate matrix, which specifies both the exponential waiting times between biogeographic events and the relative probabilities of each biogeographic change. We develop this approach in a Bayesian framework, marginalizing over all possible biogeographic histories using Markov chain Monte Carlo (MCMC). Besides dramatically increasing the number of areas that can be accommodated in a biogeographic analysis, our method allows the parameters of a given biogeographic model to be estimated and different biogeographic models to be objectively compared. Our approach is implemented in the program, BayArea. [ancestral area analysis; Bayesian biogeographic inference; data augmentation; historical biogeography; Markov chain Monte Carlo.] PMID:23736102
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Tchaicka, Ligia; de Freitas, Thales Renato Ochotorena; Bager, Alex; Vidal, Stela Luengos; Lucherini, Mauro; Iriarte, Agustín; Novaro, Andres; Geffen, Eli; Garcez, Fabricio Silva; Johnson, Warren E.; Wayne, Robert K.; Eizirik, Eduardo
2016-01-01
Abstract To investigate the evolution and biogeography of an endemic group of South American foxes, we examined mitochondrial DNA control region sequences for 118 individuals belonging to all six extant species of the genus Lycalopex. Phylogenetic and molecular dating analyses supported the inference that this genus has undergone a very recent and rapid radiation, stemming from a common ancestor that lived ca. 1 million years ago. The Brazilian endemic L. vetulus was supported as the most basal species in this genus, whereas the most internal group is comprised by the recently diverged (ca. 350,000 years ago) Andean/Patagonian species L. griseus and L. culpaeus. We discuss the inferred phylogenetic relationships and divergence times in the context of the current geographic distributions of these species, and the likely effects of Pleistocene climatic changes on the biogeography of this group. Furthermore, a remarkable finding was the identification of multiple individuals classified as L. gymnocercus bearing mtDNA haplotypes clearly belonging to L. griseus, sampled in regions where the latter is not known to occur. At a minimum, this result implies the need to clarify the present-day geographic distribution of each of these fox species, while it may also indicate an ongoing hybridization process between them. Future testing of this hypothesis with in-depth analyses of these populations is thus a priority for understanding the history, evolutionary dynamics and present-day composition of this endemic Neotropical genus. PMID:27560989
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Climate change adaptation benefits of potential conservation partnerships.
Monahan, William B; Theobald, David M
2018-01-01
We evaluate the world terrestrial network of protected areas (PAs) for its partnership potential in responding to climate change. That is, if a PA engaged in collaborative, trans-boundary management of species, by investing in conservation partnerships with neighboring areas, what climate change adaptation benefits might accrue? We consider core tenets of conservation biology related to protecting large areas with high environmental heterogeneity and low climate change velocity and ask how a series of biodiversity adaptation indicators change across spatial scales encompassing potential PA and non-PA partners. Less than 1% of current world terrestrial PAs equal or exceed the size of established and successful conservation partnerships. Partnering at this scale would increase the biodiversity adaptation indicators by factors up to two orders of magnitude, compared to a null model in which each PA is isolated. Most partnership area surrounding PAs is comprised of non-PAs (70%), indicating the importance of looking beyond the current network of PAs when promoting climate change adaptation. Given monumental challenges with PA-based species conservation in the face of climate change, partnerships provide a logical and achievable strategy for helping areas adapt. Our findings identify where strategic partnering efforts in highly vulnerable areas of the world may prove critical in safeguarding biodiversity.
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Policy challenges and approaches for the conservation of mangrove forests in Southeast Asia.
Friess, Daniel A; Thompson, Benjamin S; Brown, Ben; Amir, A Aldrie; Cameron, Clint; Koldewey, Heather J; Sasmito, Sigit D; Sidik, Frida
2016-10-01
Many drivers of mangrove forest loss operate over large scales and are most effectively addressed by policy interventions. However, conflicting or unclear policy objectives exist at multiple tiers of government, resulting in contradictory management decisions. To address this, we considered four approaches that are being used increasingly or could be deployed in Southeast Asia to ensure sustainable livelihoods and biodiversity conservation. First, a stronger incorporation of mangroves into marine protected areas (that currently focus largely on reefs and fisheries) could resolve some policy conflicts and ensure that mangroves do not fall through a policy gap. Second, examples of community and government comanagement exist, but achieving comanagement at scale will be important in reconciling stakeholders and addressing conflicting policy objectives. Third, private-sector initiatives could protect mangroves through existing and novel mechanisms in degraded areas and areas under future threat. Finally, payments for ecosystem services (PES) hold great promise for mangrove conservation, with carbon PES schemes (known as blue carbon) attracting attention. Although barriers remain to the implementation of PES, the potential to implement them at multiple scales exists. Closing the gap between mangrove conservation policies and action is crucial to the improved protection and management of this imperiled coastal ecosystem and to the livelihoods that depend on them. © 2016 Society for Conservation Biology.
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Ebeling, Johannes; Yasué, Maï
2008-05-27
Recent proposals to compensate developing countries for reducing emissions from deforestation (RED) under forthcoming climate change mitigation regimes are receiving increasing attention. Here we demonstrate that if RED credits were traded on international carbon markets, even moderate decreases in deforestation rates could generate billions of Euros annually for tropical forest conservation. We also discuss the main challenges for a RED mechanism that delivers real climatic benefits. These include providing sufficient incentives while only rewarding deforestation reductions beyond business-as-usual scenarios, addressing risks arising from forest degradation and international leakage, and ensuring permanence of emission reductions. Governance may become a formidable challenge for RED because some countries with the highest RED potentials score poorly on governance indices. In addition to climate mitigation, RED funds could help achieve substantial co-benefits for biodiversity conservation and human development. However, this will probably require targeted additional support because the highest biodiversity threats and human development needs may exist in countries that have limited income potentials from RED. In conclusion, how successfully a market-based RED mechanism can contribute to climate change mitigation, conservation and development will strongly depend on accompanying measures and carefully designed incentive structures involving governments, business, as well as the conservation and development communities.
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Evaluation of waterfowl conservation under the North American Waterfowl Management Plan
Williams, B.K.; Koneff, M.D.; Stith, David A.
1999-01-01
In 1986, the North American Waterfowl Management Plan (Plan) was signed by the U.S. Secretary of the Interior and the Canadian Minister of the Environment, with a goal of restoring waterfowl populations to levels of the 1970s via habitat conservation. Central to the Plan is a set of ambitious continental population goals and habitat objectives to be met through broad-based public-private partnerships. Inadequate attention has been paid to evaluation of the Plan, despite the fact that Plan delivery can be enhanced via improved understanding of the effects of habitat conservation on waterfowl population dynamics. Several factors confound the effort to evaluate the Plan at regional and continental levels, including difficulties in accounting for national land-use policies. To date, evaluation has proceeded along 2 avenues of investigation: (1) the study of conservation actions at local-regional levels, and (2) statistical assessment of Plan assumptions. Among other things, results thus far indicate duck production from the U.S. Northern Great Plains has increased in recent years, and intensive treatments such as planted cover have had positive effects on local reproductive success. Many duck species currently exceed Plan population goals; however, population levels of some species, most notably northern pintail (Anas acuta), remain below expectations based on historic relationships with precipitation. Management implications include the need for ongoing and more carefully prioritized conservation efforts, broader partnerships, and improved understanding of the linkages between habitats and biological processes. Delivery of the Plan must involve collaboration among the Continental Evaluation Team, joint Venture partners, the Adaptive Management and Assessment Team of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, and other conservation groups. Although the challenges and projected costs of Plan conservation efforts are considerable, the long-term potential benefits to waterfowl conservation are great.
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Conserving connectivity: some lessons from mountain lions in southern California.
Morrison, Scott A; Boyce, Walter M
2009-04-01
Habitat corridors can be essential for persistence of wildlife populations in fragmented landscapes. Although much research has focused on identifying species and places critical for conservation action, the conservation literature contains surprisingly few examples of corridors that actually have been protected and so provides little guidance for moving from planning through implementation. We examined a case study from southern California that combines monitoring of radio-collared mountain lions (Puma concolor) with an assessment of land-protection efforts to illustrate lessons learned while attempting to maintain ecological connectivity in a rapidly urbanizing landscape. As in many places, conservation scientists have provided science-based maps of where conservation efforts should focus. But implementing corridors is a business decision based not solely on ecological information but also on cost, opportunity cost, investment risk, and other feasibility considerations. Here, the type and pattern of development is such that key connections will be lost unless they are explicitly protected. Keeping pace with conversion, however, has been difficult, especially because conservation efforts have been limited to traditional parcel-by-parcel land-protection techniques. The challenges of and trade-offs in implementation make it clear that in southern California, connectivity cannot be bought one parcel at a time. Effective land-use plans and policies that incorporate conservation principles, such as California's Natural Communities Conservation Planning program, are needed to support the retention of landscape permeability. Lessons from this study have broad application, especially as a precautionary tale for places where such extensive and intensive development has not yet occurred. Given how limiting resources are for biodiversity conservation, conservationists must be disciplined about where and how they attempt corridor protection: in rapidly fragmenting landscapes, the opportunity for success can be surprisingly fleeting.
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An international borderland of concern: Conservation of biodiversity in the Lower Rio Grande Valley
Leslie,, David M.
2016-07-20
The Lower Rio Grande Valley (LRGV) of southern Texas is located on the United States-Mexico borderland and represents a 240-kilometer (150-mile) linear stretch that ends at the Gulf of Mexico. The LRGV represents a unique transition between temperate and tropical conditions and, as such, sustains an exceptionally high diversity of plants and animals—some of them found in few, or no other, places in the United States. Examples include Leopardus pardalis albescens (northern ocelot) and Falco femoralis septentrionalis (northern aplomado falcon)—both endangered in the United States and emblematic of the LRGV. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) manages three national wildlife refuges (Santa Ana, Lower Rio Grande Valley, and Laguna Atascosa) that together make up the South Texas Refuge Complex, which actively conserves biodiversity in about 76,006 hectares (187,815.5 acres) of native riparian and upland habitats in the LRGV. These diminished habitats harbor many rare, threatened, and endangered species. This report updates the widely used 1988 USFWS biological report titled “Tamaulipan Brushland of the Lower Rio Grande Valley of South Texas: Description, Human Impacts, and Management Options” by synthesizing nearly 400 peer-reviewed scientific publications that have resulted from biological and sociological research conducted specifically in the four Texas counties of the LRGV in the past nearly 30 years. This report has three goals: (1) synthesize scientific insights gained since 1988 related to the biology and management of the LRGV and its unique biota, focusing on flora and fauna of greatest conservation concern; (2) update ongoing challenges facing Federal and State agencies and organizations that focus on conservation or key natural resources in the LRGV; and (3) redefine conservation opportunities and land-acquisition strategies that are feasible and appropriate today, given the many new and expanding constraints that challenge conservation activities in the LRGV. The LRGV faces every contemporary conservation challenge of the 21st century, but ongoing human population growth and its associated demands, international border issues, and oil, gas, and alternative energy development dominate impacts that affect conservation in the LRGV. Continued careful syntheses of existing and future information collected in the LRGV are needed on many biological and sociological topics to guide conservation activities. Quick response will no doubt be necessary to face contemporary and difficult-to-predict challenges such as climate change, diminished water availability and quality, spread of invasive species, and habitat loss and fragmentation. Complexities of a guarded international borderland add pressure to small patches of native habitat that remain in many places of the LRGV, particularly along the Rio Grande. Large connected corridors of restored native habitat could be the best option to maintain, and even enhance, the exceptional biodiversity of the LRGV in the face of exceptional human demand.
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Challenges of Biodiversity Education: A Review of Education Strategies for Biodiversity Education
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Navarro-Perez, Moramay; Tidball, Keith G.
2012-01-01
Biodiversity conservation has increasingly gained recognition in national and international agendas. The Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) has positioned biodiversity as a key asset to be protected to ensure our well-being and that of future generations. Nearly 20 years after its inception, results are not as expected, as shown in the…
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Forests in the balance: linking tradition and technology in landscape mosaics
Margaret S. Devall; Geoffrey C. Smith
2007-01-01
The future of forests around the world is uncertain: forests are being cleared and the lands converted to other uses, while existing forests face many challenges from a variety of sources. The pressures on forests come from two usually opposing perspectives, timber production and wildlife conservation. This special issue volume attempts to bridge between these two...
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USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database
Cover crop-based, organic rotational no-till soybean production has been gaining traction in the Eastern region of the United States because of the ability of this new system to enhance soil conservation, reduce labor requirements, and decrease diesel fuel use compared to traditional organic product...
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Taylor M. Wilcox; Kellie J. Carim; Kevin S. McKelvey; Michael Young; Michael K. Schwartz
2015-01-01
Environmental DNA (eDNA) sampling is a powerful tool for detecting invasive and native aquatic species. Often, species of conservation interest co-occur with other, closely related taxa. Here, we developed qPCR (quantitative PCR) markers which distinguish westslope cutthroat trout (Oncorhynchus clarkii lewsi), Yellowstone cutthroat trout (O. clarkii bouvieri...
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Conserving migratory mule deer through the umbrella of sage-grouse
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.
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Samuel A. Cushman; Michael Chase; Curtice Griffin
2010-01-01
One of Africa's greatest conservation successes is the recovery of elephant (Loxodonta africana) populations within protected areas (e.g. Aleper and Moe 2006), such as those in northern Botswana. This recovery poses several challenges, however. First, habitat within protected areas is becoming degraded from high intensity elephant browsing. Second, the increasing...
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Habitat networks for terrestrial wildlife: concepts and case studies
Mary M. Rowland; Michael J. Wisdom
2008-01-01
Species of conservation concern, which we define as species with rare or declining populations or habitats, often number in the hundreds or even thousands within a given ecosystem. Moreover, these species typically span a wide spectrum of taxa and are associated with a broad set of ecological characteristics and diverse management challenges. Management designed to...
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Challenges and opportunities for animal conservation from renewable energy development
T.A. Katzner; J.A. Johnson; D.M. Evans; T.W.J. Garner; M.E. Gompper; R. Altwegg; T.A. Branch; I.J. Gordon; N. Pettorelli
2013-01-01
Global climate change is among the greatest threats confronting both human and natural systems (IPCC, 2007). A substantial component of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions is from energy production, generated via the burning of fossil fuels, especially coal, natural gas and refined petroleum. Given that reduction in global energy consumption is unlikely over the next...
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USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database
Non point source pollution from agriculture is one of the most challenging problems facing society. In this book chapter, we briefly review the development of “landscape thinking” in agriculture and how this has been incorporated into the USDA Conservation Effects Assessment Program (CEAP). We pre...
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Roles of the Librarian in a Research Library in the Digital Era: Challenges and the Way Forward
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Ilesanmi, Titilayo Comfort
2013-01-01
This article describes the roles of librarians in a research library, particularly in the digital era. Librarians' roles vary from the custodian of resources to providers of a diverse nature of activities ranging from collection development, organization of knowledge, information services, preservation and conservation, and management. Librarians…
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Gibbons, J. Whitfield; Lovich, Jeffrey E.; Bowden, R.M.
2017-01-01
With their iconic shells, turtles are morphologically distinct in being the only extant or extinct vertebrate animals to have their shoulders and hips inside their rib cages. By the time an asteroid hit the earth 65.5 million years ago, causing the extinction of dinosaurs, turtles were already an ancient lineage that was 70% through their evolutionary history to date. The remarkable evolutionary success of turtles over 220 million years is due to a combination of both conservative and effective life history traits and an essentially unchanging morphology that withstood the test of time. However, the life history traits of many species make them particularly susceptible to overharvest and habitat destruction in the modern world, and a majority of the world’s species face serious conservation challenges with several extinctions documented in modern times. The global plight of turtles is underscored by the fact that the percentage of imperiled species exceeds that of even the critically endangered primates.Freshwater turtles, with over 260 recognized species, have become a focus on a worldwide scale for many conservation issues. This article is a synthesis of a diverse body of information on the general biology of freshwater turtles, with particular emphasis on the extensive research on ecology, life history, and behavior that has been accomplished in the last half century. Much of the research has been applicable to the aforementioned conservation challenges. The studies presented include a combination of laboratory and field experiments and observational studies on this intriguing group of animals.
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James S. Kagan
2006-01-01
Researchers, land managers, and the public currently often are unable to obtain useful biodiversity information because the subject represents such a large component of biology and ecology, and systems to compile and organize this information do not exist. Information on vascular plant taxonomy, as addressed by the Global Biodiversity Information Facility and key...
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Science and society: the role of long-term studies in environmental stewardship
Charles T. Driscoll; Kathleen F. Lambert; F. Stuart Chapin; David J. Nowak; Thomas A. Spies; Frederick J. Swanson; David B. Kittredge; Clarisse M. Hart
2012-01-01
Long-term research should play a crucial role in addressing grand challenges in environmental stewardship. We examine the efforts of five Long Term Ecological Research Network sites to enhance policy, management, and conservation decisions for forest ecosystems. In these case studies, we explore the approaches used to inform policy on atmospheric deposition, public...
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Are current efforts sufficient to ensure healthy fish populations?
Bob Danehy; Andy Dolloff
2013-01-01
The maintenance and conservation of fish and wildlife populations in landscapes managed for timber production is a contemporary stewardship requirement and a challenge for forest managers. Best management practices (BMPs) have been developed to meet these challenges. Most BMPs were developed starting in the 1970s so the full impact and the success of those BMPs are not...
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Adaptation: Forests as water infrastructure in a changing climate
Todd Gartner; Heather McGray; James Mulligan; Jonas Epstein; Ayesha Dinshaw
2014-01-01
Natural ecosystems like forests and wetlands provide a suite of water-related services that are increasingly critical for communities as the impacts of climate change intensify. Yet, these natural ecosystems are increasingly lost or degraded. In the face of growing water-related challenges in an age of fiscal austerity, investing in the conservation, restoration, and...
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Long-distance flights and high-risk breeding by nomadic waterbirds on desert salt lakes.
Pedler, Reece D; Ribot, Raoul F H; Bennett, Andrew T D
2018-02-01
Understanding and conserving mobile species presents complex challenges, especially for animals in stochastic or changing environments. Nomadic waterbirds must locate temporary water in arid biomes where rainfall is highly unpredictable in space and time. To achieve this they need to travel over vast spatial scales and time arrival to exploit pulses in food resources. How they achieve this is an enduring mystery. We investigated these challenges in the colonial-nesting Banded Stilt (Cladorhynchus leucocephalus), a nomadic shorebird of conservation concern. Hitherto, Banded Stilts were hypothesized to have only 1-2 chances to breed during their long lifetime, when flooding rain fills desert salt lakes, triggering mass-hatching of brine shrimp. Over 6 years, we satellite tagged 57 individuals, conducted 21 aerial surveys to detect nesting colonies on 14 Australian desert salt lakes, and analyzed 3 decades of Landsat and MODIS satellite imagery to quantify salt-lake flood frequency and extent. Within days of distant inland rainfall, Banded Stilts flew 1,000-2,000 km to reach flooded salt lakes. On arrival, females laid over half their body weight in eggs. We detected nesting episodes across the species' range at 7 times the frequency reported during the previous 80 years. Nesting colonies of thousands formed following minor floods, yet most were subsequently abandoned when the water rapidly evaporated prior to egg hatching. Satellite imagery revealed twice as many flood events sufficient for breeding-colony initiation as recorded colonies, suggesting that nesting at remote sites has been underdetected. Individuals took risk on uncertain breeding opportunities by responding to frequent minor flood events between infrequent extensive flooding, exemplifying the extreme adaptability and trade-offs of species exploiting unstable environments. The conservation challenges of nest predation by overabundant native gulls and anthropogenic modifications to salt lakes filling frequencies require investigation, as do the physiological and navigational mechanisms that enable such extreme strategies. © 2017 Society for Conservation Biology.
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USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database
Several recent peer reviewed manuscripts have reported on the great challenges humanity is confronting during the XXI century, including a changing climate, depletion of water resources from groundwater and/or snow caps sources that are needed for agricultural production, deforestation, desertificat...
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HARNESSING THE CHEMISTRY OF CO{sub 2}
DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)
Louie, Janis
2012-11-30
Our research presents several strategies for addressing the challenges of activating CO2. In addition, our cycloaddition chemistry addresses several fundamental issues pertaining to catalysis as it applies to energy conservation. Topics addressed include: DEVELOPMENT OF A CYCLOADDITION CATALYST; INCREASING THE UTILITY OF THE NI CYCLOADDITION CATALYST; UNDERSTANDING THE MECHANISM OF NI-CATALYZED CYCLOADDITION; and METAL-FREE CO{sub 2} ACTIVATION.
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USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database
It has been documented across the peer-reviewed scientific literature that the challenges that we will have during the XXI century such as climate change, depletion of water resources needed for agricultural production, and higher demand for food and fiber due to a larger global population, will pla...
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Conservation of a molecular target across species can be used as a line-of-evidence to predict the likelihood of chemical susceptibility. The web-based Sequence Alignment to Predict Across Species Susceptibility (SeqAPASS) tool was developed to simplify, streamline, and quantitat...
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Conservation challenges of managing lynx
John R. Squires
2005-01-01
Yellowstone National Park is hallowed ground when it comes to wildlife in America. The very word âYellowstoneâ conjures up images of grizzly bears digging tubers, bands of elk dotting the landscape, and gray wolves pursuing elk along the Lamar River. However, Yellowstone also provides habitat to one of the rarest cats in the continental United States: the...
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Role of genomics and transcriptomics in selection of reintroduction source populations.
He, Xiaoping; Johansson, Mattias L; Heath, Daniel D
2016-10-01
The use and importance of reintroduction as a conservation tool to return a species to its historical range from which it has been extirpated will increase as climate change and human development accelerate habitat loss and population extinctions. Although the number of reintroduction attempts has increased rapidly over the past 2 decades, the success rate is generally low. As a result of population differences in fitness-related traits and divergent responses to environmental stresses, population performance upon reintroduction is highly variable, and it is generally agreed that selecting an appropriate source population is a critical component of a successful reintroduction. Conservation genomics is an emerging field that addresses long-standing challenges in conservation, and the potential for using novel molecular genetic approaches to inform and improve conservation efforts is high. Because the successful establishment and persistence of reintroduced populations is highly dependent on the functional genetic variation and environmental stress tolerance of the source population, we propose the application of conservation genomics and transcriptomics to guide reintroduction practices. Specifically, we propose using genome-wide functional loci to estimate genetic variation of source populations. This estimate can then be used to predict the potential for adaptation. We also propose using transcriptional profiling to measure the expression response of fitness-related genes to environmental stresses as a proxy for acclimation (tolerance) capacity. Appropriate application of conservation genomics and transcriptomics has the potential to dramatically enhance reintroduction success in a time of rapidly declining biodiversity and accelerating environmental change. © 2016 Society for Conservation Biology.
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Lewis, Dale; Bell, Samuel D.; Fay, John; Bothi, Kim L.; Gatere, Lydiah; Kabila, Makando; Mukamba, Mwangala; Matokwani, Edwin; Mushimbalume, Matthews; Moraru, Carmen I.; Lehmann, Johannes; Lassoie, James; Wolfe, David; Lee, David R.; Buck, Louise; Travis, Alexander J.
2011-01-01
In the Luangwa Valley, Zambia, persistent poverty and hunger present linked challenges to rural development and biodiversity conservation. Both household coping strategies and larger-scale economic development efforts have caused severe natural resource degradation that limits future economic opportunities and endangers ecosystem services. A model based on a business infrastructure has been developed to promote and maintain sustainable agricultural and natural resource management practices, leading to direct and indirect conservation outcomes. The Community Markets for Conservation (COMACO) model operates primarily with communities surrounding national parks, strengthening conservation benefits produced by these protected areas. COMACO first identifies the least food-secure households and trains them in sustainable agricultural practices that minimize threats to natural resources while meeting household needs. In addition, COMACO identifies people responsible for severe natural resource depletion and trains them to generate alternative income sources. In an effort to maintain compliance with these practices, COMACO provides extension support and access to high-value markets that would otherwise be inaccessible to participants. Because the model is continually evolving via adaptive management, success or failure of the model as a whole is difficult to quantify at this early stage. We therefore test specific hypotheses and present data documenting the stabilization of previously declining wildlife populations; the meeting of thresholds of productivity that give COMACO access to stable, high-value markets and progress toward economic self-sufficiency; and the adoption of sustainable agricultural practices by participants and other community members. Together, these findings describe a unique, business-oriented model for poverty alleviation, food production, and biodiversity conservation. PMID:21873184
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ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Leonard, William H.; And Others
1983-01-01
Describes a field trip designed to give students opportunities to experience relevant data leading to concepts in biogeography. Suggests that teachers (including college instructors) adapt the areas studied and procedures used to their own locations. Includes a suggested field trip handout. (JN)
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Calhoun, Aram J K; Jansujwicz, Jessica S; Bell, Kathleen P; Hunter, Malcolm L
2014-07-29
Vernal pools are far more important for providing ecosystem services than one would predict based on their small size. However, prevailing resource-management strategies are not effectively conserving pools and other small natural features on private lands. Solutions are complicated by tensions between private property and societal rights, uncertainties over resource location and function, diverse stakeholders, and fragmented regulatory authority. The development and testing of new conservation approaches that link scientific knowledge, stakeholder decision-making, and conservation outcomes are important responses to this conservation dilemma. Drawing from a 15-y history of vernal pool conservation efforts in Maine, we describe the coevolution of pool conservation and research approaches, focusing on how research-based knowledge was produced and used in support of management decisions. As management shifted from reactive, top-down approaches to proactive and flexible approaches, research shifted from an ecology-focused program to an interdisciplinary program based on social-ecological systems. The most effective strategies for linking scientific knowledge with action changed as the decision-makers, knowledge needs, and context for vernal pool management advanced. Interactions among stakeholders increased the extent to which knowledge was coproduced and shifted the objective of stakeholder engagement from outreach to research collaboration and development of innovative conservation approaches. New conservation strategies were possible because of the flexible, solutions-oriented collaborations and trust between scientists and decision-makers (fostered over 15 y) and interdisciplinary, engaged research. Solutions to the dilemma of conserving small natural features on private lands, and analogous sustainability science challenges, will benefit from repeated negotiations of the science-policy boundary.
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Lewis, Dale; Bell, Samuel D; Fay, John; Bothi, Kim L; Gatere, Lydiah; Kabila, Makando; Mukamba, Mwangala; Matokwani, Edwin; Mushimbalume, Matthews; Moraru, Carmen I; Lehmann, Johannes; Lassoie, James; Wolfe, David; Lee, David R; Buck, Louise; Travis, Alexander J
2011-08-23
In the Luangwa Valley, Zambia, persistent poverty and hunger present linked challenges to rural development and biodiversity conservation. Both household coping strategies and larger-scale economic development efforts have caused severe natural resource degradation that limits future economic opportunities and endangers ecosystem services. A model based on a business infrastructure has been developed to promote and maintain sustainable agricultural and natural resource management practices, leading to direct and indirect conservation outcomes. The Community Markets for Conservation (COMACO) model operates primarily with communities surrounding national parks, strengthening conservation benefits produced by these protected areas. COMACO first identifies the least food-secure households and trains them in sustainable agricultural practices that minimize threats to natural resources while meeting household needs. In addition, COMACO identifies people responsible for severe natural resource depletion and trains them to generate alternative income sources. In an effort to maintain compliance with these practices, COMACO provides extension support and access to high-value markets that would otherwise be inaccessible to participants. Because the model is continually evolving via adaptive management, success or failure of the model as a whole is difficult to quantify at this early stage. We therefore test specific hypotheses and present data documenting the stabilization of previously declining wildlife populations; the meeting of thresholds of productivity that give COMACO access to stable, high-value markets and progress toward economic self-sufficiency; and the adoption of sustainable agricultural practices by participants and other community members. Together, these findings describe a unique, business-oriented model for poverty alleviation, food production, and biodiversity conservation.
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Hunting Down the Chimera of Multiple Disciplinarity in Conservation Science
POOLEY, SIMON P; MENDELSOHN, J ANDREW; MILNER-GULLAND, E J
2014-01-01
The consensus is that both ecological and social factors are essential dimensions of conservation research and practice. However, much of the literature on multiple disciplinary collaboration focuses on the difficulties of undertaking it. This review of the challenges of conducting multiple disciplinary collaboration offers a framework for thinking about the diversity and complexity of this endeavor. We focused on conceptual challenges, of which 5 main categories emerged: methodological challenges, value judgments, theories of knowledge, disciplinary prejudices, and interdisciplinary communication. The major problems identified in these areas have proved remarkably persistent in the literature surveyed (c.1960–2012). Reasons for these failures to learn from past experience include the pressure to produce positive outcomes and gloss over disagreements, the ephemeral nature of many such projects and resulting lack of institutional memory, and the apparent complexity and incoherence of the endeavor. We suggest that multiple disciplinary collaboration requires conceptual integration among carefully selected multiple disciplinary team members united in investigating a shared problem or question. We outline a 9-point sequence of steps for setting up a successful multiple disciplinary project. This encompasses points on recruitment, involving stakeholders, developing research questions, negotiating power dynamics and hidden values and conceptual differences, explaining and choosing appropriate methods, developing a shared language, facilitating on-going communications, and discussing data integration and project outcomes. Although numerous solutions to the challenges of multiple disciplinary research have been proposed, lessons learned are often lost when projects end or experienced individuals move on. We urge multiple disciplinary teams to capture the challenges recognized, and solutions proposed, by their researchers while projects are in process. A database of well-documented case studies would showcase theories and methods from a variety of disciplines and their interactions, enable better comparative study and evaluation, and provide a useful resource for developing future projects and training multiple disciplinary researchers. PMID:24299167
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A well-resolved phylogeny of the trees of Puerto Rico based on DNA barcode sequence data.
Muscarella, Robert; Uriarte, María; Erickson, David L; Swenson, Nathan G; Zimmerman, Jess K; Kress, W John
2014-01-01
The use of phylogenetic information in community ecology and conservation has grown in recent years. Two key issues for community phylogenetics studies, however, are (i) low terminal phylogenetic resolution and (ii) arbitrarily defined species pools. We used three DNA barcodes (plastid DNA regions rbcL, matK, and trnH-psbA) to infer a phylogeny for 527 native and naturalized trees of Puerto Rico, representing the vast majority of the entire tree flora of the island (89%). We used a maximum likelihood (ML) approach with and without a constraint tree that enforced monophyly of recognized plant orders. Based on 50% consensus trees, the ML analyses improved phylogenetic resolution relative to a comparable phylogeny generated with Phylomatic (proportion of internal nodes resolved: constrained ML = 74%, unconstrained ML = 68%, Phylomatic = 52%). We quantified the phylogenetic composition of 15 protected forests in Puerto Rico using the constrained ML and Phylomatic phylogenies. We found some evidence that tree communities in areas of high water stress were relatively phylogenetically clustered. Reducing the scale at which the species pool was defined (from island to soil types) changed some of our results depending on which phylogeny (ML vs. Phylomatic) was used. Overall, the increased terminal resolution provided by the ML phylogeny revealed additional patterns that were not observed with a less-resolved phylogeny. With the DNA barcode phylogeny presented here (based on an island-wide species pool), we show that a more fully resolved phylogeny increases power to detect nonrandom patterns of community composition in several Puerto Rican tree communities. Especially if combined with additional information on species functional traits and geographic distributions, this phylogeny will (i) facilitate stronger inferences about the role of historical processes in governing the assembly and composition of Puerto Rican forests, (ii) provide insight into Caribbean biogeography, and (iii) aid in incorporating evolutionary history into conservation planning.
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Scleria lacustris (Cyperaceae), an aquatic and wetland sedge introduced to Florida
Jacono, C.C.
2001-01-01
A non-native species of Scleria, S. lacustris is reported from six counties and three major hydrologic regions in Florida. Biogeography and habitat in Florida are addressed. A description, key features and illustration are presented.
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Flea (Siphonaptera) species richness in the Great Basin Desert and island biogeography theory.
Bossard, Robert L
2014-06-01
Numbers of flea (Siphonaptera) species (flea species richness) on individual mammals should be higher on large mammals, mammals with dense populations, and mammals with large geographic ranges, if mammals are islands for fleas. I tested the first two predictions with regressions of H. J. Egoscue's trapping data on flea species richness collected from individual mammals against mammal size and population density from the literature. Mammal size and population density did not correlate with flea species richness. Mammal geographic range did, in earlier studies. The intermediate-sized (31 g), moderately dense (0.004 individuals/m(2)) Peromyscus truei (Shufeldt) had the highest richness with eight flea species on one individual. Overall, island biogeography theory does not describe the distribution of flea species on mammals in the Great Basin Desert, based on H. J. Egoscue's collections. Alternatively, epidemiological or metapopulation theories may explain flea species richness. © 2014 The Society for Vector Ecology.
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Mistaking geography for biology: inferring processes from species distributions.
Warren, Dan L; Cardillo, Marcel; Rosauer, Dan F; Bolnick, Daniel I
2014-10-01
Over the past few decades, there has been a rapid proliferation of statistical methods that infer evolutionary and ecological processes from data on species distributions. These methods have led to considerable new insights, but they often fail to account for the effects of historical biogeography on present-day species distributions. Because the geography of speciation can lead to patterns of spatial and temporal autocorrelation in the distributions of species within a clade, this can result in misleading inferences about the importance of deterministic processes in generating spatial patterns of biodiversity. In this opinion article, we discuss ways in which patterns of species distributions driven by historical biogeography are often interpreted as evidence of particular evolutionary or ecological processes. We focus on three areas that are especially prone to such misinterpretations: community phylogenetics, environmental niche modelling, and analyses of beta diversity (compositional turnover of biodiversity). Crown Copyright © 2014. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
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Improving our legacy: incorporation of adaptive management into state wildlife action plans.
Fontaine, Joseph J
2011-05-01
The loss of biodiversity is a mounting concern, but despite numerous attempts there are few large scale conservation efforts that have proven successful in reversing current declines. Given the challenge of biodiversity conservation, there is a need to develop strategic conservation plans that address species declines even with the inherent uncertainty in managing multiple species in complex environments. In 2002, the State Wildlife Grant program was initiated to fulfill this need, and while not explicitly outlined by Congress follows the fundamental premise of adaptive management, 'Learning by doing'. When action is necessary, but basic biological information and an understanding of appropriate management strategies are lacking, adaptive management enables managers to be proactive in spite of uncertainty. However, regardless of the strengths of adaptive management, the development of an effective adaptive management framework is challenging. In a review of 53 State Wildlife Action Plans, I found a keen awareness by planners that adaptive management was an effective method for addressing biodiversity conservation, but the development and incorporation of explicit adaptive management approaches within each plan remained elusive. Only ~25% of the plans included a framework for how adaptive management would be implemented at the project level within their state. There was, however, considerable support across plans for further development and implementation of adaptive management. By furthering the incorporation of adaptive management principles in conservation plans and explicitly outlining the decision making process, states will be poised to meet the pending challenges to biodiversity conservation. Published by Elsevier Ltd.
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Resolving Microzooplankton Functional Groups In A Size-Structured Planktonic Model
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Taniguchi, D.; Dutkiewicz, S.; Follows, M. J.; Jahn, O.; Menden-Deuer, S.
2016-02-01
Microzooplankton are important marine grazers, often consuming a large fraction of primary productivity. They consist of a great diversity of organisms with different behaviors, characteristics, and rates. This functional diversity, and its consequences, are not currently reflected in large-scale ocean ecological simulations. How should these organisms be represented, and what are the implications for their biogeography? We develop a size-structured, trait-based model to characterize a diversity of microzooplankton functional groups. We compile and examine size-based laboratory data on the traits, revealing some patterns with size and functional group that we interpret with mechanistic theory. Fitting the model to the data provides parameterizations of key rates and properties, which we employ in a numerical ocean model. The diversity of grazing preference, rates, and trophic strategies enables the coexistence of different functional groups of micro-grazers under various environmental conditions, and the model produces testable predictions of the biogeography.
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Ecological and social outcomes of a new protected area in Tanzania.
Hall, Jaclyn M; Burgess, Neil D; Rantala, Salla; Vihemäki, Heini; Jambiya, George; Gereau, Roy E; Makonda, Fortunatus; Njilima, Fadhili; Sumbi, Peter; Kizaji, Adam
2014-12-01
Balancing ecological and social outcomes of conservation actions is recognized in global conservation policy but is challenging in practice. Compensation to land owners or users for foregone assets has been proposed by economists as an efficient way to mitigate negative social impacts of human displacement from protected areas. Joint empirical assessments of the conservation and social impacts of protected area establishment involving compensation payments are scarce. We synthesized social and biological studies related to the establishment of the Derema forest corridor in Tanzania's biodiverse East Usambara Mountains. This lengthy conservation process involved the appropriation of approximately 960 ha of native canopy agroforest and steep slopes for the corridor and monetary compensation to more than 1100 claimants in the surrounding villages. The overarching goals from the outset were to conserve ecological processes while doing no harm to the local communities. We evaluated whether these goals were achieved by analyzing 3 indicators of success: enhancement of forest connectivity, improvement of forest condition, and mitigation of negative impacts on local people's livelihoods. Indicators of forest connectivity and conditions were enhanced through reductions of forest loss and exotic species and increases in native species and canopy closure. Despite great efforts by national and international organizations, the intervention failed to mitigate livelihood losses especially among the poorest people. The Derema case illustrates the challenges of designing and implementing compensation schemes for conservation-related displacement of people. © 2014 Society for Conservation Biology.
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Cooke, Steven J.; Hinch, Scott G.; Donaldson, Michael R.; Clark, Timothy D.; Eliason, Erika J.; Crossin, Glenn T.; Raby, Graham D.; Jeffries, Ken M.; Lapointe, Mike; Miller, Kristi; Patterson, David A.; Farrell, Anthony P.
2012-01-01
Despite growing interest in conservation physiology, practical examples of how physiology has helped to understand or to solve conservation problems remain scarce. Over the past decade, an interdisciplinary research team has used a conservation physiology approach to address topical conservation concerns for Pacific salmon. Here, we review how novel applications of tools such as physiological telemetry, functional genomics and laboratory experiments on cardiorespiratory physiology have shed light on the effect of fisheries capture and release, disease and individual condition, and stock-specific consequences of warming river temperatures, respectively, and discuss how these findings have or have not benefited Pacific salmon management. Overall, physiological tools have provided remarkable insights into the effects of fisheries capture and have helped to enhance techniques for facilitating recovery from fisheries capture. Stock-specific cardiorespiratory thresholds for thermal tolerances have been identified for sockeye salmon and can be used by managers to better predict migration success, representing a rare example that links a physiological scope to fitness in the wild population. Functional genomics approaches have identified physiological signatures predictive of individual migration mortality. Although fisheries managers are primarily concerned with population-level processes, understanding the causes of en route mortality provides a mechanistic explanation and can be used to refine management models. We discuss the challenges that we have overcome, as well as those that we continue to face, in making conservation physiology relevant to managers of Pacific salmon. PMID:22566681
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Cooke, Steven J; Hinch, Scott G; Donaldson, Michael R; Clark, Timothy D; Eliason, Erika J; Crossin, Glenn T; Raby, Graham D; Jeffries, Ken M; Lapointe, Mike; Miller, Kristi; Patterson, David A; Farrell, Anthony P
2012-06-19
Despite growing interest in conservation physiology, practical examples of how physiology has helped to understand or to solve conservation problems remain scarce. Over the past decade, an interdisciplinary research team has used a conservation physiology approach to address topical conservation concerns for Pacific salmon. Here, we review how novel applications of tools such as physiological telemetry, functional genomics and laboratory experiments on cardiorespiratory physiology have shed light on the effect of fisheries capture and release, disease and individual condition, and stock-specific consequences of warming river temperatures, respectively, and discuss how these findings have or have not benefited Pacific salmon management. Overall, physiological tools have provided remarkable insights into the effects of fisheries capture and have helped to enhance techniques for facilitating recovery from fisheries capture. Stock-specific cardiorespiratory thresholds for thermal tolerances have been identified for sockeye salmon and can be used by managers to better predict migration success, representing a rare example that links a physiological scope to fitness in the wild population. Functional genomics approaches have identified physiological signatures predictive of individual migration mortality. Although fisheries managers are primarily concerned with population-level processes, understanding the causes of en route mortality provides a mechanistic explanation and can be used to refine management models. We discuss the challenges that we have overcome, as well as those that we continue to face, in making conservation physiology relevant to managers of Pacific salmon.
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Improving our legacy: Incorporation of adaptive management into state wildlife action plans
Fontaine, J.J.
2011-01-01
The loss of biodiversity is a mounting concern, but despite numerous attempts there are few large scale conservation efforts that have proven successful in reversing current declines. Given the challenge of biodiversity conservation, there is a need to develop strategic conservation plans that address species declines even with the inherent uncertainty in managing multiple species in complex environments. In 2002, the State Wildlife Grant program was initiated to fulfill this need, and while not explicitly outlined by Congress follows the fundamental premise of adaptive management, 'Learning by doing'. When action is necessary, but basic biological information and an understanding of appropriate management strategies are lacking, adaptive management enables managers to be proactive in spite of uncertainty. However, regardless of the strengths of adaptive management, the development of an effective adaptive management framework is challenging. In a review of 53 State Wildlife Action Plans, I found a keen awareness by planners that adaptive management was an effective method for addressing biodiversity conservation, but the development and incorporation of explicit adaptive management approaches within each plan remained elusive. Only ???25% of the plans included a framework for how adaptive management would be implemented at the project level within their state. There was, however, considerable support across plans for further development and implementation of adaptive management. By furthering the incorporation of adaptive management principles in conservation plans and explicitly outlining the decision making process, states will be poised to meet the pending challenges to biodiversity conservation. ?? 2010 .
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Reviewing Biosphere Reserves globally: effective conservation action or bureaucratic label?
Coetzer, Kaera L; Witkowski, Edward T F; Erasmus, Barend F N
2014-02-01
The Biosphere Reserve (BR) model of UNESCO's Man and the Biosphere Programme reflects a shift towards more accountable conservation. Biosphere Reserves attempt to reconcile environmental protection with sustainable development; they explicitly acknowledge humans, and human interests in the conservation landscape while still maintaining the ecological values of existing protected areas. Conceptually, this model is attractive, with 610 sites currently designated globally. Yet the practical reality of implementing dual 'conservation' and 'development' goals is challenging, with few examples successfully conforming to the model's full criteria. Here, we review the history of Biosphere Reserves from first inception in 1974 to the current status quo, and examine the suitability of the designation as an effective conservation model. We track the spatial expansion of Biosphere Reserves globally, assessing the influence of the Statutory Framework of the World Network of Biosphere Reserves and Seville strategy in 1995, when the BR concept refocused its core objectives on sustainable development. We use a comprehensive range of case studies to discuss conformity to the Programme, the social and ecological consequences associated with implementation of the designation, and challenges in aligning conservation and development. Given that the 'Biosphere Reserve' label is a relatively unknown designation in the public arena, this review also provides details on popularising the Biosphere Reserve brand, as well as prospects for further research, currently unexploited, but implicit in the designation. © 2013 The Authors. Biological Reviews © 2013 Cambridge Philosophical Society.
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Aim Examine the biogeography of marine benthic invertebrates of the Atlantic coast of the northeastern USA, compare the results to historical biogeographic studies, define physical-chemical factors affecting species distributions, and provide biogeographic information needed to ...