Understanding Identity and Engaging Systems to Untangle Conflict in Contemporary Conservation

Much of the intractability characterizing wildlife conflicts stems from the near-universal existence of identity conflict within conservation contexts. Identity conflicts engage strong passions and can lead to great destruction; yet reconciliation of such conflicts can be highly creative and transformative. Unfortunately, identity conflicts are often mistaken for or disguised as simple disputes over material or economic resources. Undeniably, efforts to settle such misdiagnosed conflicts generally fail, since the resolution process failed to address the underlying cause of these conflicts. To transform these conflicts, one needs to understand and engage the social system in which decisions are made. Wildlife conservation often serves as a lightning rod for deeper social conflicts that may have their roots elsewhere in society. As a result, conservation efforts may temporarily or superficially solve a problem, but fail to create the changes needed in processes, capacities and relationships to ensure lasting improvements for human and wildlife communities. HWCC is the only organization using a conflict transformation model, addressing the multiple levels of conflict and engaging systems to reconcile conservation conflicts. This presentation explores the analysis and non-linear decision-making processes HWCC uses to foster positive, durable benefits for people and wildlife.

Levels of stress hormones (eg., corticosterone, cortisol - CORT) are increasingly being implemented as integrative conservation biomarkers for monitoring disturbance levels and overall condition in wild populations. For such measures to indicate how populations will change in the face of environmental change, CORT levels must show a predictable relationship with fitness. There has been a general assumption that the relationship between CORT and fitness is negative (i.e., that increases in CORT levels are always indicative of increasing disturbance). However, there is growing evidence that the relationship is context-dependent, differing based on factors such as age, sex, and life history stage. We experimentally investigated the relationship between baseline CORT levels and fitness in a free-living population of tree swallows (Tachycineta bicolor) within and across breeding seasons. We show that the relationship changes based on the contexts of age, environmental quality (food availability), and reproductive stage. In addition, our results provide evidence that CORT levels can provide valuable predictive information, improving on traditional demographic monitoring methods. However, a predictive, context-dependent approach that considers factors such as life history stage, age, and habitat metrics may be necessary to effectively apply stress hormones as physiological indices of population disturbance or health.

Service learning has been used in many disciplines to connect students with real world issues and to introduce students to professionals in the field. Service learning in conservation biology can be a valuable tool to assist managers and stakeholders as well as to provide students with practical experience. Service learning experiences allow students to experience conservation in action and to connect with local conservation issues and stakeholders involved with those issues. Case studies presented include an invasive species removal and restoration project, writing for open access databases, educational outreach to local schools, and collecting and analyzing data for the National Park Service. Involving students in active conservation projects connected students with stakeholders and professional managers and furthered both academic and conservation goals. Service learning experiences with conservation managers help to bridge the gap sometimes found between scientists and managers and help students learn how to connect conservation research with conservation management in action. Exposing students to these issues early in their career prepares them to make connections between different stakeholders as they move into professional positions of all types. These case studies illustrate both the educational value of engaging students in conservation issues through relevant service and the powerful connections that students make through service learning experiences.

The member companies of the Pollock Conservation Cooperative own and operate catcher-processor vessels that catch pollock in the Bering Sea off Alaska. The PCC member companies pay a Fishery Resource Landings Tax based on the value of the pollock catch. The Alaska Education Tax Credit Program provides a tax credit to businesses that make contributions to the Alaska accredited public and private nonprofit colleges for research and educational purposes. Since 2000 PCC member company combined contributions of over $3 million have funded over 30 marine mammal research projects. Collaborators include multiple state and federal agencies, academic institutions, and no-profits throughout the Pacific Northwest and Canada, studying Steller sea lions, northern fur seals, harbor seals, and killer whales over an area from California through the Pribilof, Aleutian, and Commander Islands. Research has focused on marine mammal predators, foraging ecology, prey diets and nutrition, pollutants, and the potential for competition with groundfish fisheries for prey. Significant marine mammals declines that began as early as the 1960s and extending throughout much of the North Pacific Ocean and southern Bering Sea motivated many of the projects. Important accomplishments include development of implantable life-history tags used to investigate mortality, and the deployment of data loggers on pollock fishing vessels to evaluate the potential for fishing-induced declines in pollock abundance.

The Borana rangelands were once known to have the highest grazing potential in East Africa and for their high cattle productivity. Today rangelands represent one of the most threatened grassland ecosystems throughout the continent of Africa due to increases in human population, overgrazing by unregulated (and increasing) cattle stocks, and agricultural expansion. The Liben Plains are widely recognised as the last remaining remnant rangeland habitat for the critically endangered Liben Lark (Heteromirafra sidamoensis).In this study I use logistic regression analysis to determine the habitat preferences and quantify the behaviour of the Liben Lark to help guide appropriate habitat restoration strategies for the species and the Borana rangelands. Line transect surveys were conducted during August and November, 2010 and March and May, 2011. A total of 49 individual larks were counted during the study period. The Liben Lark avoided areas with high percentage bare ground cover, high density of trees and paths. Larks spent up to 72% of their time foraging, on vigilance for 20%, walking/running for 2.8%, preening for 2.1% and displaying or singing for only 1.4% of the observation time. The results suggest that habitat restoration strategies should focus on efforts to improve foraging habitat for the Liben Lark by reducing the amount of bare ground, reduce tree encroachment and measures that minimize the impact of cattle grazing.

First base-line surveys were conducted in Kargil, Ladakh to document the occurrence and distribution of large carnivores and presence of snow leopard through camera photo trapping has been confirmed confirmed from the battlefield of India. Along 13 trails, habitat use by these carnivores was assessed through direct and indirect evidence. Eight vantage points were selected for estimating abundance of prey species; overall density estimated 0.09/km2 for Asiatic ibex and for Ladakh urial 0.06/km2 in areas surveyed of Kargil. Snow leopard-human conflicts was identified as one of the key threat to its survival. More than 500 cases of depredation i.e. 10% loss of the total livestock population by large carnivores in Kargil during 2009 to 2012 were reported by villagers. Loss of livestock by snow leopard, Tibetan wolf and Himalayan brown bear instigate the retaliatory killing of these carnivores. Scat analysis also revealed that 45% diet of snow leopard contributed by snow leopard. The root causes of this conflict are decline in the natural prey base and lack of infrastructure to maintain the livestock has been identified in the questionnaire surveys. Keeping this in view, safe guard measures; livestock corrals were provided to the the local communities to maintain their livestock and reduce the livestock depredation along with conservation awareness workshops to enhance the wildlife knowledge among various stakeholders in Kargil.

Detection of rare species, whether threatened or endangered or newly introduced invasive species, routinely relies upon the ability to detect and monitor low densities of patchily distributed species. This can be particularly challenging in aquatic ecosystems, where even large organisms can be difficult to directly observe or capture. Traditional sampling methods are only effective in a narrow range of habitats, principally shallow water, with slow water velocities, or moderate to high visibility. Genetic sampling methods have the potential to overcome many of the constraints posed by traditional aquatic monitoring and detection gear and have been the focus of many recent investigations (e.g., Asian carp, etc.). However, despite the promise of DNA-based monitoring methods, the adoption of these tools in decision-making frameworks remains challenging because of uncertainty associated with molecular technologies. This presentation will address a number of environmental genetic technologies and will discuss possibilities for limiting detection uncertainty and error rates. Additionally, the effective communication of results will be discussed in concurrence with the use of genetic technologies for decision-making.

In Rwanda, buffer zones of plantation-style cultivation are commonly found adjacent to protected area (PA) forests. These areas are partially restricted but may give added protection to PAs while providing benefits to neighboring communities. Understanding the response of species in buffer zones is essential to design effective conservation programs for

PAs. This study explores the role buffer and edge habitat play in maintaining species diversity and abundance of small mammal species in high altitude rainforest of Nyungwe National Park. We live trapped at three sites within the park and compared small mammal species diversity and abundance in tea and pine plantation buffer habitat adjacent to the park, forest edge, and forest interior habitat for a total of 6936 trap nights in 2011-2012. Only 11 of 29 total small mammal species captured in the study sites were able to use the plantation buffer habitat and 22 species were found to be intermediate in habitats, being able to use forest edges. We found 20 species occurring in the interior of the forest, at least 100 m from the edge. The greatest relative abundance of small mammal individuals occurred in interior habitat, followed by edge. Overall, buffer habitat supported more generalist species. Pine buffer habitat supported significantly higher species diversity than tea plantation. Results indicate that the type of buffer habitat may be important in maintaining species diversity within and surrounding protected areas.

Makindi, Stanley, Egerton University
Sustainable approaches to managing competing claims on natural resources in Kenya

With over 75% of wildlife in Kenya being found on private or communal land, one of the greatest challenge in the country is reconciling and sustaining economic development with biodiversity conservation and sharing the costs and benefits of conservation between individuals, state and the general community. The study was conducted in three categories of protected areas under different governance types and primary management objectives in Kenya (government managed, communally managed, and privately managed). The research examined the general issues of how local communities in Kenya have embraced different biodiversity conservation strategies. The research employed both qualitative and quantitative techniques in gathering the data. The general findings of the study suggest that although local people appreciate the crucial value of biodiversity and the role of protected areas in conserving it, there is some evidence of resentment towards some management activities of the protected area regulators. Negative attitudes were attributed to perceived problems of living next to the protected areas while widespread support for the management activities was associated with perceived benefits to the local populations. It is clear from this study that different rationales of conserving biodiversity need to address the issue of protected area management in the context of sustainable development through a combination of conservation strategies.

As humans continue to encroach on once pristine ecosystems, these anthropogenically modified landscapes limit the effectiveness of traditional in situ conservation. When small populations continue to decline, despite in situ conservation, one way to ensure species survival is maintaining a population ex situ, or in captivity. The Association of Zoos and Aquariums (AZA) consist of more than 200 institutions that maintain ex situ populations and manage them according to the parameters outlined in species specific Species Survival Plans (SSP). SSP's are designed to maintain 90% of genetic diversity for 100 years or 10 generations. The snow leopard (Uncia uncia) is one of the AZA's longest exhibited species, since 1903. Each year, their SSP presents management and breeding recommendations to maintain the genetic diversity of the founders and ensure a demographically stable population. These recommendations are based on the predicted mean kinship (MK) values, of each snow leopard, as derived by studbook data. Literature suggests that model based, studbook derived, values of MK differ from empirically derived measures, from molecular genetic data. We are comparing studbook derived and molecularly derived values of MK for the AZA's snow leopard population to advise future breeding recommendations. Preliminary data indicate that genetic values of MK, derived from DNA extracted from sloughed epithelial cells present on snow leopard scat, differ from studbook derived values.

We examined spawning habitat selection by northern pike (Esox lucius) in Clear and South Lakes, Riding Mountain National Park, Manitoba. Clear Lake is a 29.22 km2 mesotrophic lake, while South Lake is a 2.03 km2, eutrophic lake. The two lakes are separated by a sand barrier bar which is often breached during the spring melt, thus providing a temporary corridor between the lakes; the barrier then reforms later in the summer. South Lake appears to support the richest pike spawning habitat in either lake, but can become anoxic in the winter. In order to examine whether temporary connectivity between the lakes is important for Clear Lake pike reproduction, we placed VHF micro-transmitters into the oviduct of n=19 female pike captured in Clear Lake, prior to spawning and spring breach of the barrier bar. Each fish was also fitted with an external VHF transmitter. Fish were tracked throughout April to determine where each micro-transmitter was deposited. Fifteen of nineteen micro-transmitters were located, all in South Lake. We sampled for eggs at five of the micro-transmitter deposition sites and five random sites. Eggs (n=137) were found at 4 of 5 transmitter sites and 1 out of 5 random sites (n=3). Habitat analysis was also conducted. Micro-transmitter sites differed significantly from random sites in depth, clarity, and vegetation. South Lake is likely an important spawning area for the Clear Lake pike population for which regular spring connectivity is important.

Clearcutting logging in the boreal forest is argued to be sustainable from a wildlife perspective because as harvested stands re-grow, their structural features emulate those developing after natural stand-replacing disturbances. However, two features of clearcutting may be problematic: 1) gradual elimination from the landscape of forests older than the rotation age and 2) failure of young forests to develop the structural complexity of old-growth forests. We tested whether such elimination was occurring by comparing 3 managed and 4 natural landscapes in boreal northeastern Ontario, Canada, and whether structural habitat development in pre-rotation age forests achieved that of older forests in a sample of 107 stands. In the managed landscapes, forests older than 100 years comprised only 17-35% of the landscape, whereas in the natural landscapes they comprised 54-78%. Among a diverse set of structural habitat variables, including 3 dimensional measurements of foliage stratification and measurements of standing and downed woody debris, 10 variables showed maximum values at or near the rotation age (80-100 years), whereas 6 showed maximum values at greater ages. These six variables were also key correlates of community variation for several faunal groups. Our results draw into the question the sustainability of clearcut-based landscape management in boreal forests and call for land management practices that better maintain the structural features of old forests.

Connectivity via larval dispersal is key to setting effective marine reserve networks. Spacing rules help ensure connectivity by setting maximum spacing between individual reserves, though they have been applied indiscriminately to all types of habitats. Here we address the extent to which such rules capture subtleties associated with dispersal distances varying among species in different regions and habitats. We applied a 50-100 km global spacing rule (SRg), also applied in the California Marine Life Protection Act (MLPA), to a previously assessed network in the Gulf of California (GoC). Using larval dispersal data for species within this region (SRr), we associated each species with eight unique habitats (SRh) and we evaluated connectivity by means of different spacing rules (SRg, SRr and SRh) using graph-theory. The SRg was found to be robust and conservative when applied to the GoC or to its different habitats (i.e., the lower limit for dispersal distance includes the distance for all species in the GoC). Species in different habitats exhibit statistically distinct dispersal profiles. Therefore, some habitats could be evaluated with more relaxed spacing rules, or larger distances, than those proposed by the rules of thumb. Our work identifies a conservation planning trade-off when implementing spacing rules: already proposed rules are robust but at the cost of efficiency. Habitat-specific spacing rules should be considered for more efficient marine conservation planning.

Existing policies aimed at mitigating the environmental impacts of development focus primarily on preventing losses of biodiversity and ecosystem function. However, these approaches do not explicitly account for ecosystem services and impacts to people. When the link between people and nature is ignored, mitigation activities can redistribute ecosystem services, benefiting some people while neglecting others and creating social injustice. We use new serviceshed-based methods to track what parts of the landscape provide ecosystem services to different groups of people. With this approach, we estimate the amount of services that will be lost - and who will lose them - after the completion of a new road through the Peruvian Amazon. We assess the impacts of road development on nearly 250,000 people in 107 cities and towns in the Ucayali Region of Peru. We ask whether no net loss of ecosystem services can be achieved through mitigation. We find that, of the four ecosystem services we evaluated (erosion control; drinking water quality regulation for the pollutants nitrogen and phosphorus; and carbon sequestration), no net loss is possible only for carbon sequestration. Mitigation cannot return erosion control, nitrogen or phosphorous regulation services to all people impacted by road development. Given the billions of dollars spent on development projects globally, integrating ecosystem services into mitigation requirements is critical to protecting nature's benefits to people.