Designing a global network of protected areas for threatened amphibian species

Over 800 Threatened amphibian species occur entirely outside the world’s network of protected areas. Many of these species are extremely range-restricted and thereby especially vulnerable to loss of habitat. At the pinnacle of extinction risk are over 300 species that occur only within single sites. To date, there has been no initiative aimed at protecting habitat for these species but, under the new Amphibian Survival Alliance, local partnering groups will be asked to lead the development of protected area networks for amphibians within their countries and regions of operation.

Eastern Turkey, where the Caucasus and Iran-Anatolian global biodiversity hotspots meet, holds one of the largest populations of gray wolf in Europe, but is also experiencing a biodiversity crisis. The degradation and fragmentation of wildlife habitat, the depletion of natural prey base, high-speed traffic on roads, and the direct persecution of wolves increasingly threaten their populations. The fragmented habitats in the region may not be able to support viable wolf populations in the near future, but there are no reliable, long-term studies of wolf populations in Turkey. The goal of our research is to understand the habitat requirements and movement patterns of Turkey's wolves and to guide wildlife conservation efforts in the area. In 2011, we were able to capture, collar and track wolves for the first time in Turkey. We deployed GPS/GSM collars on two adult male wolves captured in Sarikamiş National Park and three rehabilitated juvenile wolves born in spring 2011 to track their movement for one year at 6-hour intervals. Adult males appear to be more active and travel significantly farther distances during nocturnal hours (t = 15.48, p

Most passerine birds and bats migrate at night, and many migrant species show population declines. Mortality during migration is substantial, and migrants are often attracted by artificial light sources, leading to often fatal collisions with human structures. Reducing the attraction of illuminated human structures is important to migrant conservation. Recent studies with communications towers showed that switching from steady burning red or white light to strobes can substantially reduce avian collisions. A few studies have suggested that green or blue light may not attract migrating birds as strongly as white or red light. We used a set of 24 spot lights in downtown Philadelphia during fall migration to compare how night-migrating birds responded to white, green, and blue light. We counted the number of birds flying through light beams as well as their flight direction on a single night during fall migration. We documented substantially more birds in the white light than in the blue or green light. In addition, we found three times more birds either circling in the white light or flying in directions not consistent with fall migration. This small study highlights the importance of better understanding how light color affects migrants. Such information can help inform public policy to help reduce the negative effects of increasingly urban landscapes on nocturnal migrants.

Several pollinating hymenopteran and lepidopteran species are currently or are in the process of being listed federally and provincially as at-risk species in Canada. The newly formed IUCN SSC Bumblebee Specialist Group will be assessing the status of the global bumblebee fauna within two years. This poster with introduce species known to be in decline in North America and talk about next steps in conservation management for native bees and other native pollinators. Particular focus will be made on rapidly declining bumblebees and extirpated butterflies. Working with several industrial and not-for profit partners, government agencies and the public, Wildlife Preservation Canada has recently launched a hands-on, science-based, native pollinator recovery program. Projects include species-specific habitat restoration, habitat creation, captive breeding and reintroduction, translocation and citizen science monitoring. Successes and challenges in this interdisciplinary, multi-stakeholder program will be discussed.

Monitoring wildlife in the Earth's most rapidly changing ecosystems provides insight into patterns of environmental change, from which to make informed conservation decisions. Observed and predicted changes in climate, and the expansion of fisheries in Antarctic and sub-Antarctic regions are two causes of concern, which make monitoring of species in this remote part of the world critical. No inclusive monitoring network exists for this region, one of the world's least comprehensively studied and most rapidly changing. We present an index of change in penguin population status across oceanic regions of the southern hemisphere to present an index of regional change. We show using data from 14 penguin species an overall average decline in abundance over the last 37 years. Our results also reveal contrasting fortunes for western and eastern penguin populations, which broadly mirror continental scale warming and cooling patterns. Our results suggest growing threats will continue to have unequal impacts on species, requiring regionally tailored management, and supporting the need for further research to evaluate species specific responses to climate change and other threats. Expanded monitoring is required to ensure the best possible evidence base from which to protect penguins in a changing environment. We evaluate how the current limited monitoring network influences our findings, and use this as a means to suggest how monitoring might be expanded.

By combining current data, ecological knowledge, and planning tools, we can better cope with uncertainty and design climate-smart networks for biodiversity conservation. Land classification units describe and map unique combinations of what we believe to be ecologically-relevant geophysical space. Mapped vegetation provides a powerful expression of the biotic response to geophysical space. Together, they can describe biophysical variability in reliable terms practical for conservation planning. For designing regional conservation networks, we combined maps of land classification units with major vegetation types, and then used spatial optimization to ensure that the network represented biophysical variability within high-integrity blocks. Representation goals are stated in terms of a) overall vegetation type extent, in b) patch sizes sufficient to support disturbance dynamics, and c) proportional extent of each vegetation/geophysical combination. Spatial optimization tools aid in combining layers to identify most-intact areas to efficiently meet goals. Over time, networks can be kept current through adjusting goals and building on successful conservation investments. Coping with climate change demands science support for adaptive management through the likely changes of upcoming decades. Fully utilizing current knowledge, data, and tools is essential. This is one approach to providing for local-scale connectivity today while facilitating adaptation to future conditions.

The Porgies or Seabreams (Sparidae) are widely distributed in tropical and temperate coastal waters around the world. These fishes are highly esteemed food and recreational fish and are of considerable commercial importance in many parts of the world. Intrinsic life history characteristics such as specialized reproductive modes, aggregate spawning behavior, and specific habitat preferences coupled with extrinsic threats from fishing pressure and widespread habitat destruction have lead to population declines for several species in the family. We model the correlates of threat utilizing known intrinsic and extrinsic traits that predispose these species to an elevated risk of extinction. Interactions of intrinsic rates (late maturing, long-lived, and restricted ranges) and extrinsic rates (coastal development, exploitation) are shown to be good predictors of heightened extinction risk. We also calculate the spatial overlap of areas of high diversity and threatened populations with areas of high cumulative threats to identify critical knowledge gaps and highlight priority areas for conservation. The factors that drive species to increased extinction risk are complex and highly interconnected in nature. Improved understanding of these drivers can lead to better management strategies to counter the effects of biodiversity loss in this rapidly changing world.

Conservation funds are limited; therefore maximising the efficiency of monitoring is critical. We used a Capture-Recapture (CR) approach to identify the optimal level of effort required to deliver core data for the long-term monitoring programme in place for the pink pigeon (Nesoenas mayeri), endemic to Mauritius. We imposed a number of reduced-effort monitoring strategies to daily-level data spanning 2008-2011 from one subpopulation and used a CR approach to attempt to identify (i) an optimal level of monitoring effort and (ii) establish whether a decrease in effort affected estimates (and precision) of survival (φ) and/or recapture rate (P). We then explored potential budgetary and time savings associated with the identified optimal level of monitoring. The analysis showed that effort can be reduced from the current level of 56 hours a month to an optimal of 18 hours a month, without negative effects on the estimates or precision of the key parameters of interest. 68% of the effort currently invested by the pink pigeon recovery programme on monitoring activity does not yield additional data; this time could be reallocated to more beneficial conservation management activities or staffing levels restructured accordingly. The novel use of the CR framework in this study may be of application to other threatened species monitoring programmes. The study demonstrates an example of a strong working partnership between a research institution and a conservation organisation.

Threats to wildlife from habitat fragmentation and increased fire frequency are common in Mediterranean ecosystems. Whereas the remaining Southern California coastal sage scrub serves as refuge for rare flora and fauna, this habitat is threatened by frequent, human-ignited wildfires. The coastal cactus wren, a California Bird of Special Concern, serves as a "canary in the coal mine" for a variety of coastal sage species (e.g., the California gnatcatcher and orange-throated whiptail). The cactus wren depends on fire-sensitive Opuntia and Cylindropuntia species. The San Diego Zoo's Institute of Conservation Research has committed to restore 20 hectares of wren habitat. To locate sites which mitigate fragmentation and wildfire risk, we use a population model created from maps of wren abundance, cactus habitat, land use, and predicted fire probability. We forecast the relative abundance of wrens under the following management options: augment existing habitat patches, create new patches in areas with low fire risk, and create new "stepping stone" patches to connect existing patches. Wildfire risk is estimated by relating previous fire locations to a variety of demographic and environmental variables. We find that the best management strategy depends on (i) wren dispersal distance, (ii) post-fire habitat recovery, and (iii) the magnitude of edge effects on the smallest patches. Our results are being vetted by local park managers and conservation groups.

Illegal resource use is a major threat to conservation in nearly every ecosystem. Accurate data on the magnitude of illegal resource use is critical for effective conservation management, but gathering such sensitive data faces considerable methodological challenges. We present the first conservation-based application of a version of the randomized response technique (RRT; adapted from Tracy and Fox 1981) designed to quantify sensitive behaviour. Previous conservation studies have used RRT to estimate proportions of populations involved in illegal activities and to identify sectors of the population involved. However, to date, no published study has used RRT to quantify the magnitude of illegal resource use (i.e. the amount of resources extracted). We quantified the number of animals illegally hunted within the Western Area Peninsula Forest Reserve in Sierra Leone over a nine-month period by eight local communities. We use the results to examine spatial variation in conservation threat in the protected area, and conclude that areas of highest threat differ depending on how threat is assessed (i.e., proportion of population involved vs. number of animals extracted). We argue that the version of RRT presented here provides a more accurate picture of the impact of illegal activity on biodiversity; and we outline how this method can be used by future studies to assess the sustainability of resource use patterns.

Systematic reviews are a comprehensive method for summarizing evidence about the effectiveness of interventions that have proven highly successful at promoting evidence-based practice in disciplines such as medicine. They can be a powerful tool for synthesizing the best available evidence about which management actions are most effective under particular circumstances, and making that information freely available to practitioners. We investigated the contribution made by this growing body of literature to conservation practice by examining all of the systematic reviews of conservation evidence that have been completed. I will describe the type of implications that systematic reviews currently have for management practice and the recommendations that review authors provide for improving the scientific evidence base so that it is more relevant and useful for decision makers. I discuss the strengths and weaknesses of how this rigorous method has been applied in conservation, highlight some of the ways their benefits could be enhanced, and describe some of the key innovations that promise to make systematic reviews a more effective tool for facilitating evidence-based conservation in the future.

In developed areas, stormwater retention ponds have been used to control runoff from impervious surfaces. Even though it is known that urban ponds support life, it is likely that comparable urban and rural habitats will have different factors structuring their communities. Existing ecological theory views variation in life history characteristics among amphibian larvae to result from the tradeoff between avoiding desiccation in shorter hydroperiod ponds and avoiding predation in longer hydroperiod ponds. However, it is unclear if current ecological models adequately describe urban systems. To evaluate the potential role of predator-prey interactions in structuring larval amphibian communities in urban systems, we compared predator and larval amphibian communities in urban and rural ponds along a hydroperiod gradient. Samples of the communities were collected from 28 urban and rural wetlands, located in Maryland, USA, using dip nets and minnow traps. In both wetland types, variation across the hydroperiod gradient was present. The community structure in larval amphibians was similar in both urban and rural wetlands and was most diverse in longer hydroperiod wetlands. However, predator communities in urban environments were less diverse than their rural counterparts. These results suggest that hydroperiod is a significant force structuring aquatic communities in urban systems, but disturbance from human activities impacts predator communities in longer hydroperiod urban ponds.

All marine mammals are protected in the US under the Marine Mammal Protection Act, and some species have additional protection under the Endangered Species Act. However, few species exist only in the US, so conservation plans often must include international cooperation, including First Nations tribes. Marine mammals also frequently interact with industry via competition, by-catch, and critical habitat designation. Many marine mammal species are consumed by subsistence users, and internationally through commercial and scientific whaling exemptions to the IWC. Thus, marine mammal conservation must take a multidisciplinary approach and integrate priorities of diverse stakeholders. The presentations in this symposium will present topics in human dimensions of marine mammal conservation, marine mammals as a food security issue for indigenous peoples, cooperative education and research programs with industry in Alaska, and the interface between marine mammal conservation and coastal zone planning and process. Parts II and II of this symposium will take place at the Marine Mammal Biology Conference, and the final symposium at the Third International Marine Conservation Congress.

The development of eDNA markers with high sensitivity and specificity is facilitated by the continued improvement of sequence databases, particularly ‘barcode’ databases that provide broad taxonomic representation at just one or a few genetic loci. However, deep genetic sampling of an ecosystem of interest remains a useful preliminary step for the development of an eDNA monitoring program, particularly if the project entails long-term investment or has management implications. Sequencing technologies and bioinformatic approaches will be discussed with respect to marker development as well as a general tool for quantifying biodiversity. Bioinformatic tools can also be used to organize and display species distributions derived from eDNA. The success of integrative approaches will strongly depend on the quality of the metadata that describe environmental samples and how they are processed.

Mexico has 41 biosphere reserves that cover 12.6 million ha. Many of these protected areas were inhabited prior to being protected, and buffer zones were formed using proprietors’ land. In the state of Chiapas, the original dwellers resisted the decrees of protection because these meant a partial restriction in the use of land. In addition, the reserves’ management plans state that the land uses must become sustainable. In the Biosphere Reserve El Triunfo, local communities and reserve authorities have been in contact for more than 20 years. During this period, the rate of deforestation has diminished, and it seems that the land use community control has increased. The aim of this presentation is to present an advance of our study on the role that policies such as payments for environmental systems (PES) have played in these changes. We also are examining in which way collective action has been modified to gain effectiveness in conservation. At present, we have understood that many communities have committed to conservation of natural ecosystems, thanks not only to the implementation of PES but also to a long relationship between local communities and other stakeholders. We think that it is necessary to identify the key aspects of this relationship that have contributed to create new conservation practices. Better policies can be designed from studies like this.