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25th International Congress for Conservation Biology • Auckland, New Zealand • 5-9 December 2011 their release site. Thus it is important to understand the dispersal behaviour of the source populations. This project investigates whether it is possible to select individuals that are more likely to translocate successfully and times when translocation may be more successful. We studied the pygmy bluetongue lizard (Tiliqua adelaidensis), a small endangered skink found in fragmented grassland habitat in South Australia, and for which translocation is a suggested management strategy. We deduced natural dispersal from both regular drift fence trapping, and from microsatellite DNA allelic distributions. We found lizards were relatively sedentary for much of the year, but there was male biased breeding dispersal between September and November. We recommend translocation of females can occur at any time, but males should be translocated after the breeding season to increase the chance that relocated individuals will remain in the population. 2011-12-08 18:30 Biomimicry Inspires Conservation: Why biologists need to engage with engineers, designers, and entrepreneurs Schuknecht, M*, Biomimicry Group; Stier, S, Biomimicry Group; For conservation efforts to truly succeed and endure across generations and through changing economic, political, and climatic circumstances, generating renewed respect for the natural world and engaging youth are essential. Biomimicry is a new discipline that is based on what we can learn from the biological world to inform sustainable human design rather than on what we can extract from the natural world to create human products, systems, and cities. When engineering students learn that more efficient wind farms have been developed by applying lessons learned from schooling fish, or industrial design students learn that the most efficient fans and impellers on the market arose after a biologist’s vortical observations of flow in nature, they begin to take an interest in the biological world as a source of inspiration and to develop a conservation ethos. With the briefest of introductions to biomimicry, students of all disciplines understand that healthy ecosystems hold the key to truly sustainable design and that it is essential to conserve those ecosystems, and all the myriad organisms within, in order to unlock the lessons that can help us live more sustainably on this planet. We will provide an introduction to biomimicry, offer suggestions on how conservation biologists can engage students of many disciplines and find broader interest in their work, and supply information on additional tools and training opportunities for educators. 2011-12-07 17:45 Contribution of land use types to regional plant diversity in temperate Australian agricultural landscapes Schultz, Nick*, School of Environmental & Rural Science, University of New England, Armidale NSW 2351, AUSTRALIA; Reid, Nick, School of Environmental & Rural Science, University of New England, Armidale NSW 2351, AUSTRALIA; Lodge, Greg, Department of Trade & Investment, Regional Infrastructure and Services, Primary Industries, Tamworth Agricultural Institute, Calala NSW 2340, AUSTRALIA; Plant diversity is threatened in Australia’s agricultural landscapes. While there is a good understanding of the effects of grazing and agricultural management on plant diversity at the site scale, our understanding of diversity patterns across multiple spatial scales is less developed. On the North West Slopes of New South Wales, Australia, we compared species accumulation curves and habitat specificity indices of three major land uses in the region; native pastures, woodlands grazed by livestock, and woodlands not grazed by livestock. Despite similar species densities at local scales (i.e. 400 m^2), regional species accumulation and habitat specificity were highest in ungrazed woodlands and lowest in native perennial grass dominated pastures. Native species that persisted in native pastures were largely a subset of the suite of species found elsewhere in the landscape. We propose that tree removal and livestock grazing have both reduced habitat heterogeneity in the landscape. Therefore conservation efforts should focus on the protection, restoration and regeneration of ungrazed patches of woodlands in the landscape. Our results contrast with some other studies in Australian agricultural landscapes that showed that native pastures grazed by livestock support a suite of species not found elsewhere in the landscape. Hence, it is likely that not all agricultural landscapes are similar in their landscape diversity patterns. 2011-12-08 10:30 Managed Relocation for Conservation: Issues and Concerns Schwartz,M.W.*, University of California, Davis; Hellmann, J.J., Notre Dame University; McClachlan, J.S., Notre Dame University; Sax, D.F., Brown University; Climate change poses real and imminent threats of extinction. Managed relocation, or assisted migration, of species has emerged as a plausible adaptation strategy of last resort. As a strategy, conservation ecologists must look to evaluate the strengths, weaknesses, costs, benefits and risks of managed relocation. A managed relocation working group consisting of thirty ecologists, social scientists, conservation practitioners, and policymakers has convened four times in order to identify the critical, ethical, legal, policy and scientific considerations. We report on a suite of recommendations of the working group for moving forward. Although many concerns are raised, perhaps the largest current concern is a lack of guidelines to discourage the inappropriate movement of species by concerned citizen groups. Despite broad scale discomfort among conservation ecologists for managed relocation, proposals to move species on behalf of their conservation brings two issues into sharp focus: 1) we lack a clear framework for managed relocation under realistic levels of uncertainty that will provide the context for these decisions; and 2) we need a public discourse on goals of conservation and the ethical foundation for species preservation before we can, as a society, take on the risks that moving species will impose. 2011-12-07 17:00 Drought-driven changes in koala distribution and numbers: a reflection of things to come under climate change? Seabrook L*, The University of Queensland; McAlpine C, The University of Queensland; Baxter G, The University of Queensland; Rhodes J, The University of Queensland; Bradley A, The University of Queensland; Lunney D, 4Department of Environment, Climate Change and Water NSW; Climate change will lead to increased climate variability, with more frequent drought and heatwaves in many regions. This will affect the distribution and numbers of wildlife populations, particularly at the contracting edge of their range. Monitoring population dynamics under conditions that mimic climate change will help us manage these impacts. We compared koala distribution and numbers in SW Queensland following a severe drought with pre-drought estimates from 1995. We used community and faecal pellet surveys to assess distribution. We estimated population density using a Faecal Standing Crop Method. Koala numbers across the study region were estimated from interpolating densities in 10 habitat units. We examined climate data and land clearing as possible explanations for changes in koala numbers. There was a minor change in distribution, but an 80% decline in numbers, from a mean population of 59,000 in 1995 to 11,600 in 2009. Most summers between 2002 and 2007 were hotter and drier than average. Land clearing was greatest in the eastern third of the study region. We concluded that drought significantly reduced koala populations and they contracted to critical riparian habitat. This concurs with predicted range shift patterns for trailing edge populations. The increase in hotter and drier conditions expected with climate change will adversely affect koala populations in SW Queensland and may have similar effects on other wildlife species in arid and semi-arid regions. 2011-12-08 18:30 Restoration linkages Seabrook-Davison, M*, Massey University; New Zealand is implementing a number of experimental methods in an attempt to restore its degraded ecosystems and threatened biodiversity. New Zealand’s unique and largely endemic biota contributes to the entire archipelago being designated a biodiversity hotspot. New Zealand split early from Gondwanaland (80 mya) and was the last large land mass to be colonised by humans (700 yrs bp). Anthropogenic modification of New Zealand has been extensive with all terrestrial megafauna extinct, three quarters of primary vegetation removed and 3,000 species in 14 taxonomic groups listed as threatened with extinction. New Zealand’s critically threatened species have been extirpated from the main islands and remain as refuge populations on offshore islands under intensive conservation management. Conservation agencies, regional councils and community conservation groups are coordinating a joint effort to restore the ecological linkages on the main islands to allow the translocation of species back to 150
25th International Congress for Conservation Biology • Auckland, New Zealand • 5-9 December 2011 their former distribution. 2011-12-08 10:58 Regional spore rain in a bryophyte genus – implications for nature conservation Sebastian Sundberg*, Dept Plant Ecology & Evolution, Uppsala University; Patterns of long-distance dispersal (LDD) in bryophytes and other organisms with minute diaspores (spores, dust seeds) are virtually unknown, although circumstantial evidences suggest that these organisms may regularly disperse far. LDD patterns may affect the design and distribution of nature conservation areas. To test LDD, I used peat mosses (Sphagnum) which have characteristic spores and large regional spore output from well defined sources. Spore rain was sampled with cotton cloths during two seasons at ten sites, from within a large source and up to 800 km away from the nearest sources. To test the fraction of Sphagnum spores that is available for LDD (reaching above the surrounding forest canopy), volumetric samplers were used at different heights over an open peatland with the aid of helium-filled zeppelins. Regional spore rain amounted to about 3% of that within the source. Spore rain declined only slightly between 40 m and 3 km from the nearest source. At 800 km, still about 2% of the regional rain remained (which may approximate the relative strength of intercontinental dispersal). The volumetric sampling indicated that 5-10% of the spores reached a height of 30 m and were available for LDD. In species with minute diaspores and scattered populations, connectivity may not be crucial. It may instead be more important to improve the regional source strength. 2011-12-08 18:30 Evidence of inbreeding depression in a selfpollinated thistle SEFTON, LEAH*, Central Michigan University; McCann, Kelly, Central Michigan University; Dannenhoffer, Joanne, Central Michigan University; Swanson, Bradley, Central Michigan University; Hill’s Thistle (Cirsium hillii) is a rare species growing only in the Midwestern United States in small, scattered populations. It is a polycarpic perennial capable of self-pollination, and the rarity and isolation of the populations limit opportunities for cross-pollination. Self-pollination often results in less fit individuals and may limit the recovery of Hill’s thistle. In three populations we selected two groups of plants covering one with nylon mesh bags to ensure self-pollination while leaving the others to cross pollinate naturally. At the end of the reproductive period, seeds from both groups were germinated in a greenhouse. The mean weight of openpollinated ovules/seeds (1.56 mg) was significantly greater (t=4.6; df=59; p
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ABSTRACTS 25th International Congre
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Page 101 and 102: 25th International Congress for Con
Page 151: 25th International Congress for Con
Page 189 and 190: Index Benini, Rubens 42 Beniston, M
Page 191 and 192: Index DeWan, Amielle 14 Dianne Brun
Page 193 and 194: Index Hilborn, Ray 27 Hill, CM 176
Page 195 and 196: Index Loutit, R. 116 Louwe Kooijman
Page 197 and 198: Index Ottewell, K 81 Overton, J 61,
Page 199 and 200: Index Sequeira, Ana 151 Serebryakov
Page 201 and 202: Index Winandy, L 181 Winner, J. 112
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