Investigation of population genetic diversity of common small fish in the Mekong River Basin, Vientiane, Lao PDR, for conserving native fishes

Although a rich biodiversity still remains in rural areas around Vientiane, Lao PDR, recent installation of living infrastructure and agricultural facilities along with introductions of alien fishes for aquaculture have disturbed the natural habitats for native fishes. We, hence, investigated the population genetic diversity of common small fishes, Esomus metallicus and Parambassis siamensis that such human activities may have damaged. The fish samples were obtained from agricultural canals in the river basins of the Mekong main stem and the tributary Nam Ngum. Estimation of parameters for genetic diversity and genetic cluster for connection among populations were carried out on the samples using microsatellite loci. The average numbers of allele richness and heterozygosity per locus were relatively high for both species, with varying 10.0-12.5 and 0.67-0.85, respectively. Significant departures from the Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium were not detected in the samples. Consequently, serious deteriorations of the genetic diversities do not appear to occur as yet in the investigated areas. The 3 and 2 genetic clusters were detected for E. metallicus and P. siamensis, respectively. Considering proportions of these genetic clusters and their geographical locations, they were mainly characterized as the genetic properties of the river basins. The existence of such clusters may have been formed by the effect of natural isolation by distance rather than artificial disturbance.

Despite the expansion of roads and settlement in Central Africa, we have limited knowledge of how both ecological and anthropogenic factors integrate to determine the distribution of terrestrial mammals. We present the first community-level study of the associations of both roads and other human disturbances with the distribution of mammals in Gabon. We used sign surveys, observation and camera traps along 199 line transects to document mammals in a mosaic landscape that includes an oil concession. Generalized linear mixed-effect models identified associations between ecological and anthropogenic variables and the abundance or presence of 17 species. Some types of roads and other disturbances were negatively associated with elephants, buffalos, gorillas, sitatungas, duikers, and some monkeys. Yet we also found positive associations with road presence (red river hog, some monkeys, duikers), agriculture (sitatunga, small carnivores, large rodents) and industrial activities (sitatunga, red river hog, red duikers, side-striped jackal), stressing the importance of accounting for multiple anthropogenic factors. Hunting, agriculture, and urbanization, all facilitated by roads, were key factors in determining mammal distribution, indicating that land-use planning is critical to conservation of mammal populations. This study highlights that industry partnerships can result in unique opportunities to advance conservation science and the development of impact mitigation solutions.

In the northeastern United States, vernal pools are a unique class of small, isolated, ephemeral wetlands that serve an important ecological role providing habitat for specialized invertebrate and amphibian species. Their small size, dynamic nature, and isolation from larger water bodies combine to create challenges to their conservation. Existing legislative protections are not uniform. We examined state-level regulations governing vernal pools across the region. We interviewed a panel of experts from the public and private sector to obtain input for identifying conservation criteria necessary to protect these resources more effectively. Six of the jurisdictions surveyed have legislated policies that directly recognize and provide protection to vernal pools, although the degree of protection varies widely. The remaining eight jurisdictions lack regulations that specifically target vernal pools; however, five of these do have other regulations that limited protection. Key informant interviews were used to develop a metric to evaluate the effectiveness of existing state-level legislation. By incorporating perspectives from various experts, we are able to evaluate the relative effectiveness of policies across regional jurisdictions. Characterization of conservation criteria and benchmarks of legislative effectiveness provide direction for advocates and policymakers moving toward a more effective, cohesive regional approach to regulation and protection of vernal pools.

Sound information is a prerequisite for sound decision-making. A good deal of information is generated by diverse research groups in conservation sciences. This information can be made available to the wider research community as well as other stakeholders - local communities, managers and policy makers. An application that can facilitate this process will ideally make a significant impact on the policy making process. Based on this assumption we set out to create a comprehensive spatial database of biodiversity. This is a great opportunity to understand policy making in general, as well as facilitate conservation focused policies. This application called the Karnataka Biodiversity Atlas covers the geo-political region of the state of Karnataka in southern India. The Atlas is based on a webGIS platform using open source but robust, interoperable technologies. The goals are to map the species distribution in Karnataka and provide the user with a set of tools to produce maps of interest. Data is collected from secondary published sources. Various collaborations are formed for data sharing with national and regional institutions to enable data sharing for the Atlas. The Atlas will be an open access platform that can be used by any stakeholder. We envision that the Atlas will encourage conservation action across the State; enable spatially-oriented learning among students and attract policy makers to use it to make conservation decisions.

Pollination is a critical ecosystem service that maintains biodiversity and ecosystem function. Honeybee deaths and escalating costs of rental in the wake of Colony Collapse Disorder has demonstrated that dependence on domesticated honeybees for agricultural pollination in the future is unrealistic for many farmers. Native bees may be able to provide sufficient pollination services when their populations are encouraged, but data on the spatial distribution habits of native bees is critical to understanding the pollination services that they can provide. Research that quantifies in-field distribution and diversity is limited but is especially important as field size and distance from natural habitat increases. We found cooperative collaborators in organic farmers and chose the largest scale farm (285 acres) to maximize our chance of estimating the distance at which bee penetration might diminish. Using beds as long as 250m of bee-pollinated crops (pepper, tomato, and eggplant) with adjacent natural habitat, we trapped and observed bees to quantify the density and diversity of bee pollinators at intervals within the fields, and we performed hand pollination and pollinator exclusion in mid-field. We found over 30 species of native bee and statistical analysis of distribution corroborates the satisfactory level of pollination services provided. We find that a farm of this scale receives sufficient pollination services from native bees living in adjacent natural habitat.

Mesophotic coral ecosystems, also known as the coral-reef "twilight zone", are receiving increased attention from coral-reef ecologists because of their potential contributions to tropical biodiversity, and their potential to serve as refugia for fishes that are depleted due to anthropogenic activities on shallow reefs. However, the composition and trophic structure of these fish communities are poorly characterized. We present the results of the first transect-based, quantitative assessments of mesophotic reef fish assemblages from the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands (NWHI). These mesophotic assemblages (50-80 m) were found to have the highest levels of endemism recorded from any marine ecosystem, with endemic species comprising >90% of the total assemblage at Midway and Kure Atolls. High endemism was driven by the numerical dominance of endemic planktivorous fishes. This planktivore community is supported by seasonal increases in planktonic productivity from the high-chlorophyll waters of the Transition Zone Chlorophyll Front (TCZF). The TCZF shifts far enough south in the winter that the northern atolls of the NWHI lie within its productive waters. Increases in sea surface temperatures may drive the TZCF slightly north, depriving these planktivore-dominated, high-endemism fish assemblages of this enhanced planktonic primary productivity. Climate change may thus threaten the trophic structure of these ecosystems and their extraordinary levels of endemism.

Captive assurance colonies of endangered amphibians have been established world-wide as potential brood stock for recovery and reintroduction programs; however, reproductive success has been low. In 2006, the Memphis Zoo (MZ) initiated a program to develop amphibian reproductive technologies (ART) for the critically endangered Mississippi gopher frog after natural breeding failed. Our objectives were to: 1) evaluate hormone therapy as a means for collecting gametes from both male and female gopher frogs; 2) develop in vitro fertilization (IVF) methods for the production of tadpoles; and 3) transfer chilled and frozen sperm between institutions as a method for genetic management. Beginning in 2008, following several years of hormone therapy studies, we were able to develop protocols for successfully obtaining gametes for IVF resulting in most females laying ~ 2,000 eggs with an average fertilization rate of 76% and thousands of tadpoles produced. There are now 20 times more captive gopher frogs in captivity than the wild, creating a source population for reintroductions to begin. In addition, we tested our IVF protocols on gopher frogs at various partner institutions using chilled and frozen sperm that had been cryopreserved for genetic management. The transfer of this technology and production of endangered amphibians using chilled, shipped sperm from live animals is a conservation milestone that can be applied to other amphibian captive breeding and reintroduction programs.

Political conflict can have devastating effects on the environment. One indirect outcome of military conflict is the significant buying power that military personnel and affiliates possess to influence local markets, including the ability to drive the demand for wildlife products. The Wildlife Conservation Society is working with the Department of Defense’s Legacy Natural Resources Program to develop a comprehensive outreach and education program to curtail military demand for wildlife products. We surveyed military bazaars (n=4) in Kabul, Afghanistan from April to December 2008 to observe which species were available to soldiers in markets. We also surveyed army personnel (n=371) at Fort Drum, New York, USA in June 2008 who had been deployed or stationed overseas including in Afghanistan. In Afghanistan, skins of wild felids and the Eurasian wolf Canis lupus were the most commonly observed wildlife products for sale. At Fort Drum, 40% of the soldiers surveyed had either purchased or seen other members of the military purchase or use wildlife products, yet only 12% had heard of CITES. Current efforts to raise awareness and the consequences of purchasing wildlife trade products target military personnel serving abroad, as well as soldiers preparing for deployment. We use outreach and training materials to convey messages about wildlife trade, reduce demand for wildlife products, and explore the potential for military to proactively combat wildlife trade in the field.

The extreme climate of deserts, with high incoming radiation, and water stress is home to some of the world's most specialized species. In this study we focus on one of the last remaining locations of large vertebrate populations such as Addax, the Saharan cheetah, and Dorcas gazelle in the Sahara of Niger, that are threatened as the Sahara has become a newly exposed to anthropogenic activity in the search for oil. We investigate the use of remote sensing, via satellite imagery using texture analyses for the detection of features associated with oil refineries in order to determine where anthropogenic activity takes place. Texture analyses such as variance, maximum and minimum were performed using Landsat data in a test region in Algeria. Results consist of the classification and predict of landscape features (buildings, roads, water, vegetation, fire) in Niger using a RandomForest model. Especially the combination of fire (from the gas flare) with road networks and buildings led to the detection of anthropogenic activity consistent with oil refineries. The existence of oil refineries in protected areas has the potential to lead to increased human-wildlife conflict, and risks the depletion of some of the last remaining populations of large vertebrates and the destruction of resilient ecosystems in the Sahara.

Understanding the bio-physical mechanisms that shape variability in fisheries recruitment is critical for estimating the effects of climate change on fisheries. In this study, we coupled an Earth System Model (ESM) simulation with a mechanistic individual-based model (IBM) for larval fish to analyze how climate change may impact the growth and survival of larval cod in the North Atlantic. We focused our analysis over 5 regions that span the current geographical range of cod and are known to be important spawning populations. Under the SRES A2 scenario, surface ocean temperatures are projected to increase by > 1oC for three of the five regions and stratification is expected to increase at all sites between 1950-1999 and 2050-2099. Enhanced stratification was projected to lead to decreases in large phytoplankton productivity and mesozooplankton biomass, particularly during the spring and fall. Decreased abundance of mesozooplankton and increased larval metabolic costs associated with warming temperatures were projected to reduce larval size during spring and fall, increasing their exposure to invertebrate predation. Larval survival and weight during the summer showed relatively modest changes at four of the five sites. Projected annual mean survival rates, however, decreased at all five sites. In contrast to past observed responses to climate variability in which warm anomalies led to better recruitment in cold-water stocks, our simulations suggest that reduced prey availability under climate change caused higher temperatures to have a negative impact on larval survival throughout the cod range. In the lower prey environment projected under climate change, the higher metabolic costs due to higher temperatures outweighed the advantages of higher growth potential.

Marine reserves are effective at conserving habitat, biodiversity, and abundance and population structure of exploited species, and enhancing fisheries through export of larvae and adults. However, despite demonstrated success within marine reserves, considerable challenges remain in managing harvest on fishing grounds. Those challenges are due in part to the severe data limitations facing many fisheries, especially in the developing tropics, and the fact that stock assessment and management paradigms developed in high latitude fisheries are largely inappropriate for reef systems. We outline approaches to overcome these challenges by integrating marine reserves into assessment and harvest control systems for networks of coupled reserves and territorial user rights (TURFs). Density and demographic traits of key species within reserves can be used to set management targets outside reserve boundaries, and to evaluate stock status against those reference points. Furthermore, reserve boundaries can expand outward when resource conditions are poor on fishing grounds, and then contract back to a core zone as conditions improve. Areas within the expansion zone would provide higher catch rates when re-opened, creating incentives to accelerate recovery. Innovative approaches like these can transform marine reserves from being primarily conservation tools with ancillary fisheries benefits, to core components of a management strategy that improve data and enhance outcomes.

Climate change is causing large shifts in many species' ranges, as parts of existing ranges become climatically inhospitable and species move into areas that remain suitable (i.e., refugia) or become newly suitable. Maintaining and restoring ecological connectivity has thus been recognized as a critical tool for minimizing the threat of climate change to biodiversity. Riparian areas provide particularly valuable movement pathways for climate-driven range shifts; they naturally span the climatic gradients species ranges are likely to follow as they track shifting areas of climatic suitability, and because they are naturally buffered against warming, they may offer some of the best climate adaptation opportunities in flat landscapes with high levels of human modification. Yet previous approaches to identifying riparian corridors for climate adaptation have been largely subjective and ad hoc. We used a fine-scale map of valley bottoms (i.e., potential riparian areas) across the Pacific Northwest, USA, to identify and prioritize those likely to offer effective movement corridors for climate-driven range shifts. We created a simple index that measures the extent to which valley bottoms span temperature gradients, are buffered against warming, and are unmodified by human activities. Results revealed significant variance in riparian climate-corridor quality across the region, and stressed the importance of incorporating multiple scales of analysis and interpretation.

Many species are at risk globally, and species in the Orchidaceae, one of the most species rich families of flowering plants on earth, are no exception. More than half of native orchid species in North America have been listed as threatened or endangered at local, state, regional, or national levels. To respond to the ever increasing threats to native orchids (e.g, habitat alteration, climate change, invasive species, illegal harvesting), organizations need to aggressively pursue approaches that reduce the risks to orchids while providing a mechanism for restoration and conservation. The North American Orchid Conservation Center (NAOCC) was recently established with a goal of conserving the heritage of all native orchid species in the U.S. and Canada. The goals and objectives of NAOCC will be accomplished through a network of collaborators focused on interactive efforts of botanical gardens, researchers and public and private organizations with responsibilities to assure the survival of native orchid species. NAOCC's initial conservation and restoration efforts are focused on ex situ and in situ conservation, research, and education. This presentation will share the experiences of NAOCC.

The mission of the Virginia Working Landscapes is to study and encourage the sustainable use of Virginia's landscapes for native biodiversity through community engagement and scientific research. The effort currently focuses on stemming the decline of native plants, birds, and insects in eastern U.S. grasslands due, in part, to intensive land management and invasive plant species. Participating properties are monitored for bird, plant and pollinator species to provide baseline data and trends on restored landscapes. Landowners are networked with each other for the dissemination of information and with state and federal agencies that can provide specific technical and financial assistance. Demonstration sites have been established that showcase best practices and opportunities are provided for landowners to visit and tour working farms that serve a dual purpose in agricultural production and biodiversity. Lead by the Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute an extensive network of groups are partnering, to advance the science of land management and develop best practices relevant both to working farmers and conservationists.