Abstracts available here - Society for Conservation Biology

25th International Congress for Conservation Biology • Auckland, New Zealand • 5-9 December 2011
concepts and practice are key to enhancing the leadership capacity of our
field. We focus here on approaches for recruiting and training conservation
leaders at the undergraduate level. First, we present survey data on factors
that draw undergraduates into conservation science and motivate them
to remain engaged. We also look at how students’ views on conservation
change over the course of their education. Next, we present techniques for
incorporating leadership training into undergraduate science education
and data on how these techniques influence students’ enthusiasm for
conservation as a potential career. Our results yield insights into how, as
educators, we can encourage students’ natural affinity for conservation
while providing them with tools to be effective leaders. Our hope is that,
by understanding what motivates students to enter and remain engaged in
conservation, understanding the pitfalls that impede students’ pursuit of
conservation as a career, and by developing our own capacity as educators
to train students in leadership, we can best facilitate the development of a
new generation of conservation leaders ready to hit the ground running as
they exit the university system.
2011-12-08 11:15 The value of fragments: extending park boundaries,
dwindling resources, or sourcing crop raiders?
Ryan, Sadie*, SUNY-ESF; Hartter, Joel, University of New
Hampshire;
Kibale National Park in western Uganda represents one of the last pieces of
intact East African mid-altitude forest. Located in the Albertine Rift, it is in
the top five of the list for poverty and conservation conflict in the 31 world
biodiversity hotspots, and land surrounding the park is in high demand for
small-scale agriculture. Despite this, the park boundary has remained stable
since its establishment, and forest within the park is stable, with previously
logged areas reverting to older forest. However, the surrounding landscape
has become steadily more fragmented, with both forest and wetland patches
being used and converted. In this work we combine results from social
survey data, remote sensing and conservation ecology to create a wholelandscape
approach for describing the juxtaposition of resource scarcity and
damage to local farms by wildlife, and what this means for the future of
the park and the neighboring communities. We suggest that the continued
stability of this park, and the goals of preservation and conservation in this
biodiversity hotspot are inextricably tied to the perceived and actual food
and resource security of the communities surrounding the park.
2011-12-06 16:30 Identification of hotspots of genetic diversity:
Overlaying multiple phylogeographic information of endangered
wetland plants in central Honshu Island, Japan
Saeki, I*, Yokohama National University; Koike, F, Yokohama
National University; Murakami, N, Tokyo Metropolitan University;
The concept of “hot spots” is often a key issue in conservation of biological
diversity. Its application, however, rarely targets genetic-level diversity
although such diversity is directly linked to evolution, migration history,
and future extinction of species. We determined hotspots of genetic
diversity by overlaying multiple phylogeographic information of the six
endangered plants, which grow in discrete wetland ecosystems of central
Honshu Island, Japan. Leaf samples were collected at 58 wetland sites, and
one to six non-coding regions of chloroplast DNA were sequenced. For
each species, 3 to 15 haplotypes were identified. The average haplotype
diversity was high (0.75 per species) although most species have small
geographic ranges. Based on the haplotype data, we calculated probability
of occurrence of rare haplotypes per site, created interpolation maps by
GIS, and overlaid them to make an integrated hotspot map. Two hotspots
were identified: Atsumi Peninsula and Tono District. The former is located
near southern coastal margin, and thus rare haplotypes have likely remained
by geographic isolation and perhaps with relatively warm climate during
the glaciated time. The Tono District is a highly-elevated inland area where
relatively large wetlands still remained. This method, as indicated by our
results, can be applied in planning preserves which focus on conservation
of genetic diversity.
2011-12-09 11:15 Prioritising conservation areas using species
surrogate measures: consistent with ecological theory?
Saetersdal,M*, Norwegian Forest and Landscape Institute; Gjerde,I,
Norwegian Forest and Landscape Institute;
Surrogate species measures of biodiversity (SSB) are used worldwide in
conservation prioritisations. We address the important question if the ideas
behind SSB are consistent with current knowledge on distribution patterns
of species, as reflected in theories of community assembly. We investigated
if assumptions necessary for successful functioning of SSB (nested species
assemblages, cross taxon congruence, spatio-temporal consistency) were
supported by predictions from either niche or neutral community models.
We found a general mismatch between ideas behind SSB and ecological
community theory, except that SSB based on complementarity may be
consistent with niche-based theory when gradients in species composition
are strong. The lack of a necessary scientific foundation may explain the
disappointing results of empirical tests of SSB. We argue that site selection
should be based on costs and opportunities within complementary
environmental/land units, rather than expensive inventories of unfounded
surrogate species.
2011-12-06 14:20 Analysis of Food and Feeding Aiding Conservation
of Asian Elephant in Manas National Park, Assam, India
Saikia, B.P.*, Centre for Animal Ecology and Wildlife Biology,
Department of Zoology, Gauhati University, Assam,India;
The present study was done on the food and feeding patterns of Asian
elephant in Manas National Park (MNP), Assam. In MNP information
on food plants was gathered by direct observation on feeding-behaviour,
patterns ( Browzing or Grazing ). Dawn to dusk scan animal sampling, Ad.
Libitum sampling along with seasonal variation of time spent on feeding
different food plants species were done to record staple food, food selectivity,
dietary spectrum of Asian elephant . Study showed that elephant grazed
mostly, followed by browsing and debarking and selects 38 plants species
as food throughout the year constituting maximum portions of annual diet
budget in MNP. Among these 38 plant species, most were grasses. They
selected tree followed by shrub and herb as staple food respectively. The
study showed that up to the level of 10 top ranking food plant species
constituted major portion annual diet of Asian elephant. These has been
seen that in MNP, area where the grass extraction, cattle grazing is more
the near by fringe village receives maximum human-elephant conflict.
Hence the management and abundance of grass is essential for conservation
and authority of MNP practicing grassland management which results
increasing number of Asian elephant in MNP.
2011-12-08 11:45 New Performance Measures for US State Fish and
Wildlife Agencies Lead to Archetypal Effectiveness Measures for All
Conservation Actions
Salafsky, N*, Foundations of Success;
The US State Wildlife Grants program is a major vehicle for funding
implementation of Congressionally-mandated State Wildlife Action Plans
across 56 US States and Territories. In this era of increasing budget scrutiny,
it is imperative that State Fish and Wildlife Agencies demonstrate shortterm
performance to decision makers even though it may take decades
to achieve results for even a single species. To this end, the Association
of Fish and Wildlife Agencies convened a working group that used the
Conservation Measures Partnership’s Open Standards for the Practice
of Conservation to develop a set of generic results chains, intermediate
and long-term objectives, and performance measures for 13 of the most
common actions funded by State Wildlife Grants. These measures were
then extensively pilot-tested and reviewed and are now being rolled out as
part of Wildlife TRACS, an information system being developed by the US
Fish and Wildlife Service. This work provides a real-world example of how
government and other funding agencies can develop practical performance
measures for conservation work. More importantly, it is also the foundation
for a global initiative to develop a library of archetypal results chains and
effectiveness measures for all conservation actions that can be the basis for
true cross-project learning and collaboration.
2011-12-06 10:30 Animal behavior in conservation: are we stalled?
Saltz D*, Ben Gurion University;
The behavior of animals enhances their ability to cope with a constantly
changing environment (including the presence of other animals). As
such, behavior is no different than any other components of biodiversity
(e.g. genetic), and the ability of an organism to track environmental
changes behaviorally is one of the elements contributing to the viability
of populations. Thus, the importance of animal behavior in conservation
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