Projecting changes in phenology using temperature based growing degree days

The decision to remove the legal protections provided by the U.S. Endangered Species Act (ESA) because a threatened or endangered species has “recovered” includes both scientific and normative considerations. At its core, this decision represents a policy choice regarding acceptable levels of risk in light of the remaining (albeit substantially abated) threats to protected species. Section 4 of the ESA requires the Fish and Wildlife Service and National Marine Fisheries Service, which implement the ESA, to develop recovery criteria that, when met, indicate a species no longer needs the protections of the ESA. Despite having developed non-binding guidance on recovery criteria, analyses of existing recovery plans for threatened and endangered species indicates that recovery criteria are often set too low to ensure long-term viability post-delisting. Recovery planning for politically-controversial species has also proven problematic. Because recovery planning is inherently linked to other components of the ESA, the term “recovery” itself requires a regulatory definition that fully captures the statutory goals of the ESA. Lacking such a definition, existing agency guidance on recovery planning is not sufficient to meet the objectives of the ESA. To remedy this problem, the Society for Conservation Biology recently proposed to the FWS and NMFS a regulatory framework for recovery planning that can better acheive the overarching goals of the ESA.

Successful conservation interventions are difficult to implement and sustain, due to the complexity of the underlying issues and the scope of the problem. However, the presence of a conservation champion may increase the chances of success. Champions are personally committed to the creation and installation of innovative ideas, and use personal activism and informal networks to ensure their success (Gallagher, 2009). This paper builds upon Gallagher's research on environmental champions and Post's evaluation of tiger conservation in India (2010). Combining the disciplinary lenses of conservation biology and public policy, we undertake a broader examination of how champions for wildlife conservation operate in practice. We surveyed members of The Society for Conservation Biology to gather evidence of champions' work in the field. The goal of the research was to inform our understanding of the phenomenon of the conservation champion more fully. Preliminary results indicate that most champions serve in organizations such as the ministry of the environment or within the context of park management. In addition, most champions utilized both a top-down and bottom-up approach to influence conservation behavior, enforcing the idea of using various interdisciplinary approaches to find a solution. These results emphasize the need to more broadly understand the distinct role of conservation champions as interdisciplinary leaders working to diminish biodiversity loss.

Invasive species are one of the leading conservation challenges facing world biodiversity, but many introduced species are intentionally stocked on the landscape despite effects on native species. Non-native trout reduce the probability of occupancy of mountain lakes by the threatened Cascades frog (Rana cascadae). However, some lakes with trout do support breeding populations of these frogs. To facilitate healthy populations of frogs in the area, managers should take both frog habitat availability and angler pressure into account when choosing which lakes to stock. I addressed this by measuring the extent of probable refuge habitat for frogs in 42 lakes in the Trinity Alps Wilderness in California and surveyed recreational visitors to the area. Factors most strongly related to fish-frog coexistence included large areas of emergent vegetation, low bank slope, nearby frog populations, and presence of western toad (Bufo boreas) larvae. I found that only 23% of users were fishing overall, with fishing pressure concentrated at specific lakes. Fishing was seldom the main activity of the trip. Both numbers of anglers and percentage of refuge habitat for frogs should be used to help managers decide which lakes to target for trout stocking or removal when formulating basin-wide management plans.

Metrics of coral reef health are important for conservation and management, yet visual measures such as live coral cover often cannot discern when systems are susceptible to or confronting degradation. With coral cover over twice the region-wide average, the undeveloped East Point area of Curaçao is one of the healthiest remaining Caribbean reefs. To examine subtle physiological differences in coral health among reefs, we measured storage lipid content and reproductive output of multiple coral species collected at three sites on East Point and on three "degraded" reefs near the urban center of the island (Willemstad). In the majority of species we studied, colonies from East Point stored greater amounts of energetic lipids and produced more offspring than their Willemstad counterparts. With higher coral cover and greater per-adult fecundity in multiple species, East Point's corals are likely a disproportionately large source of offspring for the entire island. Currently, plans to develop up to 55% of East Point are under government consideration. Given that reef degradation followed development elsewhere on Curaçao, East Point would likely meet a similar fate. By revealing that visually healthy corals can differ in their reproductive output, with undeveloped areas tending to harbor the most fecund adults, our work highlights that a major offspring source population stands to be lost, making conservation of this area critically important to the island as a whole.

Bangladesh has 628 species of birds, of which 388 are resident, and 240 are migratory. While transport infrastructures for mobility of humans and goods tend to increase with economic development, the functionality of habitat networks for biodiversity conservation tend to deteriorate. The suspended electrical network represents a danger to the birds' wildlife conservation, both because of the possibility of collision and electrocution. Land use and land cover type are strictly related to birds' presence, eating habits, and nesting. This way they are factors that are directly related to collision and electrocution hazards. This investigation was based on the occurrences geographical position and the location of suspended electrical network. The available data were used to create a geographic information system in order to calculate hazard maps. These maps were created by means of geostatistical processes and multivariate analysis. The final results indicate that approximately 48% of the total electrical networks analyzed are classified with the two higher hazard classes in the case of electrocution, and about 39% in the case of collision. The classification maps show that the danger of electrocution is greatest in the central and south-eastern Bangladesh, and the danger of collision is higher especially in the central Bangladesh.

Driven by the goals of protect biodiversity and securing human livelihoods, the global conservation community has cycled through various approaches to conservation over the last forty years. These approaches differ in the scale at which they are planned and implemented, the role of science in the site selection process, and the balance between biodiversity protection and human use. There is an emerging recognition that pluralistic multi-scalar approaches are necessary in a globalized, interconnected world; however, there are few explorations of how these approaches can combine strategies from local scale, participation-driven and large scale, science-driven conservation. This presentation illustrates the processes and outcomes of Conservation International's Marine Management Area Science program in Panama, a conservation research and policy initiative lasting from 2005 until 2010. Qualitative data about MMAS was gathered through document review, meeting observation, and semi-structured interviews with 40 key informants in the United States and Panama. Results from MMAS demonstrate that multi-scalar approaches can create a foundation for both biodiversity protection and local participation and input by building upon scalar strengths, creating horizontal and vertical linkages and partnerships, enabling cycles of learning, adaptation, and trust-building, integrating disciplines and knowledge systems, and acknowledging tradeoffs between conservation and development.

Protected areas coverage has steadily increased the past 20 years, but the effectiveness to meet conservation goals is consistently questioned. Many protected areas have been established for other purposes than conservation, and the prioritization of ecosystem services and the management of human activities tend to vary extensively among sites. Numerous criteria have recently been proposed for comparatively evaluating the effectiveness of protected areas. In this study we used the Gifi systems for optimal scaling on two contrasting alpine protected area networks in Norway and British Columbia (BC) to analyze the consistency in the prioritization of ecosystem services, the restrictions, as well as the alignment of Protected Areas Management to the IUCN guidelines. By analyzing aims and regulations in 38 parks in Norway and 51 in BC we found divergence between the two networks in terms of prioritization of conservation goals, restrictions of human activities and local influence. Norway emphasizes sustainable use, cultural landscapes and livelihood activities, whereas BC prioritizes habitat protection, wilderness and recreation. These differences are reflected by the degree of restriction on resource use, recreation and motorized use. Norway tends to favor local use permits whereas BC prefers time and area restrictions. Finally, there are only minor differences between IUCN category II and V in Norway, and the Ib and II in the provincial parks in BC.

Conservation is inevitably a social undertaking. Humans serve as conservation stewards, they depend on resources for their livelihoods and wellbeing, and they exert threats to biodiversity through unsustainable use or when they fail as stewards. Consequently, many conservation teams feel compelled to consider human wellbeing when developing their projects. To date, however, most teams have not been clear about their ultimate aim or how human wellbeing relates to biodiversity and vice-versa. Likewise, they have been inconsistent in their approaches to defining, describing, and addressing human wellbeing. With this in mind, a team of representatives from many leading conservation organizations (e.g., TNC, WCS, Rare, WCN, and FOS) developed guidelines for addressing human wellbeing in the context of the Conservation Measures Partnership's Open Standards for the Practice of Conservation. This practical guidance has become an important contribution to the Open Standards, as well as to the wider conservation community. This session will: - Outline the need for a structured approach and the importance of clarifying connections among conservation, ecosystem services, human wellbeing, and integrated approaches - Provide real-world examples of how to connect conservation to local stakeholders through this multi-disciplinary methodology - Conclude with lessons to date and suggestions of how the guidance should be updated and improved over time - Solicit feedback and suggestions

White-nose syndrome (WNS) is an emerging disease of hibernating bats caused by the cold-growing fungus Geomyces destructans (Gd). This fungal disease has been responsible for dramatic declines of bat populations in eastern N. America. Bats infected with Gd that succumb to WNS are typically emaciated. Energy-intensive arousals from hibernation tend to increase in frequency in Gd-infected bats, which is hypothesized to prematurely deplete the fat reserves they require to survive prolonged winter hibernation. In Europe, Gd infects bats without mass mortality, but recent studies suggest that a European isolate of Gd is pathogenic to N. American bats. The reasons why Gd causes high-fatality disease only in N. American bats remains unclear. In this study we built upon a previous energetic model of bat hibernation by integrating the growth dynamics of Gd across a range of temperature and humidity conditions in hibernation sites. Our results demonstrate that WNS mortality may be associated with certain combinations of environmental conditions within hibernacula, and that warmer and wetter hibernation sites may experience higher mortality. Our study predicts the conditions that may help understand site- and species-specific mortality from WNS in both Europe and N. America. Our results highlight the necessity for environmental monitoring during WNS surveillance, and suggest management efforts that warm or increase humidity in hibernacula will be detrimental to the survival of bats.

We affect our environment through choices, decisions we make about how to allocate resources. Values and science both play an integral role in determining how those decisions are made, but seldom are those distinctions apparent, including defining the roles of scientists and managers. This routinely results in conflict, miscommunication, and suboptimal management of resources. Here we share tools to decompose and overcome obstacles to the decision, avoid errors due to psychological biases, and account for the values and science that go into the decision. This enables clear documentation and increases transparency. Conservation practitioners are increasingly tasked with understanding impacts of a changing environment and making decisions before or while reducing uncertainty. We share local, state, federal, and international examples of how decision analysis has been applied across scales of decisions and degrees of complexity, from one person with one hour to multi-stakeholder, multi-disciplinary, multi-year processes. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the U.S. Geological Survey have developed a training curriculum to make better decision makers and build capacity of decision analysts. As the demand for these skills grows, the conservation community must equip international conservation practitioners at the undergraduate, graduate, and professional level to use the best available science, including the tools from decision analysis, to make important conservation choices.

Stakeholder's participation is crucial in successful conservation programs. As a consequence, policy prescriptions tend to focus on increasing the number of stakeholders involved in conservation programs. Rhino population in Pobitora now faces multitude of threats, most serious of which is poaching for valuable rhino horn. Our study aimed at examining the empirical support for the pivotal role attributed to stakeholder participation. Survey was conducted in five villages in the buffer zone. Tourists' attitudes as well as their opinions on forest and wildlife conservation were also examined. Finally, stakeholders were engaged in different ways in various stages of the conservation process. Analysis revealed that there are five major stakeholders in Pobitora buffer zone; viz. landless households, farmers, tourism and related sectors, visitors and non-users and Government/NGOs. Each group represents different interests with regard to rhino conservation. The discrete choice experiment conducted confirmed that all stakeholder groups found the proposed management scenarios more attractive than the status quo. Most respondents were in favour of compensation for rhino-related damage, and supported a community development program. The general preference for these compensatory measures peaked at about 50% indicating that either respondent do not require full compensation or they do not believe in higher amounts would be forthcoming. The various stakeholder groups reacted as expected

It is important to identify species at risk and habitats critical for conservation in order to implement an ecosystem-based approach and to manage marine ecosystems proactively. Climate change scenarios have predicted an average sea surface temperature rise from 1-6° C by 2100 which are predicted to effect the habitat and distribution of many marine species. We used spatially explicit habitat models (generalized additive mixed models) to examine present-day distributions and foraging habitat of 15 top predator species from the Tagging of Pacific Predators (TOPP) project in the Pacific from 2001-2010 as a function of fixed bathymetric variables, sea surface temperature, wind, Ekman pumping, mixed-layer depth, and chlorophyll-a. Consequently we used 1° and monthly resolution climate models from the Geophysical Fluid Dynamics Laboratory to predict potential habitat under future scenarios. We found species winners and losers, oceanographic changes, such as the northward migration of the transition zone coincident with top predator biodiversity throughout the Pacific, while the California current remained a hotspot into the future. Adaptive management approaches may be necessary for already stressed species, as increased migration times and loss of pelagic habitat could exacerbate population declines or inhibit recovery.

Lion Guardians, a conservation approach operating on communally-owned areas which are heavily impacted by humans and livestock, incorporates the traditional ecological knowledge of previous lion hunters and pastoralist communities to track and monitor persecuted lion populations across broad areas. Keeping in-line with local culture, Lion Guardians, previous lion hunters from the warrior age-set, are hired and given a culturally prestigious job of tracking lions. Traditional practices are used by the program to proactively mitigate conflict by reducing carnivore depredation on livestock and the subsequent retaliatory hunting of lions and other carnivores. We have observed, through the process of participatory monitoring, that the Guardians display great interest in naming the lions and spending time watching them. This has led to a shift in the Guardians’ attitudes toward lions and their desire to protect them. The transformation from lion killer to lion protector is difficult to quantify, but it is evident through their actions; their willingness to get between the spears of their peers and a lion they have been protecting is ample evidence of an attitude-behavioral shift. Furthermore, our research has shown that incorporating local communities into conservation can also provide reliable data on wildlife populations that are difficult to monitor on a broad geographic scale using standard scientific methods. Lion Guardians utilizes a combination of traditional and scientific monitoring techniques to increase community acceptance of large carnivores, which can build trust and ultimately conserve threatened species. Community participation is a powerful approach with broad implications for wildlife conservation in human-altered systems.