Abstracts available here - Society for Conservation Biology

25th International Congress for Conservation Biology • Auckland, New Zealand • 5-9 December 2011
main cause. This so-called specialization-disturbance (SD) hypothesis is
supported by large data sets that show positive correlation between species’
ecological specialization and extinction risk. But, managers on the ground
need finer detail on how specialization increases sensitivity to disturbance.
To test the SD hypothesis and support endangered species conservation, I
studied the population-level responses of two coexisting fruit bats in the
Philippines to their main threats: habitat loss and roost site disturbance. My
results suggest the specialist is much more sensitive to disturbance than the
generalist. Population abundance correlates closely with native forest cover
for both species (R2>0.92). However, the specialist is uniquely dependent
on forest, with a 3-dimensional ecological niche that lies only in forest and
is entirely included within the larger niche of the generalist. The specialist
populations are less abundant and require >5.6 times more forest than
generalists. The specialist is also >6.2 times more sensitive to disturbance at
and around the roost than the generalist. To maintain persisting populations
of the specialist species, managers need to address colony compositions that
are heavily skewed toward the generalist and strictly protect roost sites and
surrounding forest from disturbance.
2011-12-07 14:40 Adapting Toward the Best of Both Worlds: Natural
Resource and Infrastructure Vulnerability Assessment of the Hudson
River Estuary
Miller, D.*, New York State Department of Environmetal
Conservation, Hudson River National Estuarine Research Reserve;
Spector, S., Scenic Hudson; Winner, J., Scenic Hudson; Blair, B.,
New York State Department of Environmetal Conservation, Hudson
River National Estuarine Research Reserve;
Sea level rise (SLR) is the most immediate climate change challenge to the
Hudson River Estuary ecosystem, with up to 1.4m of relative SLR projected
by 2080. Within the projected inundation zone lie over 13,000 acres of
tidal wetlands and vegetated shallows, and over 5000 acres of supratidal
and floodplain habitats that will likely be inundated. We conducted a
vulnerability analysis that provides stakeholders with a high-resolution
understanding, through both space and time, of SLR impacts on the
estuary’s natural habitats and built infrastructure and creates a planning
framework for local and regional adaptation efforts. Along 160 miles of
tidal river we 1) projected inundation and flood risk according to two SLR
scenarios, with models reiterated at decadal time steps, 2) identified river
stretches and sites that have important natural or built resources within or
near the risk zone, and 3) classified each site according to their resiliency
or vulnerability to periodic or constant inundation. Our results identified
sites at which natural resource conservation and infrastructure protection
may proceed independently, as well as areas of potential conflict where
balanced solutions must be found. Considering these conflict zones through
time, and considering them within a whole-estuary context, provided
different perspectives on trade-offs between shoreline hardening and
habitat migration and point the way toward a range of locally-appropriate
management options.
2011-12-09 14:40 California’s MLPA Initiative: Transitioning A
Science-driven and Stakeholder-based Planning Process to Decisionmakers
and Resource Managers
Miller-Henson, Melissa*, California Marine Life Protection Act
Initiative; Fox, Evan, California Marine Life Protection Act Initiative;
States and nations are increasingly placing priority on area-based planning
and management that involves not only the best science, but also active
participation of local communities and stakeholders. However, there are
challenges to designing planning efforts that can then successfully transition
to decision-making and resource management when they are conducted
by different organizations. The California MLPA Initiative (MLPAI), was
created and charged with helping the state redesign its MPAs through a
science-driven, public planning process where stakeholders actively
engaged in collaborative consultation and negotiation; the resulting
recommendations were then presented to the state for decisions about how
best to pursue implementation, which is carried out by two different state
resource management agencies. The MLPAI was an experiment in combining
consideration of how to design MPAs to achieve what are primarily
ecosystem-based ecological goals with consideration of multiple human
uses, interests, values and knowledge types; this type of interdisciplinary
approach to addressing ecological, social and economic factors requires a
flexible and adaptive approach to be successful, a model that is not common
to state natural resource management. This example illustrates some of the
challenges experienced; recommendations are made for how to better ensure
a successful transition and improved long-term management of protected
areas.
2011-12-09 11:45 Evaluating an eradication program for the northern
Pacific seastar, Asterias amurensis, in Victoria, Australia.
Millers, Kimberley*, University of Melbourne; McCarthy, Michael,
University of Melbourne; Carey, Jan, University of Melbourne;
Our ability to manage a spreading introduced marine species is often
impeded by the lack of scientific information and limited resources.
Management strategies aimed at controlling marine invasive species are
often data poor and therefore continuously under review. This study aims
to evaluate the management strategies of a recent incursion of the invasive
seastar, Asterias amurensis, at Anderson Inlet, Victoria. In 2004, government
agencies and community members commenced an eradication program to
slow the spread of Asterias amurensis, along the coast of Victoria. Over the
duration of the program, volunteers used a number of removal techniques
to reduce the population size. Eradication was declared at Anderson Inlet
in June 2004. Search method, search time, removal rate and cost were
monitored during the eradication process. Over 250 individual seastars
where removed during the removal program by community volunteer divers.
Removal rate decreased exponentially with time. There are few examples of
eradication of marine invasives and therefore this is a unique opportunity
to gain valuable information to improve the efficiency and effectiveness
of resource allocation in applied real-world scenarios. The findings of this
evaluation will assist managers utilise resources when managing incursions
of this and other species across the southern Australian coast.
Date 14:00 Integrating fisheries approaches and household utility
models for improved resource management
Milner-Gulland, E.J.*, Imperial College London;
Natural resource management is littered with cases of over-exploitation
and ineffectual management, leading to loss of both biodiversity and
human welfare. Disciplinary boundaries stifle the search for solutions to
these issues. I combine the approach of management strategy evaluation,
widely applied in fisheries, with household utility models from conservation
and development, to produce an integrated framework for evaluating the
effectiveness of competing management strategies for harvested resources
against a range of performance metrics. I demonstrate the strengths of this
approach with a simple model, and use it to examine the effect of manager
ignorance of household decisions on resource management effectiveness,
and an allocation trade-off between monitoring resource stocks to reduce
observation uncertainty and monitoring users to improve compliance. I
show that this integrated framework enables management assessments to
consider household utility as a direct metric for system performance, and
that while utility and resource stock conservation metrics are well aligned,
harvest yield is a poor proxy for both, because it is a product of household
allocation decisions between alternate livelihood options, rather than an end
in itself. This approach has potential far beyond single-species harvesting in
situations where managers are in full control, enabling a range of management
intervention options to be evaluated within the same framework.
2011-12-08 18:30 Wood density variation in an altitudinal gradient: a
key component for determining above-ground biomass
Mireia, Torello Raventos*, James Cook Univeristy; Bird, Michael,
James Cook University; Saiz, Gustavo, James Cook University; Lloyd,
Jon, James Cook University; Dan Metcalfe, CSIRO;
More reliable knowledge on the complex responses of vegetation to climate
change is one of the most urgent needs for tropical forest preservation.
Quantifying the terrestrial above-ground carbon stocks in tropical forests
along an altitudinal gradient provides a way to improve the understanding
of vegetation dynamics in the face of climate change. Tropical forests are
known for possessing a wide range of wood densities, adding complexity
to the accurate estimation of tones of carbon per area. We have selected 9
plots in tropical forests in North Queensland, Australia along an altitudinal
gradient (50-1500 m) in 2 main soil types. Throughout my PhD 1) I have
placed dendrometers in my field sites to study the above-ground net primary
productivity; 2) I have developed a new field-based and non-destructive
method to determine the wood density in a tree plantation. 3) I am studying
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