Forest recovery in post-pasture Amazonia: Testing a conceptual model of space use by insectivorous understory birds

Although the Brazilian Amazon has lost more than 328,000 km2 of rainforest over the last 20 years, abandonment of deforested lands has created a vast network of secondary forests (SFs)?161,000 km2 by 2002?size of Florida. To quantify spatiotemporal patterns in space use of birds along edges of primary forest and a gradient of SFs (1-30 years old), we radio-tracked three understory insectivores at the Biological Dynamics of Forest Fragments Project: Glyphorynchus spirurus (n = 23), Xiphorhynchus pardalotus (n = 23) and Formicarius colma (n = 27). Birds in young SF had larger home ranges, core areas and movement rates than those in primary forest. G. spirurus was first to recover, showing no edge response to SF 11-14 years old; X. pardalotus recovered at 19-24 years and F. colma at 28-30 years. Young F. colma concentrated their activity along edges, just inside primary forest adjacent to young SF?these subordinates are likely pushed to edges by dominant adults, but are unable to penetrate young SF. Finally, using novel transition probability models in MARK, we estimated that even after 27-31 years, F. colma was still less likely to transition into SF from primary forest, suggesting that even our oldest SF had not yet recovered in terms of use by obligate rainforest species. By understanding the dynamics of movement by specialized rainforest birds, we will be in a strong position to conserve rainforest biodiversity as landscapes continue to change in the Anthropocene.

Protected areas are the cornerstones of the global conservation strategy but have a serious failing. They are concentrated in areas that are remote and have least value for subsistence or commercial uses. Therefore, they tend to occur where threats to biodiversity are low while losses of biodiversity continue unabated elsewhere. Importantly, this failing is hidden by common measures of conservation progress that emphasize the number and extent of protected areas rather than how much loss of biodiversity their establishment has avoided. We begin with examples of "residual" systems of protected areas (those dominantly in areas with least need for protection) that fail to live up to their promise of protecting nature. We then identify key characteristics of conservation measures needed to focus attention on avoided loss which is, after all, the real purpose of conservation. We place existing measures and recommended new measures in the context of a results chain that includes inputs, outputs, outcomes, and effects. Current measures focus on outputs (protected areas) but there are tractable methods for measuring effects, or how much difference protected areas make (additionality). The new measures can be applied retrospectively to existing reserves and projected into the future to identify where new protected areas can make the most difference. We conclude by outlining the opportunities for and obstacles to bringing these methods into policy and practice.

Many people involved in conservation planning have views on the requirements for effective implementation, and most of them are right. An effective implementation strategy has many facets, and conservation planners have limited experience in making them all work together. This presentation is an attempt to sketch out the main facets of an implementation strategy and the ways they interact. Broadly, we can think of facets related to anticipation (preparing the ground) and application (moving from a regional design to local actions). Progress in understanding aspects of anticipation can be seen in the refinement of operational models for conservation planning since the late 1990s. These include involvement of stakeholders and assessments of opportunities and constraints for conservation management. Progress in understanding aspects of application has also been made, but the experiences are dispersed and not well documented. Broadly, application involves decisions and feedbacks around translation of designs into management units on the ground or in the water, coordination of managers at several spatial scales, identification of feasible and effective actions identified for each unit, and a funding strategy to make it all work. Moving forward with all this requires debate about generic, comprehensive approaches that can be adapted to particular circumstances.

Environmental or coarse-filter surrogates are widely used in conservation planning, sometimes as a sole guide to the distribution of biodiversity, but more often as parts of larger, composite data sets. However intuitive their utility might seem, the evidence base for their effectiveness in depicting the distributions of species is inconsistent. Underlying the lack of strong generalisations about the effectiveness of surrogates are important factors that have almost never been standardised in their testing: study region, spatial extent and resolution, types of surrogates, types of species against which surrogates are tested, and the analytical approach for testing. Case studies will continue to emerge demonstrating the effectiveness, or lack of it, of surrogates. But what do these case studies actually mean? Understanding surrogates requires more comprehensive methods in tandem: 1. Review of ecological theory to understand why surrogates should work and what limitations can be expected; 2. Meta-analysis to identify what factors relate to effectiveness; 3. Artificial data sets that can be manipulated to identify aspects of data structure related to effectiveness; 4. Comparison and better understanding of testing methods (covering both pattern-based and selection-based tests), linking each method to one or more explicit questions. These comprehensive approaches offer the only way of making sense of the hundreds of case studies that tell different, unconnected stories.

Targeting the foraging biology and behavior of predators offers conservation biologists novel approaches to protect species at risk. Many of the world's worst alien predators, e.g. black rats Rattus rattus and stoats Mustela erminea, use olfaction to find prey and rely on odor cues to assess prey quality and abundance. Drawing from ecological and psychological theories, we show how patchy, conspicuous odor cues place prey at increasing risk but can be spatially and temporally manipulated to undermine predator motivation, alter foraging behavior and reduce prey vulnerability. In controlled enclosure experiments using wild mice Mus musculus, we applied a form of 'chemical camouflage' by creating a uniform odor background and slowed prey detection by an average of 11% (19% for lower quality prey). In a multi-prey system, chemical camouflage increased search costs and reduced the foraging efficiency of stoats searching for mice, a primary prey and locusts, a model alternate prey. Finally, prey survival was significantly increased by pre-exposing wild black rat populations to bird odor. Subsequently introduced birds' eggs survived 62% better than those in controls. When odor was introduced early, rat activity waned after approximately three days, after which time rats ignored the bird odor and did not find eggs introduced subsequently. The ubiquitous nature of olfactory foraging means that these techniques should be applicable to a wide range of ecological applications.

In this session, designed especially for graduate students and other young researchers, the Editors of Biological Conservation (BC) and other international journals will provide pointers on how to get papers accepted into conservation journals; and what to do when papers get rejected. Such information is valuable, as the acceptance rate of BC and other journals is below 25% and will likely decline to 20% in coming years. Over 50% of submitted articles are rejected without review, and authors can seek advice from the Editors on the suitability of articles before submitting. In this session, we will discuss ways to make your article more appealing to Editors and a broad scientific audience, including writing a strong cover letter, working with colleagues to improve your article, and writing different types of articles, including Review Articles that have a higher acceptance rate and Perspectives that can include a personal viewpoint. Other strategies include matching your paper to what the journal publishes and making sure the work is substantial enough for publication. Issues to be discussed include having a good experimental design, improving the writing and organization, demonstrating relevance to management, and the need to place the work in a broad context in the introduction and discussion. On rare occasions an author may be successful in changing an editorial decision, but typically a paper rejected from one journal is revised and submitted to another journal.

This presentation describes how the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) is meeting significant socioeconomic information needs to inform the development of offshore renewable energy. BOEM's studies on ocean space-use, the vulnerability of coastal economies, and facility siting support the informed development of offshore renewable energy resources by providing high quality scientific information. This research provides baseline information on humans and their relationship with the coastal and ocean environment; answering such questions as, 'Who uses ocean space?', 'How do beach visitors perceive and react to offshore wind facilities at varying distances?', and 'Which coastal economies are particularly vulnerable to impacts in their tourism and recreation sectors?' Answers to these types of questions help the bureau understand complex socioeconomic issues, and assist the Bureau's leadership in making informed OCS planning decisions.

Despite a long history of persecution, top predators such as wolves and mountain lions are making a comeback in North America, fueling heated clashes among scientists, policy makers, and the public about how to best manage these species. Successful conservation in these changing landscapes therefore requires a robust understanding of the ecological, social, and economic consequences of predator presence. We used empirical data and a stage-structured stochastic population model to examine the effect of wolf removal on Dall's sheep populations, considering both negative effects of wolf predation on sheep and indirect positive effects of wolf suppression of coyotes. Coyotes, wolves, and Dall's sheep ewes and lambs were radiocollared in the Alaska Range from 1998-2004 to determine survival rates and causes of mortality. Wolves were the main predators of adult Dall's sheep, coyotes were the main predators of lambs, and wolves were the main source of mortality for coyotes. In the absence of coyotes, the model predicted that wolf removal would cause a stable sheep population to grow by 3% per year. In the presence of coyotes, however, the model predicted that wolf removal would cause the sheep population to decline by 4% per year. These results highlight the importance of considering the response of mesopredators to large predator management, because accounting for their response can alter the predicted impact of management actions on sensitive prey populations.

Abstract: Conservation science continues to grow in terms of data generated, papers published and journals established but the potential of this science to inform practice and policy is not fully realized. A concerted effort is required to synthesise the available evidence with respect to questions of concern to conservation decision makers. Although a culture of systematic review and evidence synthesis is embedded in other sectors, such as health, it has only recently emerged in conservation. To stimulate the growth and impact of evidence-based practice the Collaboration for Environmental Evidence (CEE) was established as a not-for-profit organisation in 2009. CEE’s purpose is protection of the environment and conservation of biodiversity through preparation, maintenance promotion and dissemination of systematic reviews (SRs) of the effectiveness and impacts of environment management interventions. Key achievements of CEE will be described, such as establishing guidelines, open-access to systematic reviews and growing a network of centres, review groups and methods groups. Key challenges remain, including creation of incentives to engage with SR activity, embedding a culture of evidence-based practice at organisational level and provision of training in SR methodology. A critical challenge still remains of achieving effective communication between the commissioners, conductors and users of evidence syntheses.

Given the multitude of studies on the agriculture/conservation relationship, the next step toward encouraging widespread application of this research is to create the framework for integrating conservation practices into a farm business strategy. The Farm at Sunnyside, an organic fruit and vegetable farm in Rappahannock County, VA, is exploring this new model of agriculture in which conservation is an explicit part of the food production system. In 2010 the farm created the position of "conservation manager," a full-time biologist who works alongside farm staff to guide conservation initiatives such as inventorying biodiversity, monitoring ecological health, enhancing habitat for native species and quantifying interactions between agricultural and natural areas of the farm. The conservation manager directly contributes to the farm business by providing the expertise with which to maximize benefits from ecosystem services while acting as a first responder to address challenges such as pests and invasive plants. The program generates revenue through the sale of "wild products" like forest fruits and wildflowers from restoration areas, simultaneously promoting the value of native species while helping to recuperate the costs of restoration work. By relating our methodology for developing, applying and funding a farm conservation program we will make the case that agriculture can strongly benefit both ecologically and economically from a conservation perspective.

The lack of knowledge of the distribution and conservation status of the species of small wild cats (Leopardus pardalis, L. wiedii, L. tigrinus and Puma yagouaroundi) in the Cauca Valley and the possible degradation of habitats used by these species is a conservation concern. The records of these species are generally encounters with humans (where they usually die) and come from different types of habitats (forests, crops, pastures and plantations). The aim of this work is to make an approach to the current state of the Small Wild Cats, by checking historical reports and current records of these species. Historical information was obtained through the review of collections and databases, current reports were made with the help from field biologist. With this information were made potential distribution maps for each species. Ten historical sites of occurrence and seven sites that had more than 70% probability of occurrence were selected and visited in 2010 and 2012 to verify the presence of the species with camera traps. We confirmed the presence of the four species in the region with 32 new records. L. pardalis and P. yagouaroundi were the most recorded species and with the greatest distribution. We expose the elimination of L. wiedii and L. tigrinus in some of its historical sites, due to habitat destruction. We conclude that the main threat to the species in their distribution in the Valley is habitat loss, hunting resulting from human-wildlife conflict and road kill

We used 3 IPCC climate change scenarios (A1B, A2, B1) in a dynamic vegetation model (CARAIB), to determine the potential future distribution of biomes and 75 species of trees used as food sources or sleeping sites by endemic primates, the golden lion tamarin (Leontopithecus rosalia) and the golden-headed lion tamarin (L. chrysomelas), in the Brazilian Atlantic Forest (BAF). Habitat conservation is a vital part of strategies to protect endangered species, and this is an approach to understand how key plant species needed for faunal survival might be affected by climate change and what changes to their distribution are likely. CARAIB computes the main physiological reaction of plants, e.g. water absorption or photosynthesis, as a response to temperature, precipitation, or CO2 partial pressure. The model accurately predicted the current distribution of BAF vegetation types and for 66% of the individual tree species with 70% agreement obtained for presence. In the simulation experiments for the future, 72 out of 75 tree species maintained more than 95% of the original distribution and all species showed a range expansion. The results suggested that the trees may benefit from an increase in temperature, if and only if soil water availability is not altered significantly, as was the case with climate simulations that were used. However, the results must be coupled with current and planned land-uses to maximise the usefulness to conservation, as the BAF is subject to many threats.

In 2008, Madagascar undertook an overhaul of its progress in PoWPA (program of work in protected areas) implementation. The initial analysis concluded that key PA managers lacked core competencies in protected area management. This paper presents Madagascar exercise to identify appropriate capacity building program for PA managers. To help build capacity in PA management, various approaches were developed. Training modules were freely distributed. Various institutions ran several short practical training courses. Trainings of trainers were also organized. In 2011, The Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS), in partnership with the System of protected areas management (SAPM), and the international Network of conservation educators (NCEP) run SWOT analysis of professional trainings programs. Trainings rarely come with follow up system aiming to assess impacts on PA management. The completion of a training course does not totally guarantee competence to practice and training alone does not ensure that PA is effectively managed. WCS and partners created a critical bridge between trainings and competencies by slotting in the WIO-COMPAS program (Western Indian ocean certification of marine protected areas professionals). The program assesses marine PA performance based on professional competency Standards, and identifies objectively gaps in competencies. Next step consisted in developing a platform of exchange to carry on trainings

Animals have a fundamental need to move, and areas likely to support animal movement are often referred to as corridors. However, corridors have been defined inconsistently, and different corridors are intended to support different movement processes occurring over a range of spatial and temporal scales. Confusion surrounding what is meant by 'corridor' impedes communication among scientists, practitioners, and policy makers, and may result in ineffective planning and management. We developed a categorization of corridors, which we offer as one possible solution for improving communication and practical applications of the corridor concept to management and policy. We focus our categorization on corridors supporting movement of wild animals, and model our approach on the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) protected area management categories, which provide a global standard for defining protected areas according to their management objectives. We define five categories of corridors on the basis of the primary movement process they are intended to maintain. We focus on examples of each and discuss how management action is expected to vary as a function of the target movement process. Our intent is to bridge the gap between the ecological concept and the practice of corridor conservation, enhancing communication and management and ultimately aiding development of a global corridor inventory.