Systematic landscape restoration using integer programming

In some agricultural regions, reservation of remnant natural lands will not maintain the natural biodiversity and large-scale ecological restoration is required. Geographic planning for restoration is essential to obtain the maximum ecological benefit from the limited resources available for landscape restoration. In this paper, we present a proof-of-concept that implements principles of systematic conservation planning, such as adequacy, representativeness, efficiency and flexibility, within an integer programming framework to identify geographic priorities for landscape restoration in a small catchment in South Australia. Integer programming ensures maximally efficient solutions that meet conservation targets in the form of minimum proportions (30%) and minimum areas (15 ha) of each environment type. However, the optimum solution identifies a system of scattered sites with an inadequate and impractical landscape structure. We propose a system of impedance surfaces that prioritise the spatial location of restoration towards improving landscape structure. Different options for systematic landscape restoration are assessed and the costs of spatial prioritisation of areas is found to be either optimal or very near optimal regardless of the impedances used. Thus, the cost of spatial prioritisation of sites for restoration in the landscape is negligible. We suggest the proposed methodology fits within a broader plan for landscape restoration and natural resource management.     

Are differences in fitness traits related to genetic clusters? An empirical test on the European tree frog

Microsatellites are one of the preferred marker types to estimate the level of genetic diversity and subdivision in natural populations of endangered species. Many studies thereby attempted to identify genetically defined management units for conservation by applying a variety of genetic clustering methods. It is not clear, however, whether genetic clusters inferred from neutral molecular markers reflect differences in fitness or adaptation. In this study, I conducted a common garden experiment on the endangered European tree frog (Hyla arborea) to clarify whether fitness-related traits of larval development differed between three genetic groups defined by Bayesian clustering analysis. I reared larvae under semi-natural conditions and measured growth and developmental rates as well as survival at five larval stages from eclosion to completion of metamorphosis. Nested general and generalized linear models showed significant cluster differences for several variables in terms of smaller growth rates and body sizes at early larval stages. These differences were, however, probably not linked to adaptive divergence among clusters but rather to neutral genetic processes in the breeding sites of one cluster, which were spatially isolated and subject of recent bottlenecks. Hence, a genetic load effect (e.g. inbreeding depression) may have acted on the populations of this particular cluster. I advise studies aiming to define management units for conservation to not only use genetic clustering methods but to complement their findings with experimental approaches on fitness-related traits.     

Will climate change reduce the efficacy of protected areas for amphibian conservation in Italy?

Amphibians are an important and imperiled component of biodiversity. In this study we analyze the efficacy of Italian reserve network for protecting multiple amphibian species in a climate change scenario, considering both nationally designated areas and Natura 2000 sites. Our approach is based on ensemble niche modeling estimate of potential range shift under two carbon emission scenarios (A1FI and B1) and two dispersal assumptions. The predicted distributions were used to perform gap and irreplaceability analyses. Our findings show that the current Italian reserve network incompletely represents current amphibian diversity and its geographic pattern. The combination of the nationally designated protected areas and the Natura 2000 sites improves current representation of amphibians, but conservation targets based on geographic range extent are achieved for only 40% of species. Under the future scenarios, Natura 2000 sites become a crucial component of the protected areas system. Nonetheless, we predict that climate change decreases for many species the amount of suitable range falling into reserves, regardless of our assumptions about dispersal. We identify some currently unprotected areas that have high irreplaceability scores for species conservation and that maintain their importance under all the future scenarios we considered. We recommend designation of new reserves in these areas to help guarantee long-term amphibian conservation.     

Incorporating anthropogenic threats into evaluations of regional biodiversity and prioritisation of conservation areas in the Limpopo Province, South Africa

Recent attempts to streamline the identification of areas requiring immediate conservation attention have resulted in the development of prioritisation procedures that identify areas of biodiversity importance facing large threats in the near future. This study incorporated biodiversity data on bird and vegetation distribution with an assessment of land use suitability for cultivation and afforestation for the Limpopo Province of South Africa. The low altitude savanna regions in the northeast contain high species diversity, but are unsuitable to alternative forms of land use and are well conserved (by e.g., the Kruger National Park). The central and eastern mountain ranges, sites of high biodiversity, are suitable to dryland cultivation and afforestation and are thus potential conservation priorities. Areas with high biodiversity values, e.g., irreplaceable areas that contain biodiversity features essential for meeting conservation targets, were then investigated for their potential land-use threats in order to prioritise those needing immediate conservation actions. We suggest how losses of biodiversity could be minimised by reaching such decisions more quickly.     

General management principles and a checklist of strategies to guide forest biodiversity conservation

Many indicators and criteria have been proposed to assess the sustainable management of forests but their scientific validity remains uncertain. Because the effects of forest disturbances (such as logging) are often specific to particular species, sites, landscapes, regions and forest types, management “shortcuts” such as indicator species, focal species and threshold levels of vegetation cover may be of limited generic value. We propose an alternative approach based on a set of five guiding principles for biodiversity conservation that are broadly applicable to any forested area: (1) the maintenance of connectivity; (2) the maintenance of landscape heterogeneity; (3) the maintenance of stand structural complexity; and (4) the maintenance of aquatic ecosystem integrity; (5) the use of natural disturbance regimes to guide human disturbance regimes.We present a checklist of measures for forest biodiversity conservation that reflects the multi-scaled nature of conservation approaches on forested land. At the regional scale, management should ensure the establishment of large ecological reserves. At the landscape scale, off-reserve conservation measures should include: (1) protected areas within production forests; (2) buffers for aquatic ecosystems; (3) appropriately designed and located road networks; (4) the careful spatial and temporal arrangement of harvest units; and (5) appropriate fire management practices. At the stand level, off-reserve conservation measures should include: (1) the retention of key elements of stand structural complexity (e.g., large living and dead trees with hollows, understorey thickets, and large fallen logs); (2) long rotation times (coupled with structural retention at harvest); (3) silvicultural systems alternative to traditional high impact ones (e.g., clearcutting in some forest types); and (4) appropriate fire management practices and practices for the management of other kinds of disturbances.Although the general ecological principles and associated checklist are intuitive, data to evaluate the effectiveness of many specific on-the-ground management actions are limited. Considerable effort is needed to adopt adaptive management “natural experiments” and monitoring to: (1) better identify the impacts of logging operations and other kinds of management activities on biodiversity, and; (2) quantify the effectiveness of impact mitigation strategies; and (3) identify ways to improve management practices.     

The efficacy of Romania’s protected areas network in conserving biodiversity

Romania’s protected areas network currently covers 19.29% of the national territory, a significant increase from the 4.1% protected prior to 1989. The increase occurred over the past 20 years with the creation of 27 National and Natural Parks, and recently of 382 protected areas as part of the pan-European Natura 2000 network. Considering the recent increase in number and area of protected lands, we investigated two core topics critical to achieving conservation goals: (1) conservation value and (2) resources for conservation. The newly created Natura 2000 sites overlapped 96.19% of the existing protected areas network, generating up to three different protection statuses for some sites. Conservation goals were often unclear, as the focus switched to protecting species and habitats of European-level concern. Despite the fivefold increase in protected area, many ecoregions were poorly represented in the new system. Planning for conservation neither involved the local communities nor utilized principles for spatial prioritization. Over 80% of the species of European conservation concern were included in at least one protected area, but plants and invertebrates were underrepresented. Administrative bodies were generally under-staffed and poorly financed, conditions that were reflected in a poor enforcement and implementation of conservation goals. Overall, Romania shares many conservation concerns with other Eastern and Central European countries. A regional approach to conserving biodiversity based on spatial prioritization, rigorous scientific documentation, and social acceptance is needed for the Natura 2000 network to achieve its goals.     

Local Organizations Involved in the Conservation of Crop Genetic Resources: Conditions for their Emergence and Success in Ethiopia and Kenya

Local organizations comprising of farmers, local formal and informal institutions, and public conservators can potentially be relevant options to confront the challenges of conserving indigenous crop varieties in developing countries. Although property rights and market failure problems experienced in crop genetic resources (CGRs) are different from other natural resources such as forests, wildlife, etc., such local organizations, and contractual arrangements within them, can be very instrumental in enhancing on-farm conservation. However, empirical investigations of such local organizations in order to determine the dimensions of their feasibility have been scarce. Against this background, this paper analyzes interactions of stakeholders in these local organizations and then explores the conditions for their emergence and success. The paper discusses field cases of on-farm conservation of traditional cereals and pulses from Ethiopia and indigenous vegetables from Kenya. It points out that local organizations conserving CGRs can be classified into different categories of contractual arrangements depending on certain driving factors that influence interactions of stakeholders and devolvement of decision-making authority. The paper further argues that these driving factors, which include accessibility to markets, presence of collective action or self-organizational capacity and provision of relevant CGRs conservation policies, form some of the key conditions determining the success of the case study organizations. The paper concludes by outlining policy implications on the structuring of such local organizations and the importance of certain factors in facilitating their emergence and success.     

The conservation game

Conservation problems typically involve groups with competing objectives and strategies. Taking effective conservation action requires identifying dependencies between competing strategies and determining which action optimally achieves the appropriate conservation goals given those dependencies. We show how several real-world conservation problems can be modeled game-theoretically. Three types of problems drive our analysis: multi-national conservation cooperation, management of common-pool resources, and games against nature. By revealing the underlying structure of these and other problems, game-theoretic models suggest potential solutions that are often invisible to the usual management protocol: decision followed by monitoring, feedback and revised decisions. The kind of adaptive management provided by the game-theoretic approach therefore complements existing adaptive management methodologies.     

Identification of priority areas for controlling soil erosion

Conservation prioritization is an important consideration for planning of natural resources management, allowing decison makers to implement management strategies that are more sustainable in the long-term. However, only a current erosion status or a relative index cannot exactly identify priority area for conservation. The objective of this paper is to identify conservation priorities by a specific multicriteria evaluation method. Trends in erosion risk indicate regions of increasing erosion risk and are also chosen as one of the evaluation criteria to identify the priorities based on the instability of soil erosion in the Yongding river basin. In this paper, vegetation cover, land-use, and slope gradient are used to assess erosion risk and trends in erosion risk are obtained by comparing the results of erosion risk between 2000 and 2006. Using this information, the priority conservation areas are graded into six levels. The two highest priority levels cover the regions with severe erosion or a substantial recent increase in erosion risk (4722.56 km², or 11.82% of the study area), and are recommended as erosion control regions with appropriate conservation strategies. The middle two levels cover the regions with stable erosion status or slight change, needing only minor measures. The method presented is fast and straightforward, showing good potential for successful application in other areas.     

RAPD variation in a germplasm collection of Myracrodruon urundeuva (Anacardiaceae), an endangered tropical tree: Recommendations for conservation

RAPD markers were used to investigate the distribution of genetic variability in a germplasm collection of the dioecious tropical tree Aroeira (Myracrodruon urundeuva) composed of open pollinated maternal half-sib families collected from trees at least 300 meters apart and grouped in nine collection areas throughout its geographical range in Brazil. Open pollinated families from nearby trees from two natural populations were also included in the study. A Principal Coordinate Analysis (PCO) based on genetic similarities estimated with 83 RAPD markers showed no defined clustering among individuals from the same collection areas. However, a matrix correlation test showed low, but significant correlation between genetic and geographic distances (r = 0.17; p < 0.02). An AMOVA showed that 92% of the genetic variation is found within collection areas. Significant variation was found both between regions and between areas within regions although only 3.54 and 4.44% of the variation was found at these levels respectively. An AMOVA on the individuals from the two natural populations resulted in a pattern of distribution congruent to the one found for the collection areas, with 97% of variability within populations. An analysis of 10 open-pollinated half-sib families revealed that between 75% and 89% of the variability is contained within families, suggesting that seeds from one tree represent a significant proportion of the variability found in the population. These results indicate that, either for the establishment of in situ genetic reserves or for ex situ conservation, efforts should be directed to the conservation of several individual trees or collection of open pollinated seed families in a few distant sites. In addition, if resources are available to enlarge the genetic base of the existing collection, expeditions should prioritize collection sites located in areas at significant distances to those already sampled.     

Assessing the performance of the existing and proposed network of marine protected areas to conserve marine biodiversity in Chile

The growing concern about the profound influence of human activities on marine ecosystems has been the driving force behind the creation of marine reserves in the last few decades. With almost 4200 km of coastline, Chile has not been the exception to this trend. A set of conservation priority sites has recently been proposed by the Chilean government to expand the current marine reserve network. In this study, we used the most comprehensive information currently available on the distribution of 2513 marine species in Chile to assess the efficiency of the existing system of marine protected areas (MPA) and the conservation priority sites identified by the government. Additionally, we evaluated the vulnerability of the reserve network selected with respect to threatening human activities. Our results show that both the existing protected areas and the proposed priority sites are relatively effective at protecting Chilean marine biodiversity. However, the majority of the species that are not represented within the existing or projected MPA network have very restricted distributions and are, therefore, of high conservation concern. To cover all species requires a network of 35 MPAs (46% of the total number of planning units). Many of the sites identified as irreplaceable present conflict with one or more human activities, particularly in the central region of the country. This study emphasizes the need for a systematic conservation planning approach to maximize the representation of species and prioritize those areas where conflicts between marine biodiversity conservation and human activities may occur.     

The potential importance of migratory stopover sites as flight feather molt staging areas: a review for neotropical migrants

The decline of many species of Neotropical migrants has prompted increased research on their ecology on their breeding and wintering grounds. However, studies of their ecology during migration are relatively few. Despite documentation of molt-migration in at least six Neotropical passerine species, this phenomenon has been ignored in current conservation strategies for Neotropical migrants. In this review paper, we suggest that molt studies need to be done as a way to refine and improve conservation plans for Neotropical migrants. We identify three important questions that merit further study: (1) which Neotropical migrant species undergo flight feather molt at migratory-stopover sites; (2) where are molt-migration stopover sites geographically located; and (3) why are these sites preferred as stopover sites during molt? Finding answers to these questions will allow us to protect molt staging areas occupied by Neotropical migrants during migration as many wetland and nearshore oceanic habitats have been protected for molting waterfowl, shorebirds, and seabirds.     

Choosing the survivors? A GIS-based triage support tool for micro-endemics: Application to data for Mexican amphibians

Given the current speed of land use change, we cannot expect to save all species from extinction, and so must decide how to focus limited resources to prevent the greatest number of extinctions. This paper proposes a simple conservation triage method that: evaluates the threat status for 145 micro-endemic Mexican amphibian species; assesses current potential threat abatement responses derived from existing policy instruments and social initiatives; and combines both indicators to provide broad-scale conservation strategies that would best suit amphibian micro-endemic buffered areas (AMBAs) in Mexico. To prioritize the AMBAs we used existing and newly compiled spatial databases of territorial conservation instruments, threats, and amphibian range distributions for Mexico. We identify 50% of Mexican micro-endemic amphibians as requiring urgent actions. Based on the location of the AMBAs and using existing conservation instruments, we develop a conservation strategy for the majority of these species. However, almost 25% urgently need field-base verification to confirm their persistence due to the small percentage of remnant natural vegetation within the AMBAs, before we may sensibly recommend such a strategy.     

Human-predator-prey conflicts: ecological correlates, prey losses and patterns of management

Conflicts between humans and predators are the product of socio-economic and political landscapes and are particularly controversial because the resources concerned have economic value and the predators involved are high profile and often legally protected. We surveyed the current literature for information on ecological and social factors common to human-predator-prey conflicts. We used this information to examine whether losses to predators and patterns of investment in husbandry could be linked to these factors. We found that livestock losses to predators were low and were negatively associated with net primary productivity and predator home range sizes, but were not affected by predator density, methods of husbandry or human population density. While there was no effect of husbandry on losses, variation in husbandry was explained by net primary productivity, predator density and percentage of stock killed by predators. Inconsistent and sparse data across conflicts may have limited our ability to identify important factors and resolve patterns, and suggests that there is no reliable or consistent framework for assessing and managing human-predator conflicts that involve game and livestock species. Our approach highlights the type of data that could be very informative to management if collected across a range of cases and habitats.     

Morphologic and Agronomic Diversity of Wild Genetic Resources of Medicago sativa L. Collected in Spain

One hundred and three natural populations of Medicago L. were collected in Spain, mainly from roadsides, non-irrigated or grazed lands. This germplasm was evaluated at Montpellier (France) with control cultivars and Spanish landraces under completely random block design, replicated four times, and observed for 64 qualitative or quantitative characters. Differences between natural populations and cultivated controls are highly significant, but gene flow occurs between wild and cultivated compartment and hybrid populations were identified. On the basis of multivariable analysis, the accessions were grouped into four clusters depending on their proximity with the cultivated pool to facilitate their management and ex situ conservation. The relationship between environment of the site of collection and phenotypic characteristics of the natural populations was also discussed. Different policies of conservation of these genetic resources are suggested to avoid their disappearance even when they disappeared from the other regions of the western Mediterranean. Spanish wild pool of alfalfa, also called ‘Mielga’, appears of great interest for the breeding of alfalfa because it contains a large diversity of characteristics (prostrate habit, rhizomes) linked to tolerance to grazing or drought environment. With the need for more sustainable systems in agriculture, the erosion of natural habitats and the necessity for rehabilitation of degraded ecosystems, the importance of this wild pool is really inestimable.     

重要农业文化遗产价值体系构建及评估(I):价值体系构建与评价方法研究

重要农业文化遗产是一类典型的资源可持续利用保护地,其水土管理方式、知识体系、文化内涵等对于协调社区生计与生态保护具有积极作用。这类传统生计区域往往与自然保护地毗邻或在其范围内,对其蕴含的价值进行识别与保护,不仅是提升农业文化遗产管理的诉求,也能够支持自然保护地体系优化与功能区划管理。本研究对重要农业文化遗产价值进行系统识别,基于农业文化遗产的广义概念与全球重要农业文化遗产的狭义概念,借鉴多类型自然保护地与世界遗产、生态系统服务功能、自然资源资产等价值体系,从农业文化遗产的复合性、活态性与战略性特点出发,把握其核心价值,构建重要农业文化遗产的价值体系。在充分吸收生态系统服务价值评估、自然资源资产价值核算、自然文化遗产价值评估、品牌价值评估等定量或定性评价方法的基础上,提出一套完整的重要农业文化遗产货币价值评价方法。以系统科学和可持续发展理论为基础,重要农业文化遗产价值主要包括存在价值和潜在价值,其中存在价值以载体价值和服务价值为核心,服务价值则可细分为产品价值、生态价值、社会价值等9类,25个具体指标。研究进一步提出存在价值的评价方法与潜在指标可能测算路径。构建的重要农业文化遗产价值体系以及所提出的评价方法,可为以价值保护为基础进行农业文化遗产管理提供理论依据,为管理决策者在区域保护与发展协调决策中提供科学基础。     

Endemism and evolutionary history in conflict over Madagascar’s freshwater conservation priorities

Regional-scale biodiversity indicators provide important criteria for the selection of protected areas in conservation, but their application is often hindered by a lack of taxonomic knowledge. Moreover, different indicators include different types of information, sometimes leading to divergent conservation priorities. Madagascar tops the world list of biodiversity hotspots and much conservation effort has been directed toward its threatened plants and vertebrates. In contrast, its highly diverse freshwater invertebrate fauna has received comparatively little conservation attention. We conducted an inventory of Malagasy adephagan water beetles (Coleoptera, Dytiscidae, Noteridae, Gyrinidae, Haliplidae) using a combined morphological and molecular approach. In total, 2043 beetles from 153 sites were sequenced for cytochrome oxidase subunit I (cox1), and species delimitation was carried out using the coalescent-based GMYC model. Phylogenetic relationships of the resulting entities were established using cox1 combined with partial 16S rRNA and 28S rRNA sequences. Ten national parks were assessed for their species richness, phylogenetic diversity (PD) and endemism. We were particularly interested in the contribution of endemic species to PD. Congruence between molecular and taxonomic identifications was high (91%), with 69% of sampled species endemic to Madagascar. Interestingly, we found that PD at a site was negatively correlated to the proportion of endemic species, most likely because endemics are the result of recent radiations with relatively little branch-length contribution to the measure of PD. This suggests that ranking sites for conservation priority based solely on PD potentially disfavor endemic species by underrating areas where the evolutionary process is most active.     

Efficiency in conservation evaluation: Scoring versus iterative approaches

Scoring and iterative approaches to wildlife conservation evaluation were compared in terms of their contribution to the conservation of all natural environments or species. This contribution was termed efficiency and was calculated from the number or area of highest scoring sites or the number or area of all sites selected by iterative analyses required to represent all natural environments or species a specified number of times. Efficiency of sampling in reserves is an important consideration in conservation planning if reserve systems are to become fully representative before the options for protection are exhausted. Scoring criteria varied greatly in their efficiencies but were consistently less efficient than the iterative analyses.     

Conservation strategies in response to rapid climate change: Australia as a case study

As in all parts of the globe, rapid climate change in Australia will have significant negative impacts on biodiversity. It also will interact with pre-existing stressors such as native vegetation clearing, altered natural disturbance regimes and invasive species - all of which already have major negative effects on biota in Australia. Strategies to reduce climate change impacts on Australian biodiversity include a mixture of mitigation and adaptation actions (sensuMillar et al., 2007) such as: (1) significantly reducing greenhouse gas emissions, (2) ensuring bio-diverse carbon capture, (3) better tackling pre-existing stressors on biodiversity, (4) better preparing for the effects of major natural disturbances, (5) significantly improving off-reserve conservation efforts including fostering appropriate connectivity, and (6) enhancing the existing reserve system by making it more comprehensive, adequate and representative. The first strategy above demands a global response otherwise major mitigation attempts in Australia that are not paralleled elsewhere around the world will have little effect on climate change and, in turn, contribute little to enhanced biodiversity conservation. Strategies 2-6 demand multi-scaled responses, particularly at a regional level, given the major regional differences in direct climate change impacts and their interactions with pre-existing regional stressors. Well developed multi-scaled conservation plans to implement these strategies currently do not exist, nor do appropriate institutional arrangements and capacities. Institutional reforms are urgently needed in Australia to develop the land management, monitoring and regional response capabilities required to conserve biodiversity on a continent already significantly modified.     

Gravel pits as new wetland habitats for the conservation of breeding bird communities

Gravel pit wetland habitats are a new and rapidly expanding feature of the contemporary environment in Britain. This paper investigates and emphasises their value as potential conservation areas for breeding bird communities. Most gravel pits are characterised by close proximity to man in an urban-agricultural environment, but contain a variety of aquatic, marshland and terrestrial habitats. Their breeding bird communities contain a wide variety of species, often at high breeding densities. As natural wetlands come under increasing pressure, it is suggested that these new wetlands are important for the future conservation of marshland and aquatic species, and may also act as reservoirs of diversity and abundance in a rapidly changing environment. Conservation of some gravel pits should be based on their overall value as conservation, education and recreation areas near urban centres, and others could relieve the increasing public pressure on natural wetlands. Present trends in the utilisation of gravel pits for recreation are discussed and ultimately it is hoped to show how conservation and recreation may or may not co-exist in the new wetlands of the future.