Working with gaining community support in coastal management and policy communication: A case study of

Maintaining and improving habitat connectivity through the conservation of wildlife corridors or habitat linkages is the most frequently used tactic for increasing resilience of reserve networks to climate change. However, we are still in the initial stages of determining how to best design linkages to reduce the impacts of climate change in fragmented landscapes. Enhancing connectivity to facilitate predicted range shifts for species is fraught with uncertainty. Therefore, we focus on which habitat corridors in North Coast California expand the distribution and representation of climate space using down-scaled climate models. This approach examines different characteristics of climate based on distinct assumptions for improving reserve network resilience to climate change. The first is that the advantages of connectivity are greatest for areas that will experience faster rates of climate change. The second is that a reserve network that harbors greater climatic diversity will allow for greater adaptation; and the third is that maintaining access to cooler climates is a high priority. Each climate characteristic (rate of change, diversity, lower temperatures) results in a different suite of priority linkages, emphasizing the need for greater consideration of how corridors may function to increase climate change adaptation.

Restoration of eastern oyster (Crassostrea virginica) in the northern portion of the Chesapeake Bay is a complex task, requiring collaboration from a wide range of entities. With this in mind, it is critical to confirm that such efforts are effective. Quantifying restoration success recently became more clearly defined through benchmarks targeting minimum oyster densities of 15 oysters/m2 and biomass of 15 g/m2 to identify an oyster bar as restored. These metrics were generated by a partnership of federal, state, and academic scientists and officials, all associated with the Chesapeake Bay restoration effort. This study presents an overview of restoration monitoring from 2008 through 2012. Patent tong surveys revealed that within one year of planting of hatchery-reared juvenile oysters (spat-on-shell), the majority of bars showed oyster densities and biomasses exceeding minimum targets. At older bars, surveyed three or more years post-planting, a smaller proportion of sites monitored from 2008 through 2012 met or approached 15 oysters/m2 and 15 g/m2. Though the number of sites currently meeting restoration metrics are low, when paired with an adaptive planting approach and increased spat survival observed since 2010, positive trends are anticipated in oyster restoration in the Maryland portion of the Chesapeake Bay.

Reintroduction can serve as a conservation tool for increasing the demographic and genetic health of a population. The golden lion tamarin, (Leontopithecus rosalia; GLT), an endangered primate native to Brazil's Atlantic Coastal forest, had been reintroduced to native habitat from 1984-2000 with the objective of increasing population numbers as well as transferring gene diversity from the captive population to the wild. In this study, pedigree analysis was used for the captive and reintroduced populations to evaluate how well gene diversity was transferred from the captive to the reintroduced population, how much of that genetic diversity has been retained and to determine if future reintroductions could further contribute to the wild population's genetic diversity. Results indicate that of the 51 potential captive founders, 42 are represented in the reintroduced population. Genetic status is generally favorable with the population maintaining 96.6% of the source population's genetic diversity. If carefully selected, future reintroductions could potentially benefit the reintroduced population's genetic diversity. This study demonstrates the power of using pedigree analysis for assessing reintroduced populations.

Trade-offs in ecosystem services (ESs) often emerge as a result of land-use changes initiated by nature conservation regulations. The aim of this research is to reveal how linking trade-offs between ESs with stakeholders at different spatial and temporal scales can become a powerful tool to analyse land-use changes and related conflicts? Three case studies from the Hungarian Great Plain were compared integrating the ESs concept, trade-offs, stakeholders and scale. In the case study areas land-use changes occurred in the 1990s' due to nature conservation restrictions and land acquisitions. Field work was carried out between 2007 and 2011 applying qualitative methods (interviews and focus groups) to identify important ESs by different stakeholder groups. History of land-use changes and related ecosystem services were assessed using archival data. Local farmers have been the main losers of the land-use change, while there are many winners both at different spatial and temporal scales. In all three areas conflicts between local farmers and the national park emerged, but no conflicts between farmers and other beneficiaries. In many cases ESs are enjoyed and perceived at different spatial and temporal scales, separating stakeholders with conflicting interests both in time and space. Building on the results of the assessment, policy and other instruments can be advised specifically to investigate and handle the scale mismatches and the conflicts.

A rapidly growing literature seeks to identify and explain the social and ecological impacts of protected areas in diverse settings across the globe. Although recent studies using rigorous program evaluation methods have shed new light on these impacts and the relationship between them, the mechanisms through which protected areas generate impacts are less well understood. This paper highlights enforcement—regular monitoring and sanctioning of compliance with rules— as an important mechanism shaping protected area impacts. It examines how differences in enforcement supported by the European Union-funded Protected Ecosystems in Sudano-Sahelian Africa (ECOPAS) project affected biodiversity and livelihoods outcomes in the transboundary W National Parks of Benin and Niger. Using multilevel regression analysis, I find that a greater increase in enforcement in Benin lead to greater improvements in biodiversity, but more negative impacts on household income and access to resources in comparison with Niger. However, effects were more variable in Niger: households experiencing greater increases in park enforcement in that country saw more negative livelihoods impacts, due in part to increased crop and livestock depredation by wildlife. Results suggest that protected area policy should anticipate those groups whose livelihoods are likely to be most negatively affected by changing enforcement regimes and develop strategies to offset potentially negative consequences.

Despite the value that population viability analysis (PVA) brings to endangered species conservation planning, the approach suffers from a single-species focus, ignoring important implications of interactions among species. This is most important when considering invasive species and their impacts on native species. The practice of "metamodeling" has been recently introduced to the conservation community, featuring multiple discipline-specific models sharing information in real time to better understand complex systems. We worked with a diverse group of experts across multiple disciplines to apply this new approach to management of the Yellow-Shouldered Blackbird in southwest Puerto Rico, in response to nest parasitism by invasive Shiny Cowbirds. Separate simulation models for each species were created, with explicit functional relationships defining the demographic impact of Cowbird nest parasitism on Blackbird reproduction. When run within the metamodel framework, Cowbird abundance and parasitism rates are passed to the Blackbird model and used to modify breeding success. The analyses project a slow Blackbird population decline due to high mortality rates given the observed low recruitment. Reversing this decline will require aggressive removal of Cowbirds or the elimination of their impacts on Blackbird nests, and managing other post-fledging mortality factors. This important analysis is one of a precious few explicit, individual-based two-species PVA efforts to date.

Recent changes to blue crab management that focus on conservation of spawning females has led to increases in adult and juvenile blue crab that set the stage for a sustainable fishery while protecting the services blue crab provide to the Chesapeake ecosystem. Despite warnings of calamity early in the 20th Century, management of this species relied little on science until the end of the century. Traditional fisheries included pot and trotline fisheries for hard and soft shell crabs and a dredge fishery that caught a disproportionate number of on egg bearing females. Beginning in 1995, efforts to integrate our knowledge through stock assessments identified important gaps in our scientific understanding and harvest data. Inter-jurisdictional effects such as the BiState Blue Crab Committee played an important role in setting goals and expectations. Key investments in research by regional science and management agencies decreased uncertainties in estimates of stock status and motivated changes in management. In 2008, conservation measures to protect egg bearing females were implemented. The most recent 2011 assessment shows signs of population recovery reflective of the impacts of the conservation measures. Challenges, including sustaining the population recovery and managing increases in effort, remain but the recent history of blue crab fisheries management in the Chesapeake Bay is a success story.

Small-scale ranching for dairy production is the primary livelihood activity in the Coapa River watershed, in Chiapas, Mexico; located between two biosphere reserves. This master's thesis assesses whether silvopastoral systems (SPS) are a viable strategy in the watershed for climate change adaptation, the conservation of natural resources, and the strengthening of livelihoods. We used multiple methods including qualitative data coding from stakeholder interviews and a discounted cash flow analysis to evaluate the effect of SPS on adaptive capacity and on socio-ecological resilience. Results include the conservation of 39.75 ha of land. Data suggest that over 10 years SPS are more profitable and can result in a net present value that is 32.5% and 42.4% higher than conventional systems in the lower and upper regions of the watershed respectively. Dispersed trees in pasture, diversified protein banks, and rotational grazing are the most effective practices for obtaining both financial and ecological benefits. We determined that SPS build adaptive capacity by enhancing the five livelihood capitals (natural, social-political, human, physical, and financial) on which the resilience of a system depends. Important success factors were environmental education and networks formed of ranchers and conservation organizations. Continued expansion of SPS is pivotal for increasing landscape connectivity, reaching conservation targets, and increasing the resilience of the region.

Many organisms are arranged in spatially explicit populations that are linked by the transfer of individuals among optimal habitat patches. Dispersal represents both spatial and temporal connectivity, and can be indirectly inferred via gene flow. Anthropogenic disturbance associated with urbanization may limit connectivity and decrease gene flow between populations. Organisms inhabiting stream networks may be particularly vulnerable to habitat fragmentation, as population processes are additionally constrained by stream network geomorphology, water flow, and individual dispersal strategies. Understanding how terrestrial and aquatic habitat fragmentation affects headwater species is of particular importance, as they experience a higher degree of isolation and more varied disturbance regimes. Microsatellite markers were used to compare patterns of gene flow in a headwater salamander, Desmognathus fuscus, between urban and rural watersheds. Gene flow was assessed using a paired spatial design across four watersheds. Preliminary results indicate the importance of both aquatic and terrestrial dispersal pathways in maintaining gene flow. High degrees of genetic differentiation between some closely located sites in urbanized areas and little difference among other, more widely dispersed sites in rural areas resulted in little relationship between Euclidian or stream distance among sites and genetic differences.

Over much of history people without formal training in science were responsible for most of the science being done. Contributions from the public still make key contributions today. Until recently, their contributions were overlooked by much of the scientific community and the public, but that is changing quickly. The number of projects designed explicitly to engage the public in the scientific process has exploded in recent years, driven largely by the perceived educational benefits for participants. Additionally, scientists and conservationists are recognizing that engaging the public in scientific endeavors can help answer scientific questions and address conservation challenges that would not be possible otherwise. The rapid growth of the field of public participation in scientific research (PPSR) has brought to light several challenges faced by the field, many of which are common to other aspects of conservation biology—working in interdisciplinary teams to achieve common objectives; linking science, education, and conservation actions; evaluating project success; gaining acceptance as “real” science; and communicating across audiences that include practitioners, participants, and decision makers. Currently there is a movement to formalize the field of PPSR and create a new professional organization that will facilitate the development of solutions to these challenges and the spread of innovations, research results, and evidence-based best practices.

Species distribution surveys are usually a central component of spatial prioritization for conservation. Additional species surveys have the potential to change the places we decide to protect. But by how much? How different would our priorities be if we updated them with the information we will have next year? In this paper we quantify the amount that new surveys of rare species change the conservation ranking of watersheds in Tennessee. We find that the results depend on the way in which watersheds are ranked. For instance, when ranking watersheds by apparent species richness, additional surveys have little effect on priorities. Further, this effect decreases as we amass survey data. When ranking watersheds by their contribution to complementary richness, additional surveys have, in many cases, an order of magnitude larger effect on priorities. As in the previous case, the effect diminishes with a growing dataset. Unlike the previous case, additional surveys may continue to change conservation priorities well into the future when prioritizing by complementary richness. These results indicate that additional rare species surveys can serve a greater and ongoing use when we prioritize complementarity across candidate sites than when we view sites in isolation.

Community-based initiatives are often promoted as a means of encouraging conservation attitudes and behaviors, but their effectiveness in improving ultimate conservation outcomes has rarely been demonstrated. We conducted interdisciplinary research in the Brazilian Amazon to assess the extent of illegal harvesting of Amazon River dolphins (Inia geoffrensis) for fisheries bait, its impact on dolphin mortality, and the effectiveness of community-based conservation initiatives in limiting illegal harvest. Illegal harvest was found to be widespread (reported in 62.5% of the communities visited). A mark-recapture analysis of dolphin survival indicated that illegal harvest has led to more than a doubling of dolphin mortality rates since the start of the practice in approximately 2000. Community-based initiatives associated with the Mamirauá Sustainable Development Reserve (MSDR) and Projeto Boto, a non-profit research program, were found to have been effective in promoting a positive fisher attitude toward river dolphins. By conducting interdisciplinary research, we revealed that although current harvest rates may be unsustainable, the MSDR and Projeto Boto have played an effective role in limiting dolphin mortality rates by promoting conservation attitudes and behaviors. Such initiatives provide a model to improve and expand dolphin conservation efforts in the region.

Even though protected areas (PAs) remain the most dominant conservation intervention in developing countries, little is known about the factors affecting their performance. Focusing on Indonesia’s villages between 2000 and 2003, we examine how socio-economic context shapes PA effectiveness at preventing deforestation and alleviating poverty. We use matching methods that allow us to isolate the causal impact of protection. Post-matching, we apply nonparametric regressions to examine how the impact varies with factors that proxy for the local benefits and costs of conservation: the protected villages’ proximity to markets, poverty, electoral participation and social capital. We find that the average impact on deforestation and poverty varies by PA type. For example, while national parks significantly decreased deforestation, strict reserves had the opposite effect. Only the multi-use PAs had a significant negative impact on poverty. However, our findings indicate that the effectiveness of the different types of PAs varies significantly with the distance to markets and the socio-economic characteristics of the villages. Our results suggest PAs are effective when the benefits to local people from conservation exceed the costs imposed on them by limiting extractive activities. By highlighting which factors shape the effectiveness of protected areas in reducing deforestation and poverty, our work has important policy implications for conservation and development alike.

Assessments of fish diversity in the Shubuto River System, Hokkaido, Japan, for the purpose of nature restoration based on the Kuromatsunai Town Biodiversity Strategy were conducted in 2010-2012, following the ecological filter concept. The aims of this study were to 1) determine the potential species pool by biogeographic surveys, 2) evaluate the present state of fish species composition by field surveys, 3) determine the past fish species composition by specimen and interview surveys and 4) provide effective restoration plans by identifying the attributes of lentic habitats with high fish diversity. For the 1st aim, the potential species pool was composed of 21 diadromous and 10 primary fishes. For the 2nd aim, all native fishes (ref. the former) except 2 species were recorded. The abundance of diadromous fishes was high, whereas that of lentic habitat users was low. For the 3rd aim, declines and population extinctions of lentic habitat users were inferred. For the 4th aim, high local fish diversities were recorded in large and deep temporary waters located in adjacent lower reach of the main river, and Lethenteron spp. and Gymbogobius opperiens were considered to be indicator species of the regional fish diversity in the floodplains. These results indicated the need for the conservation of longitudinal connectivity and the restoration of floodplain wetlands in the river system. We proposed a design for the ecological restoration of the floodplains based on the results.