A Hierarchical Approach Investigating Puma Kill Behavior Along an Urban-Rural Gradient

Biotic communities are increasingly exposed to habitat modification due to exurban development, yet our understanding of behavioral ramifications within animal populations is fragmented. We explored patterns of puma (Puma concolor) kill behavior along an urban-rural gradient in the Santa Cruz Mountains of California regarding prey size and time allocation at kills. We investigated 579 GPS clusters from 26 pumas. Using GPS cluster characteristics, we used individual lions as a random variable in a hierarchical logistic binomial model to predict prey size with respect to housing density. We found that individual variation and housing density improved model fit to differentiate prey size class. Small kills (e.g. raccoons and house cats) were found in locations with higher housing density than large kills (e.g. deer and wild pigs). Pumas had a higher fidelity at kills in areas of high housing density, indicating that they may avoid spending extended periods of time in disturbed areas. Our results support that pumas respond differentially to development, but are more likely to consume small prey in modified habitats and may temporally avoid human activity when feeding. This study provides insight on impacts of exurban development on puma feeding behavior and suggests potential ramifications on puma energetics in a modified landscape.

Closed areas are a spatial management tool used to accomplish a variety of biological and ecological objectives for fisheries, including protecting benthic habitat, reducing fishing mortality, protecting spawning activity, and rebuilding fish stocks. The use of closed areas as a fisheries management tool can have a number of intended or unintended social outcomes as well, including either creating or mitigating gear conflicts and changing where and how fishermen fish. The New England Fishery Management Council is evaluating the region's existing closed areas and designating new closures. We use interviews with industry members along with press coverage and public testimony to analyze fishermen's perceptions of the costs and benefits of groundfish closed areas in New England, including both ecological and socio-economic outcomes. Results highlight a diversity of perspectives within the industry on the objectives and outcomes of closed areas, and we examine how these perceptions differ among different fishing ports, gear types, and vessel sizes. We also describe area-specific proposals originated by the fishing industry, and how these have been included in the process of redesigning the closed area network. We argue that developing an understanding of these costs and benefits and how they are differentially experienced by fishermen is essential for integrating social and ecological objectives of closed areas and for optimizing management outcomes.

The presentation will give an overview of carbon markets, contrasting compliance versus voluntary markets, and offsets versus allowances. Terrestrial carbon sequestration can be reversed, thus requires ongoing monitoring. Reducing emissions from deforestation and forest degradation (REDD) has been touted as a potential major global source of emission reductions. "Jurisdictional" REDD, where national or provincial governments do relatively comprehensive monitoring within their boundaries, offer the possibility of reducing problems of "additionality" (emission reductions are "additional" if they would not have occurred in the absence of the project) and "leakage" ("leakage" is displacement of emissions from within a project boundary to outside of the project boundary, to a location where the displaced emissions are not counted). Determination of baseline, or "reference level" emissions remains uncertain, even when scaling up from projects to jurisdictions. Examination of trends in supply and demand for REDD credits suggest that, unless governments create large new demand, the market will soon be oversupplied and collapse.

Millions of dollars are spent on wildlife crossing structures to mitigate the negative impacts of roads on animal populations. However their success is largely unknown due to a lack of research on population impacts. We use before-after-control-impact (BACI) population monitoring to evaluate the effectiveness of crossing structures for the squirrel glider (Petaurus norfolcensis), a threatened arboreal mammal, along a highway in south-east Australia. Remote-sensing cameras, personal integrated transponder (PIT) scanners and BACI radio-tracking were used to determine the impacts of mitigation on squirrel glider movement. Mark-recapture surveys were conducted BACI to determine how survival rates changed as a result of mitigation. Crossing structures re-established squirrel glider movement across the freeway. Multiple individuals crossed regularly, suggesting resident animals use the structures for home range access. However, movement was only partially mitigated relative to control (non-freeway) sites. Previous research found the survival rate of squirrel glider populations at freeway sites was 60% lower than at control sites. Analysis of post-mitigation data is currently underway, and will reveal if survival rates have improved as a result of mitigation. This research will be used to determine if these structures are successful, or if additional management actions are required to preserve squirrel glider populations.

This talk establishes the context for the symposium, Detecting, Understanding and Deterring Conservation Crime. Conservation criminology is an emerging field that cuts across multiple disciplines and has wide-ranging conservation implications. Conservation criminology is "the study of environmental risks at the nexus between humans and natural resources that involve issues of crime, compliance and/or social control" (Gibbs et al. 2010). Illicit or non-compliant human behaviors may occur in all ecosystems and range from subsistence illegal resource collection to poaching by organized criminal syndicates. Such acts have an enormous impact on ecosystems and yet monitoring them is challenging, primarily because the topic is extremely sensitive and the victims are voiceless. The future of many of the world’s conservation areas depends upon compliance with conservation regulations. However, the demand, be it local or international, fuels the crises we find ourselves in today. With a growing human population, consumptive societies, and rapid expansion of business opportunities fueled by new technology, there is little doubt that demand will remain steady or increase for many of our natural resources. I outline major conservation crimes, review models and methods used to monitor and respond to the problem for both subsistence and commercial trade and finally pose the question: where should we focus our limited efforts?

Similar to terrestrial protected areas, marine protected area (MPA) number and spatial extent varies among countries, habitats, and over time. Despite the Convention on Biological Diversity’s commitment to the target of ‘‘at least 10% of each of the world’s marine and coastal ecological regions effectively conserved by 2020,” MPA coverage lags behind that of terrestrial areas. The relative paucity and heterogeneous distribution of MPAs indicates the need for better understanding of factors that foster MPA establishment at local, sub-national, and national levels. Assessment of the relationship between national-level MPA establishment and geographic, ecological, social, and political factors revealed that a country’s coastline length, the Human Development Index (HDI), and spatial overlap with designated conservation priority areas are positively correlated with MPA establishment. These national dynamics explain a relatively small proportion of variation, however, indicating that other biological or social factors, as well as sub-national processes, also influence MPA establishment. One local-level social factor may be the existence of shifting environmental baselines among populations of fishermen. Understanding the particulars that catalyzed MPA establishment for ‘‘leaders’’ can highlight policies and practices that may merit replication elsewhere. Ensuring a supportive enabling environment at the national or even multi-national level can enhance success at the local level.

Myanmar is considered a stronghold for wild elephants, though estimates vary widely, from 3,000-10,000. Lack of infrastructure and technical capacity make extensive ground surveys challenging. In partnership with Myanmar's Nature and Wildlife Conservation Division we brought together elephant experts from around the country to delineate an updated range map and produce the best available wild population estimates. The resulting estimate was between 1,430-2,065 individuals- about half of the lower estimates reported in the literature. We followed up with expert interviews in townships throughout the known 1990s range with questions on numbers of elephants living in townships and threats to and from elephants. We used general linear models to analyze characteristics of townships with and without elephants to understand possible drivers of change in distribution. Our results show a major decrease in the geographic distribution of elephants in Myanmar between 1992 and 2006. Increases in forest cover resulted in higher probabilities for elephant presence, while increases in edge area and human population density reduced probabilities of elephant presence. Understanding the current status and drivers of change are critical for planning to conserve Myanmar's wild elephants, particularly as more than 50 years of political isolation are rapidly ending and giving way to exponential increases not only in research and conservation but also in exploitation of their vast natural resources.

There is high overlap of oil and gas concessions with indigenous territories of great biodiversity in the Peruvian rainforest. It is therefore a goal to find common interests among indigenous peoples, biologists and corporations to develop sound conservation projects that improve peoples' livelihoods. We attest that conservation projects will have a higher chance of success if communities are empowered through active participation and are involved in the decision making process from the start. Equally important is that projects have a solid design, where assumptions can be systematically tested to achieve the desired goals. We present our work with two indigenous communities in the Lower Urubamba River, Peru where we applied a series of steps that embraced different types of knowledge to select and develop conservation projects that answered people's needs and considered all stakeholders accordingly. We conducted participatory workshops and surveys, and used the results to develop seven project ideas that incorporated local solutions to environmental problems. These were then prioritized by all stakeholders using a viability ranking system based on 11 criteria. Two projects were selected for full development in an Adaptive Management workshop where indigenous peoples, corporate partners and local scientists participated to develop the full proposals. This process demonstrates that even in highly contested situations, common ground can be achieved under the right conditions.

This presentation focuses on how environmental advocacy campaigns in Indonesia employ techniques to measure the effectiveness of campaigns through development of theory of change, barrier removal operation plan, and social marketing strategies in local contexts. This presentation also addresses how social change and activism function in the context of environmental advocacy campaigns in Indonesia. Specifically, case studies were examined, from forest conservation campaigns that were implemented from 2008 – 2010 in villages near Ujung Kulon National Park (Banten), Gunung Halimun-Salak National Park (Banten-West Java), Sungai Putri Peat Swamp Forest Complex (West Kalimantan), Sungai Lamandau Wildlife Reserve (Central Kalimantan), Ulu Masen Forest Complex (Aceh), Gunung Leuser National Park (North Sumatra), and Dolok Surungan Wildlife Reserve (North Sumatra). Marine ecosystem campaigns that were implemented from 2010 – 2012 in Kepulauan Seribu National Park (near Jakarta), Bunaken National Park (North Sulawesi), and Karimunjawa National Park (Java) were also included in this study. These campaigns were studied over a two year period as they were being implemented, in collaboration with the a special master’s program offered through the University of Texas at El Paso in collaboration with Rare. This program focuses on building campaign managers’ leadership capacity, research (both quantitative and qualitative) and community organizing skills, campaign development through social marketing techniques, and conservation biology knowledge for effective barrier removal.

Eastern hellbenders (Cryptobranchus alleganiensis alleganiensis) are among the most threatened of North American salamanders, and thus monitoring populations is a priority for managers. Hellbenders are completely aquatic, and surveys require both intensive effort and can disturb important microhabitats. Many populations do not appear to be reproducing successfully despite continued presence of long-lived older adults. We developed a quantitative PCR protocol to amplify hellbender environmental DNA (eDNA) from river samples to 1) test for presence of hellbenders, 2) evaluate if eDNA quantification can test relative abundance, and 3) determine if eDNA amounts increase during the breeding season. We filtered water samples at over 100 sites across Tennessee and North Carolina from May to October 2011-12. We successfully detected hellbender eDNA at all sites with current survey observations and also identified hellbenders at sites where survey efforts were not successful. Total estimates of eDNA in a 1L sample ranged from 0.012 ng to 8.19 ng, with an average of 0.5 ng. Estimates were not uniform across season, as we saw a consistent increase in the amount of eDNA in the fall breeding season relative to spring and summer samples, with increases as great as a hundredfold. This suggests that not only is the fall an optimal time for hellbender eDNA monitoring, but also highlights the promise of this tool to identify reproductive populations.

Attitudes toward human-wildlife interaction are important for wildlife managers. Different interest groups often differ in their perceived fear, control, and likelihood of encounters with wildlife. Using the Potential for Conflict Index (PCI2), we explored differences and similarities among local residents, park staff, and visitors in their (a) attitudes toward, (b) fear of, (c) control over, and (d) likelihood of coming into contact with coyotes. The research was conducted near Cape Breton Highlands National Park (CBHNP), where a coyote caused a human fatality in 2008. Local residents were mailed a questionnaire (n=578; 72% return rate) in 2011. Park staff were given the questionnaire (n=124; 85% return rate) in 2011 and visitors were interviewed on trails and given a mail-back questionnaire in 2011 and 2012 (n=375; 51% return rate). The Potential Conflict Index (PCI2) was used to examine differences among the three groups. Residents held more negative attitudes, reported more fear, felt less control in coming into contact with coyotes, and reported a higher likelihood of seeing a coyote while in CBHNP than park staff and visitors. Understanding different interest group attitudes toward coyotes facilitates the design of specialized messages for different populations to ensure each is receiving the appropriate information.

Globally, significant areas for conservation are the traditional lands of indigenous peoples and local communities who depend upon forests, fisheries, wildlife and farming for their livelihoods and cultures. These local women and men are key actors in conservation and natural resource management, for the stewardship roles they have often played historically, and as the people on whom future sustainability depends. Community-based conservation and resource management have been part of conservation strategies for many years but are gaining increased attention. Reasons include increasing formal recognition by governments of community rights to significant lands and resources, a growing body of scientific research documenting the efficacy of community-based management of natural resources, and growing awareness of significant threats to the environment of indigenous and community lands. While experience from some countries demonstrates that community-based management can contribute significantly to large-scale conservation and rural development goals, too often the geographical scale of community conservation and natural resource management remain limited. This paper will present results from recent field experience and analysis on integrated approaches to scaling up community conservation and natural resource management, including key elements of effective CBC/NRM, strategies for scaling up and holistic approaches to community conservation across mosaics of land uses.

This study was conducted to determine whether pollination network structure and reproductive success in mixed fruit orchards depend on distance from the forest edge. Mixed fruit orchards are common in southern Thailand. The reproductive success of some plant species is dependent on distance to the forest edge, because forest remnants can be important sources of pollinators. The reproductive biology and pollination ecology of single plants have been studied, however, we need to understand pollination interactions at the community level. We observed plant and animal interactions at three pairs of study sites. Network structures, including interaction density, nestedness, number of compartments, and evenness were calculated. Fruit and seed set were observed two weeks after pollination, and compared within pairs. We found more animal species at orchards near forests than at orchards far from forests. The connectance, nestedness, and evenness of pollination networks from study sites near to the forest tend to be higher than study sites far from the forest. In addition, the number of Rambutan fruit set declines with the distance from the forest (Nested T-test: p < 0.001). This study shows that pollinators are critical for the reproduction of many economically-important crops. Distance from the forest edge is an important influence on plant reproductive success, particularly for plant species that are serviced by forest-dependent pollinators.

Many approaches to managing and conserving natural resources depend upon rules that restrict human use. Activities aimed at encouraging compliance with wildlife legislation frequently adopt conventional enforcement tactics aimed at generating deterrence. Economic theories of compliance hold that rule breaking occurs when anticipated benefits outweigh the costs. Knowledge of rules, personal values, and social motivations are also thought to play a role in fostering this compliance. However, there has been little attempt to test the relative importance of these factors in shaping compliance with environmental legislation. We use the randomised response technique, designed specifically for investigating sensitive behaviours, to investigate the relative contributions of knowledge of rules, personal values, economic, and social factors in stimulating compliance with wildlife regulations. We estimate the proportion of the rural population of north-western Taiwan killing four mammal species, and explore motivations for compliance using a modified logistic regression model. Nearly 10% of respondents admitted to requesting a hunter to kill leopard cats, protected in Taiwan, in the three years preceding the study. Preliminary analysis reveals the importance of exploring the role of personal values, economic, and social motivations in fostering compliance with rules. This study contributes to the understanding of factors shaping compliance with wildlife legislation.

Understanding and conserving the biosphere requires professionals and academics proficient in process and professional skills such as critical thinking, data analysis, information synthesis, oral and written communication, and ability to work with diverse teams of people. There is evidence that undergraduate science students in the United States are not sufficiently developing these important skills. How do we teach and evaluate these skills in our students? The Network for Conservation Educators and Practitioners is leading a study to create and validate instructional materials that develop critical thinking, data analysis, and oral communication skills for conservation biology topics. We pilot materials at 17 institutions under two different instruction modalities: individual reflection on the skill, and intensive classroom discussion. Results to date show that students improve in skill performance for all three skills. However, the degree of improvement varied among skills and skill dimensions, suggesting that some dimensions may require interventions of different durations or intensities. In addition, there are changes in students' confidence in their skills, but these do not consistently mirror skill changes: students may over- or underestimate their confidence depending on the skill. Finally, students gained content knowledge while using the materials designed to develop skills, suggesting that investment in skill development in a class does not affect content learning.