Abstracts available here - Society for Conservation Biology
Abstracts available here - Society for Conservation Biology
Abstracts available here - Society for Conservation Biology
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25th International Congress <strong>for</strong> <strong>Conservation</strong> <strong>Biology</strong> • Auckland, New Zealand • 5-9 December 2011<br />
an interesting area to explore. In 2004-2011 we studied the actual and<br />
potential value of Dutch business sites and industrial areas <strong>for</strong> biodiversity<br />
conservation and experience. As published in a series of papers, we were<br />
able to identify main drivers <strong>for</strong> utilizing conservation opportunities at<br />
these economic areas, using empirical data (e.g. bird counts), modelling<br />
studies and stakeholder enquiries. Existing international corporate<br />
conservation practices t<strong>here</strong>by served as reference. From 2007 on, we got<br />
involved in actual business site practices. Cooperating with entrepreneurs,<br />
employees, project developers, (landscape)architects, local governments and<br />
NGOs learned us about opportunities and pitfalls in the process of (re)<br />
connecting business society with local nature. Birds appeared as a trigger<br />
to get companies interested in conservation. However, it requires a whole<br />
different perspective and attitude from involved conservationists, to get<br />
companies to the point that they will actually develop habitat at their own<br />
land. We conclude that targeting business sites could become a promising<br />
strategy to get conservation (back) in the mind of people, even business<br />
people.<br />
2011-12-08 10:45 Evaluating the effectiveness of road mitigation<br />
measures <strong>for</strong> wildlife: how much monitoring is enough?<br />
Soanes, K*, Australian Research Centre <strong>for</strong> Urban Ecology; van der<br />
Ree, R, Australian Research Centre <strong>for</strong> Urban Ecology;<br />
Monitoring programs have a poor record of evaluating the success of<br />
wildlife restoration projects. Study design, duration and sampling methods<br />
are often reduced to save cost, limiting the ability of these programs to<br />
detect an effect. For example, millions of dollars are spent worldwide on<br />
wildlife crossing structures in an attempt to mitigate the negative impact<br />
of roads on wildlife. Despite the high cost of these structures, research on<br />
their effectiveness in increasing population viability is currently lacking.<br />
Be<strong>for</strong>e-after-control-impact studies which address population level effects<br />
are urgently required. This project aims to evaluate the effectiveness of<br />
crossing structures <strong>for</strong> arboreal mammals along a major highway in southeast<br />
Australia using results from two BACI monitoring programs. Premitigation<br />
data on the population density, survival rates, movement and<br />
gene flow of two species of arboreal mammal have been collected, and postmitigation<br />
data collection is currently underway. Preliminary results from<br />
radiotelemetry and crossing structure monitoring indicate that structures<br />
facilitate movement of arboreal mammals across the road. Further analysis<br />
of population density, survival rates and gene flow will determine if this<br />
movement has resulted in increased population viability. Upon completion<br />
this project will compare the in<strong>for</strong>mation costs of using more limited study<br />
designs in an attempt to identify an optimal monitoring ef<strong>for</strong>t.<br />
2011-12-09 10:45 Using the theory of planned behaviour to assess the<br />
effectiveness of training on cultivation of over-harvested species<br />
Sophie Williams*, Bangor University and Royal Botanic Gardens,<br />
Kew; James Gibbons, Bangor University; Julia Jones, Bangor<br />
University; Colin Clubbe, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew;<br />
Cultivation of wild harvested products has been proposed as a way of<br />
reducing over-exploitation of wild populations. However this will only be<br />
effective if it changes individual’s behaviour. Using the theory of planned<br />
behaviour as a framework, we assessed the impact of a community training<br />
programme aiming to encourage cultivation of an over-harvested palm<br />
species (xaté - Chamaedorea ernesti-augustii). We surveyed untrained and<br />
trained participants, focusing on three primary predictors of behaviour:<br />
attitudes, subjective norms and perceived behavioural control. Regardless of<br />
training, participants perceived xaté cultivation as a profitable use of land.<br />
However, participants reported two barriers to cultivation; access to seeds<br />
and lack of local markets. Increased knowledge and perceived behavioural<br />
control among trained participants resulted in increased cultivation.<br />
Our results demonstrate training can facilitate development of skills and<br />
technical knowledge required to initiate cultivation of a new species.<br />
Training also increases perceived behavioural control. However, behavioural<br />
changes are unlikely to occur if limitations to implementing the behaviour<br />
remain. We suggest the potential barriers to implementing a new behaviour<br />
should be assessed prior to initiating a conservation intervention such as<br />
training.<br />
2011-12-08 14:32 Do sweat the small stuff: why we should pay<br />
attention to “rare” species in biodiversity studies<br />
South, Paul*, University of Canterbury; Schiel, David, University<br />
of Canterbury;<br />
Measuring biodiversity through time is a complex business because it<br />
depends on numerous spatial and temporal factors involving the appearance<br />
and disappearance of many species. T<strong>here</strong> are few ways to be “common” but<br />
many ways to be “rare” in communities. Our experimental studies in rocky<br />
intertidal communities of New Zealand show that the great majority of<br />
species are rare, cryptic or ephemeral in space or time. Un<strong>for</strong>tunately, the<br />
functional roles of most of these species are difficult to ascertain and usually<br />
overlooked. We t<strong>here</strong><strong>for</strong>e know little about the ecological or functional roles<br />
of the bulk of species that comprise communities. Here, we consider what<br />
it means to be common and rare in the marine environment, categorising<br />
species according to known functional roles, obligate associations or<br />
“neutral” species which, individually, appear to have little “function”. We<br />
discuss why such considerations are important to those who collect, use and<br />
manage ecological data.<br />
2011-12-08 11:45 <strong>Conservation</strong> implications of ecotypic differentiation<br />
in a changing climate<br />
Souther, Sara*, West Virginia University; McGraw, James B., West<br />
Virginia University;<br />
Ecotypic differentiation of populations within a species’ range can occur<br />
with respect to various environmental factors, as well as to complex<br />
gradients of these variables present in ecosystems. When ecotypic<br />
differentiation occurs such that populations are adapted to local climatic<br />
conditions, persistence of even widespread species may be threatened by<br />
climate change. We examined the effect of climate change on extinction<br />
risk of one locally climatically adapted species, American ginseng (Panax<br />
quinquefolius L.). Demographic data were collected over a 13-year<br />
period from populations that occurred across an extensive portion of<br />
ginseng’s range. In total, 74 transition matrices were used to parameterize<br />
a population viability analysis of ginseng response to warming. Viability<br />
was calculated over a 70-year period <strong>for</strong> 4 warming levels, ranging from no<br />
warming to a 1.0°C increase in temperature that corresponded to a midrange<br />
IPCC climate change scenario. Warming decreased viability and<br />
increased extinction risk. Minimum viable population size (MVP) was<br />
300 individuals, a size greater than 84% of the 30 ginseng populations<br />
that we currently monitor. Because ginseng populations have specialized<br />
to local climatic conditions, a relatively small degree of warming increased<br />
extinction risk <strong>for</strong> all populations throughout ginseng’s range. For species<br />
that <strong>for</strong>m climatic ecotypes, managed relocation may be necessary to<br />
prevent climate change driven extinctions.<br />
2011-12-08 15:15 Bringing together the aspirations of Indigenous<br />
people and conservation biologists in the vastness of arid Australia<br />
Southgate, RI*, Envisage Environmental Sciences; King, Z,<br />
Kanyirninpa Jukurrpa;<br />
Arid Australia is vast covering millions of square kilometers but people are<br />
few and dispersed mainly among Indigenous communities, mining and<br />
pastoral operations. To achieve positive conservation outcomes, it is critical<br />
to engage the residents and bridge traditional knowledge with western<br />
science. A framework is suggested in which the view of the environment<br />
held by local people is clarified and mapped. Methods to investigate<br />
and monitor need to be culturally appropriate and simple to implement<br />
resulting in meaningful in<strong>for</strong>mation that can be compared across regions.<br />
Forms of management need to meet local expectations with the right people<br />
looking after the right land and leading to low intensity manipulative or<br />
custodial approaches. This presentation brings together two perspectives,<br />
one developed from working primarily with the Martu Indigenous people<br />
in northwest Western Australia with a focus on the needs of Traditional<br />
Owners, the other from working primarily within the world of western<br />
science.<br />
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